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 |
| D500828 | Golf tool with overmolding | 01/11/2005 |
| 6634455 | Thin-wall multi-concentric sleeve speaker An acoustic transmission line speaker enclosure with concentric cylindrical structures establishes acoustic coupling between a rear-traveling sound wave and a surrounding air mass. Inherent rigidity or high bending resistance of the cylindrical structure ... | 10/21/2003 |
| 6623371 | Golf putting and ball return system A golf putting training controls golf ball momentum into a delivery site by first absorbing momentum of indeterminate magnitude and thereafter allowing the ball to move along a controlled or sloped path under influence of gravity. As a result, the ball en... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6575652 | Structural couplings and system An annular collar-clamp attaches to a vertical post at selected height and radial orientation and includes an annular pattern of upper and lower dovetail mount sites receiving a bifurcated component mounting assembly having a corresponding inter-fitting p... | 06/10/2003 |
| 6533533 | Article handling device and system A pick and place device includes a lift head and a build platform. Both the lift head and the build platform include flexible aprons. An item layer is constructed on the build platform and the lift head is moved into position over the build platform. By s... | 03/18/2003 |
| 6481149 | Transparent fishing hook including transparent structural coating A transparent fishing hook is shown and described as being integrally formed of a material capable of passing images therethrough. In this manner, the hook becomes less visible against a given visual environment. The hook is shown in several embodiments i... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6425536 | Air brush with removable and rotatable nozzle head An air brush is shown and described including a replaceable, rotatable, nozzle head including a media port and a needle arrangement. Media contamination of the air brush is limited to the removable nozzle head, thereby making the air brush body free of me... | 07/30/2002 |
| 6419487 | Multiport antibackflow manifold for dental handpiece system An exhaust manifold for a dental handpiece system receives at an inlet thereof return air flow provided by a dental handpiece. A unidirectional valve couples the inlet to a common manifold space which in turn couples to ambient air by way of a filter. By ... | 07/16/2002 |
| 6351920 | Ceiling module perimeter seal A ceiling module perimeter seal establishes an air-tight seal between modules forming a ceiling structure. The seal includes a groove about the perimeter of modules and aligned relative to a corresponding groove of an adjoining module. Aligned grooves in ... | 03/05/2002 |
| 6272636 | Digital product execution control and security Digital product execution control as disclosed contemplates production of a final version of a digital product and subsequently imposing execution control on that digital product. The manufacturer of the original digital product need not incorporate execu... | 08/07/2001 |
| 6231298 | Article pick and place device A top-picking palletizer and de-palletizer moves pallet layers along a fixed path by use of a single-dimension actuation system and top-picking lift head. The illustrated system includes an actuation assembly operated by a single reversible motor moving d... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6189097 | Digital Certificate A digital certificate includes framing characters defining a protected area. The protected area contains a selected set of components, including text-based components and binary-based components, and the certificate serves as a transport container for suc... | 02/13/2001 |
| 6117034 | Floating flexible drive element tensioner A floating chain tensioner includes a pair of opposing sprockets with at least one sprocket in slidable relation relative to the other. A pair of elastomer tensioning bands urges the slide-mounted sprocket towards the other sprocket. The floating chain te... | 09/12/2000 |
| 6110088 | Integrated transport system A integrated transport system includes automated mass mailing material handling. An infeed accepts material directly the output of a folder, applies an address to each article, and outputs the addressed articles on a collection table. Because the infeed i... | 08/29/2000 |
| 6102881 | Hinged drop foot brace A drop foot brace includes an upper support bearing against the rear lower leg and a lower support bearing against the rear heel. A springed hinge couples the upper and lower supports and biases the upper and lower supports against the rear of the user's ... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6088983 | Roof panel and roof panel system Elongate metal roof panels with interlocking edge formations combine to establish a roof system. A center panel having matching edge locking formations and positioned at a mid-point on a planar roof section couples to a first series of elongate metal roof... | 07/18/2000 |
| 6073256 | Digital product execution control Digital product execution control as disclosed contemplates production of a final version of a digital product and subsequently imposing execution control on that digital product. The manufacturer of the original digital product need not incorporate execu... | 06/06/2000 |
| 5987975 | Machine lubrication system monitor A machine lubrication system monitor collects lubricant pressure, flow rate, and temperature information and calculates as a function thereof a substantially constant magnitude signal representing normal machine operation. Deviation therefrom indicates ab... | 11/23/1999 |
| 5988527 | Airbrush adapter for slow speed fine line detail An attachment to an airbrush provides fine line detail with relatively slow movement of the airbrush and attachment. The attachment couples to the nose of an airbrush and receives the atomized media spray from the airbrush within a chamber. The chamber co... | 11/23/1999 |
| 5984620 | Pick and place palletizing device A pick and place device includes a lift head and a build platform. Both the lift head and the build platform include flexible aprons. An item layer is constructed on the build platform and the lift head is moved into position over the build platform. By s... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5971700 | Fixed path pick and place device A top-picking palletizer and de-palletizer moves pallet layers along a fixed path by use of a single-dimension actuation system and top-picking lift head. The illustrated system includes an actuation assembly operated by a single reversible motor moving d... | 10/26/1999 |
| 5963008 | Method and apparatus for electroacoustic battery sonication Electroacoustic battery sonication rehabilitates a battery by decreasing metallic shorting across battery elements through sonication. Sonication may be produced by application of an electrical signal of selected frequency to the terminals of a battery, t... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5920633 | Thin-wall multi-concentric cylinder speaker enclosure with audio amplifier tunable to listening room An acoustic transmission line speaker enclosure with concentric cylindrical structures establishes acoustic coupling between a rear-traveling sound wave and a surrounding air mass. Inherent rigidity or high bending resistance of the cylindrical structure ... | 07/06/1999 |
| 5898777 | Digital product dissemination and sale Digital product dissemination and sale occurs across a broad spectrum of distribution platforms making available a packaged digital product for wide spread public distribution. Execution of a packaged digital product on a purchasing consumer's personal co... | 04/27/1999 |
| 5885008 | Plastic bearing with lubricating strip A plastic bearing and plastic conveyor guide track include a lubricating site formed by an oil saturated polymer. In a plastic bearing, a lubricating strip resides in contact with a shaft rotatably supported by the shaft. In the guide track, oil saturated... | 03/23/1999 |
| 5850838 | Folding smoking pipe with combined mouthpiece and bowl cover A smoking pipe includes a rotatable coupling between a base including a bowl and mouthpiece. The mouthpiece rotates to a first position covering the bowl and to a second position distant from the bowl for use of the smoking pipe. The collapsed form of the... | 12/22/1998 |
| 5837970 | Method and apparatus for controlled delivery of heat energy into a mechanical device A heater includes an aluminum die cast body defining an enclosure and an adaptor block. A heating element within the enclosure activates, under control of an associated heat sensing device, a heating element within the enclosure to transfer heat energy in... | 11/17/1998 |
| 5819075 | Multiprocessor interconnection in scalable coherent interface A scalable coherent interface (SCI) architecture delivers a high speed unidirectional signal from one SCI node to a next successive SCI node. The signal includes a data portion, e.g., SCI symbol, and a clock portion, e.g., a symbol separator. The clock po... | 10/06/1998 |
| 5814723 | Timing light adapter A timing light adapter includes first and second light transmissive channels. The first light transmissive channel injects light into an engine case and illuminates a timing mark therein. The second light transmissive channel carries light reflected from ... | 09/29/1998 |
| 5794397 | Clean room ceiling structure light fixture wireway A ceiling structure for retaining air filter panels having a grid of interconnected rails. Each rail has a recessed channel for containing a light fixture so that the light fixture does not hang below the ceiling surface. The structure may also include ha... | 08/18/1998 |
| 5725409 | Sound-emitting toppling game element and method for playing a game A game element, a game and a method for playing a game employing a plurality of game elements. The game element comprising a body that is disposed in contact with a playing surface and in an upright position relative to the surface. Incorporated in the bo... | 03/10/1998 |
| 5675855 | Self-inflating air mattress A self-inflating air mattress includes an air chamber and a foam panel therein. The air chamber is defined by top and bottom sheet panels and a valve allowing air passage into and out of the air chamber. The foam panel includes apertures therethrough, and... | 10/14/1997 |
| 5650581 | Jack base for electric musical instruments A jack base for electrical musical instrument, e.g., electric guitar, improves mounting stability and makes easier the placement of an electric jack therein. The jack base presents a concave surface accepting and guiding the jack into the jack hole withou... | 07/22/1997 |
| 5613759 | Light and filter support structure A ceiling structure for retaining air filter panels having a grid of interconnected rails. Each rail has a recessed channel for containing a light fixture so that the light fixture does not hang below the ceiling surface. The structure may also include ha... | 03/25/1997 |
| 5613419 | Load balancing arm A load balancing arm is shown and described as having improved control including a programmable control element and electronic air regulation to provide precise and controllable lifting force on a load. The disclosed load balancing arm responds to slight ... | 03/25/1997 |
| 5614031 | Method and apparatus for washing a fibrous mat Washing of a fibrous mat as disclosed herein, including both rinsing and drying steps and apparatus, occurs within an enclosure receiving a source of aqueous solution and mounting the fibrous mat rotationally therein. While water jet streams produce a fir... | 03/25/1997 |
| 5613097 | Method of cataloging removable media on a computer A method of automatic and user intuitive cataloging of removable media on a computer. The method does not require the user to launch an application to catalog because it operates within the existing system software and does not require a user to learn to ... | 03/18/1997 |
| 5533934 | Child safety swing for playground swing A child safety device is shown and described for converting a belt seat playground swing into a child seat safety swing. The device includes an attachment mechanism for securing the device to the chains of a belt seat playground swing and includes a waist... | 07/09/1996 |
| 5531490 | Door security device allowing partial door opening A door security device allows partial opening of a door by coupling a door to a floor structure. The coupling is provided by a door bar including first and second length portions in spaced, parallel relation. The first and second length portions are inter... | 07/02/1996 |
| 5456130 | Load balancing arm A load balancing arm is shown and described as having improved control including a programmable control element and electronic air regulation to provide precise and controllable lifting force on a load. The disclosed load balancing arm responds to slight ... | 10/10/1995 |
