Did You Know...
...that in the early 1940s GE engineer James Wright was charged with a task of utmost importance to the war effort: develop a cheap substitute for rubber that could be used to produce tires, gas masks and a whole host of military gear. Wright tackled the task diligently -- and wound up inventing Silly Putty.
PatentStorm News
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 |
| 7554342 | Bistable micromechanical devices A micromechanical device may include one or more piezoresistive elements whose electrical resistance changes in response to externally or internally induced strain. The present invention leverages the piezoresistive properties of such devices to sense the positional... | 06/30/2009 |
| 7376368 | Water content determination apparatus, image forming apparatus, control method, and program An image forming apparatus has a water content determination apparatus that can precisely determining a water content in a medium regardless of an environment where the image forming apparatus is installed. The water content determination apparatus has a detection d... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7311816 | Device for determining the residual liquid content of solids cakes in centrifuges A device for determining the residual liquid content of solids cakes in a centrifuge basket. The device includes two electrodes protruding through a wall of the basket and into the solids cake; a conductivity or capacitance measuring device (13) measuring the... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7278186 | Ultra low frequency moisture sensor An apparatus for measuring a moisture content value within a volume. A frequency generator generates at least one source signal at frequencies of no more than about one kilohertz. Probes are disposed with surfaces in physical contact with the volume, where no direct... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7120217 | Phase-locked loop circuit In a PLL circuit including a voltage-controlled oscillator, a phase detector and a final control element, the final control element contains two separate channels, between the phase detector and the voltage controlled oscillator, wherein one channel processes the us... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7091738 | Inspection system for active matrix panel, inspection method for active matrix panel and manufacturing method for active matrix OLED panel An inspection system for inspecting characteristics of an active matrix panel before formation of OLEDs includes: a roller contact probe having a conductive material on at least a surface thereof and sequentially contacting pixel electrodes formed on the active matr... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7048827 | Dynamic calibration of papermaking machine Sheetmaking processes such as papermaking making systems employ water weight sensors underneath the moving water permeable wire that supports the wet stock (pulp slurry). A dynamically compensated calibration equation that equates the water weight plus fiber weight ... | 05/23/2006 |
| 6928749 | Laundry dryer A laundry drier determines an amount of laundry placed in the drier's drum and controls a dry pattern based on the amount of laundry. The laundry drier includes a rotatable drum having an interior for holding laundry; a moisture sensor, installed with respect to the... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6859050 | High frequency contactless heating with temperature and/or conductivity monitoring Devices and methods for contactless heating of a fluid in a chamber using a high frequency alternating potential are described. At least two electrodes are coupled to the chamber such that the alternating potential is coupled to the fluid inside the chamber and heat... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6489785 | Comparative contactless conductivity detector A comparative conductivity detection system includes a sample channel assembly and a reference channel assembly. The sample channel assembly includes a sample-fluid channel, a drive electrode, and a detection electrode. The reference channel assembly incl... | 12/03/2002 |
| 6466037 | Method for determining the load in a tumble dryer A method for determining a load in a tumble dryer. Laundry in the tumble dryer is moved in a drum. The electrical conductivity of the laundry is determined by electrodes which touch the laundry at least from time to time resulting in a measurement signal.... | 10/15/2002 |
| 6462564 | Method for determining the load in a tumble dryer A method for determining a load in a tumble dryer. Initially, laundry is moved in a laundry drum and the electrical conductivity of the laundry is determined by electrodes residing in the laundry drum. The method is distinguished by the fact that a range ... | 10/08/2002 |
| 6377058 | Device and method for measuring hay bale moisture A device for sensing moisture in moving hay bales has a pair of star-shaped wheels situated to have points penetrate into the bale and be driven by the bale. The points establish electrode surfaces within the bale between which resistivity or conductivity... | 04/23/2002 |
| 6275046 | Cotton moisture meter The method and structure of a moisture measuring device that creates an electric field and then determines a moisture content of a specimen based on the effect the moisture of the specimen has on the electric field.... | 08/14/2001 |
| 6204672 | System for producing paper product including a compact high-resolution under wire water weight sensor array A measurement apparatus for sensing three properties of materials including a fixed impedance element coupled in series with the sensor array between an input signal and a reference potential (e.g. ground). The sensor array exhibits a variable impedance r... | 03/20/2001 |
| 6188229 | Conductive-pattern recognition apparatus A conductive-pattern recognition apparatus is provided, which makes it sure to recognize a conductive pattern accurately. This apparatus is comprised of (a) a main electrode roller formed by circular main electrodes and circular insulators arranged altern... | 02/13/2001 |
| 5959455 | Fluid conductively sensor The fluid conductivity sensor disclosed herein is adapted for the non-contacting measurement of fluid conductivity and utilizes first and second insulating tubes, each of which is provided with both the driving transformer and the sensing transformer. The... | 09/28/1999 |
| 5898309 | Method for determining specific material characteristics A method and apparatus for determining specific material characteristics of plastic materials in which the plastic material is disposed between electrodes of a capacitive sensor and the impedance is measured and compared to a reference value, preferably s... | 04/27/1999 |
| 5852368 | Sensor for the measurement of moisture in a flow of material A sensor for the measurement of moisture in a flow of material, especially loose material such as meal material, grains, granulates and similar materials which are to be pressed to form feed pills in presses. The sensor comprises a tube piece of an electr... | 12/22/1998 |
| 5668479 | Multipurpose sensor for belt conveyor Apparatus for measuring moisture content and bulk flow rate of cotton and other bulk materials, such as wool or wood chips, while they are being transported on a belt conveyor. The apparatus comprises resistance-sensing electrode fingers pendulously mount... | 09/16/1997 |
| 5514973 | System for analyzing moisture content of materials such as cotton A system for analyzing the moisture content of bulk cotton or other non-homogeneous flowable solid substrates comprising: an electrical sensor consisting of multiple electrically independent measuring electrodes, each of which independently measures the m... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5514970 | Moisture measurement apparatus, system and method utilizing microwave or high frequency energy Apparatus for measuring a characteristic of a body of material having first and second substantially parallel coaxial lines with distal extremities in relatively close proximity to each other and adpapted to be disposed in close proximity to the body of m... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5349160 | Iron comprising a humidity detector for controlling the heating element and also providing a motion indication An iron comprises a heating element (97) and heating-control means (96) for the heating element. It has a humidity detector (60) which measures the degree of humidity of the fabric and which influences the electric power dissipated in the heating element.... | 09/20/1994 |
| 4885531 | Continuous determination and control of the weight of hay bales during the baling process A bale weight control system is provided for use on a conventional baling machine having a compression zone defined by opposed retaining walls capable of being urged together by a hydraulic ram. The weight control system utilizes a moisture sensing system... | 12/05/1989 |
| 4812741 | Baler-mounted continuous moisture monitoring system A sensing device and interactive components are provided for the continuous automatic monitoring of the moisture content of hay during its baling with a conventional baling machine. The device is comprised of a cylindrical holding tube having an open forw... | 03/14/1989 |
| 4802953 | Continuous on-line conductivity probe Apparatus is disclosed for continuously measuring the conductivity of the liquor in a pulp mat on a pulp washer. The apparatus comprises a probe which rests on and squeezes washing liquor from the pulp mat. Two modifications of the probe are disclosed, on... | 02/07/1989 |
| 4780665 | Apparatus and method for controlling sand moisture An apparatus for controlling the moisture content of sand as it is transported from storage to a mold making apparatus. A conveyor is used to transport a substantially uniform layer of sand at a known rate. The electrical resistance across the sand layer ... | 10/25/1988 |
| 4717870 | Slasher moisture monitoring system An improved fabric moisture monitoring system and method particularly adapted for use on a slasher unit comprises utilizing the delivery roller associated with the conventional slasher unit to facilitate moisture monitoring. Both ends of the delivery roll... | 01/05/1988 |
| 4658120 | Sensor device for use with cooking appliances A sensor device capable of accurately sensor humidity using a pair of sensing elements in which the sensor device contains a pair of sensor elements and are negligibly variable against variations in the physical volume of humidity in comparison to variati... | 04/14/1987 |
| 4580233 | Method of measuring moisture content of dielectric materials The present invention is a method for measurement of moisture in dielectric materials. It is particularly useful for lumber. In the preferred version, at least two alternating current signals whose frequencies differ by a factor of at least 10 are capacit... | 04/01/1986 |
| 4563635 | Moisture measuring method and apparatus Moisture in wood veneer strips received from a drying oven is measured by passing the veneer strips on a conveyor between arrays of plates including a transmitting plate on one side of the veneer and a juxtaposed receiving plate on the other. Phase plates... | 01/07/1986 |
| 4553087 | Method and apparatus for determining the penetration and leaching process of conductive phases Method for one-time or continuous nondestructive determination of the penetration and leaching process of conductive phases in materials, wherein the conductivity of the material to be examined is measured in thin superposed layers in that, after applying... | 11/12/1985 |
| 4453499 | System and method for reducing scale formation in boilers A system and a method for controlling the concentration of dissolved matter in a liquid in a boiler or still, wherein a first sensor measures the electrical conductivity of the incoming liquid and a second sensor measures the electrical conductivity of th... | 06/12/1984 |
| 4309654 | Method and apparatus for testing moisture content of pulp insulation during application onto an electrical conductor A method and apparatus for testing the moisture content of pulp insulation on an electrical conductor during the application of the insulation onto the conductor, in which first and second potentials are applied across a pair of voltage dividers having th... | 01/05/1982 |
| 4266188 | Method and apparatus for measuring a component in a flow stream A method and apparatus for measuring the concentration of a particular component, e.g. water, in a two-component mixture, e.g. water-oil. A probe having three sets of sensor electrodes is positioned into the mixture. A first elastic sac is secured over th... | 05/05/1981 |
| 4253243 | Process and apparatus for moisture conditioning seed cotton and like materials An improvement in method and apparatus for drying seed cotton to a predetermined range of moisture content; including the steps and means for performing the steps of passing the cotton in contact with a first moisture sensor, subsequently passing the cott... | 03/03/1981 |
| 4070616 | Method and apparatus for detecting fish in water Apparatus for detecting and counting fish in a stream in which three electrodes extend horizontally across the stream and are immersed in the water, the electrodes being connected to form the two arms of an alternating current bridge circuit, the signal o... | 01/24/1978 |
| 4068167 | Radial electrode for determining the amount of moisture in seed cotton A unique radial electrode has been designed in the same configuration as the feed roller of a cotton ginning system. The electrode is then installed as part of a feed roller and properly insulated from the ginning system. When seed cotton is fed between t... | 01/10/1978 |
| 4027238 | Method and apparatus for the moisture measurement of flat structures, especially textile webs A method of, and apparatus for, measuring the moisture content of flat textile structures, especially textile webs, wherein there are produced, by virtue of the measuring operation, useful signal components of the same polarity dependent upon the conducta... | 05/31/1977 |
