...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.
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7967527 | Concrete slab joint system including a load plate sleeve A load plate sleeve assembly for maintaining a load plate in position between adjacent concrete slabs and facilitating controlled lateral movement of the load plate includes a housing and an insert clip coupled to the housing. The housing includes a top wall, a bott... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7748928 | Concrete slab joint system including a load plate sleeve A load plate sleeve assembly for maintaining a load plate in position between adjacent concrete slabs and facilitating controlled lateral movement of the load plate includes a housing and an insert clip coupled to the housing. The housing includes a top wall, a bott... | 07/06/2010 |
| 7381008 | Disk plate concrete dowel system Disclosed is a disc dowel system interposed between adjacent first and second concrete pours defining a pour joint therebetween. The disc dowel system comprises a positioner bracket, a pocket former and a dowel plate. The positioner bracket has a vertically disposed... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7354219 | Multi-seal waterproof expansion joint for roadways A multi-seal waterproof expansion joint for roadways includes an L-shaped load-bearing member mounted to each end of adjacent roadway sections. The lower surface of the horizontal leg of each load-bearing member has a shaped end to receive an insert to provide a ret... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7338230 | Plate concrete dowel system A disc dowel system is interposed between adjacent first and second concrete pours defining a pour joint therebetween. The disc dowel system comprises a positioner bracket, a pocket former and an orthogonally shaped dowel plate. The positioner bracket has a vertical... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7314333 | Plate concrete dowel system A disc dowel system is interposed between adjacent first and second concrete pours defining a pour joint therebetween. The disc dowel system comprises a positioner bracket, a pocket former and an orthogonally shaped dowel plate. The positioner bracket has a horizont... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7228666 | Device for equipping an expansion joint, in particular an expansion joint between concrete slabs A device for making a connection between concrete slabs, the device having two modules derived from sheets, each module having a number of flat elements which form projections, each module further having elements in the form of a right angle, having a flat part inte... | 06/12/2007 |
| 6962026 | Expansion joint cover An expansion joint cover (10) comprises a first plate (18) hingedly attached to a first surface (14) of an expansion joint (12), a second plate (20) hingedly attached to the first plate (18), and a housing (26) fixedl... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6926463 | Disk plate concrete dowel system Disclosed is a disc dowel system interposed between adjacent first and second concrete pours defining a pour joint therebetween. The disc dowel system comprises a positioner bracket, a pocket former and a dowel plate. The positioner bracket has a vertically disposed... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6581347 | Expansion joint cover An expansion joint cover (10) comprises a first plate (18) hingedly attached to a first surface (14) of an expansion joint (12), a second plate (20) hingedly attached to the first plate (18), and a housing (26) fixedly secured to a second surface (16) of ... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6460214 | Vibration resistive instant responding roadway or bridge expansion joint and construction method of the same A vibration resistant expansion joint is provided. The expansion joint includes a sustaining pedestal (1) which is formed from two L-shaped members (111 and 112). A plurality of shim assemblies (12), each containing a bifurcated tooth-like shim (121), are... | 10/08/2002 |
| 5116653 | Expansion joint An improved expansion joint material for placement between adjoining slabs of concrete. The material is a non-porous water impermeable, polymerically bound reclaimed rubber and/or foam particles. The material is treated so as to be resistant to microbes, ... | 05/26/1992 |
| 4653956 | Highway pavement A highway pavement of concrete slab-on-grade surface includes a prestressed portland cement concrete surface layer which is mounted on a non-freezing low restraint support grade layer without any linear physical connection thereto in such a manner as to p... | 03/31/1987 |
| 4566143 | Bridging system for expansion gaps The present invention provides a bridging system which serves to bridge expansion gaps, used in the roadbeds of major structures such as bridges or viaducts. The supporting portion of the system comprises bearers, the upper sides of which are level with t... | 01/28/1986 |