Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7948351 | Circuit protection device having warning function A circuit protection device having a warning function includes a casing with a button, a first terminal and a second terminal connected thereto. A resilient bi-metallic plate is connected between the two terminals and bends to be separated from the second terminal w... | 05/24/2011 |
| 7683750 | Warning device for circuit breaker A warning device for a circuit breaker includes a casing with a button and a warning light is received in the button. The button is movable relative to the casing and made of transparent or translucent material. When the main circuit is connected, the warning light ... | 03/23/2010 |
| 7561017 | Fusible switching disconnect modules and devices A fuse status indicator module for a fusible switch disconnect device includes a housing, a switch within the housing, a switch actuator extending from the housing and operatively coupled to the switch, at least one open fuse detecting element contained within the h... | 07/14/2009 |
| 7405645 | Thermally activated circuit interrupter A thermally activated circuit interrupter (10) has a cantilever mounted, snap acting thermostatic disc (16) mounting a movable electric contact (18) that is adapted to move between a contacts engaged position and a tripped, contacts disengaged p... | 07/29/2008 |
| 7336149 | Circuit breaker having a bimetallic snap-action disk A circuit breaker includes a bimetallic snap-action disk fixed to a bimetallic connection disposed in the vicinity of a fixed contact connection inside a coverable housing. The bimetallic disk has a contact end with a contact superposed with a fixed contact of the f... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7330097 | Direct current cutoff switch In a direct current cutoff switch1, a PTC 5, which is a non-linear resistor, is parallel connected to a contact circuit composed of a fixed contact 4-2 and a movable contact 8-2 via electrodes 5-1. When the swi... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7324876 | System for remotely controlling energy distribution at local sites A power management system and associated method includes provision of local wireless energy control units at remote sites for controlling power delivery to customer loads, and a central station with a wireless transmitter for broadcasting commands to the wireless en... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7317375 | Adjustable safety switch A switch device includes a body with a switch member pivotably engaged with a top opening of the body and a first terminal and a second terminal respectively extend through two slots in a bottom of the body. A connection member is fixedly connected to an inside of t... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7312687 | Protective switch for protecting a circuit A protective switch for protecting a circuit includes an operating element or rocker switch, contact connections projecting from a housing, a contact spring electrically connected to a first contact connection and having a free end covering a second contact connecti... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7304560 | Safety switches A safety switch includes a switch member and a push rod is pivotably connected to an inside of the switch member. A biasing member pushes the push rod toward a stop rod extending from the inside of the switch member. A bi-metallic contact plate has a first end fixed... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7292129 | Protection device for switches A switch device includes a body with a switch member pivotably engaged with a top opening of the body and a first terminal and a second terminal respectively extend through a bottom of the body. A bi-metallic plate has a first end fixed to the first terminal and inc... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7283031 | Circuit breaker A breaker has a first conducting strip and a second conducting strip respectively mounted on a lower end of a shell; a first terminal mounted on the second conducting strip; a bimetal strip securely provided on a first conducting strip; a second terminal mounted on ... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7265652 | Controllable electronic switch A controllable electronic switch for, e.g., controlling power distribution comprises a deformable member such as a bimetal arm that can be deformed to break an electrical path. The deformable member may be anchored at one end and in controllable contact with an elec... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7253637 | Arc fault circuit interrupter system In order to determine whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit, a sensor signal corresponding to current in said electrical circuit is processed. The sensor signal is filtered to determine the presence of noise in a predetermined frequency range and produc... | 08/07/2007 |
| 7248140 | Adjustable safety switch A switch device includes a body with switch pivotably connected to a top thereof and two terminals extend through an underside of the body. A first contact point is connected to one of the terminals and a bi-metallic plate has a first end fixed to the other terminal... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7236082 | Circuit breaker structure An improved structure of a circuit breaker is provided which comprises a housing, a rocker-switch, a push-shaft, a pull-shaft, a bimetallic strip, and other parts. There are three terminals under the rocker-switch inside the housing. A bimetallic strip embedded in a... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7232971 | Circuit breaker A circuit breaker includes a shell, a movable press strip, a metal strip, a C-shaped plate spring, and three conductors. A first and a second conductor are inserted through the bottom of the shell, respectively have an upper end extending up in the shell, with a fir... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7230516 | Circuit breaker A circuit breaker includes a body having a neck member integrally connected thereto. A flange extends from an inner periphery of the neck member and a recess is defined in an inner periphery of the flange. Two terminals are connected to the body and a bi-metallic pl... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7151656 | Arc fault circuit interrupter system A system for determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit in response to a sensor signal corresponding to current in the circuit includes a circuit for analyzing the sensor signal to determine the presence of broadband noise in a predetermined rang... | 12/19/2006 |
| 7148784 | Safety switch device A safety switch device includes a case with a switch pivotally engaged with an open top of the case and a ramp defined in an inside of the case. Two terminals are extended from the bottom of the case and a bimetallic plate having a first end fixed to one of the term... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7136265 | Load recognition and series arc detection using bandpass filter signatures A method and system for determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit includes sensing a change in an alternating current in the circuit and developing a corresponding input signal, analyzing the input signal to determine the presence of broadband n... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7068480 | Arc detection using load recognition, harmonic content and broadband noise A method of determining whether arcing is present in an electrical circuit includes sensing a change in current in the circuit and developing a corresponding input signal, analyzing the input signal to determine the presence of broadband noise in a predetermined ran... | 06/27/2006 |
| 6983168 | Back light holder for a mobile phone The present invention relates to a mobile phone including a main printed circuit board. A first connector and a second connector are welded respectively onto a first predetermined location and a second predetermined location of the main printed circuit board, wherei... | 01/03/2006 |
| 6836205 | Thermal switch containing resistance temperature detector A multiple output thermal detection and protection device providing an output signal representative of the temperature sensed by the device, and further providing a positive output signal representative of the sensed temperature reaching a predetermined set point te... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6628192 | Circuit breaker flower A push-pull circuit breaker is provided primarily for use in aircraft; wherein, the activation of the circuit breaker is made significantly more noticeable by the addition of a "flower" device. Specifically, as the center post of the circuit breaker deplo... | 09/30/2003 |
| 6570480 | Circuit breaker A circuit breaker includes a shell with a hollow button at the top. The button has an indicator light received therein and a central tab extending downward. A first blade, a second blade and a grounding prong extend out of the shell through the bottom of ... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6542061 | Indicator light for use in combination with an electrical circuit protector or fuse An indicator light which when installed in combination with either a circuit protector or a fuse, etc., will automatically illuminate to notify a user that an electrical overload has occurred.... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6480091 | Thermal switch with activation indicator A temperature sensitive indicator 24 in the form of a label or decal is affixed to the outside of a thermal switch 20. The temperature sensitive label provides a permanent record of the temperature limits exposed to the thermal switch. The temperature sen... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6346796 | Thermal shut-off device and battery pack Contacts 3, 6, which are opened/closed by the displacement of a heat responsive element 7, are interposed between first and second terminals 2, 9, and a heat generating resistor 8 is interposed between the first terminal 9 and a third terminal 10, whereby... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6252490 | Safety plug and switch device A switch device has a conventional fuseless breaker device, a first conductive blade, a second conductive blade, a fixed plate, and a movable plate. The breaker device has a metal bar having two expansion coefficients, an insulator plate, a safety button,... | 06/26/2001 |
| 6114941 | Thermal switch with activation indicator A temperature sensitive indicator 24 in the form of a label or decal is affixed to the outside of a thermal switch 20. The temperature sensitive label provides a permanent record of the temperature limits exposed to the thermal switch. The temperature sen... | 09/05/2000 |
| 5760672 | Safety switch built-in with protecting circuit A safety switch built-in with protecting circuit is provided. The safety switch includes a housing having a button shade pivotally mounted thereof. Three pairs of conductive plates is provided and one of the conductive plates is provided with a first plat... | 06/02/1998 |
| 5694106 | Safety switch with overload protection circuit An improved safety switch with overload protection circuit includes a housing having a lamp cover and three connecting plates disposed in a receptacle. One connecting plate is provided with a bi-metal plate having a platinum contact, and one is provided w... | 12/02/1997 |
| 5633618 | Fuseless plug with safety circuit breaker A fuseless plug with an overload safety circuit breaker having a thermal reactive spring leaf and an electric conductive sheet. When in normal use, the thermal reactive spring leaf and the electric conductive sheet are electrically connected by contacting... | 05/27/1997 |
| 5541569 | Switch having a circuit breaker A switch having a circuit breaker comprising a housing into which an electric current is permitted to enter via a first wire connecting piece before arriving at a neon lamp via a movable piece, a fixation piece, a press tip and a spring. The press tip and... | 07/30/1996 |
| 5539371 | Fuseless breaking switch A fuseless breaking switch comprises essentially a casing, an alloy blade, first, second, and the third conductive plate, a spring blade and an adjusting screw. The switching on (off) of the button allows a closed (open) circuit through the alloy blade an... | 07/23/1996 |
| 5264818 | Device for signaling the triggering of a circuit breaker A circuit breaker comprises a lock (12) having a high position when the circuit breaker is triggered and a low position when the circuit breaker is set. The lock in the low position is held by a locking lever (10) against which the lock abuts. The lever c... | 11/23/1993 |
| 5264817 | Thermal circuit protective device In a single housing that looks like a standard rocker switch a thermally responsive movable contact element is mechanically opened by the rocker in a "switch" mode, or opened in response to an overcurrent condition in a circuit protection mode. Both condi... | 11/23/1993 |
| 5089799 | Thermal switch/breaker An electric rocker switch has a thermally responsive movable contact element that is mechanically closed against the fixed contact, but moves by bimetallic thermal action to open when an overcurrent condition exists. A trip flag also moves between the ope... | 02/18/1992 |
| 4975673 | Circuit breaker apparatus including trip display mechanism An apparatus for electrically operating a circuit breaker comprising a trip display mechanism for displaying trip condition of the circuit breaker while the circuit breaker is in trip state thereof. The trip display mechanism comprises an elongate trip de... | 12/04/1990 |
