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!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 4325674 | Wind turbine of cross-flow type Wind turbine of cross-flow type with curved or in sections straight vanes (1,2,9). Two vanes or sets of blades are formed in planes parallel to the rotor axis (3) and with the blade planes disposed approximately perpendicularly to one another.... | 04/20/1982 |
| 4319865 | Windmill There is disclosed in the present application a wind wheel having a set of movable vanes whose orientation with respect to the plane of the wheel is changed automatically to limit the speed to a safe level in winds of high velocity. The wheel is construct... | 03/16/1982 |
| 4316699 | Windmill structure and power generator A windpower generator which includes a cupped blade design to be assembled from flat module sheets together with a resiliently biased mount to provide automatic feathering with a consequent speed control. A generator or alternating generator to feed elect... | 02/23/1982 |
| 4306837 | Bearingless tail rotor for helicopters A helicopter tail rotor structure includes a thin, flat, tension-bearing strap of fibers extending spanwise, and is to be centrally secured by a hub to a helicopter tail mast. Flex sections are formed inboard of substantially equally divided portions of s... | 12/22/1981 |
| 4291235 | Windmill This invention relates generally to an improved windmill design that combines the blade and rotor support system with the electrical generating system in such a way as to simplify the windmill construction. Specifically, it eliminates the need for shafts,... | 09/22/1981 |
| 4210299 | Propulsive lifting rotors A propulsive lifting rotor for an aircraft comprises two wings pivotally mounted about axes parallel to their leading edges. The wings (rotary airfoils) are located at respective sides of a plane at right angles to the rotor axis.... | 07/01/1980 |
| 4179241 | Full feathering, reversible pitch, constant RPM propeller A pitch change slide is mounted for longitudinal movement on a propeller shaft hub adapter in turn secured to the engine shaft of an aircraft engine, the said slide carrying a plurality of toothed racks each engaged with a spur gear on the base of one of ... | 12/18/1979 |
| 4142830 | Mechanical overload systems for wind generators Mounted on a vertical axis there is a horizontal axis and, vertically spaced therefrom, a wind wheel generator and counterweight unit. When the wind speed exceeds a predetermined limit, the unit is swung thereby, in a vertical plane, decreasing the effect... | 03/06/1979 |
| 4111601 | Adjustable windmill There is disclosed in the present application a windmill including a wheel having a set of fixed blades and a set of movable vanes whose angular orientation with respect to the axis of the wheel is adjusted automatically for limiting the speed of the whee... | 09/05/1978 |
| 4105363 | Overspeed control arrangement for vertical axis wind turbines This invention is an overspeed control arrangement for vertical axis wind turbines employing normally vertically positioned rotor blades, said control arrangement allows the rotor blades to tilt either forward or backwards to form a swept wing configurati... | 08/08/1978 |
| 4083651 | Wind turbine with automatic pitch and yaw control A wind turbine having a flexible central beam member supporting aerodynamic blades at opposite ends thereof and fabricated of uni-directional high tensile strength material bonded together into beam form so that the beam is lightweight, and has high tensi... | 04/11/1978 |
| 4061926 | Wind driven electrical generator An electric generating system in which oppositely rotating wind driven wheels are used, one to drive the rotor and one to drive the stator of an electric generator.... | 12/06/1977 |
| 4032257 | Mill, particularly windmill A mill, particularly windmill of the horizontal or Chinese type having a l shaft supporting a vane rotor provided with a plurality of vane shafts rotatably mounted therein and with vanes secured to these vane shafts which vanes, when engaged by a wind fl... | 06/28/1977 |
| 4029434 | Variable pitch mounting for airfoil blades of a windmill or propeller A blade mounting having journal and thrust bearings locating the blades in a hub to relieve load and therefore friction by a torsionally flexible tension member secured within each blade so that centrifugal forces of the blade are transmitted directly to ... | 06/14/1977 |
| 3981613 | Foldable propellers There is disclosed a propeller adapted for driving a vehicle, such as a boat. The propeller comprises a pair of pivotally mounted propeller blades which are adapted to assume an inactive position wherein the blades are substantially aligned with the direc... | 09/21/1976 |
| 3942909 | Vertical axis fluid driven rotor A vertical axis wind-driven rotor which combines effective utilization of the energy in a strong wind with maintenance of effective torque at low wind speeds. In one embodiment, the rotor has a reservoir of liquid located near its base. A plurality of tub... | 03/09/1976 |
