Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 4258352 | Control device for vehicle locks A device is provided for controlling the electro-mechanical locking and unlocking member of a vehicle door lock and comprises a transmitter independent of the said vehicle and a receiver mounted inside the vehicle. The transmitter comprises a direct curre... | 03/24/1981 |
| 4196347 | Security systems A door security system includes a lock that is released by an electronic control unit carried on the door and activated by radiation from an r.f. oscillator in a user's key unit. The key unit, provided on a finger ring, includes one or more photovoltaic d... | 04/01/1980 |
