...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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 |
| 7354077 | Quick connect/disconnect coupler with locking strap A coupler with an elongated inner member with an axial channel therethrough that is adapted to be removably disposed within a passage extending through an outer member. The inner member has a surface at one end that is adapted to engage and seal on a surface of the ... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7150164 | Finger ring fit adjuster A tubular bladder has an outside wall connected to an inside surface of a finger passage through a band of a finger ring. An inside wall of the bladder is integral with the outside wall and forms a gas chamber. A passage connects the gas chamber to a source of air. ... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7147230 | Sealing device and sleeve and holding element for such The sealing device is for drum filters or filter presses to form a seal between the rotary drum end faces and the end faces of the trough in which the rotary drums are situated. A sealing element (3) is disposed in a groove (1) on the rotary drum end f... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7048309 | Pipe coupling A coupling for attachment to the end portion of a pipe includes jaw members adapted to slide along an inner end taper in the coupling body so that linear movement of the jaw members toward the end of the inner end taper adjacent an end of the coupling body causes mo... | 05/23/2006 |
| 6942222 | Seal for sealing and load bearing a process tube in a vacuum system A seal for sealing and load bearing a process tube in a vacuum system including a seal member and a load bearing spacer provided in a seal cavity. The seal generally includes a seal cavity provided in a housing, where the seal cavity is configured opposite the proce... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6926807 | Insulated transition spool apparatus An insulated transition spool apparatus for mounting unheading devices to pressure vessels, such as coker vessels, and enabling repetitive operation thereof is disclosed. The apparatus comprises an outer housing, an inner housing that encloses an insulating space be... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6601852 | Method and apparatus for sealing a space For sealing an annular space (4) between opening (2) in a wall or similar, member (1) and an object (3), extending through the opening (2), by introducing a sealing agent into the space (4), at least one bag (9, 10), into which the sealing agent is introd... | 08/05/2003 |
| 6481927 | Assembly and method for joining a drain pipe and a catch basin An assembly and method of joining a pipe with a catch basin, the catch basin having an apertured side wall, the assembly and method including providing an elastomeric ring having an annular hollow expansion space, a foam injection port, a flow checking in... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6464229 | Method and apparatus for sealing a space For sealing an annular space or space (4) between an opening (2), in a wall or similar member (1), and an object (3) extending through the opening (2), at least one sealing element (6) is placed in the annular space (4). Initially, the sealing element (6)... | 10/15/2002 |
| 6439580 | Sealing element for pipelines The invention relates to a sealing element (1) with inflatable bellows (10) for sealing piping. Said sealing element can be e.g. cylindrical in shape and said bellows (10) can be provided with two recesses (14a, 14b) containing a gel (11). When the bellow... | 08/27/2002 |
| 5924743 | Device adapted to be fixed and sealed to at least one cylindrical member The invention concerns a device adapted to be fixed and sealed to at least one cylindrical member (1, 1'), characterized in that it includes: a first sleeve (2), a second sleeve (3) coaxial with the first sleeve (2) having a greater capacity for deformation th... | 07/20/1999 |
| 5884660 | Means for transferring a flowable material A valve apparatus comprises two housings which can be alternatively connected to one another and separated from one another and possesses an orifice. Each housing holds a flap which is pivotable about an axis of rotation and has a disc and a pivot. The fl... | 03/23/1999 |
| 5868524 | Clamp system and method for connecting tubular bodies together A clamp system and method used to remotely connect or disconnect a submerged pipeline from another submerged pipeline or from a riser line or the like. When used with a riser line, the riser line end of the connector carries calipers that pivot open to re... | 02/09/1999 |
| 5595405 | Diaphragm power jack Method for increasing the distance between two faces, inserting into a space between the two faces a diaphragm power jack, the shape of which being adapted to the shape of the space, the diaphragm power jack comprising two abutting sheets being sealingly ... | 01/21/1997 |
| 5396813 | Gas passage shifting device A novel gas passage shifting device used primarily for a surface area measuring apparatus for particulate materials is disclosed. The device is characterized by having a base member provided with a recess which receives a tubular body so as to gas-tightly... | 03/14/1995 |
| 5333916 | External pipe coupling system with inflatable gasket This invention preferably relates to an externally applied coupling system providing thrust restraint for a pair of axially aligned tubular members. The coupling system comprises a hydraulically/pneumatically inflatable, elastomeric sealing gasket adapted... | 08/02/1994 |
| 5290072 | Quick-acting pipe connector assembly A quick-acting pipe connector assembly used to join two pipes. The assembly includes a flange connected to the first pipe. The flange has an end face and a plurality of openings around the periphery of the end face. An end fitting is connected to the seco... | 03/01/1994 |
| 5275442 | Connecting element A connecting element including an annular sleeve that has a self-supporting inner wall and a flexible outer wall, and a space between the inner and outer walls for introducing a preferably hardenable free-flowing filling medium into the connecting element... | 01/04/1994 |
| 5247974 | Pneumatic sealing device for waste disposal systems A temporary sealing device for sealing a waste discharge conduit from an RV to an inlet receptacle of a waste receiving reservoir. The sealing device includes an inflatable bladder which is mounted so as to be positionable between the discharge conduit an... | 09/28/1993 |
| 5133561 | Sealing device A sealing device of this invention is designed to prevent entering of the open air through a coupling of a process tube of a CVD apparatus. The sealing device includes a first flange having a mirror-finished face, a second flange having a face which is br... | 07/28/1992 |
| 5102150 | Pressure vessel flex joint An airtight, flexible joint is disclosed for the interfacing of two pressure vessels such as between the Space Station docking tunnel and the Space Shuttle Orbiter's bulkhead adapter. The joint provides for flexibility while still retaining a structural l... | 04/07/1992 |
| 5070597 | Tubular article A double-walled article in the form of a tube having a small volume filling of a friction-reducing liquid or solid between its two walls. The article is able to revolve over a substrate by relative sliding motion between its two walls, to provide environm... | 12/10/1991 |
| 4895394 | Method and system maintaining tightness between parts rotating in relation to one another A system for maintaining a tightness between two parts rotatable relative to each other. The system includes at least two sealing units, with each of the sealing units having at least two possible states or conditions, namely, a first state or condition f... | 01/23/1990 |
| 4799692 | Radial pressure flange seal This invention provides an all metal seal for vacuum or pressure vessels or systems. This invention does not use gaskets. The invention uses a flange which fits into a matching groove. Fluid pressure is applied in a chamber in the flange causing at least ... | 01/24/1989 |
| 4786087 | Quick disconnect coupling A quick disconnect coupling that is used to interconnect a dispensing hose from a reactor tank to any one of a plurality of charge tanks to facilitate the transfer of ingredients from the charge tanks to the reactor tank. Each charge tank has an outlet pi... | 11/22/1988 |
| 4772050 | Quick-disconnect inflatable seal assembly A zero-leak cryogenic coupling includes a polymeric seal clamped to a male bayonet member with two pairs of tightening rings. The tightening rings threadably engage each other in respective pairs around tapered ends of the inflatable seal member so that a... | 09/20/1988 |
| 4743188 | Apparatus for sealing a pour head in a mold for forming composite products A mold assembly for manufacturing composite plastic products includes a mold cavity part and a lid, which is joined to form a cavity for foam precursors. The precursors expand in the cavity in a known manner to fill the cavity with a suitable layer of foa... | 05/10/1988 |
| 4676531 | Apparatus for clamping and sealing the outer surface of a pipe and fittings for pipe connection For use with a pipe having an outer surface, a clamping structure is set forth. In the preferred and illustrated embodiment, the device utilizes a surrounding ring of solid construction having a central passage fitting over the pipe in question. An intern... | 06/30/1987 |
| 4648626 | Telescopic joint for repairing underwater pipelines laid at a great depth A telescopic joint for repairing underwater pipelines laid at a great depth in which an annular sheath of steel having a yield point of not more than one half that of an outer sleeve of the joint is welded onto an inner cylinder, to create with the inner ... | 03/10/1987 |
| 4630648 | Deck drain by-pass plug An apparatus insertable into a ship deck drain for draining water from such drain includes a conduit having an outlet end and threaded inlet end, substantially tubular inflatable sleeve surrounding a portion of the conduit insertable into the drain, and a... | 12/23/1986 |
| 4469152 | Dust-tight hatch closure assembly A dust-tight hatch closure assembly for filling railway covered hopper cars having a filling means and a pneumatic seal in the form of an inflatable annulus.... | 09/04/1984 |
| 4448218 | Apparatus for sealing leaks An apparatus for patching leaks in pipes, hoses, containers and the like has a rectangularly shaped inflatable pad comprising top and bottom layers with the top layer constructed of inelastic material and the bottom layer of very elastic material connecte... | 05/15/1984 |
| 4387899 | Dual chamber sealing element with hardening filler A sealing element adapted to be disposed in a slitshaped, preferably annular gap, comprises an internal gas-filled cavity with an inlet in one end and an outlet in the other end for a hardening filling medium adapted to be introduced into the cavity under... | 06/14/1983 |
| 4373377 | Universal tail pipe connector A universal tail pipe connector includes a three-way valve disposed on a hollow, cylindrical housing having inlet and outlet ports in spaced registration along the longitudinal axis of the housing, each having an internal diameter at least as large as the... | 02/15/1983 |
| 4323280 | Remote controlled high wall coal mining system A high wall mining system including a continuous mining machine, a remote control station outwardly of the high wall from which extend electric cables wound on cable reels which extend to the continuous mining machine enabling the operator to control the ... | 04/06/1982 |
| 4276945 | Mud return line connector apparatus The preferred and illustrated embodiment is a connector adapted to be joined above a blowout preventer and below the rotary table of a drilling rig. It collects the annular flow of returned drilling mud and directs mud to an incorporated, radially directe... | 07/07/1981 |
| 4252150 | Pneumatic faucet attachment A quick connect-disconnect attachment for faucets for delivery of liquid therefrom through an extension hose. The attachment is retained by pneumatic pressure created by a hand-operated bulb. A valve permits release of the pressure therein for removal of ... | 02/24/1981 |
| 4226444 | Pipe joints A method of joining pipes in which a sleeve is placed over the adjacent ends of the pipes so as to overlap each pipe. The sleeve fits with clearance around the pipe ends. The ends of the clearance space are closed by inflating hollow sealing rings and the... | 10/07/1980 |
| 4222590 | Equally tensioned coupling apparatus The present invention discloses method and apparatus for connecting together two members having mating surfaces by means of a plurality of fasteners such that equal compression forces are exerted on the members along force lines normal to a common plane. ... | 09/16/1980 |
| 4222589 | Coupling means for an installation for refrigerating containers Coupling means for an installation for refrigerating containers and intended to provide a seal for a flow of cold air between a refrigeration system and containers to be refrigerated comprises a double sleeve 22, 24 which forms an annular space housing an... | 09/16/1980 |