Did You Know...
...that several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6593136 | Culturing cells in a chamber in a stack of chambers A chamber has a lid that permits opening and closing of the chamber for inserting or removing a cell culture from the chamber while the chamber is in a stack of chambers without removing any of the chambers from the stack. The lid of the chamber may have ... | 07/15/2003 |
| 6393899 | Apparatus and method for automated biomonitoring of water quality An automated biomonitoring system for monitoring water quality includes an exposure chamber for housing an aquatic organism having ventilatory behavior and body movement sensitive to water quality. Electrodes capture electrical signals produced by the org... | 05/28/2002 |
| 6156232 | Liquid crystal composition and alignment layer A surface for the alignment of liquid crystals containing directionally-linked groups and compounds useful for preparing such surfaces are disclosed.... | 12/05/2000 |
| 6105416 | Ethylene monitoring and control system A system that can accurately monitor and control low concentrations of ethylene gas includes a test chamber configured to receive sample gas potentially containing an ethylene concentration and ozone, a detector configured to receive light produced during... | 08/22/2000 |
| 6058763 | Apparatus and method for automated biomonitoring of water quality An automated biomonitoring system for monitoring water quality includes an exposure chamber for housing an aquatic organism having ventilatory behavior and body movement sensitive to water quality. Electrodes sense electrical signals produced by the organ... | 05/09/2000 |
| 5976284 | Patterned conducting polymer surfaces and process for preparing the same and devices containing the same Patterned conducting polymer surfaces exhibiting excellent properties may be prepared by: (a) forming a surface of a conducting polymer on a surface of a substrate; (b) forming a surface of a blocking material on said surface of said conducting polymer in a pa... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5948316 | Liquid crystal composition and alignment layer A surface for the alignment of liquid crystals containing directionally-linked groups.... | 09/07/1999 |
| 5945486 | Fluoropolymeric substrates with metallized surfaces and methods for producing the same Fluoropolymeric substrates with metallized surfaces may be prepared by self-assembly of a chemisorbed layer of a metal ion-chelating organosilane onto a fluoropolymer surface after radio-frequency glow discharge plasma surface hydroxylation. The silane co... | 08/31/1999 |
| 5814414 | High aspect ratio metal microstructures and method for preparing the same High aspect ratio metal microstructures may be prepared by a method involving (i) forming a layer of a photoresist on a substrate; (ii) exposing the layer to actinic radiation in an imagewise manner and developing the exposed layer to obtain a surface which co... | 09/29/1998 |
| 5696207 | Fluroropolymeric substrates with metallized surfaces and methods for producing the same Fluoropolymeric substrates with metallized surfaces may be prepared by self-assembly of a chemisorbed layer of a metal ion-chelating organosilane onto a fluoropolymer surface after radio-frequency glow discharge plasma surface hydroxylation. The silane co... | 12/09/1997 |
| 5637508 | Biomolecules bound to polymer or copolymer coated catalytic inorganic particles, immunoassays using the same and kits containing the same Polymer or copolymer coated catalytic colloidal metal particles bound to a biomolecule such as an antibody, avidin, or streptavidin and kits containing such polymer or copolymer coated catalytic metal particles are useful for detecting the presence of the... | 06/10/1997 |
| 5629626 | Apparatus and method for measuring buried ferromagnetic objects with a high accuracy of position and in synchronization with a sync pulse provided by a global positioning system Apparatus and method for collecting magnetometer data at the earth's surface in order to detect anomalies in the earth's magnetic field caused by buried ferromagnetic objects. A plurality of magnetometers are provided in a predetermined array on a mobile ... | 05/13/1997 |
| 5578351 | Liquid crystal composition and alignment layer A surface for the alignment of liquid crystals containing directionally-linked groups.... | 11/26/1996 |
| 5510628 | Deep ultraviolet photolithographically defined ultra-thin films for selective cell adhesion and outgrowth and method of manufacturing the same and devices containing the same Patterned surfaces for the selective adhesion and outgrowth of cells are useful in cell culture devices, prosthetic implants, and cell-based microsensors. Such surfaces may be prepared by a deep ultraviolet photolithographic technique.... | 04/23/1996 |
| 5492696 | Controlled release microstructures Tubules which contain an active agent in their lumen and compositions containing such microtubules are effective for providing a slow, controlled release of the active agent. Such microtubules are useful in the production of coating compositions for the p... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5469176 | Focused array radar A method and apparatus for resolving a radar return by an object or layer below the earth's surface from a radar return of an air-to-earth interface. More specifically, a method and apparatus for generating short pulsewidth, broad bandwidth RF signals and... | 11/21/1995 |
| 5391463 | Surface modification to create regions resistant to adsorption of biomolecules Irradiating, with ultraviolet light, surfaces which contain thiol groups, epoxy groups, or vicinal diol groups, results in surfaces which exhibit a reduced adsorption of biomolecules. In the case of surfaces having thiol groups such irradiation also resul... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5384265 | Biomolecules bound to catalytic inorganic particles, immunoassays using the same Catalytic colloidal metal particles bound to a biomolecule such as an antibody, avidin, or streptavidin are useful for detecting the presence of the biomolecule in an assay such as an immunoassay.... | 01/24/1995 |
| 5342737 | High aspect ratio metal microstructures and method for preparing the same High aspect ratio metal microstructures may be prepared by a method involving (i) forming a layer of a photoresist on a substrate; (ii) exposing the layer to actinic radiation in an imagewise manner and developing the exposed layer to obtain a surface which co... | 08/30/1994 |
| 5324591 | Deep ultraviolet photolithographically defined ultra-thin films for selective cell adhesion and outgrowth and method of manufacturing the same and devices containing the same Patterned surfaces for the selective adhesion and outgrowth of cells are useful in cell culture devices, prosthetic implants, and cell-based microsensors. Such surfaces may be prepared by a deep ultraviolet photolithographic technique.... | 06/28/1994 |
| 5308771 | Chemical sensors A device for detecting the presence or concentration of an analyte, a method of making the device, and a method of detecting the presence or concentration of an analyte. The invention features one or more supports, such as beads, which carry a thin film o... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5305136 | Optically bidirectional fast optical switch having reduced light loss An optically bidirectional electrically controlled optical switch having reduced light loss includes an electro-optic crystal having one set of fast and slow optical axes and having at least two light paths for receiving light beams through the crystal, t... | 04/19/1994 |
| 5298964 | Optical stress sensing system with directional measurement capabilities A stress sensor having directional measurement capabilities based on the photoelastic effect in isotropic photoelastic materials. Directional measurement capability is achieved in the sensor by the incorporation of three different optical axes passing thr... | 03/29/1994 |
| 5293261 | Device for low electric-field induced switching of Langmuir-Blodgett ferroelecric liquid crystal polymer films Devices in which a Langmuir-Blodgett film of a liquid crystal polymer is disposed between electrodes on the surface of a substrate exhibit fast ferroelectric switching in response to an electric field generated by the electrodes, and Langmuir-Blodgett fil... | 03/08/1994 |
| 5264798 | Autonulling AC bridge using differential and integration feedback A self-contained autonulling bridge circuit based on phase-sensitive deteon of an impedance to be measured is described. The system utilizes a feedback structure to control a variable impedance in order to establish the null of the bridge. The system uti... | 11/23/1993 |
| 5252695 | Fast switching ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers Liquid crystal polymers containing 0.1 to 0.9 mole % of repeating units bing a mesogenic side group and 0.1 to 0.9 mole % of repeating units which do not bear a mesogenic side group in which the mesogenic side group has the formula: --(CH2) | 10/12/1993 |
| 5109189 | Single crystal electro-optic sensor with three-axis measurement capability A sensor utilizing a single electro-optic crystal for simultaneously measuring an electric field in three directions. By providing three light beams aligned along specific crystallographic directions and having specific polarizations, the crystal can simu... | 04/28/1992 |
| 5090824 | Fast optical switch having reduced light loss An electrically controlled optical switch uses an electro-optic crystal of the type having at least one set of fast and slow optical axes. The crystal exhibits electric field induced birefringence such that a plane of polarization oriented along a first d... | 02/25/1992 |
| 4919522 | Optical switch having birefringent element An electrically controlled optical switch employs an electro-optical crystal of the kind exhibiting birefringence in each of two different light paths when the crystal is disposed in orthogonally oriented electric fields, with each light path being sensit... | 04/24/1990 |
| 4894615 | Stress-relieved amorphous metal ribbon magnetometer having viscous fluid interface A highly-sensitive, physically small and rugged magnetometer employs a magnetostrictive amorphous metal ribbon core. A piezoelectric driver induces stress variations in the ribbon of a magnitude determined by an external magnetic field. The amplitude of t... | 01/16/1990 |
| 4842410 | Apparatus and method utilizing interference fringes to determine the thermal stability of a liquid In a method of evaluating the thermal stability of hydrocarbon liquid fuels, the fuel flows over a heated tube that causes the fuel to decompose and deposit a residue as a film on the surface of the heated tube. The thickness of that residue film is a mea... | 06/27/1989 |
| 4780282 | Dosimeter for measuring exposure to hydrazine and hazardous hydrazine derivatives A dosimeter for collecting vapors and gases of hydrazine and of hazardous derivatives of hydrazine such as monomethylhydrazine and 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, employs a housing with a perforated cover. Situated inside the housing is a removable disk on which i... | 10/25/1988 |
| 4777358 | Optical differential strain gauge An optical strain gauge has a first birefringent optical module secured to a specimen bar in a manner transferring tensile strain from the bar to the module and has a similar second birefringent module secured to the bar in a manner transferring shear str... | 10/11/1988 |
| 4769599 | Magnetometer with magnetostrictive member of stress variable magnetic permeability A highly sensitive magnetometer employs a magnetostrictive amorphous metal core in which a piezoelectric driver induces stress variations. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the magnetization of the magnetostrictive core varies in relation to ... | 09/06/1988 |
| 4687993 | Fiber optic magnetic field sensing transducer having a resonant structure A magnetic field sensing transducer which converts magnetic field intensity into a magnetostrictive strain and transfers that strain to an optical fiber employs a thin wall, hollow, cylindrical shell around which is wound a ribbon of an amorphous metallic... | 08/18/1987 |
| 4539032 | SF6 Process for dehydration of fluoride glasses A method of making fluoride glasses produces fluoride glass having such low OH and low oxide content that the extrinsic optical absorbance caused by the OH vibration at 2.9μ is eliminated or substantially reduced. In the method, a glass charge is placed ... | 09/03/1985 |
