Did You Know...
...Chester Carlson was a patent agent who tired of having to make multiple copies of patent applications using the only duplication method available at the time: carbon paper. In 1959 he came up with a new copying system and took it to IBM for evaluation. The "experts" at IBM determined potential sales to be only 5,000 units because people wouldn't want to use a bulky machine when they had carbon paper. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, the company founded on the system is Xerox.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7343935 | Gas flow control flap operating mechanism In a gas flow control flap operating mechanism including a ball-head joint provided between an actuator drive and the gas flow control valve flap with a ball head which is received in a multipart ball-head socket, the parts of the ball-head socket are interconnected... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7322769 | Ball and socket joint A ball-and-socket joint for a motor vehicle, and especially for the chassis of the motor vehicle, with a ball-and-socket joint housing is provided with a joint opening (6), in which housing there is arranged a bearing shell (5). The ball-and-socket joi... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7318686 | High-performance ball socket A bearing shell for a ball and socket joint made of plastic as well as the ball and socket joint per se, wherein the bearing shell has first areas, which are subject to higher mechanical loads than the other areas of the bearing shell, wherein the material of the be... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7226234 | Arrangement and method for connecting a rod end to a headed pin A connection for a rod and pin includes a two piece housing molded from hard plastic which defining a cavity enclosing a soft elastomeric isolator on one end of the rod. The housing pieces also define a pin receiving cavity with retention prongs which engage and hol... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7226233 | Snap-in coupling comprising a spring clamp A snap-in coupling for releasably connecting a first structural member and a second structural member. The snap-in coupling comprises a female coupling member comprising a plastic support member and a metallic spring clamp, said support member being insertable into ... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7144182 | Ball joint construction A ball joint having a housing with a cylindrical cavity that has an open receiving end and a closed retaining end receives a polymeric insert and a non-deformable insert therein. The polymeric insert has a cylindrical outer wall that extends upwardly from a base and... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7134801 | Ball joint and method of manufacturing housing therefor There is provided a ball joint provided with a ball stud having a spherical head portion in an end portion, a ball seat to which the spherical head portion is slidably fitted, thereby pivoting the ball stud universally, and a housing receiving the ball seat, the hou... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7121757 | Process and device for mounting ball and socket joints with at least one connecting piece A process and a device are provided for mounting ball and socket joints with at least one connecting piece. A first ball and socket joint housing part (3a) is fed to a mounting device, a ball pivot (1), surrounded by a bearing shell (2), ... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7100881 | Mount A mounting assembly comprises a mounting element for attachment to a surface, a cap engaged with the mounting element for angular movement relative thereto and having a slot therein through which extends an arm of a support member, there being at one end of the arm ... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7083177 | Steering knuckle structure A steering knuckle structure includes a front strut, a connecting device, and a sleeve. The front strut has a connecting pipe at the bottom. The connecting device comprises an upper section and a corresponding lower section. Both the upper section and the lower sect... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7028699 | Tilting umbrella with adjustable cover A tilting umbrella with an adjustable cover includes an adjustable cover and a shaft. An upper joint is provided centrally of the cover having a positioning ball to be received in an upper connector formed on top of the shaft. Hence, the cover is adjustable to have ... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7025315 | Geodesic mounting apparatus A multi-positionable mounting device that provides a substantially stable, load-bearing but relatively adjustable ball and socket mounting device. An interior surface of the socket is formed of first and second opposing part hemispherical socket portions that are re... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7008135 | Stamped ball socket A stamped ball socket for attaching a headlamp pod to a mounting bracket comprising a base having an opening which is adapted to accept a fastener. The ball socket further comprising at least two walls extending from the base and at least two lock-in fingers protrud... | 03/07/2006 |
| 7004665 | Snap together automotive coupler A low insertion force snap together automotive coupler for the suspension of a vehicle includes a spherical bearing insert having a first end, a second end, a pocket adapted to engage a ball stud that is integrally formed onto a suspension component, and an axially ... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6923592 | Ball and socket rollers load latch mechanism A location control mechanism includes a striker having a preferably spherically shaped lock ball and a pair of mutually adjacent socket rollers, each socket roller having a complementing preferably hemispherically shaped semi-socket which collectively provide a sing... | 08/02/2005 |
| 6921226 | Adjustable support apparatus An adjustable support apparatus for, e.g., supporting an instrument. The adjustable support apparatus may include a supporting member, an adjustable member engaging with the supporting member, a fastening member engaged with the adjustable member and an elongated me... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6913410 | Ball joint A ball-and-socket joint (1) is provided with a sleeve (2) or a pivot (3) with a partial spherical surface (4) and with a bearing shell (5) surrounding the partial spherical surface (4) in a positive-locking manner with a hol... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6908251 | Tie rod end and ball joint combination Novel tie rod ends and ball joint combinations that are especially useful in racing vehicles in which high performance is desired. The devices provide a reduction in friction such that the required steering effort with regard to both the rotation and misalignment of... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6905259 | Tilt-in-place alignment system and method Disclosed is a mounting system and method in which symmetrical springs are used about a collar in a gimbal system to capture an assembly of a ball and an optical or other type of component. Once captured within the mounting system, the ball/component assembly can pi... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6860671 | D-ring assembly with a load limiting device A D-ring assembly comprising a D-ring and a load limiting device. The D-ring has a slot therethrough for receiving a seatbelt webbing and for guiding the webbing from the retractor to the torso of a vehicle occupant. The load limiting device functions by absorbing k... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6860670 | End connector assembly The end connector assembly (12) for a gas spring (44) enables the connector body to be connected with and disconnected from a ball (14) on the end of a ball stud (16) by relatively moving the connector body (26) and ball along a pa... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6857810 | Ceramic ball-and-socket joint A ceramic ball-and-socket joint for a motor vehicle, especially for the chassis of the motor vehicle, is provided, in which the ball-and-socket joint has a ball-and-socket joint housing (5) provided with a joint opening (7) and a ball pivot provided wi... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6851688 | Steering linkage ball joint assembly A steering linkage assembly for a motor vehicle has a tie rod and a drag link connected to a steering knuckle in an over/under arrangement, with first and second ball joints for the drag link and the tie rod respectively on opposite sides of the steering knuckle and... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6742955 | Tie rod end with purgative grease zerk and purgeless tie rod boot A tie rod end having a purgative zerk for removal of used lubricants is provided. In one embodiment of the invention, the tie rod end includes a socket member that defines a first bore in which a ball stud member is disposed and a second bore in communication with t... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6726394 | Connecting ball joint, for example for an anti-roll bar of a running vehicle The invention relates to a connecting ball joint (10), for example an anti-roll bar of a running vehicle, the ball joint (10) comprising a straight support (20) running along a general axis of elongation (xx′) and an elastically deformable mem... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6713223 | Device for articulated connection between a control element and a control rod with a ball head A device for articulated connection between a control element and a control rod having a ball head comprising a main body attachable to the control element. The main body envelops a locating section providing positive location for the ball head and has an opening ar... | 03/30/2004 |
| 6695521 | Isolation ball joint for steering and suspension A ball joint assembly for pivotally interconnecting a first member and a second member includes a housing defining a cavity. The housing is adapted to be coupled to the first member. The ball joint also includes a ball stud having a ball segment retained ... | 02/24/2004 |
| 6688564 | Flexible tensioning device, especially for medical purposes The invention comprises a flexible tightening device, especially for medical purposes, with one of several jointed element pivotable against one another existing arm, in which the arm can be locked into the desired position of the locking element by means... | 02/10/2004 |
| 6581892 | Geodesic mounting apparatus A multi-positionable mounting device that provides a substantially stable, load-bearing but relatively adjustable ball and socket mounting device. An interior surface of the socket is formed of first and second opposing part hemispherical socket portions ... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6505989 | Ball joint A ball joint includes a socket that defines an outer surface having multiple, annular, smoothly-curved teeth. A ball is received in the socket, and the socket is received in a recess of a housing. This recess defines complementarily-shaped annular, smooth... | 01/14/2003 |
| 6481914 | Radiographic source connector with improved coupling mechanism A coupling mechanism secures a radiographic source connector to a drive assembly to prevent unintentional release. The source connector includes a cup sleeve with a sleeve slot cut along its axis. The sleeve is spring-loaded to capture the ball end of a d... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6364564 | Finger device for blocking one component relative to another A device for blocking first and second components (1, 2) relative to one another may be provided with first and second parts (3, 4) capable of cooperating with one another in order to effect the blocking, the first part (3) being carried by the first comp... | 04/02/2002 |
| 6345926 | Spherical mounting arrangement Spherical mountings are useful for pivotally connecting a push arm of a blade to a track roller frame of a machine. When the blade is removed the bearing assembly must be disassembled and to reconnect the blade to the spherical mounting the bearing assemb... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6343889 | Split-socket ball joint This invention is directed to a split-socket ball joint comprising, a stud with a ball portion and attachment portion, an upper and lower socket capable of being attached to each other, and at least one race disposed with either the upper or lower socket,... | 02/05/2002 |
| 6302615 | Ball-and-socket joint A ball-and-socket joint preferably for vehicle suspensions or steerings of motor vehicles with a joint housing, with a housing cover closing the joint housing on one side, and with a pivot pin, which is mounted rotatably and deflectably in at least one be... | 10/16/2001 |
| 6234703 | Double slotted socket spherical joint A new class of spherical joints is disclosed. These spherical joints are capable of extremely large angular displacements (full cone angles in excess of 270°), while exhibiting no singularities or dead spots in their range of motion. These joints can imp... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6227751 | Mount for plate-shaped components A mount for plate-shaped components, more particularly glass plates is disclosed. The mount comprises a socket element, which penetrates a recess in the plate-shaped component, thereby fixing the component, and a hinged bolt. At its first end, the hinged ... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6206604 | Plug-in coupling A plug-in coupling having vibration damping characteristics. An elastomeric insert member comprising a ball-shaped female part is inserted into a socket integral with a member so as to be positively retained therein. The plug-in coupling can be easily ass... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6161451 | Link assembly A link assembly for a vehicle control system comprising a spacer molded of glass-filled nylon and a socket housing mounted on each end of the spacer, both socket housings also being molded of glass-filled nylon. Each housing comprises a male socket compon... | 12/19/2000 |
| 6082694 | Golf umbrella mounting clamp A mounting apparatus that can be universally adapted to golf umbrellas or which can be used with a specialized umbrella. Further, the invention is compact and thus lightweight so as not to detract from nor significantly effect the standard usage of the go... | 07/04/2000 |
