...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7958719 | Noncircular transient fluid fuel injector control channels in propellant injector combustion systems A fuel injector system for combustion engines and motors, such as pulsed bipropellant thrusters, includes noncircular fuel and oxidizer injectors at the ends of respective dribble channels for controlling the mixture ratio of the propellants passing into a combustio... | 06/14/2011 |
| 7900434 | Thermally-integrated fluid storage and pressurization system An oxygen-hydrogen pressurization system includes a cryogenic oxygen tank, cryogenic hydrogen tank, thermal switch, supercritical oxygen bottle, supercritical hydrogen bottle, and pressure management system and a thermodynamic vent system. The thermal switch permits... | 03/08/2011 |
| 7827781 | Liquid propellant rocket engine with pintle injector and acoustic dampening A liquid propelled rocket engine comprising a unique pintle injector, radial injector plate and ablative insert to improve combustion stability and reduce harmonic disturbance within the chamber. The injector plate is generally in the shape of a ring surrounding a c... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7757476 | Catalytically activated transient decomposition propulsion system A catalytically activated transient decomposition propulsion system provides thrust by decomposing flow controlled propellant in contact with a catalyzing agent using a fixed volume of liquid propellant that is placed in contact with the catalyst within the decompos... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7621119 | Heat exchange injector for use in a rocket engine A heat exchange injector assembly includes a heat exchange element comprising a fuel sleeve, a liquid oxidizer post disposed in the fuel sleeve, and a multi-passage swirl member such as a double helix member, disposed in the liquid oxidizer post. ... | 11/24/2009 |
| 7603843 | Combustion chamber comprising a cooling unit and method for producing said combustion chamber A combustion chamber for expelling a hot gas stream from a rocket engine includes a combustion chamber wall and a plurality of cooling channels arranged inside the combustion chamber wall and configured to receive a flow of a cooling medium. Each cooling channel def... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7596940 | Rocket engine nozzle and method of fabricating a rocket engine nozzle using pressure brazing A method of fabrication of a rocket engine nozzle assembly using pressure brazing generally includes initially assembling a rocket engine nozzle liner into a rocket engine nozzle jacket for a rocket engine nozzle assembly. The rocket engine nozzle assembly may then ... | 10/06/2009 |
| 7472544 | Pressurizer for a rocket engine A pump for pressurizing a fluid includes an engine portion including a first pressure vessel, a first piston movable inside the first pressure vessel, at least two pressurant entrance valves connected to the first pressure vessel, and at least two pressurant exit va... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7343732 | Rocket engine chamber with layered internal wall channels A combustion chamber/supersonic nozzle assembly is cooled by an array of coolant channels in the wall of the assembly with coolant being fed to the assembly at the throat plane between the subsonic (convergent) and supersonic (divergent) sections. A minor portion of... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7334396 | Method and apparatus for a rocket engine power cycle A system for providing an oxidizer and a fuel to a rocket engine is provided. The system includes a fuel supply system. The fuel supply system includes a fuel pump that pumps fuel to the rocket engine. The system includes a coolant supply system that supplies a cool... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7302794 | Rocket engine member and a method for manufacturing a rocket engine member Method and arrangement for providing a liquid fuel rocket engine member having a load bearing wall structure (11,14) including a plurality of cooling channels (11) for handling a coolant flow. Each cooling channel (11) is provided with a flow gu... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7299622 | Component for being subjected to high thermal load during operation and a method for manufacturing such a component Method and arrangement for providing a component (1) for being subjected to high thermal load during operation. The component includes a wall structure, which defines an inner space for gas flow. The component is formed by at least a first part (5) tha... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7293403 | Combustion chamber with internal jacket made of a ceramic composite material and process for manufacture A combustion chamber, in particular for a rocket drive, includes at least one jacket madeof a composite material with a ceramic matrix. The composite material contains a fibrous structure made of carbon-containing fibers, and the fibrous structure comprises layers o... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7287369 | Method for extending a nozzle and extended nozzle for rocket drives A method for extending a nozzle for a rocket engine is described, in which at least one second region of the contour of the nozzle is arranged as an extension of a first region of the contour of the nozzle. This extension of the first region by the second region occ... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7257940 | Device and method for pumping a fluid A method of pumping a fluid includes: providing a pressurizer for pressurizing the fluid, the pressurizer including at least two storage tanks, where, for each storage tank, the pressurizer includes a propellant entrance valve, a propellant exit valve, a pressurant ... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7252269 | Asymmetrical low-profile bulkhead An asymmetrical bulkhead for a pressure vessel, tank or other storage facility is disclosed. The bulkhead is configured so that there is a high region extending past a cylindrical portion of the vessel on one side of the bulkhead, with a contour of the bulkhead tran... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7246483 | Energetic detonation propulsion A propulsion system for creating a propulsive force has a combustion chamber, a pair of electrodes within the combustion chamber and a power supply attached to the electrodes to create a high voltage field within an initiation zone of the combustion chamber, and an ... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7178339 | Closed-loop cooling system for a hydrogen/oxygen based combustor A closed-loop cooling system is provided for a hydrogen/oxygen based combustor. A combustion reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the combustor produces steam. The steam is used to generate work from a turbine shaft, which is used to drive a propulsion system for... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7156094 | Breathing apparatus and pressure vessels therefor There is described a wearable garment capable of supplying air to a user comprising a plurality of compartments disposed about the garment, a plurality of air storage vessels for fitting into respective ones of the compartments, an air regulator, a connector for con... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7137244 | Reactor for decomposition of ammonium dinitramide-based liquid monopropellants and process for the decomposition The present invention relates to a reactor for the decomposition of ammonium dinitramide-based liquid monopropellants into hot, combustible gases for combustion in a combustion chamber, and more particularly a rocket engine or thruster comprising such reactor and a ... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7124574 | Method and apparatus for a substantially coaxial injector element A system to provide a two piece robust fluid injector. According to various embodiments, the fluid injector is a fuel injector for a combustion engine. The injector includes two coaxially formed annuluses. One annulus is formed in a face plate and the second annulus... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7082750 | Pressurizer for a rocket engine A pressurizer for pressurizing a fluid includes: at least two storage tanks, where, for each storage tank, the pressurizer further includes: a propellant entrance valve, a propellant exit valve, a pressurant entrance valve, and a pressurant exit valve, where each of... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7080809 | Space transportation system The invention, presents a new concept of spacecraft vehicle design and method of utilization in space flight operations. The system examines the major elements of launch, to orbit flight and return format. The system relies heavily on current space flight technology... | 07/25/2006 |
| 7069717 | Hybrid propulsion system Disclosed is a propulsion system for a spacecraft. The propulsion system includes a supply of oxidizer and at least one nozzle. A conduit fluidly couples the supply of oxidizer and the nozzle. The conduit provides a pathway for oxidizer to flow in a downstream direc... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7038290 | Integrated circuit device An integrated circuit device comprising: a body of a first solid material having an upper surface and a major bottom surface; a pocket of a second solid material having a top surface and a side surface, and a botto... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7036303 | Ablative baffle for a liquid rocket engine thrust chamber An ablative baffle for a liquid rocket engine thrust chamber that includes a hub member having a hollow structure, of which both top and bottom parts are open; a plurality of blade rib members, each of which is connected removably at one end to the outer surface of ... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7037602 | Multilayer composite Multilayer composite for combustion chambers or nozzles of missiles, comprising an interior layer in contact with the combustion gases and an outer layer, wherein the interior layer is a fiber-reinforced ceramic whose matrix comprises phases of carbon and/or phases ... | 05/02/2006 |
| 6983587 | Method and apparatus for thrust augmentation for rocket nozzles A method and apparatus for augmenting thrust in a rocket traveling through atmospheric gas. Rocket motor designs are provided where a throat(s) from one or more rocket motors eject high-speed primary exhaust gas in a configuration which peripherally surrounds an out... | 01/10/2006 |
| 6973774 | Hybrid propulsion system While commercial jet aircraft are capable of transporting large pay load economically, the same is not true for rockets. To solve this problem, a hybrid propulsion system is proposed for use in Horizontal Take-Off and Land (HOTOL) craft. The purpose is to maximized ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6968673 | Cool gas generator and ultra-safe rocket engine A gas generator or rocket engine includes: a first storage tank configured to contain a high-pressure liquid propellant; a nozzle connected to the first storage tank; a heat source connected between the first storage tank and the nozzle and configured to add heat to... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6964154 | Axisymmetric, throttleable non-gimballed rocket engine A rocket engine assembly is provided for a vertically launched rocket vehicle. A rocket engine housing of the assembly includes two or more combustion chambers each including an outlet end defining a sonic throat area. A propellant supply for the combustion chambers... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6945032 | Method for manufacturing outlet nozzles for rocket engines A wall structure capable of withstanding high thermal load, including a wall structure with an inner wall, an outer wall positioned about the inner wall, and distancing elements located between the inner and outer walls. The distancing elements are joined to at leas... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6918243 | Bi-propellant injector with flame-holding zone igniter A bi-propellant injector (66) includes a first injector element (68) and a second injector element (70) injecting a first propellant (69) and a second propellant (71), respectively, into a combustion chamber (53). A flame-ho... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6912782 | Forming and assembly method for multi-axial pivoting combustor liner in gas turbine engine A multi-axial pivoting liner within the combustion system of a turbine engine allows the system to work with minimum thermal interference, especially during system operation at transient conditions, by allowing the liner to pivot and slide about its centerline and r... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6901740 | Engine with a central spike for a space launcher The pointed end of a central spike, used in an engine of a space launcher, may have a deformable structure that can adopt either a folded position or a deployed position. ... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6860099 | Liquid propellant tracing impingement injector An injector for use with the rocket thruster has a plurality of fuel ports separated from a plurality of oxidizer ports. The oxidizer and fuel ports are paired together directing their respective fluids along a path with radial and tangential components so that the ... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6832471 | Expander cycle rocket engine with staged combustion and heat exchange In a supersonic nozzle incorporating injectors and a combustion chamber as part of an expander cycle rocket engine, the oxidizer is injected in two streams. One of the streams, preferably a small fraction of the total, is injected into an upstream or preburner secti... | 12/21/2004 |
| 6807805 | Hypergolic fuel system A hypergolic fuel system comprises hydrogen peroxide, silane and a liquid fuel. The hypergolic fuel system is employed in a method for producing thrust, for example in a rocket, by contacting hydrogen peroxide with silane to obtain initial ignition and thereafter fe... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6783824 | Actively-cooled fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite rocket propulsion thrust chamber and method of producing the same An actively-cooled, fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite thrust chamber for liquid rocket propulsion systems is designed and produced with internal cooling channels. The monocoque tubular structure consists of an inner wall, which is fully integrated to an oute... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6779335 | Burning nitrous oxide and a fuel An apparatus is provided for burning a fuel and nitrous oxide. The apparatus has a combustor, a catalyst, a nitrous oxide supply passage for directing the nitrous oxide to a contact position with the catalyst, and a fuel supply passage for supplying the fuel to the ... | 08/24/2004 |