Did You Know...
...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 |
| 7155751 | Toilet tank valve A hollow, open-ended closure for the tank valve which enables a large cross-section area of discharge port to be used, and which can pass bowl-refill water during the flushing sequence. It is especially useful as part of a valve in which it can be tilted to open the... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7032257 | Flush tank having electromagnetic controler A flush tank includes an outlet pipe attached to a receptacle for discharging water, a float disposed close to the outlet pipe to selectively block the outlet pipe, and to control an outward flowing of the water through the outlet pipe. A magnetically forcing device... | 04/25/2006 |
| 6308348 | Continuous water level controller A continuous water level controller includes a base member, a sleeve mounted in the base member, a piston assembly and an actuating linkage. A stopper is attached to one end of the shaft in the base member to close the outlet of the base member. A piston ... | 10/30/2001 |
| 5924143 | Toilet bowl refill device The refill device is used with water-saving flush valves which retrofit into existing toilet tanks. These valves normally do not allow enough time to refill the bowl to its proper level. This diminishes their effectiveness and efficiency. The refill devic... | 07/20/1999 |
| 5864893 | Water discharge assembly for a tank A water discharge assembly includes an outlet having a neck extending from a top thereof and an overflow pipe is connected to the outlet. A control member has a top and a tubular member extending downwardly from an underside of the top, wherein the tubula... | 02/02/1999 |
| 5850639 | Tank device for flushing toilet bowl A tank device for flushing a toilet bowl includes a tank body for storing toilet bowl-flushing water. The tank body has an opening at the bottom. One or more support arms are arranged within the tank body and are pivotally mounted to supports. A valve bod... | 12/22/1998 |
| 5673441 | Flush valve for toilets A flush valve of a toilet that includes an internal valve piece and an external valve piece. The external valve piece is circular and is installed inside a circular hole which includes a circular flange that engages the internal valve piece. A rear side o... | 10/07/1997 |
| 5524297 | Two-level flush valve The Two-Level Flush Valve retrofits into standard toilet tanks replacing the flush valve and pull cord. Depressing the toilet handle through the usual first resistance lifts a non-buoyant valve (20) open. It is held open by an upper float (28) fastened on... | 06/11/1996 |
| 5333332 | Dual flush system A selective volume flush apparatus (10) for use in a cistern contains two valves, a first valve (12) with an outlet opening into the discharge outlet of the cistern and an open end configured to sealingly engage a first valve seal (18). The valve seal (18... | 08/02/1994 |
| 4593419 | Flush valve control for water closet A buoyancy control unit for the flapper-type ball valve of a water closet flushing unit includes a flexible air release metering tube of a smooth plastic connected to the outer peripheral portion of the flapper valve ball and extended upwardly from the st... | 06/10/1986 |
| 4587679 | Toilet flushing device A flushing device controllable for discharging a desired amount of water after use of a toilet is provided with a cylinder supported within the tank, a piston slidable in the cylinder and divides the inner space thereof into an upper chamber and a lower c... | 05/13/1986 |
| 4412362 | Partial flush apparatus utilizing pneumatic time delay mechanism A partial flush apparatus, for use in conjunction with a conventional flush toilet, utilizes a pneumatic time delay mechanism for partially flushing the contents of the water tank into the toilet bowl. An extension member is secured to the conventional fl... | 11/01/1983 |
| 4333184 | Multi-function closet stool This invention, is a multi-function closet stool, which can really serve the purpose of automatic timing, measuring pressure, flushing and saving water. When one sits on the seat of closet stool, the driving piece pulls the driving steel cable to make tim... | 06/08/1982 |
| 4275471 | Hydraulically operated flush valve for toilet flush tanks and similar devices This invention comprises an improved hydraulically operated flush valve for toilet flush tanks and similar devices. Its main components are a cylinder and piston assembly positioned with its longitudinal axis directly above and vertically aligned with the... | 06/30/1981 |
| 4138749 | Two-stage hydraulic flush control device A two-stage hydraulic flush device for use in regulating the amount of water released when flushing a conventional water closet. The flush handle of a conventional water closet is actuated so as to unseat a drain plug in the water tank, and the piston of ... | 02/13/1979 |
| 4134165 | Flush toilet accessory This invention provides an attachment for use with a flush toilet mechanism with the usual stopper and a cylindrical float member horizontally disposed, both being fixed with respect to each other and being swingable about a horizontal axis parallel with ... | 01/16/1979 |
| 4014050 | Apparatus employing a timer for controlling the quantity of water flushed by a toilet An apparatus for controlling the quantity of water flowing through a water outlet in the tank of a toilet comprising a timer including a rotatable output shaft, the timer being responsive to the angular rotation of the shaft from an initial position and o... | 03/29/1977 |
