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.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8183482 | Rotary switch for a glass ceramic cooktop The invention relates to a rotary switch for a glass ceramic cooktop, which rotary switch includes a rotary knob projecting above the glass ceramic plate. The rotary knob interacting with a switch unit disposed on an underside of the glass ceramic plate. The rotary ... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8178802 | Unitized appliance control panel assembly and components of the assembly An electronics enclosure and associated components form a self-contained, unitized assembly including control buttons and illuminated indicator elements, that can be mated as a single piece with an outer user interface control panel fascia. A front panel of the elec... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8094437 | Electronic device and operative push button thereof An electronic device includes a shell defining a space and an opening therein. A fixing pole extends into the space from an inner surface of the shell adjacent to the opening. A circuit board is received in the space, and defines a through hole corresponding to the ... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8080750 | Device for mounting a switch or the like on a mounting plate The present invention relates to a device for mounting a switch or the like on a mounting plate. The switch comprises a housing with a housing top side supported on the back side of the mounting plate, a fastening protrusion including fastening means, as well as a p... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8071899 | Electronic device with key assembly An electronic device includes an enclosure accommodating a plurality of electronic elements therein, a circuit board positioned in the enclosure and spaced from the panel, and a key assembly positioned between the panel and the circuit board. The enclosure includes ... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8067708 | Electrical appliance housing An electrical appliance housing including a hard plastic housing body defining a switch-actuating aperture. The aperture is sealed with a soft plastic membrane. An actuating button is fastened to a hard plastic base that is bonded to the membrane. ... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8049121 | Control unit for a household appliance The invention relates to control unit for a domestic appliance, especially for a washing machine with a fascia panel (10) to which is assigned at least one control button (16), indicator (18) or similar arranged within a panel opening (12, 14... | 11/01/2011 |
| 7825345 | Reversely mounted tactile switch assembly and printed circuit board therewith A reversely mountable tactile switch assembly has a switch housing with switch terminals and an actuator button secured thereto on the same side of the housing, and can be used on a printed circuit board. The resulting printed circuit board provides for smaller unit... | 11/02/2010 |
| 7804034 | Electrical appliance housing An electrical appliance housing including a hard plastic housing body defining a switch-actuating aperture. The aperture is sealed with a soft plastic membrane. An actuating button is fastened to a hard plastic base that is bonded to the membrane. ... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7723626 | Haptics cone A push button assembly has a button retainer having drawer slide guides and a corresponding bezel structure. The button retainer also has a surface perpendicular to a principal translational axis, on which is one of a conical protrusion and a conical indentation is ... | 05/25/2010 |
| 7592560 | Button device An exemplary button device includes a cover and a push button. The cover includes a main body with an opening defined therein, two spaced blocks, and a post extending from the main body between the blocks. The push button includes a positioning portion with a throug... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7592559 | Bezel and actuator An improved actuator (24) and bezel (22) are assembled in a mold (140). The actuator (24) is linearly movable relative to the bezel (22). A guide surface (44 or 76-80) on the actuator (24) is formed by b... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7586053 | Selection member coupling apparatus for clothing handler and coupling method thereof A selection member coupling apparatus for a clothing handler and an associated coupling method are provided. The selection member coupling apparatus may include a selection member, and a selection member guiding member that guides operation of the selection member t... | 09/08/2009 |
| 7576291 | Key button mechanism and an electronic device using the same A key button mechanism (100) including an operating body (10), a flexible circuit board (20), a fixing device (40), and a mounting assembly (50) is provided. The flexible circuit board engages with the operating body. The fixing de... | 08/18/2009 |
| 7564000 | Electronic device An electronic device comprises a housing, a pillar and a fixing unit. The housing comprises a side-wall, an opening and a first positioning portion, wherein the opening is formed on the side-wall, and the first positioning portion is disposed in the housing correspo... | 07/21/2009 |
| 7538284 | Electrical control panel preferably for height adjustable tables An electrical operating panel, in particular for height-adjustable tables equipped with actuators or lifting columns driven by an electric motor. The panel has a first part (1) intended for fixed mounting of the panel and a second part (2) with operati... | 05/26/2009 |
| 7485820 | Button assembly A button assembly includes a bezel, an elastic member, and a button. The bezel defines a through hole. The elastic member forms a locating portion on an end thereof, and a mounting portion on the other end thereof. The locating portion is movably mounted to the beze... | 02/03/2009 |
| 7399939 | Appliance knob mounting system and method A control panel assembly for controlling a home appliance is provided. The control panel assembly includes a control board including at least one functional component. A control panel is coupled to the control board. The control panel forms a central cylinder defini... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7394033 | Control panel assembly and method for controlling thereof A control panel assembly is disclosed for making it easy to manipulate buttons of home appliances, the control panel including at least one LED connected to a circuit board for selectively emitting light, a switch connected to the circuit board and provided adjacent... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7381919 | Lever button of electronic product A lever button of an electronic product is provided. The lever button is disposed inside a housing, and is deformed under an external force to generate a displacement to press a switch. The lever button includes a fulcrum shaft pivotally disposed in the housing, a p... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7371984 | Button assembly of dishwasher A button assembly of a dishwasher is provided. The button assembly includes a button portion and a front panel. The button portion has a button head for a user to press and a button body extending down from the button head. A button connecting portion connects a plu... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7365282 | Pull out air gap switch for wallbox-mounted dimmer A push/pull switch control is incorporated into the surface pattern of a wall box dimmer having a planar face surface. The switch control is finger nail operated and contains a finger nail groove which is accessible on the bottom end surface of the operator so it ca... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7365281 | Waterproof/drainage structure for a casing, and electronic devices Provided is a waterproof/drainage structure for a lower casing (11) having a plurality of pushbuttons (16) on a surface thereof. The waterproof/drainage structure has a cover member (14) forming the surface and provided with a plurality of butto... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7361858 | Swing switch A swing switch, which is disposed in a decorative panel having a surface and an opening, includes a switch body, and a panel-side guide. The switch body has an input element, a switch-side guide, and a swing center. The input element is disposed in the opening of th... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355136 | Button device for computer bezel A button device includes a base (11) mounted to a bezel (30) of an electronic device. A plurality of button units (17) are disposed in the base (11), and a plurality of through holes (13) are abreast provided in the base (11... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7355135 | Switch panel having at least one switch A control panel is shown with at least one switch (12) whose actuating button (6) is situated in an opening (3) of a front panel (4), and with a housing (1) arranged in the region of the opening (3) of the front panel (4 | 04/08/2008 |
| 7348511 | Button device for computer bezel A button device for an electronic device, includes a panel defining an opening, a button module, and a switch. The button module has two opposite ends attached to the panel. A button is suspended at a middle of the button module and aligned with the opening of the p... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7347712 | Safety covers for electric sockets and the like An electrical socket assembly includes a plurality of pin receiving apertures passing through a wall mounted faceplate. The faceplate is enclosed by an integral cover panel which is spring biased to an open position. Engaging latch pins and a latch mechanism secure ... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7343680 | Method for manufacturing dial knob of washing machine A dial knob of a washing machine is provided. In the dial knob, a dial is inserted into a center part of a knob guard, and a periphery edge of the knob is formed to be lustrous. A lamp window body is securely attached on a rear surface of the knob guard. The knob gu... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7342192 | Resilient switch The present invention is to provide a resilient switch mounted in a housing and comprising a flexible arm including a first seat formed on one end of the flexible arm and a second seat formed on the other end of the flexible arm. After fastening the second seat on a... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7342191 | Button assembly on computer panel A button assembly includes a panel (10), an indicating lamp (30) and a button member (20). The panel defines a through hole (15) with supporting collar. The button member defines a securing hole (28) corresponding to the through ho... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7339618 | Image chromatism compensation method for adjusting image dispersion distances of an image A method for compensating image chromatism is provided. As each RGB channel has different wavelength and refractive index, image dispersion will always occur when capturing an image from a lens. If the image dispersion is excessive, it will produce image chromatism ... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7335842 | Housing device with fixing member for push button An exemplary frame assembly (2) includes a frame (21), plural posts (212), a button member (22), and plural push buttons (222). The frame includes a bottom wall (211). The posts are formed at the bottom wall. The button memb... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7335845 | Air-gap switch A switching device is provided having an air-gap switch for an electrical load. The switching device can include a switch keycap configured for controlling the switching of the electrical load. A faceplate can be configured to surround the switch keycap. In addition... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7326868 | Button apparatus for disk drive A button apparatus for an electronic component (10) having a button (16) includes a computer bezel (20) and a pressing member (30) pivotally attached to the computer bezel for pressing the button of the electronic component. The computer ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7304257 | Kinetic energy transferring element applied to a button structure A kinetic energy transferring element applied to a button structure for pressing an electric switch has a curved portion, a first extended portion and a second extended portion, in which the curved portion is bridged between the first extended portion and the second... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7297886 | Dustproof structure for an electronic equipment A dustproof structure for an electronic equipment includes internal switches disposed in a housing forming an external frame of the electronic equipment and an opening for use in operating the internal switches. The dustproof structure further includes a shutter pla... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7279649 | Switch for vehicles A switch for vehicles, which temporarily holds the screw maintaining reliability, can be easily assembled, and is particularly suited for detecting the opening and closure of doors. An insertion hole is formed in a cylindrical portion of a cover covering the upper s... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7276670 | Image forming apparatus An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a sheet output part that outputs the sheet having the image formed thereon by the image forming unit, and an operation panel for controlling the image forming unit disposed in ... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7269979 | Set of washing machine and dryer and rear cover assembly thereof A washing system may include a washing machine and dryer set that, for example, include top covers provided at upper sides of the washing machine and dryer; rear covers interchangeably provided at rear sides of the top covers, wherein the rear covers can maintain a ... | 09/18/2007 |
