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 |
| 6899540 | Threat image projection system A means for training and testing baggage screening machine operators. The invention is a computer system which causes the baggage screening monitor to show computer-generated (i.e. simulated) contraband items in a piece of baggage. This can be done in one of two way... | 05/31/2005 |
| 6812834 | Reference sample for generating smoky atmosphere A reference sample for testing fire detectors and a method of testing utilizing the reference samples. The reference sample comprises a fused mixture of pellets of the plastics usually found in aircraft cargo holds, with a heating element embedded in the sample. The... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6680099 | Enhancing damage tolerance of adhesive bonds A means and method of enhancing the damage tolerance of adhesive bonds by introducing gaps in the adhesive to divide the adhesive layer into discrete regions. The gaps are created by placing strips of barrier material between the two adherends before the ... | 01/20/2004 |
| 6478951 | Compatibilizer for crumb rubber modified asphalt A compatibilizer and process for use in making crumb rubber modified asphalt. The compatibilizer causes the crumb rubber to completely interact with the asphalt, thereby improving the rheological properties of the asphalt and reducing the tendency of pave... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6477783 | Gyratory compactor angle measurement device An angle measuring device for use in a gyratory compactor. The device is a self-contained unit which is placed in the bottom of the mold and the asphalt or other material being compacted is placed on top of it. Inside the device is a carrier which has two... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6470730 | Dry transfer method for the preparation of explosives test samples A method of preparing samples for testing explosive and drug detectors of the type that search for particles in air. A liquid containing the substance of interest is placed on a flexible Teflon.RTM. surface and allowed to dry, then the Teflon.RTM. surface... | 10/29/2002 |
| 6358743 | Contraband substances reference sample carrier A carrier for contraband substances to be used as a reference for testing trace detection systems. The carrier, which has the consistency of hand cream and can be dispensed from a tube or a syringe, is inert with respect to the contraband substances and d... | 03/19/2002 |
| 6172617 | Controller interface device An interface device between a computer running a traffic simulation program and any number of traffic signal controllers. The traffic simulation program simulates traffic in a road network including signal-controlled intersections. There are many signal m... | 01/09/2001 |
| 6116049 | Adiabatic expansion nozzle A nozzle for producing a continuous gas/solid or gas/aerosol stream from a liquid having a high room temperature vapor pressure. The nozzle comprises a series of expansion stages, with the flow reversing direction after each expansion except the first and... | 09/12/2000 |
| 5983945 | Wing tank liner A liner for aircraft fuel tanks which limits the amount of fuel that can be spilled in the event of a crash. The liner is made of neoprene rubber with nylon reinforcing threads or other light-weight flexible material and is suspended within the fuel tank ... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5981290 | Microscale combustion calorimeter A calorimeter for measuring flammability parameters of materials using only milligram sample quantities. The thermochemical and thermophysical processes associated with the flaming combustion of solids are reproduced in the device through rapid anaerobic ... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5938832 | Crumb rubber modified asphalt with enhanced settling characteristics An improved asphalt having enhanced settling properties. The asphalt includes crumb rubber particles which have been treated to produce a greater number of carboxylic sites on the surface of the crumb rubber. These carboxylic sites interact with the funct... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5851276 | Crumb rubber modified asphalt with improved settling properties An improved asphalt having enhanced settling properties. The asphalt includes crumb rubber particles which have been treated to produce a greater number of carboxylic sites on the surface of the crumb rubber. These carboxylic sites interact with the funct... | 12/22/1998 |
| 5762700 | Catalytic process for producing free radicals on crumb rubber Increasing the usable temperature range of asphalts that contain crumb rubber particles by treating the crumb rubber with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a catalyst such as Fenton's reagent, dioxomolybdenum bis(acetylacetonate), cobalt salt, tall oil... | 06/09/1998 |
| 5750894 | Measurement of tension using natural frequency of vibration A method of determining the tension in a guy wire or other flexible member. The first 15 natural frequencies for the design tension and tensions at 1 percent increments above and below the design tension are calculated. The actual first 15 natural frequen... | 05/12/1998 |
| 5697580 | Infant transporting means for airplanes A means for transporting an infant on an airplane wherein the infant is placed in an infant supporting device or carrier which is then placed in a modified overhead bin. The modifications to the bin include a transparent cover having ventilation holes, a ... | 12/16/1997 |
| 5626934 | Enhancing damage tolerance of adhesive bonds A means and method of enhancing the damage tolerance of adhesive bonds by introducing gaps in the adhesive to divide the adhesive layer into discrete regions. The gaps are created by placing strips of barrier material between the two adherends before the ... | 05/06/1997 |
| 5624210 | Collision tolerant pile structure A support pile assembly for an aid to navigation that is to be placed in an area where it will be subject to repeated hits by boats and barges. In one configuration the assembly comprises a foundation which is driven into the mud on the bottom and which r... | 04/29/1997 |
| 5564535 | Side impact energy absorber A shock absorbing pad, preferably for the interior of a vehicle, comprising a series of interconnected fluid reservoirs in the form of spheres partially filled with a fluid. Below a certain level of impact the shock is absorbed as the fluid is forced from... | 10/15/1996 |
| 5528522 | Portable radar or beacon emulator An emulator for a radar set which utilizes a conventional personal computer rather than specialized equipment. The emulator comprises a printed circuit board and a program for operation of the computer. The computer calculates the data for one antenna sca... | 06/18/1996 |
| 5209642 | Modified optimum pitch propeller An asymmetric set of pre-swirl vanes (stators) and a specially matched propeller for use on an inclined shaft. The propeller is designed by considering the mutual interaction of the propeller on the vanes and the vanes on the propeller. The propulsor unit... | 05/11/1993 |
| 5177998 | Center of gravity and moments of inertia measurement device A device for calculating the center of gravity (CG) and moments of inertia of a vehicle. The vehicle is driven onto the device and the height of its center of gravity is determined by hanging weights on the device to displace the vehicle's CG from its pos... | 01/12/1993 |
| 4994092 | Helium smoke generator A smoke generator which generates cold smoke having the buoyant properties of smoke produced by a fire. The density of the smoke can be varied to simulate any desired fire plume temperature by adding helium or other lighter than air gas to it. This produc... | 02/19/1991 |
| 4684949 | VHF/radar transponder collision avoidance aid A radiotelephone and a radar transponder are interconnected in such a manner as to establish a VHF communications link via the radiotelephone in response to interrogation of the radar transponder. The radar transponder will ordinarily be periodically enab... | 08/04/1987 |
| 4235112 | Rail flaw detector position control A laterally movable ultrasound transducer, comprising the sensor of a rail fault detection device, is automatically centered on the rail as the detection device moves along the rail. The sensor includes a pair of ultrasound receiving transducers positione... | 11/25/1980 |
| 4221251 | Billfold A billfold of utmost simplicity and practicality, produced in only two operations, comprising a folded blank and having separate bill and credit card compartments. The bill compartment allows a portion of the bills to project beyond the body of the billfo... | 09/09/1980 |
| 4216187 | Method of detoxifying organotin-containing paint residues A method of detoxifying organotin-containing paint residues that are sandblasted from the bottom of a ship's hull comprising cleaving the tincarbon bond by application of an oxidizing agent, preferably nitric acid.... | 08/05/1980 |
| 4169373 | Tire bead inspection A tire bead inspection machine comprises a base on which a tire may be mounted for inspection. A frame is mounted on the base from which a first roller is cantilevered with a generally vertical axis and a pair of rollers on either side of the first roller... | 10/02/1979 |
| 4167868 | Large hose automatic testing device A hose testing system comprising a source of pressurizing fluid, a distribution system for supplying the fluid from the source to a hose under test, a pump for pumping fluid through the distribution system into the hose under test, a regulator for maintai... | 09/18/1979 |
| 4137764 | Vortex advisory system The separation between aircraft approaching a common runway is minimized by measuring the existing wind conditions at a preselected point relative to the runway threshold and basing a prediction of the movement of wake vortices on the measured conditions.... | 02/06/1979 |
| 4103547 | Locomotive track curvature indicator A system for dynamically measuring and displaying track curvature information to a locomotive engineer on a real-time basis. A car mounted sensor produces a variable output responsive to changes in the car's orientation caused by variation in track curvat... | 08/01/1978 |
| 4100548 | Bifocal pillbox antenna system A bifocal pillbox antenna system is disclosed comprising a controller means providing control voltages and sequential switching signals to scan circuits. The scan circuits provide RF energy selectively to feed elements of a contoured feed array for radiat... | 07/11/1978 |
| 4058911 | Road-runner alcohol safety interlock system An apparatus for determining a test subject's level of intoxication. Included is a display visible to the test subject and in which is produced by test equipment a pair of randomly moving, spaced apart objects. The test subject operates an actuator to ind... | 11/22/1977 |
| 4043194 | Wind shear warning system Wind conditions along the projected flight path of an aircraft are measured and displayed. Wind velocity and direction at the aircraft and at the projected touchdown or takeoff point of the aircraft are compared and the existence of a wind gradient or win... | 08/23/1977 |
| 3969725 | Distance measuring equipment Disclosed is improved distance measuring equipment comprising an airborne FM coded, chirp, interrogator transmitter in combination with a weighted matched receiver in a ground transponder. The airborne transmitter produces a long low power frequency modul... | 07/13/1976 |
| 3969730 | Cross slot omnidirectional antenna Disclosed is an omnidirectional antenna comprising vertically stacked pairs of folded slot antennas. Each slot antenna is electrically loaded to allow reduction of slot physical dimensions to the point that the diameter of two slots when mounted back-to-b... | 07/13/1976 |
