Did You Know...
...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!
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 |
| 7066823 | Adjustable bowling ball measuring and marking device A device for determining the placement of gripping holes with respect to the pin and/or the center of gravity and/or the mass bias of a bowling ball has a meridian plane indicator, a vertical axis plane indicator and a horizontal axis plane indicator. The meridian p... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7036237 | Measuring instrument At least one assembly of a movable member or a guide member (32) that guides the movement of the movable member out of a plurality of assemblies of a measuring instrument contains a sealed space (322). A filler is filled in the sealed space (322... | 05/02/2006 |
| 6935039 | Quilt swag decoration template set and method Quilt swag decoration template set (10) includes adjustable tracing pattern template (15) for creating a shape of predetermined length for marking and cutting out swag pieces (120) and adjustable placement template (45) for marking the lo... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6807744 | Bowling ball angulator and methods of use A device for locating bowling ball gripping apertures with respect to a bowling ball weight block angle inherent to that particular bowling ball and the track of a particular bowler. One embodiment of the device includes a curved base portion adapted to substantiall... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6671971 | Bowling ball angulator and methods of use A device for locating bowling ball gripping apertures with respect to a bowling ball weight block angle inherent to that particular bowling ball and the track of a particular bowler. One embodiment of the device includes a curved base portion adapted to s... | 01/06/2004 |
| 6578281 | Apparatus and method for measuring spherical article A spherical-article measuring apparatus has first and second support arms and a size detector. The first support arm has first and second ends. The first end can be brought in contact with a first curve section of a spherical article to be measured at one... | 06/17/2003 |
| 6279241 | Thickness gauge The present invention relates to a thickness gauge which comprises a plurality of metallic sheets made to have standard thickness, a U-shaped frame and a screw which adjusts tightness of the metallic sheets. The present invention is characterized in that ... | 08/28/2001 |
| 6257988 | Device and method for fitting finger holes in a bowling ball and the bowling ball resulting therefrom A system and method for producing a bowling ball, where the thumb hole and finger holes in the bowling ball are angled to accurately match the anatomical requirements of the bowler's hand. The system includes a measuring jig assembly for obtaining data on... | 07/10/2001 |
| 5813129 | Guiding disk for drilling holes on a bowling ball A guiding disk for accurately and quickly finding drill holes on a bowling ball, for finding hole positions for certain characteristics of pushaway on different bowling balls, and for avoiding positioning any hole above that of a weight in the bowling bal... | 09/29/1998 |
| 5603165 | Bowling ball measuring template A template for weighting and placement of finger holes in a bowling ball has a meridian plane indicator and an angular indicator. The meridian indicator includes a scale which determines the distance between placements of finger holes and a thumb hole for... | 02/18/1997 |
| 5092054 | Arcuate measuring device, and methods of constructing and utilizing same An arcuate measuring device for measuring distances along a spherical body such as a bowling ball. The device includes a curved guide member including measurement marking thereon. A measurement device is slidably retained on the guide member. Removable pi... | 03/03/1992 |
| 5042163 | Method for providing desired balance of bowling balls A method of using an article to facilitate determination of the location of the balance hole necessary to change the side, finger/thumb and top/bottom weights of a bowling ball from known starting weights to desired ending weights, or to determine a set o... | 08/27/1991 |
| 4908950 | Coordinate measuring machine A coordinate measuring machine with a base frame which is essentially constructed in the mode of a portal or gantry-type structure which concurrently forms a measuring table, and with a cross-carrier which spans over the measuring table and receives a mea... | 03/20/1990 |
| 4625427 | Apparatus for measuring the angle of a hole in a surface The angle of a hole in a surface with respect to that surface is measured by a ball mounted between a pair of plates, which ball can be located adjacent the hole. A pointer extends through the ball and projects on both sides. One end of the pointer extend... | 12/02/1986 |
| 4535545 | Inspection device and method for cylindrical work pieces A holding fixture and method for using the same are disclosed which enable great accuracy in performing measurements of concentricity, diameter, and wall thickness of a cylindrical workpiece. The present invention supports the workpiece for rotation at tw... | 08/20/1985 |
| 4257165 | Thumb pitch compensating span gauge A span gauge for measuring the distance between a thumb hole and a finger hole on a bowling ball comprised of a plate having a curved edge fitting the contour of the bowling ball and an angle positioning post pivotally attached to the edge of the plate. T... | 03/24/1981 |
| 4242801 | Bowling ball gauge A gauge to measure and to indicate the divergence of the axis of a bore in a bowling ball from a radius of the bowling ball. This enables the orientation of grip holes in one bowling ball to be measured so they can faithfully be reproduced in another bowl... | 01/06/1981 |
| 3986714 | Fingerstop for bowling ball and method Plugs are fitted in the thumb and fingerholes of a bowling ball so that when the fingertip enters it will touch the plug at the precise time that the finger has reached the depth found by the bowler to be most comfortable and satisfactory. The plug has a ... | 10/19/1976 |
