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.
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 |
| 8186483 | Elevator braking device An elevator assembly (20) includes braking devices (30) for controlling movement of an elevator car (22). A braking device (30) includes an electrical actuator (62) for controlling relative movement between a carriage (42) a... | 05/29/2012 |
| 7299898 | Progressive safety device A progressive safety device for an elevator includes a brake unit and an actuating unit. The brake unit has a first brake shoe with first spring assemblies and a triangular rotatable support with second and third brake shoes. The actuating unit has an electromagneti... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7267201 | Emergency brake device of elevator An emergency brake apparatus for an elevator system is installed on an elevator cage or a balance weight of the elevator system and includes a grip member with slant surfaces and a pressing surface sandwiching a guide rail, a pressing member disposed movably between... | 09/11/2007 |
| 6325184 | Gravity brake A mechanical gravity brake that prevents hoisted loads within a shaft from free-falling when a loss of hoisting force occurs. A loss of hoist lifting force may occur in a number of situations, for example if a hoist cable were to break, the brakes were to... | 12/04/2001 |
| 6164418 | Elevating work platform structure An elevating work platform structure for use in constructing an elevator channel before and after the elevator car has been placed into the elevator channel includes a horizontal beam, two side posts connected to two ends of the horizontal beam, two upper... | 12/26/2000 |
