Did You Know...
...that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8100390 | Clamp device A clamp device for clamping a panel regardless of the panel's shape may include an air conduit, an air supplying unit that is communicated with the air conduit for selectively supplying air thereto and a tube that is connected with the air conduit to communicate the... | 01/24/2012 |
| 7926796 | Bracing means Bracing means for supporting a moveably mounted or flexible component during a machining operation that has an expandable member adapted to fit between a component and a support surface. When the expandable member is expanded a bracing member will resist movement an... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7331583 | Workpiece holder with a multi-piece bladder A workpiece holding apparatus comprises a body, a bladder carried by the body, and a sleeve that is carried by the bladder. A fluid chamber is at least partially defined by the body and the bladder for containing a fluid therein. The bladder comprises at least one f... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7328924 | Adjustable tip assembly A clamp having an adjustable tip assembly is provided. The adjustable tip assembly includes a finger, wedge and spreader. The finger is configured to engage the workpiece. The wedge is configured to engage the finger. The spreader is configured to engage the wedge, ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7316403 | Hydrostatic workpiece holder with a removable cartridge assembly A workpiece holding apparatus comprises a body, a cartridge assembly carried by the body and a sleeve. The cartridge assembly comprises at least one sealing member and a bladder supported by a retainer and at least partially defining a fluid chamber that houses a pr... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7282665 | Method and apparatus for processing articles with a laser beam A method for joining workpieces by welding with laser light, in which a plurality of workpieces are arranged between a lower pressure plate and a translucent upper pressure plate on a multiplicity of supporting segments movable in a vertical direction, whereby the w... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7240438 | Aligning apparatus An aligning apparatus includes a loading plate to load at least one alignment object; first and second alignment bars to align the at least one alignment object loaded on the loading plate, wherein the first and second alignment bars are bent by a force greater than... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7155866 | Cementitious exterior sheathing product having improved interlaminar bond strength The present invention provides exterior building products, such as roofing and siding, shake, shingles, siding, sheathing, panels, planks, vertical siding, soffit panels, fencing, decking, fascia, corner posts, column corners and trim boards in which a plurality of ... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7118147 | Handling robot system having robot hand In a robot hand according to the present invention, a first-type grasping claw driven by a servo motor on a hand base and a second-type grasping claw having no actuator are used with the grasping claws mounted on each holding unit. The second-type grasping claw is m... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7104536 | Work support A workpiece support has a simplified structure and can operate with improved dependability and reliability. The workpiece support has a rod, a sleeve body externally fitted on the rod and elastically deformable so as to shrink in diameter, a case member supporting t... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7063019 | Assemblies including extendable, reactive charge-containing actuator devices An assembly including a support housing and an actuator device. The actuator device includes an extendable initiator cup including at least one non-random fold and at least in part defining a storage chamber containing a reactive charge reactable to produce reaction... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7059457 | Expansion motor The present invention is a unique motor comprising a containment chamber having thick walls surrounding a thin wall, is created when a plug is fusible joined. An inlet port and preferably a purging port are located in the thick walls. A motion is created when said e... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7036810 | Modular tooling apparatus with tapered locater system A modular fixturing apparatus component includes a body and a locator mechanism. The locator means is supported in the body for linear movement along the longitudinal axis of the body and for rotational movement about the longitudinal axis. The locator mechanism is ... | 05/02/2006 |
| 6948709 | Assembled expanding lance An expansion lance assembly for an expansion of a hollow profile by the exertion of a fluidic high internal pressure. The expansion lance assembly includes a rod-shaped seal carrier detachably connected to a carrier holder and having a seal arrangement including at ... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6912940 | Cutting table and clamp for use therewith A clamp is provided that is capable of restraining an item during cutting and rotating the item between cutting a first end of the item and cutting a second end of the item. The clamp includes an upper jaw, a lower jaw, and a backplate that pivotally connects the lo... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6907817 | Linear actuator A linear actuator having a low profile and a long stroke is provided. The actuator includes a housing integrally connected to a telescoping piston. The piston may be extended by a fluid such as inflation gas provided by an inflation gas generator in fluid communicat... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6786992 | Method of making a dunnage platform A dunnage platform is in the general shape of a rectangular slab with legs extending form one side. The dunnage platform is made from an expanded polystyrene core. A chemical combination process is used to chemically combine portion of the core proximal to its surfa... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6568868 | Fastening arrangement for joining body components A fastening arrangement for joining sheet metal car body components has a locating surface on which the car body components are supported and has a fastening component that is movable in the direction toward the locating surface and can be fixed in relati... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6488323 | Apparatus for gripping oilfield tubulars without causing damage to such tubulars An apparatus for gripping tubular members in a single or multi-string arrangement about their outer diameter without causing surface damage or structural deformation to the tubular members, so that they may be axially rotated or secured against axial rota... | 12/03/2002 |
| 6470942 | Pneumatic clamping apparatus and method thereof The present invention is designed to effectively band ornamental trims onto panel edges, such as those of furniture tops. The present invention utilizes pneumatic forces to hold the ornamental trims against the panel edges instead of traditional clamps, r... | 10/29/2002 |
| 6463644 | Tool for aligning vehicle fender on vehicle during assembly A tool for holding a component during an assembly process includes a suction cup assembly which is operatively associated with an assembly system. The assembly system includes a supporting fixed frame and a movable subframe. The suction cup assembly is at... | 10/15/2002 |
| 6311966 | Workpiece absorption carrier unit and absorption head A head support rest 29 is provided with machine bodies 21, 25 being movable and drivable in a horizontal direction, being free to go up and down. One or more absorption means aggregates 550 are provided with the head support rest 29, being free to move an... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6182977 | Clamping device The clamping apparatus (10) has a clamping ring (13) of an elastomer, which has a U-shaped cross section. The clamping ring (13) is seated in a recess (15) in a holding device (12) having parallel side walls. The recess (50) can be connected via a connect... | 02/06/2001 |
| 6155548 | Fixture for aligning and clamping a workpiece, in particular a pack of printed circuit boards, on a machine tool The fixture has a pair of plates for supporting a pack of printed circuit boards having two locating pins projecting from one face of the pack and which are housed inside a gap between the two plates. The plate is fitted with a fixed bar, while the other ... | 12/05/2000 |
| 6079701 | Glass cutter's table A glass cutter's table for controllably breaking glass sheets along straight lines includes a supported rigid panel having intersecting first and second arrays of downwardly recessed parallel elongated straight grooves. Pneumatically expandable tubing hav... | 06/27/2000 |
| 6070781 | System for bringing the joint edges of sheet material into butting relationship for welding A system for bringing the joint edges of first and second sheet metal components into butting relationship. The components are clamped in opposing clamping assemblies with one of the assemblies being movable toward and away from the other. A fluid motor i... | 06/06/2000 |
| 6015005 | Respective inflatable arbors for making backdraft cavity in sand core and for forming part of core lift device insertable in cavity Tooling includes an inflatable arbor for forming a backdraft cavity in a foundry sand core. A core handling device includes an inflatable arbor, similar to the one used for forming the backdraft cavity in the sand core, whereby the lifting device arbor, w... | 01/18/2000 |
| 6000687 | Actuator for hydraulic tool holder A hydrostatic holding device has a first actuator constructed to increase the pressure of a hydraulic fluid within a pressure chamber to urge a metal sleeve into firm engagement with a workpiece received in a hydrostatic sleeve and a second actuator const... | 12/14/1999 |
| 5975183 | Repair pressure applicator for in the field damaged aircraft A pressure applicator device for applying pressure to a repair patch of a variable contoured aircraft surface, the pressure applicator device is provided with an inflatable pressure bladder. The bladder is configured for applying pressure to the repair pa... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5957443 | Hydraulic work support An improved hydraulic work support (10) having a plunger (18) that is shifted between retracted and extended positions by hydraulic fluid is disclosed. The work support includes a base (12); a tubular housing (14) partially received in the base and having... | 09/28/1999 |
| 5906364 | Air bladder fixture tooling for supporting circuit board assembly processing A fixture tooling for supporting a back side of a printed circuit board during component placement on a top side of the board includes an inflatable air bladder that is sized substantially coextensive with the circuit board. The bladder is positioned belo... | 05/25/1999 |
| 5851007 | Engine test stand kit A universal test stand kit for supporting an internal combustion engine during tests includes a pair of side frame members having upper and lower pieces joined together by end pieces and laterally extending tubular stubs. The side frame members are joined... | 12/22/1998 |
| 5820117 | Air bladder fixture tooling for supporting circuit board assembly processing A fixture tooling for supporting a back side of a printed circuit board during component placement on a top side of the board includes an inflatable air bladder that is sized substantially coextensive with the circuit board. The bladder is positioned belo... | 10/13/1998 |
| 5820897 | Apparatus for handling and dippling flexible belts using a blow molded polymer chucking device This invention discloses a method of holding and transporting a hollow flexible belt throughout a coating process. The method includes placing an expandable insert into the hollow portion of a seamless flexible belt, and expanding the insert until it form... | 10/13/1998 |
| 5728258 | Portable non-gravitational positive pressure generator and method of use An apparatus for applying non-gravitational pressure to a surface includes a frame structure having a longitudinal axis, a pair of connecting members coupled to the frame structure along parallel axes normal to the longitudinal axis of the frame structure... | 03/17/1998 |
| 5707052 | System for supporting a printed circuit board during assembly system of helically coiled air hoses (18) supports a printed circuit board (14) in an assembly station, and allows the conveyor rails (15, 16) to adjust in and out, accommodating various widths of printed circuit boards (PCB). One of the conveyor rails is... | 01/13/1998 |
| 5695393 | Tool for the precision processing of optical surfaces A tool for the precision processing of the optical surfaces of lenses has an elastic membrane (10), connected to a rigid holder (20), which incorporates a processing segment (11) and a bellows-type segment (12). Together, the membrane (10) and the holder ... | 12/09/1997 |
| 5657972 | Clamp with inflatable bladder A clamp secures a workpiece relative to a work piece support. A clamp arm is connected to an external end of the clamp for movement between workpiece clamping and release positions. An inflatable bladder disposed within a bladder support is releasably att... | 08/19/1997 |
| 5637200 | Compact disk locking apparatus Apparatus for locking a workpiece, such as a compact disc, in a vacuum chamber includes a locking mechanism, movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, and a sealed bellows assembly that is coupled to the locking mechanism. The locking me... | 06/10/1997 |
| 5593146 | Hydraulically actuated bar-like clamping tool The invention relates to a hydraulically actuated bar-like clamping tool with an elongated base body (1), a reciprocating elongated clamping body (2) and a tubular inflatable body (18) arranged between both said bodies for moving the clamping body. The in... | 01/14/1997 |
