Afl Telecommunications Lcc

Other

The Uab Research Foundation (the University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Tan Composites, LLC

Raymond George Thompson

Dustin Kyle Nolen

Selvum Pillay

Erick Crosby

Alex F Farris, Iii

Andru Bramblett

Yuag-Shan Chou

Andru Bramlett

A lid for a utility enclosure having a front end, a rear end, a right side, a left side, a top lid portion, and a bottom, defining an interior. Large reinforcement ribs are on an interior surface of the top lid portion and form a lattice-type structure. Small reinforcement ribs are mounted in spaces formed by the lattice type structure. The lid is made of glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene and metal bars or rebar are embedded in the large reinforcement ribs. The metal bars are positioned near a bottom of the large reinforcement ribs and spaced above the bottom. The physical structure of the lid and the lid's composition, consisting essentially of glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene, are constructed so that the lid withstands up to 33,750 pounds of force without breaking or being deformed.

Foldable and/or collapsible plastic/composite utility enclosure

A folding, flared utility vault or enclosure that may be used to protect public utility valves, electrical cables, switches, fiber optic cables, or the like is provided. The system generally comprises a base box having a front panel, back panel, and side panels. Alternative embodiments may further comprise an extension box having a front extension panel, back extension panel, and side extension panels. The various panels of the base box and extension box may have flared bottoms that prevent removal after installation. Additionally, a user may attach extension boxes to the base box to increase the amount of storage area within the system.

Flared hinged-folding utility vault device

A folding, flared utility vault or enclosure that may be used to protect public utility valves, electrical cables, switches, fiber optic cables, or the like is provided. The system generally comprises a base box having a front panel, back panel, and side panels. Alternative embodiments may further comprise an extension box having a front extension panel, back extension panel, and side extension panels. The various panels of the base box and extension box may have flared bottoms that prevent removal after installation. Additionally a user may attach extension boxes to the base box to increase the amount of storage area within the system.

A method of forming and assembling a foldable plastic utility enclosure using molds to form sides of the enclosure, preferably using glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite. The molds are constructed to form a central hole in hinge members which are formed on ends of the sides. The central hole of the hinge member is molded with two molding parts, wherein one or both of the molding parts have a solid central portion that forms the central hole. The sides are removed from the molds after curing and the sides are assembled to form the utility enclosure while the sides are still hot from the molding process. Hinge pins are inserted into the central holes of the hinge members to form hinges and to prevent the sides from warping during cooling. Assembling the sides and inserting hinge pins to form the utility enclosure is completed within approximately 10 minutes after removing the sides from the molds.

Method of forming a foldable or collapsible plastic/composite utility enclosure

A foldable extension enclosure for a utility enclosure, each having first, second, third, and fourth sides connected by hinges and each folding only in one direction by means of detents on the sides. A first end of the first side slidably overlaps a second opposite end of the third side and a first end of the second side slidably overlaps a second opposite end of the fourth side. There is an internal top ledge on each side in an interior near a top end of the extension enclosure and the utility enclosure and an external bottom ledge on each side on an exterior near a bottom end of the extension enclosure, to mount the extension enclosure to the utility enclosure with concave and convex detents. Convex detents are at the top end of the utility and extension enclosures and concave detents are at the bottom end of the extension enclosure. The convex detents also reversibly lock a lid to the tops of the utility and extension enclosures.

Lid for a utility enclosure

Flared foldable utility enclosure

Method of forming a foldable or collapsible plastic and/or composite utility enclosure

Foldable utility enclosure

A method for producing a scaled-up solid model of microscopic features of a selected surface of an article, such as a piece of metal exposed to friction. The metal surface is scanned with a profilometer along X, Y, and Z coordinates to obtain measurements of microscopic surface features. A 3-D high resolution spatial map of the microscopic surface features is made, and the X, Y, and Z measurements are scaled up. The spatial map is converted into a high resolution 3-D scaled-up computer model. The Z measurement in the 3-D scaled up computer model is scaled up 3 to 20 times more than the amount used to scale up the X and Y measurements to increase the depth of the 3-D scaled up computer model. A data set of printing instructions is created from the 3-D scaled-up computer model, a solid scaled-up model of the selected surface is manufactured in the 3-D printer, and the surface of the scaled-up model is colored to match the metal surface.

Method for producing a scaled-up solid model of microscopic features of a surface

A foldable extension enclosure for a utility enclosure having first, second, third, and fourth sides connected by hinges. The extension enclosure folds only in one direction. A first end of the first side slidably overlaps a second opposite end of the third side and a first end of the second side slidably overlaps a second opposite end of the fourth side. A second opposite end of the first side abuts a first end of the fourth side and a first end of the third side abuts a second opposite end of the second side. There is an internal top ledge on each side in an interior near a top end of the extension enclosure and an external bottom ledge on each side on an exterior near a bottom end of the extension enclosure to mount the extension enclosure to the utility enclosure through mounting holes. The mounting holes are in the sides between the top ledge and the top end and between the bottom ledge and the bottom end. The extension enclosure folds with the utility enclosure.

A foldable rectangular plastic/composite enclosure having first, second, third and fourth sides connected by hinges. The enclosure folds flat by rotating the sides on the hinges but is constructed to fold only in one direction. The hinges allow the enclosure to be folded flat for storage and transportation. The hinges are composed of a plurality of hinge members wherein each hinge member is positioned in a housing. The housing has an open interior which helps anchor the enclosure in the ground. An insertable locking pin can be inserted through each hinge to prevent the enclosure from folding. The enclosure can be made of plastic/composite imbedded with fibers such as carbon fibers, glass fibers, or ceramic fibers or imbedded with particles such as glass particles. The use of plastic/composite and various openings or cutouts makes the enclosure light weight.

Growing community of inventors

Hoover, AL, United States of America

Raymond George Thompson