Did You Know...
...that several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!
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 |
| 7644465 | Component brush system A component brush system for use with a drive shaft, including at least two connectable-disconnectable members. Each connectable-disconnectable member has a top surface, a bottom surface and a middle sandwiched between the top and bottom surfaces. At least one of th... | 01/12/2010 |
| 7434289 | Polisher brush having wire-shaped grinding elements In the manufacture of a brush-shaped grindstone (3), embedding holes (310) are formed in a grinding element holding surface (311) of a holder (31) in mutually separated positions. A base end side of a plurality of wire-shaped grinding ele... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7377001 | Grooming/cleaning apparatus A cleaning apparatus includes a handle, a support coupled to the handle and a cleaning element mountable on the support. The support is fixed to the handle or is rotatably coupled to the handle for rotation by a drive motor mounted in the handle. The cleaning elemen... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7334283 | Power toothbrush In a power toothbrush, a brush base portion is provided at a top end of a brush attachment which is detachably engaged with a main body containing an actuator generating driving force for driving at least the brush base portion. The brush base portion can be recipro... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7308899 | Hair-styling device having ion-emitting ceramic material components A ceramic-containing sleeve or a ceramic-based coating on the surface of a roller or curler. The coating or sleeve comprises a mixture of components including, substantially, silicon oxide. While the present invention rollers emit ions without application of heat, h... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7275632 | Roller conveyor roller, especially for the transport of furnace-heated metallic strip material A roller conveyor roller for furnace-heated metal strip has a roller shell journaled on a shaft with bearings providing thermal and electrical insulation of the shell from the shaft. The shell can be divided into shell segments each of which can have two bearings. O... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7197786 | Automatic vehicle washing apparatus wash brush An automatic vehicle washing apparatus wash brush includes a cover encircling a rotatable shaft. Spokes extending radially from the shaft fix the cover relative to the shaft. Upon rotation of the shaft, centrifugal forces urge the cover radially outwardly away from ... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7199711 | Mobile floor cleaner data communication In a method of communicating data from a mobile floor cleaner to a remote receiver a data communication is initiated from a communicator of the mobile floor cleaner to the remote receiver and data is communicated to the remote receiver with the communicator. ... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7165286 | Agitator construction An agitator includes a high strength, continuous metal axle, a pulley held on one end of the metal axle and a sleeve of lightweight plastic material received over the axle. The agitator is manufactured by molding a pulley body onto an underlying metal support or D-n... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7152269 | Washing device for a car wash unit The invention relates to a washing device, in particular a wash brush for car wash units, which is rotationally or peripherally positioned and powered. The washing device has several essentially horizontal projecting, bristle type wash elements located at its periph... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7152268 | Brush assembly A corrugated box finishing machine has a station where dust, debris and other particles are cleaned from the corrugated boards before they are conveyed to the printing station. Electrostatic charges on the particles are neutralized by a static bar and the particles ... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7150477 | Rotary joints Rotary joints are provided, to allow fluid to flow from a stationary member to a rotating member. The rotary joints include a housing, configured to fit over the rotating member, a rotatable coupling disposed within the housing, configured to be fixedly attached to ... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7140062 | Brush structure for vacuum cleaner A brush structure includes a rotation bar, a plurality of brush strips, a plurality of fixing blocks, and a driving block mounted on the rotation bar to rotate the rotation bar. Thus, the helical groove is extended through the whole length of each of the two arc-sha... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7069936 | Device, system, and method for applying a cosmetic product, and method of manufacturing device A device for applying a cosmetic product may include a first brush portion including a first twisted core holding bristles having ends extending from the first twisted core, and a second brush portion including a second twisted core holding bristles having ends exte... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7066805 | Finger plucker lock A resilient rubber finger and a locking mechanism therefore for use in poultry processing plants for the plucking of feathers off if poultry is provided. The rubber-plucking finger is comprised of an oversized base without an annular recess, and a tapered furrowed s... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7051396 | Vehicle cleaning element A vehicle cleaning element of a substantially flat configuration having a first cleaning surface provided by a portion of the flat surface and a second cleaning surface provided by radially projecting prongs or tines for reaching into and pulling out dirt and debris... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7051399 | Cleaner cartridge A cleaner cartridge includes a container having an interior cavity, in which cleaning agent can be stored. A first end of conduit is fluidically coupled to the interior cavity. A second end of the conduit is connectable to a chemical dispenser. ... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7007336 | Agitator construction An agitator includes a high strength, continuous metal axle, a pulley held on one end of the metal axle and a sleeve of lightweight plastic material received over the axle. The agitator is manufactured by molding a pulley body onto an underlying metal support or D-n... | 03/07/2006 |
| 7003842 | Car washing brush with means for pressure-lubricating and cleaning the brush bristles for the inside thereof The present invention relates to a car washing brush, provided with means for lubricating and cleaning the brush bristles, which comprises a tubular body (2), supporting variously distributed bristles (3) and which can be coupled to a motor-reducing as... | 02/28/2006 |
| RE38973 | Sweeper A sweeper includes a support structure having parallel arms which may be moved apart to allow a brush held between the arms to be replaced. Each of the arms has a hub mounted thereon by a universal joint which provides automatic alignment of the two hubs to provide ... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6981291 | Motorized cleaning apparatus A cleaning apparatus includes a handle, a support rotatably coupled to the handle for rotation by a drive motor mounted in the handle and a cleaning element mountable on the support. The cleaning element a flexible mat fixed about the support or about a core mountab... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6974193 | Power operated brush and method A power operated brush or buff and method includes a plurality of brush or buff rolls mounted on a drive arbor. End caps provide a torque connection between the ends of the outermost rolls and the drive arbor while a bridge ring provides a torque connection between ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6941958 | Umbrella device An umbrella device which has a shank, an umbrella-like cap formed as a membrane and a driver. The membrane is connected to the shank and is caused by the driver to move from a position of rest where it droops limply around the shank to an open position where it is e... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6912755 | Clamping device of a rotating tool A clamping device of a rotating tool includes a first clamping plate and a second clamping plate. The first clamping plate includes a snap groove disposed at the center of the first clamping plate and having a bored hole disposed at a center of the snap groove and a... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6859970 | Agitator for vacuum cleaner/extractor An agitator includes an axle, a pulley having a hub mounted to the axle and a belt receiving face having at least one lengthwise channel and a sleeve of molded material received over the axle and in the at least one lengthwise channel. A method of constructing an ag... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6820298 | Wafer scrubbing device having brush assembly and mounting assembly forming spherical joint A brush mounting system for a wafer scrubbing device includes a brush mandrel and a mounting assembly on which the brush mandrel is mounted. The mounting assembly includes a mounting member adapted to be mounted to a wall of the wafer scrubbing device, and a bearing... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6817055 | Method for mounting a drum as well as a drum and an axle for a brush roller A drum for a brush roller comprised of a plurality of arcuate shaped segments with circumferentially projecting shoulders at their ends. The shoulders have outer edges that contact the adjacent segments and have respective inwardly and outwardly facing surfaces whic... | 11/16/2004 |
| 6810559 | Agitator assembly for vacuum cleaner An agitator assembly for a vacuum cleaner comprises a dowel assembly with recesses at its opposite ends defined by outwardly inclined walls. Each recess has inwardly facing radial vanes, and a shaft end for holding the inner ring of a bearing assembly. End caps exte... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6591440 | Brushroll with rotatably mounted end assembly A vacuum cleaner brushroll having skirted, one piece plastic ferrules inserted into the ends of a tufted, wood spindle so that the ferrule skirts embrace the spindle end portions to prevent the ferrules from loosening upon expansion of the spindle due to ... | 07/15/2003 |
| 6591441 | Brushroll having improved cleaning capability A vacuum cleaner brushroll including a spindle, bristle tufts carried by the spindle, and sleeves fitted on the ends of the spindle, the bristle tufts including angled end tufts that extend through the sleeve outwardly beyond the ends of the spindle to pr... | 07/15/2003 |
| 6574823 | Brushroll A vacuum cleaner brushroll having angled tuft patterns effective to increase cleanability performance of the vacuum. The brushroll comprises a spindle and at least two patterns of bristled tufts. The patterns may be helical shaped rows. The rows may defin... | 06/10/2003 |
| 6564417 | Cylindrical brush with locking pin A cleaning brush for a power-driven pool cleaner having a rotatable shaft incorporates a flexible web having first and second opposing edges, the first edge having at least one first element extending in the direction of the first edge, and the second edg... | 05/20/2003 |
| 6553601 | Pipe and cleaning device A pipe end cleaner device formed in a set of sizes to be mounted in the chuck of an electric drill for cleaning the ends of pipes in preparation for connections by threading or soldering. The cleaner device has a plurality of internal grooves configured a... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6551410 | Method of cleaning a semiconductor wafer with a cleaning brush assembly having a contractible and expandable arbor A method of cleaning a semiconductor wafer using a cleaning brush assembly having an arbor with: (1) an expandable member configured to have a non-expanded position and an expanded position, and (2) a cleaning brush, located about the expandable member, h... | 04/22/2003 |
| 6543084 | Wafer scrubbing brush core A brush core and the method for making a brush core for use in substrate scrubbing are provided. The substrate can be any substrate that may need to undergo a scrubbing operation to complete a cleaning operation, etching operation, or other preparation. F... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6539575 | Agitator for a cleaning machine with material cutting channel An agitator for use with cleaning machines, as well as methods for making the same, are shown and described. The agitator is configured to facilitate the removal of elongated fibers therefrom. In one embodiment, the agitator has a rotatable member with op... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6530106 | Vacuum sweeper roller brush A vacuum sweeper roller brush having tuft segments arranged in straight lines is employed to slap the carpet and dislodge particulate dirt and dust lodged therein. The tuft segments are made up of groups of tufts and each tuft segment has a corresponding ... | 03/11/2003 |
| 6490750 | Power brush A hub is disclosed for supporting and retaining at least one surface conditioning article relative to and spaced apart from a rotary shaft. The hub may be a hub of a brush assembly. The hub includes an arbor tube and a pair of plates. Shoulders are provid... | 12/10/2002 |
| 6449793 | Tessellated cylindrical brush A sweeping machine for picking up debris from a surface includes a frame and wheels attached to said frame to support the frame of the sweeping machine over the surface being swept. A cylindrical brush is rotatably attached to said frame. The cylindrical ... | 09/17/2002 |
| 6331213 | Brush alignment method A brush alignment apparatus and method of using the same for aligning a hollow cylindrical brush on a cylindrical roller member comprising first and second ends and an outer surface defining a internal cavity, provided with a plurality of orifices extendi... | 12/18/2001 |
