Did You Know...
...that to encourage use of his new invention, the shopping cart, market owner Sylvan Goldman hired fake shoppers to push the carts around his store in Oklahoma City? Seems his customers were reluctant to give up their hand-carried baskets.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7810786 | Gate valve actuator In combination with an external actuator for electrically operating a gate valve for use with a recreational vehicle, a gate valve within a housing, a flow passageway, a valve closure member moveable transversely of the flow passageway to cause the passageway to ope... | 10/12/2010 |
| 7793916 | Electric-motor-operated valve closure system A valve closure system (30) for operating a valve (32) of a fluid-holding cylinder (CYL) between an open and a closed position to allow and disallow communication of the interior of the cylinder through the valve. A coupler (118) engages and rot... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7600740 | Thermally compensated mounting flange and method of use A thermally compensated mounting flange 10 useful for mechanically attaching equipment to a device which can be operated at a relatively high temperature is disclosed, such as an actuator 32 to operate valve 12. The mounting flange 10 and... | 10/13/2009 |
| 7568677 | Air valve operator An operator for an air flow control device includes a button mounted on a plunger. The button is indexable at forty-five degree increments on the plunger. The button has a non-circular label area that is adapted to receive a non-circular label for the operator so as... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7367541 | Automatic flush valve actuation apparatus A flexible drive mechanism for a flushing apparatus actuated by movement of a flush handle via an actuation element is disclosed. The drive mechanism includes a housing and flexible drive system in the housing, the flexible drive system including an actuating elemen... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7350537 | Valve mounting bracket A valve mounting bracket that has generally opposing first and second clamping components to hold a valve body in position relative to the bracket. The first clamping component is positioned to engage the valve body and bias the valve body into rigid contact with th... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7325782 | Remotely activated manifold shut-off A remotely activated shut-off for stopping a fluid flow in a fluid line by actuating an existing valve in fluid connection with the fluid line wherein the valve is within an existing valve body and includes an existing external element for the actuating of the valve... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7234707 | Integrated control unit for an active roll control system for a vehicle suspension system An Active Roll Control System for a motor vehicle that utilizes small valves to control large flows. Flow is supplied by a hydraulic pump which is powered in some fashion by the motor vehicle. Flow is directed to the actuators by a three-position-four-way valve that... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7207547 | Valve operating assembly and system for operating lever-operated valves An assembly for swinging an external handle of a tank dome valve on a tank dome about a generally horizontal axis has a gearbox and an air motor. In a preferred embodiment, a housing is cooperatively formed by the gearbox casing and the motor cover. The gearbox cont... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7159848 | Clamping systems Systems having clamping structures are provided. ... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7146992 | Dishwasher pump and filtration system A dishwasher includes a pump assembly which functions to chop all fluid entrained soil prior to directing fluid to upper and lower wash anms. A flow conduit leading to the upper wash arm is provided with a sampling port which directs a percentage of the fluid flow i... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7070165 | Thermal isolator and controlled valve employing same A thermal isolator assembly that provides rigid construction, linearly and rotationally, is presented. The thermal isolator assembly includes a collar and a sleeve that are thermally isolated one from another but held in rigid mechanical relation. When constructed f... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7048251 | Valve with removable actuator A valve assembly includes a valve body and a valve actuator which is releasably engageable with the valve body. The valve body has an internal cavity within which a valve member is located, and a valve stem is interconnected with the valve body and is accessible fro... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7040342 | Fire hydrant lock A fire hydrant security arrangement includes a center post which is retained on the operating nut of the fire hydrant by a central bolt which is threaded into the operating nut. The center post has a pentagonal recess therein which receives an insert, the insert hav... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7028986 | Valve actuator apparatus A valve actuator apparatus and method comprises an operator housing secured to a bonnet assembly. The bonnet assembly is secured to the valve body, and includes a bonnet stem movably within a bonnet housing for moving a gate within the valve body to open and close t... | 04/18/2006 |
| 6994320 | Reinforced diaphragm valve A reinforced plastic valve apparatus in a preferred embodiment comprises an upper valve portion, a lower valve portion, an endoskeletal structure configured as a weir support or reinforcing member and an exoskeletal framework configured as a support collar. The uppe... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6991211 | Pneumatically actuated valve A pneumatically actuated fluid control valve includes a piston and a piston actuator including a permanent magnet. First and second piston actuator positions for magnetically disposing the piston in valve open and valve closed positions are provided. A pneumatic act... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6959909 | Actuating handle assembly A handle assembly mountable on a valve is disclosed. The assembly includes a head having a receptacle engageable with a rotatable shaft on the valve and a grip projecting outwardly from the head to facilitate turning of the head for actuating the valve. An arcuate s... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6957802 | Valve closure system and valve closure assembly having torque limiting A valve closure assembly (50) for remotely and automatically closing a railway tank car valve (V1, V2, V3, V4), characterized by improved convenience in mounting on a tank car dome (160) and adaptability to various dome geom... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6935615 | Rod connector assembly An improved rod connector assembly and method for mechanically fastening two rods together. Generally planar mating surfaces of a first rod assembly and a second rod assembly are compressively coupled by a rod union. The compressive load by the rod union is derived ... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6932315 | Manual opening apparatus for a normally-closed valve An apparatus for manually opening a normally-closed valve includes a value and a hand-operated valve opening jig. The valve includes a working rod for operating a valve element which is moved to close and open a conduit; a cylindrical holder fixed to the working rod... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6926251 | Free-floating diaphragm flow control valve A free floating diaphragm flow control valve includes concentric inner and outer bodies, where a partition plate divides the inner body into two equal inlet and outlet chambers. A cylindrical cavity, concentric with the inner and outer cylindrical bodies, provides s... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6902704 | Injection pump assembly for a combinatorial reactor and related method An injection pump assembly 10 in a chemical delivery system for simultaneously delivering reagents into a combinatorial reactor system having multiple injectors. The assembly 10 has a plurality of injectors 12, each injector 12 being in f... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6886805 | Rod connector assembly An improved rod connector assembly and method for mechanically fastening two rods together. Generally planar mating surfaces of a first rod assembly and a second rod assembly are compressively coupled by a rod union. The compressive load by the rod union is derived ... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6880805 | Trim installation hardware A Roman tub installation includes a hub and handle assembly, a valve, a sleeve coupled to the valve's body, a stem adapter coupled to the valve's stem and to the hub and handle assembly, and a threaded collar coupled to the sleeve. The hub and handle assembly includ... | 04/19/2005 |
| 6874758 | Handle assembly for faucet A valve stem is provided with a handle assembly having a noncircular axially extending formation and a retaining element fixed to the stem and formed with an array of axially extending and radially deflectable tongues having radially outwardly directed bumps and a s... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6874756 | Snap assembly actuator housing and valve mounting bracket A valve assembly including a valve, a mounting plate, a snap-together actuator, and a mounting bracket. The snap-together actuator is assembled by a set of snap wings that are attached to one piece of the actuator housing and inserted into slits in the other piece o... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6854704 | Valve actuator apparatus A valve actuator apparatus and method comprises an operator housing secured to a bonnet assembly. The bonnet assembly is secured to the valve body, and includes a bonnet stem movably within a bonnet housing for moving a gate within the valve body to open and close t... | 02/15/2005 |
| 6805158 | Apparatus for visually checking the operational status of a stop valve, and a manual opening apparatus for a normally-closed valve An apparatus for manually opening a normally-closed valve includes a value and a hand-operated valve opening jig. The valve includes a working rod for operating a valve element which is moved to close and open a conduit; a cylindrical holder fixed to the working rod... | 10/19/2004 |
| 6802335 | Faucet handle retainer A faucet assembly includes a first handle attached to rotate a fluid control member and includes a first groove. A second handle is attached to move the fluid control member along a central axis and includes a second groove aligned with the first groove. A retainer ... | 10/12/2004 |
| 6789781 | Reinforced diaphragm valve A reinforced plastic valve apparatus in a preferred embodiment comprises an upper valve portion, a lower valve portion, an endoskeletal structure configured as a weir support or reinforcing member and an exoskeletal framework configured as a support collar. The uppe... | 09/14/2004 |
| 6684897 | Valve actuator and method A subsea actuator and method is disclosed that includes all moving components mounted in a compact, concentric configuration. The subsea actuator is highly reliable and will operate at depth even with zero valve body cavity pressure. A preferably cup-shap... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6684901 | Modular liquid dispensing valve A solenoid valve has a valve body with an inlet and an outlet and a valve seat therebetween. A valve member is selectively engageable with the valve seat for controlling the flow of fluid from the inlet to the outlet. A biasing device is engageable with t... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6659419 | Hydraulic double acting valve actuator A modular portion (71) of a hydraulic valve actuator (64) comprises a hollow cylinder portion (74), a piston (78), a cylinder head portion (80), and a piston retainer portion (88). The piston (78) is located in the cylinder portion (74), and the piston (7... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6484753 | Single lever mixing valve In a single lever mixing valve, having a sliding member sliding on a lever holder, for adjusting an amount and temperature of discharge water by rotating a disk actuating stem on an axis thereof or by operating a handle lever for inclining the disk actuat... | 11/26/2002 |
| 6481983 | Handless or footless operation of an electrical automatic water flow control apparatus A handless or footless operation of an electrical automatic water flow control apparatus for turning water on and off without touching the faucet lever of a faucet. The electrical water flow control apparatus is installed in line between the water shutoff... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6460826 | Cartridge valve A cartridge valve includes a body element adapted for mounting to a panel by jam nuts and including a chamber adapted to receive a core element, the chamber and core element being constructed and arranged to effect a bayonet-type connection, whereby the c... | 10/08/2002 |
| 6450479 | Interchangeable socket set for below ground valves A valve opening and closing system for valves that are difficult to access has a universal torque rod to which one of a plurality of different sized socket wrench heads, forming a set, is individually attachable to the distal end thereof. Each socket wren... | 09/17/2002 |
| 6450477 | Valve actuator apparatus A valve actuator apparatus and method comprises an operator housing secured to a bonnet assembly. The bonnet assembly is secured to the valve body, and includes a bonnet stem movably within a bonnet housing for moving a gate within the valve body to open ... | 09/17/2002 |
| 6443426 | Slide lock for vacuum valve An improved slide lock mechanism for a vacuum valve (10) including an end plate or bonnet (42) mounted to an end flange (46) and a pair of slide lock plates (14). An elongated drive shaft pinion (36) drives a rack (52)connected to slide lock plates (14), ... | 09/03/2002 |
