...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7205491 | Membrane for key switch and the key switch The present invention provides a key switch diaphragm capable of obtaining a good click feeling and capable of avoiding contact failure and having a high durability. A key switch diaphragm 30 comprises a thin plate having flexibility and conductivity, and the... | 04/17/2007 |
| 4318071 | Interface relay for high current equipment Disclosed is a relay for high current equipment, such as, for example, an electric range. The relay provides the interface between the solid state electronics and the high wattage electric heating elements. The relay is comprised of a frame having a non-e... | 03/02/1982 |
| 4166996 | Thermostatic control device Movement of the diaphragm pad occasioned by change in pressure within the diaphragm in response to a change in sensed temperature causes the bowed actuating spring to increase or decrease the degree of flexure to actuate the switch. In order to accommodat... | 09/04/1979 |
| 4001747 | Flasher switch vane structure An improved self-biased vane structure normally buckled to an abnormal posture by a thermally expansible pull member comprises a piece of resilient sheet metal deformed downwardly relative to a horizontal reference plane between pairs of divergent creases... | 01/04/1977 |
| 3953817 | Flasher device A flasher device includes a terminal with an inner extension carrying a stationary contact thereon, the extension supporting a conductive heat responsive means connected to another terminal of the device and having a movable contact thereon, an insulating... | 04/27/1976 |