Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7199334 | Apparatus and method for heating and transferring a workpiece prior to forming An apparatus and method for heating and transferring a workpiece to a forming press for superplastic forming. The apparatus includes a heater assembly, having upper and lower heated platens, mounted to a frame. The heater assembly heats the workpiece to a predetermi... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7191554 | Steam iron An electric iron including a housing; a soleplate connected to the housing; a heater for heating the soleplate; a fluid holding system connected to the housing, the fluid holding system including a first fluid reservoir; and a second water only reservoir connected t... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7185450 | Pressing iron A pressing iron includes a soleplate which has upwardly and downwardly facing major surfaces opposite to each other. A shell includes a peripheral wall which extends upwardly from a periphery of the soleplate to terminate at an upper peripheral edge, and which defin... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7161087 | Module assembly with mounting integrity detection including deformable washer A module is mounted to a object with a fastener and a special washer. The fastener engages the object through a mounting opening in mounting portion of a module case. The washer has a first portion extending obliquely outward and downward to be deformed between the ... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7155117 | Hand held garment steamer A hand held appliance for use in applying steam to a garment or other item made of fabric includes a pump, a boiler and a switch. Power is applied through the switch to the pump. The pump pumps water from the water tank to the boiler. The water is converted to steam... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7108910 | Double sided adhesive carpet tape A carpet tape construction 10 designed for use on top of a layer of padding 100 and beneath the abutting edges of two segments of carpet 200 which form a seam 203 to prevent the peaking of the seam 203 in a finished carpet installa... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7021358 | Rechargeable composite ply applicator An apparatus for the application of aerospace composite laminates 10 is provided, including a non-contaminating outer layer 24 and an insulated base 12. The present invention further includes a constant temperature heating element 22 posi... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7011797 | Apparatus for thawing frozen biological fluids utilizing heating plates and oscillatory motion to enhance heat transfer by mixing An improved dry heat method and apparatus for thawing frozen biological fluids utilizing electrically heated plates and oscillatory motion to enhance heat transfer by mixing as the fluid thaws. Bags of frozen fluid to be thawed are lightly squeezed between two heati... | 03/14/2006 |
| 6992267 | Low-temperature steam electric iron with separately heated steam space A kind of low-temperature steam electric iron, includes ironing plate, temperature-adjusting plate and temperature adjustable circuit, steam room and its temperature auto-adjusting circuit. A heat insulation layer is positioned between the temperature-adjusting plat... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6919537 | Electric heat sealer An electric heat sealer is constructed to include two pivoted arms of substantially T-shaped profile and an electric heating mechanism in one of the arms, each arm having a handhold portion through which the user can hold the electric heat sealer with the left hand ... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6888102 | Carpet seaming iron A carpet seaming iron has two heating elements to maintain the iron at desired temperature with a minimum of temperature oscillation. One element remains energized as long as the iron is switched on, while the other is controlled by a thermostat. With proper selecti... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6814273 | Flatwire repair tool systems and methods A system and method for reworking, repairing and upgrading flatwire is disclosed. A repair tool for reworking and/or repairing the flatwire is disclosed for creating subsequent electrical and mechanical joints of equal or greater quality as compared to the original ... | 11/09/2004 |
| 6516535 | Dual purpose hair dryer A dual purpose implement can be used as a hair dryer or flatiron. The implement includes a barrel, a barrel grille, a hot plate, a hot air obstruction plate, and a barrel cap. Without the use of the barrel cap, the implement serves as the hair dryer. With... | 02/11/2003 |
| 6172335 | Carpet seaming iron with electronic temperature control A carpet seaming iron having an internal electronic temperature control circuit including a solid state temperature sensor, a power controller, and a solid state switching device is disclosed. The iron does not use a thermostat for temperature control. Th... | 01/09/2001 |
| 6140610 | Low profile carpet seaming iron with replaceable handle and sole plate of varying thickness A seaming iron is disclosed for use in carpet repairs requiring a replacement patching plug to be fitted into a cut-out opening in a carpet and attached to carpet surrounding the cut-out opening by hot-melt adhesive seaming tape positioned under the carpe... | 10/31/2000 |
| 6054679 | Deposition method of product molded with thermoplastic resin, and a depositing electrode to be used for this deposition method A molded product is thermally bonded mutually with another molded product by disposing the resistance heating element (20) to the bonding face of product molded with the thermoplastic resin, making the bonding electrode (10) contact the resistance heating... | 04/25/2000 |
| 5944943 | Carpet seaming iron An improved carpet seaming electric iron of the kind used for making carpet face seams with hot melt adhesive tapes is disclosed. Improved heat transfer and control is achieved by reducing the thermal mass of the iron baseplate, and by providing a raised ... | 08/31/1999 |
| 5922228 | Heat spacer for iron An iron is provided with heat buffering spacers which vertically set apart component elements in a stacked arrangement. The spacers cause gaps between stacked parts thus allowing for improved air convection through the iron as well as spacing the metallic... | 07/13/1999 |
| 5804791 | Heating element having a sandwich structure and electric home appliance of the type of steam pressing iron containing such an element A heating structure for use in an appliance, the heating structure being a sandwich structure composed of two rigid elements constituting external elements of the sandwich structure, with at least one of the rigid elements being a heating plate; a heating... | 09/08/1998 |
| 5637931 | Safety apparatus for an electrical iron A safety circuit for an electrical iron is provided comprising a double through position sensitive switch having a common contact that is connectable to connect a horizontal position sensing contact and a vertical position sensing contact. When the iron i... | 06/10/1997 |
| 5532455 | Sole for an electric steam iron with alternating vaporization and heating regions A sole for an electric steam iron, which comprises, on its lower surface (9), from the point (3) toward the heel (20), after a first steaming region (14), a first drying region (16), free from steam outlet openings, and extending transversely between the ... | 07/02/1996 |
| 5478984 | Steam iron with thermal shield secured to the sole and process for the securement of such thermal shield on the sole Pressing iron comprising a casing (1), a pressing sole (2) comprising a heating resistance (3) which is embedded in the sole (2) and whose ends (4, 5) project from the upper surface of the sole (2) in the rear region of the iron. A thermal shield (7) is i... | 12/26/1995 |
| 5453150 | Carpet seaming apparatus and method A carpet seaming system and method include a seaming tape iron, a hot melt carpet seaming tape and a method of installation wherein seam peaking is minimized. The seaming iron has a grooved base plate and connected liquid channels which accomplish seam we... | 09/26/1995 |
| 5444216 | Distribution chamber for an electric steam iron with two compartments separated by a partition A distribution chamber (12) of an electric steam iron comprises two compartments separated in part by a partition (24) whose upper edge (20) is in sealed contact with the cover (13). A first of those compartments (26) is connected to the inlet orifice (14... | 08/22/1995 |
| 5384001 | Carpet seaming apparatus and method A carpet seaming system and method include a seaming tape iron, a hot melt carpet seaming tape and a method of installation wherein seam peaking is minimized. The seaming iron has a grooved base plate and connected liquid channels which accomplish seam we... | 01/24/1995 |
| 5349160 | Iron comprising a humidity detector for controlling the heating element and also providing a motion indication An iron comprises a heating element (97) and heating-control means (96) for the heating element. It has a humidity detector (60) which measures the degree of humidity of the fabric and which influences the electric power dissipated in the heating element.... | 09/20/1994 |
| 5294284 | Heat shield for carpet seaming iron A heat shield for the upper surface of a carpet seaming tape iron, preferably formed of polytetrafluorethylene or other heat resistant synthetic material, covers only so much of the upper surface of the iron as is needed to assure that the carpet backing ... | 03/15/1994 |
| 5252806 | Adapter plate for increasing the effective width of a carpet iron A carpet iron adapter plate of the type primarily intended for attachment to the sole plate of a carpet iron for extending the working surface of the iron so that wider carpet tape can be used. The adapter plate comprises a base having a top surface and a... | 10/12/1993 |
| 5250139 | Lighted bonding iron A lighted bonding iron having a heating unit which defines a plane. A handle is mounted to the heating unit. First and second light sources are incorporated in the handle. The light sources project nonintersecting beams obliquely toward the plane.... | 10/05/1993 |
| 5210394 | Electric carpet sealing iron with dual odor and smoke filtration arrangement A smokeless carpet seaming iron for melting an adhesive on a carpet tape wherein non-contaminated air is discharged into the ambient from the seamer includes a housing which contains a vent outlet and an open bottom. First and second filters are disposed ... | 05/11/1993 |
| 5170577 | Electric steam iron comprising a plate grouping together the regulating elements An electric steam iron having a heating baseplate (1) and a vaporization chamber (2), and further including a plate (7) on which are fixed or formed at least part of the device (3) for feeding water to the vaporization chamber (2), an assembly (4) for reg... | 12/15/1992 |
| 5170038 | Iron unit adapted to be used with hair dryers An iron unit adapted to be used with a hair dryer includes an ironing plate formed of a heat conductor having a groove and an exhaust groove in communication with the groove on a lower side thereof providing a contact surface with an object to be heated, ... | 12/08/1992 |
| 5094021 | Ultrasonic iron An ultrasonic iron comprises a metal ironing plate fixedly mounted therein, ultrasonic vibrators and amplitude amplifiers, and a power adjusting circuit provided on suitable inner side thereof, so that the power adjusting circuit is capable of driving the... | 03/10/1992 |
| 4913338 | Process for producing a heating plate and heating article relating to this A process for producing a heating plate involves fastening a tubular heating element (1) to a plate (2) made of metal or metal alloy. A plate (2) made of rolled metal or metal alloy is used, and cold-stamped in this plate is a shoulder (3), the contour of... | 04/03/1990 |
| 4910362 | Electrical appliance with holder for securing an electrical cord A device for securing an electrical outlet cord to an appliance or other surface so that the plug of the cord can be kept snug to the appliance or other surface. The device has a body with a generally flat bottom which includes an adhesive surface. A chan... | 03/20/1990 |
| 4857706 | Ironing accessory An ironing accessory is adapted to be releasably carried on the discharge nozzle of a standard hair blow dryer and includes a flat plate having multiple openings discharging hot air from the nozzle. A cylindrical collar carried on the plate insertably rec... | 08/15/1989 |
| 4851642 | Wallpaper steamer A hand-held, wallpaper steamer for use in stripping wallpaper has a housing accommodating a water tank and a steam generator supplied with water from the tank by an electrically powered water pump. Steam from the generator passes into an open faced steam ... | 07/25/1989 |
| 4829157 | Electric iron for heating heat-sensitive tape An electric iron for heating and releasing the adhesive of a bonding tape used to join fiberglass panels for insulating heating and air conditioning ducts includes a generally S-shaped resistance heating element disposed in a recess on the upper side of a... | 05/09/1989 |
| 4814580 | Thermal walkway A thermal walkway brick has a heating element embedded therein and electrically connected at each end to couplers mounted to opposite sides of the brick. One of the couplers is a female element that defines a channel and the other coupler is a male elemen... | 03/21/1989 |
| 4810855 | Combined set of household electrical appliances and a handgrip therefor A combined set of household electrical appliances and a handgrip therefor, includes a handgrip element removably coupleable with the bodies of electrical household appliances. The handgrip element has a coupling element removably coupleable with a corresp... | 03/07/1989 |
