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 |
| 6446697 | Rapidly making complex castings Method of rapidly making casting, comprising: designing a computer graphic model of the casting; sectioning the graphic model into graphic members which are at least one of blocks and slabs; carving a solid member for each of the graphic members, the soli... | 09/10/2002 |
| 6316047 | Method for applying dry powder refractory coating to sand cores A method of applying a refractory coating to densified foundry sand cores having micropores between the sand grains having the steps of: (a) mixing a dry powder refractory material (anhydrous MmgOSiO2 talc) with a dry powder impacting media, th... | 11/13/2001 |
| 6298898 | Optimizing cycle time and/or casting quality in the making of cast metal products A method of optimizing cycle time and/or casting quality in the making of a cast metal product which has been defined by a CAD product model. The method involves the steps of (a) providing a computer casting model using objective functions that simulate t... | 10/09/2001 |
| 6280592 | Resin-bonded solid-film-lubricant coated hood latch mechanism and method of making A hood latch mechanism having interengaging pivot elements and pins for pivotally carrying the elements, first and second parts of a frame which are placed on opposite side of the pivot elements, the parts being held together tightly by pins pivotally car... | 08/28/2001 |
| 6272849 | Apparatus and method for heating an automotive catalyst to an emission reactive condition A method of conditioning an automotive catalyst by (a) electrolyzing water on-board the vehicle to derive and store separate quantities of hydrogen and oxygen at pressures in the range of 50-100 psi; (b) immediately upon initiation of engine starting, rap... | 08/14/2001 |
| 6263556 | Temperature compensating gas spring strut and method of making An apparatus and a method of making an automatic temperature compensating gas spring strut, the method comprising providing an outer cylinder having opposite ends with one end closed and the other end apertured to permit movement of the strut therethrough... | 07/24/2001 |
| 6247633 | Fabricating low distortion lap weld construction A method of making a low distortion frame construction, the construction having joint regions formed by first and second overlapping members defining a lapped interface, the joint regions being comprised of material that can be converted to a solid state ... | 06/19/2001 |
| 6234556 | Body flap for a tank filler neck with a remote unlocking mechanism A body flap for the tank filler neck with an electrical remote unlocking mechanism having a locking bolt that can be engaged with a spring and disengaged with a solenoid, from a closure part on a body flap, the solenoid and the locking bolt arranged in th... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6230066 | Simultaneous manufacturing and product engineering integrated with knowledge networking Method of simultaneously carrying out manufacturing and product engineering integrated with knowledge networking. The method comprises: (a) creating a logic modeller by (i) identifying elements of an engineering project and syntactically arranging such el... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6171175 | Method of polishing uniform or free-form metal surfaces Method of automatic finishing of a free-form contoured metal or hard die surface, comprising: providing a rotating brush with a central hub carried by a driving spindle for rotation about the hub axis; providing the brush hub with a plurality of closely s... | 01/09/2001 |
| 6139656 | Electrochemical hardness modification of non-allotropic metal surfaces An electrochemical method of modifying the surface hardness of a non-allotropic metal member 10, comprising: (a) forming the member to near net-shape with at least one surface 12 to be hardened; (b) subjecting the surface 12 to rapid melting and resolidif... | 10/31/2000 |
| 6139421 | Paint spray booth-differential downdraft control A paint spray cell and air plenum assembly, comprising (a) a paint spray cell having a perforate air inlet wall occupying at least a substantial portion of one side of the cell and having at least one electrostatic paint sprayer to direct charged spray pa... | 10/31/2000 |
| 6131341 | Sealing system for vehicle door A vehicle door sealing system includes a flexible weatherstrip containing magnetizable particulate material. Selected areas of the weatherstrip are magnetized to enhance the sealing action at hard-to-seal zones, such as curved corner areas along the door ... | 10/17/2000 |
| 6127629 | Hermetically sealed microelectronic device and method of forming same A microelectronic device is hermetically sealed at the wafer level. A substrate is provided having associated electronics and at least one metal bonding pad. A dielectric layer, such as pyrex glass film, is sputter deposited atop the substrate to form a g... | 10/03/2000 |
| 6099048 | Automotive door latching system An automotive door latching system can include a first latch for locking one vehicle door, a second latch for locking a second vehicle door, and an electric switch controlled by the first switch for supplying current to an electrically-operated latch rele... | 08/08/2000 |
| 6070921 | Lift-gate dual latch with auxiliary spring A lift-gate dual latch mechanism utilizing both a primary spring and an auxiliary spring operates to provide the additional force needed to release a striker member from both stop positions of a dual latch. Without the auxiliary spring as mentioned above,... | 06/06/2000 |
| 6067708 | Method of interconnecting a dual media assembly A method of interconnecting a dual media component assembly for an automotive vehicle instrument panel includes the steps of mounting a first component to a first surface of a unitary bracket, fixing a second component to a second surface of the unitary b... | 05/30/2000 |
| 6062783 | Expanding bush and captive bolt assembly An expanding bush and captive bolt assembly (1), comprising a bolt (2), a generally cylindrical bush (4), and a ring clip (6) that retains the bush on the bolt. The bush (2) has an inner surface with a portion (22) that has a frustoconical taper, a channe... | 05/16/2000 |
| 6060117 | Making and using thermal spray masks carrying thermoset epoxy coating Method of making a mask assembly by providing a heat resistance mask substrate having an exposed surface with a surface smoothness less than 2000 micro inches, uniformly spraying a thermoset epoxy organic coating onto such exposed surface in one or more l... | 05/09/2000 |
| 6050560 | Clamping apparatus for holding a motor vehicle window pane Clamping apparatus for holding a motor vehicle window pane wherein a window pane (6) is fixed to and moved in a height-adjustable manner on a driver holder (2) of a window lifting mechanism (1), said clamping means comprising a driver holder (2) having at... | 04/18/2000 |
| 6050881 | Surface finishing covalent-ionic ceramics Method of surface finishing covalent-ionic ceramics comprising: (a) repeatedly rubbing a finishing medium against an exposed surface of the ceramic, the medium being constituted of an ionic bonded oxide having grains harder than the grains of the covalent... | 04/18/2000 |
| 6026569 | Method of assembly of heat exchangers for automotive vehicles A heat exchanger and method of assembly for an automotive vehicle includes at least one tube having an internal surface and an external surface, and a composition cladding having at least magnesium applied to the internal surface and external surface of t... | 02/22/2000 |
| 6021660 | Flexible fixture for locating different types of mass air flow sensor assemblies A flexible tooling fixture that has a pallet bed lying within an x-y plane and reference elements for alignment of the bed to the manufacturing tool; and at least two sets of supports extending from the top of the pallet bed, each set consisting of: (i) a... | 02/08/2000 |
| 6017591 | Method of making adherently sprayed valve seats A method of defining valve seats on valve seat supports of an internal combustion engine head. The method includes steps of; (a) roughening the exposed surface of the valve seat support to a finish of 10-50 μm RA; (b) thermally spraying a stream of compo... | 01/25/2000 |
| 6014876 | Adjustable locking for hood latch A tamper-proof locking mechanism for a vehicular engine compartment, the compartment having a (a) hood closure member with a striker secured within the compartment to the hood; (b) a latch mechanism having a movable latch for catching and holding the stri... | 01/18/2000 |
| 6000747 | Vehicle liftgate and flipglass with a shared hinge axis A door assembly for a vehicle includes a door subassembly hinged to the vehicle having a window opening and a window subassembly hinged to the vehicle adapted to cover the window opening; the door subassembly and window subassembly having a common hinge a... | 12/14/1999 |
| 5992583 | Method of stabilizing valve lift-off in hydraulic shock absorbers Method of stabilizing valve lift-off movement in an automotive hydraulic shock absorber having compression and expansion chambers filled with a hydraulic shock-absorber fluid is diclosed. The chamber are divided by a valve body which has one or more orifi... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5983495 | Method of making spray-formed inserts Method of making seat inserts by thermally spraying bulk material. The method includes the steps of: (i) preparing a mandrel having an outside dimension not greater than the desired inside dimension of the desired insert, the mandrel having a part to prov... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5976704 | Composite metallizing wire and method of using A composite metallizing wire useful in thermal flame spraying, having a conductive metallic solid core wire strand and a coating consisting of solid lubricant particles (i.e., graphite, BN, Teflon) and wear-resistant particles (i.e., SiC, TiC, Cr3 | 11/02/1999 |
| 5967660 | Accelerated thermal fatigue testing of engine combustion chambers A method and apparatus of providing accelerated thermal fatigue testing of an engine component, comprising: (i) impinging one or more torch flames directly on a selected area of the test specimen (i.e. metallic engine cylinder head) to heat such area to a... | 10/19/1999 |
| 5964022 | Method of joining brake assemblies to wheel hubs Method of mounting a brake rotor to a wheel hub, the mounting establishing a sealed but removable fixed bearing therebetween; it comprises the steps of: (a) forming mating metallic mounting surfaces on the respective rotor and hub that at least in part ex... | 10/12/1999 |
| 5961853 | Weld/brazing of light metal alloys Method of resistance brazing of light metal alloys to form a corrosion resistant structural assembly, comprising: positioning a patch (thickness of about 0.05-0.25 mm and an aspect ratio of about one) of brazing filler metal between and in contact with su... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5958262 | Equalizing mechanism for robotically carried spot weld guns A spot welding apparatus having a welding gun with movable and fixed electrodes carried on an articulating wrist, the apparatus comprising: a) a robotically actuated articulating wrist carrying the gun for movement to and from a welding position for a wor... | 09/28/1999 |
| 5958521 | Method of depositing a thermally sprayed coating that is graded between being machinable and being wear resistant A method of thermally spraying a coating onto the interior of a cylindrical surface which coating is graded between enhanced optimal machinability and enhanced wear resistance. The method comprises the steps of; (a) preparing a cylindrical bore surface of... | 09/28/1999 |
| 5947179 | Sprayforming bulk deposits of allotropic metal Method of sprayforming bulk metal deposits that replicate a master pattern: (i) casting and solidifying ceramic about a master pattern to form a spraying pattern; (ii) after removing the spraying pattern from the master pattern, heating the ceramic sprayi... | 09/07/1999 |
| 5938948 | Plasma arc spot welding of car body steels containing vaporizable ingredients Method of one side spot welding of a metallic auto body construction containing vaporizable coatings or ingredients, the construction having overlapping metal plys, comprising: impinging a plasma column on a selected spot of one side of the construction, ... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5938944 | Plasma transferred wire arc thermal spray apparatus and method A plasma transferred wire arc thermal spray apparatus and method producing an extended-arc and supersonic plasma jet stream for applying a dense metallic coating on a substrate, such as a concave internal surface of a bore. The apparatus includes a plasma... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5934236 | Low friction valve train A low friction valve train actuating at least one valve in an internal combustion engine includes a cam shaft having at least one cam, a tappet contacting the cam and valve, the cam and valve having outer surfaces with an open porosity, a solid film lubri... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5925298 | Method for reworking a multi-layer circuit board using a shape memory alloy material A method and apparatus for forming a rigid circuit board has a circuit board with a reduced thickness in a bend region. The bend region may have several layers of laminate and conductive material. The circuit board is heated to the glass transition temper... | 07/20/1999 |
| 5924475 | Method of making gas curable resin-coated sand cores A method of making sand cores to obtain optimum mechanical properties and particularly to obtain accurate adjustment of the gas curing cycle for making optimum resin-coated sand cores. The method comprises blowing, into a core box cavity, mixture of core ... | 07/20/1999 |
