...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 |
| 8062088 | Modular construction system and method with asymmetric rigid balanced figurines having balance-enhancing magnets A modular construction system involving at least one balancing element having a center of gravity, a vertical axis, and at least one balancing surface for enhancing equilibrium; and at least one permanent magnet disposed at each at least one balancing surface, the s... | 11/22/2011 |
| 7524231 | Doll and face-licking puppy combination A combination doll and toy puppy include interacting magnetic elements therein which mimic a face-licking action by the puppy. The doll includes a partially hollow head within which one or more magnets are movably supported behind the cheek portions of the doll's fa... | 04/28/2009 |
| 7354331 | Interactive eating utensils and containers that can produce sound and mechanical output A set of interactive eating utensils includes a first eating utensil, such as a spoon or other piece of cutlery, and a container for containing food. The spoon or other cutlery piece has an embedded magnet that produces a magnetic field. The container is electricall... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7297042 | Magnetic toy A toy includes at least two articles. At least one of the articles has a movement or change of condition component which is caused to occur by magnetic attraction between magnets and/or magnetically attractive material via the respective articles when brought into p... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7244164 | Toy with customization feature A toy is provided comprising a figure with a hole disposed therein and having at least one ferrous portion; a manipulator having a magnet for interacting with the at least one ferrous portion to animate the figure; and a stage for receiving the figure on one side th... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7241197 | Steering system for movable toy vehicles A wheeled vehicle for small children with a steering wheel on a long steering column that extends upward and backward to about waist level of a child walking behind the vehicle. The child propels and steers the vehicle by pushing on the steering wheel and turning th... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7040951 | Amusement device An amusement device is disclosed having an animal body portion and a remote control portion. The animal body portion may be a lizard having horns and a tail. A user may use the remote control to cause the animal to move. The animal body has at least one motor operab... | 05/09/2006 |
| 6994556 | Electronic educational apparatus incorporating the detection of objects An apparatus is provided for determining the identification of selected objects for use in connection with an electronic children's toy, which apparatus includes a plurality of objects, each of the objects including several object contact elements, and an identifica... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6949000 | Wheeled push toy A push toy for providing children with hours of fun-filled amusement, having a pair of wheels, a steering wheel, and a steering mechanism for moving the push toy in one direction or the other. The steering mechanism has a reel, a pin, and a thread. The steering whee... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6887121 | Toy The invention relates to the provision of the toy. The toy comprising at least one article, a play area and, in certain embodiments, a movement device. The play area can be formed with a magnetically attractive base and walls or portions of the same can be so formed... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6837769 | Toy figure and a game comprising such toy figure Human-like toy figure (1) comprising a body (3) and legs (4) that are, in the upright position of the toy figure, configured such in relation to each other that the body (3) is turnable about an essentially horizontal axis (A). In connect... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6790117 | Composition toy Composition toy including at least one main template, e.g. a body shape and at least one secondary template, e.g. clothing. The main template is provided with first magnetic attraction elements and the secondary template is provided with second attraction elements. ... | 09/14/2004 |
| 6729930 | Bobbling head figure magnet A magnet which has a base which is substantially flat the exterior surface of which is formed into a figure representation. The head of the figure is attached by a single, thin member to the base with the head of the figure including a photo receiving slot. ... | 05/04/2004 |
| 6685530 | Toy figure with combined activation In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention there is provided a toy figure having a circuit board to store pre-recorded sounds, a speaker to emit the pre-recorded sounds, and a means to activate the playback of said pre-recorded sounds. The... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6604976 | Segmental toy game A toy game wherein a unique casing includes hinged top and bottom lids shaped to store and provide nesting and securing cradles for a plurality of sheets some of which include overall visual images and others of which include push-out segments to be faste... | 08/12/2003 |
| 6592422 | Toy figure with different volume levels In accordance with the present invention there is provided a toy figure in combination with a toy megaphone. The toy figure includes a circuit board to store pre-programmed audio outputs having different volume levels and a speaker to emit the pre-program... | 07/15/2003 |
| 6540577 | Finger board assembly and amusement system An amusement system that includes a miniature toy skateboard and the mechanism for engaging and lifting the miniature toy skateboard. The miniature toy skateboard is less than six inches long and is referred to as a finger board in the toy industry. The f... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6533638 | System and method for engaging a finger board An amusement system that includes a miniature toy skateboard and the mechanism for engaging and lifting the miniature toy skateboard. The miniature toy skateboard is less than six inches long and is referred to as a finger board in the toy industry. The f... | 03/18/2003 |
| 6422910 | Jellyfish type underwater swimming toy A jellyfish type underwater swimming toy capable of exhibiting reality sufficient to permit an observer to be impressed as if a jellyfish swims in a fluttering manner under water. A toy body is formed into a jellyfish-like shape and includes a head. The h... | 07/23/2002 |
| 6386937 | Magnetically coupled toy apparatus A magnetically coupled toy system having two toy components such as a doll and nursing bottle is shown. The nursing bottle contains a motor-driven rotating permanent magnet in the nipple portion. A second permanent magnet is mounted in a flexible region a... | 05/14/2002 |
| 6171169 | Articulated toy figure simulating basketball play A toy figure torso supports at least one pivotal arm together with a spring-loaded mechanism urging the arm toward pivotal motion in a forward direction. A spring is coupled to the arm and provides the urging force. A trigger and latch mechanism is suppor... | 01/09/2001 |
| 6065253 | Playhouse kit A playhouse kit which includes a building constructed of thin light weight materials with dry eraser surfaces provided on both the interior and exterior surfaces thereof. The building is constructed using members forming walls, roof, and floor of a house ... | 05/23/2000 |
| 6056619 | Toy with moving article The toy and movable article which are the subject of this application provide for the article to be moved along a playbase by mechanical assembly and/or variable magnetic field which are remote from and not in physical contact with the article thereby giv... | 05/02/2000 |
| 6037853 | Apparatus for displaying the interactions between magnetic fields A device for displaying the loose coupling between magnetic fields is provided, comprising a first disk having a plurality of magnetic elements attached to the first disk so that the magnetic field of said magnets extend radially from an outer edge of the... | 03/14/2000 |
| 6030228 | Basic educational system An educational system is provided including a recipient surface such as a cloth or base having a plurality of entities positioned thereon which are selected from the group of entities including colors, shapes, alphabetic characters, and numbers. Also incl... | 02/29/2000 |
| 5862615 | Display button for showing feelings A display button worn for adjustably changing human facial expressions from "happy", to "confused", to "sad", to "skeptical", to "scheming to get even", and to "mad". The invention employs a housing having a shell on which are rotatably mounted a pair of ... | 01/26/1999 |
| 5759082 | Cartwheel tumbling doll A cartwheel tumbling doll has a torso and a head mounted on the torso. An axis extends generally through the center of the head and torso. A pair of arms, each arm having a shoulder end and a hand end, are mounted for limited pivotal movement adjacent eac... | 06/02/1998 |
| 5682692 | Structure of a miniature animated display A miniature animated display that operates by driving a steel bar with a motor. The steel bar causes the animation motion by means of the swing base and the U-shaped pedestal installed on the hinged assembled end formed by the two ends of the elastic stee... | 11/04/1997 |
| 5666712 | Method of making designs using magnetic materials Two-dimensional designs are created by providing a magnetic surface and attaching magnetic parts to the surface. The parts may be precut geometric and representational forms cut from flexible magnetic material. The surface may be a surface painted with a ... | 09/16/1997 |
| 5380233 | Articulated limb toy figure A toy figure includes a hollow body having coupling openings formed in its upper side walls and bottom wall, the openings having inwardly tapered conical faces with peripherally spaced longitudinal channels. A magnet slab housed in the body is sandwiched ... | 01/10/1995 |
| 5362271 | Magnetic playthings Playthings, such as dolls (10, 12), figures or toy animals (22) are provided. The playthings are provided singly or in pairs. The playthings have limbs, such as arms, or other appendages such as tails or trunks, extending from their bodies, the limbs or a... | 11/08/1994 |
| 5335911 | Toy fishing apparatus A toy fishing apparatus includes a fishing rod and reel cooperative with a bait fish that is formed with a magnetic core, such that the bait fish is arranged to selectively magnetically adhere one of a plurality of "target fish". Each of the target fish i... | 08/09/1994 |
| 5312287 | Toy with electromagnet simulating injury A simulation toy includes an electromagnet received in a slot on the body of the toy and attached with a permanent magnet mounted flush with the toy, a control circuit controlled by a snap switch reciprocates a reciprocating rod through the electromagnet ... | 05/17/1994 |
| 5281183 | Solenoid mechanism for movement of figure portions An apparatus for animating a figurine movable element having a pivot point for pivotally coupling the movable element to the figurine to allow the movable element to pivot between the first position and a second position, a first portion of the movable el... | 01/25/1994 |
| 5277643 | Connectable toy A connectable toy capable of permitting a user to enjoy play full of unexpectedness and novelty. The connectable toy includes a toy body and attachments constructed so as to be detachably connectable to the toy body. The connectable toy further includes a... | 01/11/1994 |
| 5190492 | Mechanism for dolls allowing sucking movement A mechanism for dolls which allows for crying, movement of the lips and swivelling of the eyeballs. The mechanism includes a control circuit and timing element which is connected to a switch placed in the mouth of the doll, a magnetic field detector place... | 03/02/1993 |
| 5178573 | Magnetic doll set The doll set utilizes a ferromagnetic backing panel such as a thin sheet of steel, a representation of a human figure such as a little girl, and a series of clothing and other accessories which are applied over the representation of the human figure. The ... | 01/12/1993 |
| 5152711 | Magnetic toy having sculpturable particles A magnetic toy is disclosed which uses two magnetic structures and a magnetic platform plate to allow the toy user to create a wide variety of designs from magnetic particles. The two magnetic structures are arranged so that the same magnetic polarity for... | 10/06/1992 |
| 5071385 | Posable figure A posable figure (10) including a stuffing (14) that forms the figure's head (16), torso (18) and limbs (20, 22), covered by a fabric (12). Magnets (24) mounted under the fabric within the figure's limbs are joinable with opposing magnets (28) mounted und... | 12/10/1991 |
| 5040673 | Stationery case having a whistle Disclosed is a stationery case for keeping writing materials, which comprises an ornament mounted on a compression spring which is fastened in the interior of the casing. The ornament has a magnet fastened therein and is pressed and released so that clips... | 08/20/1991 |