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 |
| 7135953 | Adjusting device for a thermal trip An adjusting device is for a thermal trip of a switchgear. It includes a bimetal, which is held in a fixed manner on a bimetal support, whose free end is located at a distance from a tripping lever, and which increasingly acts upon this tripping lever in a tripping ... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7105764 | Monolithic stationary conductor and current limiting power switch incorporating same A current limiting power switch has a monolithic stationary conductor with a conductor section that mounts fixed contacts that engage moving contacts on moving contact fingers to form a reverse current loop with the contacts closed. A terminal section projects trans... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7067758 | Electric power circuit breaker comprising a connecting bar and an arcing horn An electric power circuit breaker includes a connecting bar against which an arcing horn rests with an attaching limb. The connecting bar extends through an opening of a rear wall of the housing. In order to connect the arching horn to the connecting bar, a projecti... | 06/27/2006 |
| 6809282 | D.C. circuit breaker with magnets for reducing contact arcing An electromagnetic circuit breaker is provided with a pair of magnets on opposing sides of the contacts in the open position. A magnetic field generated by the magnets combines with the magnetic field generated by the electrical arc created upon opening of the conta... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6689979 | Switching contact arrangement of a low voltage circuit breaker with main contacts, intermediate contact and arcing contacts A switching contact arrangement for a low-voltage power circuit breaker includes a switching contact arrangement with a stationary contact group and a movable contact group which interacts with it. The contact groups include interacting main contacts, as ... | 02/10/2004 |
| 6300586 | Arc runner retaining feature An arc runner is fixedly retained on a load (or line) strap without hardware and without employing a mechanical operation. Either the arc runner or the strap has features, such as legs or holes, which engage notches or pins on either the strap or the arc ... | 10/09/2001 |
| 5837954 | Circuit breaker A bent roundabout current path (8d) rising in the shape of an inverted U is formed between a horn portion (8a) and the end portion of a fixed contact (1) where an arcing horn (8) is joined to the fixed contact (1). An arc (12) is subjected to the electrom... | 11/17/1998 |
| 5818003 | Electric switch with arc chute, radially converging arc splitter plates, and movable and stationary arc runners A contactor for switching electric current has a stationary contact and a movable contact which when driven by a solenoid moves into and away from abutment with the stationary contact. An arc chute includes a plurality of splitter plates which extend radi... | 10/06/1998 |
| 5777286 | Electric device having separable contacts with arc switching An electrical device for switching an arc to a path parallel to a device to be protected. The electrical device includes double breaking contacts and an arc transfer electrode associated with the parallel path. The parallel path shunts the double breaking... | 07/07/1998 |
| 5770827 | Circuit breaker magnetic blowout arc extinguishing device with arc runner features There is provided an acr extinguishing device of a circuit breaker which closes and opens an electric line, one of two contact parts being fixed to a base part. The arc extinguishing device includes an arc runner formed of an electrically conductive membe... | 06/23/1998 |
| 5744772 | Molded case circuit breaker with arc suppressant features including magnetically permeable arc horn mounted on the contact arm An electromagnetic circuit breaker is provided with a copper plated arc horn on the top side of the movable contact arm opposite the movable contact. The horn extends beyond the movable contact and has an upturned sweep so as to enhance migration of the e... | 04/28/1998 |
| 5493091 | High voltage circuit breaker contact structure including ionization slot and secondary arcing features An electromechanical switch of the contactor or circuit-breaker type with adjacent contacts, which are provided on respective mobile and fixed contact parts. This arrangement defines a narrow ionization slot which is maintained at the start of contact ope... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5475193 | Arc quenching chamber including gas generating stationary contact insulation and improved arc runner The low-voltage switch includes a stationary contact (2) and a moving contact (3). The two contacts and an arc splitter stack (6) are arranged in an arc quenching chamber (5). An elongation element (14) is fitted on the stationary contact (2), extends in ... | 12/12/1995 |
| 5464956 | Rotating arc interrupter for loadbreak switch A loadbreak switch is provided that utilizes a pivotally mounted movable jaw contact and a main stationary contact that is positioned in the middle of an arc runner. For operation at voltages 15 kV and above, the switch utilizes a shunt contact that bridg... | 11/07/1995 |
| 5185590 | Magnetic blow-out circuit breaker with booster loop/arc runner Rapid extinguishing of the arc in a circuit breaker is accelerated by a booster loop which extends parallel to an arc runner, but carries current in a direction opposite to the direction of current flow in the arc runner. The booster loop and arc runner a... | 02/09/1993 |
| 5130504 | Bi-directional direct current switching apparatus having bifurcated arc runners extending into separate arc extinguishing chambers Direct current switching apparatus having front and rear arc extinguishing chambers substantially coextensive, the rear chamber being separated into two laterally spaced arc extinguishing chambers, each arc extinguishing chamber comprising rows of non-mag... | 07/14/1992 |
| 5075520 | Contact member for electrical switching devices A contact member for electrical switching devices, in particular contactors, having a linear power supply conductor and an arc runner disposed at a distance from the contact face of the linear power supply conductor. The arc runner has a U-shaped design h... | 12/24/1991 |
| 4973805 | Arc runner, containment support assembly Briefly, the present invention relates to a molded case circuit breaker. The molded case circuit breaker includes at least one pair of separable main contacts, mounted on upper and lower contact arms. One end of the lower contact arm is formed as a U-shap... | 11/27/1990 |
| 4849590 | Electric switch with counteracting electro-electro-dynamic forces A switch has contacts constructed so that an electro-dynamic force is created by the current flowing through the switch which tends to maintain the switch in a closed state. This force counteracts other electro-dynamic forces which tend to open the switch... | 07/18/1989 |
| 4766273 | High current double-break electrical contactor Stationary contact, terminal and arc-runner structure for a high-current double-break electrical contactor that affords longer contact life. Each stationary contact (66,80) and turn-back arc-runner (68,82) is connected to the associated terminal (52,72). ... | 08/23/1988 |
| 4654614 | Current limiting solenoid operated circuit breaker A current limiting solenoid operated circuit breaker characterized by an arc quenching chamber having spaced arc guide rails along opposite sides of the chamber, stationary and movable contacts in an arcing zone adjacent to the chamber and electrically co... | 03/31/1987 |
| 4521655 | Electric power switch with slotted commutation end plate In an electric power switch in which an arc generated between movable and stationary contacts 6, 14 migrates to an arc runner 15 and a commutation end plate and is extinguished by a grid 2 arranged therebetween, a cut is formed at least in the lower half ... | 06/04/1985 |
| 4511774 | Current limiting contact arrangement Current limiting stationary (2) and movable (6) contacts are arranged to provide spaced, parallel oppositely directed current paths therein whereby fault currents generate electromagnetic forces for repelling the movable contact (6) from the stationary co... | 04/16/1985 |
| 4489225 | Electromagnetic contactor An electromagnetic contactor comprises a stationary contact point fixed to a stationary contact, a movable contact point fixed to a movable contact to associate with the stationary contact point for switching operations, an arc box for arc extinction for ... | 12/18/1984 |
| 4430631 | Circuit breaker with increased current interrupting capacity A narrow width, molded case circuit breaker having parallel, oppositely directed current paths in a conductive stationary contact support (8c) and a pivoting movable contact arm (12b) to cause separation of the contacts (10, 16) by repelling electromagnet... | 02/07/1984 |
| 4237355 | Blowing element An arc blowing element comprises two parallel arms and a stem disposed in the neighborhood of a support for a fixed contact, and a deflector coupled to an extremity of that arm which is remote from the contact and to which it is perpendicular, in order to... | 12/02/1980 |
| 4112275 | Contact structure for electrical switching apparatus An improved contact structure for an electrical switching apparatus including stationary and movable electrical contacts comprising an electrical arc conducting member constructed of ferromagnetic material, and an electrical contact member, disposed on th... | 09/05/1978 |
| 3978300 | Low-voltage circuit-breaker having small contact separation and small gap between cooperating parallel-arranged arcing-rails An improved low-voltage circuit-breaker, adaptable for both alternating-current and direct-current is provided having small contact separation, when opened, and a pair of adjoining arcing-rails arranged in generally-parallel relationship, and having only ... | 08/31/1976 |
