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!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7355300 | Solid state turbine engine ignition exciter having elevated temperature operational capability A turbine engine ignition exciter circuit applies energy stored in the exciter tank capacitor to the load (igniter plug) through a thyristor type semiconductor switching device that minimizes leakage current at elevated operating temperatures. The semiconductor swit... | 04/08/2008 |
| 6570341 | Electromagnetic ballast for serially connected gaseous discharge lamps Apparatus for sequentially igniting and serially operating a pair of high output rapid start fluorescent lamps from a source of AC voltage. The apparatus includes a transformer with a primary winding that may be subdivided in two sections, a principal sec... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6566824 | Flexible lighting segment An illumination apparatus comprises a lighting segment that includes a plurality of lighting sections. Each of the sections comprises a printed circuit board having a solid state optical emitter mounted thereon. The sections are interconnected by printed ... | 05/20/2003 |
| 6155694 | Composite warning light with emission pattern matching A multi-flash strobe light pattern is superimposed on each individual light pulse produced by an incandescent lamp to provide a warning signal of enhanced visibility in a particulate laden ambient environment. The first pulse of each multi-flash strobe pa... | 12/05/2000 |
| 5661347 | Circuitry arrangement for controlling a plurality of consumers, in particular lamp ballasts In accordance with the invention the circuitry arrangement comprises a central unit (5) and a plurality of peripheral units, such as control apparatuses for lamps, connected with the central unit via a data bus. These peripheral units are each connected w... | 08/26/1997 |
| 5489771 | LED light standard for photo- and videomicroscopy The invention relates to a light calibration system consisting of a compact LED source with feedback control of intensity. The source is positioned in the focal plane of the microscope objective and produces flat-field illumination of up to 31 microwatts.... | 02/06/1996 |
| 5008595 | Ornamental light display apparatus Ornamental and decorative light display utilizing LEDs constructed of two or more individual diodes. Each diode or portion of a diode is alternately selected and energized at a sufficient frequency that colors can blend to produce another color. The syste... | 04/16/1991 |
| 4788475 | Multiple discharge device hid lamp with preferential starting A high intensity discharge lamp having a plurality of discharge device, and a starting aid for preferentially starting one of the discharge devices. Upon initial application of power to the lamp the preferentially started discharge device will start first... | 11/29/1988 |
| 4751434 | Self-illuminated sealed cool light display and method The invention comprises a fluid-tight light box containing a cold cathode light source activated by a high frequency ballast circuit small enough to be contained in the box. At least the box bottom interior is coated with a crinkle or matte finish to caus... | 06/14/1988 |
| 4570209 | Indoor lighting arrangement employing high intensity discharge light sources An indoor lighting arrangement employing a combination of high pressure sodium (HPS) light sources, which produce a yellowish light, and mercury vapor or metal halide light sources, which produce a whiter light. Where the distance between the floor and th... | 02/11/1986 |
| 4390814 | Lighting apparatus Lighting apparatus for independently controlling the lighting level in several areas or zones. For example, each zone has two fluorescent lamp units, one connected between the power lines through the contacts of a first low voltage AC latching relay, and ... | 06/28/1983 |
| 4321506 | Discharge lamp and lighting equipment A discharge lamp comprises a high pressure arc tube for high pressure and a low pressure arc tube for low pressure which is electrically connected in parallel to said high pressure arc tube in an outer tube. A lighting equipment comprises a high pressure arc t... | 03/23/1982 |
| 4287454 | High pressure discharge lamps with fast restart A light source including two high intensity discharge devices, such as metal vapor discharge tubes, electrically coupled in parallel to provide fast restart and immediate illumination after a momentary power interruption. Upon application of power, one of... | 09/01/1981 |
| 4177782 | Ignition system providing sparks for two ignition plugs in each cylinder from a single ignition coil Two ignition plugs are provided for each cylinder of an engine. Since it is desirable that these two plugs be sparked by one ignition coil, separate output terminal of a secondary coil of the ignition coil are respectively connected to each of the two plu... | 12/11/1979 |
| 3931543 | Starting and operating circuit for gaseous discharge lamps Circuits are disclosed for starting and operating a high pressure sodium vapor lamp in combination with another gaseous discharge lamp of low voltage breakdown characteristics. The sodium vapor lamp is connected in series with a ballast induction coil, wh... | 01/06/1976 |
