Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5735484 | Helicopter skid A helicopter skid having a wall defining an elongated generally cylindrical tubular cross section, and a web extending vertically along the longitudinal axis of the skid between a bottom portion and a top portion of the wall. The top and the bottom portio... | 04/07/1998 |
| 5634225 | Modular air bed An air support unit for use in a modular air support bed has a common base pad of pliable material and inflatable elements releaseably fastened to one side of the base pad to define a body support surface. The air support unit constitutes a lightweight, f... | 06/03/1997 |
| 5040710 | Utility rack A bicycle utility carrying rack has a two piece clamp and a separate carrying grid. One clamp piece is bent to form a square-ended head which fits in a channel in the grid. The grid can be assembled to the clamp in one of two mutually perpendicular orient... | 08/20/1991 |
| 4723410 | Safety improvements in high pressure thermal machines In a stirling cycle machine a shell means enclosing the machine body for maintaining a substantially sealed atmosphere about the machine body. A diffuser arranged between the machine body and the outer shell for diffusing a shock wave traveling towards th... | 02/09/1988 |
