Did You Know...
...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!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7854053 | Method of attaching a ball lock pin A method of attaching a ball lock pin. A bushing assembly is inserted in a first object such that an outer surface of the bushing assembly is received within the first object. A plurality of locking balls disposed on a shaft of the ball lock pin is inserted into the... | 12/21/2010 |
| 7421785 | Method for clearance adjusting cover plate closure A ball and socket housing incorporating a thick housing wall of deformable material adjacent a central bore opening to provide a closure system utilizing a deformable cover-plate. The deformable cover-plate is formed to a desired configuration within the central bor... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7370400 | Method of and device for assembling a constant velocity joint A method of and device for assembling joint components of constant velocity joints wherein into an annular first joint component with a greater diameter and a first longitudinal axis, there is introduced an annular or star-shaped second joint component with a smalle... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7337797 | Ball valve and method of manufacture A ball valve having a ball valve assembly disposed within a unitary, elongated tube is provided. The unitary, elongated tube has a first, inlet end, a medial portion having a cross-sectional area, and a second, outlet end. The first, inlet end is a swedged tube havi... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7322591 | Suspension apparatus for a vehicle and vehicle including same In a vehicle suspension system, suspension arms are attached to the right and left sides of a vehicle body frame, a knuckle is attached to the ends of the suspension arms, a front shock absorber is provided between the vehicle body frame and the suspension arm on ea... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7260878 | Ball joint A ball joint includes: a ball stud having a spherical ball part and a shank part extending from the spherical ball part; a bearing cupping the spherical ball part of the ball stud; and a housing holding the bearing therein. The housing is provided with a recess in a... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7144176 | Ink reservoir for attaching to various pens A pen includes a housing, and an ink reservoir to be received in the housing. The ink reservoir includes a cartridge received in the housing and for receiving ink, a barrel attaching to front of the cartridge, and a nib attached to the barrel, for extending out thro... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7131181 | Tool for manufacturing ballpoint pens A tool and method of manufacturing a tool for making ballpoint pen tips, called rough tips, in their seat zone and preferably in their cone zone. The tool is mounted in fast-rotating precision spindles and the position of the tool may be adjusted to adjust the dimen... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7125192 | Joint A ball-stud joint having a flange on a stud thereof, the flange having a sloping side for making it easy to locate centrally the stud relatively to a lower die jig. The ball stud is comprised of a ball fit for pivoting movement into a major body, a stud having a pla... | 10/24/2006 |
| 7007533 | Rotating head The invention relates to a device called a rotating head which is used to deform the edge of the points or nibs of ball-point pens. The inventive device has two rotating rolls which are installed so that they can pivot freely in the rotating head. The rotating rolls... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6981512 | Tubular flow conduit with in-line integrated check valve and method of making same An integrated in-line tube and check valve assembly fabricated by end-form mandrel expanding an outlet end portion of deformable tube stock, such as metal, of nominal starting diameter, and concurrently end-forming a valve seat on the inside of the expanded tube sec... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6944919 | Zipper head structure A zipper head structure comprises a pull tab, a base and a universal joint. The base has a receiving space for receiving a zipper chain scoop. The universal joint is connected between the pull tab and the base. Through the design of the universal joint, the pull tab... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6840696 | Method for producing a ball-and-socket joint between a slipper and a piston, and a ball-and-socket joint of this type A method of producing a ball-and-socket joint (1) between a slipper (3) and a piston (2) of a piston engine, which includes configuring the slipper (3) with a joint ball (4) at an end opposite a bottom surface (21); configur... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6681472 | Method of assembling jointed support system A method of assembling a jointed structure from several parts is provided. At least two discrete parts having ends that cooperate to form a movable joint between the parts are placed in a groove formed in a plate. The parts are prevented from being displa... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6604270 | Robust, low mass stabilizer bar link assembly An end link adapted to interconnect a stabilizer bar and a suspension member within a vehicular suspension system includes a housing having a first socket, a second socket and a body interconnecting the first and second sockets. The end link also includes... | 08/12/2003 |
| 6532665 | Method for expanding a cover plate An assembly technique and device for enclosing an open end of a movable socket (10) comprised of fully hardened materials with an expanding cover-plate (66) and for controlling the expansion of the cover-plate (66) to provide a central orifice (67) of pre... | 03/18/2003 |
| 6497120 | Quick change connector for plunger for glass container forming process and equipment A plunger assembly for use in a glass bottle forming machine permitting quick exchange and self-aligning of a plunger held on a plunger driving piston comprising a plunger having an annular recess, an adapter having a plurality of stepped radial bores ext... | 12/24/2002 |
| 6308395 | Swivel insert remote control assembly and method of making same A flexible motion transmitting core element (12) is attached a rod (14) and a conduit (16) movably supports the core element (12) and has an end portion to which is attached an end fitting (18). An insert (20) has a neck portion (22) embedded in the end f... | 10/30/2001 |
| 6202280 | Cover-plate expansion assembly method An assembly technique for closing a movable socket (10) without the need to deform or displace any portion of the socket housing (12), thereby allowing for the use of fully hardened socket housing materials. The internal components of the movable socket a... | 03/20/2001 |
| 6125541 | Device and method for closing a movable socket and establishing a predetermined wear indicator distance An assembly technique and device for enclosing an open end of a movable socket (10) comprised of fully hardened materials with an expanding cover-plate (66) and for positioning the cover-plate at a predetermined distance from an exposed pressure plate (62... | 10/03/2000 |
| 6098287 | Method for manufacturing a ball joint This manufacturing method comprises a first step in which a molten aluminum alloy is cast into casting dies into which a ball 8 forming a ball portion 1a of a ball-shank 1 in corporation with a shank 1b connected to the portion 1a is inserted as a core so... | 08/08/2000 |
| 6030141 | Ball-and-socket joint and device for assembling a ball-and-socket joint A ball joint, particularly a steering joint for motor vehicles, with a joint housing (1) having a spherical ring-shaped bearing surface (1b), in which a ball (2c) arranged on a ball pin (2) is seated so as to be able to rotate and tilt to a limited extent... | 02/29/2000 |
| 6018872 | Method for pressing a preassembled ball joint cartridge into a bearing eye of a tie rod end A method is disclosed for pressing a preassembled ball joint cartridge into a bearing eye of a tie rod end, with the ball joint cartridge comprising a ball joint pin, a bearing shell surrounding the joint ball, and a bearing housing that surrounds the bea... | 02/01/2000 |
| 6006421 | Device for pressing a preassembled ball joint cartridge into a bearing eye of a tie rod end An apparatus is used for pressing a preassembled ball joint cartridge into a bearing eye of a tie rod end, with the ball joint cartridge comprising a ball joint pin, a bearing shell surrounding the joint ball, and a bearing housing that surrounds the bear... | 12/28/1999 |
| 5915842 | Elastomeric bearing and assembly method therefor An elastomer bearing (20) and assembly method therefor. The bearing (20) includes an inner member (22) having an outer profiled surface with a maximum radial dimension, an outer member (24) having a minimum radial dimension which is smaller than said maxi... | 06/29/1999 |
| 5904436 | Dry wedge ball and socket joint A ball and socket joint is disclosed. The joint comprises two hard, self-adjusting, tapered side bearing halves with inner spherical faces. The inner spherical faces are lined with a low friction synthetic filament impregnated fabric overlay bonded to the... | 05/18/1999 |
| 5735048 | Spherical bearing having high mechanical strength, and method for manufacture The invention relates to a spherical bearing having high mechanical strength, and its method of manufacture. This spherical bearing includes a cage (3) containing an internal articulation element (1) and slit along a radius, the edges of the slit (5) of w... | 04/07/1998 |
| 5611577 | Bellows sealed ball joint and method of forming A ball joint includes a tubular outer shroud having a unique one-piece weld-free socket which receives a complementary ball of a tubular inner shroud. The ball joint is preferably formed by plastically deforming the outer shroud to integrally form the soc... | 03/18/1997 |
| 5564853 | Ball and socket joint assembly A bearing set for a ball socket joint comprises an outer bearing and an inner bearing with a head of a ball stud engaging a spherical inner seat face of each of the bearings. A compression pre-load is applied when the inner bearing is inserted into a cavi... | 10/15/1996 |
| 5513433 | Method of producing a spherical bearing A spherical bearing includes an outer ring formed integrally with a rod end, an inner ring having a spherical outer peripheral surface arranged in face-to-face relation with the inner peripheral surface of the outer ring, and a flexible lubricating sheet ... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5499452 | Method of making retainers for ball bearings Material is first formed into a flat ring. Ball retaining pockets are then formed in the flat ring leaving bridge material between adjacent pockets. Bearing balls are inserted into the ball retaining pockets and bridge material between adjacent pockets is... | 03/19/1996 |
| 5492427 | Ball joint and work process for preparing same A ball joint and a work process for preparing such a ball joint are described, in which the housing is prepared in one piece by a sheet metal shaping process. An edge bead, which is used to close the housing by a cover, is prepared by material deformation... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5345679 | Method of making plastic ball sleeve assembly A method of making a plastic ball sleeve assembly includes the steps of forming a flat plastic sleeve blank, cold forming a plurality of ball sockets in the sleeve blank, cold forming a plurality of integral living hinges in the sleeve blank, inserting re... | 09/13/1994 |
| 5325586 | Double row angular contact ball bearings and a method for the manufacture thereof A double row, angular contact ball bearing comprised of an integral inner race ring and an integral outer race ring, the outer race ring having at least one circumferential depressing between the rows of balls and the inner race ring having a circumferent... | 07/05/1994 |
| 5309787 | Locking pin for securing a shift linkage A locking pin, in particular for the securing of shift positions of a shift linkage in automobile transmissions, comprises a hollow cylindrical shaft portion (1) which is drawn from thin-walled sheet metal and closed at one end by a bottom (2). This botto... | 05/10/1994 |
| 5276964 | Method of manufacturing a high density connector system There is disclosed a high density electronic connector system in which a plastic insulating body supports on one or more levels a plurality of conductive circuit traces. Output contacts to these traces are provided by small metal balls. The metal balls ar... | 01/11/1994 |
| 5193262 | Method for forming a fuel tank assembly A heat shield retainer and method for mounting a heat shield onto a polymeric fuel tank. The heat shield retainer comprises a nut and bolt combination and a retainer body. The retainer body has bulbous pegs located on a first side thereof for engaging wit... | 03/16/1993 |
| 5153976 | Ball-and-socket assembly and method of making The ball-and-socket assembly (10) comprises a rod (12) having a ball head (14) at one end thereof, the ball head (14) having a diametrical groove (16) with a flexible member (30) disposed therein and extending radially beyond the outer surface (14A) of th... | 10/13/1992 |
| 5070609 | Method of manufacturing a ball joint A ball joint and a manufacturing method of the same. The ball joint comprises a holder and a ball and rod which is rotatably and movably secured to the holder and a sealing member which is secured between the spherical body of the ball and rod and a spher... | 12/10/1991 |
| 5011324 | Detent structure having a retaining lip with a smooth continuous outer surface free from stress-concentrating corners A detent ball is retained in a recess against a bias spring by deforming the material around the open end of the recess radially and axially inwardly of the recess to define a retaining lip to hold the ball in place, the lip having a substantially part-sp... | 04/30/1991 |
