"Transmission of documents via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus required is so expensive that it will never become a practical proposition."
Dennis Gabor, British physicist
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7919718 | Acceleration switch An acceleration switch includes a closed container further including a cylindrical housing and a substantially circular metal header plate, a conductive lead terminal inserted through a hole of the header plate and hermetically fixed in the hole, a contact member se... | 04/05/2011 |
| 7777141 | Latch-release actuating apparatus A latch-release actuating apparatus includes a switch element, a base member, and a cover member. The switch element is depressed via the cover member. In the latch-release actuating apparatus, a key top member and the cover member are formed to be long to extend ho... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7692110 | Tilt switch A tilt switch comprises an insulating housing, a cover covering the opening of the housing, three terminals fixed at the bottom of the housing and an electrically conductive ball movably received in the housing to on/off the switch by contacting/leaving said termina... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7485818 | Tilt switch A tilt switch includes a base and a cover body. The base includes an upright support having a lower groove, and first and second lower passage holes communicated with the lower groove. An emitter is mounted on the base to emit a light signal. A receiver is disposed ... | 02/03/2009 |
| 7423228 | Apparatus for opening an electrical switch responsive to seismic or other event Mechanical apparatus is connected to an electrical switch having an on/off button, the apparatus including a button contact member which engages the on/off button and is latched to maintain the button in on position. Unlatching structure including a pendulum and lev... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7411140 | Inertial mass detection device An inertial mass detection device. An illustrative embodiment of the device includes a generally elongated ball track, at least one pair of spaced-apart switch contacts provided on the ball track, a battery connected to a first one of the at least one pair of spaced... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7388483 | Monitoring status of railyard equipment using wireless sensing devices A wireless position sensing device is provided for monitoring railyard equipment status. The device comprises a gravity sensing mechanism for sensing an angular displacement with respect to a substantially vertical line, and for generating a displacement signal upon... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7381916 | Rolling-ball switch A rolling-ball switch includes a casing having two racks. A chamber is defined after a round stage and a sealing groove are fit in the casing. The chamber includes a first contact plate, a second contact plate and a third contact plate on two ends faces thereof and ... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7364602 | Air cleaner assembly An air cleaner assembly for use with a conventional household air conditioning system with a duct having an opening sized to receive a standard panel filter comprises a peripheral frame sized to be received within the opening in the return duct and sized to receive ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7351925 | Method and apparatus for detecting free fall A data processing system including a data storage device having data stored on a data storage medium. Within said data processing system, a system electronics is operatively coupled to a sensor and to said data storage device. When the sensor senses a change in grav... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7326867 | Omnidirectional tilt and vibration sensor An omni-directional tilt and vibration sensor contains a first electrically conductive element, a second electrically conductive element, and an electrically insulative element. The electrically insulative element is connected to the first electrically conductive el... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7325322 | Electric park brake inclinometer A tilt sensor system (10) is provided comprising a housing (12), a magnetized region (13) within the housing (12), and a magnetized, articulated pendulum (14) magnetically coupled to the magnetized region (13) for suspending... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7326866 | Omnidirectional tilt and vibration sensor A sensor contains a first electrically conductive element, a second electrically conductive element, and an electrically insulative element connected to the first electrically conductive element and the second electrically conductive element. The sensor also contain... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7323649 | Jerking-initiated switch A jerking-initiated switch includes two first shank members and two second shank members secured to first and second lateral sides of a base wall of an insulating frame to define a rolling path for rolling of an electrically conductive ball therealong. Two limb memb... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7319200 | Jerking-initiated switch A jerking-initiated switch includes first and third shank members secured to an insulating frame and spaced apart from each other, and at least one second shank member interposed therebetween. Each of the shank members has a contact terminal extending outwardly of t... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7315004 | Motion-activated electrical switch A motion-activated electrical switch has a pair of spaced electrical circuits, each disposed on a support, and an electrical conductor interposed between spaced from and electrically insulated from the electrical circuits. An electrically conductive movable element ... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7265304 | Joystick for electro-hydraulic control system A joystick for an electro-hydraulic control system is provided with a rotary potentiometer having a pivotable arm. This pivotable arm is integrally arranged on a rotary shaft and pivots responsive to pivotal control of a joystick in a predetermined direction or a di... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7265680 | Object tilt and fall detection apparatus An object tilt and fall detection apparatus (30) capable of detecting the tilt and fall of an object by using a disk body (11) rolling according to the tilt of the object, comprising a timer means (50) starting the measurement of a time, stoppin... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7256360 | Rolling-ball switch A rolling-ball switch includes a housing, at least two terminal rods, and a conductive ball. The housing defines a chamber, and has a bottom wall provided with at least two through holes. Each through hole is defined by a multi-sided hole wall. Each terminal rod has... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7255037 | Switch A switch is disclosed comprising a housing formed with a chamber along which a ball can roll. An element having a pair of arms is pivotally mounted within the housing, with one arm either side of the ball, such that an inclination of the switch causes the ball to mo... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7239248 | Level/position sensor and related electronic circuitry for interactive toy A sensor for use in an interactive electronic device. The sensor is operative to generate a plurality of different output signals corresponding to respective positions of the sensor relative to a reference plane. The movement of the sensor relative to the reference ... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7235749 | Collision impact detector for use in automotive vehicle A collision impact detector detects deceleration of a vehicle caused by its collision with another vehicle or an obstacle. A rotor is rotatably supported on a shaft and biased by a coil spring in a direction opposite to a rotational direction in which the rotor is r... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7232968 | Illuminated in-line controller This portable device relates to an in-line illuminated switch. The switch has a soft glowing light which is visible in a darkened room. Elderly people remove their eyeglasses when resting, and the soft glowing light locates the switch when light is required at bedsi... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7190278 | Asset tag with event detection capabilities Described herein are a transient event detector comprising electrical circuitry suitable to detect a transient event, and a container having a wall with at least two electrically conductive contacts that are electrically connected to the electrical circuitry, each o... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7178377 | Inclination sensor An inclination sensor is provided with a main body fixed to a vehicle, a pendulum supported by the main body so as to swing in response to an inclination of the vehicle, and a magnetic sensor that senses the inclination of the pendulum in order to detect as to wheth... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7176396 | Jerking-initiated switch A jerking-initiated switch includes two first shank members and two second shank members secured to first and second lateral sides of an insulating frame by virtue of engagement between a hole formed in each shank member and a terminal end disposed on the lateral si... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7170019 | Inertia switch and flashing light system Inertia switches in insulating housings are used to make or break electrical contact. The switches may be small in size, and may be used with flashing light systems in footwear or other articles. One embodiment is a directional switch sensitive to the orientation of... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7161138 | Electrical product and tilting control device thereof An electrical product and a tilting control device thereof are provided. The tilting control device comprises a shell body, a light source, at least a transparent box, an opaque element, a plurality of photo-sensing units and a logic circuit. The light source is dis... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7148436 | Microelectromechanical acceleration-sensing apparatus An acceleration-sensing apparatus is disclosed which includes a moveable shuttle (i.e. a suspended mass) and a latch for capturing and holding the shuttle when an acceleration event is sensed above a predetermined threshold level. The acceleration-sensing apparatus ... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7132936 | Angular rate sensor A sensor for measuring yaw rate or roll rate of an automotive vehicle comprises a freely rotating inertial disk and an angular rate sensor responsive to the rotation of the inertial disk relative to a housing. In one embodiment the inertial disk presents an alternat... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7115824 | Tilt switch and system A tilt switch has an electrical terminal on its top end and an electrical terminal on its bottom end. It comprises a conductive can with an opening on the top end side serving as the electrical terminal on the bottom end and a conductive cap covering the opening of ... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7088258 | Tilt sensor apparatus and method therefor A tilt sensor apparatus (36) includes one or more tilt sensors (42). Each tilt sensor (42) includes a conductive element (64) entrapped within an opening (46) formed through a middle planar substrate (38). The opening is sur... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7067748 | Omnidirectional tilt and vibration sensor An omnidirectional tilt and vibration sensor contains a first electrically conductive element, a second electrically conductive element, an electrically insulative element, and multiple electrically conductive weights. The first electrically conductive element has a... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7061390 | Movement detection sensor and movement detection device A first movement detection sensor comprises a void formed by a partition wall made of a non-magnetic material, a magnetized rolling member which is sealed inside the void, and a magnetic sensor provided in the partition wall. A second movement detection sensor is co... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7053784 | System and method for monitoring alignment of a signal lamp A system for monitoring alignment of a signal lamp includes at least one sensor and threshold detection circuitry. The sensor is positioned about the signal lamp and is configured to measure at least one of azimuthal and elevational movement of the signal lamp and g... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7045724 | Jerk-initiated switch A jerk-initiated switch includes an insulating housing with an inner bottom wall surface, a plurality of electric contact terminals having contact protrusions disposed in the housing to form a polygon, and an electrically conductive ball rollable on the inner bottom... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7045725 | Safety sensor for power operated overhead door A safety sensor for a power operated overhead door includes an elongated housing having an elongated pathway which is a circular in cross sections along its length, with the greatest diameter of the pathway being at it midpoint. Form the midpoint, the pathway tapers... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7034693 | Sport dog locator Described is a locator device for indicating the relative location of a dog in a sporting field and for indicating whether the dog is tracking or on point regardless of the orientation of the device. The locator device calculates whether a dog is tracking or on poin... | 04/25/2006 |
| 7006000 | Earthquake detecting and warning device An earthquake detecting and warning device for detecting a vibration of the earth's surface is provided. The device includes a base, a top cover, at least a contact-conducting piece, a detecting and warning circuit, a shelling body and an elastic supporting componen... | 02/28/2006 |
| 7002482 | Position activated mercury switch A mercury switch which is actuated only on a specific movement of an individual by design of an internal cavity of the switch to control movement of a mercury ball into and out of engagement with two electrical contacts. The internal cavity has a truncated cone for ... | 02/21/2006 |