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 |
| 7369037 | Programmable multicandela notification device An alarm system notification device includes a strobe, a communication port, a manual selector that allows manual selection of strobe intensity, and a communication port through which the device transmits an indication of a selected strobe intensity. The device may ... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7229193 | Backlight unit A backlight unit, suitable for a large sized LCD device, includes a plurality of fluorescent lamps alternately provided under an LCD panel in at least two parts, formed by dividing a light-emitting surface. Adjacent end parts of the fluorescent lamps are overlapped ... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7190120 | Airport strobe light monitoring system An airport strobe lighting system includes a BCD source of pulses generating trigger voltages for a plurality of strobe lamps and a sensor circuit for comparing confirmation signals with the trigger pulses and generating corresponding return pulses indicative of the... | 03/13/2007 |
| 7129640 | Integrated circuit device for driving a laser diode with reduced heat transfer and method for fabricating the device An integrated circuit (IC) device for driving a light emitting device, such as a laser diode, includes a heat-absorbing structure fabricated on a substrate over an electrical component, such as an output transistor, to reduce the heat transfer between the electrical... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7075249 | Arrangement in connection with a coupling device of a fluorescent lamp An arrangement in connection with a coupling device of a fluorescent lamp, the coupling device comprising a supply transformer, whose secondary is coupled in parallel with a fluorescent tube, the arrangement comprising an indicator circuit configured to indicate the... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7045970 | Electronic ballast for a lamp to be operated with iterative voltage pulses The invention relates to an electronic ballast for a dielectrically impeded discharge lamp (L), which ballast has an inductor (W1, W2, W3) with a winding (W2) that can be short-circuited. ... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7030365 | Emitter-detector assembly for a reflex photoelectric object detection system A system for sensing the presence of nearby objects includes an emitter-detector assembly and retroreflector. The emitter-detector assembly has a light emission area from which light is transmitted toward the retroreflector. The retroreflector returns that light to ... | 04/18/2006 |
| 6960715 | Music instrument system and methods A system and methods which allow even a novice performer to easily play music which is not disharmonious and which is pleasing to the performer and his or her audience. The music is preferably created by a performer breaking one or more beams of light, which are emi... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6833783 | Processor based strobe with feedback Strobe control circuitry combines several approaches to limit in-rush current. One circuit limits initial circuit response to an applied voltage that has been switched from an inactive to an active state. Other circuitry switches from a high input impedance state to... | 12/21/2004 |
| 6661337 | Processor based strobe with feedback Strobe control circuitry combines several approaches to limit in-rush current. One circuit limits initial circuit response to an applied voltage that has been switched from an inactive to an active state. Other circuitry switches from a high input impedan... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6504318 | Supply coupling of a fluorescent lamp The invention relates to a supply coupling of a fluorescent lamp used for supervising the operation and condition of a lamp circuit, particularly a supply coupling in connection with an electronic coupling device wherein the power required by the lamp cir... | 01/07/2003 |
| 6492775 | Pre-fabricated stage incorporating light-actuated triggering means A pre-fabricated stage comprising an integrated visible light-source, a device for directing light from the visible light source away from the stage in the form of a beam of light, and corresponding light-detecting devices for detecting such light that is... | 12/10/2002 |
| 6486608 | Electroluminescent device for communication apparatus of mobile phone for informing an incoming call An electroluminescent device for communication apparatus of mobile phone for informing an incoming call for carrying out a flashing effect on the mobile phone when such occurs. The device comprises an electroluminescent means and a controller circuit wher... | 11/26/2002 |
| 6320323 | EL driver with lamp discharge monitor A driver for an EL lamp includes a voltage detector coupled to the lamp for monitoring the voltage across the lamp and providing an indication of when the lamp is substantially discharged.... | 11/20/2001 |
| 6310445 | Led indicator disable circuit and led indicator incorporating the led indicator disable circuit Circuitry for an LED indicator which can enable and disable the LED indicator at appropriate times. An LED indicator, for example an array of LEDs, is driven by a driving circuit including a control circuit. An input is configured to sense an input line v... | 10/30/2001 |
| 5689156 | Circuit arrangement for detecting the amount of deposited electrode material on the wall of a lamp vessel The invention relates to a measuring circuit for detecting the amount of deposited electrode material on the wall of a lamp vessel of a discharge lamp by measuring the power of infrared radiation within a specific wavelength range, comprising a detector f... | 11/18/1997 |
| 5666029 | Fluorescent emergency ballast self test circuit A lighting system composed of: an AC ballast for delivering AC power from an AC power source to a lamp; an emergency power supply for delivering AC power to the lamp when the AC power source fails; and a switch for disconnecting the AC ballast from the AC... | 09/09/1997 |
| 5239234 | Method of igniting a gas-discharge lamp The method of igniting a gas-discharge lamp includes the steps of generating an exciting signal T in an operating circuit having an AC voltage generator on receipt of a lamp switch-on signal E by the operating circuit; exciting an ignition resonant circui... | 08/24/1993 |
| 5132594 | Longer-life incandescent lamp An incandescent lamp has a first and a second filament, one or the other of which is arranged to connect with the socket voltage in an ordinary lamp socket by way of a bistable thermally actuated switch built into the lamp. Upon initial provision of the s... | 07/21/1992 |
| 5027035 | Search lamps and torches A torch particularly for use in hazardous conditions has safety and battery power warning features. The supply from a power source (34) to a light source (12) includes a frangible conductive element (132) in the conductive path to the light source (12). T... | 06/25/1991 |
| 4908552 | Electronic flash unit This invention concerns with an electronic flash unit in which, as two capacitors of large and small capacitances are charged, even when a trigger operation is actuated before the capacitor of large capacitance is fully charged, it is made possible with t... | 03/13/1990 |
| 4810936 | Failing lamp monitoring and deactivating circuit A discharge lamp monitoring and deactivating circuit includes a normally closed switch in series with the discharge lamp and its ballast and a detector circuit connected across the lamp to monitor lamp operating voltage. The detector circuit includes a ca... | 03/07/1989 |
| 4628229 | Flashlight emission apparatus A flashlight emission apparatus is provided which inhibits the emission of flashlight from a flash discharge tube before a voltage to which a main discharge capacitor is charged reaches a proper voltage level for emission. This occurs in response to an ou... | 12/09/1986 |
| 4550273 | Eight electrode optical readout gap A protective device for a plurality of electrical circuits includes a pluity of isolated electrodes forming a gap with a common electrode. An output signal, electrically isolated from the circuits being monitored, is obtained by a photosensor viewing the... | 10/29/1985 |
| 4259618 | Electronic assembly A compact electronic assembly operable to control the energization of an electrical appliance is adapted for convenient mounting in an existing, standard electrical wall-switch box. A disconnectable electronic control means is mounted on the outside of th... | 03/31/1981 |
| 4097783 | Ultraviolet light processor The sources of ultraviolet light processors containing a plurality of such sources are started sequentially to reduce the current surge at start-up.... | 06/27/1978 |
| 4074170 | Voltage regulator with thermal overload protection There is disclosed herein a voltage regulator for a power supply for load devices such as electronic photoflash units. The voltage regulator supplies power to charge the main capacitor of the photoflash unit to an appropriate voltage, and uses a semicondu... | 02/14/1978 |
| 4013922 | Sunlamp device The invention relates to a sunlamp device which is provided with a high pressure mercury vapour discharge tube and with an auxiliary device for extinguishing the discharge tube with a given time delay on termination of the desired irradiation period. Acco... | 03/22/1977 |
| 3938034 | Gas tube tester The embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is directed to a gas tube tester which provides a pair of terminals for connection to the external electrodes of a cold cathode gas discharge tube. The tester includes one circuit for applying a progressive... | 02/10/1976 |
