Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5563791 | Envelope detector useful in crash discrimination A system (10) and method for detecting an envelope of received vehicle acceleration information (a(t)) useful in controlling actuation of a vehicle passenger safety device, wherein consecutive values for received vehicle acceleration information (a(t)) ar... | 10/08/1996 |
| 5559699 | Matched filter for vehicle crash discrimination A matched filter (14) for vehicle crash discrimination system (10) utilizes at least one set of n scaling factors stored in a memory (24) to combine (22) with a set of n time sequenced acceleration data samples. The values of the n scaling factors are sel... | 09/24/1996 |
| 5559491 | Automatically armed vehicle anti-theft system A motorized vehicle anti-theft system which is passive by being automatically armed (i.e., does not require a vehicle occupant to set the system). Once power has been turned on to the vehicle, detection of an attempt to start the vehicle motor or the open... | 09/24/1996 |
| 5547217 | Air bag inflator and method of manufacture thereof An air bag inflator is manufactured by sandwiching a wire mesh filter between a pair of flat elongated perforate strips of steel, thereafter rolling the sandwiched steel strips and wire mesh concomitantly to form a right circular cylindrical tube with the... | 08/20/1996 |
| 5519613 | System and method for discriminating short-period crashes In a system (10) and method for controlling actuation of a vehicle passenger safety device in response to an event possibly requiring actuation of the safety device, a differential measure (m1 (t)) is generated based on stored consecutive value... | 05/21/1996 |
| 5514230 | Nonazide gas generating compositions with a built-in catalyst Nonazide gas generating compositions are formed from a nonazide fuel, an oxidizer, a slag former, and a built-in catalyst comprising an alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, or transition metal salt of tetrazoles, bitetrazoles, and triazoles, or a transitio... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5509443 | Pressure regulator for industrial process exhaust system A pressure regulator for an industrial process system is connected between the industrial process equipment and pollution control equipment and exhibits a pressure inversely related to pressure changes in the pollution control equipment so as to maintain ... | 04/23/1996 |
| 5508918 | Predictor/check crash discriminator A system and method for triggering deployment of a vehicle air bag in response to a crash or sudden vehicle deceleration wherein a modified acceleration value is obtained by subtracting a correction term from data representative of sensed instantaneous ve... | 04/16/1996 |
| 5508920 | Crash discriminator responsive to early-crush and multiple-hit scenarios In a system and method for controlling actuation of a vehicle passenger safety device in response to an event possibly requiring actuation of the safety device, stored and rank-ordered values for received vehicle acceleration are used to generate a high-r... | 04/16/1996 |
| 5505861 | System for gravity settling of fine particles from a liquid A gravity cartridge filter for filtering fine particles from a fluid comprises a cartridge for disposition in a contaminated fluid tank. The cartridge comprises a plurality of layers that include a fluid passage in vertical juxtaposition with a filter med... | 04/09/1996 |
| 5503600 | Derailleur gear assembly A gear sub-assembly for a bicycle chain derailleur system comprises a plurality of gears of different pitch diameter oriented and retained in a conical array by gear support arms having locking means at each end thereof releasably engageable with the gear... | 04/02/1996 |
| 5496033 | Indoor golf facility An indoor golf facility comprises an air supported ultraviolet light translucent canopy overlying an undulating natural grass playing surface. A plurality of curtains are suspended from the canopy and are arranged in an array defining a plurality of fairw... | 03/05/1996 |
| 5496979 | Accelerometer with optical switch An accelerometer (10) having a sensing mass (36) which is displaced in response to acceleration so as to alter the amount of light coupled between a pair of optical fibers (42, 44). An optical coupling is responsive to displacement of the sensing mass ind... | 03/05/1996 |
| 5492364 | Rupturable plastic housing for an air bag inflator An inflator for an inflatable vehicle occupant restraint system comprises a plastic housing encased in fiber windings that is rupturable upon the production of a predetermined combustion gas pressure internally of the housing to effect venting of the gase... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5490069 | Multiple-strategy crash discrimination system A system (10) and method for actuating a vehicle air bag (38) uses an optical detector (12) to generate an output (22) representative of the distance between a vehicle occupant and a fixed structure within the vehicle. The output (22) is subsequently used... | 02/06/1996 |
| 5490066 | Method for discriminating long-period, low-velocity crashes A vehicle crash discrimination method and system for controlling the actuation of a vehicle passenger restraint device (e.g., an air bag or a seat belt harness) comprises determining a vehicle velocity value and comparing it to a predetermined velocity th... | 02/06/1996 |
| 5485717 | Multi-spool by-pass turbofan engine A multi-spool turbofan engine has a high pressure spool that operates at high idle RPM so as to power accessories and minimize acceleration time from idle to full rated RPM without producing high idle thrust which compromises the landing maneuver and grou... | 01/23/1996 |
| 5482139 | Automated drive-up vending facility An automated drive-up vending facility (10) and method utilizes a plurality of automatic transaction machines (12) located around the periphery of a storage building (14), whereby customers can drive their vehicles along side the building, insert an accou... | 01/09/1996 |
| 5478108 | System and method for reducing effect of negative data in crash discrimination A system and method for controlling actuation of a vehicle passenger safety device in response to an event possibly requiring actuation of the safety device, wherein a modified differentiated measure is generated from received vehicle acceleration informa... | 12/26/1995 |
| 5472428 | Method of using an intubation instrument An intubation instrument has an abraded and adsorbent sheath that is telescoped both internally and externally of a tube. The sheath is provided with a handle to facilitate retraction thereof as the tube is inserted into a body cavity, thereby minimizing ... | 12/05/1995 |
| 5471021 | Acceleration sensor with laterally-supported beam contacts An improved acceleration sensor (10) includes a housing (12) having an internal passage (14) defined therein, a sensing mass (18) located within the passage which moves from a first position within the passage towards a second position therein in response... | 11/28/1995 |
| 5460671 | Ignition compositions for inflator gas generators Autoigniting compositions and processes for a gas generator of a vehicle occupant restraint system result in rapid autoignition at relatively low temperatures from approximately 135° C. to 210° C., thereby allowing the gas generator to operate at lower ... | 10/24/1995 |
| 5460668 | Nonazide gas generating compositions with reduced toxicity upon combustion Nonazide gas generating compositions are formed from a nonazide fuel, an oxidizer, and a heat absorbing additive in the form of a glass compound. The additive effects a reduction in the combustion temperature of the gas generant, thereby resulting in infl... | 10/24/1995 |
| 5461566 | Method for minimalizing structural resonance on vehicle acceleration data A method and system for improving reliability of a vehicle crash discrimination system by minimalizing the effect of resonance inherently produced by structural elements of the vehicle includes using at least two accelerometers (18,20) mounted to differen... | 10/24/1995 |
| 5446661 | Adjustable crash discrimination system with occupant position detection A method and system for discriminating motor vehicle crashes to actuate a safety restraint (10) utilizes an optical vehicle occupant position detector (12) to generate data (22) representative of the position of an occupant relative to fixed structure wit... | 08/29/1995 |
| 5445412 | Vehicle impact detection system A vehicle impact detection system (10) for controlling the actuation of an occupant safety restraint device (24) includes a sensor array (12) affixed to an outer surface (16) of the vehicle for continuously generating a two dimensional output (14) represe... | 08/29/1995 |
| 5441485 | Bladder catheter A catheter comprises a relatively stiff drainage tube having an inflatable sheath telescoped thereover. The sheath is inflated after insertion of the tube and sheath into the urethra of a patient. The sheath has a plurality of circumferentially spaced rel... | 08/15/1995 |
| 5431577 | Floating escutcheon A floating escutcheon prevents contact damage during mating and unmating of pin and socket connectors and comprises a hollow member slidably supported relative to one of the connectors and having a central aperture for the acceptance of the other connecto... | 07/11/1995 |
| 5407430 | Intravenous catheter An expandable intravenous catheter for the infusion of fluids into a blood vessel comprises a helically wound tube having a diameter that can be varied from a normal minimum diameter to a relatively larger diameter by axial movement of the ends of the tub... | 04/18/1995 |
| 5406415 | Imaging system for a head-mounted display An imaging system (10) for a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) comprises a projection screen (22) integrally formed with a headgear structure of the HMD. An image source is projected onto the projection screen (22) as an intermediate image. An optical sub-system... | 04/11/1995 |
| 5400487 | Variable inflation system for vehicle safety restraint An inflation system (10) for a gas-operated vehicle occupant safety restraint, such as an air bag (12), comprises an accelerometer (14) and an infrared transceiver (20) for receiving vehicle acceleration information (a) and occupant position information (... | 03/28/1995 |
| 5397075 | Seat belt pretensioner A pretensioner for a seat belt utilizes a relatively inexpensive gas-producing cartridge that is easily replaced after activation so as to condition the pretensioner for subsequent use. The cartridge is similar to a shotgun shell and is chambered in a bre... | 03/14/1995 |
| 5397543 | Gas generator A gas generator comprises a propellant container having an igniter at one end thereof for igniting a propellant, a secondary propellant charge comprising a plurality of circular grains having a diameter to thickness ratio greater than 2.5, and a primary p... | 03/14/1995 |
| 5393182 | Seal nut A three piece seal nut comprises an aluminum base having a workpiece engaging surface with an elastomeric seal ring thereon and an annular titanium torque accepting wrench pad that is seated on said base and has a threaded bore for the acceptance of a bol... | 02/28/1995 |
| 5394253 | Flat polarizing nonabsorbing beam splitter A nonabsorbing polarizing optical beam splitter is described comprising a transparent substrate supporting a layer of adjacent flat beam-splitting channels. Each of the beam-splitting channels abuts respective adjacent channels at a 90° angle to form a c... | 02/28/1995 |
| 5394304 | Shielded self-molding package for an electronic component An electromagnetically shielded self-molding package for an electronic component comprises a pair of bags having an electrically conductive coating therebetween and disposed about the component and having a polymerizable resin completely filling the space... | 02/28/1995 |
| 5393183 | Captive nut A captive nut comprises an internally threaded nut body having torque receiving wrench pads and an annular truncated conical surface terminating in a radially extending load transfer surface. The nut body is accepted in a complementary cup-shaped washer h... | 02/28/1995 |
| 5391158 | Nasogastric tube A system for introducing a nasogastric tube into the stomach of a patient comprises a digestible weight capable of being swallowed by the patient, a digestible guide string having one end attached to the weight, and a tube telescoped about the guide strin... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5389149 | Paint system A paint system utilizes a paint pumping station comprising a plurality of small paint pots, one for each color inventoried in the system. A pump is provided for each paint pot and is connected through a like plurality of lines to color changers at each pa... | 02/14/1995 |
| 5386775 | Azide-free gas generant compositions and processes Composition and process for inflating an automobile or aircraft occupant safety restraint bag which reduces the toxicity of the gases produced by gas generants. A relatively low energy nitrogen containing fuel is combined with a burn rate accelerator, suc... | 02/07/1995 |
