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...Daniel Webster invented a "bull plow" to pull out tree stumps. It didn't catch on because it was huge and required four oxen to pull it!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7365275 | Electromagnetic-force-balancing-type electronic balance Disclosed is an electromagnetic-force-balancing-type electronic balance having a magnetic circuit which includes a yoke 4, a first permanent magnet 1, a pole piece 3, a second permanent magnet 2 and a cover 5. A connection member | 04/29/2008 |
| 7353713 | Flexible apparatus and method to enhance capacitive force sensing A flexible apparatus and method to enhance capacitive force sensing is disclosed. In one embodiment, a force measuring device includes a sensor capacitor having a fixed surface and a movable surface substantially parallel to the fixed surface, at least one spring as... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7341054 | Raised-level built-in cooking appliance A raised-level built-in cooking appliance, such as a wall-mounted oven, has a muffle and a bottom-side muffle opening. The latter can be closed with a lowerable bottom door. A drive device produces a lifting movement of the bottom door. In order to determine the wei... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7315003 | High resolution offset electronic weighing devices and methods Electronic weighing devices and method are disclosed wherein balances (particularly of the direct load type) are adapted to utilize less power thus creating less system heat and thereby enhancing weighing accuracy and range of operation. A preferred embodiment of th... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7304750 | Systems and methods for non-destructive mass sensing The invention provides systems and methods for measuring the mass of a substance. In one method, energy is applied to a substance and a response resulting from the application of energy as measured. The mass of the substance is then determined based at least in part... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7271353 | Scale which indicates a relative force applied between two attachment points The present invention provides airline travelers with a method of determining baggage weight compliance while traveling, prior to having baggage rejected or additional fees assessed at the baggage check counter at the airport. In a first aspect, a scale is disclosed... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7232961 | Portable hand held luggage weight and size measurement device A portable hand held device for weighing and measuring the size of a luggage item includes a handle designed to provide support yet comfort with respect to the use of the weighing device and further includes a mechanism which enables recordal of the weight of luggag... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7217891 | Capacitive sensing apparatus for a vehicle seat A capacitive sensing apparatus for a vehicle seat includes a deflectable dielectric mat and a flexible printed circuit that wraps around the major surfaces of the dielectric mat to define upper and lower conductor strips that overlap in a direction perpendicular to ... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7176390 | Capacitive load cell with multi-layer dielectric for extended range A capacitive load cell includes upper and lower capacitor plates and an intermediate dielectric comprising two or more layers of compressible material with diverse compressibility characteristics. The most easily compressed dielectric layer provides sensitivity to l... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7151231 | Combined suitcase and weighing scale A suitcase includes a housing having a plurality of sides defining a cavity therebetween wherein one side is removably disposed along a bottom surface of the housing. The suitcase includes a first elongated and flexible handle secured to select ones of the sides def... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7141025 | Apparatus and method for qualitative assessment of pelvic floor muscular strength An apparatus and method for qualitative assessment of pelvic floor muscular strength includes inserting a spherical intracavitary device into vagina or anus above the level of the levator plate and measuring a force necessary to remove the inserted device from the v... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7132611 | Apparatus for the registration of weight The present invention concerns an apparatus for registering weight and/or water content of fit and sick individuals, where the apparatus includes a weighing cell including at least two electric conducting plates on which is applied a voltage from a power supply, and... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7114402 | Sensor element device for a capacitive contact switch with an electrically conductive body and method for the manufacture of such a body According to an embodiment of the invention, a sensor element device for a capacitive contact switch can be formed from a foam body with several portions. There are electrically conductive areas with a sensor element surface and an electrical contact face, as well a... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7091427 | Apparatus using resonance of a cavity to determine mass of a load A scale is provided, the scale including a cavity having a resonant frequency which is alterable with variations in mass of a load applied to the cavity. The scale also typically includes a comparator operatively coupled with the cavity to detect actual resonant fre... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7082738 | Capsule-filling and sealing apparatus The capsule filling-sealing apparatus in accordance with the present invention comprises a filling unit in which various mechanisms for carrying out filling processing for empty capsules are functionally disposed, a sealing unit for securely sealing filled capsules,... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7084357 | Luggage device with built-in load determination A luggage device includes: (a) a main housing, the main housing having a top, a bottom, and walls, and having an opening area for insertion of one or more items into the main housing, with closure means; (b) load determination component connected to the main housing... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7078631 | Spring scale A spring scale, in particular for weighing loads in the μg-mg range, comprises a load platform suspended by at least three flexural springs in a surrounding frame, and has bridge-connected strain gauges arranged for measuring strain on one side of the flexural spri... | 07/18/2006 |
| 6958615 | Method and device for evaluating deformations and forces A method and a device for evaluating the deformations or forces to which a structure having an elastomeric body (2) is subjected. The device includes a dipole (6), the dielectric (3) of which is formed by the elastomeric body, and an electronic ... | 10/25/2005 |
| 6914536 | Timing pad A timing pad for determining the amount of time used when consuming a beverage. The user places an object, such as a mug, glass, or bottle, onto the weight sensor area (2). The user then presses the reset button (4). The reset button (4) is conn... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6912914 | Three dimensional stress vector sensor array and method therefor A sensor array is configured based upon capacitive sensor techniques to measure stresses at various positions in a sheet simultaneously and allow a stress map to be obtained in near real-time. The device consists of single capacitive elements applied in a one or two... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6911635 | Cooking apparatus and method A cooking apparatus includes a cooking cavity to accommodate food to be cooked therein and a rotating unit to rotate while supporting the food. The rotating unit is installed within the cooking cavity to rotate by at least one roller which is in rolling contact with... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6894233 | Systems and methods for classifying vehicles A system for use in classifying a vehicle includes a capacitive sensor for operatively receiving a weight of a vehicle and a capacitance detector coupled to said capacitive sensor. The capacitance detector is adapted to determine a capacitance signal of the capaciti... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6781068 | Digital scale with removable tools A digital scale is provided having a shell including a top cover and a bottom cover, a weight tray for receiving one or more items to be weighted and/or measured, and one or more removable tools carried on the shell. The removable tools are selected from any one of,... | 08/24/2004 |
| 6555766 | Apparatus and method for measuring weight of an occupying item of a seat Vehicle seat structure including a seat defining a surface adapted to contact an occupying item and a weight sensor arrangement arranged in connection with the seat for providing an indication of the weight applied by the occupying item to the surface of ... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6407349 | Compact weighing cell for an electronic balance Described is a weighing cell for an electronic balance with two side walls (15, 16) which move parallel to each other as a function of the weight and in which are located two metal plates forming a condensor whose capacitance varies with the weight. One p... | 06/18/2002 |
| 6366200 | Method of determining the object on a seat for determining the deployment mode of a safety device To provide a method of determining the presence and the kind of the object on the seat of the passenger vehicle accurately. When the seat weight w is below w1, it is determined that the seat vacant. When the seat weight is equal to or above w | 04/02/2002 |
| 6218632 | Capacitive weight sensor The present invention is directed to a weight sensing apparatus (10) for a vehicle seat (22). The weight sensing apparatus (10) includes a differential capacitor (150) including a first capacitor (152) and a second capacitor (176). The first capacitor (15... | 04/17/2001 |
| 6104100 | Charge transfer load sensor A charge transfer load sensor. A first and second electrode are disposed a fixed distance apart, and a third electrode is disposed between the first and second electrodes. The third electrode is grounded and its position between the first and second elect... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6091029 | Weight sensing device for a microwave oven A weight sensing device for a microwave oven. The device has a fixing bracket having a bottom wall defined by a depress portion and a pair of protuberance portions which are provided at both ends of the depress portion and vertically ascending therefrom, ... | 07/18/2000 |
| 6047245 | Resistive strain gauge control circuit A resistive strain gauge bridge circuit, including a pulse code modulation counter operative under an algorithm designed for calibration with a voltage signal for effectively canceling out voltage and voltage fluctuation influences to maintain centering o... | 04/04/2000 |
| 5900592 | Load sensing system A load sensing system inexpensively monitors the weight and temperature of stored nuclear material for long periods of time in widely variable environments. The system can include an electrostatic load cell that encodes weight and temperature into a digit... | 05/04/1999 |
| 5886301 | Method and device for measuring weight A device and method are described for measuring the weight of objects using a pneumatically sealed bellows which contains a pair of spaced apart capacitor plates. In accordance with the invention, the pneumatic pressure within the bellows is varied to mai... | 03/23/1999 |
| 5808242 | Electromagnetic flow rate measuring apparatus and method for compensating the measured flow rate An electromagnetic flow rate measuring apparatus measures and calculates a flow rate of granules based on a measurement of capacitance which changes according to the quantity of the granules flowing at a granule passage. The measuring apparatus includes a... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5712451 | Device for sensing food weight in a microwave oven A device for sensing food weight in a microwave oven includes a bracket formed into one body and mounted with a motor assembly having a motor axis, a movable electrode plate fixed to an extending piece separated from the bottom of the bracket and a printe... | 01/27/1998 |
| 5672850 | Weight sensor with electrostatic capacitance An electrostatic capacitance type weight sensor includes a sheet-like upper support plate and a sheet-like lower support plate with their respective end portions secured together and having a pair of electrodes sandwiched therebetween. The upper support p... | 09/30/1997 |
| 5602485 | Apparatus for screening capsules using velocity measurements A device for checking the weights of individual capsules in a stream of capsules by passing the stream of capsules past a capacitance sensor which measures the capacitance of each capsule as representative of the capsule weight, and passing the stream of ... | 02/11/1997 |
| 5597984 | Capacitance weighing mat with substantially rigid separators A capacitance mat for use in measuring loads includes a number of substantially horizontal electrode plates (of high strength aluminum) forming a capacitor with a substantially rigid dielectric material (e.g. nylon or fiberglass) separator disposed betwee... | 01/28/1997 |
| 5565655 | Method of detecting food weight in microwave oven by processing weight sensor signals An apparatus for and a method of detecting a weight of a food in a microwave oven wherein a weight sensor is used which includes a pair of facing electrodes and an annular spacer interposed between the electrodes and is placed on a turning track of suppor... | 10/15/1996 |
| 5422464 | Device for sensing food weight of microwave oven A food weight sensing device of a microwave oven using a variable capacitor of which the capacitance is varied in accordance with pressure applied thereto. The device comprises of first and second electrodes placed on a side portion of a lower surface of ... | 06/06/1995 |
| 5349138 | Food weight sensing device for microwave oven A food weight sensing device for a microwave oven, which comprises a fixed electrode plate and a movable electrode plate which vary in overlapping area, according to a vertical movement of a movable spacer caused by the weight of a food to be measured. A ... | 09/20/1994 |
