...that in 1800 ether was first used by partyers as a fun diversion? Sniffing the gas led to hilarious and raucous laughter as people watched each other become more and more intoxicated and silly. Several doctors independently realized the value ether would have to anesthetize surgery patients. Of those who claimed rights to the "discovery," none had a happy ending. One had a seizure and died defending his rights. Another spent his life in an asylum because he had been denied acclaim. A third became addicted to chloroform and, in a New York City jail, he soaked a cloth in the drug, severed an artery and bled to death.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8172290 | Gripper A gripper has a pair of supports 22A, 22B positioned on opposite sides of a bottle made of resin, and abutments 24A, 24B disposed respectively on the supports 22A, 22B for holding the bottle 4 made of resin, each of t... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8052187 | Cover installation tool An installation tool may include an extension member, a body portion disposed on the extension member, and a plurality of fingers flexibly protruding from the body portion. The plurality of fingers are adapted to releasably engage a cover assembly. The plurality of ... | 11/08/2011 |
| 7654595 | Articulated driving mechanism, method of manufacturing the mechanism, and holding hand and robot using the mechanism A multi-joint drive mechanism includes a bone-member layer member (101) in which a plurality of bone members are arranged in arrays and in a generally planar fashion, the plurality of bone members being movably coupled at coupling portions (3A), and el... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7431364 | Microgripper device for a micro-mechanism A microgripper device includes a microactuator member and a microgripper member. The microactuator member includes an actuating portion adapted to output a driving force to the microgripper member. The microgripper member includes a main flame, an engaging portion, ... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7355394 | Apparatus and method of dynamically measuring thickness of a layer of a substrate A method and apparatus are provided for measuring the thickness of a test object. The apparatus includes an eddy current sensor having first and second sensor heads. The sensor heads are positioned to have a predetermined gap therebetween for passage by at least a p... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7344352 | Workpiece transfer device A workpiece transfer assembly for manipulating one or more workpieces, such as semiconductor wafers includes a plurality of coacting arms that include one or more arcuate portions corresponding to an outer diameter of a workpiece. The arcuate portion has a workpiece... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7341549 | Device for gripping and holding a component A gripping and holding device in the handling system of a machine tool. The device comprises at least one preferably plate-like support member provided with at least two retainer fingers spreadable against a return force and defining a common accommodation orifice f... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7322622 | Nano-gripper and method of producing same The nano-gripper of the present invention comprises (i) a pair of arms 71 and 71 disposed side by side, each arm 71 having a face at its front end, the front-end faces of the arms 71 and 71 facing each other, (ii) and a protrusion ... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7320489 | Golf disc retriever and method The present invention relates to a golf disc retriever attached to an elongating handle having a substantially U-shaped rigid frame with space between adjacent upper and lower legs of the U-shaped frame to allow the passage of the rimmed edge of a golf disc into the... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7287792 | Crown neck container gripping device The present invention is directed toward a bottle gripping device that grips a bottle at discrete points comprising a minimal area of the bottle. More specifically, the gripping device typically contacts the bottle at four discrete points and such total area of cont... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7284778 | Device for carrying preforms comprising improved gripping means A device for carrying a preform in a temperature condition oven, including a gripping device provided with gripping claws, which enclose an outer surface of the neck of the preform. An inner core is provided that penetrates axially inside the neck over a distance su... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7278536 | Molded plastic conveyor chain member for processing poultry A conveyor chain for poultry processing is formed of injection molded regular links in serially connected relationship, and has at intervals a special link adapted to receive a threaded stud for a chicken carcass-supporting cone or other structure. The special link ... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7261352 | Electrostatically driven carbon nanotube gripping device An apparatus is provided for gripping nano-scale objects, wherein the apparatus includes a probe including a base portion and a terminal portion. First and second nanotubes are secured to the base portion of the probe, wherein each of the first and second nanotubes ... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7199498 | Electrical assemblies using molecular-scale electrically conductive and mechanically flexible beams and methods for application of same Electromechanical systems utilizing suspended conducting nanometer-scale beams are provided and may be used in applications, such as, motors, generators, pumps, fans, compressors, propulsion systems, transmitters, receivers, heat engines, heat pumps, magnetic field ... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7196450 | Electromechanical assemblies using molecular-scale electrically conductive and mechanically flexible beams and methods for application of same Electromechanical systems utilizing suspended conducting nanometer-scale beams are provided and may be used in applications, such as, motors, generators, pumps, fans, compressors, propulsion systems, transmitters, receivers, heat engines, heat pumps, magnetic field ... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7183568 | Piezoelectric array with strain dependant conducting elements and method therefor A structure (and method) for a piezoelectric device, including a layer of piezoelectric material. A nanotube structure is mounted such that a change of shape of the piezoelectric material causes a change in a stress in the nanotube structure. ... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7148579 | Energy conversion systems utilizing parallel array of automatic switches and generators Nanoelectromechanical systems utilizing nanometer-scale assemblies are provided that convert thermal energy into another form of energy that can be used to perform useful work at a macroscopic level. These systems may be used to, for example, produce useful quantiti... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7133273 | Electrostatic device for holding an electronic component wafer A device for holding a wafer, an electronic component comprises a system for transporting without deformation a wafer of electronic components. The device also enables the transport by one or the other of the passive or active faces. The device comprises a planar an... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7112961 | Method and apparatus for dynamically measuring the thickness of an object A method and apparatus are provided for measuring the thickness of a test object. The apparatus includes an eddy current sensor having first and second sensor heads. The sensor heads are positioned to have a predetermined gap therebetween for passage by at least a p... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7109703 | Magnetic carbon nanotube A carbon nanotube which shows ferromagnetism without a ferromagnetic metal imparted thereto and also has high thermal stability is provided. The carbon nanotube is characterized by being doped with nitrogen (which differs from carbon in valence electron) such that t... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7104940 | Tool changer for a machine tool A tool changer for machine tools having at least two tong-shaped grippers, the legs of which are formed for engaging with the ring groove at a broader end of a tool taper. The grippers are symmetrically mounted about the central axis of a carrier and are rotatable a... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7099071 | Method of moving a carbon nanotube A method of moving a carbon nanotube which is attached by one end thereof, to a junction on a substrate. The method comprises applying a charge to the carbon nanotube, and providing a repelling force to an adjacent structure from the carbon nanotube to which the cha... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7095645 | Nanoelectromechanical memory cells and data storage devices Nanoelectromechanical (NEM) memory cells are provided by anchoring a conductive nanometer-scale beam (e.g., a nanotube) to a base and allowing a portion of the beam to move. A charge containment layer is provided in the vicinity of this free-moving portion. To read ... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7086216 | Machine for gathering ground strewn articles A machine for removing articles strewn on a tract of ground generally consisting of a wheel unit; a support frame mounted on the wheel unit, having means for advancing the machine along the tract of ground; an endless conveyor mounted on the support frame, having me... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7087092 | Artificial hand for grasping an object An artificial hand includes a finger group which is pivotally connected to a thumb. The finger group and thumb are resiliently biased toward one another. The finger group and thumb have hooked articulated distal ends. When the artificial hand and the object are brou... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7083210 | Electric tweezers Electric tweezers 1 includes a gripping member 13 for releasing/gripping an object, a base member 11 having an engagement portion to be engaged with the one end portion of the gripping member, a holder member 62 for fixedly coupling one e... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7083374 | Gripping members gripping and moving packets stacked by a conveyor A stacking conveyor conveys packets so that the conveyed packets become stacked together in a standing up configuration as an array of packets. First and second gripping members are automatically controlled so that the first and second gripping members mechanically ... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7073937 | Heat emitting probe and heat emitting probe apparatus A heat emitting probe including a conductive nanotube probe needle with its base end fastened to a holder and its tip end protruded, a heat emitting body formed on the probe needle, a conductive nanotube lead wire fastened to the heat emitting body, and an electric ... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7074294 | Structures, systems and methods for joining articles and materials and uses therefor This invention provides novel nanofibers and nanofiber structures which posses adherent properties, as well as the use of such nanofibers and nanofiber comprising structures in the coupling and/or joining together of articles or materials. ... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7066513 | Operation method of nanotweezers The operation method of nanotweezers including the steps of: confirming the position of a nanoscale material by way of imaging the surface of a specimen by a scanning type probe microscope; moving the nanotweezers to the position over the nanoscale material; descend... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7056409 | Structures, systems and methods for joining articles and materials and uses therefor This invention provides novel nanofibers and nanofiber structures which posses adherent properties, as well as the use of such nanofibers and nanofiber comprising structures in the coupling and/or joining together of articles or materials. ... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7055676 | Conveyor with movable gripper and related conveyor link A conveyor suitable for conveying objects along a transport direction, and a related link are disclosed. The link may include a link body having a length extending across the direction of transport and a width extending along the direction of transport, each link bo... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7036776 | Ice cream cone holding apparatus An ice cream cone holding apparatus includes a housing including a base and a vertical portion that is attached to and extends upwardly from the base. An opening extends into an upper end of the vertical portion and through a bottom surface of the base. A saddle is ... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7036658 | Gripper conveyor with clear conveying path and related conveyor link Various conveyor designs suitable for conveying objects along a transport direction and various related link designs are disclosed. The conveyor may include a plurality of the connected links. Each link may have a length extending across the direction of transport a... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7025238 | Quick release implement holder A system for carrying and rapidly accessing implements carried on a belt, especially implements used by law enforcement officers. The system uses a hinged floor carried on a flatplate having a belt loop. The hinged floor is held perpendicular to the flat plate by a ... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7021921 | Pick-up plug for plastic preforms A pick-up plug for supporting and transporting preforms of thermoplastic resin, includes a central body, and an engagement mechanism adapted to slip into the neck portion of the preform, in which elastic members are provided on the engagement mechanism so as to pres... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7004524 | Handling device with a reversible toroidal gripping member A handling device includes a gripping member and a support structure that supports the gripping member. The gripping member includes a flexible, substantially toroidal wall member having an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion that defines an axial passagewa... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6981727 | Diode-type nanotweezers and nanomanipulator device using the same Diode-type nanotweezers including a first arm and a second arm that project from a holder and are opened and closed by an electrostatic force so as to hold a nanosubstance. The first arm is formed by a gate nanotube fastened at its base end to the holder, and its ti... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6948898 | Alignment of semiconductor wafers and other articles A wafer or some other article is aligned while being held by an end-effector. ... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6935666 | Gripper and method of manufacturing the gripper The present invention is a gripper comprising a motor 12 for driving a connecting nut 126 that is translated, a gripping finger 103 having at least two sides of substantial V shape and a shared portion 103g for joining one ends of ... | 08/30/2005 |