Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7441910 | Vehicular pivot mirror A vehicular pivot mirror assembly comprises a reflective element assembly pivotably attached to a support arm to enable rotation of the reflective element assembly relative to the support arm about a pivot connection. A positioning assembly enables rotation of the r... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7370985 | Vehicular mirror with slip clutch for jack screw actuator A motorized tilt actuator assembly comprises one or more threaded jack screws attached to a mirror glass case and traveling along one or more threaded actuator shafts with rotation of the motor. When a jack screw reaches its limit of travel, relative movement betwee... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7350931 | Vehicular pivot mirror A vehicular pivot mirror assembly comprises a reflective element assembly pivotably attached to a support arm to enable rotation of the reflective element assembly relative to the support arm about a pivot connection. A positioning assembly enables rotation of the r... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7334906 | Outer mirror tilting apparatus An outer-mirror tilting apparatus includes a holder base that fixes a main body of an outer mirror, a housing that is fitted to a bearing unit of the holder base, the housing having a pivot shaft supporting the holder base in a tiltable manner, a rod driving mechani... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7320527 | Mirror and angle detection device A vehicle mirror comprises: a mirror surface; an actuator 100 which tilts the mirror surface; a plate pivot 110, which changes its direction together with the mirror surface; a spring 112, which applies a resilient force to the plate pivot 11... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7311408 | Adjustable rear view mirror structure An adjustable rear view mirror structure is provided. The rear view mirror structure comprises a flexible body and an adjusting apparatus wherein the body has a reflective surface and an inner surface. The adjusting apparatus is disposed at a rear portion of the bod... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7298061 | Motor driving unit and vehicle-door mirror A motor driving unit includes an electric motor and a motor drive control circuit board that is disposed in a position facing the electric motor at a predetermined distance from the electric motor. A pseudo condenser is formed by providing a conductor pattern at a p... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7293887 | Coordinated pivoting and extending vehicle mirror A vehicular exterior mirror system comprises an exterior mirror assembly and an electronic control system. The exterior mirror assembly has a fixed support adapted to be mounted to the side of the vehicle and has a mirror housing supported by a support arm and movab... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7284881 | LED fixing device of a pixel module and method for manufacturing the same An LED fixing device of a pixel module for a sign board is provided. The LED fixing device is installed on a front side of an LED panel of a road sign board, facilitates the downward flow of rainwater, and prevents the rainwater from being introduced into a pixel mo... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7282881 | Power fold mirror control circuit and method A circuit and method of reducing the occurrence of overheating of a power fold vehicle mirror. The circuit controls the operation of the power fold mirror such that when a portion of the circuit reaches or exceeds a predetermined temperature threshold, the vehicle m... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7237917 | Mirror and angle detection device A vehicle mirror comprises a mirror surface; a plate pivot 110 which tilts the mirror surface by tilting the plate pivot itself, a housing 120 which covers the plate pivot facing to the rear surface of the mirror surf... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7187490 | Induced dipole alignment of solar concentrator balls The instant invention is concerned with method and apparatus for induced dipole alignment of solar concentrator micro-mirrors. Novel method and apparatus are taught for coupling to, addressing, and alignment of a micro-optics solar concentrator system for single-axi... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7159992 | Coordinated pivoting and extending vehicle mirror A vehicle mirror assembly is provided which can be moved via a power-transmitting assembly between folded and unfolded positions and the unfolded position and an extended position. ... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7144126 | Clutch structure of automative mirror adjustment mechanism The present invention provides a clutch structure of mirror adjustment mechanism comprising a clutch driving gear with specified gear teeth formed at circumference thereof and hollow fitting chuck formed at center thereof, to be geared with the output axis of a driv... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7137717 | Outer mirror device for vehicle In an outer mirror device for a vehicle, an electrically-driven retracting unit, a mirror surface angle adjusting unit, a mirror surface angle detecting sensor, a foot lamp device, a heater, and an ECU which is a control device, which are respectively internal mecha... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7097313 | Flip-flop diagonal with variable angles The present invention provides a flip-flop diagonal with variable viewing angles. It comprises a housing body, an eyepiece adapter unit and a reflective mirror unit. The housing body has a cylindrical sleeve for mounting the diagonal to a telescope. The eyepiece ada... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7073952 | Stable mechanical devices for precision optical alignment and packaging An optical alignment device holds fiber collimators in place with extremely good mechanical and environmental stability. The device includes a ball with a hole traversing the ball, an upper clamping block with a first inner concave spherical surface and a lower clam... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7066612 | Magnetic boot module A magnetic boot module is described. The magnetic boot module has a pair of magnetic boots, a pair of moving devices, and a magnetic inductive path. Each of the moving devices couples to one of the magnetic boots to transversely push the magnetic boots moving on the... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7052149 | Exterior vehicle mirror with auxiliary mirror having position marker indicating position of vehicle The present invention provides an outer mirrors installed in an automobile, that has a capability to be reset into a housing position, features to have auxiliary mirrors to percept and monitor the front wheels and thereabout, has a flexibility for well appreciated a... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7025470 | Mechanism for rotatable image-taking device An improved mechanism for rotatable image taking device, the rotatable mirror set in front of a fixed image-taking device with angle of reflection controlling mechanism at the rear side of the mirror. The mechanism includes a fixed rod with universal joint at the ce... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7014328 | Apparatus for tilting a carrier for optical elements The invention relates to an apparatus for tilting a carrier for optical elements with two optical faces which are arranged together on a carrier and are fixed at a fixed angle to one another, the carrier being fastened on a base plate via articulated connections. Th... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7004594 | Mirror angle control apparatus and power mirror system having the same First and second reciprocable members are arranged between a motor and a mirror and are selectively reciprocated by rotational force conducted from the motor to tilt the mirror. When the motor is rotated in a first rotational direction, the second reciprocable membe... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6988809 | Advanced micro-optics solar energy collection system Due to an ever growing shortage of conventional energy sources, there is an increasingly intense interest in harnessing solar energy. Broadly this invention deals with the general concept of method, apparatus, and consequences of focussing light. Specifically the Co... | 01/24/2006 |
| 6987604 | Manufacture of and apparatus for nearly frictionless operation of a rotatable array of micro-mirrors in a solar concentrator sheet Due to an ever growing shortage of conventional energy sources, there is an increasingly intense interest in harnessing solar energy. The instant invention can contribute to the goal of achieving environmentally clean solar energy to be competitive with conventional... | 01/17/2006 |
| 6964486 | Alignment of solar concentrator micro-mirrors Due to an ever growing shortage of conventional energy sources, there is an increasingly intense interest in harnessing solar energy. The instant invention is concerned with method and apparatus for the alignment of solar concentrator micro-mirrors and the maximizat... | 11/15/2005 |
| 6948822 | Vehicle mirror mounting apparatus and method for assembling same A mirror mounting apparatus for a mirror glass is provided. According to an aspect of the invention, a mounting rod having a bore and an outlet and affixable to a vehicle is also provided. The mirror mounting apparatus includes a mirror housing assembly with a base ... | 09/27/2005 |
| 6947191 | Angle-adjusting apparatus for a reflection mirror in a rear-projection TV An adjustment apparatus of a reflection mirror is disclosed, the apparatus comprising a holding base plate, an affixing block affixed on the holding base plate, at least one adjusting set, and a rotatable chassis affixed onto the affixing block, wherein the reflecti... | 09/20/2005 |
| 6939017 | Extendable rearview mirror An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle including an extendable mirror for improved rearward viewing is disclosed. Several embodiments of the rearview mirror assembly each comprise a mirror housing, a mirror disposed in the mirror housing, and some struct... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6927504 | Vehicle mirror control circuit arrangement A rear view mirror control circuit arrangement is disclosed for a vehicle. The vehicle may have at least two rear view mirror assemblies each having a housing and respective motors located external of the vehicle. The motors are adapted and mechanically coupled to m... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6918675 | Mirror drive unit An angle detection unit is provided with a pair of arms (temporary fixing mechanism) for temporarily fixing the angle detection unit to a power unit. The arms are fit to a cylinder portion (engagement portion) of the power unit in a manner of holding the cylinder po... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6857754 | Adjustment device of electric power mirrors An adjustment device used for electric power mirrors comprising a motor to rotate a worm wheel, an adjustment nut that can slide along the direction of the rotational axis but cannot relatively rotate against the rotation of worm wheel, and an actuator housing that ... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6851813 | Tow mirror assembly for vehicles An exterior rearview mirror assembly, especially suited for towing vehicles, includes a casing which houses a reflective element and a support supporting the casing and adapted to mount a vehicle. The mirror casing is adapted to pivot about the support between an in... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6843573 | Mini-optics solar energy concentrator This invention deals with the broad general concept for focussing light. A mini-optics tracking and focusing system is presented for solar power conversion that ranges from an individual's portable system to solar conversion of electrical power that can be used in l... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6840642 | Thermally actuated micro mirror and electronic device A thermally actuated micro mirror includes a mirror surface, and a support structure section having a multilayer structure to support the mirror surface. The support structure section generates heat by the application of electricity thereto, and is deflected by a di... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6837586 | Ring optical interferometer A multi-aperture interferometric optical system collects light propagating from a source of light and develops overlapping diffraction patterns on an optical detector that produces output signals for processing to form an image corresponding to the diffraction patte... | 01/04/2005 |
| 6820987 | Extendable rearview mirror An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle including an extendable mirror for improved rearward viewing is disclosed. Several embodiments of the rearview mirror assembly each comprise a mirror housing, a mirror disposed in the mirror housing, and some struct... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6811269 | Vehicle exterior mirror attachment devices, methods and kits for display of indicia A device for displaying indicia is constructed to fit onto a mirror housing of an exterior mirror of a motor vehicle. The device, upon installation, displays a desired indicia facing the front of the vehicle without obstructing the view of the mirrored surface facin... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6799858 | Pivoting actuator which can be disengaged In order to electrically reverse the motorized pivoting actuator 11, used for example to adjust an exterior mirror with restricted angles of movement and to return the mirror into a working position after it has been pivoted by external means (either by hand,... | 10/05/2004 |
| 6796666 | Four-point planar mechanical mount with high precision An apparatus for mounting an object precisely in a specific plane. An object is mounted on small support points rather than flat pads or other flat surfaces. The support points are stiff but not completely rigid. Exactly four support points are used. Mechanical forc... | 09/28/2004 |
| 6796667 | Breakaway bus mount system to hold mirror supporting shaft A tripod style mirror mount system for vehicles which secures the main mirror hole in a vehicle mount which is substantially in the shape of a socket subassembly that is secured to the vehicle and in which a spherical ball stud of the mirror pole is received and ret... | 09/28/2004 |
