...that the Band-Aid Bandage was invented by a Johnson & Johnson employee whose wife had cut herself? Earl Dickson's wife was rather accident prone, so he set out to develop a bandage that she could apply without help. He placed a small piece of gauze in the center of a small piece of surgical tape, and what we know today as the Band Aid bandage was born!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6750408 | Multi-directional operation switch and multi-directional input device using the same In a multi-directional operation switch, an operating disk, upon being pressed at its upper side, tilts to depress a elastic pressing member, thus making hard rings of the driving member to press a resistor sheet sequentially. This operation allows resistor layers b... | 06/15/2004 |
| 6750407 | Control panel assembly for home appliances and method for manufacturing the same A control panel assembly for home appliances devised for a better external appearance and more stable operation is disclosed. The control panel assembly includes a substrate (40) provided with at lest one switch (42) for operating home appliance and at... | 06/15/2004 |
| 6747218 | Electrosurgical haptic switch including snap dome and printed circuit stepped contact array The present disclosure relates to tactile switch assemblies having stepped printed circuit boards for use with snap-domes in surgical instruments. In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure a tactile switch assembly for use with a surgical instrument in... | 06/08/2004 |
| 6737592 | Switch assembly for operating a device in different operational modes A switch assembly (20) comprising of a base portion (22), a flexible pad (24), a paddle (26), and at least one button (28). The flexible pad (24) has a first dome (44) and a second dome (46). The paddle (26 | 05/18/2004 |
| 6734377 | Touch switch layout and method for the control of a touch switch A touch switch layout for a hob having several hotplates is described. For said hotplates is in each case provided a separate selection switch with which the power can be selected in each case. There is also a single, common touch switch for power reduction for all ... | 05/11/2004 |
| 6723930 | Mirror switch device On a printed wiring board (13), switch parts (21 to 24) are disposed so as to correspond to four positions of corner parts in the side parts of a rectangular form of a pusher (20). A switch circuit member is provided. The switch circuit m... | 04/20/2004 |
| 6720504 | Multi-operational electronic device In a multi-operational electronic device of the present invention, a first switch, which operates when an operating lever is tilted, is so configured that a circular domelike resilient movable contact large enough to cover a plurality of first fixed contacts is part... | 04/13/2004 |
| 6717085 | Press-button switch A press-button switch is provided which includes a control unit between a press button and a conductive switching element within a housing of the press-button switch. The control unit utilizes a push element and a hook member beneath the press button to push and pul... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6717075 | Method and apparatus for a multi-sided input device An input device that has controls on more than one side is disclosed. The user orients the input device such that the controls to he used are in a predetermined orientation. A sensor detects which controls are in the predetermined orientation and enables those contr... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6717074 | Membrane button key structure with a built-in speaker A membrane button key structure with a built-in speaker consists of a membrane key, a bottom lid and a speaker. The membrane key includes a four-way key and a plurality of hot keys connecting with one another through a membrane and corresponding to touch switches lo... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6713701 | Switch apparatus In a switch apparatus, moderating pieces (29) are engaged with moderation concave portions of a manipulator (30) by way of a displaceable portion (20) of an elastic member (18) having a movable-side contact (24) which is contacted/... | 03/30/2004 |
| 6713693 | Electric switch having both toggle and rocker functions A switch having independently operable toggle and rocker functions. The switch having a housing, a toggle member pivotally mounted in the housing, the toggle member having upper and lower portions. The upper portion being movable for providing a toggle function of t... | 03/30/2004 |
| 6713692 | Switch mechanism, multidirectional operation switch, and multidirectional operation unit A switch mechanism, and a multidirectional operation switch and multidirectional operation unit employing this switch mechanism. The switch mechanism has a flexible contact, multiple fixed contacts, and multiple common contacts. Multiple fixed contacts are disposed ... | 03/30/2004 |
| 6698952 | Hand held encoding instrument An encoding instrument held in substantially the palmar axis of a hand has a concavo-curved keypad surface accessibly equidistant to the thumb of the holding hand. The primary surface of the keypad is substantially not coincidental with a handle. Encoding... | 03/02/2004 |
| 6694236 | Vehicle-mounted device control unit The vehicle-mounted device control unit is provided with an electrical appliance selection switch for selecting an electrical appliance whose function is to be regulated, a manual input device for regulating various functions of the electrical appliance s... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6693246 | Rocker switch for one two-stage actuating stroke A rocker switch for one two-stage actuating stroke, especially in the form of a window control switch for a motor vehicle. The rocker switch includes a rocker button which is mounted in a housing. An actuating plate for acting on switching contacts that a... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6680676 | Switch unit and portable terminal device using the switch unit Printed boards 31 and 38 are disposed in two layers inside a casing 1, and a selector cursor key and fixer keypad 21 is provided on the cover 2. Selector cursor key switches 34 are provided on the first printed board 31 on the keypad 21 side while a fixer... | 01/20/2004 |
| 6671460 | Hand-held electrical appliance such as a hair drier provided with position adjustable control members Hand-held electrical appliance of the hairdryer or similar type, including a body (1) equipped with a series of functional elements and a handle (11) displaying an array of controls (2) allowing the user to operate and adjust the said appliance, character... | 12/30/2003 |
| 6667447 | Button device in computer bezel A button device includes a button (20), a spring (40) and a receiving portion (62) formed in a bezel (60). The button has a base (22), a plurality of locking hooks (24) and contacting blocks (26) extending rearwardly from a periphery of a back of the base... | 12/23/2003 |
| 6667446 | Rotary knob device with a key function A rotary knob device (1, 20) having a key function includes a key (5, 30) in a rotary knob (2, 23), which is operated separately from the rotary knob so that the key (5, 30) need not also be moved when the rotary knob (2, 23) is moved. In this regard, a h... | 12/23/2003 |
| 6657140 | System for controlling a window operator This system includes a control part (6) permitting controlling the opening and closing of an associated window, having three separate control zones (F, M, O). In the automatic mode, when the corresponding window has been entirely opened or closed, a push ... | 12/02/2003 |
| 6635832 | Electrical switch An electrical switch including a housing, four fixed contact elements fixed with respect to the housing, and four movable contact elements movable with respect to the housing. Each of the movable contact elements is positioned directly opposite from a res... | 10/21/2003 |
| 6627829 | Switch device with indicator A switch device with an indicator, in which the indication resolution for the operation amount of a switch can be increased without increasing the number of light emitting elements of the indicator and with a low cost, is provided. The switch device inclu... | 09/30/2003 |
| 6624368 | Switch device A switch device is provided which allows easy recognition of the operation amount of the switch device with an inexpensive structure and without the need for an operator to change the posture or the like, even when a blind spot region is generated in an i... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6624807 | Manual control device with a joystick A manual control device composed of: a housing; a joystick; and a joint supporting the joystick in the housing to enable the joystick to pivot about two mutually orthogonal axes relative to the housing. The joint is an elastic molded plastic part composed... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6621024 | Sealed switch assembly A switch housing assembly which uses an internal pressure bracket to simultaneously provide pressure against multiple switches located in multiple locations within the switch housing assembly. The pressure bracket creates a fluid seal between the flexible... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6621016 | Complex operation input device In a complex operation input device according to the invention, a rotary electrical part manipulated with an operating member and a double-action push switch unit are arranged in a layered state in a direction of a rotation axis of the rotary electrical p... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6618239 | Key switch and keyboard A key switch includes a switch provided on a base, a key top for operating the switch, and a link mechanism supported on the base and supporting the key top on its upper side, a shape of the link mechanism being changed when the key top is depressed. A mo... | 09/09/2003 |
| 6614364 | Rubber membrane used in a computer keyboard A computer keyboard includes abase stand, a membrane circuit board installed on the base stand and a plurality of key mechanisms. The membrane circuit board has a plurality of pressure sensors for generating key-pressing signals and each of the key mechan... | 09/02/2003 |
| 6612573 | Electronic game apparatus simulating variable launch power and direction of game object An electronic game apparatus includes a display for depicting multiple launch positions and multiple launch power levels for a to-be-launched game object. The display further includes a plurality of game object icons which may be selectively activated to ... | 09/02/2003 |
| 6610945 | Seesaw type switch A seesaw type switch is provided having a light permeating indicator capable of being illuminated, and at the same time preventing ingress of dust. The switch includes a switch knob supported on left-to-right walls on both sides of a cylindrical knob fixt... | 08/26/2003 |
| 6603459 | Two-direction input device and operating device using combination of two-direction input device and coordinate input member An operating device which enables various input operations. A two-direction input device is provided in front of a flat input member. When an operation button is moved in a Y1 or Y2 direction, a switch device is turned ON. In a case where one of the switc... | 08/05/2003 |
| 6600904 | Structure of a bracket component for the press button of a mobile phone The present invention relates to an improved structure of a bracket component for the press button of a mobile phone, more particularly to another improved design implemented in the interior of a printed circuit board having control button on it for a bra... | 07/29/2003 |
| 6590174 | Switch assembly having diffused illumination A switch assembly comprises a substrate and a multi-way switch mounted on the substrate. A knob is connected to the multi-way switch and has a perimeter. The knob is used for controlling a position (e.g., a shaft position) or corresponding electrical stat... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6586689 | Multi-direction switch In a multi-direction switch which is provided with a central switch and peripheral switches arranged about it and in which a keytop (40) is pressed to actuate a desired one of the switches, arms (52) of a pusher (50) are fixed to the underside of the keyt... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6580414 | Method for transferring characters especially to a computer and an input device which functions according to this method A personal computer for a handicapped person includes an input panel that is subdivided into a group of fields, with one of the fields designated as a central field for the group. Each field is, in turn, subdivided into nine elements (spaces) comprised of... | 06/17/2003 |
| 6576851 | Switching device A switching device includes two or more switching modules (7, 8, 15) with at least one switch and connection clamps (24), an actuator (16), and a transfer device (39). The transfer device (39) propagates the drive motion initiated by the actuator (16) in ... | 06/10/2003 |
| 6573854 | Ergonomic remote control A pistol-shaped television remote control unit, including an infrared light emitting diode (LED) and circuitry for transmitting control signals to an infrared detector in the television receiver, and a microprocessor which retains the last six channels se... | 06/03/2003 |
| 6570106 | Movable electric switches that move to reveal underlying control areas Electric switches are disclosed that cover underlying control areas and that can be moved to reveal these underlying control areas. The underlying control area will preferably be a control panel, such as a touch screen or hard-switched control panel. Thes... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6570105 | Retractable rotary switch cell A push-pull rotary switch includes a board having two circuits on opposite sides. Conductors are respectively positioned above the circuits for contacting ground and contact pads of the circuits. A shaft extends through the conductors and the board and is... | 05/27/2003 |