Did You Know...
...that several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8091717 | Automatically foldable coupler A central buffer coupling having a coupling head, a coupling shaft and a bearing block attachable to the front face of a car body. The coupling shaft includes a front shaft component supporting the coupling head and a rear shaft component coupled to the bearing bloc... | 01/10/2012 |
| 7665622 | Railroad car coupler centering device A railroad car coupler centering device including in one embodiment a spreader beam mountable to the striker at one end of a railroad car, a right side centering spring rotatably connected to the spreader beam by a hinge, and a left side centering spring rotatably c... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7055705 | Central buffer coupling A central buffer coupling for coupling a first rail car body with a second, adjacent rail car body of a multiple-unit rail vehicle, has a coupling head pivotally connected by a coupling shaft to a linking housing of the rail car body, and a pivoting unit pivoting th... | 06/06/2006 |
| 6805251 | Device for horizontal resetting to center for a central buffer coupling arranged pivotably by means of a coupling shaft on a rail-borne vehicle A device (1) is provided for horizontal resetting to center for a central buffer coupling arranged pivotably by a coupling shaft (2) on a rail-borne vehicle. The device has a guide (3) following the pivoting movement of the coupling shaft (2 | 10/19/2004 |
| 6095350 | Non-metallic wear plate for railroad car couplers and method of use A non-metallic wear plate assembly for railroad car couplers comprises a wear plate of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene having an upper surface with side edges and a middle portion therebetween, the upper surface of the wear plate sloping downward... | 08/01/2000 |
| 4991727 | Drawhead alignment device A device adapted to assist in the alignment of a railroad car drawheads for coupling, said device having connecting means by which the handle thereof may be rigidly connected to, and serve as an extension of, the drawhead for the purpose of increasing lev... | 02/12/1991 |
| 4586620 | Railroad car coupler alignment device An alignment device for railroad car couplers including a central flexible portion with a pair of swivelable end portions connectable between couplers of adjacent cars. Each of the end portions includes a protruding stud adapted to engage an opening prefo... | 05/06/1986 |
| 4569455 | Centering detent A detent apparatus for maintaining a draw bar in a centered position includes an indentation formed in a cylindrical surface of the pivotable taileye of the draw bar structure. A roller is arranged to ride along the surface and into the indentation, the r... | 02/11/1986 |
| 4562929 | Backstop assembly for use with cushioning device in sill of railway car A backstop assembly for use with a cushioning device in the sill of a railway car. The cushioning device has a body, or cylinder, slidable endwise in the sill and carrying a car coupler at its outer end. The cylinder has a piston centered on the sill axis... | 01/07/1986 |
| 4289247 | Arrangement for arresting and releasing an intermediate buffer coupling An arrangement for horizontal central arresting and releasing of an intermediate buffer coupling has a horizontally swingable coupling rod, a guide member at a rear end of the coupling rod and following the swinging of the latter, two rocking levers pivot... | 09/15/1981 |
| 4232793 | Car coupling arrangement for railway passenger cars A coupler arrangement for rapid transit passenger cars includes a self-centering coupler shank having limited horizontal and vertical swinging movement about a spherical bearing structure. The arrangement includes first and second shock absorbing mechanis... | 11/11/1980 |
| 4013175 | Device for controlling the return of a central coupling for rail vehicles to its central position A device for controlling the return of the coupling head for central couplings to their central position, especially for use in connection with rail vehicles, in which the coupling head is by means of a coupling rod linked to a housing arranged on a vehic... | 03/22/1977 |
