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.
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 |
| 6315750 | Orthopedic lumbar traction sitting device Rigid left and right side members extend vertically along the user's left and right sides. A girdle that encircles the user is suspended on adjustable straps from the upper ends of the rigid left and right side members. The adjustable straps on opposite s... | 11/13/2001 |
| 6290475 | Helical wiper for sucker rod pump A device that can be attached to the plunger of a sucker rod pump to extend the operational life of the pump when it is used for producing oil having a high sand content wipes sand from the wall of the barrel in which the plunger reciprocates and re-route... | 09/18/2001 |
| 6283711 | Modified savonius rotor The rotor consists of two airfoils symmetrically disposed around an axis of rotation. Each airfoil consists of an outer vane having a leading edge and a trailing edge and an inner vane having a trailing edge and having a leading edge attached to the trail... | 09/04/2001 |
| 6280285 | Projectile launching action toy having members capable of coordinated movement A first member is pivotally connected to a base for rotation about a first axis, and a second member is pivotally connected to the first member for rotation about a second axis. One end of a cable is attached to the base at a point spaced from the first a... | 08/28/2001 |
| 6275686 | Differential phase shift amplifier of electrical or physical quantities An amplifier system for electrical or physical quantities such as voltage or sound converts the quantity in a transducer to a differential phase shift of a high carrier frequency which is an analog equivalent of the quantity and multiplies the differentia... | 08/14/2001 |
| 6257225 | Lightweight stone cutting apparatus An apparatus and a method for producing accurate straight cuts in a slab of stone, concrete, or the like. A carriage conveys the cutter along two parallel rails that lie directly upon the upper surface of the slab to be cut. In a preferred embodiment of t... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6219896 | Tool for installing valve locks A hand tool that greatly expedites installation of the valve locks that secure a valve spring retainer to the free end of a valve stem. The valve locks include an inwardly extending ridge that engages a circumferential groove that extends around an end po... | 04/24/2001 |
| 6206772 | Disc grinder A hand tool for holding a spinning disc while the circumference of the disc is being ground is noteworthy for its ability to accommodate disks of various thicknesses. The disc is gripped between two resilient grippers that rotate with the disc. The grippe... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6166647 | Fire detector An improved fire detector is obtained by combining a conventional smoke particle sensor with a fire radicals odor sensor; the latter being an electronic nose tuned to respond to the presence of a family of radicals, produced by most fires, that is respons... | 12/26/2000 |
| 6158762 | Collapsible golf cart A collapsible golf cart that is capable of carrying a fully-loaded golf bag includes an A-frame formed by telescoping members pivotally connected at their upper ends and having removable wheels at their lower ends. The cart includes a swinging V-shaped su... | 12/12/2000 |
| 6101760 | Fish hook organizer An organizer to which fish hooks of various sizes may be removably attached includes two parallel edges, each having a sequence of notches into which the fish hook is pushed in a forced fit. This results in the hooks being held securely so that they do no... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6095534 | Collapsible luggage cart A collapsible luggage cart characterized by left and right telescoping members having top sections and bottom sections, the top sections being pivotally connected so that when the cart is extended for use the telescoping members provide an A-frame back fo... | 08/01/2000 |
| 6086307 | Hoppers with directionally applied relative motion to promote solids flow An improvement to a hopper to promote the flow of solid particulate material includes mounting one or more walls of the hopper for limited oscillatory motion in a direction parallel to the wall and perpendicular to the desired flow direction, and then pro... | 07/11/2000 |
| 6065255 | Roof mounting for photovoltaic modules A structure for mounting a planar array of photovoltaic panels to a roof is formed from a set of parallel spaced juxtaposed rails which are intersected by a set of parallel spaced juxtaposed runners that extend perpendicular to the rails. Both the runners... | 05/23/2000 |
| 6055781 | Archbreaking hopper for bulk solids A hopper that greatly reduces the tendency of the particulate material to form bridges within the hopper is shaped so that its walls slope downward more steeply at the bottom of the hopper and slope less steeply with increasing height above the outlet. In... | 05/02/2000 |
| 6042120 | Controlled freeze seal for pipes Instead of applying the maximum cooling effect that can be produced, the method and apparatus disclosed applies only a carefully controlled cooling that is adequate to maintain the fluid in the pipe in a frozen condition but which maintains the temperatur... | 03/28/2000 |
| 5992689 | Variable flow rate hopper to reduce feed pulsation to a downstream process Many types of processors of particulate materials operate more efficiently when they receive the particulate material in a steady stream. Most feeders tend to discharge in pulses. A hopper is interposed between the feeder and the processor. Surges in the ... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5984480 | Power-propelled kaleidoscope In a kaleidoscope having an object chamber containing a fluid and containing a number of objects, the objects are caused to move by setting in motion the fluid within the object chamber, using energy derived from a source mounted on the kaleidoscope. In a... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5980043 | Object cells for hand-held kaleidoscopes One type of kaleidoscope has an object cell that contains a multitude of small objects immersed in a viscous liquid. By inverting the object cell, a user can enjoy a continuous ever-changing display of pleasing and colorful symmetrical images as the objec... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5964233 | Patio umbrella with radiant heater A patio umbrella that includes a dining table and a fuel-burning radiant heater avoids overheating of the upper canopy by mounting the support on which the upper canopy rests in the shadow cast by a reflector that converges upwardly to a chimney portion. ... | 10/12/1999 |
| 5964646 | Grinding process and apparatus for planarizing sawed wafers A method and apparatus for planarizing silicon wafers initially having wavy surfaces, such as might result from having been cut from a boule by means of a wire saw. A vacuum is applied to one side of a porous ceramic plate, and a perforated resilient pad ... | 10/12/1999 |
| 5961169 | Apparatus for sensing the presence of a wafer Apparatus for use in a semiconductor wafer polishing machine of a type in which the wafer is picked up and held by a suction cup effect between the wafer and a resilient diaphragm on the wafer carrier. The apparatus permits the presence or absence of a wa... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5960780 | Lightweight stone cutting apparatus An apparatus and a method for producing accurate straight cuts in a slab of stone, concrete, or the like. A carriage conveys the cutter along two parallel rails that lie directly upon the upper surface of the slab to be cut. In a preferred embodiment of t... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5931148 | Adjustable grill A food shelf attached to the lower end of a vertical threaded rod engages a nut that is attached to the summit of an arch that rises from a horizontal frame. The frame may be removably set onto a receptacle containing a source of heat, or the same frame c... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5932127 | Heater control for spa A spa is maintained at a ready-to-use temperature by a daily heating cycle that is initiated by a filter cycle clock, which traditionally has been used only for programming the circulation of the spa water through a filter. Once a daily heating cycle has ... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5926966 | Template set for cutting patches A set of two templates for use in cutting patches, each patch having first and second straight sides that in general are not parallel, whereby the patches can be arranged in a sequence with the first straight side of each patch except the first patch coll... | 07/27/1999 |
| 5911761 | Combined stapler and utility knife A type of stapler has a handle that permits it to be used like a hammer. The end of the handle is modified to permit it to receive the body of a utility knife. The latter is retained within the handle by a screw that replaces the screw which previously he... | 06/15/1999 |
| 5894373 | Method for fabricating mirror systems A method for use in mass-producing, from a plane sheet of metal, a three-dimensional structure consisting of plane mirrors and plane structural members, said three-dimensional structure of a type in which each mirror or structural member has at least one ... | 04/13/1999 |
| 5887889 | Stroller The stroller includes a frame inclined downward and forward, the frame having left and right side frame members joined by a handle at their upper rear ends. A single front wheel is mounted on an axle at the lower front end of the frame. Left and right swi... | 03/30/1999 |
| 5889199 | Portable leak detector A portable instrument for locating leaks through the wall of a chamber uses a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) type detector. The instrument includes a gas sampling probe into which a continuous sample of gas is drawn by a small suction pump. The sample is ... | 03/30/1999 |
| 5881438 | Extrudable locking clamp with release A one-piece article having a uniform cross section includes a number of portions that interact to releasably grip a cylindrical object (18). Two jaws (14, 16) extend from a base (12) and are shaped to embrace the cylindrical object. The base (12) and one ... | 03/16/1999 |
| 5844144 | Method for estimating flow velocity In a Doppler system for determining the average flow velocity of a liquid based on reflection from particles moving with the liquid, and in which system the received signal is subjected to both in-phase and quadrature detection, and is then analyzed into ... | 12/01/1998 |
| 5799999 | Magnetic retrieving tool The magnet is mounted on a carrier that can be extended from and retracted into a magnetic shield that is affixed to the distal end of an extended hollow flexible tube. A stiff control wire is connected at its distal end to the magnet carrier, and its pro... | 09/01/1998 |
| 5798696 | Tire puncture locator Apparatus for detecting leaks in pneumatic tires includes a source of pressurized carbon dioxide gas that is used to partially re-inflate the flat tire, so that a strong concentration of carbon dioxide gas will be present in any gas that leaks out of the ... | 08/25/1998 |
| 5795205 | Attachment for surfboard leash An article in the form of a plug fits into a rearwardly-opening cavity formed in the trailing edge of a surfboard to provide an attachment for a leash. The article includes an internal passage that connects a first rearwardly-opening hole to a second rear... | 08/18/1998 |
| 5791014 | Handle for carry-on luggage A retractable and extendable handle for a piece of luggage is provided at its distal end portion with a distal jaw, and spaced from that, a proximal jaw. These jaws facilitate loading the luggage into an overhead luggage compartment. The jaws may be integ... | 08/11/1998 |
| 5779082 | Easily-cleaned reusable lid including an evacuating pump The lid consists of two unitary parts both of which are molded from a soft rubbery substance. The body of the lid butts against the mouth of a container and includes a vacuum release valve and a check valve through which air may be evacuated from the cont... | 07/14/1998 |
| 5699943 | Belt-mounted flashlight holder A belt-mounted flashlight holder includes a belt loop subassembly and a cradle subassembly that are pivotally connected to permit the mounted flashlight to be rotated to any of several detented rotational positions. The cradle subassembly can accommodate ... | 12/23/1997 |
| 5673447 | Foot support for a bed A foot support for a bed rests on the upper surface of the mattress and includes an upwardly inclined foot plate. Lateral motion and twisting of the foot support with respect to the mattress are prevented by downwardly depending fences that lie adjacent t... | 10/07/1997 |
| 5660534 | Rotating plunger for sucker rod pump A downhole sucker rod pump especially well adapted for use in pumping thick oils and oils containing particles of sand or rock includes helical grooves or apertures for producing an intermittent unidirectional rotation of the plunger without appreciably r... | 08/26/1997 |
