Did You Know...
...that in 1800 ether was first used by partyers as a fun diversion? Sniffing the gas led to hilarious and raucous laughter as people watched each other become more and more intoxicated and silly. Several doctors independently realized the value ether would have to anesthetize surgery patients. Of those who claimed rights to the "discovery," none had a happy ending. One had a seizure and died defending his rights. Another spent his life in an asylum because he had been denied acclaim. A third became addicted to chloroform and, in a New York City jail, he soaked a cloth in the drug, severed an artery and bled to death.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6920372 | Audit monitoring and product drop system for retrofitting vending machines An audit monitoring and product drop system for retrofitting into an existing vending machine and a method of operating a vending machine is disclosed. A product drop sensor is provided to detect when a product to be dispensed drops through a product drop area of th... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6918175 | Supply module for feeding electrical components to an automatic placement device A supply module for feeding electrical components to an automatic component-mounting machine has a locking element which is a piezoceramic bending transducer that extends in the longitudinal direction of the supply module along a supply path for the components. A fr... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6912873 | Transportable ice maker A portable ice making unit including a housing adapted for stacking with cargo containers for land or sea transport. The housing is also capable of being to be attached to the bed of an over land transporter. The ice making unit may be 100% self contained requiring ... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6905522 | Dye composition comprising an oxidation base of the diaminopyrazole type, a cationic oxidation base and a coupler Dye compositions comprising, in a medium suitable for dyeing: at least one first oxidation base chosen from 4,5-diaminopyrazole derivatives of formula (I) and addition salts thereof, at least one second cationic ox... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6896849 | Manually-operable multi-well microfiltration apparatus and method A multi-well microfiltration apparatus and method are provided and feature a manual touch-off system for transferring pendent drops hanging from discharge-conduits of a discharge-conduit array to respective receiving wells or receiving holes of a corresponding recei... | 05/24/2005 |
| 6837395 | Sheet dispensers and methods of making and using the same Sheet dispensers, which provide feedback to a user or provide a unique function to a user, are disclosed. Visual, audio, aromatic, or other types of feedback may be provided to a user by the sheet dispenser. Sheet dispensers suitable for use as a switch, a room deod... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6794634 | Optical vend-sensing system for control of vending machine For ensuring that a vending machine motor will continue to operate until a product has descended through a vending space or an established time interval has elapsed, an optical beam is established across the vend space through which a product must drop. A change in ... | 09/21/2004 |
| 6786479 | Banknote store with a rotatable structure having banknote-storing regions A banknote store comprises a rotatable structure such as a drum which has a number of banknote storage regions arranged around its periphery. Each stores a stack of banknotes, the stacks growing inwardly as banknotes are added. The drum can be rotated to bring each ... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6772906 | Apparatus and method for vending from a vending machine An apparatus and method for increasing assurance a product has been vended upon an authorized product selection. The method comprises monitoring if a product has been vended during a first vend cycle and if not, commencing a second vend cycle, and stopping a second ... | 08/10/2004 |
| 6745916 | Unit and method for automatic delivery of specimen slides to a coverslipper The invention concerns a unit (2) for automatic delivery of specimen slides to a coverslipper (3). The unit (2) comprises a housing (27) in which a front panel (25) is provided. Also provided is a passage (20) in the housing... | 06/08/2004 |
| 6748296 | Automated vending A vending machine is disclosed that has one or more compartments with a mechanism for dispensing a content of a compartment upon receipt of a payment. A receptacle can accept an item, from a member of the public, as content into an empty compartment and identify the... | 06/08/2004 |
| 6718311 | Variance alerting dispenser system and variance detector apparatus and method A method, apparatus and system, the method comprising receiving a request indication representing a request for an item, receiving a provided indication representing providing said item, and signalling an operator when the request indication has no corresponding pro... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6687190 | Method and apparatus for clinical trials A method for conducting clinical trials for a medication uses a unique identifier, a clock and an smart memory associated with the medication. Information regarding a method of calculating a next take time is received. It is determined if an identifier fi... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6662966 | Surface mount manufacturing storage system The storage system includes a storage platform cantilevered above a surface mount placement machine. The storage platform is attached to a vertical support member positioned adjacent to the surface mount placement machine. A storage tray is located on the... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6651839 | Device for hot dispersing fibrous paper stock and a method hot dispersing the stock A method and a dispersing machine for hot dispersing a highly consistent fibrous stock. The machine includes at least one stationary stator that includes a plurality of annular concentric rows of stator teeth. At least one rotating rotor is provided that ... | 11/25/2003 |
| 6648170 | Method for deploying traffic warning devices and apparatus therefor A method and apparatus for deploying traffic warning devices, includes loading a plurality of traffic warning devices into a container through a loading port. The traffic warning devices remain stored in the container until they are needed to warn approac... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6644495 | Processing method for vending machine with substitutable magazines A method for centralized mass processing of substitutable, good-holding magazines used in conjunction with computer-controlled vending machines. A memory-chip-mounting smart-card is used, not only to enter into the machines the magazine location and price... | 11/11/2003 |
| 6543638 | Method and means of dispensing T-shirt type bags A method and means of dispensing T-shirt type plastic bags from a rack mounted beneath a counter from a tray which slides horizontally into an existing industry standard rack which interlocks with the rack but when needed for loading, can be pulled forwar... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6502716 | Duct corner dispenser and method of dispensing duct corners Apparatus and method for dispensing L-shaped duct connectors. The apparatus supports a stack of nested L-shaped connectors and includes a separator for causing the second bottommost connector to be biased out of nesting engagement with the first bottommos... | 01/07/2003 |
| 6495182 | Loader for conveyorized cooking apparatus A loader for a conveyorized cooking apparatus having a transverse partition spaced from an endless loading belt. The loader may include several longitudinal partitions defining a plurality of dispensing stations for loading hamburger patties and like food... | 12/17/2002 |
| 6470234 | Medical item dispensing system A system for monitoring and dispensing medical items includes a plurality of hook registers (10). Each of the hook registers includes sensors (48, 60, 62, 64) sensing the removal or addition of a medical item to the storage location on the hook register. ... | 10/22/2002 |
| 6437708 | System and method of land marking A system for an aerial land marking and surveying is disclosed. The system comprises an aircraft carrying a GPS receiver and a land marking device capable of physically marking a point on the ground identified by a computer program. A new method of an aer... | 08/20/2002 |
| 6399687 | Hardenable exterior texture material in aerosol form A hardenable texture material is disclosed for application to a patch surface surrounded by a stucco-like material having an irregular surface texture to form a layer of textured patch material on the patch surface, wherein the hardenable texture material... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6383542 | method and apparatus for preparing and dispensing a combination of food products in a vending machine Method and apparatus for preparing and dispensing a combination of food products in a vending machine from a selection of components prepackaged in a plurality of trays sealed with a single peel off tape. The method comprises dispensing a top component on... | 05/07/2002 |
| 6367653 | Centralized machine vending method A centralized method for selling items through a plurality of vending machines installed at various companies' sites comprises using vending machines having a substitutable goods-holding magazines from which goods can be extracted only when fully installe... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6328252 | Dispenser of paper sheets in roll form with central unwinding A dispenser of individual sheets by unwinding from the center of a product in roll form, without a central tube, having a plurality of successive sheets forming a coiled strip, a free end of which projects toward the outside of the roll from the center, o... | 12/11/2001 |
| 6289320 | Automated banking machine apparatus and system An automated banking machine (12) is operative to conduct transactions in response to HTML documents and TCP/IP messages exchanged with a local computer system (14) through an intranet (16), as well as in response to messages exchanged with foreign server... | 09/11/2001 |
| 6247612 | Dispensable promotional item for vending machine A promotional item for being dispensed in a vending machine that dispenses a product item having a product within a product container upon receipt of a predetermined payment amount. The promotional item includes a product container similar to the product ... | 06/19/2001 |
| 6243687 | Kiosk systems and methods for issuing a card storing electronic coupons, after receiving data about a customer A system for dispensing and redeeming electronic discount coupons in a store. A card-dispensing kiosk collects information from a customer and subsequently issues a "smart card" for storing electronic coupons. Upon completion of shopping, the customer red... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6202888 | System and method for performing vend operation A method and system are provided for performing vend operations on articles selected by a purchaser. Articles to be dispensed are stored in a storage section, and purchased articles are transferred from the storage section to a vend section. A vend mechan... | 03/20/2001 |
| 6196518 | Ice cube having a slidable cover A covered ice cube tray is provided for making, storing, and dispensing ice cubes. The cover is slidably mounted upon the tray and includes at least one leading edge that is shaped so that, as the cover is moved in relation to the tray, ice cubes are unco... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6196787 | Robot-based dispensing station A dispensing apparatus is disclosed which includes a support assembly for defining at least one dispensing location. A storage container is secured to the support assembly for holding a plurality of stackable objects. These stackable objects may include s... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6189726 | Towel dispenser adapter A towel dispenser adapter converts an existing folded towel dispenser to a center-pull towel dispenser. The adapter detachably mounts center-pull towel dispensing heads to an existing folded towel dispenser. The mostly-flat shaped adapter has at least one... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6164489 | Carousel feed The present invention relates to a fastener supply system and, more particularly, to a fastener supply system which uses a plurality of feed stands mounted upon a turntable which are automatically positioned to ensure continuous fastener feed. The system ... | 12/26/2000 |
| 6105818 | Food dispensing cycle and means A method of dispensing food whereby food prepared at a first location is transported to a second location for dispensing in a working cycle characterized by the steps of: apportioning the food onto a plurality of trays (20A, 20B) at the first location, lo... | 08/22/2000 |
| 6104966 | Primal tracking A method and system for tracking and identifying food products as they are being processed is disclosed, wherein no tags or encodings are attached to the food products, and wherein there is no extraneous manipulation of the food products. The tracking sys... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6078896 | Video identification for forecourt advertising A fuel dispenser includes fuel delivery components located in a service station, a card reader for reading customer credit or debit cards, a customer data input mechanism, and a video infeed line for infeeding a video signal including advertising of a pro... | 06/20/2000 |
| 6059142 | Apparatus and method for vending multiple products A vending apparatus for and method of vending multiple products includes a master vending machine which utilizes money handling and changing components as well as a selection component and controller. The present invention may also include one or more sat... | 05/09/2000 |
| 6035519 | System and method for orienting a threaded insert A system for ensuring correct orientation of a threaded insert being inserted into a threaded bore of an aluminum workpiece such as an engine block. The system comprises a threaded insert supply, a feeder for transporting inserts dispensed from the insert... | 03/14/2000 |
| 6021833 | Manufacturing line for multi-layered printed circuit boards A manufacturing line including a plurality of processing sections disposed in a series for manufacturing multi-layered printed circuit boards by continuously conveying and processing boards through the plurality of processing sections, in which the plural... | 02/08/2000 |
