...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!
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 |
| 7976745 | Process for the preparation of a composite polymeric material The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a composite polymeric material containing nanometric inorganic inclusions comprising the steps of: mixing a polymer with a thermolytic precursor to provide a homogeneous dispersion of said at least on... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7799250 | Ceramic materials for friction linings Ceramic friction linings comprising a material consisting essentially of metal oxides which are present in the form of a sintered ceramic or in the form of ceramic particles bound by carbon and/or carbides, processes for producing them and their use in combination w... | 09/21/2010 |
| 7404844 | Method for making carbon membranes for fluid separation There is disclosed a method of making a high performance carbon membranes from polymer membranes. The method comprising the steps of exposing polymer precursor compounds to a polar organic liquid before pyrolysis of the exposed polymer precursor compounds. ... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7370657 | Activated carbon-containing sorbent An activated carbon-containing sorbent is capable of selectively removing one or more selected gaseous components from a gas. The activated carbon-containing sorbent can be incorporated in a smoking article to remove one or more selected components from mainstream s... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7335330 | Method of producing sintered carbide A method of producing a sintered silicon carbide using a reaction sintering method, comprising: (1) dissolving and dispersing a silicon carbide powder in a solvent to produce a mixed powder slurry, (2) flowing the resulted mixed powder into a mold and drying it to o... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7323043 | Storage container associated with a thermal energy management system A container for storing hydrogen comprises an outer shell having an inlet for inputting hydrogen gas and an outlet for outputting hydrogen gas. A thermally conductive liner lines an interior of the outer shell. An inner hydride core is in communication with the inle... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7306635 | Designed cellular coal Coal-based cellular products that can be custom designed to have integral stiffeners or load paths, directed heat transfer paths, and/or directed mass transfer paths and methods for their production are described. Such design and production is made possible by the a... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7303683 | Microorganism-removing filter medium having high isoelectric material and low melt index binder A filter medium capable of removing microorganisms from a fluid such as water. The filter medium includes particles of activated carbon, particles of a substantially insoluble inorganic material having an isoelectric point greater than the fluid being filtered. A lo... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7300579 | Flocculation apparatus A flush mixing tank is provided with a flocculant mixing section in which a raw water a to be treated is introduced and a flocculant such as known aluminum sulfate or polychlorinated aluminum is injected, and then they are agitated and mixed; and a floc growing sect... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7276203 | Process for producing hollow comprising fiber-reinforced ceramic materials A process for producing hollow bodies comprising fiber-reinforced ceramic materials, in which a green body comprising compressible cores and a mouldable composition comprising binders and fiber material which is pressed with compression of the core is produced, the ... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7264877 | Sliding element for seals and their process of manufacturing Sliding element for seals includes 25 to 75 weight % carbonaceous impalpable powdery aggregate of non-graphitizing carbon and/or graphitizing carbon and 20 to 50 weight % synthetic resin as binder. The sliding element is blended with the range of 5 to 25 weight % ca... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7264878 | Laminated carbon foam sandwich for naval decking A laminate sandwich structure useful for, inter alia, decking for naval vessels, which includes a core formed of carbon foam having a ratio of compressive strength to density of at least about 7000 psi/g/cc. ... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7261846 | Fiber-reinforced ceramic brake linings A ceramic brake lining which is reinforced with carbon fibers and has a matrix which consists essentially of silicon carbide together with silicon and/or carbon, wherein the reinforcing fibers used are long fibers having a mean length of at least 10 mm which are ali... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7252795 | High thermal conductivite element, method for manufacturing same, and heat radiating system It is an object of the present invention to provide a high thermal conductive element that has improved thermal conductivity in the layer direction while retaining the high thermal conductivity characteristics in the planar direction possessed by graphite. The prese... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7241381 | Method and apparatus for detecting chemical binding The method for screening binding between a target binder and potential pharmaceutical chemicals involves sending a solution (preferably an aqueous solution) of the target binder through a conduit to a size exclusion filter, the target binder being too large to pass ... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7235506 | Silicon carbide matrix composite material, process for producing the same and process for producing part of silicon carbide matrix composite material Silicon carbide matrix composite material (1) comprises silicon carbide matrix (2) as a host. The silicon carbide matrix (2) comprises first silicon carbide phase (3) of 0.1 to 10 μm average crystal grain diameter and second silicon carb... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7226671 | Use of powder metal sintering/diffusion bonding to enable applying silicon carbide or rhenium alloys to face seal rotors A method for making aerospace face seal rotors reinforced by rhenium metal, alloy, or composite in combination with silicon carbide or other ceramic. The resulting rotor also is disclosed. Ceramic grains, preferably silicon carbide (SiC), are mixed with powdered met... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7226561 | Method of producing silicon carbide sintered body jig A method of producing a silicon carbide sintered body jig using a reaction sintering method, comprising: (a)dispersing a silicon carbide powder and an organic substance as a carbon source in a solvent, to produce a mixed slurry pow... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7214342 | Method of making a composite silicon carbide A method for manufacturing a silicon carbide composite body and includes the steps of forming a slurry including silicon carbide and a carbonaceous precursor, adding to the slurry composite granules containing a carbonaceous binder and carbon black, drying the slurr... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7207424 | Manufacture of carbon/carbon composites by hot pressing A mixture of carbon-containing fibers, such as mesophase or isotropic pitch fibers, a suitable matrix material, such as a milled pitch is compressed while resistively heating the mixture to form a carbonized composite material. Preferably, the carbonized material ha... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7198739 | Manufacture of thick preform composites via multiple pre-shaped fabric mat layers Preform for carbon-carbon composite part (55) comprising multiple layers of fibrous mats (51, 52, 53) wherein each mat (51, 52, 53) comprises random carbon-containing fibrous matrix (11) having polymeric binder distributed therein and whe... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7195731 | Method for preparing and processing a sample for intensive analysis This application relates to a method for pellerizing and taking intensive measurements of a raw sample. The method includes homogenizing and pelletizing the sample that is to be subjected to compositional or intensive analysis. The raw sample is mixed with several s... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7172723 | Method of producing a shaped composite material A shaped composite material for braking applications can be produced by a method comprising the steps of: a) providing a mixture comprising bundles of filaments constituted substantially by carbon and having lengths no greater than 30 mm and an organic binder in a m... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7166237 | Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distributi... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7160366 | Filter element An improved filter element which can be used in gas masks is formed of short lengths of porous monolithic carbon formed by partially curing a phenolic resin to a solid, comminuting the partially cured resin, extruding the comminuted resin, sintering the extruded res... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7157004 | Freeze drying for gas chromatography stationary phase deposition The present disclosure relates to methods for deposition of gas chromatography (GC) stationary phases into chromatography columns, for example gas chromatography columns. A chromatographic medium is dissolved or suspended in a solvent to form a composition. The comp... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7157019 | Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distributi... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7150837 | Isotropic pitch-based materials for thermal insulation Insulation materials suited to high temperature applications, such as the insulation of furnaces, are formed from a mixture of pitch carbon fibers, such as isotropic pitch carbon fibers, and a binder comprising a solution of sugar in water. The sugar solution is pre... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7147214 | Humidifier for fuel cell using high conductivity carbon foam A method and apparatus of supplying humid air to a fuel cell is disclosed. The extremely high thermal conductivity of some graphite foams lends itself to enhance significantly the ability to humidify supply air for a fuel cell. By utilizing a high conductivity pitch... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7144545 | Process for the production of ceramic bearing components The invention relates to a process for the production of ceramic bearing components in which a mixture of a metallo-organic compound and a chemically reactive filling substance is subjected to a pyrolysis reaction and the resulting product. ... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7141230 | Method of removing residual active oxy-hydrogens A method of efficiently removing active oxy-hydrogens (e.g., existing as hetero element-containing functional groups such as COOH, CHO, and OH) present in a carbon material at a relative low temperature. The invention also provides a carbon-activating material adapt... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7128528 | Bearings for COrefrigerant compressor use, compressor using the same, and applications of the same The object of the present invention is to provide: high-reliability and long-life CO2 refrigerant compressor-use bearings that uses bearing materials high in wear resistance and in baking resistance, and; such a compressor, air conditioner, refrigerator, ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7105111 | Process for producing hollow bodies comprising fibre-reinforced ceramic materials Process for producing hollow bodies comprising fibre-reinforced ceramic materials, where cores whose shape corresponds to that of the hollow spaces are produced in a first step, a green body is produced in a second step by introducing the abovementioned cores and a ... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7077891 | Adsorbent sheet material for parallel passage contactors An adsorbent material fabricated into a reinforcement-free, self-supported coherent thin sheet and configured for use as a parallel passage contactor element in adsorption/separation applications with gases and liquids is disclosed. The adsorbent sheet material is o... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7070755 | Pitch-based carbon foam and composites and use thereof A thermally conductive carbon foam is provided, normally having a thermal conductivity of at least 40 W/m·K. The carbon foam usually has a specific thermal conductivity, defined as the thermal conductivity divided by the density, of at least about 75 W·cm3 | 07/04/2006 |
| 7067077 | Process for manufacturing friction material suitable for use as brake lining Carbon-silicon carbide brake preforms are manufactured by carbonizing a blend of carbon (e.g., polyacrylonitrile) fibers and thermosetting pitch resin, optionally along with a lubricant such as graphite,.to provide an intermediate product having open porosity and su... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7051858 | Friction material and its manufacturing method A friction material has a resin amount distribution that is the largest at a portion near a non-friction surface, that becomes lower toward an inside and that is the lowest at a portion near a friction surface. For example, such friction material is manufacture as f... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7022274 | Gas sintered carbon block and method The present invention relates to an effective and rapid method and apparatus for sintering carbon filter blocks having a polymeric binder. The method employs direct contact heat transfer by gas molecule to powder particle, as opposed to conduction heat transfer from... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7014151 | Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distributi... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7011785 | Process for producing hollow bodies comprising fiber-reinforced ceramic materials Process for producing hollow bodies comprising fiber-reinforced ceramic materials, where mold cores whose shape corresponds to that of the hollow spaces are produced in a first step, at least one mold core together with a press moulding composition or formable fiber... | 03/14/2006 |