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James M. Helms, Fort Myers US

James M. Helms, Fort Myers, FL US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20100050523Safety release mechanism for use with a linear motor turning a ball screw - A safety release mechanism for use with a ball screw type linear motor, featuring a lock lever that can be manually engaged or disengaged. Engaging the lock lever rigidly fixes a telescoping arm, allowing the motor to retract or extend the arm into a cover tube. Disengaging the lock lever allows the telescoping arm to rotate freely in the cover tube. One embodiment of the safety release mechanism is used with a motorized door assist mechanism, however, the release mechanism has many applications beyond a door opener, and can be used in any application requiring a linear motor with a telescoping arm, where in order for the motor to extend or retract the arm, one end of the arm must be fixedly held in place.03-04-2010
20100050524Motorized door opener for a vehicle - A motorized door opener for a vehicle (such as a military or security vehicle), featuring a sensor system that determines door position to prevent door damage while the opener is in operation. The opener features an offset gear system that effectively changes the door's rotation point. Mechanical advantage is gained by using a lengthened lever arm with the gear system, providing increased leverage and allowing the motor to provide enough force to open and close a heavily armored door. The opener can use existing door hinges, and can be provided so as not to protrude into the door space, in order to facilitate passenger and equipment entry/exit through the doors. A safety release mechanism is included in some embodiments, allowing the door to be manually opened or closed.03-04-2010
20100074625Apparatus for voice communication using an incoherent light source - A communication system for communicating spoken speech, based on switching on and off a visible or infrared light source in a pattern corresponding to the spoken speech. The communication system provides for rapid retransmission/rebroadcast of messages received from other communication systems, to allow communication over a longer range than would otherwise be possible, or between two points not along a line of sight. The system may include a light source also used (at the same time) for providing illumination, such as a light source that is part of a lightbar mounted on a vehicle.03-25-2010
20100084876Lever mechanism for an emergency escape hatch - A lever mechanism for holding an escape hatch onto a vehicle surface covering an opening in the vehicle surface, for enabling emergency escape through the escape hatch. The lever mechanism includes a base portion, a handle portion and a clamp portion, with the handle portion and clamp portion linked so that by pushing on the handle portion, and so placing the lever mechanism in its engaged state, the clamp portion is pushed against the vehicle surface, drawing the escape hatch against the vehicle surface. By pulling on the handle portion of the lever mechanism, and so placing the lever mechanism in its disengaged state, the clamp is pulled up and away from the vehicle surface and clear of the opening in the vehicle surface, thus allowing the escape hatch to be pushed out away from the vehicle surface, thereby enabling emergency egress.04-08-2010
20100171323Latch for a vehicle door - A latch for latching closed a door of a vehicle, especially designed to minimize the force required to latch closed the door by pushing the door to its closed position. A tongue, having a strike face and a catch face, is resiliently mounted in the latch so as to be urged to a latch-engaged position by a torsion spring pushing against a surface of the tongue and against a cover plate of the latch. A slider block is coupled to a door handle and to the tongue so that the tongue can be swiveled to a disengaged state by use of the door handle, in order to open the vehicle door.07-08-2010
20100175945Emergency escape components with a glow-in-the-dark coating - A vehicle emergency egress in which one or more components are provided with a luminescent coating, such as a phosphorescent coating. Exemplary vehicle emergency egress structures include a kick-out window, an emergency escape hatch, and a vehicle door, of which at least part of the emergency release structure, such as levers and handles, would be coated with a luminescent coating. Additionally, the perimeter of the emergency egress portal could be coated, to highlight the location of the emergency exit as well as its size.07-15-2010
20110032720High and low beam headlamp with a pivoting multifaceted reflector - A vehicle headlamp having a pivotal multifaceted reflector, a light source, and an actuator typically including a solenoid, the actuator disposed and coupled to the multifaceted reflector and to other portions of the headlamp so as to pivot, under the action of the actuator, into a first position to generate a first beam of light serving as a high beam, and into a second position to generate a second beam of light serving as a low beam, and so providing a high beam and a low beam using the same light source, fixed within the headlamp, and a single reflector. In some embodiments, the high beam meets FMVSS 108 requirements for a vehicle headlamp high beam, and the low beam meets FMVSS 108 requirements for a vehicle headlamp low beam.02-10-2011
20110115192Bicycle Frame Having Webbed Tubing - A frame for a bicycle where at least either the so-called top tube or the so-called down tube has a webbed interior space, i.e. has interior walls running along its length creating separately two or more enclosed subspaces spanning at least some of the length of the tube. Such a webbed frame is made, typically, by extruding a material such as aluminum or an alloy.05-19-2011

Patent applications by James M. Helms, Fort Myers, FL US