3M employee and church chorister Art Fry needed something to temporarily mark pages in his hymnal. He was in luck because his colleague, Spencer Silver, accidentally developed a glue that was too weak for other purposes. After initially discouraging consumer response, Post-it Notes became a hit in 1979.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8080903 | Power supply circuit for SATA control chip A power supply circuit includes a first power circuit having a first power output terminal and a first ground output terminal, a second power circuit having a second power output terminal and a second ground output terminal, and a SATA control chip having a first in... | 12/20/2011 |
| 7362162 | Line filter The invention is directed to a network filter that comprises at least one phase input and a protective conductor in which each phase input is connected via a filter inductance to a corresponding phase output, in which the input side of each filter inductance is conn... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7332817 | Die and die-package interface metallization and bump design and arrangement A die metallization and bump design/arrangement, and a die-package interface metallization and bump design/arrangement are described herein. ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7319717 | Device and method for enabling communications signals using a medium voltage power line In one embodiment, a device for enabling communications signals over a medium voltage power line includes a first modem, a second modem, a third modem, and one or more switches. The first modem is electrically coupled to a medium voltage power line and is adapted to... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7301440 | Power line communication system and method The present invention provides a device for providing communications through power lines comprised of multiple conductors by transmitting the data signals through a plurality of the conductors. One embodiment of the present invention may be comprised of a transmit c... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7286026 | Serial signal injection using capacitive and transformer couplings for power line communications A coupling network has a first power line interface port and a power line modem interface configured to be coupled to a power line modem transceiver. An inductor-capacitor circuit coupled to the power line modem interface has a low-impedance resonant frequency at a ... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7272520 | Method and apparatus for determining a current in a conductor The present invention provides a method of determining a current in a conductor. The method comprises the steps of determining the nth spatial derivative of at least one vector component of the magnetic field associated with the current at at least one po... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7224212 | Low pass filter de-glitch circuit A low pass filter de-glitch circuit is disclosed herein, it includes a first short pulse resetting circuit, a second short pulse resetting circuit having MOS transistors and a low pass filtering circuit having a capacitor coupled with an inverter. Forgoing circuits ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7199699 | Facilitating communication with power line communication devices The invention includes a method, system, and device for communicating a data signal with a low voltage premise network. The inventive method comprises communicating the data signal with the low voltage premise network, substantially reducing attenuation of the data ... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7132819 | Floating power supply and method of using the same A power supply of the present invention comprises a transducer having a transducer and a voltage regulator. The transducer is coupled to an electrically non-conductive medium, which may be a light pipe. The electrically non-conductive medium is coupled to a non-elec... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7113134 | Transformer antenna device and method of using the same The invention contemplates an antenna device, system and method of installing the antenna device for receiving a wireless signal at a pad mounted electrical transformer. The novel device includes an antenna capable of communicating the wireless signal and a material... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7102478 | Power line coupling device and method of using the same The coupling device of the present invention includes a housing, a first fastening member attached to said housing and coupled to the power line, a second fastening member attached to the housing and coupled to the power line, an inductor providing an impedance to d... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7103240 | Method and apparatus for providing inductive coupling and decoupling of high-frequency, high-bandwidth data signals directly on and off of a high voltage power line The present invention is drawn to an electrically “closed” method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data signals over a high voltage power line. Inductive coupling is employed for coupling and decoupling the data signal directly on to and off of a sin... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7098647 | Coaxial cable unit, test apparatus, and CPU system A testing apparatus for testing a device under test, includes a power source for generating a current, a coaxial cable unit for supplying the current to the device under test, a detecting unit for detecting a voltage applied to the device under test when the current... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7088232 | System and method for reducing radiation when distributing broadband communication signals over power lines A system for decreasing high frequency (HF) radiation emission in a power line comprises a first transmitter configured to transmit a utility power signal over the power line. A second transmitter transmits a high frequency communication signal over the power line s... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7079012 | System and method for distributing broadband communication signals over power lines The present invention is directed to a method for decreasing high frequency (HF) radiation emission in a power line. The method involves transmitting a utility power signal over the power line and transmitting a high frequency communication signal over the power lin... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7076378 | Device and method for providing power line characteristics and diagnostics An apparatus determines a characteristic of a portion of a power line. The apparatus comprises a coupling device in communication with a processor. The coupling device receives a signal from a power line and the processor receives the signal from the coupling device... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7075414 | Device and method for communicating data signals through multiple power line conductors The present invention provides a device for providing communications through power lines comprised of multiple conductors by transmitting the data signals through a plurality of the conductors. One embodiment of the present invention may be comprised of a transmit c... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7064654 | Power line communication system and method of operating the same A system for operating a power line communication system is provided. One embodiment is comprised of a plurality of network elements, which may take the form of repeaters, bypass devices, backhaul devices, wireless backhaul devices, enhanced bypass devices, communic... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7053756 | Facilitating communication of data signals on electric power systems The invention includes a method, system, and device for communicating a data signal on an electric power system. The inventive method includes communicating the data signal to the electric power system, and modifying the characteristics of the electric power system ... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7046124 | Power line coupling device and method of using the same The coupler of the present invention couples broadband RF signals to and from a power line conductor. The coupler of one embodiment that is for use with overhead power lines includes a length of URD MV cable with the neutral conductor removed and that is communicati... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7042351 | Data communication over a power line Data signals are communicated between a power line and a computer, wherein the power line provides power to the computer via a distribution transformer and the computer is in communication with a wireless communication path. A first data signal is communicated with ... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7042110 | Variable speed distributed drive train wind turbine system A variable speed wind turbine employing a rotor connected to a multiplicity of synchronous generators with wound field or permanent magnet rotors. A passive rectifier and an inverter are used for power transfer back to the grid. A Turbine Control Unit (TCU) commands... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7039360 | External noise intrusion prevention device, signal amplifier, protector and antenna plug An external noise intrusion prevention device preventing intrusion of external noise into a central conductor of a trunk cable in an up signal frequency band is provided. A first filter circuit 3 letting a signal in frequencies of 54 MHz or higher pass is pro... | 05/02/2006 |
| 6998962 | Power line communication apparatus and method of using the same A communication device for use with a power line communication system is provided. One embodiment forms a bypass device and comprises a low voltage coupler, a low voltage signal conditioner, a controller, a medium voltage modem, a first medium voltage signal conditi... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6998964 | Splitter A splitter for enabling a power signal and a communication signal to be transmitted over a common communication link is provided. The splitter includes a line port adapted to be coupled to a communication line, a power port adapted to be coupled to a power supply to... | 02/14/2006 |
| 6980089 | Non-intrusive coupling to shielded power cable The invention describes a method and a device for transporting a signal over a power line. The inventive method includes inducing an alternating current (AC) voltage from the power line, powering a transceiver device with the induced AC voltage, communicating the si... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6980091 | Power line communication system and method of operating the same The present invention provides a system for operating a power line communications system that is comprised of a plurality of network elements, which may take the form of repeaters, bypass devices, backhaul devices, wireless backhaul devices, enhanced bypass device, ... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6980090 | Device and method for coupling with electrical distribution network infrastructure to provide communications A device for providing communications through power lines that are communicatively coupled to an electrical distribution network infrastructure and to the internal wiring of at least one customer premises having one or more communication devices therein is provided.... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6977578 | Method of isolating data in a power line communications network Isolating data in a power line communications system. Although plural subscribers receive electric power distributed from a common distribution transformer, it is desirable to isolate their branch lines from one another when those branch lines are used to conduct da... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6965303 | Power line communication system and method A method of communicatively coupling power line communication (PLC) devices to a first and second overhead power line conductor that travel in a substantially parallel physical arrangement and in spaced-apart relation is provided. The method may comprise coupling a ... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6965302 | Power line communication system and method of using the same The communication system of one embodiment is for communicating data through a power distribution system having a medium voltage power line and low voltage power line and comprises a first device comprising a first wireless transceiver, a first modem in communicatio... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6958642 | Ground difference compensating system A method of ground level compensation includes measuring a voltage of at least one signal with respect to a primary ground potential and measuring, with respect to the primary ground potential, a voltage level associated with a secondary ground potential. A differen... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6950567 | Method and apparatus for providing inductive coupling and decoupling of high-frequency, high-bandwidth data signals directly on and off of a high voltage power line The present invention is drawn to an electrically “closed” method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data signals over a high voltage power line. Inductive coupling is employed for coupling and decoupling the data signal directly on to and off of a sin... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6947300 | Parallel DC-to-AC power inverter system with current sharing technique and method thereof A parallel DC-to-AC power inverter system is provided. The parallel DC-to-AC power inverter system has a first DC-to-AC power inverter electrically connected in parallel with a second DC-to-AC power inverter, and each of the DC-to-AC power inverters includes an inpu... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6933835 | Data communication over a power line A signal is received from a first portion of a power line and at least a portion of the signal is converted to a non-electrically conducting signal. The non-electrically conducting signal may be communicated to a non-electrically conductive communication path. In th... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6909262 | Control system for regulating exciter power for a brushless synchronous generator A control system regulates power to a brushless synchronous generator (BSG) (204) having a permanent magnetic generator (PMG)(210), an exciter (208) and a main generator (206) connected to a rotating shaft (212). The generator cont... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6903537 | Switching DC-to-DC converter with multiple output voltages A switching DC-to-DC converter includes multiple power supply channels, coupled in parallel between a DC voltage source and ground, for converting the DC voltage source into multiple DC output voltages that are separate from each other. An oscillator outputs multipl... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6873065 | Non-optical signal isolator A non-optical isolator having a driver circuit for providing an input signal to one or more first passive components which are coupled across a galvanic isolation barrier to one or more corresponding second passive components, and an output circuit that converts the... | 03/29/2005 |
| 6720677 | Power lines and apparatus using the same Power lines include three or more conductors for transmitting alternating currents. The conductors are arranged in one combination of the conductor arrangement so that the sum of phase differences between the currents flowing through adjacent conductors is maximum, ... | 04/13/2004 |