Famous Patents
3M employee and church chorister Art Fry needed something to temporarily mark pages in his hymnal. He was in luck because his colleague, Spencer Silver, accidentally developed a glue that was too weak for other purposes. After initially discouraging consumer response, Post-it Notes became a hit in 1979.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8151654 | Sensor pad for controlling airbag deployment and associated support A sensor pad for controlling the deployment of an automobile airbag. Weight sensing pad 10 is used in the seat 54 of an automobile, (not illustrated), to detect the presence of an occupant on the seat. Weight sensing pad 10 is used in conjunctio... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8040687 | Retracting lock mechanism for an electronics device A retractable locking mechanism comprising: a lever having a handle end opposite a rotation end and a pivot point positioned between the handle end and the rotation end such that the lever pivots about an axis of rotation of the lever; a first cam positioned on the ... | 10/18/2011 |
| 7914317 | Reverse cam release mechanism A releasable locking mechanism is provided that includes a carrier, at least one projection and an actuator. The projection extends from the carrier and is rotatable along a rotational axis between a locked state and an unlocked state. The actuator is operably coupl... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7833019 | Spring beam wafer connector A multi-contact electrical connector wafer includes an insulating base and at least one bay on a first side of the base. A conductor is associated with the at least one bay and the conductor is adapted to contact a corresponding mating element. The wafer further inc... | 11/16/2010 |
| 7806737 | Stamped beam connector An electrical connector includes a first and second array of flexible beams that are overlapped within a hood and that define a substantially cylindrically cavity for receiving a mating connector. Contact areas of each of the flexible beams may be shaped to define m... | 10/05/2010 |
| 7794235 | Continuous wireform connector Apparatuses and methods of manufacturing woven electrical connectors is disclosed. In one embodiment, the connector is formed with a continuous wire having adjacent sections with passageways formed from the wire through which loading elements may be inserted. In som... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7702439 | Crash sensing via piezoelectric sensors A system and method for characterizing piezoelectric sensor responses for automotive vehicle crash analysis, is disclosed. The method employs Daubechies wavelet analysis (1006) to plot signal response amplitudes (1008) in three-dimensional space of at ... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7547215 | Round connector with spring helix Apparatuses and methods of manufacturing woven electrical connectors is disclosed. In one embodiment, the connector is formed with a continuous wire having adjacent sections with passageways formed from the wire through which loading elements may be inserted. In som... | 06/16/2009 |
| 7516645 | Omni-directional crash sensor A stress wave sensor comprising a piezoelectric film and means therein for connection to sensor electronics. The piezoelectric film preferably comprises polyvinylidene fluoride. Also a stress wave sensor system and methods employing one or more such stress wave sens... | 04/14/2009 |
| 7458827 | Electrical connector Electrical connectors are adapted to provide a reliable electrical connection to mating elements of a mating connector. The connector can have sockets that accept mating elements of the mating connector. Conductors of the connector are associated with each socket an... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7381064 | Flexible flat cable termination structure for a clockspring The present invention is directed towards a flexible flat cable of a vehicular clockspring whose conductors are directly attached to the contacts of a mounting header. The flat cable comprises a series of conductors “printed” in-between a pair of insulating laye... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7355857 | Heat sink gasket A receptacle assembly is provided having a gasket interposed between a heat sink and the receptacle, in order to provide EMI shielding and limit leakage from an opening in the receptacle that allows the heat sink to engage an electronic module inserted in the recept... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7317392 | Apparatus for occupant detection An apparatus for occupant detection in a vehicle, including a dielectric substrate with a reference plane, and a plurality of electrodes forming a capacitive array on said dielectric substrate and coupled to said reference plane. Each of the plurality of electrodes ... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7275959 | Multi-port module receptacle A multi-port receptacle assembly is provided having a housing forming multiple ports and having electrical connectors mounted within the ports so that upon assembly with a base via mounting features between the base and the housing a uniform multi-port assembly is p... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7247822 | Carbon fiber heating element assembly and methods for making An electrical resistance heating element has an axially elongated flat carbon fiber tow, which includes a multiplicity of continuous axially parallel carbon filaments. The tow is sandwiched between two layers of polyester sheet material and bonded to only one of the... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7237443 | Sensor pad for controlling airbag deployment and associated support A sensor pad for controlling the deployment of an automobile airbag. Weight sensing pad 10 is used in the seat 54 of an automobile, (not illustrated), to detect the presence of an occupant on the seat. Weight sensing pad 10 is used in conjunction with the vehicle's ... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7188414 | Method of assembling a flat electrical cable A flat electrical cable and a modular rotary anvil for assembling a flat electrical cable wherein the flat cable includes an upper and lower layer. The upper layer has ribs protruding along its length that are substantially parallel to one another, and continuous su... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7181173 | Electrical transceiver module with alternate peripheral device connector The present invention pertains to an electrical transceiver module having a peripheral device connector to receive copper plugs having a profile equal to or larger than the outer profile of the standard module housing profile. An embodiment of the invention provides... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7161099 | Warning system for ignition switch A warning system for an ignition switch that includes a housing of the ignition switch and a plunger having at least a portion slidably received in the housing, a key abutment end and a contact abutment end opposite the key abutment end. The plunger is movable betwe... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7159306 | Modular rotary anvil A modular rotary anvil for mounting on an ultrasonic welding machine. The modular rotary anvil includes a first end segment configured to attach to the ultrasonic welding machine, a second end segment configured to attach to the ultrasonic welding machine, and at le... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7044777 | Multi-port module receptacle A multi-port receptacle assembly is provided having a housing forming multiple ports and having electrical connectors mounted within the ports so that upon assembly with a base via mounting features between the base and the housing a uniform multi-port assembly is p... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7037139 | Wiretrap electrical connector and assembly with strain relief plate A canister assembly is provided including electrical connector having a plate which may be moved between a first and second position in order to lock a wire to the electrical connector. The electrical connector provides for a wire trap contact in order to quickly in... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7029284 | Floating contact assembly for a steering wheel The present invention is directed towards an electrical contact assembly in a steering wheel that allows the contacts of a primary circuit board to move relative to the corresponding contacts of a secondary circuit board without disengaging the electrical connection... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7005592 | Plunger contact assembly for an automobile control stalk The contact switch assembly comprises a rotating housing with a stalk having a hollow shaft portion, a tip portion extending forwardly from the shaft portion and a contact arm extending downwardly from the shaft portion. The tip portion extends out from the housing ... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6966787 | Clockspring with flat cable A clockspring for electrically connecting an airbag of a vehicle to crash sensors. The clockspring including a housing that has an inner chamber, and a flat electrical cable with an upper insulator layer, a lower insulator layer connected to the upper layer along su... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6956198 | Rapid high resolution position sensor for auto steering A position sensor for determining the angular position of a steering wheel. The shaft of the steering wheel is connected to a code disk and turn ring of the sensor so that when steering wheel is rotated, the coded disk and turn ring are also rotated. The code disk i... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6948706 | Clockspring with integral strain relief A clockspring with a housing that includes a stationary member having a first wall and a hub member rotatably coupled to the stationary member having a second wall. A flat cable is wound between the first and second walls. The flat cable has opposite first and secon... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6914201 | Multiple detent switch A multifunctional switch for any automobile application having a need for a multiple detent switch. The switch includes a button that is moveably connected to a base. The switch includes a first lever connected to the button at a point of the first lever that is clo... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6900399 | Electrical switch assembly An electrical switch assembly for actuating an electrical circuit by closing at least one pair of conducting contacts in a sliding manner is disclosed. The assembly includes a contact carrier within a switch housing, a spring attached to the carrier that biases the ... | 05/31/2005 |
| 6881904 | Heat-Shrinkable EMI/RFI shielding material The present invention relates to a material for shielding electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI) between a, electrical conductor or bundle of conductors and the environment. The material comprises a heat-shrinkable woven fabric coa... | 04/19/2005 |
| 6876838 | Electrical transceiver module with alternate peripheral device connector The present invention pertains to an electrical transceiver module having a peripheral device connector to receive copper plugs having a profile equal to or larger than the outer profile of the standard module housing profile. An embodiment of the invention provides... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6860745 | Modular clockspring The present invention is directed to a modular clockspring to be used in automobile steering columns that allow modular parts of the clockspring to be modified without the need to alter the design of the entire clockspring. The clockspring is composed of at least si... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6851840 | Illuminated surfaces in the interior of an automobile A lighting system for a vehicle having luminescent or “glow-in-the-dark” markings placed on an interior surface of the vehicle and a light source located remotely from the markings to illuminate the markings, particularly at night. The markings can be placed on ... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6844541 | Rapid high resolution position sensor for auto steering A position sensor for determining the angular position of a steering wheel. The shaft of the steering wheel is connected to a code disk and turn ring of the sensor so that when steering wheel is rotated, the coded disk and turn ring are also rotated. The code disk i... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6841735 | Flat cable and modular rotary anvil to make same A flat electrical cable and a modular rotary anvil for assembling a flat electrical cable is provided wherein the flat cable includes an upper and lower layer. The upper layer has ribs protruding along its length that are substantially parallel to one another, and c... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6793537 | Wire connector assembly and method of forming same The present invention provides for a wire plug connector assembly where the individual wires are connectorized by forming a housing around the wires and capturing the terminal metallic potion of the wire by a ferrule which is received within an aperture of a recepta... | 09/21/2004 |
| 6762693 | Multiple input multiplexing connection apparatus and method A connection system for communicating multiple signals between a steering wheel and a steering column of a vehicle over a single wire is provided that uses time division to multiplex multiple signals. A plurality of signals are multiplexed together ranging from two ... | 07/13/2004 |
| 6732584 | Fuel level sensor with flexible circuit A fuel level sensor is provided having a flexible printed circuit cylinder, having a buoyant member mounted on a rod and a contact member mounted on the buoyant member which abuttingly contacts the rod and the conductive traces formed on the inside of the flexible c... | 05/11/2004 |
| 6698299 | Magnetoelastic torque sensor A flux-gate magnetometer torque sensor is provided having a rotatable shaft to which a torque force is to be applied, a sleeve of conductive foil affixed to the surface of the shaft over the magnetically active regions, a plurality of saturable magnetic w... | 03/02/2004 |
| 6692664 | Printed wiring board conductive via hole filler having metal oxide reducing capability A conductive via filler for printed wiring boards capable of reducing copper oxides and thereby eliminating a cleaning step in printed wiring board construction, the conductive via filler consisting essentially of silver flake, a resin, a hardener, and a ... | 02/17/2004 |
