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 |
| 7298261 | Proximity sensor An operation section 2 is provided to a proximity sensor including: a detection section having an oscillation circuit 10; and an amplification section 2 having a function detecting a metal body using an oscillation amplitude of the oscillation c... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7202796 | Device and method for triggering a sensor for cables In order to provide a triggering signal for a cable stripping device that is also capable of dealing with very thin wires, it is suggested to use a piezoelectric sensor, the output signal from which is forwarded to an electronic evaluation unit. The electronic evalu... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7073389 | Shunt calibration for electronic pressure switches An electronic switch of the type uses a piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge configuration to sense pressure. The output of the Wheatstone bridge is applied to an electronic control circuit which contains a comparator. The comparator monitors the output of the bridge an... | 07/11/2006 |
| 6657323 | Electronic proximity switch Electronic proximity switch with a member (1) generating an alternating electromagnetic field, which is excited by an oscillator (2), an influencing of the alternating field, induced by approach of a trigger, being evaluated by an electronic signal-evalua... | 12/02/2003 |
| 6420866 | Apparatus and method for detecting metallized containers in closed packages An apparatus and method used to detect metallized containers or other objects in closed packages traveling in a conveyor stream. The apparatus includes a pair of coil units mounted in association with a packaging conveyor such that the closed packages wil... | 07/16/2002 |
| 6115229 | Apparatus for identifying the position of an element, in particular a lock bolt of a motor vehicle lock, which can be moved between two end positions, and a method of driving the apparatus In order to identify the position of a movable element, such as a lock bolt, a resonant circuit is subjected to the element or a part that moves with the element. The resonant circuit is thereby damped by the element in a position-dependent manner and osc... | 09/05/2000 |
| 6043646 | Proximity switch with magnetic field-sensitive sensor A proximity switch with a magnetic field-sensitive sensor is formed of limbs of a U-shaped permanent magnet with a vertical direction of magnetization. A magnetic flux-free region, in which the sensor is fitted, is formed by three like poles. When a flat ... | 03/28/2000 |
| 6009924 | Apparatus for the thermal binding of sheets An apparatus for the thermal binding of sheets includes at least one support (5-5a-5B) for a binding element (3). The binding element has a binding back on which an amount of glue (4), which melts under the influence of heat, is provided. A heating elemen... | 01/04/2000 |
| 5991142 | Detection of ophthalmic surgical handpiece by injecting current signal An apparatus to detect the presence of a surgical handpiece is provided. The handpiece is electrically isolated from its source of electric power by a transformer having two primary windings and one secondary winding. The first winding provides power to t... | 11/23/1999 |
| 5796341 | Safety and security system for work area A safety device and an alarm system controller of a workspace providing bidirectional communication for determining whether the required safety devices are used by the work persons entering the workspace, and whether the safety devices are properly worn. ... | 08/18/1998 |
| 5666010 | Safety system for machine tools A safety device and a supply power controller of a machine tool providing bidirectional communication for determining whether the safety device is appropriate for the particular machine tool, and whether the safety device is properly worn. The communicati... | 09/09/1997 |
| 5548094 | Mounting base for an inductive proximity switch A mounting base for an associated inductive proximity switch, with the mounting base having an approximately beaker-shaped plastic housing so constructed that the switching behavior of the proximity switch is independent of the respective mounting surface... | 08/20/1996 |
| 5515233 | Electronic circuit of an electromagnetic clutch An electric control circuit of an electromagnetic clutch includes a relay-controlled, two-position switch which operates, in response to a power source being disconnected from the switch relay and the clutch, to establish a path to ground through which th... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5463354 | Proximity switches including long tail pair with emitter follower feedback A proximity switch circuit including first and second transistors Q4, Q6 connected as a long tail pair with an inductive sensing circuit LC connected to one leg thereof and an emitter follower circuit Q7, Q8 connected between said one leg and the base of ... | 10/31/1995 |
| 5408132 | Proximity switch operating in a non-contacting manner A proximity switch is provided which has a programmable parameter such as a programmable switching threshold and/or programmable switching function. The device is programmable using a digital signal that is applied to a conventional terminal of the proxim... | 04/18/1995 |
| 5367198 | Proximity detector with error-preventing ambient condition compensation An electronic switching device such as an inductive proximity switch includes an externally influenced oscillator detector with its output connected to a switching amplifier. An electronic switch connected to the output of the switching amplifier responds... | 11/22/1994 |
| 5345166 | Regulated voltage two-wire detector Detector comprising a sensor and a processing circuit connected to a load by means of two wires. Two switches (I1, I2) are arranged in series in a switching circuit leg (21), the ends of which (C, D) are connected to the detector terminals and the middle ... | 09/06/1994 |
| 5268564 | Bar code scanner actuated by detection of scanner motion A bar code scanner which is responsive to the movement of the scanner to activate its light source. The scanner includes a motor having a moving member which is set in motion when the scanner is displaced from a rest position. The moving member generates ... | 12/07/1993 |
| 5249612 | Apparatus and methods for controlling fluid dispensing Devices and methods are disclosed for controlling the dispensing of fluid, particularly hazardous or flammable fluids, such as automobile gasoline. A recurring problem is the dispensing, particularly by untrained members of the public, into unsuitable or ... | 10/05/1993 |
| 5196792 | Proximity detector housing with orientable head A detector having a housing (12), a mounting (3) which is able to adopt four orientations relative to the housing (12), and a detector head (4) which is able to adopt, relative to the mounting (3), two orientations in one of which a sensitive face (29) of... | 03/23/1993 |
| 5087027 | Document handler staple detector A system for automatically detecting the presence of staples within a set of original document sheets loaded into a document handling tray and automatically inhibiting the operation of the document feeder to prevent damage to the document feeder or the or... | 02/11/1992 |
| 4968953 | Oscillation circuit for proximity switch An oscillation circuit of a proximity switch includes a parallel LC resonance circuit (L, C), an oscillation transistor (Tr6) controlled by an output voltage from the resonance circuit for switching a constant current and a feedback circuit (Tr2, Tr3) for... | 11/06/1990 |
| 4954771 | Stimulus generator A stimulus generator comprising a single-shot pulse generator, a measuring resistor, a differential amplifier, and a gated comparator to identify the moment of onset of a mismatch between the patterns of current and voltage variation in the output electri... | 09/04/1990 |
| 4914388 | Dual output sensor for detecting the proximity of a reciprocating member A proximity switch assembly (10) for signaling the location of a movable member (36) at either of opposite end limits of movement relative to a stationary frame (44,46) includes a compact elongate housing (58) adapted to be mounted on the frame to extend ... | 04/03/1990 |
| 4868704 | Apparatus for providing distance protection and distance measurement for a high voltage transmission line a protective relay for detecting faults in electrical power distribution system generates a signal Ɗi(t) which is substantially equal to the magnitude of the power distribution system current i measured at a first time subtracted from the magnitude of th... | 09/19/1989 |
| 4866383 | Method and apparatus having load cell responsive to movement of a magnetic field generator for differentiating between materials The invention relates to an apparatus consisting of a device for generating a magnetic field mounted for movement relative to a product sitting in or moving through its field which is suspected of carrying at least one metal component which will cause the... | 09/12/1989 |
| 4841163 | Proximity switch immune to interference fields A proximity switch immune to interference fields includes an oscillator circuit (1) that can be influenced by a permanent magnet, this circuit being damped in the basic condition by a core of a coil (13), which core consists of an amorphous metal, and bei... | 06/20/1989 |
| 4839602 | Means for detecting metal in a stream of particulate matter A device having a detector element for detecting small particles of metal moving in a stream of particulate matter, such as tobacco filler. The detector element is a coil through which the stream passes. The coil is the inductor of an oscillating circuit ... | 06/13/1989 |
| 4812674 | Safety gate limit switch using Hall effect transducer A proximity switch has at least three Hall effect magnetic field sensitive transducers mounted in a transducer housing and has at least two magnets mounted in a magnet housing. The transucers produce logic signals, and a logic circuit responsive to these ... | 03/14/1989 |
| 4785240 | Proximity switch A proximity switch including a base assembly rotatably carries a sensing head formed of a support part rotatable about one axis extending through a base assembly for positioning a sensing face on a complementary sensing part in any one of four planes para... | 11/15/1988 |
| 4771359 | Non-contact proximity switch A non-contact proximity switch with an oscillation circuit (L 1, C 1) which is activated in a step-like manner, has a reference voltage source (6) which produces at least one reference voltage level (Uref) and has at least one comparator (5) wh... | 09/13/1988 |
| 4722021 | Safety circuit for hand tools, and method for safe operation thereof To detect if a tool bit, such as a drill, a saw blade, or the like, upon being worked into a wall, meets a metallic obstruction, such as a conduit, reinforcement rod, hydraulic pipe or the like, an alternating voltage, preferably between 2 and 20 kHz, is ... | 01/26/1988 |
| 4671187 | Deropement sensor apparatus with gravity-biased, falling, magnetic member To detect impending deropement of a wire haul rope from supporting sheaves in an aerial tramway system, there is provided a magnetic assembly having sufficient field strength to support itself in a predetermined position by reason of attraction to the wir... | 06/09/1987 |
| 4663542 | Electronic proximity sensor An electronic sensor of the contactless type has a free-running oscillator with internal positive feedback supplemented by an external negative feedback including a capacitive path whose impedance is normally high but is lowered in the presence of an obje... | 05/05/1987 |
| 4583006 | High frequency oscillation type proximity switch A high frequency oscillation type proximity switch, being an approach switch adapted for detecting the approach to or departure from the detector coil of a metal body, based on the change in output of the high frequency oscillator circuit, with the oscill... | 04/15/1986 |
| 4580062 | Safety shield control device An electrical interlock to prevent unauthorized access to potentially hazardous equipment and an associated detection circuit to detect if a safety shield or closure member is open, not securely closed or has been tampered with and to thereupon automatica... | 04/01/1986 |
| 4553040 | Inductive proximity switch The invention relates to an inductive proximity switch having a feeler head with a feeler coil as a component of an LC oscillator circuit of a high frequency oscillator, the feeler head serving to generate a directionally oriented, alternating magnetic fi... | 11/12/1985 |
| 4546266 | Magnetically actuated interlock An electrical circuit, the starting circuit for a motor vehicle for example, is selectively enabled by a control circuit which includes a magnetic field responsive switching device. Proper positioning of a magnet which provides a field of the appropriate ... | 10/08/1985 |
| 4359727 | Detector of defective coating A sensor assembly for electrically signalling the presence of bare spots on coated sheet metal for removal before further fabrication.... | 11/16/1982 |
| 4309993 | Liquid flow sensing apparatus Liquid flow sensing apparatus which in the illustrative embodiment is used to sense an occluded vein (cessation of blood flow). A flexible pressure pillow is connected in the blood flow line and is inserted into a housing in contact with a metallic leaf s... | 01/12/1982 |
