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Patent MarketPlace: Construction Patents and Building Trades Technology Patents for Sale

Next-Generation Electrical Outlets and Switches (Blurton): U.S. Patent No. 7,744,407

Not much has changed in the electrical switches and outlets we use every day in our homes, businesses, schools, and other facilities. A few years ago, the ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlet was introduced. It protects users from electrocution by cutting off power if there is a surge in amperage. Other than the GFCI outlet, electrical switches and outlets have remained unchanged for decades and are connected by 12 or 14-gauge electrical wire that an electrician fishes through the wall and into the electrical circuit box. The wires are then stripped and a hook is made so the wires can be attached to screws on the side of the switch or outlet, then tightened down with a screw driver – an highly labor-intensive process.

This patent is the first significant improvement to electric switches and outlets in a century! Under this patented design, power cables run through the electrical circuit box – rather than having to be fished into the boxes and then connected to the switch or outlet – and the light switch or electrical outlet is plugged directly into the circuit box! It is the hard-wired equivalent of “plug and play.” Labor is dramatically reduced since the electrician no longer has to manually connect the live, negative, and ground wires to each and every switch and receptable. And replacing a switch or outlet is like changing a light bulb! This patented design totally eliminates the common problem of attaching wires to a switch or outlet only to have one of the wires pop off when the switch or outlet and all the excess wiring is pushed back into the circuit box.

U.S. Patent No. 7,744,407 for “Modular circuit boxes and associated components” will enable any manufacturer of circuit boxes, light switches, and electrical outlets to offer an entirely new generation of products for wiring homes, businesses, factories, schools, and other facilities!

AC Heat Capture and Re-Use (Sheneman): U.S. Patent No. 11,952,961

Most people do not realize that traditional air conditioning units – while cooling our homes and businesses – also generate a lot of wasted heat. This heat is typically discharged into the atmosphere, requiring an outside unit for the AC system to release this heat. What if we could eliminate the need for an outside unit and instead capture that heat for more productive use?

This patent covers groundbreaking technology that captures the heat generated by an air conditioning system and converts it into energy. This energy is then cycled back into the system, effectively powering the energy pump itself. The result is no need for an outside unit to expel heat. Instead, the system becomes self-sustaining, harnessing the energy it produces for continuous operation. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize the HVAC industry. By converting waste heat into usable energy, it eliminates the inefficiencies of traditional AC systems. Air conditioning manufacturers that adopt this technology will not only be able to offer more compact and environmentally friendly systems, but also ones that reduce energy consumption and operating costs. Imagine an air conditioning system that doesn’t just cool your space but also powers itself through the very heat it generates.

U.S. Patent No. 11,952,961 for an “Energy pump” opens the door to a new era in energy-efficient cooling without the need for bulky outside units and with the added benefit of capturing and reusing energy that would otherwise be wasted. The possibilities for its application are endless, and any company that adopts this technology will be at the forefront of the next generation of HVAC innovation. This company that acquires this patent will leapfrog the technology of all of its competitors and offer cutting-edge benefits are both cost-effective and eco-friendly.

Grout Consolidator for Reinforced Concrete Masonry (Baker): U.S. Patent Nos. 8,092,071 and 8,353,618

When concrete is poured, it is critical to remove all pockets of air to insure the strength and integrity of the concrete. And there are tools specifically designed to remove any air pockets from freshly poured concrete. When a wall is constructed from concrete masonry blocks, grout, and reinforcing bars (or “rebar”), it is equally important that the grout be consolidated—that is, all air pockets must be removed from the grout to insure the strength and integrity of the masonry wall assembly. But there are currently no tools to do that. Until now.

This patent family creates a tool that efficiently consolidates grout in concrete masonry and Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) construction. It includes a vibratory clamp that attaches to a reinforcing bar while the rebar is sitting in still fluid grout inside the masonry blocks or ICF units during grouting operations. The tool vibrates the reinforcing bar, and that vibratory energy brings up any air pockets in the grout, resulting in a solid and consistent fill of grout between the rebar and the blocks, thus insuring a code-compliant wall with the intended design strength and integrity.

U.S. Patent Nos. 8,092,071 and 8,353,618 for an “External vibratory grout consolidator for vertically reinforced concrete masonry” would enable any manufacturer of masonry and concrete tools to introduce a new product that meets a real need in masonry or ICF construction.

Cement Mixer Truck Chute Cleaner (Hassan): U.S. Patent No. 11,794,225

Cement and concrete are everywhere – buildings, bridges, highways, parks, swimming pools, and dams to name just a few. Cement is a binding agent used to hold bricks and stones together, while concrete contains rock (or “aggregate”) and is poured into forms to create walls and floors. Cement and concrete are created by mixing together the ingredients and loading the mixture into a cement mixer truck. The truck then delivers the liquid mixture to the job site, and the liquid concrete is emptied from the truck via a series of chutes and extensions.

Once the wet concrete has been off-loaded from the truck, there is the problem of cleaning the chutes and extensions that delivered the wet mixture. The wet concrete begins to dry and harden immediately. Washing out the chutes and extensions with water removes just some of the hardening concrete. What is needed is a tool that is specifically designed to quickly, efficiently, and thoroughly remove ALL of the wet mixture before it hardens. This patent creates just such a tool. The scraper covered by this patent is a manually controlled tool that uses bi-directional scraping to remove cement regardless of its hardness. It conforms to the exact inner diameter of the chutes and extensions, so it completely removes the mixture before it hardens. Braided steel wires on the perimeter of the tool create abrasion that scrapes any dried cement or concrete from the chutes and extensions. This tool replaces having to use harsh chemicals to clean the chutes and extensions on cement mixer trucks.

U.S. Patent No. 11,794,225 for a “Radius scraper” would enable any supplier to the construction industry to offer its customers a tool that will reduce their labor costs, increase productivity, and minimize the use of harmful chemicals to clean the chutes and extensions on their cement mixer trucks.

Also available from this inventor is U.S. Patent D1024140 for a “Concrete funnel".

Lateral Stepstool and Work Platform (Hixson): U.S. Patent No. 11,825,942

We’ve all be there. We are painting, spackling, stripping or hanging wallpaper, or hanging a picture using a stepladder or stepstool. While the stepladder or stepstool enables us to reach the top portion of the wall, it limits horizontal access, so we need to climb down, move the stepladder, climb back up, do some work, climb back down, move the stepladder, climb back up – you get the idea. Yes, we could construct a work platform or scaffold, but that would just be more work and time and expense. Isn’t there an easier way to spackle, or paint, or strip and hang wallpaper, or do other work around the house? Or detail a car or truck?

There is. This patent creates what is essentially a lateral step stool that replaces the traditional stepladder or stepstool. Rather than being just 14 or 20 inches wide – which means it must be constantly moved as you work your way across the room – it can be manufacturer to seven or eight feet wide. It has fold-out legs that support two horizontal surfaces – like the first and second steps of a stepladder. The lower section is in front, so you step onto the lower horizontal surface first, then step onto the higher horizontal surface to reach your work area. This practical work platform can be much wider than a conventional stepladder or stepstool based on the strength of the material used to construct it. You start at one end of the top step and work across as you spackle, or paint, or do whatever you are doing. You save all those trips up and down a conventional stepladder and you eliminate all those moves of the stepstool as you work your way across the wall. Less climbing up and down will result in less fatigue, improved productivity, and a safer work environment. In fact, you could have two workers on the device to really improve productivity! When it is not needed, it folds up for easy storage and transport to the next work site.

U.S. Patent No. 11,825,942 for a “Collapsible platform assembly” would enable any stepstool/stepladder manufacturer to introduce and own a new market segment in the home improvement sector!

Improved Insulator Cleaning System (Zbinden): U.S. Patent Nos. 11,148,174 and 11,358,181

In addition to generating electricity and delivering it to its customers, electric utilities have a huge infrastructure to maintain. One of the many challenges facing electric utilities is keeping all those insulators clean. Insulators prevent current from the power or distribution line from going into the utility pole and ultimately into the ground. The dirt, dust, grime, and other debris that collects on insulators can create a path for the electrical current to bypass the insulator and escape into the ground, resulting in a serious loss of deliverable electrical current for the utility.

This patent family addresses the challenge of keeping insulators clean by creating a device that scrubs both the outside of the insulator and the surface between the insulator disks. A utility worker standing on the ground uses the device to remove dirt, dust, grime, and anything else that has collected on the insulator. A sponge and flexible rubber blade both insulate the worker and remove any foreign material from the insulator. The tool has threaded attachments that adjust it to the desired length. The tool created by this patent can be used to clean insulators at substations as well as on distribution and power lines.

U.S. Patent No. 11,148,174 for an “Electrical insulator manual cleaning device” and U.S. Patent No. 11,358,181 for an “Extendable cleaning device for electrical insulators” would enable any manufacturer of tools for the electric utility industry to offer its customers a next-generation solution to cleaning their insulators.

Utility Pole Removal and Inspection Auger (Falkenhagen): International Patent Portfolio

One of the most common sites around the world today are utility poles. They dot the landscape as they carry electricity, telephone service, and cable content to homes and businesses. There are 180 million utility poles in the U.S., over 500 million in China. With an average life of just 30 to 40 years, the utility that owns and maintains this important infrastructure item is always removing old poles and replacing them with new. And then there are all the road-widening projects that require utility poles to be uprooted and replaced with new ones farther into the right-of-way. On top of this, utility poles need to be periodically inspected.

Utility poles are currently removed by digging with shovels around the perimeter of the pole until it is loose enough that the pole can be lifted up and out of the ground. The current method is back-breaking, labor-intensive, time-consuming, and not very efficient. This international portfolio creates a tool that quickly, efficiently, and economically removes utility poles. It attaches to the perimeter of the pole and a threaded sleeve drills down and removes the soil and rock from around the buried portion of the utility pole about 10 inches out so it can be easily lifted up and carted away. The whole process takes just a few minutes!

This auger created by this portfolio also has applications for the utility pole inspections that are mandatory in most countries. In the U.S., for example, utility poles must be inspected every seven years. The auger provides inspection depth two feet down. By replacing having to remove dirt from around the utility pole by shovel, this tool dramatically increases productivity! This patented tool can excavate approximately 160 poles in an eight -hour shift compared to just 20 poles when they have to be dug out with a shovel.

Patent Portfolio

This portfolio will enable any supplier of tools to the utility industry to offer a time-saving, money-saving solution to removing and inspecting utility poles.

Extremely Durable, Non-Combustible Building Panels (Dopp): U.S. Patent No. 11,560,716

There are areas of the country – such as California – where a house being destroyed by a forest fire is a not an unusual event. And when a forest fire gets out of control – as they so often do – and burn down hundreds or thousands of homes, all those structures are totally losses that have to be completely rebuilt from the ground up. As an added tragedy, the contents of the destroyed homes – including irreplaceable items like family photos and mementos – are lost forever! Surely there must be a solution.

There is. This patent introduces technology for floor, wall, and roof panels that are not just fire-resistant, they are non-combustible! Built with steel frames and cementitious sheathing, these construction panels are lightweight and durable, and will withstand a forest fire. Since the exterior of the house is non-flammable, the fire will pass by the house for lack of fuel, saving not just the house from total destruction, but also protecting the contents of the house. Other than smoke damage, a building constructed with these patented panels will withstand any forest fire with NO substantial damage to the structure or its contents!

To build a structure using this technology, the architectural plans are submitted to the manufacturer, and CAD software configures the dimensions of the panels that will be needed. The panels are manufactured, shipped to the construction site, lifted into place, and bolted together. The doors and windows, plumbing and wiring, duct work, and fixtures are then installed just as they would be in a conventionally constructed house. U.S. Patent No. 11,560,716 for “Methods and apparatuses for facilitating producing of an insulated panel” will enable any housing materials manufacturer to introduce the next generation in modular housing components.

Faster, Cheaper Manhole Construction (Gilbert): U.S. Patent No. 10,458,093

Manholes are a common site across America. We ride over them and walk over them – or around them – without giving them much thought. Manholes provide access to the unseen underground infrastructure that makes life in the modern world possible. Clean drinking water, electrical power, sewage and waste removal, natural gas, telephone and Internet, and many other services are accessed from manholes. However, constructing a manhole has been an expensive and time-consuming process that includes fabricating a form, filling it with poured concrete, waiting for the concrete to harden and cure, and then detaching and removing the form and transporting one of the heaviest products imaginable to its next location. That has been the process…until now.

This patent dramatically simplifies the process, providing technology that saves time and material costs. The patented system uses a two barrel pre-fabricated mold that is made from common plastic materials. The inner and outer barrels are welded in place to secure them and the cavity between them is filled with concrete. When the concrete hardens, it creates a ready-to-use manhole. The manhole can be constructed in-place on-site or off-site and then transported and dropped into place. The form system becomes a permanent integrated feature of the finished manhole. This patent does not create a new type of manhole, but addresses a more cost effective and faster way to construct manholes.

U.S. Patent No. 10,458,093 for an “On-site manhole casting system” would enable any supplier of construction materials to offer its customers a device for fabricating manholes faster and cheaper than the current process.

Footless Concrete Foundations (ISBP): U.S. Patent No. 8,516,773

Concrete foundations for buildings have not changed much over the last 100 years. A process of formwork, pouring, and stripping is done twice – first for the footings and then, after they have cured, once again for the actual foundation walls. While this system does work, it is expensive, labor-intensive, and time-intensive.

This patent takes the pouring of foundations to a new level by eliminating separate footings. Conventional forms are used in a patented method that provides both the footing and foundation walls in one pour instead of two. And it does this using the same amount of concrete as is used in the slower two-part process. This new technology reduces construction time, saving an average of two days in the schedule. It also saves significantly on the basement slab since the pad is prepared only once for both the foundation and the slab – no coming back to fill, grade, and compact for the slab. And excavation cost are less, saving over 100 yards of removal and later fill.

U.S. Patent No. 8,516,773 for a “Foot free concrete foundation method and device” would be a valuable acquisition for any building supplies manufacturer that is ready to leapfrog the current technology and offer serious savings to contractors that are building concrete foundations.

Frameless Construction (ISBP): Nine U.S. Patents and Application Portfolio

Residential construction methods have not changed much over the years. The same joists, studs, trusses, and rafters have been used to build everything from houses to schools, hotels, and offices for centuries. In fact, the only major innovations were plywood/Oriented Strand Board and gypsum board, but they are both nailed to the same joist-stud-rafter frame. Current home construction is labor-intensive, highly inefficient, and far too expensive!

This portfolio changes all that by creating a frameless construction system in which 4 x 8-foot or longer panels are connected to form floors, walls, and roofs. The panels leave space that allows air to circulate – keeping the structure cool in the summer and warm in the winter – and accommodates plumbing and wiring. Holes are cut for windows and doors. These ventilated plenum panels are delivered to the construction site just as plywood or gypsum board would be, but NO joists, studs, trusses, or rafters are delivered as they are not needed. The panels are lifted into place and connected to each other to form a tight, solid, integral structure at less cost and in less time than convention “stick” construction!

Patent Portfolio

The acquirer of this portfolio will be able to offer a totally new, patent-protected, concept in construction that will dramatically reduce both labor and material costs, resulting in faster construction of buildings at less cost!

Mobile Tool Cart and Workbench (Mobile Designs): U.S. Patent No. 9,849,582

Performing any type of carpentry or other tradecraft work at a construction site usually requires lifting and transporting heavy power tools from a truck to the workplace and back to the truck. In many cases, this work is performed by a single worker without help. Moving tools and construction materials to the job site and back to the truck wastes time and is not productive. Lifting heavy loads exposes workers to injuries that add to the cost of the project. On site, the power tools must be mounted to a saw table that may not be sturdy, nor the ideal height, nor may provide proper support. These conditions compromise workplace safety and reduce productivity. Not good. Not smart. Not efficient.

The ideal solution would be sturdy mobile steel cart that can be moved in and out of a truck bed with a load of up to 350 pounds of tools on it without the worker having to lift all that weight. It would have fold-down legs like an ambulance gurney, it would incorporate a wood top for mounting power tools, and it would provide a flat working surface at the job site. It would have adjustable legs compatible with most truck bed heights, and its legs would have wheels that can be tailored to the job site terrain. At the end of the workday, it could be rolled back to the truck and slid into the cargo bay.

That is exactly the invention covered by this patent! U.S. Patent No. 9,849,582 for a “Rollaway storage cart with collapsible legs” creates exactly the perfect cart and workbench for any construction site. The inventor of the patent has manufactured prototypes already in use on job sites today. The invention would enable any seller or manufacturer of construction equipment or power tools to introduce a new product that saves time and improves workplace safety. The "video" link below shows a version of this invention, the “Work Sherpa,” in use.

Video


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