Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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 |
| 7380312 | Cover restricting mechanism A cover restricting mechanism is adapted for use in a foldable electronic device. The cover (10) has a first barrel portion (13) at one end thereof. The cover restricting mechanism includes a blocking element and a cushion device (20). The block... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7350845 | Modular deck lid hinge with coil springs A vehicle body decklid hinge includes at least one hinge set carried by a bracket that retains a pivot pin and a retainer bar in a cantilevered manner. The pivot pin supports a lever, such as a gooseneck strap, that will be coupled to the hood, while the bracket inc... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7350664 | Hinge device for storage container and storage container having the same A hinge device for a storage containerand includes a housing mounted on any one of the door and a container body, a pair of hinge shafts rotatably fit in respective ends of the housing, each of the pair of hinge shaft including a cam shaft part with a first cam prov... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7223096 | Lighter A lighter comprises a lighter housing, a gas container for storing liquid inflammable gas, a combustion device connected to the gas container, and an igniter for igniting inflammable gas in the combustion device. The housing includes an upper cover and a case, where... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7140137 | Spring loaded holders A spring loaded holder with a holder plate which is rotatable between a deactivated zone and an activated zone. When the holder plate is manually moved to the activated zone a cam action will be activated to apply a holding force to the holder plate for firmly holdi... | 11/28/2006 |
| 6932218 | Folding photo case A folding photo case includes a pair of exterior case members coupled to each other by a first hinge and a pair of interior frame members coupled to respective exterior case members by respective second and third hinges. The first, second and third hinges are prefer... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6928695 | Checker-equipped door hinge A checker-equipped door hinge includes a checker that is provided between first and second hinge arms and imparts a stepwise limiting resistance to pivoting of the two hinge arms relative to each other. The checker includes a check cam that is formed separately from... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6594864 | Cushioning device for rotatable components, such as, for example, roof grab handles or sun visors of a vehicle A cushioning device (10, 10.1) for rotatable components such as, for example, roof grab handles or sun vizors of a vehicle, having an outer rotational sleeve (14) and an inner rotational part (12), which are both arranged in a manner such that they can ro... | 07/22/2003 |
| 6539580 | Hinge assembly for a cover A hinge assembly for use in connecting a cover to a frame of a personal digital assistant (PDA) or the like. The hinge assembly is arranged so that the cover will auto-close or auto-open depending on the angular orientation of the cover.... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6473937 | Motor vehicle door hinge having an integrated braking and holding function The invention relates to a motor vehicle door hinge having an integrated braking and holding function. Said door hinge is comprised of a first hinge half which acts upon a door assembly part, a door, or a door pillar, and of a second hinge halve which act... | 11/05/2002 |
| 6442800 | Motor vehicle door brake which has an opening end stop and which is integrated in a hinge The invention relates to a motor vehicle door brake which has an opening end stop and which is integrated in a hinge. The hinge is comprised of two hinge halves which are interconnected in a jointed manner by means of a hinge pin. Said hinge halves can al... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6352295 | Fuel door assembly There is described an improved fuel door assembly and methods for assembling same. In one preferred example the fuel door assembly comprises a housing that defines an axis of rotation and has a moveable retaining surface that is biased toward the axis of ... | 03/05/2002 |
| 6289556 | Furniture hinge A hinge, preferably a furniture hinge, is provided which comprises a hinge arm (1) pivoted on a hinge axle (3) held with a cup-shaped hinge part (4) and provided with a tongue extending over the hinge axle (3) or a cam eccentric to the hinge axle (3) or a... | 09/18/2001 |
| 6092263 | Hinge with elastic ring return system The invention features a hinge or coupling two panels (P1, P2), one of which at least opens rotatably about an axis (X) parallel to the planes of the said panels, comprising a mobile fixing element (1) on the opening panel, a fixing element on the other p... | 07/25/2000 |
| 5898976 | Roller cam and spring actuated hinge A female hinge member, and a hinge assembly including the member, includes a pair of spaced ears between which a cylindrical roller is supported for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis about which the female hinge member and a pivotally attached m... | 05/04/1999 |
| 5655261 | Closing mechanism for cabinet hinge A self-closing mechanism for a fully concealed hinge, which has a hinge cup for mounting on a door, and a frame wing pivotally supported thereon for attachment to a frame on which the door is mounted. The mechanism includes a combination compression coil ... | 08/12/1997 |
| 5604956 | Single pivot hinge with self-closing mechanism A hinge with self-closing mechanism includes a hinge arm fastened swivelable to a hinge cup and also includes an elastic element which lies with one end of the elastic element on the hinge arm and disposed outside the hinge cup under the bottom of the hin... | 02/25/1997 |
| 5546705 | Support for holding a closing element A support for holding a closed element, such as a flap or lid in a closed or open position relative to a container has a first and second arm. One of the arms is connected to the container by a first pivot bearing and the other arm is connected to the clo... | 08/20/1996 |
| 5517724 | Hinge for pieces of furniture A hinge for use in a piece of furniture includes a casing adapted for attachment to a door of the piece of furniture and having a bottom provided with a bump, and a support member for attachment to a wall of the piece of furniture and including at least o... | 05/21/1996 |
| 5488757 | Counterbalance device for mail processing system cover A counterbalance device for a mail processing system includes a cover; a base; a support arm fixedly mounted to one of the cover and the base and articulately mounted to the other of the cover and the base such that the cover and the base pivot relative t... | 02/06/1996 |
| 5430253 | Electrical outlet cover assembly A hinged electrical outlet cover biased rotatably about the hinge axis by an M-shaped spring. In one arrangement, the cover is self-closing throughout its entire range of movement between fully open and fully closed positions. In another arrangement, the ... | 07/04/1995 |
| 5386884 | Spring assemblies A spring assembly of the kind having a coiled strip spring member (34) supported at one end on an arcuate drum portion (16) about which it is reverse wound and coiled at its other end about an abutment (20) further includes a base plate (10) mounting the ... | 02/07/1995 |
| 5369841 | Hinge, particulary for furniture doors A hinge, particularly for furniture doors, in which two fastening elements are connected via inner and outer link elements to form a linkage, the outer link element of which has a curved face and a vertex on which a longitudinally extending, active leg of... | 12/06/1994 |
| 5355557 | Concealed self-closing hinge with integral hinge pin means A concealed self-closing hinge for mounting a door on a frame. The door member of the hinge includes a cup formed with vertically aligned slots. The frame member of the hinge includes an arm whose free end is formed with integral pintles which are pivotal... | 10/18/1994 |
| 5111503 | Portable telephone set A portable telephone set having a cover attached rotatably to a body. When closed, the cover covers and protects a switch portion of the telephone set, while when opened, it is held in a stable position at a predetermined angle relative to the body by mea... | 05/05/1992 |
| 5098150 | Visor cover hinge The present invention includes a spring clip hinge for pivotally attaching a cover to the body of a vehicle accessory such as a visor such that the cover is urged toward an open or a closed position. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the spring-c... | 03/24/1992 |
| 5077864 | Swing door hinge A swing door hinge is provided comprising a first hinge member having a projection of approximately rectangular block shape and provided with at least two engaging recesses, the first hinge member being intended to be mounted to either a wall frame or a s... | 01/07/1992 |
| 5058238 | Crosslink hinge with closing mechanism A crosslink hinge for hanging a door on a cabinet has two crosslink arms attached in the middle in a scissors-like manner. One end of one of the crosslink arms is coupled directly to the cabinet-related part of the hinge, which can be fastened on a mounti... | 10/22/1991 |
| 5029362 | Furniture hinge A furniture hinge has a first hinge arm and a second hinge arm which are interconnected by inner and outer pivot levers. The inner pivot lever carries a control cam within the first hinge arm for cooperating with an internal coil spring so that the hinge ... | 07/09/1991 |
| 5022117 | Cabinet hinge with closing mechanism Cabinet hinge whose door-related part in the form of a cup set in a mortise is articulated to the carcase-related part configured as an elongated supporting arm of inverted U-shaped cross section by two hinge links whose ends are journaled in the cup at o... | 06/11/1991 |
| 4979634 | Hold-open hinge mechanism for a molded plastic cover A hold-open hinge mechanism for a molded plastic rainproof cover for a circuit breaker is disclosed. The hinge mechanism comprises an integrally molded pivot pin on the cover member and a hinge member on the cover base which pivotally engages the pivot pi... | 12/25/1990 |
| 4974289 | Hinge with elastic housing A hinge is made of two elements articulated to one another. One element constitutes at least one fork, supporting the hinge pin, and the other element constitutes at least one hub fitted on the hinge pin supported by the fork. Each bearing of the fork and... | 12/04/1990 |
| 4972546 | Over-center hinge An over-center hinge for cabinet doors with a door-related hinge part in the form of a recess-mounting cup in which one end of each of two links is journaled whose other ends are journaled on a jamb-related hinge part in the form of an elongated supportin... | 11/27/1990 |
| 4916862 | Ceiling access panel A ceiling access panel for a suspended ceiling has a friction brake to retard the pivotal movement of the panel from a raised condition flush with the ceiling to a lowered condition exposing a ceiling access opening. The friction brake comprises a flexibl... | 04/17/1990 |
| 4894884 | Over-center self-closing hinge for cabinet doors Over-center self-closing hinge for cabinet doors, having an inner link and an outer link in a quadrilateral arrangement and a lever in the form of a hairpin spring fulcrumed at one end in the cabinet-wall-related hinge part and thrusting at right angles t... | 01/23/1990 |
| 4891862 | Hinge A self-closing hinge comprises a pair of hinge leaves pivotally interconnected by an offset hinge pin. One leaf has a flanged head projecting substantially radially with respect to a sleeve of the other hinge leaf, within which the hinge pin is mounted. T... | 01/09/1990 |
| 4864687 | Three piece lift-off door hinge A door hinge assembly enabling a vehicle door to be readily removed and rehung during an assembly line operation. Upper and lower hinge door-half sub-assemblies each include a generally hat-shaped door mounting plate secured to the vehicle door and a U-sh... | 09/12/1989 |
| 4845810 | Self closing hinge A self closing hinge having a single unitary spring element which functions to maintain the hinge in the open position and to move the hinge to the fully closed position after the hinge is partially closed. A unitary hinge spring having a base section and... | 07/11/1989 |
| 4841598 | Furniture hinge A furniture hinge is described which comprises a hinge base, and a hingeable arm arrangement adjustably connected to a hinge bracket which is clipped onto the hinge base. The hinge base is attached to a piece of furniture adjacent a door thereof, and the ... | 06/27/1989 |
| 4819299 | Self-closing hinge A self-closing hinge comprising a pair of hinge leaves pivotally interconnected by an offset hinge pin. A spring tang is formed integrally with one of the hinge members and has a distal end that has a head projecting substantially radially with respect to... | 04/11/1989 |
