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 |
| 7379392 | Flexible cymbal array A cymbal array for underwater vehicle applications includes piezoelectric discs disposed in a line, a first flex circuit comprising first annular members each affixed to a first side of one of the discs, a first series of cymbal caps each mounted on one of the first... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7367239 | Piezocable based sensor for measuring unsteady pressures inside a pipe A piezocable-based sensor for measuring unsteady pressures inside a pipe comprises at least one cable extending around at least a portion of a circumference of the pipe. The cable includes a first electrical conductor, a piezoelectric material disposed around the fi... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7355327 | Laminated piezoelectric/electrostrictive element A laminated piezoelectric element is applicable as a driving source of opening and closing mechanism of an injection nozzle in a fuel injecting device. A laminated piezoelectric/electrostrictive element 1 has: a columnar laminate 10 constituted by alte... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7348712 | Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus An ultrasonic probe includes ultrasonic piezoelectric elements that are arranged in a first direction at predetermined intervals and transmit and receive ultrasonic waves in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction. The respective ultrasoni... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7325456 | Interrogation network patches for active monitoring of structural health conditions Apparatus for monitoring structural health conditions of structures. The apparatus includes a piezoelectric device that has a bottom cover plate, piezoelectric rings concentrically disposed with respect to an axis and positioned on the bottom cover plate, and concen... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7322251 | Method and apparatus for measuring a parameter of a high temperature fluid flowing within a pipe using an array of piezoelectric based flow sensors A method, apparatus and system are provided to measure the process flow of a fluid or medium traveling in a pipe. The system and apparatus feature a standoff and piezoelectric-based sensor arrangement having a plurality of standoffs arranged on a pipe and a pluralit... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7323632 | Percussion transducer A ring-shaped percussion transducer for converting a striking impact into a representative electrical pulse triggering signal is suitable for mounting on the center axis of a percussion instrument. In a preferred embodiment, the transducer is formed of a piezo elect... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7309947 | Piezoelectric transducer including a plurality of piezoelectric members A piezoelectric transducer for an ultrasonic scan is provided. The transducer includes a plurality of piezoelectric members arrayed. The plurality of piezoelectric members have different compositions parts in a slice direction so that an ultrasonic beam is focused i... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7309948 | Ultrasonic transducer and method of manufacturing the same An ultrasonic transducer in which electrodes can be easily and positively joined to a multiplicity of micro-fabricated vibrators and electric wiring can be easily and positively provided. The ultrasonic transducer has a vibrator arrangement having vibrators provided... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7304415 | Interconnection from multidimensional transducer arrays to electronics Interconnection from a multidimensional transducer array to electronics is provided. Circuit board modules are used in combination with z-axis interconnections of a transducer array to provide active electronics within a volume adjacent to the multidimensional trans... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7300403 | Wide aperture array design with constrained outer probe dimension The invention presents solutions for large apertures of an ultrasound array under given dimension constraints given by the application for the ultrasound probe, for example by an endoluminal application. The invention has applications to annular arrays for 2D and 3D... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7301724 | Transducing head Determining an error in position of at least two heads coupled to a piezoelectric material, and changing a potential applied to a piezoelectric material to reduce the error in position of the at least two heads. ... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7289038 | Underwater sound radiation apparatus A plurality of actuators are provided at predetermined intervals on the reverse surface of a predetermined side wall of a swimming pool. When an electric signal corresponding to a sound to be propagated in the water is given to the actuators, the electric signal is ... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7288069 | Ultrasonic probe and method of manufacturing the same An ultrasonic probe is characterized in that a piezoelectric member 111 formed of solution-based single-crystal containing at least plumbum titanate is sandwiched between resin layers 113 and 115 having smaller acoustic impedance than the piezoe... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7285196 | Methods and apparatus for making integrated-circuit wiring from copper, silver, gold, and other metals In recent years, copper wiring has emerged as a promising substitute for the aluminum wiring in integrated circuits, because copper offers lower electrical resistance and better reliability at smaller dimensions than aluminum. However, use of copper typically requir... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7276838 | Piezoelectric transducer including a plurality of piezoelectric members A piezoelectric transducer for an ultrasonic scan is provided. The transducer includes a plurality of piezoelectric members arrayed. The plurality of piezoelectric members have different compositions parts in a slice direction so that an ultrasonic beam is focused i... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7262505 | Selective electroless-plated copper metallization Structures and methods are provided which include a selective electroless copper metallization. The present invention includes a novel methodology for forming copper vias on a substrate, including depositing a thin film seed layer of Palladium (Pd) or Copper (Cu) on... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7249513 | Ultrasound probe An improved ultrasound probe includes a support member, a signal cable having a plurality of electrically conductive members and an ultrasound transducer array. Distal end portions of each of the conductive members may be separately embodied within and extend throug... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7237564 | Distribution of energy in a high frequency resonating wafer processing system A transducer for use in an acoustic energy cleaner is provided. The transducer includes a resonator and a plurality of crystals bonded to a surface of the resonator. The plurality of crystals is configured to be bonded to the surface of the resonator in a staggered ... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7218040 | Handheld device having ultrasonic transducer for axial transmission of acoustic signals A handheld stylus having an elongated housing, a writing and drawing implement disposed within the housing and including a tip extending through an opening at an end of the housing where ultrasonic waves radiate therefrom and are used for determining a position of t... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7215064 | Piezoelectric switch for tunable electronic components A piezoelectric switch for tunable electronic components comprises piezoelectric layers, metal electrodes alternated with the layers and contact pads. Cross voltages are applied to the electrodes, in order to obtain an S-shaped deformation of the switch and allow co... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7180828 | Non-kinking oil-filled acoustic sensor stave A hydrophone stave comprises a tubular member, a braided cord (or similar flexible structure), cylindrical hydrophones, pins, two plugs and two couplings. The hose (made of a thermoplastic material) is corrugated or convoluted, and is cuffed at both ends to permit a... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7180827 | Surface acoustic antenna for submarines The invention relates to surface acoustic antennas for submarines. It consists, in a known antenna, in replacing certain pressure sensors with velocity sensors in order to obtain cardioid directivity with a zero oriented toward the hull of the submarine. It allows t... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7177434 | Stepped sound producing module A generally pyramid shaped sound module is provided that is attachable to a balloon for producing hi-fidelity sound effects. The sound module includes a piezoelectric element connected at the top of the pyramid shaped piezo amplification device. An electric circuit ... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7167412 | Apparatus for steering a marine seismic streamer via controlled bending A marine seismic streamer steering device comprises at least two hinged sections pivotally coupled to each other and connected between two adjacent sections of the seismic streamer, and a bend control unit that controls bending of the hinged sections relative to the... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7167025 | Non-sequentially configurable IC Some embodiments of the invention provide a configurable integrated circuit (IC). The IC includes at least fifty configurable circuits arranged in an array having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns. Each configurable circuit for configurably performing a... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7161280 | Ultrasonic transducer and method of joining an ultrasonic transducer The invention concerns an ultrasonic transducer, which is assembled from several parts. These parts are a protecting plate, a piezoelectric disc and a housing. Joining of the parts for transducers are normally done by means of TIG welding or laser welding, but these... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7161791 | Variable capacitance membrane actuator for wide band tuning of microstrip resonators and filters A device for varying the capacitance of an electronic circuit is disclosed. The device comprises a flexible membrane located above the electronic circuit, a metal layer connected to the flexible membrane, and bias circuitry located above the membrane. Variation of t... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7157933 | Configurable circuits, IC's, and systems Some embodiments of the invention provide a first configurable integrated circuit (IC) that has a first configurable IC design. The first configurable IC implements a second IC design that is specified for a second IC that is to operate a particular design rate. The... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7140253 | Device for the ultrasound measuring of cylindrical test models A device is provided for the ultrasonic measuring of cylindrical test specimen, in particular tubes and hoses, wherein said device can be filled with water or submerged in a water bath and is provided with at least one ultrasonic measuring head secured on the device... | 11/28/2006 |
| 7122943 | Acoustic driver assembly with restricted contact area An acoustic driver assembly for use with any of a variety of cavitation chamber configurations, including spherical and cylindrical chambers as well as chambers that include at least one flat coupling surface. The acoustic driver assembly includes at least one trans... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7109642 | Composite piezoelectric apparatus and method The present invention relates to composite piezoelectric apparatus, transducers and methods of manufacture. In an embodiment, a composite piezoelectric apparatus has a sacrificial base and pillar array. Different volume percents of piezoelectric material are used in... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7105986 | Ultrasound transducer with enhanced thermal conductivity A composite structure of a backing material with enhanced conductivity for use in a transducer is presented. The composite structure includes a plurality of layers of backing material alternatingly arranged with a plurality of thermal conductive elements, wherein th... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7104357 | Device for generating focused elastic waves in a material medium such as underground, and method using same An electromechanical device for generating elastic waves in a material medium such as the subsoil in a frequency range where the wavelengths of the waves generated are great in view of the dimensions of the device, and method of implementation. The device comprises ... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7098577 | Piezoelectric switch for tunable electronic components A piezoelectric switch for tunable electronic components comprises piezoelectric layers, metal electrodes alternated with the layers and contact pads. Cross voltages are applied to the electrodes, in order to obtain an S-shaped deformation of the switch and allow co... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7093850 | Instrument panel with integral hidden door cover and method of manufacture thereof An instrument panel and method of making an instrument panel for use in a vehicle having a passenger side airbag module is disclosed. The instrument panel comprising: a first outer layer having a show surface and an inner surface; an intermediary layer disposed on t... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7091611 | Multilevel copper interconnects with low-k dielectrics and air gaps Structures and methods are provided for an improved multilevel wiring interconnect in an integrated circuit assembly. The present invention provides for a multilayer copper wiring structure by electroless, selectively deposited copper in a streamlined process which ... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7088830 | Parametric ring emitter A sound emitting device for providing at least one new sonic or subsonic frequency as a by-product of emitting a waveform of at least two ultrasonic frequencies whose difference in value corresponds to the desired new sonic or subsonic frequency. The device includes... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7067421 | Multilevel copper interconnect with double passivation Structures and methods provide multilevel wiring interconnects in an integrated circuit assembly which alleviate problems associated with integrated circuit size and performance and include methods for forming multilevel wiring interconnects in an integrated circuit... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7038359 | Piezoelectric resonator and the method for making the same The present invention provides a method for making high-frequency piezoelectric resonators so that constants of the resonator can be measured precisely. A cavity is formed at a central section of an AT-cut crystal substrate. Two grooves are formed at predetermined d... | 05/02/2006 |
