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Lawrence Welk, the bandleader who entertained millions of Americans over a generation of broadcasting his TV show, once received a patent: for a music-themed design of an ashtray.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5015416 | Photochromic polymeric membrane A photochromic material adapted for coating light transmissive materials. The photochromic material contains photosensitive silver halide crystals having dimensions in the range of approximately 50 Angstroms to 800 Angstroms. The silver halide crystals ar... | 05/14/1991 |
| 5007911 | Drill head assembly for cranial perforators A drill head assembly for drilling holes in bony structure is disclosed. The assembly has an inner drill and an outer drill which rotate together as a unit. The leading portions of the outer drill are contiguous with the peripheral portions of the inner d... | 04/16/1991 |
| 5002116 | Rotary heat regenerator A rotary heat regenerator comprises a regenerator matrix mounted for rotation in a central aperture of a housing wall, and an improved seal disposed in the annular gap between the matrix and the housing wall. The seal includes (a) a first portion of pile-... | 03/26/1991 |
| 5002550 | Suture anchor installation tool A new and improved suture anchor of the sort adapted to anchor an intermediate portion of a piece of conventional suture in bone, and a new and improved installation tool for deploying the same, said installation tool being adapted to releasably hold at l... | 03/26/1991 |
| 5002058 | Ultrasonic transducer A miniature transducer designed for use in a medical imaging system catheter probe is disclosed. The transducer has an electric cavity and coaxial construction for preventing electric fields from being emitted or received by the transducers. The construct... | 03/26/1991 |
| 5001354 | Surgical glove and process for making the same Pinhole-free, radiation absorbing, surgical quality latex gloves are formed from homogeneous suspension of natural rubber and high specific gravity metal or metal compund. The suspension is formed under conditions which prevent entrapment of gas in the su... | 03/19/1991 |
| 4998441 | Force and torque measurement system A system for measuring a force applied to a mass so that the magnitude and direction of the force can be determined as well as the torque about three orthogonal axes. The system comprises an electromagnetic bearing support system for electromagnetically s... | 03/12/1991 |
| 4997421 | IV connector lock and stabilizer An IV lock for preventing IV connectors from separating. The IV lock has a split-fork lock at one end for releasably securing a male IV fitting or connector to the IV lock and a snap-fit clamp at the opposite end for releasably securing a catheter to the ... | 03/05/1991 |
| 4996609 | Magnetic head recording multitrack servo patterns A novel apparatus and method is described for recording a pattern of track positioning servo signals at select locations of a magnetic tape for use in aligning a single track read head with each of the tracks defined by the signal pattern. The pattern is ... | 02/26/1991 |
| 4994082 | Accommodating intraocular lens An intraocular lens assembly including an adjustable-power lens assembly and an adjustment mechanism coupled between the lens assembly and the ciliary muscle of the eye in which the lens assembly is implanted for adjusting the power of the lens assembly i... | 02/19/1991 |
| 4990153 | Surgical suturing system and probe assembly A surgical suturing system having a probe assembly for positioning tissue to be sutured and a stapling system for suturing tissue. The stapling system includes a stapler having a housing with a staple ejection slot, a magazine of preformed staples receive... | 02/05/1991 |
| 4989059 | Solar cell with trench through pn junction A solar cell fabrication procedure is described in which a trench is cut in the substrate so as to electrically isolate front and back regions of a flat solar cell. The trench is preferably cut around the perimeter of the rear side of the cell. The trench... | 01/29/1991 |
| 4986280 | Hand position/measurement control system A system is described for sensing the relative angular orientation of two relatively movable joint segments of a living body joined together at a joint. The system comprises at least two links coupled together about a pivot axis so that the links are pivo... | 01/22/1991 |
| 4984844 | Safety key for toolroom lathe chuck A safety key for a toolroom lathe chuck having (1) a housing having a top end, a bottom end and an internal bore opening on the bottom end and extending towards the top end, (2) a sleeve concentrically surrounding said housing and axially slidable thereon... | 01/15/1991 |
| 4980957 | Improved method of incremently drawing fibers A fiber drawing process and apparatus in which the fibers are drawn in small increments by passing the fibers in multiple wraps over on rotatably mounted spaced apart spindles having discrete circumferential microterraced surfaces which support the fiber.... | 01/01/1991 |
| 4977655 | Method of making a transducer A miniature transducer designed for use in a medical imaging system catheter probe is disclosed. The transducer has an electric cavity and coaxial construction for preventing electric fields from being emitted or received by the transducers. The construct... | 12/18/1990 |
| 4969591 | Surgical stapling system A microsurgical stapling system for suturing delicate tissue. The system comprises a staple magazine and a stapler. The magazine has a framework to which a plurality of pre-formed staples are integrally attached in parallel, spaced-apart formation. The st... | 11/13/1990 |
| 4968380 | System for continuously replenishing melt A system for continuously supplying solid silicon particles to an apparatus for growing hollow, tubular crystalline bodies. The system includes a container for storing solid silicon particles, a vibratory, pneumatic, or other device for causing the partic... | 11/06/1990 |
| 4968315 | Suture anchor and suture anchor installation tool A novel suture anchor comprising (a) a coupling member having a first end portion and a reduced second end portion, and a shoulder formed at the junction of the first end portion and the reduced second end portion, (b) at least one barb, the barb having a... | 11/06/1990 |
| 4951351 | Automatic closure mechanism for double-acting doors An improved automatic door closure is provided for a door which has a door post mounted by two or more members attached to a door jamb. The door closure comprises a roller which is mounted on the door jam, a cam which is mounted on the door post so that i... | 08/28/1990 |
| 4948455 | Tape splicer A new and improved splicing block assembly and a novel splicing tape dispenser applicator for a cassette-loading machine are disclosed. The improved splicing block assembly comprises a first splicing block having a first tape guide means located in a sele... | 08/14/1990 |
| 4948442 | Method of making a multiwell test plate A micro-titre test plate including a thermoplastic incubation tray having an array of a plurality of wells extending therethrough, filter means, and a thermoplastic harvester tray for supporting the filter sheet. The harvester tray has a plurality of aper... | 08/14/1990 |
| 4946468 | Suture anchor and suture anchor installation tool A new and improved suture anchor of the sort adapted to anchor an intermediate portion of a piece of conventional suture in bone, and a new and improved installation tool for deploying the same, said installation tool being adapted to releasably hold at l... | 08/07/1990 |
| 4945606 | Door cam hardware with door post mounted cam Improved cam hardware for use with a self-positioning door. The cam is attached to the door mounting post by a threaded connection and has a lower surface which is symmetrically inclined about a high point. The lower surface is contacted by a cam follower... | 08/07/1990 |
| 4945065 | Method of passivating crystalline substrates A method of bulk passivating a crystalline or polycrystalline substrate made from silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide or other III-V compounds, and II-VI compounds by exposing the substrate to a fluorine ion beam created by a Kaufman ion source. The Kauf... | 07/31/1990 |
| 4942537 | System for assembling and disassembling a mast An apparatus for assembling or disassembling a mast comprising a plurality elongate mast sections adapted to be attached together in end-to-end configuration. The apparatus includes a lifting assembly for raising or lowering the mast from its bottom end, ... | 07/17/1990 |
| 4937053 | Crystal growing apparatus An apparatus and process are disclosed for growing tubular crystalline bodies according to the Edge defined, Film-Fed Growth (EPG) process, wherein the apparatus has at least one exterior passage (240) and at least oen interior passage (245) formed in its... | 06/26/1990 |
| 4936947 | System for controlling apparatus for growing tubular crystalline bodies A control system for controlling the operation of an apparatus for growing tubular crystalline bodies. The control system comprises a weight sensor for measuring the weight of the crystal, a length sensor for measuring the length of the crystal, a pressur... | 06/26/1990 |
| 4936620 | Arrangement or organization of seats inside the passenger area of vehicle An arrangement or organization of seats inside a passenger area of a vehicle for transporting passengers, the vehicle being the type comprising a floor, a ceiling and lateral walls which run between the front and rear ends of the passenger area. The plane... | 06/26/1990 |
| 4930656 | Container lid with a tear skirt A lid for sealing a container has a removable tear skirt. The lid includes a cap portion with a circular crown and depending sidewall. An undulating annular groove which defines a frangible thin walled strip divides the sidewall into an upper section and ... | 06/05/1990 |
| 4924934 | Rotary heat wheel cassette assembly A rotary regenerative heat exchange assembly comprises (1) heat exchange wheel means including a heat exchange wheel having a rotation axis and rotably mounted for rotation about said axis and means for rotating said wheel about said axis; and (2) cabinet... | 05/15/1990 |
| 4926285 | Electrostatic discharge simulator with highly reproducible wave-front Current injection electrostatic discharge equipment that includes a discharge capacitor connected to the input terminal of a sulfur-hexafluoride filled relay for selectively applying a current discharge to a test tip, the wave shape of the current dischar... | 05/15/1990 |
| 4924226 | Signal error compensation A system is described for correcting errors in a waveform comprising a plurality of binary pulses, each having a different rise time and fall time with respect to the positive going and negative going transitions of each pulse. The system generates a plur... | 05/08/1990 |
| 4917137 | Pressure-balancing mixing valve A mixing valve for two fluids under pressure at different temperatures. The mixing valve has a body with means defining a valve chamber, separate inlet ports for each of the fluids to be mixed, and an outlet port. A main mixing valve unit projects into th... | 04/17/1990 |
| 4914920 | Device for heating and cooling a beverage A device for actively maintaining the temperature of a beverage in a container has a housing with a compartment that is configured to receive the beverage container. A solid state heat pump that is mounted to the housing is selectively energized to provid... | 04/10/1990 |
| 4914700 | Method and apparatus for scrambling and unscrambling bar code symbols Apparatus for and method of unscrambling a parallax panoramagram that is a lineticular dissection of a bar code formed by scrambling the bar code in accordance with a graticule formed of a plurality of parallel contiguous focussing elements disposed at a ... | 04/03/1990 |
| 4912343 | Electromagnetic actuator An improved electromagnetic actuator assembly is described. The assembly comprises a magnetic circuit for defining radially directed flux both in an inward and outward direction, and a coil disposed in the flux paths and connect to receive a control signa... | 03/27/1990 |
| 4912400 | Apparatus for testing circuit boards A test fixture for use in systems designed to test circuit boards. The test fixture is adapted to receive pre-wired interchangeable modules which contain a plurality of fixed test probes disposed in an array mirroring the location of test points on the sp... | 03/27/1990 |
| 4909990 | Immunoassay apparatus An assay apparatus employing total internal reflection of excitation radiation at the interface between a replaceable optically conductive rod or fiber and a surrounding liquid phase of lower index of refraction. Immobilized on the surface of the fiber is... | 03/20/1990 |
| 4908154 | Method of forming a microemulsion Method and apparatus for forming emulsions, a term used to include microemulsions. The leading edges of a plurality of sheets of an emulsion-forming liquid mixture are forced under pressure to impinge in a low-pressure turbulent zone of the liquid. The ap... | 03/13/1990 |
