James J Kandler

Title: James J. Kandler: Medical Imaging and Touch-Switch Innovations.

Introduction

James J. Kandler is an inventor associated with Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and General Electric Company. His patent work includes innovations in patient-positioning equipment for X-ray imaging and membrane touch-switch design. The supplied information lists 2 patents.

Latest Patents

Kandler’s listed patents address two distinct engineering challenges: positioning patients accurately during X-ray procedures and creating responsive, layered touch-switch panels.

The patient-positioning X-ray table patent describes a system with a vertically movable elevator, a longitudinally moving intermediate support, and a carriage carrying a patient cradle. Gas springs help counterbalance the elevator and the cantilevered load as the cradle extends. Separate servomotors move the support and cradle, while force-sensing switches can disengage the drives when excessive force is detected. A friction drive and harmonic drive unit support precise cradle positioning, and a cable-driven encoder tracks the cradle’s position and speed.

The membrane touch-switch patent describes a laminated panel with conductive foil contacts arranged across boards and a flexible membrane. Pressing the panel changes the contact states, opening normally closed contacts and closing normally open ones. In one embodiment, resilient elements hold contacts in their normal state until pressure applied through an aperture in the upper board flexes the membrane.

Career Highlights

Kandler’s listed inventions demonstrate work spanning medical imaging equipment and user-interface components. The X-ray table design combines mechanical movement, force sensing, and position feedback, while the touch-switch design uses layered materials and membrane flexure to control electrical contacts.

Collaborations

The supplied information identifies Gregory D. Schwehr and Richard T. Brandt as Kandler’s coworkers. It does not specify their roles in the listed patents.

Conclusion

James J. Kandler’s listed patent work reflects practical engineering innovations in patient positioning for X-ray imaging and membrane-based touch switches.