...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!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8157268 | Piston for internal combustion engines The present invention relates to a piston ring (10), particularly a compression ring, for an internal combustion engine, comprising a ring-shaped body (11) having a ring joint (13) formed by butt ends (14a, 14b), the ... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8028997 | Resin seal ring and manufacturing method The present invention provides a seal ring which can be prevented from being broken by an expansion and a shock applied thereto when the seal ring is fitted on a rotary shaft and does not have a configurative disadvantage such as a burr. Therefore no post-processing... | 10/04/2011 |
| 7954822 | Wire material for coil expander and coil expander A wire material for a coil expander capable of manufacturing a coil expander that is unlikely to cause disadvantages such as abnormal wear and resultant reduction in strength The wire material for a coil expander is used for a coil expander of a combination piston r... | 06/07/2011 |
| 7429047 | Piston ring assembly A piston ring assembly includes an upper ring, a lower ring and an expander disposed between the upper and lower rings. When assembled, the piston ring assembly is positioned with a groove of a piston. During down stroke of the piston, the upper and lower rings radi... | 09/30/2008 |
| 7429048 | Piston ring with projection A piston ring is positioned in a groove of a piston and has an outer peripheral face. The outer peripheral face is generally tapered to an edge and includes a projection. The projection extends radially outwardly from the outer peripheral face along an upper surface... | 09/30/2008 |
| 7396018 | Oil scraper ring for pistons of internal combustion engines The invention relates to an oil scraper ring for pistons of internal combustion engines. The oil scraper ring comprises a disc that is provided with parallel flanks and a bearing surface having an asymmetrical crowned form with a vertex line extending over the perip... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7369736 | Light tunnel, uniform light illuminating device and projector employing the same Provided is a light tunnel including a guide member for guiding an incident light to proceed therein while being reflected by a side wall thereof to merge the incident light into a uniform light beam, and an optical path change portion provided at least one end port... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7354045 | Oil ring It is a main object of the present invention to provide an oil ring which is capable of reducing sliding friction even in a high speed revolution region of a piston, and capable of reducing the consumption of oil. To achieve the object, the present invention provide... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7325562 | Heated seal air for valve and regenerative thermal oxidizer containing same Valve with heated sealing gas suitable for use in a regenerative thermal oxidizer, and oxidizer including the switching valve. The valve of the present invention exhibits excellent sealing characteristics and minimizes wear. In a preferred embodiment, the valve util... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7322377 | Hydraulic accumulator A hydraulic accumulator includes a piston (3) capable of moving in an accumulator housing (1) in its axial direction and separating a gas side (5) from a liquid side (7) of the accumulator housing (1). Guide elements (9, 17)... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7306232 | Multipart oil wiping ring for pistons of internal combustion engines A multipart oil wiping ring for pistons of internal combustion engines comprises two steel strip-type lamellae with parallel sides, the running surfaces of which are provided with a convexly asymmetric shape having a vertex line that extends across the circumference... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7264300 | Fastening element for a spoiler wing of a motor vehicle For the fastening of an adjustable spoiler wing of a motor vehicle, a fastening element is provided which is fastened to the outer tube of an adjusting cylinder and consists of a receiving element with a fit-on sleeve fastened thereto, the fit-on sleeve having a sle... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7261301 | Oil scraper ring for pistons of internal combustion engines The invention relates to an oil scraper ring for pistons of internal combustion engines, said oil scraper ring comprising a disc (1) provided with a bearing surface (h) having an asymmetrical crowned form with a vertex line (3) extending over the perip... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7216814 | Apparatus for thermal spray coating A system for thermal spray coating of a particulate material onto a substrate includes a spray gun apparatus having dual vortex chambers for the mixing of fuel gas and oxygen. The apparatus provides a jet flame resulting from a compression wave formed by compressed ... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7207571 | Steel piston ring In a corner portion (2) defined between an outer peripheral surface (4) and a lower-side surface (3) of a steel piston ring (1), a groove (5, 6) having either an approximately quadrangular shape with a length of one side of 0.05 to... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7204184 | Guide system with pneumatic stop for a movable component In a guide system with a pneumatic stop structure comprising a cylinder with a piston including a piston seal element movably disposed in the cylinder and a piston rod connected to the piston and extending from the cylinder wherein a displacement chamber is formed a... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7188477 | High temperature dynamic seal for scramjet variable geometry A seal assembly for use in an engine, such as a scramjet engine, having a movable element, such as inlet cowl flap, is provided. The movable element has an outboard structural member which requires thermal protection. The seal assembly includes a sealing element and... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7188841 | Secondary piston seal A secondary seal is provided for an internal combustion engine having a piston, cylinder bore, ring seal, secondary seal, and leak path. Forces are applied from the combustion side of the piston through a cylinder gap and a leak path to the secondary seal. The secon... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7172200 | Sealing arrangement on piston rods A sealing arrangement on piston rods with a rod guided in a cylindrical compressed-gas space, particularly on piston rods of high-pressure pneumatic springs or gas-filled shock absorbers, with at least one seal disposed on the piston rod for sealing the compressed-g... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7144017 | Piston ring having wear resistant composition A piston ring including at least one intermetallic alloy is provided. A piston ring having a wear-resistant composite composition and a piston ring coating comprising a wear-resistant composition are also provided. ... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7121552 | Piston ring A piston ring includes a lateral surface which covers a circumferential surface of a piston and support segments with retaining surfaces which engage with the top and bottom of the piston. A piston ring joint allows the piston ring to be elastically deformed in the ... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7083171 | Metal seal and attachment method for the same and tight-seal construction A metal seal of ring as a whole disposed between a first contact flat face portion and a second contact flat face portion parallel to each other. This metal seal has a middle base portion, a first contact convex portion, and a second contact convex portion. The firs... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7077402 | Combined oil ring A combined oil ring 4 is comprised of an oil ring 5 having upper and lower rails 7 and 8, and an expander 6 for applying contact pressure radially outwards on the oil ring 5. The outer circumferential surface 11 of th... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7052018 | Piston ring having wear resistant composition The invention discloses a piston ring comprising a piston ring substrate. The piston ring substrate comprises at least 50 volume %, of at least one intermetallic alloy, based on the total volume of the wear-resistant composition. The invention further relates to a p... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7044472 | Combined steel oil control ring A combined steel oil control ring is provided which has steel side rails and a steel spacer expander. The spacer expander includes ear portions for contacting the side rails. The ear portions are substantially equally spaced with respect to each other along the inte... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7044473 | Piston and piston ring assembly Two seal rings are provided comprising an upper ring and a lower ring, the rings having a common axis, a common outer cylindrical surface, a common inner cylindrical surface, and a couple of facing surfaces. The facing surfaces form an engaging length in a radial se... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7036823 | Side rail and combined oil control ring incorporated with the side rails for reduction of oil consumption A side rail is formed into a ring shape having its generally rectangular section that has an outer surface 3 formed with a pair of edge surfaces 5 of small radius, and an intermediate surface 6 of large radius of curvature formed between the edg... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7021633 | Low friction fluid seal device with additive to rubber compound A fluid seal device for use in sealing an annular space between an internal surface of a cylinder and a member therein having an outer cylindrical surface and being formed at least in part from rubber. An oleamide additive is included in the rubber compound comprisi... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7017916 | Shaft seal assembly and its associated method of manufacture A system and method of manufacturing improved wear ring assemblies and positive pressure shaft seals. The wear ring assemblies are made from stacked layers of flat metal. Different shaped component parts of the wear ring assemblies are cut from various sheets of met... | 03/28/2006 |
| 7004479 | Metal seal and attachment method for the same and tight-seal construction A metal seal of ring as a whole disposed between a first contact flat face portion and a second contact flat face portion parallel to each other. This metal seal has a middle base portion, a first contact convex portion, and a second contact convex portion. The firs... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6969126 | Braking apparatus and method of controlling the same A braking apparatus comprises a first contact unit arranged on the rotary shaft side of a wheel, at least a second contact unit for contacting the first contact unit for generating a friction force, an actuator for pressing the second contact unit against the first ... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6962343 | Seal ring A seal ring is provided, which is capable of maintaining a stable sealing performance for a long period, in which a cut portion is provided at one position in a circumferential direction of a seal ring, a convex portion is provided at a first cut end portion, a rece... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6959930 | Combination oil scrapper ring/gas seal assembly A ring assembly, including a first oil scraper ring, a center oil scraper ring and a gas seal ring, adapted for disposition in a single groove of a packing cup which can be stationarily mounted over and around a reciprocally movable piston rod of a gas compressor. T... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6863277 | Piston ring for the piston of a vibration damper A piston ring for the piston of a vibration damper includes a jacket and supporting segments connected to the jacket with holding surfaces. The supporting segments are supported axially on an upper side and a lower side of the piston by the holding surfaces. The pis... | 03/08/2005 |
| 6860485 | Piston ring The present invention provides a piston ring comprising a piston ring main body and an expander ring arranged on an inner peripheral surface thereof, the expander ring comprising two oil expander rings, one of which is housed in a space in a spiral of the other. The... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6838196 | Nickel-aluminide based wear resistant material for piston rings A piston ring comprises a coating of a wear-resistant composite composition, particularly intended for high temperature applications. The wear-resistant composite composition comprises a ceramic compound and at least 50 volume %, based on the total volume of the wea... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6834861 | Two piece oil control ring with nitrided surface layers A two piece oil control ring is provided which comprises a ring body (1) formed into a generally M- or I-shaped section with an annular groove (4) on an inside surface (3) of the ring body (1); and a coiled expander (2) attached in... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6832671 | Torque converter clutch apply valve A replacement torque converter clutch (TCC) apply valve for regulating the application of the torque converter clutch within an automatic transmission is disclosed. The TCC apply valve includes a valve piston having an expandable seal installed thereon at the primar... | 12/21/2004 |
| 6793222 | Oil scraper piston ring having circumferentially distributed recesses An oil scraper piston ring includes an inner circumferential surface; an outer circumferential surface adapted to contact and slide along an inner wall of an engine cylinder; a radial wall thickness defined by a radial distance between the inner and outer circumfere... | 09/21/2004 |
| 6726216 | Piston ring with oxide-nitride composite layer A piston ring for use in a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, which ring is nitride-hardened at least on the sliding surface between piston ring and cylinder wall. The nitride layer is composed of a precipitated layer and a compound layer, wherein the piston... | 04/27/2004 |