Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7373915 | Motion control mechanism for a piston engine An improved piston engine includes a rocker arm and a connecting link between the piston rod and the crankshaft to allow its motion to be altered from that of the classic piston engine in order to overcome inherent limitations of the latter and realize greater effic... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7360511 | Opposed piston engine A two-cycle, opposed piston engine with side-mounted crankshafts and cylinders isolated from mechanical stresses of the engine includes tailored cooling of cylinders and symmetrical cooling of the interior surfaces of piston crowns. Each opposed piston includes a co... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7328682 | Efficiencies for piston engines or machines Disclosed are crankshaft, single-plate cam and beam mechanisms that provide significant improvements in performance for 2 & 4-stroke engines, compressors and pumps. These cost effective mechanisms include linkages with the new and improved use of pivoting arms that ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7225693 | Slide drive device for a press A slide drive device for a press changes a slide stroke without a changing either a top or bottom dead center position of a slide. The slide drive device allows stroke adjustment without a loss of left-right balance in the slide drive device. An adjusting mechanism ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7077023 | Toroidal continuously variable transmission In a toroidal continuously variable transmission, a roller-and-cage bearing assembly is interleaved between a power-roller outer ring and a trunnion power-roller accommodating portion to permit a parallel translation of a power roller in an axial direction of input ... | 07/18/2006 |
| 6925973 | Piston engine assembly A variable compression piston assembly includes a plurality of pistons, a transition arm coupled to each of the pistons, and a rotating member mounted for pivoting movement to slide along an axis of the drive member. Movement of the rotating member relative to the d... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6915765 | Piston engine assembly A variable compression piston assembly includes a plurality of pistons, a transition arm coupled to each of the pistons, and a rotating member mounted for pivoting movement to slide along an axis of the drive member. Movement of the rotating member relative to the d... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6913447 | Metering pump with varying piston cylinders, and with independently adjustable piston strokes A metering pump includes an actuating mechanism, and a plurality of piston cylinders coupled to the actuating mechanism. A first of the cylinders has a working volume that differs from a second of the cylinders. The actuating member is centrally located and the cyli... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6904888 | Reciprocating piston device A reciprocating piston engine (or motor) includes plural reciprocating pistons operatively connected to a single intermediate oscillating shaft, and a crankshaft having a single crank pin operatively connected to the oscillating shaft, so that the crankshaft experie... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6622582 | Assembly for limiting axial motion of shaft in an imaging apparatus An assembly for limiting axial motion of a shaft, such as a roller, in an imaging apparatus having a frame, a drive system including a helical drive gear, a shaft supported by the frame and a driven helical gear attached to the shaft and positioned to eng... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6439071 | Transmission mechanism for transforming a continuous rotating motion into intermittent rotating motion and a device for transporting sheets of laminar material which is provided with such a device The transmission mechanism comprises a lever (12) which can rotate around an eccentric shaft (11) of a rotating disk-crank (10). The lever (12) is guided in its movement by cam means (15a) and acts upon an arm (19) which is attached for joint rotation to ... | 08/27/2002 |
| 6371008 | Water-raising pump Water-raising pump for drawing water in a ground water table, which pump comprises a tube connecting the surface to the water table to be pumped, a rod carrying the pistons, which is connected to a drive mechanism installed at the surface for imparting to... | 04/16/2002 |
| 6334423 | Reciprocating piston engine and its link mechanism A link mechanism for a reciprocating piston engine and the like is characterized in that: motions of a pair of cylinder-type pistons moving in opposite directions relative to each other are converted into an oscillating-type rotary motion through an oscil... | 01/01/2002 |
| 6055903 | Press, specifically punch press A connecting rod unit is eccentrically supported on the drive shaft. The connecting rod unit is pivotally mounted via link members to double arm levers. Each double arm lever is pivotally mounted to a single arm lever. Furthermore, each single arm lever i... | 05/02/2000 |
| 5860318 | Stroke adjustment device for pickling machines Device for the adjustment of the stroke length of a needle carrier (12) of a pickling machine, which can be moved back and forth in such a way that the lower deadpoint of the needle carrier is independent of the stroke length, is characterized by the fact... | 01/19/1999 |
| 5762480 | Reciprocating machine A reciprocating machine converts linear motion to rotary motion or vice-versa and is associated with a supply of working fluid, and includes rotational power apparatus having a rotational motion transfer member; a cylinder defining a longitudinal axis and... | 06/09/1998 |
| 5328443 | Massage apparatus The massage apparatus includes a casing having a bottom and a top with an elongated opening formed through it. An elongated support is provided on the top of the casing in the direction of the elongated opening. A pair of spaced upright rods is pivotally ... | 07/12/1994 |
| 5317934 | Variable speed linear actuator An apparatus that converts a rotary motion into linear motion through the use of a linkage system that has a pair of levers that are driven through a pulley arrangement. Wherein, the pair of levers and pulley arrangement are configured to produce a variab... | 06/07/1994 |
| 5287728 | Power transmission device for press machine A power transmission device for a press machine comprises a connection link connected to a crankshaft of the press machine and reciprocated in accordance with the rotation of the crankshaft, a first slider provided in a frame of the press machine so as to... | 02/22/1994 |
| 5279235 | Valve actuation mechanism for incinerator A unique valve mechanism for opening and closing inlet, outlet, and purge valves in a regenerative incinerator is disclosed. The valves are mechanically opened and closed by a cam arrangement which insures proper timing, and optimal volume flow through th... | 01/18/1994 |
| 5182505 | Aircraft control surface position transducer A retrofit apparatus for providing a signal indicative of the position of an aircraft control surface comprises a rotary coupling flexibly coupled to the control surface, an extensible coupling driven by the rotary coupling, a quadric-chain linkage couple... | 01/26/1993 |
| 5167358 | Material loading apparatus for material working machines A material loading apparatus for material working machines comprises loading slide elements for stepwise conveying one of a wire and strip material guided in a main guide along a guidance direction. The loading slide elements having a controlled slide-mou... | 12/01/1992 |
| 5065636 | Drive arrangement for a male-die-side ejector slidably disposed in a slide of a mechanical metal-forming press In the case of a drive for a male-die-side ejector slidably disposed in a slide of a mechanical metal-forming press having an angle lever which is pivotably disposed at the slide, one leg of the lever acting upon the end of the ejector facing way from the... | 11/19/1991 |
| 5063807 | Saw such as a jig saw or scroll saw The invention pertains to a saw, in particular to a jig saw or scroll saw, with a saw blade which is driven by a force acting on a parallelogram of rods. A saw blade is attached to a connecting shank which joins two longitudinal side arms. The two longitu... | 11/12/1991 |
| 5054330 | Motion transfer mechanism with a linkage A motion transfer mechanism for a machine includes a coupler interconnecting a one-arm crank member and the first crank arm of a two-arm crank member. A driving plate is mounted rotatably on the machine and has a cam edge. Any line, which connects any pai... | 10/08/1991 |
| 5031265 | Wiper device for wiping a vehicle windshield A wiper device including a wiper motor and two wiper blades for wiping a vehicle windshield comprises a reciprocally actuating coupling rod connected to the wiper motor by a crank arm, a swinging lever which is connected to the coupling rod so as to swing... | 07/16/1991 |
| 4979428 | Reciprocating air compressor with improved drive linkage An air compressor in which a piston is reciprocated in a cylinder by means of an eccentric. The eccentric is connected to the piston by means of a linkage consisting of an arm, a connecting rod and a control link. By virtue of the arm and the control link... | 12/25/1990 |
| 4970861 | Geared rotary-to-linear motion converting system for bidirectional pump drive A system for converting the output of a constant speed motor to variable fluidic flow at the ends of a linear actuator comprising a drive gear coupled with an electric motor for concurrent rotation at a fixed rotational speed; a driven gear operatively co... | 11/20/1990 |
| 4848171 | Rocker arm drive for electrical appliances Device for converting the rotary motion of an eccentric driven by a motor shaft into an oscillating motion of a working tool in electrically powered appliances, consisting of a double-armed rocker arm and a connecting rod connecting the rocker arm with th... | 07/18/1989 |
| 4787114 | Wiper driving system for vehicle A wiper driving system for a vehicle having a wiper link reciprocated by a crank of a motor, and a lever for rotating a driving shaft of a wiper arm fixed to one end of the wiper link by rotating at a predetermined angle with the one end of the wiper link... | 11/29/1988 |
| 4596160 | Mechanism for transferring movements between first and second linearly displaceable bodies A mechanism for transferring movement between two reciprocating bodies, such as pistons or displacers (10, 11) comprises a crank or eccentric (12) and may be included in a Stirling or Vuilleumier engine. The crank or eccentric is connected to a connecting... | 06/24/1986 |
| 4572166 | Self-travelling vibration generator A self-travelling vibration generator having a travelling frame movably supported by parallel rails, a lifting/lowering frame standing at substantially right angles with respect to the travelling frame, a plurality of eccentric rollers provided off-center... | 02/25/1986 |
| 4546663 | Drive linkage for Stirling cycle and other machines An improved linkage which is advantageously used in linking the crank of a Stirling machine to its coaxially reciprocating pistons. A swing lever having at least three spaced pivot axes is connected at one of its pivot axes to the machine housing and at a... | 10/15/1985 |
| 4527769 | Apparatus for moving a controlled member to a predetermined position A fail-safe actuator of the type which permits cycling of a control member during normal operation without encumbrance from a return mechanism includes a link having a slot. A pin secured to a crankshaft coupled to the controlled member is slidably dispos... | 07/09/1985 |
| 4520682 | Reciprocating rectilinear motion apparatus A mechanism for converting rotary drive motion into reciprocal rectilinear motion including structure for varying the length of the rectilinear stroke.... | 06/04/1985 |
| 4483208 | Pumping unit A pumping unit such as used on an oil well, the unit having a base, an upright sampson post supported on the base, a drum rotatably supported to the sampson post, the drum being rotatable about its horizontal axis, a lever arm pivoted to the base and in a... | 11/20/1984 |
| 4483126 | Adjustable drive mechanism An adjustable drive mechanism for reciprocating a pair of sealing jaws in a packaging apparatus and controlling the stroke length includes a drive belt operatively connected to move the carriage and jaws in the up and down direction. A movable pulley asse... | 11/20/1984 |
| 4416198 | Drive for producing motion with dwells Drive for producing motion with intervening dwells including a four-bar linkage defining a couple curve travel path traversible only in part and having equally coincident forward and return paths, and a dwell-producing driven rocker arm pair connected the... | 11/22/1983 |
| 4367658 | Oscillating member for transforming a rotary motion into a reciprocating motion A bell-crank lever having substantially stiff lever arms, which are approximately at right angles to each other, is connected to a stationary part by a film hinge that is secured adjacent to the junction of the lever arms and defines a bending axis which ... | 01/11/1983 |
| 4353422 | Hand held power machine with oscillating tool A light weight hand-held power actuated tool for aiding an operator do work such as raking, thatching, cultivating, hoeing and sweeping. A main member with handles for operator support has a motor attached. The motor activates a mechanism which holds a working... | 10/12/1982 |
