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Magician Harry Houdini patented a "Diver's Suit" enabling the wearer to "quickly divest himself of the suit while being submerged and to safely escape and reach the surface of the water."
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7134642 | Vacuum gate valve The invention provides a vacuum gate valve for closing off an opening. The vacuum gate valve can have a valve plate that can be turned so that the alignment of the valve plate will adapt to a valve seat when the valve plate is pressed against the valve seat. ... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7069941 | Electronic faucets for long-term operation An electronic faucet (10) mounted on a countertop (12) includes a housing, at least one fluid inlet line (24a, 24b) extending into the housing, a fluid outlet (46) from the housing, a solenoid (142, 143) for op... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7028983 | Coupling member of a pipe coupling and valve body used in a coupling member When a valve body of a coupling member is moving toward a fluid passage closed position, if the valve body becomes inclined, the present invention prevents a sealing ring of the valve body from coming into friction engagement with a conical wall surface of the fluid... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7008597 | Catalytic reactor The invention relates to a reactor (1), suitable for the catalytic conversion of a feed mixture which is capable of explosion and/or ignition, comprising a feed supply chamber (2), an effluent discharge chamber (3), a catalyst bed (4) hav... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6959908 | Gate valve flexible wedge A flexible wedge has a pair of pressure retaining plates and a central wedge body therebetween. The pressure retaining plates have inclined seating surfaces on opposed outer faces thereof for mating with corresponding valve seats within the valve body to prevent sub... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6926248 | Piston engine A reciprocating engine having a housing, having at least two cylinders with inlet orifices and outlet orifices which are to be opened and are closable by means of controllable valves, in each of which cylinders a piston can be linearly reciprocated, and having at le... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6439539 | Electrically controllable valve An electrically controllable valve comprising at least one input port (13) and one or more output ports (12, 14), at least one sealing means (17, 18) being arranged to control the flow of a fluid between said input port and at least one of said output por... | 08/27/2002 |
| 6343618 | Swing check backflow preventer A swing check valve for controlling fluid flow, including a valve housing having a port for fluid flow therethrough with a removable cover for accessing an interior of the valve housing. A valve assembly is positioned within the interior of the valve hous... | 02/05/2002 |
| 5947444 | Gas tap The tap comprises an external operating element and a connecting stem for transmitting the movement of the operating element to the opening and closure member which is arranged in such a way as to be pressed against the sealing seat under the effect of th... | 09/07/1999 |
| 5503123 | Internal combustion engine cylinder puppet valve having self-aligning guide A cylinder head assembly for an internal combustion engine includes self-aligning valve guides which are movable radially and coaxially to a variety of locations in which the axes of the valve guide and valve guide bore formed in the cylinder head are all... | 04/02/1996 |
| 5421360 | Float assisted automatic driptrap A vertically oriented float assisted automatic driptrap mechanism having a float valve chamber defined by a body section and base is disclosed. A float is located for vertical liquid level responsive movement within the float valve chamber and reciprocate... | 06/06/1995 |
| 5209455 | Valve and solenoid valve operated by very small force There are provided a valve which is opened by an improved two-step motion, a valve which operates positively without leakage of fluid even when the difference in pressure between inlet and outlet of the valve is very small, and an improvement of a solenoi... | 05/11/1993 |
| 5170992 | Stop valve A stop valve (1) comprises a housing (2) having a passage (15) for a reversible medium flow, which can be stopped by means of a valve body (20) having an annular portion of a sphere as a sealing surface (25) and a flat end portion (26). The transfer area ... | 12/15/1992 |
| 5005603 | Retrofittable sewer trap A retrofittable drain insert for existing bell shaped traps and other type drains is provided. The drain insert enables an existing bell trap or pipe drain to be modified and upgraded easily by not only preventing the backflow of sewer gases but also by s... | 04/09/1991 |
| 4913398 | High speed dumping valve apparatus A high speed water dumping valve apparatus usable attached with respect to a water reservoir which includes a housing with a flow chamber and water inlet and outlet defined therein. A door with a gasket means is adapted to extend over the water inlet for ... | 04/03/1990 |
| 4800919 | Flap gate assembly A flap gate installation for systems where liquids are pumped into a holding tank has a fabricated frame surrounding the port of the conduit which opens into the tank. A flap gate is hingedly connected to the top of the frame and has concavo-convex walls ... | 01/31/1989 |
| 4742845 | Fuel pressure regulator valve The valve of a liquid fuel pressure regulator comprises a two-part construction consisting of a spherically contoured element and a stem. The spherically contoured element serves to swivelly mount the valve on the movable wall which carries the valve. The... | 05/10/1988 |
| 4741360 | Fuel pressure regulator A fuel pressure regulator comprising a housing, a diaphragm dividing the housing into a first chamber and second chamber, a passage from the exterior of the housing to the first chamber, an inlet and an outlet associated with the second chamber of the hou... | 05/03/1988 |
| 4730807 | Surf pool gate valve A valve for a surf pool having a frame of generally horizontal and vertical members, a leg pivotally attached to the higher horizontal member, a foot at the end of the leg for opening and closing the valve and an actuator mounted on the lower horizontal m... | 03/15/1988 |
| 4706934 | Gate valve A gate valve includes a body which includes first and second valve seats. First and second gates are mounted for movement adjacent to the valve seats, and each of the gates has an outer face adapted to seal against the respective valve seat and an inner f... | 11/17/1987 |
| 4647006 | Rotary electrically actuated device A rotor is provided for use in combination with a valve and sleeve to function as a valve attached to an actuator. The rotor is comprised of a rotor body containing the drive section with the necessary elements to turn the rotor within the sleeve, and a r... | 03/03/1987 |
| 4513779 | Metering valve A valve body includes a chamber for the flow of fluid between an inlet and an outlet thereto. The chamber includes an upper portion with an opening therethrough and a lower portion including a valve seat between the inlet and outlet. A bonnet is positione... | 04/30/1985 |
| 4480812 | Trap with reduced force opening means A dust trap having an annular valve seat and a pivoted valve flap closing the same including an off-center connection between the actuating means for said pivoted flap and said flap thereby to lessen the force required to open the valve passageway against... | 11/06/1984 |
| 4336918 | Diaphragm valve with multiple pivot axis valve element A valve comprising a valve housing having a flow passage extending through the valve housing and a cavity communicating with the flow passage, a valve seat in the flow passage, a diaphragm extending across the cavity to define a control chamber on one sid... | 06/29/1982 |
| 4270727 | Spring loaded plug valve A valve is provided which includes a poppet enclosed in a plug of plastic material, such as Teflon, and which is biased against a seat by a compression spring so that a positive seal is provided even in the presence of cold flow in the plastic plug. A val... | 06/02/1981 |
| 4256283 | Pivotal ball check valve A ball valve housing including a main housing section and an actuator housing section wherein a ball valve is mounted in the actuator housing section for movement into the main housing section, the ball valve being pivotally connected to an actuator shaft... | 03/17/1981 |
| 4237920 | Spring loaded plug valve A valve is provided which includes a poppet enclosed in a plug of plastic material, such as Teflon, and which is biased against a seat by a compression spring so that a positive seal is provided even in the presence of cold flow in the plastic plug. A val... | 12/09/1980 |
| 4225111 | Solenoid valve A solenoid valve is provided which includes an axially movable solenoid plunger for moving an elastic diaphragm away from a position engaging an outlet stub of the valve housing. According to one aspect of the invention, the plunger and the diaphragm are ... | 09/30/1980 |
| 4120318 | Dampening means for swing check valve A clapper-type check valve has a valve body with a chamber therein and a clapper-type valve member is mounted on an arm pivotally supported in the valve chamber. The valve member is supported from the lower end of the arm about a support pin received in o... | 10/17/1978 |