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!
PatentStorm News
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 |
| 7404880 | Sensor element A layered sensor element used in a gas measuring sensor for measuring a physical property of a measuring gas, preferably for determining the temperature of the measuring gas or the concentration of a component of the measuring gas. The sensor element contains a wave... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7304272 | Systems and methods for adjusting parameters of a temperature sensor for settling time reduction A system for adjusting parameters of a temperature sensor for settling time reduction is disclosed. The system includes an input for receiving a signal for triggering an adjustment of one or more parameters associated with one or more portions of the temperature sen... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7277791 | Strategy for detecting use of a block heater and for modifying temperature-dependent variables to account for its use A diesel engine (100) has a control system (102) that processes certain data to develop data values for one or more temperature-dependent variables, such as injection control pressure (ICP), that affect engine starting and ensuing warm-up. The control ... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7247816 | Heating apparatus, fixing apparatus, and image forming apparatus A heating apparatus includes a heating roller that is heated by heating units, a main power supply that supplies power from an external power supply to the main heating unit, and an auxiliary power supply that supplies power to the auxiliary heating unit. The auxili... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7223946 | Method and device for control and diagnosis for the heating of a lambda probe A method for controlling and regulating an electrical heating of a probe situated in the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, a total heating power of the probe being set, and an actual temperature value of the probe being determined by measuring a chara... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7205838 | Circuit structure capable of adjusting gradient of output to temperature variation A circuit structure capable of adjusting gradient of output to temperature variation includes at least a sensing unit for detecting ambient temperature variation and generating a sensing signal, an amplifying unit connected to the sensing unit for increasing a level... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7196294 | Method and resistive bridge circuit for the detection of solder-joint failures in a digital electronic package A solder-joint detection circuit uses a resistive bridge and a differential detector to detect faults in the solder-joint network both inside and outside the digital electronic package during operation. The resistive bridge is preferably coupled to a high supply vol... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7189947 | Oven temperature control A control system for controlling an appliance at a predetermined temperature. The control system comprises a sensor capable of providing a temperature signal representative of a temperature in the appliance and a controller capable of receiving the temperature signa... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7133846 | Digital certificate support system, methods and techniques for secure electronic commerce transaction and rights management The present inventions provide an integrated, modular array of administrative and support services for electronic commerce and electronic rights and transaction management. These administrative and support services supply a secure foundation for conducting financial... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7124302 | Systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection The present invention provides systems and methods for electronic commerce including secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers employed in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that informa... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7120800 | Systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection The present invention provides systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers equipped in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that information is accessed and used only... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7100199 | Systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection The present invention provides systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers equipped in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that information is accessed and used only... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7076652 | Systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection The present invention provides systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers equipped in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that information is accessed and used only... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7049558 | Apparatus and method for heating microfluidic volumes and moving fluids A device and method for the temperature control, concentration, volume measurement and transport of microfluidic volumes are provided. The device includes one or more heating elements having a resistive material that varies with temperature. The heating elements are... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7051212 | Systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection The present invention provides systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers equipped in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that information is accessed and used only... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7022943 | Engine block heater system and method of operation An engine block heating system for a vehicle and the associated method of its operation. The engine block heating system has an electrical heating element that is coupled to the vehicle's engine. A power cord is provided for supplying electricity to the electrical h... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7002106 | Method and device for controlling the heating of glow plugs in a diesel engine A process and device for controlling the heating of the glow plugs of a diesel engine. To be able to take into consideration the thermal behavior of the glow plugs while controlling the current supply of the glow plugs (3) of a diesel engine, the thermal beha... | 02/21/2006 |
| 7002112 | Heating apparatus for increasing temperature in short period of time with minimum overshoot A heating apparatus includes a heating roller that is heated by heating units, a main power supply that supplies power from an external power supply to the main heating unitl, and an auxiliary power supply that supplies power to the auxiliary heating unit. The auxil... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6995965 | Clothes dryer over-voltage control apparatus and method An over-voltage control device for a clothes dryer including an electrical heater coupled to an alternating current power supply is provided. The device includes a switch device adapted to connect and disconnect the power supply from the heater, and a micro-controll... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6974934 | Remote reference resistor An apparatus including a reference resistor for use with ratiometric temperature sensing of a device to be sensed. The resistive element has a resistance dependant upon a temperature of the device to be sensed and is electrically coupled to a reference resistor. The... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6935572 | Temperature differential eliminator The present invention relates to a device and method for providing precise temperature control using inexpensive temperature controllers and/or thermostats. Specifically the invention provides modifications to either a temperature controller and/or a thermostat that... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6933476 | Heating unit with temperature sensor A heating unit includes a bridge having an arm in which there is located a heating element, and a circuit for directing a sensing current through the heating element. The circuit of the present invention reduces the duty cycle of the sensing current, thus reducing t... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6906288 | Method and device for controlling the heating of glow plugs in a diesel engine A process and device for controlling the heating of the glow plugs of a diesel engine. To be able to take into consideration the thermal behavior of the glow plugs while controlling the current supply of the glow plugs (3) of a diesel engine, the thermal beha... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6849833 | Logical flicker suppression for a temperature controlled heater load A temperature control system for reducing flicker in an electrical resistance heater comprising: an electrical resistance heater divided into at least two electrical loads and; a source of electrical power for repetitively supplying electrical power to each of the a... | 02/01/2005 |
| 6586712 | Apparatus for limiting temperature A temperature limiting user interface comprises a potentiometer for providing a reference signal to an electronic apparatus, the electronic apparatus being adapted to generate heat as a function of the reference signal; and a temperature-sensitive impedan... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6586711 | Current control method for an oxygen sensor heater An improved control for the heater element of a motor vehicle engine exhaust gas oxygen sensor determines the temperature of the heater element and adjusts the heater element current by closed-loop control to minimize deviation of the heater element tempe... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6429410 | Circuit for heating a component A circuit for heating a component is maintained at a predefined operating temperature by a resistance heating element. A control system for the temperature of the resistance heating element is provided. From a determination of the average electrical energ... | 08/06/2002 |
| 6307187 | Operating procedure related to a resistance heating element and device for applying same A method of operating a resistance heating element and a device for carrying out the method are described. During a first step, the resistance of a resistor of the resistance heating element is determined at a known base temperature. In a second step, the... | 10/23/2001 |
| 6198077 | Temperature compensated timing circuit for use in heating appliances The present invention relates to a temperature compensated timer for a heating appliance that heats a food item during a heating cycle. The timer includes a coil having first and second terminals and presenting a resistance between the terminals that is a... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6191398 | Dry bath temperature control and method A dry bath with a heat conductive block having a plurality of bores adapted to receive tubes containing samples of material. The dry bath includes a heater and a temperature sensor mounted to the block. A heat controller executes a control cycle of initia... | 02/20/2001 |
| 6100510 | Heating unit incorporating a temperature sensor A control device includes both a heating element and a temperature sensor. The control device has the form of a Wheatstone bridge which applies sensing current to the heating element. When the bridge is unbalanced, the control device may apply heating cur... | 08/08/2000 |
| 6097007 | Aquarium water temperature controller An aquarium water temperature controller, which includes a glass casing, an inner tube mounted within the glass casing, an electric heating element mounted in the glass casing and connected to the inner tube, and a circuit board mounted in the inner tube ... | 08/01/2000 |
| 5981918 | Circuit for temperature-dependent regulation of the heating current of seat heaters A circuit is provided for temperature-dependent control of the heating current of seat heaters to detect with a high functional reliability an interruption in the lead wire to a temperature element and to shut down the heating current in the event that an... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5938961 | Electronic controller for heating apparatus A controller for controlling the cooking of food within a cooking apparatus. The controller is comprised of a temperature sensor input for receiving an output of a temperature sensor and a system for initiating a cook of a food product based upon a set co... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5861610 | Heater wire with integral sensor wire and improved controller for same An improved heater wire and electro-thermal controller suitable for use in electric heating appliances such as electric blankets and heating pads. The heater wire is formed with a first conductor for heat generation and a second conductor for sensing. The... | 01/19/1999 |
| 5847367 | Circuit arrangement for controlling the temperature of a heating element The temperature of a heating element (3), which heating element has a temperature dependent resistance, is measured by comparing the current through it with a user adjustable reference value. The AC voltage across a current sensing resistor (7) in series ... | 12/08/1998 |
| 5705792 | Digital temperature sensing conditioning and safety system with current control A temperature sensing system that includes a temperature probe, a signal conditioning circuit, and a microprocessor. The conditioning circuit incorporates a novel dual voltage range measurement technique that improves the accuracy of such systems. The saf... | 01/06/1998 |
| 5656189 | Heater controller for atomic frequency standards A heater controller for an atomic frequency standard provides accurate and stable temperature control for an assembly, such as a lamp assembly, by regulating a current flow through a heating device so as to maintain a substantially constant heating power ... | 08/12/1997 |
| 5464965 | Apparatus for controlling temperature of an element having a temperature variable resistance A fast and accurate temperature controller for a device heated by current through a resistive element, such as various air data probes, wherein the resistance of the element varies with temperature. The temperature controller samples the temperature by se... | 11/07/1995 |
| 5424513 | Method for producing transformers, especially transformers for distribution systems, and a device for carrying out this method The method and the device for carrying out the method are used for producing transformers (27, 28, 29) which are filled with insulating means, especially transformers for distribution systems. In the case of the method, solid insulation of the transformer... | 06/13/1995 |
