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.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6028753 | Method and apparatus for interrupting a current carrying path in a multiphase circuit A multiphase circuit interrupter includes a plurality of power phase sections for establishing and interrupting electrical power carrying paths for a plurality of phases. Each power phase section includes first and second conductive regions which contact ... | 02/22/2000 |
| 6013889 | Method for retaining a movable contact in a circuit interrupter A method for retaining a movable contact in a circuit interrupter is applicable to interrupters including first and second contacts, at least one of the contacts being movable. A movable element supporting the movable contact is displaceable between a con... | 01/11/2000 |
| 5951198 | Shaft and sleeve coupling A coupling/mounting system for securing a shaft to a sleeve or hub includes an inner insert or bushing and an outer insert or bushing. The inner bushing has a slot permitting its radial compression during insertion into the hub. One or more radially exten... | 09/14/1999 |
| 5952822 | Method and apparatus for proximity sensing in the presence of an external field An inductive proximity sensor and a method of proximity sensing are described that permit targets of interest to be detected despite the presence of external magnetic fields due to AC or DC sources, such as resistive welding machines. The sensor has a pai... | 09/14/1999 |
| 5944172 | Biasing assembly for a switching device A biasing assembly for a switching device is formed in a modular enclosure that may be mounted on either left or right sides of the switching device. The biasing assembly interfaces with the switching device to rapidly move the switching device between fi... | 08/31/1999 |
| 5939807 | Cap mounted drive for a brushless DC motor A brushless DC motor and drive package is disclosed, including modular subassemblies which are integrated into a single unit. The drive includes power electronic circuitry and related control circuitry which is supported on a circuit board within the pack... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5930112 | Circuit board architecture for a motor controller A multilayer circuit board system or laminated circuit board system for use in a motor controller includes a motherboard, at least one power substrate circuit board, and a capacitor circuit board. The mother board includes mounting areas for receiving the... | 07/27/1999 |
| 5914664 | Optically sensing auxiliary switch An auxiliary switch provides an output or feedback signal indicative of the position or logical state of a contactor, disconnect or other principal device to which it is coupled. The switch is formed as a modular unit which can be fixed directly to the pr... | 06/22/1999 |
| 5910049 | Elastomeric coupling system An elastomeric coupling system for securing axially aligned driving and driven shafts includes a pair of hubs coupled to one another by an annular flexible coupling element. The hubs are fixed to respective driving and driven shafts, and the coupling elem... | 06/08/1999 |
| 5908248 | Shaft bearing having improved seal arrangement A bearing assembly includes an inner ring assembly defining a bore for receiving a shaft, and an outer ring assembly disposed radially outward from the inner ring assembly. A plurality of rotatable bearing elements are disposed between the inner and outer... | 06/01/1999 |
| 5907476 | Self-locking rail securement device A modular structure for attachment to a rail includes securement members received and supported on either side of the rail. The rail includes a support web and parallel side flanges. The structure is constructed from a molded plastic base unit to which me... | 05/25/1999 |
| 5864453 | Apparatus for interrupting electrical power between two conductors A circuit interrupter provides a conducting path between two conductors and interrupts the conducting path in response to overcurrent conditions in the conductors. The interrupter includes a magnetic core around which the conductors are disposed. Each con... | 01/26/1999 |
| 5836702 | Composite bearing housing A composite bearing housing includes a molded plastic body in which planar reinforcing elements are embedded. The reinforcing elements may be flat or shaped, such as in frustoconical or other configurations. The plastic body is molded around the reinforci... | 11/17/1998 |
| 5833372 | Auxiliary seal for a bearing and bearing incorporating such a seal An auxiliary seal for a bearing includes a seal housing supported by the bearing housing, and a seal ring interference fitting around a mechanical element such as a shaft or sleeve supported for rotation by the bearing. The housing and sleeve include a se... | 11/10/1998 |
| 5834723 | Apparatus for retaining a movable contact in a circuit interrupter An apparatus for retaining a movable contact in a circuit interrupter includes a movable element that is displaced by gas pressure within the interrupter housing resulting from arcs generated during initial displacement of the movable element. The movable... | 11/10/1998 |
| 5828983 | Method and apparatus for processing a sampled waveform A method and apparatus are provided for approximation of integral and RMS values for waveforms of uncertain or unknown period. The technique employed processes values of the waveform sampled at fixed sampling intervals, monitors the actual period of the w... | 10/27/1998 |
| 5774353 | Fixture for motor controller power substrate and motor controller incorporating A fixture is provided for facilitating the fabrication of a motor controller of the type including a power substrate module and a control circuit board mounted to and electrically coupled to the power substrate module via a plurality of conductors. The fi... | 06/30/1998 |
| 5764023 | Motor controller with circuit interrupter and method for interrupting power to a motor controller A variable frequency motor drive incorporating a circuit interrupter includes a rectifying circuit for converting incoming AC power to DC power and an inverting circuit for converting the DC power to controlled AC power in response to control signals. A c... | 06/09/1998 |
| 5747904 | Low profile moisture drain plug with diverse drain paths for an electric motor A moisture drain plug for use with a cylindrical motor housing provides a plurality of diverse drainage pathways to promote the egress of moisture from within the housing. The plurality of diverse drainage pathways includes a first set of primary moisture... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5717305 | Method and apparatus for starting an electric motor A method and apparatus for controlling an AC motor are described wherein a frequency generator is configured to generate a signal representative of the stator electrical frequency and to estimate the rotor electrical frequency of the motor during operatio... | 02/10/1998 |
| 5699609 | Method of making power substrate assembly A fixture is provided for facilitating the fabrication of a motor controller of the type including a power substrate module and a control circuit board mounted to and electrically coupled to the power substrate module via a plurality of conductors. The fi... | 12/23/1997 |
| 5698975 | Mounting and coupling arrangement for a proximity sensor A support and coupling arrangement for a proximity switch includes a support for mounting the switch enclosure in a desired orientation and permitting selective angular orientation of angled pin connectors coupled to the switch. The support includes a bor... | 12/16/1997 |
| 5685910 | Apparatus for coating an electromagnetic coil There is disclosed a method and apparatus for coating an electromagnetic coil, particularly stator coils for an electric motor, with an insulating catalyzed resin material. The catalyzed resin material is a two component material comprising an epoxy resin... | 11/11/1997 |
| 5685650 | Bearing assembly utilizing improved clamping arrangement A bearing assembly includes an improved clamping arrangement for securement to a shaft. The inner ring of the bearing assembly includes a tapered inner surface generally complementary to a tapered outer surface of a tapered adapter. Each of the tapered ad... | 11/11/1997 |
| 5684374 | Method and apparatus for tuning a motion control system having an external velocity loop A method and apparatus for tuning an external velocity loop servo drive of the type including a controller, a command device, an external velocity servo amplifier, an actuator and a position feedback device. The tuning technique include the use of three u... | 11/04/1997 |
| 5684375 | Method and apparatus for tuning a motion control system A tuning method and apparatus are provided for tuning gain values in a motion control system. The system is of the type including an input device for generating position command signals, an actuator for displacing a physical element to a desired location ... | 11/04/1997 |
| 5657194 | Circuit and method for automatically resetting a solid state relay A reset circuit for an overload relay includes a timing circuit coupled to a switching circuit for automatically resetting the relay a predetermined time after a trip. The timing circuit includes a capacitor and a resistor in parallel with a reset coil. T... | 08/12/1997 |
| 5623191 | Circuit board architecture for a motor controller A controller for driving an AC motor includes a rectifying circuit, an inverting circuit coupled to the rectifying circuit via a DC bus, a control circuit for commanding operation of the inverting circuit, a logic circuit for directing operation of the co... | 04/22/1997 |
| 5610453 | Pulsewidth modulation (PWM) frequency slider A frequency slider circuit for reducing power dissipation in the form of switching losses in a switching device when the switching device is near its desired maximum temperature limit is disclosed herein. The switching device controls an electric load, su... | 03/11/1997 |
| 5610493 | Terminal configuration for a motor controller A controller for driving an electric motor includes a rectifying circuit for converting AC power from a source to DC power, an inverting circuit coupled to the rectifying circuit via a DC bus for converting the DC power to controlled AC power in response ... | 03/11/1997 |
| 5587861 | Method for interrupting electrical power between two conductors A method for interrupting electrical power between two conductors is provided, including biasing an electrically conductive element into a conducting position between two contact regions of the conductors. The contact regions are preferably portions of ar... | 12/24/1996 |
| 5583412 | Apparatus and method for controlling the deceleration of an electric motor A motor drive particularly suited for decelerating an AC motor includes a signal converting circuit, a monitoring circuit and a control circuit. The signal converting circuit is coupled to a source of DC power via a DC bus and a capacitive circuit is coup... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5579198 | Apparatus for interrupting electrical power between two conductors A circuit interrupter provides a conducting path between two conductors and interrupts the conducting path in response to overcurrent conditions in the conductors. The interrupter includes a magnetic core around which the conductors are disposed. Each con... | 11/26/1996 |
| 5567994 | Active harmonic filter with time domain analysis A hybrid active filter shunts three-phase power with passive elements tuned to have low impedance at a frequency of harmonic distortion. The passive elements are in series with controlled voltages sources providing cancelling currents to the harmonic curr... | 10/22/1996 |
| 5525777 | Apparatus and method for flexible point-to-point soldering A point-to-point soldering apparatus applies solder to predetermined points on a workpiece in response to control signals from a control circuit. The apparatus includes a heat source moveable to first locations adjacent to the solder points in response to... | 06/11/1996 |
