Famous Patents
3M employee and church chorister Art Fry needed something to temporarily mark pages in his hymnal. He was in luck because his colleague, Spencer Silver, accidentally developed a glue that was too weak for other purposes. After initially discouraging consumer response, Post-it Notes became a hit in 1979.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8164016 | Switching apparatus The invention relates to a switching apparatus (10) for switching a load on and off, in particular a motor or the like in a vehicle, having a housing (20), an operating element (30), a switching element (40), wherein the switching element... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8093520 | Reconfigurable switch array using multi-layered film A switch panel assembly includes a plurality of selectively enabled switches for actuating only those available features. A plurality of available actuateable features are represented on the switch panel by graphics that are hidden in a non-illuminated condition and... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8063324 | Paddle switch and steering wheel Paddle levers protrude from lower sides of a center pad of a steering wheel into two lower spaces partitioned using a horizontal spoke and a vertical spoke of the steering wheel. The paddle lever is formed of a transparent photoconductor, and a periphery of the padd... | 11/22/2011 |
| 7939773 | Illuminated keyboard with a light guide plate An illuminated keyboard with a light guide plate of the present invention includes a key module and a luminous module located under the key module. The luminous module includes a transparent light guide plate, a plurality of illuminants, and a light reflection plate... | 05/10/2011 |
| 7777144 | Metal keypad panel structure with micropore array A metal keypad panel structure with a micropore array includes a metal keypad panel, a filling, a pattern layer, a backlight module and an electric signal module. The metal keypad panel has micropores filled with the filling. The pattern layer is on a side of the me... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7754987 | Switch for electronic device A switch includes a substrate including a main body and a cylindrical portion protruding upright from the main body and defining a transverse groove in the outer surface thereof, a light emitter fixed on the cylindrical portion to receive light beams from the light ... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7671289 | Capacitance type light-emitting switch and light-emitting switch element used for such capacitance type light-emitting switch A capacitance type light-emitting switch and a light-emitting switch element are provided that operate properly by preventing failure in entry and for which a small number of parts are used. A light-emitting switch 61 has a light-emitting switch element 51... | 03/02/2010 |
| 7635819 | Keypad assembly having reflection pattern A keypad assembly includes a light guide plate adapted to transmit light and comprising a supporting portion and an elastic portion made of different material than material of the supporting portion, at least one key button disposed on the side of the light guide pl... | 12/22/2009 |
| 7592561 | Illuminated switch An illuminated switch includes an operation knob that includes an operation surface, a light source that emits light beams using a predetermined direction as an optical axis, and a first light guide member that is provided in the operation knob and guides the light ... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7569785 | Electrical switching apparatus indicating status through panel aperture An electrical switching apparatus, such as an aircraft circuit breaker or an aerospace circuit breaker, is for a corresponding aircraft or aerospace panel including a first aperture and a second aperture. The circuit breaker includes a status, such as a health statu... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7399936 | Operating configuration for a household appliance, operating element and household appliance An operating device for a household appliance is formed with an aperture, and an operating element is guided through an assembly hole in the aperture. A plurality of light sources in the operating element, indicate the operational state of the household appliance. T... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7397005 | Control panel assembly for washing machine Disclosed is a control panel assembly for a washing machine, which provides an improved structure enabling a knob smoothly to rotate without making noise. The present invention includes a board having a switch and parts mounted thereon, a control panel installed at ... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7378606 | Keypad and keypad assembly A keypad includes a light guide panel, the interior of which light propagates through, a film positioned on the upper surface of the light guide panel and having at least one key button positioned on the upper surface thereof, and at least one reflective pattern fix... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7369064 | Key and keyboard A key includes a light-permeable body, a light-shading layer and a first dye layer. The light-shading layer is formed on the surface of the light-permeable body and has a first light-permeable area and a second light-permeable area. The first dye layer is formed on ... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7339128 | All-color light control switch An all-color light control switch that is used by an operator for free adjustment or control of a light emitting diode lamp set; using multiple sets of commands for light variations stored in a non-volatile memory unit in a microprocessor on the circuit board, and b... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7333095 | Illumination for optical touch panel An optical touch panel including a support defining a generally planar surface, an optical illumination assembly arranged along and above at least part of a periphery of the support to define a detection region, at least one light detector, arranged to detect change... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7329018 | Illuminated human-machine interface device An illuminated human-machine interface device does not need prepare electric energy by itself to supply power for a light source and can operate by taking advantage of the brightness of a screen of a monitor without any extraordinary illuminating equipment. It can b... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7319490 | Input switch with display and image capturing apparatus using the same An input unit of the present invention includes: an instruction input unit including a display part, a posture of the instruction input unit capable of being displaced by a pressure applied to a first face thereof including a display screen of the display part; a sw... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7311548 | Jumper installation feedback A jumper including a connecting face, a light-emitting face, and a light pipe extending from the connecting face to the light-emitting face is provided. The light pipe is operable to transmit a light from a provided computer hardware from the connecting face to the ... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7295190 | Touch sensitive control panel A touch sensitive control panel is described. The control panel comprises a sensor surface in which a plurality of sensor areas are arranged and a circuit board offset from the sensor surface. The circuit board has an electrical contact associated with each of the s... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7276671 | Electronic device having a modularized press key An electronic device having a modularized press key disposed therein. The electronic device is provided with a switch, and the modularized press key is composed of a key cap, an identification part, and an extension part. The key cap is provided with a connection ho... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7271360 | Key button structure and portable terminal device therewith The present invention provides a key button structure, capable of easily and positively finding a targeted character in accordance with an entry mode preset by a user, comprises: a key top; a light shielding section, which is attached onto rear face of the key top a... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7265307 | Illumination push switch unit An illumination push switch unit is provided in which driving units for driving first and second detecting units are formed at side walls other than adjacent side walls of peripheral walls of first and second sliders with a barrier walls of a case interposed therebe... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7259342 | Noise reduction key structure A noise reduction key structure is disclosed. The noise reduction key structure is applied to an electronic device having a housing and a substrate, the substrate being installed in the housing, the housing having a key portion, the noise reduction key structure com... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7238905 | Single button six-way sunroof switch A single button six-way sunroof switch includes a case; a knob base which has a coupling hole, hooks, and a hinge hole; a knob with coupling grooves, wherein the hooks of the knob base are engaged with the coupling grooves; a light emitting rod having a latching jaw... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7232973 | Capacitive touch switch A capacitive touch switch includes a sensor button which is disposed between a circuit board and a cover plate and which forms a terminal of a capacitor that is variable in its capacitance by an approach. The sensor button includes a body of a flexible material, whi... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7224945 | Mobile station having overlapping translucent material layers and method of forming the same A mobile station for receiving and generating wireless communications signals. The mobile station includes layers of translucent materials each having a visual characteristic and overlapping portions that define another visual characteristic. The layers can be used ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7220930 | Floor care appliance with an electro luminescent switch panel A floor care appliance such as a vacuum cleaner is provided having a display panel having at least one indicator light for indicating a status of a feature of the appliance wherein the indicator light is lighted by electro luminescent lighting. The electro luminesce... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7217894 | Switch apparatus for use in vehicles A vehicle switch apparatus for increasing space for other switches and ensuring operation of a switch when the switch must be felt for in order to be operated. The vehicle switch apparatus includes a paddle that has a front surface facing the driver and a rear surfa... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7193170 | Push button A push button includes a button main body portion which is provided between a packaging substrate placed under it and a casing portion located above it, a light source placed on the packaging substrate, and a light-guide portion which guides light from the light sou... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7186935 | Keypad assembly for a portable terminal A keypad assembly for a portable terminal is disclosed. The keypad assembly for the portable terminal includes a light guide plate which has reflection patterns locally formed on a lower surface of the light guide plate for reflecting a part of light transmitted in ... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7180022 | Illuminated keypad An illuminated keypad includes a baseboard, a plurality of keys protruded from the baseboard, a plurality of sets of light guiding bars and a plurality of light-emitting components. Each set of light guiding bars is disposed under the baseboard. Each light guiding b... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7180021 | LED illuminated door chime push button with adjustable task light An illuminated doorbell pushbutton assembly includes a pushbutton assembly that uses a light source, or a plurality thereof to illuminate the pushbutton. The assembly also includes a user-adjustable rotating task light that can be used to direct light to a door lock... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7138591 | Electric part with illumination having an illuminating member movable integrally with an operating member and being superior in assembleability In order to provide an electric part with illumination in which unevenness of illumination is eliminated, the illumination efficiency is improved, and good assembleability is achieved, an illumination member is retained on a base, and the base is retained by an oper... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7132615 | Switchpad for a pushbutton switch assembly A switchpad for use within a pushbutton switch assembly including a web connecting a spacer and a contact support. ... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7129432 | Lighted switch unit A lighted switch unit having a light-shield structure at a lower end of an operating body is provided, in which an outer surface of the operating body is covered with a non-translucent covering layer, and a light-transmitting display part is formed on an upper part ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7126072 | Key switch and electronic device A jog dial switch, which functions as a key switch, includes a key sheet, a rotatable key top arranged on the key sheet, and a movement amount detector for detecting movement amount of the key top. The movement amount detector includes four permanent magnets arrange... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7122752 | Vehicle interior illumination lamp A vehicle interior illumination lamp 11 for mounting in an opening formed in an interior member of a vehicle includes a function portion 12 having a bulb 22 serving as a light source and a switch lever 74 for effecting and interrupting th... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7104677 | Indicating light Indicating light for an optical display, with a housing exhibiting electrically conductive parts, a light-emitting diode, and a push element, capable of axial displacement in a hollow rod, for a switch mounted in the hollow rod. ... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7090368 | Key for use in low light conditions A key, which may be used in a user interface, including indicia formed at least in part from UV reactive material. ... | 08/15/2006 |
