Did You Know...
...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 |
| 8181641 | Solar concentration plant for the production of superheated steam A solar concentration plant which uses water/steam as a heat-carrying fluid, in any thermodynamic cycle or system for the exploitation of process heat, which is comprised of an evaporation subsystem, where saturated steam is produced under the conditions of pressure... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8109264 | Hot water solar heating system and method A hot water solar heating system includes a solar collector assembly located outside a building, a hot water tank located inside the building and supply and return pipes connecting the tank to the solar collector assembly. Portions of the supply and return pipes are... | 02/07/2012 |
| 7694673 | Combination heat recovery—solar collector This invention absorbs available heat from the flue gas of an existing building's heating system and heat from the sun. The heat is absorbed and stored in a heat-collecting sphere of special design. The absorbed heat collected in the sphere is transferred, by the co... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7398779 | Thermosiphoning system with side mounted storage tanks An improved thermosiphon solar heater is disclosed. The thermosiphon solar heater includes a substantially planar collector including a plurality of heat exchanger channels that are positioned next to one another in a parallel relationship. The thermosiphoning solar... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7234314 | Geothermal heating and cooling system with solar heating A sealed well direct expansion geothermal heat exchange unit, whose sealed well can be placed in ground and/or in water, consisting of a conventional direct expansion, or other heat pump, system wherein the exterior refrigerant heat exchange lines are placed within ... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7137413 | Arrangement to increase the thermal fatigue resistance of glass tubes flowed through by fluid and pressure-loaded An arrangement to increase the thermal fatigue resistance of glass tubes having fluid flowing therethrough and being pressure-loaded. This arrangement comprises a glass tube, into which an interior component is inserted. The interior component can be designed as thi... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7011183 | Suction oil injection for rotary compressor An apparatus and system for immediately lubricating a compressor within a compressor system using a suction oil line apparatus. The compressor system comprises a compressor, a power source for operating the compressor, a tank capable of storing oil therein, a conven... | 03/14/2006 |
| 7007742 | Method and system for pre-heating water A system and method for pre-heating water prior to entering a hot water heater is disclosed. The system includes: a cold water supply line; an ambient air heat exchange device positioned within an insulated area of a building wherein the ambient air heat exchange de... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6837303 | Internal water tank solar heat exchanger A heat exchanger which is adapted to an existing water tank to allow it to be heated or cooled using a hot or cold toxic or non-toxic liquid. Solar collectors and heat pumps can provide hot or cold liquids. To transfer this heat cheaply and economically to an existi... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6769427 | Solar water heater A solar water heater comprising a water tank, a solar heating compartment for heating water, and an air pump. The water tank and the solar heating compartment are both substantially cylindrical, and the bottom surface of the heating compartment overlaps the top surf... | 08/03/2004 |
| 6708687 | Thermally controlled solar reflector facet with heat recovery A method and high concentration central receiver system provide improved reflectors and a unique heat removal system. The central receiver has a plurality of interconnected reflectors coupled to a tower structure at a predetermined height above ground for reflecting... | 03/23/2004 |
| 6622718 | Thermal flask with a vacuum solar heating device A thermal flask has a body and a vacuum solar heating device. The solar heating device is detachably mounted on an opening defined in the hollow body. The vacuum solar heating device has a transparent tube, a connecting collar and a solar energy absorber.... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6370328 | Water heating tank with thermosiphonic circulation for improved heat recovery rate An electric water heater has a vertically disposed tank with a cold water inlet, a hot water outlet and at least one horizontally disposed elongated immersion heating element extending into the region of the tank between an upper region and a lower region... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6354289 | Ambient heat collection panels A building (1) has a roof structure (2) clad with a plurality of ambient heat collection tiles in the form of panels (3), mounted on parallel battens (4) carried by roof rafters (10), and disposed in edge-overlapping relationship. The panels (3) are of id... | 03/12/2002 |
| 6026806 | Air-conditioned construction of floor and ceiling To provide an inexpensive air-conditioned construction of floor and ceiling, by using as a heat accumulating agent water which is friendly to the human body and nature, and using a heat source solar energy or outside air temperature. The construction of t... | 02/22/2000 |
| 5931156 | Integral heat-pipe type solar collector A heat-pipe type solar collector includes a heat absorber portion adapted to absorb solar energy to evaporate a working fluid in heat tube elements; and a heat release portion communicating with the heat absorber portion and having a body of a semi-annula... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5823177 | Pumpless solar water heater with isolated pressurized storage A variable volume of solar heated water is stored in an insulated indoor tank. The hot water is indirectly pressurized by incoming cold water, which is accumulated separately to maintain a constant total volume without mixing. A small reduction in the tot... | 10/20/1998 |
| 5699785 | Solar energy collector A solar energy collector (14) which comprises a heat absorbing structure (16) which takes in radiant energy and transfers the radiant energy to water carried therein. A main body (18) encompasses the heat absorbing structure (16). The radiant energy will ... | 12/23/1997 |
| 5660164 | Shower apparatus heated by solar radiation Shower apparatus (1) heated by solar apparatus radiation (3) used in open spaces, made of any type of material, and installed in a substantially vertical position, which comprises the structural configuration of the apparatus in addition to act as accumul... | 08/26/1997 |
| 5601074 | Automatic solar heating system The invention relates to an automatic solar heating system for open-air swimming pools with a basin (2) for holding the bathing water, including a solar heating means with a walkable basin boundary (4, 22) incorporating a circulation path and having an in... | 02/11/1997 |
| 5507275 | Solar shower A reservoir for storing and solar-heating water, a shower head, and means in fluid communication between said reservoir and said shower head for adjusting a temperature of water leaving said shower head. The shower preferably includes a source of temperat... | 04/16/1996 |
| 5462047 | Solar water-heater with integrated storage A solar water heater with integrated storage tank can be filled isothermally with water of which the temperature is freely selected and which, when the tank is full, passes into a thermosiphoning mode. A collector and the storage tank are housed compactly... | 10/31/1995 |
| 5406937 | Finned radiator and solar heating system A fin type radiating system is presented having an exposed rear flange for ease in installing, while improving efficiency. The resulting system is environmentally sound and durable.... | 04/18/1995 |
| 5259363 | Solar roofing system A solar roofing panel system for use in residential and commercial buildings employing conventional metal roofing components. The system collects and supplies thermal energy from the sun to heat the interior thereof and also is capable of providing solar ... | 11/09/1993 |
| 5245985 | Effective and simple solar concentrator The present invention is a concentrating solar receiver-converter composed of at least two generally through-shape reflectors whose lengths run essentially north-south and which lean eastward and westward away from each other to a desired extent and each ... | 09/21/1993 |
| 5159918 | Hot water storage tank for solar collectors A baffled hot storage tank for solar collector systems is provided. The t includes a concentric cylindrical baffle having a circulation port at the bottom of the baffle and another circulation port at the top of the baffle. This configuration restricts t... | 11/03/1992 |
| 5144940 | Compost water heater and method A compost water heater includes a digester housing adapted to be filled with layers of fresh organic matter. A water tank within the housing is heated by the natural composting of the fresh organic matter. Water lines are provided for filling and drawing ... | 09/08/1992 |
| 5103802 | Thermosyphon heat-storage and backup heat apparatus Prior inventions in 2-tank solar heat-storage systems, generally speaking, provide for solar-produced heat stored in a first tank. Therefore STORED solar heat is limited to that one tank. Backup heat is produced and stored in a second tank. In the present... | 04/14/1992 |
| 5060718 | Precast wall with thermic regulation elements A prefabricated wall is constructed of pre-cast concrete in such a way as to have embedded therein (1) a plurality of heat-accumulator elements and (2) channels adapted to receive, after installation of the prefabricated wall element, suitable pipes and p... | 10/29/1991 |
| 4993403 | Method and apparatus for trapping heat energy A heat trap for collecting heat energy includes an enclosure having an interior surface reflective with respect to heat energy within the enclosure and a heat absorbent exterior surface. Heat energy applied to the exterior surface of the enclosure is abso... | 02/19/1991 |
| 4979493 | Solar heater system A solar fluid heater consisting of a solar collector and a storage vessel. The solar collector includes a supply outlet and a return inlet, a supply conduit, leading the heated fluid from the supply outlet to the vessel, and a return conduit, returning th... | 12/25/1990 |
| 4964395 | Apparatus and method for a solar radiation water heater A solar water heater has a plurality of generally triangularly shaped panels, the panels being assembled in a pyramidal or prism shaped structure on top of a base structure. Each panel includes a planar transparent structure for permitting the passage of ... | 10/23/1990 |
| 4960105 | Sun operated boiler for heating liquids A sun operated installation for heating liquids generally comprises a collector of insolation and a storage tank. The collector and the tank are interconnected by a circulation pipe. In that pipe are provided two inlet openings, one in the upper and one i... | 10/02/1990 |
| 4936290 | Solar energy system A solar energy system includes fluidically innerconnected lower and upper collectors. The lower collector includes inner and outer cabinets with an interstitial space therebetween adapted to receive compost or a similar material for providing insulation, ... | 06/26/1990 |
| 4917079 | Solar water heating system A solar powered water heating system (10) for heating water in a storage tank (T) including a solar collector (C) for converting a refrigerant from a liquid to a gaseous state, a pump (30) communicating with the solar collector via a first refrigerant sup... | 04/17/1990 |
| 4898152 | Dual sequence solar water heater The invention represents part of well known solar drain-back systems which store and transfer the collected solar heat to a conventional home hot water system. Heat transfer occurs only while hot water is being drawn, i.e. during water flow through heat e... | 02/06/1990 |
| 4893611 | Solar energy collection and storage apparatus In an apparatus for collecting and storing solar energy, in order to improve the efficiency while maintaining a simple structure, a storage container is divided horizontally into a smaller upper water volume and a larger lower water volume by means of an ... | 01/16/1990 |
| 4887667 | Device for providing communication between water tanks of heat accumulation tank system Disclosed is a heat accumulation tank system intended for use as a heat source of, for example, an air conditioner and which is installed, for example, in a building or under a green zone, a stadium or a parking area. The heat accumulation tank system is ... | 12/19/1989 |
| 4787367 | Solar collector device A solar collector device for the warming up of water, comprising a flat cylinder-shaped absorber element through which the water flows and made of temperature resistent black polymeric film material, on the sunside a cover element of at least one transpar... | 11/29/1988 |
| 4782816 | Apparatus for a solar water heater A solar water heater has a basin or reservoir for collection and storage of heated water, a generally pyramidal or prism shaped structure for absorbing solar radiation, a transparent pyramidal or prism shaped structure for enclosing and thermally isolatin... | 11/08/1988 |
