Engineering the Uplift Levi-Load: Designed by Manufacturers for Manufacturers

Nationally trusted aerospace parts manufacturer, Trinity Precision, recently collaborated with Akeratos LLC, a firm formed in 2019 to create and improve automation and processes within the mechanical and industrial engineering sectors, to design the Uplift Levi-Load. The teams at Trinity Precision and Akeratos, have devoted their careers to improving the manufacturing industry through the creation of innovative products designed by manufacturers for manufacturers. Learn more about his process of seeking patent protection and the different easy-to-use features of Akeratos’ debut product, the Uplift Levi-Load.

What Is the Uplift Levi-Load?

This patent-pending product is an easy-to-use, safe, and cost-effective device used by machine shops, horizontal machine centers, and palletized machines. The Uplift Levi-Load connects to a crane and allows one person to easily and safely move heavy raw material from a horizontal position to a vertical position before loading it onto a machine. Team members from both Trinity Precision and Akeratos, including Joel Koripalli, Chris VanNover, Merritt Stuever, and others, collaborated to engineer a superior alternative to vacuum lift machines, filling a previous gap in the process of moving raw materials.

Seeking Patent Protection

In an effort to seek protection for their innovative new product, Akeratos partnered with Wichita State University’s Gateway to IP Program and Stinson LLP to patent the Uplift Levi-Load. The Gateway to IP Program launched in early 2020, with the goal of providing students an opportunity to gain important intellectual property skills, help fill Wichita’s resource void regarding intellectual property, and connect local inventors with registered patent attorneys like Jonathan Pollmann from Stinson in St. Louis, Missouri. In total, there are fewer than 10 registered patent practitioners in Wichita, Kansas, one of them being Rob Gerlach, Director of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer at Wichita State University. Throughout the patent process, Gerlach worked closely with Akeratos president, David May, to file the company’s first patent application and protect Akeratos’ invention as he understands the importance of helping local innovators receive the intellectual property protection they need.

Exploring Innovative Design Features

“The Uplift Levi-Load is a great product for a great price and is making a big difference in productivity when loading our machines,” said a loyal Akeratos customer. “It helps solve clearance issues we had with other tong-style devices and holds material in the middle, allowing us to load closer to the machine.”

Due to the patent-pending design of the Uplift-Levi Load, the device is superior to tongs in its abilities and remains an easier to use, more portable, safer, and more cost-effective solution to vacuum lift machines. Not only is the product lightweight and easily connected to a crane, but it is designed to be operated by a single person rather than two or more. Additional features of the Uplift Levi-Load include:

• Portability – The product easily moves from one crane to another, unlike vacuum lift machines that are difficult to move and require an extensive set-up process.
• Safety – The Uplift Levi-Load is safer than a vacuum lift machine that can lose pressure or electricity during use and is superior to tongs that are unable to safely move raw material from a horizontal position to a vertical position.
• Affordability – The Uplift Levi-Load is a fraction of the cost of individual vacuum lift machines and reduces the chance of human error, resulting in dropped product.
• Versatility – The innovative design of the Uplift Levi-Load allows it to work with a forklift!
• Accessibility —When using the Uplift Levi-Load, the material hangs straight up and down and does not tilt, making it easier to load material onto the machine.
• Elimination of Interference – The Uplift Levi-Load is designed void of any straps, eliminating the potential for strap interference with the mating surface. This allows the material to be mated directly to the palette.

Ready to Order Your Uplift Levi-Load?

Our patent-pending Uplift Levi-Load is the easy-to-use, safe, and cost-effective device used by machine shops. Contact us today to request additional information or submit an order!