...that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7717241 | Braking or clutching device An electric braking or clutching device includes a housing; an armature having an axis and disposed at the housing, the armature and the housing defining a radial air gap therebetween; and a coil configured to generate, when energized, a magnetic field at the housin... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7354372 | Actuator for shift-by-wire automatic transmission system An electric actuator for an automatic transmission includes an adapter to transmit rotary motion between the adapter and the automatic transmission. An electric motor has an output shaft operably connected to the adapter by a gear set which includes a ring gear. The... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7347305 | Park brake system having a latching device An actuator for an electro-mechanical-brake motor assembly includes a housing surrounding a rotatable motor shaft presenting a longitudinal axis. A spring is non-rotatably supported on the housing. A latching device is non-rotatably supported by the housing. The lat... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7281612 | Brake structure for a roll-up door A brake structure for a roll-up door includes a brake drum fixed to a transmission shaft of a speed reducer. The brake drum receives a pair of brake shoes in opposite inner sides thereof. The brake shoes are pivotably connected to each other at an end of each brake ... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7241244 | Actuator for shift-by-wire automatic transmission system An electric actuator for an automatic transmission includes an adapter to transmit rotary motion between the adapter and the transmission. An electric motor has an output shaft operably connected the adapter by a gear set which includes a ring gear. A release mechan... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7231845 | Cone selector and associated transmission assembly A multi cone selector in a transmission employs sandwiched cone friction surfaces 19A, 20A and 21A and these are shown in free or unengaged state while the corresponding friction surfaces as numerals 19, 20 and 21 are shown as enga... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7189186 | Brake transmission shift interlock actuator A brake transmission shift interlock actuator includes a bobbin that has an open end and a closed end. A plunger is slidably disposed within the bobbin and a plunger rod extends from the plunger. Moreover, a primary plate is installed within the open end of the bobb... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7114601 | Torque transfer limiting arrangement for a rotational drive shaft A torque transfer limiting arrangement for a rotational drive shaft. The arrangement includes a torque sensing device for sensing torque within the drive shaft and outputing a signal indicative of the sensed torque. A braking device of the arrangement is actuatable ... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7101304 | Electric shift transfer case The present invention provides a shift mechanism disposed in a housing for providing operable communication between a shift actuator and a shift sleeve. The shift mechanism generally includes a shift rail, a shift fork, a first biasing member, and a second biasing m... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7051846 | Disc brake for vehicles An electric heat-generating circuit installed within disc brakes of vehicles to generate heat and dry the discs when current flows. An electromagnetic induction unit generates a current to the electric heat-generating circuit by using an electromagnetic induction ph... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7051843 | Friction brake arrangement with energizing braking function In a friction brake arrangement with emergency braking functions for use with a carriage supported on a guide track, with a friction clamping structure including a friction shoe supported in a housing so as to be disposed adjacent the guide track, a spring element i... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7044275 | Drum brake device In a drum brake device having a shoe drive cam, the braking force of which is mechanically controlled according to a reaction force acting on an anchor pin by a brake shoe, the cam plate 76 pivotally supported by the anchor pin 10 and the lever plate | 05/16/2006 |
| 7029214 | Linear guide apparatus There is provided a linear guide apparatus which, owing to the use of a gap-free braking device in a rolling guide, has a sufficiently high damping capacity. The linear guide apparatus for guiding a linear motion of a movable body along a guide rail on a fixed struc... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7011191 | Locking strut A locking strut including a housing with a piston rod extending therethrough. A baffle mounts on the piston rod to divide the housing into two chambers. An orifice through the baffle allows fluid to pass between the chambers to damp reciprocating movement. An electr... | 03/14/2006 |
| 6976563 | Brake caliper with integral parking brake A brake caliper with an integral parking brake. The brake caliper includes a housing having a bore with tapered walls, a piston having a rod mounted within the bore, a wedge element positioned between the rod and the tapered walls and displaceable to a locking posit... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6945366 | Anti-theft vehicle system An anti-theft vehicle system for a vehicle wheel having a rotational axis includes a linear actuator disposed within the vehicle wheel for operatively engaging and disengaging an interior surface of the vehicle wheel to resist and allow rotational movement of the ve... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6922905 | Probe head for a coordinate measuring apparatus The invention is directed to a probe for coordinate measuring apparatus. The apparatus includes measuring systems (15, 16, 17) for measuring the deviation of the flexible part (10) of the probe and a damping device damps the flexible part (10) o... | 08/02/2005 |
| 6817453 | Remote brake release with clutch A remote brake release for elevator drive machine brakes includes a release lever attached to a shaft coupled by a clutch to a bellcrank. The clutch is normally engaged and can be a spring clutch or a friction type disc clutch. Movement of the lever to rotate the sh... | 11/16/2004 |
| 6742634 | Magnetic brake system and elevator trouble detection system To accurately detect a trouble of a magnetic brake (2) by eliminating any effect of a temperature of a location at which an elevator is installed, a temperature sensor (3) is arranged to measure a temperature of the magnetic brake (2). When an a... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6744162 | Safety locking device for electromechanical equipment and aircraft wheel brake equipped therewith A safety locking device for electromechanical equipment provided with a rotating shaft, particularly an aircraft wheel brake with a safety locking device. The device comprises a first friction element connected rotationally to the shaft, and a second friction elemen... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6311808 | Combined service and parking brake system The present invention relates to a combined service and parking brake system, especially for automotive vehicles, which includes a hydraulically clampable combined service and parking brake with a mechanical locking device. The mechanical locking device i... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6283901 | Device for effecting resistance A device for effecting resistance is incorporated into an exercise or rehabilitation machine and is formed of an excited magnetic cylinder, an excited magnetic coil, a rotary cylinder, and two support frames. As the excited magnetic coil is connected to t... | 09/04/2001 |
| 6237730 | Friction safety brake having two independent braking circuits A friction safety brake which is released by virtue of an electromagnet is disclosed. Extending from a machine wall is a shaft that is rotatable relative to the machine wall. The shaft is to be braked by the friction safety brake. The brake includes: a fi... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6119825 | Motor brake having improved torque adjustment mechanism A motor brake apparatus includes an improved torque adjustment mechanism. The adjustment mechanism includes an adjusting nut having a outer ring groove aligned with an inner ring groove defined in a receiving bore of the brake housing structure. A snap ri... | 09/19/2000 |
| 6019200 | Device for braking electrically conducting strips A device is proposed for braking an electrically conducting strip (B), said device being mounted in front of a processing station where the strip (B) under tension undergoes further processing and is provided with a magnetic field generating device (3). T... | 02/01/2000 |
| 5873436 | Electromagnetic hysteresis brake An electromagnetic hysteresis brake is provided with a two-part pole ring with an inner and an outer pole ring part (5, 6) and a field coil (10) and further provided with a rotating ring (3) made of a permanent-magnetic material, the ring (3) projects int... | 02/23/1999 |
| 5847478 | Electro-magnetic clutch A self holding type connecting device comprising an armature which is disposed movably in an axial direction, a magnetic path member having a cross section formed along a closed loop and having an axial space wherein axial movement of the armature is perm... | 12/08/1998 |
| 5785157 | Park brake apparatus for vehicle electric brake A park brake apparatus for a vehicle electric brake comprises an electric motor having a rotational output shaft coupled to a brake mechanism. Rotational movement of the electric motor in a first direction causes application of brake force in the brake me... | 07/28/1998 |
| 5746294 | Magnetic brake system for a vehicle Disclosed is a magnetic brake system for a vehicle, comprising: a plurality of brake disk solenoids for generating the magnetic force; a plurality of brake pad solenoids for generating the magnetic force; a braking sensor for detecting whether a brake ped... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5713436 | Solenoid operated unidirectional wheel brake A motorcycle rear wheel brake functions to allow the driver to lock the rear wheel on an upward incline. This prevents the motorcycle from rolling backwards while freeing the driver's hands and feet. A simple hinge arrangement wedges the rear wheel and th... | 02/03/1998 |
| 5275261 | Electromagnetic brake/clutch device An electromagnetic brake/clutch device includes a drive shaft supported by at least one bearing for transmitting torque, a housing, affixed to prevent its rotation, surrounding the drive shaft, and an electromagnetically activated device within the housin... | 01/04/1994 |
| 5231887 | Device in a force actuator A reciprocating axial movement of a drive member (18) in a force actuator is generated by a prestressed tool (17) of Terfenol material being exposed to a pulsating magnetic field. The reciprocating movement is transformed to an axial movement in an applic... | 08/03/1993 |
| 5067687 | Proportional pressure control valve A proportional pressure control valve is disclosed which may be used for uni-directional or bi-directional fluid flow. An electromagnetic driver mounted in a driver cavity of a housing produces a magnetic flux path in response to a variable input current.... | 11/26/1991 |
| 5050711 | Electromagnetic brake apparatus A stationary brake member (45) which is used in an electromagnetic brake apparatus, comprises a first press-worked plate (45h) and a second press-worked plate (45m) which are laminated to each other. The second press-worked plate (45m) has plural hooks (4... | 09/24/1991 |
| 5007464 | Electromagnetic weft brake An electromagnetic device is provided for use, for example, as a yarn brake, a rely nozzle valve, a weft yarn stretching nozzle and the like. The electromagnetic device has a pole piece associated with a winding connectable to an electric line. A spring s... | 04/16/1991 |
| 4974705 | Electromagnetic friction brake with improved mounting pins An electromagnetic friction brake in which a friction pad on an electromagnet frictionally engages a rotating armature disc when the electromagnet is excited. The electromagnet is attached to a fixed mounting member by a pair of pins which project into ho... | 12/04/1990 |
| 4882844 | Chain saw safety brake apparatus A manually manipulatable and portable chain saw includes an elongate brake band operatively associated with the cutting chain of the chain saw wherein the brake band is of a flaccid loop construction positioned for selective braking engagement with a brak... | 11/28/1989 |
| 4881624 | Angular anti-return devices associated with turnstiles The invention relates to a dual-action angular anti-return device for a turnstile, comprising a drum fast to the turnstile, a fixed vee open facing the drum, a roller positioned between the vee and the drum and alternately wedgeable between the two faces ... | 11/21/1989 |
| 4828077 | Solenoid and spring operated brake An inner pressure pad is positioned on support members adjacent to the disk and generally parallel to the disk. An outer pressure pad is positioned on the support members with the disk interposed in between the inner pressure pad and the outer pressure pa... | 05/09/1989 |
| 4763741 | Steering device for paved surface cleaners The invention relates to a steering device for paved surface cleaners, of a type commonly referred to as auto-scrubbers and comprising a first forward movement control assembly (11) having at least two manually seizable handle levers (13) for oscillation ... | 08/16/1988 |