...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 |
| 7316545 | Reducing agent pump for an exhaust-gas aftertreatment system of an internal combustion engine A reducing agent pump has a pump inlet part and a pump outlet part closing off the pump body at its ends. One or both of the inlet and outlet parts is of two-part construction, with a closure element and another element. The two elements are prestressed relative to ... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7310965 | Compressor head, internal discriminator, external discriminator, manifold design for refrigeration recovery apparatus The compressor head, internal and/or external discriminator, and manifold design in general utilize ball valves on the suction and discharge of a cylinder head in the recovery of refrigerant liquid and/or vapor. The device facilitates the flashing of liquid refriger... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7159412 | Compressor head, internal discriminator, external discriminator, manifold design for refrigeration recovery apparatus The compressor head, internal and/or external discriminator, and manifold design in general utilize ball valves on the suction and discharge of a cylinder head in the recovery of refrigerant liquid and/or vapor. The device facilitates the flashing of liquid refriger... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7117781 | Piston balancing system A piston pump or compressor has a dynamically balanced drive assembly in which nearly all of the rotational, oscillatory and axial forces on the rotating drive shaft are canceled. The piston is primarily balanced by adding an oscillating counter weight mounted to th... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7114335 | Apparatus for controlling a hydraulic circuit for clutches Apparatus for controlling a hydraulic circuit to be used for operating hydraulic clutches with a pump (8) connected with a relevant reservoir (88) for the fluid of the hydraulic circuit and comprising a piston (89) sliding within a relevant cham... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7073346 | Compressor head, internal discriminator, external discriminator, manifold design for refrigerant recovery apparatus and vacuum sensor The compressor head, internal and/or external discriminator, and manifold design in general utilize ball valves on the suction and discharge of a cylinder head in the recovery of refrigerant liquid and/or vapor. The device facilitates the flashing of liquid refriger... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7033149 | Medium pump adapted for ease of disassembly and assembly A medium pump for a motor includes a pump case with a pump cylinder and a pump piston positioned displacaebly in the pump cylinder in the direction of a pump axle. The pump piston rotates about the pump axle by running off an oblique control surface and realizes axi... | 04/25/2006 |
| 6966279 | Piston cooling system for an internal combustion engine A piston cooling system for an internal combustion engine has a connecting rod assembly for connecting a piston to a crankshaft. The connecting rod assembly may have a connecting rod, a connecting rod bearing, a piston pin bushing, and a piston pin. The connecting r... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6966282 | Internal combustion engine variable compression ratio system An internal combustion engine variable compression ratio system. The system includes an inner piston connected to a connecting rod, an outer piston fitted around the outer periphery of the inner piston so that the outer piston can slide only in the axial direction, ... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6945062 | Heat pump water heating system including a compressor having a variable clearance volume A heat pump water heater system includes a compressor that has a variable clearance volume that can be selectively controlled to control the mass flow rate of refrigerant from the compressor. Under higher ambient air temperature conditions, the variable volume is in... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6932588 | Variable capacity rotary compressor A variable capacity rotary compressor includes a housing defining a cylindrical compression chamber therein and having an inlet port and an outlet port communicating with the compression chamber. A rotating shaft is provided with an eccentric part to rotate in the c... | 08/23/2005 |
| 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 |
| 6910405 | On/off switch for liquid additive injection pump Operation of a system for injecting a predetermined amount of a secondary fluid into a primary fluid stream. The system uses a liquid additive injection pump driven by a fluid powered motor that is driven by the primary fluid stream and can be selectively suspended ... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6821096 | Multiple component metering and dispensing system A plural component pumping apparatus including a piston and cylinder for each component to be pumped. Reciprocation of the piston in the cylinder draws the component into the cylinder during an intake stroke of the pumping apparatus and exhausts the material from th... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6814548 | Multiple piston engine with vibration reducing properties The invention relates to a piston engine which is essentially comprised of an engine shaft and a set of modules, each of which comprises a cylinder and a piston powered by the engine shaft in the cylinder, each module resulting in vibratory excitation of the engine ... | 11/09/2004 |
| 6779984 | Position sensor and compressor A position sensor is provided, particularly a sensor applicable to a linear compressor, for detecting the position of the piston and preventing the latter from knocking against the head located at the end of its stroke. More particularly, there is provided a sensor,... | 08/24/2004 |
| 6758657 | Electromagnetically driven diaphragm pump A pump (10) has a housing which forms a pump chamber (17) having a wall (18). Inlet and outlet valve assemblies (19, 20) communicate with the chamber (17) and, respectively, allow fluid to be received in, and discharged from, the c... | 07/06/2004 |
| 6644171 | Variable compression connecting rod A connecting rod assembly is provided for varying a compression ratio of an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft and a piston. The connecting rod assembly includes a first portion adapted to be connected to the crankshaft, and a second portion a... | 11/11/2003 |
| 6619186 | Servo controlled timing advance for unit pump or unit injector A hydraulically actuated servo piston and hydraulic advance piston are integrated into the cam follower of a unit pump or injector to provide variable advance for an injection event produced by the pump or injector. The servo piston is nested in the advan... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6547534 | Compression apparatus There is disclosed a high-pressure compressor comprising a compression mechanism for reciprocating/driving a piston with respect to a conventional cylinder by rotation of a motor and compressing an operating fluid sucked by this driving to generate the hi... | 04/15/2003 |
| 6536326 | Control system and method for preventing destructive collisions in free piston machines In a free piston machine, initial collisions of the piston with structures at the end of the cylinder are detected and generate a change in the magnitude of a perturbation signal, which is applied to the summing junction of a closed loop feedback control ... | 03/25/2003 |
| 6406269 | Fuel pump A fuel pump comprises a pumping plunger reciprocable within a plunger bore under the action of a cam drive arrangement. The cam drive arrangement comprises first and second surfaces defining therebetween a chamber, the volume of which can be controlled to... | 06/18/2002 |
| 6210121 | Method of calibrating a lost-motion metering pump A method of calibrating a lost-motion metering pump is disclosed wherein the pump includes a relief port, a movable hollow plunger having a bypass hole which is aligned with the relief port when the plunger is moved to an aligned position and a control ro... | 04/03/2001 |
| 6162030 | Zero leakage valveless positive fluid displacement device A Positive Fluid Displacement Device (PFDD) with a removable Fluid Displacement Module (FDM) having two opposing pistons connected to a drive block. The drive block slides over a crankpin bearing in assembly to provide orbital piston motion. Opposing cyli... | 12/19/2000 |
| 6152113 | High-pressure injector for a diesel engine A high-pressure fuel injector of a diesel engine includes a nozzle body, a pressure chamber body and a pressure piston. The nozzle body has a cavity in a central region thereof and a closed top end formed integrally thereon, the nozzle body includes a sol... | 11/28/2000 |
| 6056517 | Compressor for the air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle A compressor for an air-conditioning system of a motor vehicle is proposed, which has a controllable compression medium feed mechanism powered by a drive shaft and which, for example, is powered by the combustion engine of the motor vehicle by a belt driv... | 05/02/2000 |
| 5647730 | Self-contained, clearance-volume adjustment means for a gas compressor In association with a straight-cylinder, reciprocating gas compressor, hydraulic circuitry and valving is provided to track movement of an intake valve which cooperates with an end of the compressor to define a clearance volume. The valving is selectively... | 07/15/1997 |
| 5644969 | Wobble piston and cylinder arrangement A wobble piston usable in a cylinder comprising one or both of the confronting surfaces of wobble piston head or valve plate being convexly curved in the plane of the wobble motion and being straight in a plane that is transverse to the plane of the wobbl... | 07/08/1997 |
| 5622486 | Radially-valve compressor with adjustable clearance A radially-valved compressor wherein the fixed clearance of the compressor can be quickly and easily adjusted by adjusting the position of the suction and/or discharge valves in relation to their respective compression chambers. The valves are slidably po... | 04/22/1997 |
| 5496153 | Method and apparatus for measuring piston position in a free piston compressor A method of measuring the distance at closest approach between the piston of a free piston compressor and the cylinder head. The method derives measurements of both the alternating and average components of piston position from direct measurements of the ... | 03/05/1996 |
| 5342176 | Method and apparatus for measuring piston position in a free piston compressor A method of measuring the distance at closest approach between the piston of a free piston compressor and the cylinder head. The method derives measurements of both the alternating and average components of piston position from direct measurements of the ... | 08/30/1994 |
| 5301597 | Hydraulic cylinder A hydraulic cylinder, preferably for use as a master or slave brake cylinder or in a hydraulic clutch system, maintains in a simple and inexpensive manner through the use of eccentric bushings the stroke length of the piston rod. The distance between the ... | 04/12/1994 |
| 5191862 | Reciprocating piston with variable compression height for internal combustion engines A reciprocating piston is disclosed with variable compression height for internal combustion engines in particular. For structural simplification of the temperature-dependent change in the compression height of the reciprocating piston, a spring is provid... | 03/09/1993 |
| 4979427 | Temperature-sensitive variation of the compression ratio in pistons having variable compression height The invention relates to a piston having a variable compression height and two control chambers connected to each other through a hydraulic system. In order to achieve better cold-start and warm-up behavior, an oil discharge bore from the upper control ch... | 12/25/1990 |
| 4930404 | Very high pressure piston pump The very high pressure piston pump can compress a conveying agent (20) to a pressure of approximately 22 kbar. The high pressure sealing comprises a pressure-compensated ice sealing, which operates free of leakage and with reduced friction. To reduce the ... | 06/05/1990 |
| 4844428 | Air spring assembly An air spring assembly which includes a main air chamber and an interconnected auxiliary air chamber in which there is disposed a piston movable endwise thereof upon actuation of a reversible electric motor to increase or to decrease the volume of the aux... | 07/04/1989 |
| 4809731 | Liquid injection apparatus having an external adjustor A liquid additive injection pump has a hydraulic motor comprising a differential piston assembly reciprocable in a housing under the urging of a primary liquid into which an additive is to be injected. The piston assembly includes valves to effect the tra... | 03/07/1989 |
| 4797073 | Pump with rotating and reciprocating piston A plunger pump has a plunger adapted to slide in the axial direction and rotate by a combination of worm and worm wheel. A cylindrical pump body has an axial extension at one free end through which a control pin extends upwardly at a right angle relative ... | 01/10/1989 |
| 4782738 | Compressor with adjustable head clearance A compressor includes a housing to which a cylinder and head structure is adjustably mounted by means of an adjustable spacer. By adjusting the compression on the head structure during assembly, the head clearance of the compressor piston is adjusted for ... | 11/08/1988 |
| 4775299 | Variable clearance pocket piston positioning device A clearance pocket having a housing attached to a cylinder of the compressor. In one embodiment, in which the housing has a sidewall and a distal wall and includes a clearance chamber with a passageway extending between the cylinder head and the clearance... | 10/04/1988 |