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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 |
| 4746424 | Floating swimming pool skimmer A propelled floating swimming pool skimmer having a plurality of angularly related channels with gate means in each of the channels permitting ingress of water and floating leaves and debris into a central area of the body of the device. Nozzles around th... | 05/24/1988 |
| 4744565 | Fish swallowing game A method of playing a fish swallowing game comprises the steps of placing a hollow fish shaped receptacle (10) in water, with the receptacle (10) having a mouth opening (16) which is placed in water so as to be partly depressed below the level (22) of the... | 05/17/1988 |
| 4743367 | Contact apparatus An apparatus for establishing contact between a gas and a liquid comprises a contact body (3), means for wetting the body (3) with a liquid (1) and means for exposal of the wetted body (3) to a gas (2), said body (3) being mounted in an airtight chamber (... | 05/10/1988 |
| 4720340 | Foldable weight positionable pool skimmer debris deflector A vertically upright, elongated, flotable skimmer blade has an inboard end fitted within the overflow water return port of a swimming pool vertical side wall with the blade outboard end extending away from the pool side and angled upstream relative to the... | 01/19/1988 |
| 4695376 | Floating decanter A floating decanter apparatus including a float adapted to buoyantly support the decanter apparatus, a decanter receptacle disposed below the float and having an open top surrounded by a peripheral upper decanter rim and outlet means for decanted liquid c... | 09/22/1987 |
| 4693821 | Weir for waste water treatment systems An improved weir for removal of liquid from wastewater systems which is positively driven and which decants wastewater only over a leading edge of an elongated weir and removes the water through downcomers is disclosed.... | 09/15/1987 |
| 4692249 | Flotation process for sludge recovery and energy conversion Sewage is separated in an offshore facility into effluent and sludge. The effluent is used to provide nutrients to a seaweed farm. The sludge is transferred to flexible storage balloons and digested to produce methane which is recovered and dried. The dig... | 09/08/1987 |
| 4676899 | Tankship on-board oil leak treating system An oil treating system for use with a tank of oil on-board a tankship includes a container of oil treating agent, means for creating a plume of gas bubbles rising in the oil in the tank, a vent for allowing escape of gas from the tank, and means for intro... | 06/30/1987 |
| 4664792 | Plant for treatment of urban runoff water A plant for treatment of urban run off water where a body of water (50) is separated from a water recipient (60) by means of a flexible curtain (13) extending between the bottom (80) and the surface (90) of the water recipient. The bottom end of the curta... | 05/12/1987 |
| 4663037 | Apparatus for recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from groundwater Apparatus for recovery of liquid hydrocarbons from on top of ground water in which a recovery unit is used which sinks in the liquid hydrocarbon and floats on water. The sinking of the recovery unit allows liquid hydrocarbons to enter the unit so that the... | 05/05/1987 |
| 4649579 | Swimming pool skimming weir A device is provided to control the level of water in the gutter of a swimming pool which is responsive to the level of water in the pool. Weirs are provided on the pool side of the gutter to which weir housings are attached to conduct skimming and/or sur... | 03/17/1987 |
| 4647374 | Floating intake head for water hoses A floating intake or suction head for use in pumping water from a pool, pond, stream or tank through a fire hose or the like, essentially includes two separately formed members, namely a float and a strainer. The strainer is connectable to a length of fir... | 03/03/1987 |
| 4640783 | Ozone injection method and apparatus A apparatus for injecting ozone into the water of a swimming pool comprising a movable head adapted to float on the water in a pool, a water-responsive drive coupled to the head, and at least one flexible conduit coupled to the head and having at least on... | 02/03/1987 |
| 4637873 | Front load skimmer/filter for spas and pools A combination skimmer and filter apparatus for filtering water drawn from the surface of a water-filled spa is disclosed. The apparatus includes a housing that is attached to a side wall of the spa, a filter positioned within the housing, a strainer baske... | 01/20/1987 |
| 4619553 | High temperature oil boom cover blanket A high temperature oil containment boom cover blanket for conventional elongated cylindrical oil containment booms is disclosed. The cover blanket, when installed onto a conventional oil containment boom effectively converts the boom into a high temperatu... | 10/28/1986 |
| 4608167 | Skimming weirs A skimmer weir is composed of an upper flap 10 and a lower flap 11 hinged together. The flap 11 is guided for up and down movement and is formed with serrations 9 engaging with serrations 15 to prevent upward movement after the flap 10 is tilted.... | 08/26/1986 |
| 4601833 | Device for removing separated fluids and method for using same The device of the present invention comprises a frame assembly having a trough frame and a float frame. The float frame includes a fluid removal device thereon with an inlet opening for taking in fluid in response to actuation of the removal device. The t... | 07/22/1986 |
| 4588501 | Apparatus for collecting an immiscible liquid from the surface of a body of higher density liquid Apparatus for collecting an immiscible liquid from the surface of a body of higher density liquid, including in combination: a floating containment boom and catch basin coupled therewith, the catch basin having a self-adjusting weir for regulating the flo... | 05/13/1986 |
| 4581181 | Floating platform aerator/mixer apparatus A floating platform structure mounted on ballast tanks disposed in a tank having the liquid to be mixed and/or aerated by an impeller carried by the platform. Guide members on the structure have longitudinally spaced sets of rollers slidably engaging upst... | 04/08/1986 |
| 4579105 | Method of preventing dusting of solar ponds Dusting of a solar pond having an upper wind-mixed layer is controlled by providing a vertically oriented drain on a downwind side of the pond. The drain has an upper, open, free-end spaced above the level of the surface of the pond in the absence of wind... | 04/01/1986 |
| 4565627 | Apparatus for gathering valuable floating, dissolved and suspended substances from sea water Apparatus for gathering valuable substances, such as uranium, gold, silver or the like from sea water. The features characterizing the invention are that the sea waves are caused, by using the energy thereof, to rush up a ramp (2) which leads the waves in... | 01/21/1986 |
| 4551244 | Spilled oil processing catamaran A spilled oil collection catamaran includes a submerged waterfoil extending between a pair of floats and submerged at its bow, a rotating impeller extending between the floats and above the waterfoil with its bottom partly dipped in the water, a spraying ... | 11/05/1985 |
| 4518495 | Pool skimmer A pool skimmer, such as may be used to remove leaves, grass and insects that are on the surface of a swimming pool, or the like, consists of a pair of floats separated by an oblong open framework on which the open end of a net is mounted. The floats are l... | 05/21/1985 |
| 4461704 | Pool cleaning device for operation under floating pool cover A positive buoyancy programmed motion pool cleaning device is adapted for operation under a floating pool cover. The pool cleaning device is given positive buoyancy with floats fore and aft, both floats being adapted to provide positive buoyancy towards t... | 07/24/1984 |
| 4454035 | Pool skimmer An improved combination pool skimmer is disclosed which may be adapted to provide surface water skimming, or subsurface water sweeping or vacuuming of a swimming pool. The skimmer has a body including a throat for entry of water into the skimmer and a wel... | 06/12/1984 |
| 4452696 | Reverse-osmosis apparatus for producing fresh water from seawater The invention concerns a fresh-water producing apparatus to be immersed in a marine medium and of the type comprising at least one reverse-osmosis selective semi-permeable membrane. This apparatus comprises three stages: a fresh-water stage consisting of ... | 06/05/1984 |
| 4450076 | Small-sample dialyzer A small-sample dialyzer having dialysis cells comprising a plastic tube covered on one end with a dialysis membrane, the dialysis cells being mounted in a cell holder positioned to place the membrane on the cells in contact with the liquid in the containe... | 05/22/1984 |
| 4434050 | Pool cleaning device for rolling operation under pool cover A positive buoyancy programmed motion pool cleaning device is adapted for rolling operation under a floating pool cover so that encountered cover discontinuities such as folds, borders and tears do not interrupt and stop the operation of the device. The p... | 02/28/1984 |
| 4431538 | Pool cleaning device for rolling operation under pool cover A positive buoyancy programmed motion pool cleaning device is adapted for rolling operation under a floating pool cover so that encountered cover discontinuities such as folds, borders and tears do not interrupt and stop the operation of the device. The p... | 02/14/1984 |
| 4422929 | Wastewater treatment plant A transportable self-contained sewage treatment plant includes an outer shell containing a plurality of adjacent chambers having pipes or lines providing a serial flow of fluid therebetween. An aeration chamber delivers biologically treated wastewater to ... | 12/27/1983 |
| 4405458 | Continuous flow, variable capacity self-compensating floating weir The floating weir is a device for regulating or maintaining continuous flow from the surface level of a liquid body. As designed, the device provides a continuous, uninterrupted weir edge for controlling liquid flow. The device is particularly suited for ... | 09/20/1983 |
| 4377477 | Apparatus for equalization of overflow water and urban runoff in receiving bodies of water An apparatus for equalization of overflow water and urban runoff in receiving bodies of water is disclosed. A tank separated from the body of water is arranged so that the tank volume or parts thereof are alternatingly filled by polluted water and by wate... | 03/22/1983 |
| 4363735 | Removal of fly ash from the surface of liquids A method of removing a part of a stratum of fly ash comprising particles of relatively fine mean dimensions from the surface of a pond comprising submerging the leading edge of a scoop having a grid structure below the layer of fly ash, driving the scoop ... | 12/14/1982 |
| 4362539 | Foam splitter Apparatus for breaking foam on the surface of a liquid, such as in a sewage aeration tank is disclosed. A rotating cylindrical brush is mounted in a housing at the water surface with the brush rotation bringing foam under an edge of the housing into conta... | 12/07/1982 |
| 4356088 | Activated depollution boom The invention relates to a boom for depolluting water surfaces of crude petroleum and its derivatives or from other oily substances, comprising one or more sheaths of mesh fabric filled with an active substance constituted by 10 to 90% of a support of low... | 10/26/1982 |
| 4346005 | Tube settler module This invention discloses a tube settler module for use in clarifiers. The module consists of a plurality of settling media, and has a hangar and a float means both of which enable the module to be readily installed in existing clarifiers, sedimentation ta... | 08/24/1982 |
| 4342655 | Method and apparatus for dispersing oil slicks A method for the dispersal of oil comprising the steps of (a) deploying a barrier on water contaminated with oil to enclose, at least partially, an area containing oil, said barrier having one or more weirs in the barrier connecting the enclosed area with a ga... | 08/03/1982 |
| 4337136 | Device for purifying water A pair of electrodes formed of silver-copper alloy depend from the bottom wall of a floating container. The latter is arranged to float on the surface of a body of water to be treated and contains a battery which is connected in circuit with the electrode... | 06/29/1982 |
| 4335576 | Wave energy desalinization A device for producing fresh water from salt sea water by utilizing the hydrodynamic energy of waves, comprising a buoyant platform; means for mooring the platform; a pump connected to the mooring means; a reservoir for pressurized sea water; a desalinati... | 06/22/1982 |
| 4333829 | Aquaria inlet means The present invention is concerned with an apparatus for removing foreign matter from the top surface of water, for use with aquaria, which comprises a discharge tube stationarily disposed in the aquarium and having its upper opening rim below the water s... | 06/08/1982 |
