...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8146383 | Cooling appliance A cooling appliance 1 including a housing 2 and a cooling unit 3, 4 is adapted such that the interior of said cooling appliance 1 is separable into at least two cooling zones 6, 7 by inserting an insert member (5), wherein o... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8074469 | Refrigerator with a convertible compartment A refrigerator includes a first compartment, a second compartment and a multi-functional compartment that is disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment and is adjustable between temperature modes selected from the group consisting of a fresh f... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8042355 | Temporary refrigerator storage modules A distributed refrigeration appliance system for use in a residential kitchen and other locations in a dwelling and includes multiple separate refrigeration appliance modules, a central cooling system and a cooling circuit. The system can also include one or more sa... | 10/25/2011 |
| 7950248 | Refrigerator having component and storage compartments A refrigerator includes a main body cabinet which includes an external cabinet, and an internal cabinet disposed inside the external cabinet and including a partition wall forming first and second storage compartments partitioned right and left, one of the first and... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7908883 | Refrigerator accelerated heat exchanger A heat exchanger for a refrigerator includes a dividing wall that bifurcates the heat exchanger into first and second airflow passages. The fins include apertures therein, allowing for both horizontal and vertical movement of air through the heat exchanger. The divi... | 03/22/2011 |
| 7874176 | Drawer refrigerator with divider and divider for refrigerator drawer A drawer refrigerator has a partitioned cabinet with one or more pull-out drawers. The pull-out drawer(s) can have an adjustable divider fence for dividing the storage space of the drawer. The divider fence can have two dividers each defined by two spaced apart elon... | 01/25/2011 |
| 7775065 | Methods and apparatus for operating a refrigerator A method for operating a refrigerator including a fresh food compartment and a door includes providing a fresh food evaporator to produce cool airflow for the fresh food compartment, providing a chiller compartment within the fresh food compartment, providing a duct... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7669435 | Modular thermoelectric chilling system In an aspect of the invention, an apparatus for providing chilling in a localized area comprises a chiller compartment and an independent cooling source thermally coupled to the chiller compartment by a thermally conductive interface. The cooling source provides a s... | 03/02/2010 |
| 7665326 | Drawer appliance A modular cabinet for a family of drawer appliances including an insulated liner defining a drawer space, a machine compartment, a wiring harness leading from the machine compartment to the drawer space, a passage leading from the machine compartment to the drawer s... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7665327 | Chilled food storage area for refrigerated appliance An appliance with a separately chilled storage area is disclosed. The appliance comprises a refrigerated compartment; a refrigeration system for cooling air; an air circulation system for circulating the cooled air about the refrigerated compartment; and a secondary... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7654107 | Low-temperature storage A low-temperature storage cooled/maintained in an ultra low temperature range, in which door lowering is automatically modified by an opening/closing operation of a thermal insulating door, and a concave/convex portion which is a contact portion with respect to a do... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7451614 | Refrigeration system and components thereof A refrigeration system having a container with at least two different temperature cooling zones separated by a divider. The divider has a wall and a partition spaced apart from each other. The partition has a heat transfer plate with a sheet with a heat transfer sub... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7406833 | Refrigerator storage system A refrigerator comprising a fresh food compartment, a freezer compartment, a lower freezer drawer and an upper freezer bin. A primary set of glides allow the freezer drawer and the upper bin to be pulled out of the freezer compartment. A secondary set of glides moun... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7404298 | Refrigerator Refrigerator including a body forming an outer appearance of the refrigerator, a terminal detachably mounted on the body for controlling the refrigerator, a power supply device at one side of the body, for receiving power from an outside of the refrigerator, convert... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7401474 | Thermal food storage cabinet A thermal food storage cabinet has a sealed box with a thermally insulated compartment, a freezer compartment and a refrigeration compartment, a compressor, a condenser, evaporator and thermal expansion valve. The thermally insulated compartment has a heat-conductin... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7386984 | Refrigerator A refrigerator includes a Stirling refrigerating machine having a high-temperature heat radiation portion and a low-temperature heat absorption portion and for cooling a freezing compartment, and a compressor for circulating a first refrigerant through a first circu... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7377125 | Walk-in refrigerator/freezers and wine coolers for home use Walk-in refrigerator/freezers and walk-in refrigerator/wine coolers for home use include walk-in refrigerator sections, reach-in freezer sections, pullout pantries and pullout refrigerated drawers, and wine cooler/humidor sections that may include one or two separat... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7363773 | Vegetable room for refrigerator A vegetable room for a refrigerator includes: a vegetable box (20) disposed inside a refrigerator in which cooling air is supplied and circulated and which a shelf (10) for receiving food item is provided, having a receptacle space (5) for recei... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7350374 | Consumer refrigerator A proposed refrigerator embodiment comprises a body enclosing a lower fresh-food compartment at above-freezing temperatures; a freezer disposed above the lower compartment, an intermediate-temperature compartment disposed above the freezer both operating at below-fr... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7350664 | Hinge device for storage container and storage container having the same A hinge device for a storage containerand includes a housing mounted on any one of the door and a container body, a pair of hinge shafts rotatably fit in respective ends of the housing, each of the pair of hinge shaft including a cam shaft part with a first cam prov... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7343757 | Integrated center rail dispenser A refrigeration appliance is provided which includes a cabinet with a first openable door providing access to a first refrigeration compartment and a second openable door providing access to a second refrigeration compartment. The second openable door has a portion ... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7337628 | Low-temperature storage An object is to provide a low-temperature storage capable of further dividing a medium storage chamber divided by a medium partition into upper/lower small sections (small storage chambers) by adding of an optional component and changing of an inner door, and the st... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7334425 | Rotative tri-module refrigeration unit A rotative refrigeration unit having three separate modules, each having an exteriorly positioned door 12, mounted on a base 56. The freezer module 16 has a compressor 52 that is used to regulate the freezer temperature with the satellite... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7320227 | Refrigerator with a separate insulated compartment provided with a drain pipe A refrigerator is provided which includes at least one separate, thermally well-insulated and cooled compartment. A drain pipe is provided in the compartment to drain condensation water which forms when a heated food storage container cools in the compartment. ... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7318633 | Refrigerator home bar unit door A refrigerator having a door to open and close a refrigerator compartment, a home bar unit provided on the door and having an opening through which the refrigerator compartment communicates externally thereof, and a home bar unit door to open and close the opening o... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7313933 | Laundry appliance utility shelf A laundry appliance having a cabinet enclosing a laundry treating mechanism, the cabinet having an openable door in a vertical front face thereof, is provided with a shelf recessed in the cabinet and arranged to be extendable to a horizontal position in an embodimen... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7313503 | Designing layout for internet datacenter cooling A system and method to model and design a layout of an Internet Datacenter (IDC) for cooling. The IDC is defined as a collection of cells, the cells of the IDC are pre-characterized, an arrangement of the cells within the IDC is determined, and a profile for one or ... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7305687 | Apparatus for supporting a storage container An apparatus for supporting a storage container upon removal from a storage compartment. A door is disposed proximate the storage compartment and is movable between an open position and a closed position. The door includes a mating feature. The storage container inc... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7299651 | Assembly structure of a cooling air supplying duct for use in a refrigerator having cantilever shelves An assembly structure of a cooling air supplying duct for use in a refrigerator having cantilever shelves includes a shelf supporting rail having a front wall in which a plurality of engagement slots are formed, and a cooling air discharging duct. The cooling air di... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7296433 | Divider for refrigerator drawer A drawer refrigerator, including an evaporator, compressor and condenser, has a partitioned cabinet with two vertically stacked pull-out drawers having drawer bins. A single evaporator is located adjacent both drawer cavities and is partitioned to keep the temperatu... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7293847 | Cabinet for recessed refrigerators A cabinet for recessed refrigerators, which has an integrated single inner casing. The cabinet has an outer casing to define an appearance of the cabinet, the outer casing being a box-shaped body open at the front thereof, and an integrated single inner casing insta... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7281391 | In-door water dispenser with door reversibility An appliance cabinet with at least one openable door has a hinge at a pivoting edge of the door to allow the door to open about the pivoting edge. An endcap is secured to an edge of the door adjacent to the pivoting edge. A first conduit extends from an in-door appa... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7278569 | Combination refrigerator A dual side-by-side refrigerator having a courtesy section and a paid-vend section both cooled by a single cooling unit. A frontal door or double-hung doors are mounted at the front of the cabinet to cover both courtesy and paid-vend sections. An array of sensors in... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7266972 | Ice making and dispensing system An ice making and dispensing system suitable for making and dispensing ice through the refrigerator compartment door of a bottom freezer refrigerator. The ice maker and ice cube storage bin can be positioned in an insulated module in the refrigerator compartment opp... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7254958 | Refrigerator A refrigerator is provided which selectively opens or closes an inner cover according to the closing or opening of an auxiliary door. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator door to open or close a refrigerator storage chamber, a door storage space provided at an i... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7231782 | Refrigerator A refrigerator designed to prevent inner surfaces of storage compartments thereof from being damaged during a manufacturing process. The refrigerator includes a cabinet defining an external appearance of the refrigerator having refrigerator and freezer compartments ... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7228702 | Ice making and dispensing system An ice making and dispensing system suitable for making and dispensing ice through the refrigerator compartment door of a bottom freezer refrigerator. The ice maker is positioned in an insulated sub-compartment in the refrigerator compartment maintained at a tempera... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7228707 | Hybrid tandem compressor system with multiple evaporators and economizer circuit A tandem compressor refrigerant cycle with an economizer circuit is introduced to provide additional capacity and improve system efficiency. In this system, tandem compressors deliver compressed refrigerant to a common discharge manifold, and then to a common conden... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7228989 | High efficiency beverage vending machine The invention provides a vending machine for cooling food products. The vending machine includes a housing defining an interior. The vending machine also includes a plurality of holding members substantially thermally isolated from one another and disposed in the in... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7216493 | Refrigerator methods and apparatus A refrigerator includes a plurality of walls forming a refrigeration compartment, an evaporator is positioned proximate at least one of the walls, a thermal insulator is positioned proximate the evaporator, and an airflow duct is positioned proximate the thermal ins... | 05/15/2007 |