Did You Know...
...that several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!
PatentStorm News
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 |
| 8167386 | Door assembly and method of replacing a door of an electronics cabinet Disclosed are rack enclosures for electronic equipment including at least one door configured to define a space between an edge of the door and a wall or frame of the cabinet, kits for retrofitting rack enclosures to include such a door, and methods of installing su... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8056989 | Child-proof safety latch A latch is provided for engagement between the closure member of an enclosure and the frame of the enclosure, the latch comprising a member with a first portion, including a hook portion to engage the frame and prevent the closure member frame from fully opening. Th... | 11/15/2011 |
| 7909418 | Dispensing system for tools A tool dispensing system has one or more drawers, each drawer having one or more bins. Each bin occupies at least one cell of a drawer cell array which has an integer number M cell columns and an integer number N cell rows. The bins are provided with lockable lids a... | 03/22/2011 |
| 7909419 | Restricted access storage compartment A locker that may either be opened in a keyed or keyless manner includes a locking mechanism formed predominantly of sheet components. The locking mechanism is designed to be carried by the frame of the locker, and is particularly suited to enable the locker to be u... | 03/22/2011 |
| 7645002 | Article of furniture A piece of furniture with a furniture body and a first and at least one second drawer, displaceable relative to the furniture body, the front panel of the first drawer essentially completely covering the front panel or front wall of the second drawer in the closed p... | 01/12/2010 |
| 7364478 | Connector and method for manufacturing and connecting wire A terminal connector and wire connecting method thereof are disclosed. The terminal connector includes a metal electric wire terminal, a metal material with the low melting point and an insulated sleeve. One section of the metal electric wire terminal bends to a C-s... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7357250 | Storage case A storage case including a tray and a plurality of holding units. The tray has a bottom wall and a plurality of walls formed unitarily with and upstanding from the bottom wall. The holding units include a base and a plurality of walls formed unitarily therewith to c... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7320236 | Device that makes it possible to lock and unlock, by means of a key, a stopper or cover on a frame A device for locking and unlocking, with a key, a cover on a frame. The rotor of the lock for this device has a cylindrical barrel mounted for rotation in the cover and being interdependent in rotation with the slide bolt and a cylindrical axle with head mounted loo... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7309114 | Cabinet with a safety device A cabinet has a housing, multiple tracks, multiple drawers, a safety device and a lock assembly. Each track has a sliding rail having a guiding notch and a locking hole. The safety device is mounted in the housing and has a fixed base, a moving base, multiple guidin... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7293705 | Radio frequency identification method and system of distributing products A method and system for vending products from a defined area, such as a micro-warehouse with a door. The method includes fitting each product with a radio frequency identification tag, positioning the plurality of products in a micro-warehouse, sensing opening and c... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7258276 | Radio frequency identification method and system of distributing products A method and system for vending products from a defined area, such as a micro-warehouse with a door. The method includes fitting each product with a radio frequency identification tag, positioning the plurality of products in a micro-warehouse, sensing opening and c... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7228816 | Animal feeding device and method An automated feeding system for pets with special diets includes a feeder dish which is made accessible to a pet only when an ID tag on the pet is recognized as authorized by a receiver on the device and only for a certain time period. The appropriate amount of food... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7185740 | Cash dispensing automated banking machine deposit accepting system and method An automated banking machine includes a mechanism for accepting deposited items. Deposited items may be provided to the machine in envelopes which are first passed to a user from an envelope storage area (132) in the machine through a transport (124) a... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7175068 | Method and apparatus for containing mail articles deposited in a mail drop box A mail box configured to contain and reduce exposure to hazardous particulates, which includes a container having a deposit port at an upper end and a collection chamber at a lower end. There is at least one door at the upper end for mail to be placed into the depos... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7165720 | Radio frequency identification method and system of distributing products A method and system for vending products from a defined area, such as a micro-warehouse with a door. The method includes fitting each product with a radio frequency identification tag, positioning the plurality of products in a micro-warehouse, sensing opening and c... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7131710 | Main door lock housing for a vending machine A vending machine includes a cabinet frame having top, bottom, side and rear walls that collectively define a central cavity. A plurality of column walls are arranged within the central cavity that, together with the side walls, form an associated plurality of stack... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7133290 | Method and apparatus for securing an information handling system An apparatus for securing an information handling system includes a chassis cover defining a opening therein, the chassis cover including a locking member, and a panel operable to be secured in the opening or removed from the opening. In an embodiment, the removal o... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7108135 | Workpiece container assembly and apparatus for opening/closing the same A workpiece container assembly includes a container, and a cover having a locking section that facilitates manipulation and gripping by an apparatus for opening and closing the workpiece container assembly. The container is configured to accommodate workpiece(s) the... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7085621 | Method of operating a dispensing cabinet A method of operating a dispensing cabinet to identify the locations where items to be dispensed are located is comprised of a login step in which user information is entered into a processor controlling the dispensing cabinet. The processor unlocks certain doors of... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7063398 | Interlock mechanism for lateral file cabinets Interlocks for file cabinets that prevent more than one drawer from being opened at a given time include an elongated, flexible member, such as a cable, which is changeable from a high slack condition to a low slack condition when one of a number of associated drawe... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7063316 | Automated banking machine currency dispenser modules Dispenser modules include structure permitting their securement in stacked and aligned relation. The dispenser modules can contain multimedia. The dispenser modules can be used in an automated banking machine operative to dispense multimedia. Modules can include a p... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7048345 | Reconfigurable data cartridge import/export drawer A data cartridge exchange apparatus for use in a data storage system having a drawer with at least a first data cartridge storage location and a second data cartridge storage location. The drawer is operatively associated with the data storage system so that the fir... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7040504 | System and apparatus for the dispensing of drugs A system and apparatus are described in which modular receptacles are filled and transported to automated dispensing machines for later retrieval and distribution. A system of the present invention includes the loading, refilling, and replacement of the modular rece... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7028889 | Media cassette and media dispenser having the same A media cassette includes a casing mounted on a mounting portion of a media dispenser, having a stack space in which media are stacked. A discharging slot is formed in the casing for discharging the media stacked in the stack space out of the casing in an edge direc... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7024089 | Fiber distribution frame arrangement having a centralized controller which universally controls and monitors access to fiber distribution frames A fiber distribution frame arrangement includes a fiber distribution frame. Fiber optic component panels are housed within the fiber distribution frame at respective positions. Doors are connected to the fiber distribution frame for the doors to open and close relat... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7017819 | Cash dispensing automated banking machine deposit accepting system and method An automated banking machine includes a mechanism for accepting deposited items. Deposited items may be provided to the machine in envelopes which are first passed to a user from an envelope storage area (132) in the machine through a transport (124) a... | 03/28/2006 |
| 7014200 | Utility cart A utility cart which is capable of being readily converted from a first configuration as a conventional utility cart with the area above a bottom table being open into a second configuration as a bin cart, including a number of outwardly extending storage bins. In a... | 03/21/2006 |
| 6994409 | Controlled access dispensing system A controlled access dispensing unit arranged to permit selective access to supply items within a portion of the dispensing unit. Preferably, the dispensing unit includes a cabinet arranged to hold a plurality of supply items. An enclosure assembly desirably includes... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6979096 | LED lighting for proportion blending system The ice dispenser includes an ice hopper for holding the ice and a lighting system positioned about the ice hopper for illuminating the ice. The lighting system may include a number of light emitting diodes. ... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6969130 | Enclosure for electronic devices An electronic device enclosure is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the enclosure includes a housing and at least one door pivotally connected to the housing, wherein the door is pivotally moveable between a closed position and an open position about a first p... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6959811 | Tackle container with nesting space A container for the convenient transport and storage of fishing lures, particularly crank baits, is disclosed. The container includes channels running parallel to one another, with curved or slanted walls so that the bottom of the channel is offset from the top. A p... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6942306 | Modular storage system A cabinet includes side panels, a back panel, and a top panel that frictionally-attach together with non-intrusive integrally-formed connectors. The illustrated base is screw-attached, and includes openings for routing wiring within the cabinet. Brackets are adapted... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6932444 | Locking drawer A casing includes a housing has a pair of spaced apart housing side walls and housing rear wall therebetween. A drawer slidably supported within the housing has a bottom, drawer side walls extending vertically from the bottom, and drawer front and rear walls extendi... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6902083 | Method for dispensing medical items A dispenser (10) for dispensing medical items (68, 70, 72) includes dispenser modules (28, 30) movably mounted thereon. The dispenser modules are selectively operative to dispense medical items therefrom into a path (54) which is connecte... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6890043 | Lock cam with resilient arm for a cabinet lock An upright storage cabinet has a lock assembly which operates a vertically movable lock bar to simultaneously lock all drawers of the cabinet. The lock assembly includes a rotatable cam body which has a resiliently deflectable cam that projects radially therefrom. T... | 05/10/2005 |
| 6851771 | Lockable wire enclosure and locking mechanism therefor A lockable wire mesh security and closure including a locking member which engages and locks to both the top wall and the bottom wall of the enclosure. The locking member can be latched into position and locked in place to securely lock the enclosure. ... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6728098 | Panel mountable electronic device A panel mountable electronic device includes a housing having a flange through which passes a hole, a tab having a threaded hole, and a screw. In some embodiments, the electronic device is an optical transceiver and includes optical as well as electronic connections... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6726294 | Cabinet locking system A cabinet locking system includes at least one cabinet having a housing and a plurality of separately openable compartments in the housing. The system has an interlocking device locking the compartments, that device including separate switchable locking devices moun... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6685284 | Unlock system of particular locker When a legitimate recipient of a package or tenant loses a card issued to him or her for unlocking a particular locker of a locker cabinet, there is a problem that he or she cannot unlock the locker to open the same and pick up a package of merchandise de... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6682156 | Apparatus for controlling access to a plurality of drawers An apparatus for controlling access to a plurality of drawers, in one embodiment being tool dispensing apparatus (10) comprising a housing (12), a plurality of drawers (26) within the housing (12), each drawer for storing one or more tools, and a control ... | 01/27/2004 |
