...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 |
| 7495214 | Systems and methods for material authentication Systems and methods for authentication of materials used in imaging members and assemblies. Authentication of imaging materials ensure that compatible components are being used with the imaging members and assemblies. Embodiments provide a system and method for effi... | 02/24/2009 |
| 7462827 | Non-destructive inspection method and apparatus therefor By using an image signal acquired by picking up a sample to be inspected by a color video camera, penetrant inspection and magnetic-particle inspection which are non-destructive inspections are carried out so that deficiency candidates including a pseudo deficiency ... | 12/09/2008 |
| 7402800 | Method and device for the continuous determination of damage to systems used for the post-treatment of heat engine exhaust gases The invention relates to a method for the continuous determination of the damage to at least one system (7) used for the post-treatment of exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine (2), caused by the lubricating oil, the fuel and/or at least one... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7385524 | Automated meter reading, billing and payment processing system The present invention includes an automatic commodity or services billing and metering system that when installed does not damage any existing meters or gauges, will fit virtually all known meters and gauges, and has incorporated into the system programmable reading... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7368717 | Density detection using real time discrete photon counting for fast moving targets A system for detecting and graphically displaying a contents of a fast-moving target object comprises: a radiation source, having a position such that at least a portion of radiation emitted from the radiation source passes through the fast-moving target object, the... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7369225 | Device and method for inspecting surfaces in the interior of holes A device and method for checking surfaces in the interior of holes, depressions, or the like. The device and method are developed in such a manner that a multicolor light beam can be produced with a light source, wherein a light beam, due to the chromatic aberration... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7363802 | Measurement device for electron microscope This invention relates to a measurement device for use in an electron microscope. The device comprises a sample holder, for holding a sample to be studied, and an indentation tip, being arranged in proximity of the sample holder, whereby an interaction between the s... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7365332 | Density detection using real time discrete photon counting for fast moving targets A system for detecting and graphically displaying a contents of a fast-moving target object comprises: a radiation source, having a position such that at least a portion of radiation emitted from the radiation source passes through the fast-moving target object, the... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7347260 | Method for determining tracer concentration in oil and gas production fluids A method for determining the extent of recovery of materials injected or otherwise introduced into oil wells or subsurface formations is practiced using a portable device. The portable device can also be used to determiner the occurrence of a predetermined condition... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7334330 | Thermally insulating layer incorporating a distinguishing agent and method for inspecting the same Thermally insulating layer incorporating a distinguishing agent and method for inspecting the insulating layer are provided. The distinguishing agent may be used for determining a remaining thickness of the thermally insulating layer. ... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7335887 | System and method for target inspection using discrete photon counting and neutron detection Described herein is system for the inspection of a target object. The system may include a gamma radiation source, a gamma detector and an image processor coupled to the gamma detector. When the inspection system is operating in a first active mode for imaging a tar... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7331248 | Method and apparatus for detecting and locating explosives, biological, and chemical substances in ducts and structures using tracers A method and an apparatus for detecting, locating, and quantifying explosive materials and devices, and naturally occurring and man-made dangerous or hazardous biological and chemical materials and devices in ducts or piping systems, or other fluid flow systems in b... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7323706 | Method of associating meta-data relating to a radiation image of an object with the radiation image A first time stamp T1 indicative of the time of irradiation of an object and a second time stamp T2 indicative of the time of exposure of an image detector by the radiation image of the object, are generated. Meta-data relating to the object are associ... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7317524 | Method and device for detecting surface defects on the neck ring of a transparent or translucent container of revolution A device for detecting surface defects (2) on the neck ring (3) of a container comprises: a light source (5) illuminating, by means of an incident light beam, a section of the surface of the neck ring of the co... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7312919 | Wide field of view and high speed scanning microscopy A wide field of view scanning microscope includes a light source, a light detector, optics, a scanning assembly, a translation system, and a data collection control and processing unit. The scanning assembly is constructed to provide from the light source a light be... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7310965 | Compressor head, internal discriminator, external discriminator, manifold design for refrigeration recovery apparatus The compressor head, internal and/or external discriminator, and manifold design in general utilize ball valves on the suction and discharge of a cylinder head in the recovery of refrigerant liquid and/or vapor. The device facilitates the flashing of liquid refriger... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7309862 | Method for marking sites A method for determining changes of a site, wherein the site is treated with an aqueous dispersion having at least one binder, at least one substance emitting visible light on UV exposure, at least one binder and, optionally, a dispersant and the site thus treated a... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7304300 | Infrared tag and track technique A method of covertly tagging an object for later tracking includes providing a material capable of at least one of being applied to the object and being included in the object, which material includes deuterium; and performing at least one of applying the material t... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7304733 | Method and device for conducting the spectral differentiating, imaging measurement of fluorescent light A method and a device for image producing measurement of fluorescent light, according to which a sample containing fluorophores of different species is irradiated with excitation light of at least one excitation channel defined by its spectral properties. The fluore... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7301346 | Hand lamp, especially for magnetic crack detection The invention relates to a manual lamp, especially for optical crack testing according to the magnetic powder testing and dye penetration method. Said manual lamp comprises at least one LED having an emission wavelength located in the UVA range as an illuminating me... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7291836 | Method and device for continuous determination of lubricating oil consumption of an internal combustion engine The invention relates to a method and device for the continuous determination of the lubricating oil consumption of an internal combustion engine. The inventive method consists in: placing a determined quantity of at least one radioactive tracer in the lubricating o... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7279073 | Apparatus for liquid-based fiber separation An apparatus for treating fibrous material is disclosed. The apparatus may include a fiber separator, a de-liquefier, a dry-to-wet blender and a flash dryer. The fiber separator may be a liquid-based fiber separator. The de-liquefier is for removing liquid from the ... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7256398 | Security markers for determining composition of a medium A method of determining a component of a medium comprises illuminating the medium to excite a marker associated with the component. Detected photoluminescent emission from the marker in response to the excitation is compared with one or more emission profiles. The c... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7248355 | Using special visibility materials proximate candidate component locations to enhance recognition The invention in one implementation encompasses the use of special visibility material to enhance the ability of computer-aided visual inspection machines to detect errors in placement or orientation of components mounted to a printed circuit board. In another imple... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7225681 | Statistical method for identifying microcracks in insulators One embodiment of the invention is a method for evaluating a material such as low-k dielectric, by a stress-generating test tool such as a needle. The evaluation object is shaped as a stack of adhering layers: low-k dielectric, first metal (preferably copper), barri... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7214925 | Pattern method and system for detecting foreign object debris A method of detecting a non-fixed object in a system (12) includes applying a light emitting or generating substance to multiple objects. The objects are illuminated with an object illuminator (13). At least one of the objects (10) is determined... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7197914 | Method and apparatus for detecting and locating leak holes in a pipeline using tracers A method and an apparatus for finding the location of one or more holes in a fluid flow system such as pipe, duct, or conduit using one or more tracers that interact with or can be chemically or physically differentiated from those of the liquid or gas contents loca... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7196950 | Non-volatile semiconductor storage device performing ROM read operation upon power-on A power-on reset circuit has a power-on level detecting circuit which detects a power voltage to output a power-on reset signal and a delay circuit which delays the power-on reset signal output by the power-on level detecting circuit. Two chip address specifying pad... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7194360 | Method of determining radioactive nuclides A method of simply and quickly determining α-ray releasing nuclides having long half-life without carrying out a chemical separation is provided. By inputting a data of pulses incident to an α-ray detector in a computer, obtaining time distribution of the i... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7172799 | Radiation flood source and method for producing the same The invention relates to a process for producing a radiation flood source by printing a radioactive solution, and a radioactive printing solution used in this method. The present invention also relates to a flood source for quality testing and assurance of radiation... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7163324 | Led light stick assembly A light emitting diode (LED) warning signal light, the warning signal light comprising a plurality of light sources constructed and arranged with a reflector or cullminator, the LED light source being in electrical communication with a controller and a power supply,... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7159412 | Compressor head, internal discriminator, external discriminator, manifold design for refrigeration recovery apparatus The compressor head, internal and/or external discriminator, and manifold design in general utilize ball valves on the suction and discharge of a cylinder head in the recovery of refrigerant liquid and/or vapor. The device facilitates the flashing of liquid refriger... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7157724 | Detection lamp A light source for testing sites using a fluorescent dye is described. The light source can include a low voltage lamp or a low heat generating lamp. An emission from the fluorescent dye can be detected through a filter lens, which can include a primary filter and a... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7153013 | LED warning signal light and moveable row of LED's A light emitting diode (LED) warning signal light, the warning signal light comprising a plurality of light sources constructed and arranged with a reflector or cullminator, the LED light source being in electrical communication with a controller and a power supply,... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7152047 | System and method for production and authentication of original documents A system and method for authenticating documents and content thereof. A counterfeit resistant document recording medium is provided, having thereon a predefined unique document identifier and at least one security feature. The recording medium is thereafter imprinte... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7148497 | Variable wavelength ultraviolet lamp A variable wavelength ultraviolet lamp. An apparatus for selectively producing one or more of a plurality of wavelength distributions of light is provided, comprising a primary light source having a primary wavelength distribution, at least one wavelength-transformi... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7146295 | Computerized design method and apparatus for drainage systems A drainage system design method and apparatus including a computer program that enables a computer user to design and obtain computer-generated stackings of drainage system structures such as manholes. The user inputs dimensional and structural information concernin... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7145649 | Method of producing an ultra-violet or near ultra-violet light source for non-destructive inspection or testing There is provided an apparatus having at least one LED capable of emitting near ultraviolet or ultraviolet radiation to excite a luminescent material for non-destructive fault testing. The radiation may also be focused using a lens. There is also provided a method f... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7141811 | Detection lamp equipped with light-emitting diode The present application reveals a lamp and a method for detecting leaks in air-conditioning and refrigeration systems. The lamp uses one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a light source to detect fluorescent dyes that have been added to the air-conditioning or... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7128812 | Apparatus and method for determining the level in a coke drum A foam level in a delayed coking drum is detected by utilizing the varying density of the boiling mass in the coke drum which has larger bubbles and is less dense at the top and smaller bubbles and a higher density at the bottom. A plurality of radiation detectors a... | 10/31/2006 |