...Chester Carlson was a patent agent who tired of having to make multiple copies of patent applications using the only duplication method available at the time: carbon paper. In 1959 he came up with a new copying system and took it to IBM for evaluation. The "experts" at IBM determined potential sales to be only 5,000 units because people wouldn't want to use a bulky machine when they had carbon paper. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, the company founded on the system is Xerox.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7823824 | Device for winding a safety belt Device for winding a safety belt onto a shaft, with a principle mainspring (7), which prestresses the shaft (4) in the winding direction (a) of the safety belt (2); a ratchet wheel (12) that rotates relative to the shaft (4); a blo... | 11/02/2010 |
| 7434758 | Construction kit for a spring-driven cable drum A construction kit for a spring-driven cable drum includes a pre-assembled drum core, the housing of which constitutes a winding surface for the cable and containing at least one spiral spring and at least one spring anchor hub. The pre-assembled drum core is provid... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7341216 | Device for controlling a seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor has a winding shaft to wind a seat belt. A motive spring pretensions the winding shaft in the winding direction of the seat belt. An electric motor provides a torque that can be transmitted to the motive spring to change the spring force. A swi... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7309041 | Retractor and housing for a retractor Belt retractor and a belt-retractor spring-cassette housing for a belt retractor. The belt-retractor spring-cassette housing can be installed in a particularly simple and therefore cost-effective manner. The belt-retractor spring-cassette housing has a spring core a... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7270303 | Pincer apparatus for nanosat transport across a satellite A pincer system is comprised of an array of pincers. Each pincer includes an inner disk having legs that are pushed downwards onto a pliable material to cause protuberances, while an outer disk is rotated to simultaneously squeeze the extruded material between its l... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7232089 | Seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor includes a take-up drum with webbing wound therearound, a torsion bar coupled to a first end of the take-up drum non-rotatably relative thereto, and a ratchet wheel coupled to a second end of the torsion bar non-rotatably relative thereto. The ... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7086625 | Belt retractor for a seat belt A belt retractor for a seatbelt comprising a retractor pawl which blocks the seatbelt from being pulled out of the belt retractor in the event of an accident, and having a tightening device which tightens the seatbelt in a hazardous situation, the tightening device ... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7080800 | Controlling method of seat belt retractor In controlling a seat belt retractor, at least one of signals selected from a state signal showing a movement of an occupant wearing a seat belt and an external signal obtained from detecting means installed in a vehicle during running thereof is received. Then, a r... | 07/25/2006 |
| 7036628 | Hunter's safety harness for tree stand An apparatus that secures a hunter to a tree while in a tree-mounted hunting stand that includes a safety harness assembly (200) having a belt retractor (24) and a body harness (16). The belt retractor is configured to be removably secured about... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7029033 | Seatbelt apparatus for vehicle A seatbelt apparatus is provided to apply a proper restrictive feeling on passengers, corresponding to traveling condition of a vehicle. In the seatbelt apparatus, on receipt of detection signals from a fore-and-aft acceleration sensor 97 and a left-and-right... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7026574 | Wire gripper for a drive unit of a wire feeder A gripping device for a set of pinch rollers used in a wire feeder that supplies a welding operation with a consumable welding wire. The welding wire passes between the pinch rollers whereby the pinch rollers engage the wire with a gripping force and incrementally r... | 04/11/2006 |
| 6959748 | Apparatus for covering an opening in a building A storm protector (20) to be attachable over a window (21) or other opening of a building (22) includes a header (26), a bottom sill (25) and side frames (23, 24) extending between the ends of the header (26) and the ... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6715214 | Retractable tape measure A retractable tape measure includes a cover, a base and a calibrated tape. The internal configuration of the retractable tape measure allows a much longer calibrated tape to be used than a conventional measuring tape. ... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6513746 | Webbing take-up device A webbing take-up device which, when a webbing belt is pulled out, can reduce the rewind urging force applied to the vehicle occupant by the belt. The take-up device includes a spool 20 for winding a webbing belt, a take-up shaft that is connected to the ... | 02/04/2003 |
| 6454198 | Belt roller with a switchable spring arrangement The present invention relates to a belt roller having a wind-up spring disposed between a housing part and a shaft onto which the belt is wound, the wind-up spring effecting wind-up rotation of the shaft, and a comfort spring serially actuable in connecti... | 09/24/2002 |
| 6431485 | Automotive seatbelt take-up device An automotive seatbelt take-up device has a primary spiral spring biasing a take-up shaft in a seatbelt take-up direction. A spring clutch transfers rotation of the take-up shaft in a seatbelt drawing-out direction to a ring. A secondary spiral spring is ... | 08/13/2002 |
| 6305632 | Telecommunications cord reel A telecommunications cord reel design in which the telecommunications cord is automatically and neatly rewound in a structure that is comprised of a housing internally containing on a reel, a rewinding mechanism, and other components. The reel consists of... | 10/23/2001 |
| 6149093 | Tension reducer of a retractor for an automobile safety seat belt A tension reducer for relieving the drawing force of a retractor for an automobile safety seat belt comprises a clutch apparatus cooperated with a retractor for inducing the smooth operation of a webbing upon the pulling out and retracting of a web, the c... | 11/21/2000 |
| 6098757 | Spring drive assembly A device is disclosed comprising (a) a first and second member in rotational alignment to each another; (b) a torsional resilient mechanism for providing torsional resilience between the first and second members, the torsional resilient mechanism comprisi... | 08/08/2000 |
| 5993112 | Floating reservoir cover tensioning system A floating reservoir cover tensioning system that eliminates unsightly towers that are mounted on the upper surface of the surrounding containing walls of a reservoir. A plurality of tensioning assemblies are mounted in cases supported on the top surface ... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5964427 | Seat belt mechanism The present invention provides for a seat belt mechanism comprising a spool from which a seat belt (1) is to be unwound, resilient means arranged to act on said spool to rewind said belt thereon, said resilient means comprising a first resilient member (8... | 10/12/1999 |
| 5964426 | Roller for rewinding and tensioning a flexible element such as a sheet of material, shutter or similar, in particular for protections on machines A roller for rewinding and tensioning a flexible element, the element having a greater length than width, includes a tubular body to which one end of the flexible element is fixed; a shaft positioned so that it is coaxial to the tubular body, the two bein... | 10/12/1999 |
| 5899401 | Counterbalance device, in particular for a medical x-ray unit, having plural safety devices Counterbalance device (1), in particular for a medical X-ray device, with a drum (2) which is at least partly encapsulated in a housing (12) and is mounted so that it can rotate in the housing on a stationary shaft (11). The drum has an integrated first s... | 05/04/1999 |
| 5823457 | Safety belt reeling device with comfort function A safety belt reeling device with comfort function has a housing and a reeling shaft rotatably supported in the housing. A pawl wheel is fastened to the reeling shaft and switchable between a locked position in which rotation of the pawl wheel is blocked ... | 10/20/1998 |
| 5775619 | Roller for winding and unwinding a protective cover equipping a machine tool or the like A roller comprises: a support shaft bearing at either opposite end a bush supporting an external tubular element containing the shaft and destined to be a support element of a cover fixed thereto by one end; a motor to recall the roller by setting the tub... | 07/07/1998 |
| 5775618 | Tension controlled seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor (20) comprising: a spool (25) and a frame (52) for rotationally supporting the spool; a seat belt (16) receivable on the spool, a rewind spring (80) for biasing the spool in a belt winding direction comprising a spring (80) having an... | 07/07/1998 |
| 5755393 | Belt retractor and a method for the assembly thereof A belt retractor is provided which comprises a housing, a belt drum mounted in the housing so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation, and a spring drive for the belt drum. The spring drive comprises an output drive part connected with the belt drum ... | 05/26/1998 |
| 5558293 | Retractor for seat belt A retractor for a seat belt includes a winding force reducing mechanism for reducing a webbing winding force when an occupant wears the seat belt. The retractor includes a base; a winding shaft supported rotatably on base for winding a webbing; a first wi... | 09/24/1996 |
| 5553802 | Oppressive sensation reducer for safety belt of automobile An oppressive sensation reducer for safety belt wherein a reducer spring and a normal spring to which outer ends are fixed are installed in a reducer spring container and a normal spring container formed in a spring holder, a spring plate and a spring spa... | 09/10/1996 |
| 5544836 | Extensible and self-retractable cable device An extensible and self-retractable cable device is provided comprising, in one embodiment, a casing having winding cable, two reels, two spring housings, and two springs mounted within the casing. The device enables the manual withdrawal and automatic re-... | 08/13/1996 |
| 5535959 | Tension reducing retractor with reduced velocity ratchet A seat belt retractor (10) includes a seat belt storage spool (14) on which a seat belt (16) is wound. The spool 14 is rotatable in belt retraction and belt withdrawal directions (A, B). First and second springs (50, 52) act in series and bias the spool (... | 07/16/1996 |
| 5507446 | Phone cord rewinder According to the invention there is provided a cord rewinder which includes two sets of multiple pulleys, each set being seated at an opposite end of an elongate housing. One set is fixed in place while the other set is biased toward its corresponding end... | 04/16/1996 |
| 5478024 | Tension reducing retractor with an energy absorbing device A seat belt retractor (10) includes a seat belt webbing storage spool (14) that is rotatable in winding (retraction) and unwinding (withdrawal) directions. First and second springs (50 and 52) bias the spool (14) in the retraction direction and are stress... | 12/26/1995 |
| 5452862 | Silent seat belt comfort retractor A seat belt retractor (10) stores belt webbing (16) which is used as a restraint for a vehicle occupant. The retractor (10) includes a rotatable webbing storage spool (14) and two springs (50, 52) for biasing rotation of the spool (14). A rotatable ratche... | 09/26/1995 |
| 5411221 | Seat belt retractor with tension relief mechanism The present invention is directed to a tension relief mechanism for a safety belt retractor that can be selectively actuated for adjusting the tension exerted on the safety belt. The tension relief mechanism is operable for permitting the seat occupant to... | 05/02/1995 |
| 5328119 | Tension reducer A tension reducer used in a webbing retractor is provided with a weak coil spring, a strong coil spring, and a connecting member all connected in series, the rotation of the connecting member in the webbing winding direction being stopped at a predetermin... | 07/12/1994 |
| 5316233 | Seat belt retractor with springs connected in series and motorized spring force adjustment A seat belt retractor is formed of a frame having a pair of side plates which face each other and having a back plate which interconnects the side plates, a reel shaft rotatably mounted between the side plates and having both ends projecting to exterior a... | 05/31/1994 |
| 5310132 | Belt retractor with tension relief for safety belt restraining systems in motor vehicles A belt retractor with tension relief for safety belt restraining systems includes a retracting spring (6) and an auxiliary spring (8) dimensioned more weakly than the latter. The retracting spring (6) acts between a housing (10) of the belt retractor and ... | 05/10/1994 |
| 5294167 | Automobile covering device An automobile covering device includes a hollow cylindrical member having two closed ends, an axial slot and a water outlet. A U-shaped handle has two ends connected pivotally to the two closed ends of the cylindrical member. A cylinder with an axial shaf... | 03/15/1994 |
| 5292153 | Seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor for an automobile comprises a reel for retracting a seat belt around the same, a frame for holding the reel in a rotatable manner, and a spring for biasing the reel in the direction of retracting the belt. The spring is consisted of ... | 03/08/1994 |