Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7513452 | Winding, securing and positioning mechanism for a come-along A come-along for pulling loads includes a rope winding mechanism that enables the rope to be wound and fed out smoothly. The rope winding mechanism includes a positioning hole that reduces the angle between the secured end of the rope and an axial tube about which t... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7292809 | Drive unit, method of producing drive unit, running body moving unit, image reading apparatus, and imaging apparatus A drive unit including a drive shaft, a drive pulley attached to the drive shaft, and a drive wire driven by the drive pulley so as to move a movable body. The drive pulley is formed by press working or rolling. ... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7240875 | Yarn carrier A yarn carrier is provided in the form of a yarn winding tube having a yarn catch insert. The yarn winding tube is a hollow cylindrical tube having a longitudinal axis extending lengthwise between its first and second opposite ends. The tube has a hole through its s... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7108248 | Cable pulley block having detachable fastening of a cable to a cable drum The invention concerns a detachable fastening of a cable (2) on a cable drum (1), especially a wire cable, with an opening (1a) arranged in the cable drum (1), with an enlarged cable end (2a) on the cable (2) a... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7077357 | Block set for assembling a solid creation and apparatus for fabricating block for assembling solid creation A block set for assembling solid creations uses at least two types of cylindrical blocks. The cylindrical blocks are a thin cylindrical block and a thick cylindrical block. The thick cylindrical block may include a hole on a side face thereof for receiving the thin ... | 07/18/2006 |
| 6981670 | Reel having apparatus for improved connection of linear material A linear material reel design promotes the uniform spooling of a linear material around a reel drum, while also reducing stress acting on the end of the linear material that is connected to the drum. A connector ramp has a connector face generally perpendicular to t... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6749140 | Recording tape cartridge In a recording tape cartridge, a tape-shaped leader tape which is connected to a distal end of a magnetic tape, and key members which are fixed to transverse direction end portions of the leader tape, form a leader portion. When the magnetic tape is taken-up onto a ... | 06/15/2004 |
| 6732966 | Belt spool A belt spool for a belt retractor comprises a torsion rod and a spool body that has a recess in which is provided a shaped part by means of which an end of a safety belt can be fastened in the recess. The shaped part rests at the torsion rod in order to be supported... | 05/11/2004 |
| 6609672 | Seat belt retractor spool A spool for a vehicle safety restraint has a cylindrical central spool member made of two separate pieces. The cylindrical portion has a hollow section along its axis for accommodating seat belt webbing and a torsion bar, with a seat belt webbing entrance... | 08/26/2003 |
| 6336606 | Spool for a seat belt retractor A spool for a seat belt retractor has a cylindrical member with a cylindrical central portion and two end plates at opposite axial ends of the cylindrical portion. There is a channel formed in the cylindrical central portion with an outer and an inner wal... | 01/08/2002 |
| 6311916 | Leader block assembly for a data storage tape cartridge A leader block assembly for use with a data storage tape cartridge. The leader block assembly is configured to hold a free end of a storage tape and includes a generally rectangular body having opposing sides, a leading end, a trailing end terminating in ... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6241171 | Leaderless tape drive A tape drive wherein a tape leader from a tape cartridge is urged through a tape path, into a take-up reel, and secured therein without the use of a buckling mechanism or a take-up leader. The take-up reel includes a locking slot defined along the central... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6202957 | Arrangement for the rolling up of a belt band The invention relates to an arrangement for the rolling up of a belt band (30) comprising a reel (1) which has at its jacket surface (2) an axial cut-out (4) extending parallel to the reel axis, comprising a belt band (30) secured to the reel (1) and comp... | 03/20/2001 |
| 6199617 | Bi-fold door lift apparatus A bi-fold door is equipped with door lifting devices operated with an electric motor drive to selectively open and close the door. The door lifting devices have winches operable to wind and unwind elongated webs connected at one end to rotatable members o... | 03/13/2001 |
| 6076759 | Christmas lights organizer A Christmas lights organizer for reeling an elongate flexible element, such as a string of Christmas lights, therearound. The Christmas lights organizer includes a spaced apart pair of panels with a spaced apart pair of inner rods extending therebetween. ... | 06/20/2000 |
| 6059223 | Safety belt attachment arrangement An arrangement for the attachment of a belt to a reel of a safety belt reeling mechanism has a shaft (10') and a reel (12') arranged coaxial to the shaft with a belt (14') attached to the reel (12') forming a closed loop (16') at its end. A securing pin (... | 05/09/2000 |
| 6021973 | Roll photo film and take-up spool combined therewith A take-up spool to be set in a photo film take-up chamber is used with a roll photo film of the 120 type to be loaded in a photo film supply chamber. The take-up spool has a slit, formed in a spool core to extend in an axial direction, is open in first an... | 02/08/2000 |
| 5996723 | Cable-type steering device A cable-type steering device having a steering wheel 1, a gear box and Bowden wires connecting the steering wheel 1 and the gear box. Pins fixed to a tip end of inner cables of the Bowden wires are fixed to pin holes formed on end surfaces of a drive pull... | 12/07/1999 |
| 5996667 | Window blind A window blind, which includes a track; a blind suspended from the track; a plurality of blind take-up mechanisms respectively mounted inside the track, each blind take-up mechanism including a spool holder securely mounted inside the track, a spool revol... | 12/07/1999 |
| 5871169 | Photographic film with retainer portion cut along perforation edge A photo filmstrip has plural perforations arranged along each of lateral edges and at a regular interval. A trailer is retained to a spool to be wound about the spool in a roll form. A retainer portion is formed at a smaller width by cutting each of the l... | 02/16/1999 |
| 5857635 | Cable drum for a cable driven apparatus A cable drum assembly comprises a cable drum for a cable-driven apparatus such as a cable window lifter, in particular of a motor vehicle, which automatically compensates for cable slackness without deforming the window lift system. The cable drum has the... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5845869 | Photographic roll film In a 120- or 220-size roll film, a leader of a light-shielding paper has at least a hole to be engaged with a claw formed in a slit of a spool core. A pair of ribs are formed on an opposite wall of the slit from the claw. The ribs have a height larger tha... | 12/08/1998 |
| 5755394 | Ski rope keel A ski rope holder which allows a user to wind up a ski rope without tangling it and to store it in a small space. The ski rope holder has a spool mounted inside of a housing. The spool, which is operated by a crank located on the outside of the housing, m... | 05/26/1998 |
| 5722611 | Belt retractor According to the invention, a belt retractor comprises a frame and a belt reel provided with a longitudinal axis and a peripheral surface. The belt reel is rotatably mounted in the frame and is provided with an interior cavity which is coaxial with the lo... | 03/03/1998 |
| 5499781 | Film spool with axially flexible core to engage and release film end A film spool comprises a spool core having first and second external core portions movable away from each other to further open a film receiving slot between them to facilitate insertion of a film end into the slot and removal of the film end from the slo... | 03/19/1996 |
| 5462240 | Photographic film cassette and method of assembling the photographic film cassette A photographic film cassette assembling method includes the steps of joining shell halves together by ultrasonic welding, to form a cassette shell, while accommodating a spool in the cassette shell. A film connection sheet is secured to the spool before t... | 10/31/1995 |
| 5452863 | Seat belt retractor shaft A vehicle seat belt webbing retractor (10) includes a frame (40) and a spool (32) on which belt webbing (16) is wound. The spool (32) has a longitudinal axis (64) about which the spool rotates in a belt withdrawal direction (86) and in an opposite belt re... | 09/26/1995 |
| 5451012 | Assembly for fastening a belt webbing to a shaft of a seat belt retractor An assembly for fastening a belt webbing (10) to a shaft (12) of a seat bealt retractor is provided. The shaft has a radial slot (18) through which one end of said belt webbing (10) is inserted. The belt webbing has a first section (101) for insertion in ... | 09/19/1995 |
| 5449125 | Film spool with internal flexures to engage and release film end A film spool comprises a rigid spool core having a slot, first and second resilient flexures located inside the slot for flexing away from each other in response to axial compression at opposite ends of the flexures to permit a film end to be inserted bet... | 09/12/1995 |
| 5445343 | Film spool with integral cantilever to engage and release film end A film spool comprises a spool core having a slot for receiving a film end, a cantilevered beam supported at only one end inside the slot to prevent movement of the beam along the slot and to allow the beam to be swung laterally within the slot, a film en... | 08/29/1995 |
| 5443220 | Take-up reel for magnetic tape cartridge leader block The take-up reel is used in conjunction with a leader block that securely fastens the magnetic tape in the leader block such that the magnetic tape exits an aperture at one end of the leader block. The take-up reel accepts this leader block and completely... | 08/22/1995 |
| 5419507 | Reel for strip-like recording substrates, in particular for photographic films A reel for strip-like recording substrates, in particular photographic films, with a slot provided in the reel core and at least one hook provided therein for fixing the end of the tape inserted into the slot, wherein the upper and lower side of the hook ... | 05/30/1995 |
| 5415377 | Sheave assembly for a tire lift/carrier winch A two-piece sheave assembly is provided for a tire lift/carrier winch. The sheave assembly includes a molded plastic, one-piece sheave component that is molded to include a first sheave side plate, an integral sheave center hub with a cable-wrapping track... | 05/16/1995 |
| 5335883 | Overhead door cable winding drum A drum for winding a cable attached to an overhead door includes a hub having a central aperture for accepting a shaft, a radially extending boss formed on the hub and a threaded aperture extending through the boss for retaining a threaded fastener for re... | 08/09/1994 |
| 5307551 | Method of installing a filter belt on a filter housing mounted roller A method of installing a filter belt onto each of a pair of wind up rollers disposed on either side of a filter housing is disclosed. The filter belt is detachably secured at either end to a respective roller by a sewn in flexible element received in an u... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5290014 | Compact tire lift unit A housing is formed by a plastic shroud between two metal mounting brackets, and a drive shaft is rotably supported by the brackets. A spool is mounted on the shaft for rotation and is formed by first and second powdered metal plate members which define a... | 03/01/1994 |
| 5279136 | Cable security device A security device for securing an article against theft comprises a flexible cable having first and second opposite ends, and a housing member defining a cavity for receiving the cable. The housing member has a wall formed with an opening through which th... | 01/18/1994 |
| 5257057 | Magazine for a stack of film sheets A supply magazine for use in an apparatus for removing individual film that has been placed within a light-tight pouch having a leader secured to the leading edge. The magazine has a base which receives and retains a stack of sheet film within the light-t... | 10/26/1993 |
| 5165623 | Fishing reel spool providing elongate slots for securement of a knotted fishing line A fishing reel spool is defined along a central axis, with the spool defined as a cylindrical tubular member formed with parallel flanges at each end of the spool. The spool includes a spool wall, with an elongate slot directed therethrough. The slot arra... | 11/24/1992 |
| 5054710 | Spool for film and lens units A spool for winding a photographic roll of film in a camera. The spool includes a shaft having a slit formed by opposed walls one of which has a protrusion extending into the slit and positioned between two ribs of the other wall. The protrusion is receiv... | 10/08/1991 |
