...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8088457 | Architectural panels with embedded objects A decorative architectural glass panel comprises a two or more glass sheets separated by a resin in which one or more decorative objects are suspended. A method of making the glass panel comprises positioning one or more spacers and one or more decorative objects on... | 01/03/2012 |
| 7776412 | Architectural glass panels with embedded objects and methods for making the same A decorative architectural glass panel comprises a two or more glass sheets separated by a resin in which one or more decorative objects are suspended. A method of making the glass panel comprises positioning one or more spacers and one or more decorative objects on... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7442456 | Current control for parallel fuel cell stacks A fuel cell system includes fuel cell stacks electrically connected in parallel and supplying a gross current to a load. A controller determines the gross load current, and produces a desired current through the load by adjusting, based on the gross load current, at... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7371453 | Decorative sheet, molded article, and motor vehicle provided with the same A decorative sheet includes a base member, made of a resin material and having a first and a second principal surfaces opposite to each other, a decoration layer provided on the first principal surface of the base member and having a pattern area representing a pred... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7369294 | Ornamental display device An ornamental display device having an interferometric modulator for displaying an ornamental image. The ornamental device may have a patterned diffuser formed on a transparent substrate to provide an ornamental image. The ornamental device may also be a piece of je... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7353571 | Fluid filled attachment device An attachment device is provided comprising at least one fluid filled cavity formed therein. The attachment device is preferably in the form of a carabiner in which at least a portion of the carabiner body is formed of a transparent material such that the fluid fill... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7347016 | Apparatus providing at least a visual impression of fluid moving in a channel and method of attaching an apparatus providing said visual impression An apparatus is disclosed providing a visual impression of fluid flowing in a channel solving at least the problems associated with prior art apparatus providing such visual impressions while using a fluid. A method is disclosed attaching an apparatus providing a vi... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7341022 | Waterfall aquarium A waterfall aquarium including an enclosed transparent water tank having an interior and exterior. A water exit conduit communicates the interior of the water tank with the exterior thereof. The water exit conduit includes a hollow tubular body having an exit end an... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7322137 | Dynamic display air inflatable device The invention is directed to an inflatable display that has a plurality of inflation modules. The modules are inflated by a fan element. More specifically, a first inflation module is formed from a permeable material and configured to represent a predetermined shape... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7317811 | Method to decode temporal watermarks in compressed video A system and method for efficient recovery of watermarks from compressed video is disclosed, wherein, in one embodiment, cyclic watermark noise blocks are tiled and embedded in a plurality of frames of compressed video, quantized coefficients are computed for a grou... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7310900 | Liquid-filled display device A liquid-filled display device includes a hollow member mounted on a transparent top end wall of a hollow base and confining a water-tight inner space filled with a liquid body, and a display unit mounted on the top end wall and having a top wall and two transparent... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7308922 | Key locator A key locator includes first and second members. The first member has opposed ends and an intermediate u-shaped region. One of the ends of the first member comprises a hook for engaging the second member which includes a clasp while the other end comprises an enlarg... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7303142 | Novelty waterfall operatable based upon user interaction A novelty waterfall that includes at least one water flow surface, a pump, and a sensor that detects a change of presence of an item. The novelty waterfall further includes a controller that is structured and arranged to operate the pump at least when the sensor det... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7302767 | Water illusion column A water flow simulation system for audio and visual illusion has an inner conduit and an outer conduit spaced apart to define a flow channel therebetween. A blower directs a flow of air through the inner conduit from one end to an opposite end where at least some of... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7303127 | Packaged memory devices with various unique physical appearances Surface optical characteristics, alpha-numeric markings and other design features of memory cards, flash drives and similar devices combine to provide the devices with unique outer appearances. In one example, markings are held a distance from a reflective surface s... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7290802 | Second surface micromotion display A second surface micromotion display includes a see-through base having a first surface, defined in the art as a front surface facing a viewer, and a second surface, defined in the art as a rear surface opposite to the front surface and facing away from the viewer, ... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7276868 | Carbon-fiber laminate musical instrument sound board A soundboard for a hollow-body stringed instrument made of layers of carbon-fiber and resin material surrounding a core of one or more layers of constant-thickness plywood, veneer (thinly sliced wood) or paper. Additional shaped layers are provided to produce a desi... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7267076 | Ant sculptures An ant sculpture is formed by removing a block of nutritious gel having with a network of ant tunnels from a formicarium container; placing the block in an p.v.c bag that serves as a release liner; and stuffing the bag containing the gel block back into the containe... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7267857 | Mounting and laminating system A laminating and mounting system include a pouch (10) made of thermal laminating film (15,16) and a thermal adhesive (21,22) on a surface (17,18) both inside the pouch and outside the pouch. A first substrate (19), like a print, is... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7261370 | High chair apparatus A high chair apparatus includes a chair that includes a pair of arm rails. A tray has an inner edge and an outer edge. Couples attached to the tray are adapted for removably coupling the tray to the arm rails. A plate has a same size and shape as the tray. A transpa... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7258592 | Santa Claus visit kit A kit for creating an illusion that suggests a Santa Claus visit in a premises is disclosed. The kit includes items revealed to a child audience. These items include a displayer at which small items can be placed, and amusement items for use by at least a member of ... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7247076 | Pulse width modulation drive and method for ornaments with movable components A decoration device may include a low-friction drive line and a PWM controlled motor that reduces or eliminates the gearing needed to achieve appropriate speed and torque at the motor output shaft. In preferred embodiments, the decoration device is an ornament that ... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7234271 | Animalian pot cover incorporating a detachable miniature greenhouse A pot cover that is comprised of detachable components and which can be used in combination with any conventional garden pot or any other suitable container, for purposes of facilitating the propagation of seedlings or seed germination, and which also resembles a no... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7235400 | Laminated microarray interface device A device for forming a low volume reaction chamber on a substrate such as a microarray slide and its method of use is disclosed. The reaction chamber forming device has an adhesive laminate design that permits it to be manufactured as a disposable device. A preferre... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7222966 | Projection system and method A method and system are provided for projecting a three dimensional image. A projection system may include a holding tank for storing a reservoir containing a projection medium and a projector including a plurality of valves for projecting the medium from the holdin... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7223363 | Method and system for microfluidic interfacing to arrays A method and system for providing a fluidic interface to slides bearing microarrays of biomolecules or other samples immobilized thereon to perform a variety of chemical reactions or processing steps on the slide. An interface device seals against the slide to form ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7220471 | Insert film used for forming resin panel, process for producing the film and resin panel using the film An insert film having a printed part is integrally molded to a surface of a panel body made of a resin by an insert molding. The printed part is printed on a first binder layer applied to a resin film and also is formed on the resin film in a state such of being sea... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7207494 | Laser etched security features for identification documents and methods of making same The invention provides a method of producing a security feature in an identification document. A core including a top surface and a bottom surface is provided. A first laminate is laminated in contact with the top surface. A second laminate is laminated in contact w... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7207446 | Detachable golf ball display A golf ball display includes a display plate having a display field that includes information relating to a commemorative golf ball, and a bracket attached to the display plate for detachably securing the display plate to the commemorative golf ball. The display pla... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7175206 | Anti-counterfeiting marker for affixing variable entries on a support to be marked, method and resulting mark The invention concerns an anti-counterfeiting marker for providing variable entries (19) and for fixing them on a support (18) to be marked comprising: a sheet-like core (1) having at least a first colored effect (21), visible when illumi... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7171831 | Tool for turning keys A tool for turning keys comprising a tool body having an elongate slot adapted to removably receive the head of a key. The tool has an aperture, by means of which a key ring is attached to the tool. The aperture may have a constriction to prevent the key ring slidin... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7163311 | Foodware having visual sensory stimulating or sensing means Active foodware comprises at least a plate unit that provides visual stimuli by having a power source and a visual sensory stimulating component to provide light emanating from the plate. Other devices can provide auditory and haptic stimuli. The plate unit can be a... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7157133 | Embossed reflective laminates This invention provides an embossed decorative composite laminate interlayer for use in reducing UV and IR energy transmittance through a glass laminate. One interlayer of the present invention comprises an embossed decorative composite disposed between a first and ... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7128000 | Catering display for food The catering display provides an attractive serving setting for sushi and other foods, increasing the visual appeal of the foods. A stepped base provides multiple surface levels so that sushi and other foods can be well displayed, having pieces toward the center of ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7121380 | Soundproofing laminated window for vehicles A method of acoustically attenuating noises of structure-borne origin in an article of manufacture by installing a laminated window having a glass sheet and an intermediate film, where the film has a loss factor tan δ greater than 0.6 and a shear modulus G′ small... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7118793 | Three-dimensional foamable structure with wear-resistant feature A foamable structure includes a film shell having a bottom face and a peripheral wall, and a foamable material mounted in the film shell and having a bottom face combined with the bottom face of the film shell, and a peripheral wall combined with the peripheral wall... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7117621 | Three dimensional framed display and frame calendar A 3D picture frame for making a 3D framed display. A mounted background picture is bent into a concavo-convex shape for adding a 3D effect to the displayed picture. A mounted bottom edge picture achieves a depth of the field and a wrap-around effect. A floating pict... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7117576 | Method and process of a universal window system using singular advanced components of a polymer based or metallurgy based product A method for producing window components using polymer based, metallurgy based, extruded, injection molded, or wood material is provided. This invention provides a low cost, highly reliable, low defect method of producing window components by machining from a singul... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7114461 | Method for raising aquatic animals A method of culturing aquatic animals utilizes a habitat including at least one habitat unit, each habitat unit being constructed of a plurality of concentric tubes with a fixed radial spacing. The habitat is immersed in an aquatic environment containing larvae of a... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7116312 | Computer keyboard with vessel containing two liquids and a decorative element A computer keyboard device comprising a decorative sealed vessel comprising a first liquid, a second liquid, and at least one structure. The structure is insoluble in both the first and second liquids, and floats on the first liquid. The first and second liquids are... | 10/03/2006 |