Did You Know...
...that Thomas Edison's patent application on his phonograph was approved by the Patent Office in just seven weeks? In contrast, it took Gordon Gould, the inventor of the laser, 30 years to obtain his patent -- finally awarded in 1988!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6003509 | Solar collector and method for production thereof A solar collector for absorbing solar energy and for conversation thereof into thermal energy includes an aluminum foil. One side only of the aluminum foil is blackened to an extent such that it will absorb solar energy, preferably to an extent approximat... | 12/21/1999 |
| 5915376 | Evacuated solar collector A solar heat collecting apparatus includes a first, inner glass dome, and a second, larger outer glass dome disposed outwardly from the inner dome. Both of the inner and outer domes have respective inner and outer surfaces and an open end, and an infrared... | 06/29/1999 |
| 5653222 | Flat plate solar collector A flat plate solar collector comprising a planar glazing and a rear housing formed into a number of semi-circular cells to receive fin-tube absorbers with minimal direct contact, the glazing being a low iron glass with an anti-reflective exterior coating ... | 08/05/1997 |
| 5167218 | Solar collector having absorber plate formed by spraying molten metal A solar energy collector whereby an absorber plate thereof is formed by providing a thin metallic foil for supporting sprayed molten metal, arranging fluid carrying tubes on the foil, and spraying molten metal using a source of pressurized inert gas onto ... | 12/01/1992 |
| 5074283 | Thermal storage module for solar dynamic receivers A thermal energy storage system comprising a germanium phase change material and a graphite container.... | 12/24/1991 |
| 5032016 | Radiation gathering reflector and method of manufacture A radiation gathering reflector and a method of making a radiation gathering reflector. Resin impregnated fibrous material is wound onto a mandrel which has a pair of opposing surfaces of revolution each of which has a shape corresponding to a predetermin... | 07/16/1991 |
| 4971029 | Solar heaters A solar water heater includes a collector which has a substrate, a water chamber formed in or on the substrate and a toughended glass pane constituting the outside member of the water chamber. Bars extend across the pane to prevent it from bowing excessiv... | 11/20/1990 |
| 4953537 | Barrel-shaped solar roofing element and method for its manufacture A barrel-shaped solar roofing element consisting of a portion of a conical-shaped panel of a material such as PVC plastic formed by injection molding adapted for receiving an impingement of solar energy upon an outer surface thereof and constructed of ins... | 09/04/1990 |
| 4911353 | Solar collector having absorber plate formed by spraying molten metal A method of making a solar energy collector where the absorber plate, selective surface, and protective outer skin of the collector are formed by spraying molten metal particles onto a substrate and building a coating of metal up to a desired thickness. T... | 03/27/1990 |
| 4904353 | Optically black cobalt surface The present invention resides in the discovery that an optically black electroplated cobalt/cobalt oxide surface which has been anodized and then preferably calcined has both a high emissivity and high absorptivity, and is stable against loss of absorptiv... | 02/27/1990 |
| 4894125 | Optically black pliable foils The present invention relates to a composite ductile metal foil having an optically black surface comprising a metal foil substrate having a thickness effective for shaping and reshaping; a black chromium surface applied to at least one side of said subst... | 01/16/1990 |
| 4889601 | Selective absorption film of a solar heat collector A selective absorption film for selectively absorbing solar rays is composed mainly of cobalt oxide. A blue system selective absorption film having high heat resistance at high temperatures is provided by coating one surface of a metal material of iron or... | 12/26/1989 |
| 4873061 | Fixation of nitrogen by solar energy Mixtures of reactant gases containing nitrogen ar reacted by being raised to very high temperatures at the focal plane of a solar concentrator when radiant energy is absorbed by a metal screen or other porous material in contact with the reactants at the ... | 10/10/1989 |
| 4864317 | Combination satellite antenna-solar collector The same reflector dish is used to reflect solar energy to a solar collector device and electromagnetic energy in the form of satellite communications to a transducer. Thus, the apparatus can be used as a combination solar energy collector and an antenna ... | 09/05/1989 |
| 4850339 | Solar oven A solar oven. A rectangular cooking pan has a bottom and four side walls and is open at the upper end. It is in an exterior casing having a bottom and four side walls, and having an outer coating to lower the heat absorption. A body of insulation lies bet... | 07/25/1989 |
| 4846151 | Solar collectors A solar energy collector comprising a solar energy absorber, a light transmitting top plate spaced apart from and in a plane parallel to the solar energy absorber, and an array of light transmitting cells intermediate to and in a plane perpendicular to th... | 07/11/1989 |
| 4834066 | Evacuated solar collector tube A solar energy collector element having an inner tube which carries a heat exchange fluid, an outer glass tube, an evacuated space between the two tubes and a solar selective surface coating in thermal contact with the outer surface of the inner tube. A g... | 05/30/1989 |
| 4788555 | Combined solar and signal receptor device A parabolic reflector for combined use as a solar concentrator and communications antenna having both a shared and joint use mode. In both the joint and shared use mode, the dish concentrates the electromagnetic energy at the focal point where a signal re... | 11/29/1988 |
| 4777936 | Selective absorption film of a solar heat collector A selective absorption film for selectively absorbing solar rays is composed mainly of cobalt oxide. A blue system selective absorption film having high heat resistance at high temperatures is provided by coating one surface of a metal material of iron or... | 10/18/1988 |
| 4763641 | Solar energy absorber A solar energy absorber module having a molded top sheet of translucent plastic material and a molded bottom sheet of solar absorbing plastic material bonded together by circular bond indentations in the body thereof spaced from each other a distance equa... | 08/16/1988 |
| 4755673 | Selective thermal radiators An improved thermal radiator uses host materials having high internal reflection and scattering co-efficients for improved effectiveness. Selective thermal radiators are used for frequency conversion of incident radiation through the Welsbach effect. A We... | 07/05/1988 |
| 4657786 | Black-metallized substrate surfaces Black-metallized substrate surfaces which are characterized by the fact that they reflect at most 20% of electromagnetic radiation within the wavelength range from 200 to 5,000 nm and at least 50% within the wavelength range from 7,000 to 24,000 nm, the p... | 04/14/1987 |
| 4637374 | Selective absorption film of a solar heat collector A selective absorption film selectively absorbing solar rays and composed mainly of cobalt oxide. A blue system selective absorption film having high heat resistance at high temperatures is provided by coating one surface of a metal material of iron or co... | 01/20/1987 |
| 4628905 | Solar selective surface coating A solar collector element having an inner tube through which a fluid can be passed, an outer glass tube enveloping the periphery of the inner tube and defining an evacuated space between the two tubes, and a solar selective surface coating deposited on th... | 12/16/1986 |
| 4621616 | Annular solar panel Five concentric annular conical beam concentrators mounted above a black-water heat-transfer tank through which domestic household water circulates in tubes. The conical beam concentrators receive convergent conical incipient beams of diffused sunlight an... | 11/11/1986 |
| 4596237 | Solar-energy converter A solar energy converter which can be used as a solar collector or for the direct mounting on a building for the heating of the interior thereof through a wall of the building has a light transmissive layer spaced from this wall and provided on its inner ... | 06/24/1986 |
| 4594995 | Carbonaceous selective absorber for solar thermal energy collection and process for its formation A selective absorber consisting of a number of thin layers on a supporting substrate, including (1) a carbonaceous layer, (2) a catalyst layer, and (3) a metallic infrared reflecting layer. The catalyst layer serving to catalyze the pyrolysis of a carbon ... | 06/17/1986 |
| 4589972 | Optically black coating with improved infrared absorption and process of formation An optically black coating with improved infrared absorption is disclosed along with a process for formation therefor. An anodizable substrate is first treated in a surface modification step prior to anodizing to produce major surface modifications at lea... | 05/20/1986 |
| 4582764 | Selective absorber amorphous alloys and devices There is disclosed a new and improved material and device for improved selective absorption of light energy for use in photothermal applications and a method and apparatus for manufacturing same. The device includes a layer of thermal infrared radiation reflec... | 04/15/1986 |
| 4579107 | Solar energy collector and method of making same Method and device manufactured thereby for economically making solar collectors and concentrators by employing a technique of applying high-efficiency, energy absorptive coatings. The technique is spraying less-than-ultra-pure nickel or chromium, in a mol... | 04/01/1986 |
| 4578527 | Articles having improved reflectance suppression Article having improved reflectance suppression comprising a substrate formed of a material having a reststrahlen band and having at least one surface and a coating carried by said one surface. The coating comprises at least one period with each period co... | 03/25/1986 |
| 4574778 | Preparing selective surfaces for solar collectors by dry oxidation and selective surfaces so obtained Selective surfaces for photothermal solar collectors consisting of a nickel support, preferably commercial nickel of 99.5% purity, a layer of a porous nickel oxide of about 0.2 μm covering the metallic support, the layer of porous nickel oxide being cove... | 03/11/1986 |
| 4574041 | Method for obtaining a selective surface for collectors of solar and other radiation The present invention relates to selective surfaces for collectors of solar and other thermally useful radiation. According to the invention, a zinc-coated metal plate having a thickness of between 2μ and 30μ is immersed in an alkaline bath containing 2... | 03/04/1986 |
| 4559998 | Recuperative heat exchanger having radiation absorbing turbulator A tubular recuperative heat exchanger (10) is adapted for transferring heat from a hot gas stream having a temperature of 1200 F. flowing over the outside surface of the heat exchange tubes (12) to a cold gas stream flowing therethrough. A turbulator (22)... | 12/24/1985 |
| 4556048 | Solar heat collector A solar heat collector comprising a polyolefin resin heat collecting base, produced by blow molding, to which first and second coating layers have been applied to overcome the high infrared radiation and poor adhesive characteristics of polyolefins. The f... | 12/03/1985 |
| 4556047 | Solar furnace The solar furnace is constructed of evacuated glass block solar elements that include an interior face, or surface, of zinc. Because of this material, substantial solar radiant energy is retained and radiated to the interior of the furnace, permitting the... | 12/03/1985 |
| 4530348 | Solar collector system for heating fluids A solar collector device comprising a truncated dome shaped absorber with inner and outer wall defining an annular space wherein fluid to be heated passes is disclosed. The absorber is placed within a curved surfaced container which is transparent to infr... | 07/23/1985 |
| 4528978 | Solar rocket absorber A solar rocket absorber of rhenium tubes is used to provide heated liquid hydrogen to a thruster. The rhenium tubes are wrapped in a closed shape having an opening for receiving solar radiation for heating the liquid propellant. The vessel of rhenium tube... | 07/16/1985 |
| 4521442 | Radiant energy collector having plasma-textured polyimide exposed surface A method of fabricating a radiant energy collector is disclosed wherein a substrate is coated on at least a portion of the surface to be exposed to radiant energy, with polyimide then surface-textured employing known procedures, e.g., plasma etching, reac... | 06/04/1985 |
| 4520794 | Solar energy concentrating slat arrangement and collector Disclosed are improved elongated, reflective slat concentrators and elongated multi-conduit/multi-fluid collectors and systems thereof. The reflective slats are generally of rectangular configuration and extending about a curve. In systems utilizing the c... | 06/04/1985 |
