Famous Patents
3M employee and church chorister Art Fry needed something to temporarily mark pages in his hymnal. He was in luck because his colleague, Spencer Silver, accidentally developed a glue that was too weak for other purposes. After initially discouraging consumer response, Post-it Notes became a hit in 1979.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6250435 | Actuation device for machine elements having wear-induced play An actuation device for machine elements having wear-induced play, especially for brakes in rail vehicles, has an actuating piston-cylinder unit which generates actuation force and has a piston rod. The piston rod cooperates with a readjusting device whic... | 06/26/2001 |
| 5797663 | Brake system having pump to start by forecast of braking In a brake system of a vehicle adapted to be operated automatically, the brake system includes a forecasting mechanism for forecasting a need of automatic braking, and a pump to provide a source of a pressurized working fluid for the automatic braking is ... | 08/25/1998 |
| 5685399 | Hydraulic brake slack adjuster A hydraulic brake slack adjuster disposed between a brake valve and an actuator of a brake mechanism has a first piston exposed to pressurized brake fluid from the valve and a second larger piston connected to the first piston for outputting brake fluid t... | 11/11/1997 |
| 5553688 | Cutoff valve for pistons of hydraulic self-adjusting devices A cutoff valve for pistons of hydraulic self-adjusting devices, comprising an essentially cylindrical through element (18), attached axially to the internal end of the rod (3) of the device (1), and a cutoff element (19), also essentially cylindrical, arr... | 09/10/1996 |
| 5513728 | Brake system for mining conveyor A brake system for use with a rotatable mechanical load. The brake system includes a brake apparatus operative to selectively apply a braking torque to the load. The braking mechanism within the brake apparatus preferably includes a plurality of brake pla... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5485902 | Aircraft brake piston hydraulic adjuster assembly The present invention provides a hydraulic brake piston adjuster assembly (10) that includes a first or outer piston (30) housing and a second inner piston (40). The first piston (30) has a first piston end (31) received within a housing bore (16) and the... | 01/23/1996 |
| 5325949 | Brake or clutch unit wear adjustment means A clutch or brake unit is described with an automatic wear adjustment mechanism. Clutches and brakes operate by the engagement of friction members (4,6) which experience wear in use requiring a larger stroke of the unit to effect engagement. This results ... | 07/05/1994 |
| 4867281 | Self-adjusting brake actuator A self-adjusting actuator is disclosed that utilizes a hydraulic system for adding necessary brake fluid to move brake actuating pistons sufficiently to bring brake linings into contact with a brake drum, regardless of how much wear has taken place on the... | 09/19/1989 |
| 4802559 | Hydropneumatic brake actuator arranged to maintain a constant brake shoe clearance A hydraulic power unit for a hydropneumatic brake actuator having a power piston comprising a force piston formed with a bore therein and a take-up piston operative in the force piston bore for movement relative thereto during a brake application. This re... | 02/07/1989 |
| 4792021 | Self-compensating device for a drum brake An improved self-compensating device for a drum brake of the type including a first member and a second member which together define a hydraulic chamber in a wheel cylinder, said first and second members being slidably but non-rotatably arranged relative ... | 12/20/1988 |
| 4779711 | Brake motor with automatic adjustment The brake motor comprises an inserted piston (26) slideably mounted in a passage (24) formed in the front wall (4) of the brake piston (1) which has, near the other end (31) of the inserted piston (26), a counter-bearing surface (34) facing inward, thus e... | 10/25/1988 |
| 4735298 | Automatic wear compensator for a motor vehicle clutch The compensator comprises at least an element coupled to a clutch mechanism and an element coupled to a declutching control lever. According to the invention, one of the elements is formed by a cylindrical body (17) filled with a hydraulic fluid, in which... | 04/05/1988 |
| 4733756 | Brake adjusters The present invention provides a brake actuation and adjuster system comprising means for applying brake actuation pressure both to a brake actuator member and to a pump. The pump is arranged to pump pressure fluid to an adjuster control valve and an adju... | 03/29/1988 |
| 4724741 | Hydraulic spring-loader cylinder with wear adjustment Spring-loaded cylinder with a tension piston (7) which can be pressurized by a pressure medium. Between the tension piston (7) and a piston rod (3) movable thereby, a cylinder-piston arrangement (19, 20, 21) is installed, whose cylinder chamber (21) can b... | 02/16/1988 |
| 4619348 | Combined hydropneumatic brake cylinder/air reservoir device with automatic double-acting slack adjuster arrangement A combined hydropneumatic brake cylinder/air reservoir device having a hydraulic piston formed on the end of a push rod through which interconnected, different sized, pneumatic pistons operate to transmit the desired brake force. The hydraulic piston oper... | 10/28/1986 |
| 4595083 | Brake actuator device having a hydraulic slack-adjusting arrangement A disk brake actuator having a hydraulic slack-adjusting arrangement for maintaining a positive clearance between a brake shoe and a brake disk, includes a cylinder housing having disposed therein a brake-applying spring section, a hydraulic-operated rele... | 06/17/1986 |
| 4570531 | Extensible piston with breakable or displaceable coupler A fluid pressure actuated piston (78) is slidably carried in a fluid pressure actuated cylinder (50) which, in turn, is slidably carried in a fixed carrier or casing (21). Movement of the cylinder (50) is resisted by a breakable or displaceable coupler (9... | 02/18/1986 |
| 4494631 | Combination air cylinder and hydraulic slack adjuster A combination air brake cylinder and hydraulic slack adjuster for a railroad car brake system includes an air operated piston positioned within a housing. There is an air port in the housing in communication with the air piston and there is a return sprin... | 01/22/1985 |
| 4467605 | Hydro-pneumatic actuator with automatic slack adjuster A two-stage, hydro-pneumatic actuator suitable for use as a railway vehicle brake. The hydraulic cylinder comprises a large diameter bore in which a low- and a high-pressure piston operate jointly during a first stage of operation to effect a high volumet... | 08/28/1984 |
| 4324319 | Vehicle brakes with automatic slack adjusters In brakes in which a friction member is urged into engagement with a rotatable braking member by a fluid-pressure operated actuator, for example internal shoe-drum brakes, the actuator and an adjuster for adjusting brake clearances are located between dif... | 04/13/1982 |
| 4323144 | Hydro-pneumatic brake actuator arranged to maintain a constant brake shoe clearance A hydro-pneumatic brake actuator having a friction element positionable by the power piston during the brake application stroke through a lost-motion connection therewith to establish a stop to limit movement of the power piston during a brake release and... | 04/06/1982 |
| 4319671 | Hydro-pneumatic brake actuator arranged to maintain a constant brake shoe clearance A hydro-pneumatic brake actuator arranged with a slack adjuster piston and one-way check valve device in the hydraulic path between a hydro-pneumatic actuator and a power piston, to which a friction brake element is connected for engagement with a vehicle... | 03/16/1982 |
| 4303146 | Quick take-up disc brake assembly A disc brake assembly includes a caliper movable relative to a rotor for the purpose of urging a pair of friction elements into engagement with the rotor. A housing of the caliper defines a stepped bore for receiving a piston which cooperates with the hou... | 12/01/1981 |
| 4291789 | Hydraulic slack adjusting apparatus In a hydraulic brake system the fluid slack is maintained at a predetermined volume by a flow control valve that is positioned between a fluid reservoir and a slack adjusting cylinder. The flow control valve closes the fluid path to the reservoir after a ... | 09/29/1981 |
| 4270646 | Self-adjusting automotive clutch link In an automotive clutch having a clutch disc clamped between the flywheel and a movable pressure plate held by strong springs anchored on the rotating cover and lifted by action of a throw out bearing movable concentrically of the transmission input shaft... | 06/02/1981 |
| 4267903 | Disk brake apparatus for motor vehicle A hydraulically operated disk brake apparatus for a motor vehicle comprises a brake disk, a caliper-like brake housing disposed to straddle over the brake disk and having a pair of arms, and a pair of brake pad assemblies disposed in the brake housing in ... | 05/19/1981 |
| 4208952 | Piston with extended axial travel A fluid pressure actuated piston is slidably carried in a fluid pressure actuated cylinder which, in turn, is slidably carried in a fixed carrier. Forward axial movement of the cylinder is restricted by a hydraulic pressure balance condition which is crea... | 06/24/1980 |
| 4201277 | Hydraulic actuation system for a rail vehicle The hydraulic activators are provided with a relief valve which serves to permit communication between the disengaging cylinder chamber and the work cylinder chamber. The open position of the relief valve occurs when the release apparatus for the rotatabl... | 05/06/1980 |
| 4068746 | Brake cylinder device including means for automatically compensating for brake pad wear A fluid pressure operable brake cylinder device including a self-adjusting portion for automatically compensating for brake pad wear and maintaining a constant clearance between the brake pad and the braking surface of a vehicle wheel in the released disp... | 01/17/1978 |
| 3995721 | Piston and extensible cylinder therefor An extensible cylinder slidably containing a fluid pressure actuated piston is provided with differential first and second area portions exposed to a piston actuating pressurized fluid and an opposing pressurized fluid which opposing fluid is pressurized ... | 12/07/1976 |
| 3974897 | Brake actuator assembly A self-contained brake actuator assembly including a cylinder, an actuated piston within the cylinder, an actuating piston, a rotatable threaded shaft for translating rotational motion to axial motion operatively connected to the actuating piston, a fluid... | 08/17/1976 |
| 3955370 | Hydraulic slack adjuster and brake circuits therefor The disclosure concerns a hydraulic slack adjuster useful in the brake circuits of railway as well as road vehicles, and improved brake circuits and apparatus particularly suited to the needs of railway rapid transit service. One type of circuit incorpora... | 05/11/1976 |
