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 |
| 5510772 | Flame detection method and apparatus A flame detection apparatus and method includes a camera, preferably operating in the near I.R. which produces a succession of images of a space to be monitored. The image intensity of each pixel in each image is converted to a binary value by comparing i... | 04/23/1996 |
| 5464980 | Flame sensors and methods of sensing flame A flame sensor comprises a cell (10) containing an infra-red absorptive fluid such as carbon dioxide gas. Heating caused by absorption of the infra-red radiation is detected by measuring a resulting temperature or pressure change.... | 11/07/1995 |
| 5231378 | Particle detection which senses scattered light A high sensitivity smoke detector comprises a cylindrical housing incorporating a sampling chamber through which air to be sampled is forced. A modulated light source, such as a laser, directs modulated light through the chamber to a beam dump. The light ... | 07/27/1993 |
| 5168154 | Electrical avalanche photodiode quenching circuit An electrical quenching circuit for detecting, and quenching, avalanches in an avalanching device (5), comprises a TTL comparator (14) having one of its inputs (24) fed with a predetermined potential via a potential divider (18,20) and a voltage reference... | 12/01/1992 |
| 5154237 | Detonation suppression Suppression apparatus for suppressing detonations in a pipeline which may contain an explosible vapor comprising suppressant discharge units for discharging a suppressant substance into the pipeline within a predetermined operating time. Detectors are pos... | 10/13/1992 |
| 5078343 | Oxygen supply unit An oxygen supply system for use in an aircraft has four check valves (19) each having an inlet connected to a source of oxygen, and an outlet connected by a flexible hose (17) to a face mask (13). The check valve (19) associated with each face mask has a ... | 01/07/1992 |
| 5031537 | Electrical timing arrangements and methods A circuit arrangement for electrically firing a load, such as the rocket motor of a projectile, at a predetermined time after it has been ejected from a predetermined path (such as the barrel of a gun) comprises a capacitor which is charged up through bor... | 07/16/1991 |
| 5030827 | Radiation detection arrangements A radiation detection arrangement is described using a layer of pyroelectric material such as polyvinylidene fluoride positioned between two electrodes. One electrode has a radiation-reflecting front surface and is coated with material having selected rad... | 07/09/1991 |
| 4989465 | Apparatus and methods for producing motive power For spinning up a gyroscope rotor, a motive power generating unit is used which contains a pyrotechnic gas-generating substance in the form of an azide composition. When electrically ignited, it produces a jet of filtered nitrogen gas which impacts on buc... | 02/05/1991 |
