...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!
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 |
| 7290748 | Breakaway support for overhead lines The breakaway support for overhead lines is a coordinated failure control device. The breakaway support for overhead lines sacrifices itself to ensure that the supporting structure is not damaged. The device has an intentional weak link. The breakaway support for ov... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7231745 | Truss structure, structural members thereof, and a method of manufacture therefor A joint having an improved rigidity realized by a shortened inter-joint distance and suitable for use in a truss structure is provided. A connection part is formed on the end of a pipe member to be used as a chord member. The connection part of the pipe for connecti... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7082889 | Flag display device A device and method for displaying a flag at night under a light, wherein the flag is attached to a vertical rope, and a weight is attached to the bottom of the rope. The rope and flag can be easily raised or lowered, and the flag will fly in any wind direction with... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7047703 | Metal framing strut with coiled end portions A building strut is formed as a cylinder having a plurality of contiguous sidewalls. Opposing terminal ends of the sidewalls define the ends of the cylinder. One or more of the sidewall ends are formed as a coiled spiral. These spirals may be formed within one of th... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7007438 | Crossarm systems and methods A crossarm system adapted to support power lines from a vertical pole. The crossarm system comprises a wooden crossarm member and first and second nail end plates. The wooden crossarm member defines upper, lower, inner, and outer surfaces and first and second end su... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6971212 | Brace arm A brace arm for connection to a crossarm of a utility pole. The brace arm includes an elongated wooden strut having a pole bracket at one end and a crossarm bracket at the other end thereof. Each of the brackets are injection molded of plastic or other polymeric mat... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6862861 | Utility bracket An improved crossarm support bracket for preventing excessive bending and breakage at the midsection of crossarms caused by conventional horizontal brackets and supporting heavier crossarms. The improvement comprises a base portion for attaching the bracket to a uti... | 03/08/2005 |
| 6799406 | Bolted metal joist and method of manufacturing the same A joist (10) comprises an upper chord (12), a lower chord (14) and a plurality of compression and tension webs (16/18) extending between the chords (12/14) and secured thereto by means of bolts (50). A single bolt (50... | 10/05/2004 |
| 6672014 | Structural support and positioning system for angularly directed structural support members A system (100) for positioning and securing angularly directed structural support members (20) to a longitudinally extended structural member (30) of a building includes at least a pair of mounting devices (105, 105', 105") respectively mounted to at leas... | 01/06/2004 |
| 6412233 | Structural member support and positioning system A system (100) for positioning and securing structural members (20, 30) to supporting walls (10) of a building includes at least a pair of mounting devices (105) respectively mounted to a pair of longitudinally extended laterally spaced building supportin... | 07/02/2002 |
| 6367226 | Utility pole crossarm, crossarm assembly, and method of manufacture A utility pole crossarm assembly includes a crossarm comprising a plastic base material with fiber reinforced plastic fill material and a foaming agent. The crossarm is adapted for bolting on a utility pole and for being supported thereon by a pair of dia... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6347488 | Utility pole cross-arm A cross-arm for a utility pole, the cross-arm includes an elongated, hollow bar member molded from synthetic material, such as a sheet-molding compound of polyester glass-reinforced plastic. The elongated bar member has a first end, a second end opposite ... | 02/19/2002 |
| 6244010 | Snap-in lateral truss brace A cross-bracing kit for laterally spacing and bracing open web structural supports comprises at least two clips wherein each clip includes an attachment portion for attaching to the truss member and has a first finger and a second finger extending from th... | 06/12/2001 |
| 5749198 | Tapered composite elevated support structure A high voltage electrical transmission line support structure is constructed virtually completely from glass reinforced composites, comprised of vertical ribs, reinforcing cross bracing members and a skin composed of composite panels, enabling the reducti... | 05/12/1998 |
| 5605017 | Pultruded utility line support structure and method A utility line support structure for use as a tangent crossarm or deadend including a hollow fiber reinforced beam with a bushing inserted into a transverse hole in the beam. Bushing includes a hollow inner member for receiving a bolt and a pair of integr... | 02/25/1997 |
| 5271194 | Mechanism for preventing snow from sliding off roofs Snow accumulating on sheet metal roofs may fall in large masses, causing damage to property and persons in its path. A method of impeding snow from sliding off metal roofs is provided. The method involves installing a series of attachment mechanisms which... | 12/21/1993 |
| 5247774 | Tower constructed of pultruded composites A high voltage electrical transmission line tower is constructed virtually completely from insulated pultruded composites, enabling the closer spacing of conductors and the creation of a smaller tower structure and weighing half or less the weight of a st... | 09/28/1993 |
| 5228260 | Cross brace and support arm A crossarm assembly for installation on a utility pole includes a horizontally disposed cross arm. First and second box channels matingly interfit about the cross arm at a location generally equidistant the ends of the cross arm. The channels provide stru... | 07/20/1993 |
| 5175971 | Utility power pole system A utility power pole system comprises a pultruded hollow primary pole having an external hexogonal cross section and a number of longitudinal exterior grooves along its length. The hollow primary pole also has an internal hexogonal cross section rotated 3... | 01/05/1993 |
| 5081804 | Power line pylon and lamp post A post construction kit for constructing a post implanted in a base terrain which includes a first post section adapted for implantation in the base terrain, at least one other post section adapted for interconnection with the post section to be implanted... | 01/21/1992 |
| 4932623 | Bracket To mount a cross-arm bracket to a utility pole, a c-shaped cross-arm engaging portion of a bracket fits over a cross-arm with the open end of the C facing the utility pole and the cross-arm fitting within the C. A utility pole engaging portion of the brac... | 06/12/1990 |
| 4742661 | End fitting for crossarm brace A metal end fitting for structurally interconnecting a crossarm brace to a crossarm and utility pole includes an extruded metal body having a dovetail recess for receiving an end portion of an enlongated wooden brace. The brace is inserted into the recess... | 05/10/1988 |
| 4728749 | Utility pole assembly Ceramic elements which can be clamped together by means of a tension rod so as to form a cross-arm assembly for a utility pole. The elements are provided with recesses which receive electrical conductors, with clips being provided so as to retain the cond... | 03/01/1988 |
| 4679672 | Overhead electric traction system for railways In an overhead electric traction system a simple and inexpensive mid-point anchor comprises a mast and, mounted on the upper part of the mast, a cantilever structure comprising a pair of rigid elongate members which lie in a common plane and extended tran... | 07/14/1987 |
| 4615154 | Utility line transmission tower apparatus A lightweight electrical utility line transmission tower is disclosed, which is designed to be easily transported by helicopter or truck. The tower uses a single, hollow support column which is positioned in a foundation hole. The column is directly embed... | 10/07/1986 |
| 4596105 | Crossarm brace for utility pole An extension brace for supporting a crossarm on a utility pole, having an insulated central section and ribbed brackets attached to the opposite ends of the central section, with the brackets carrying drilled strap means for attachment to the utility pole... | 06/24/1986 |
| 4296904 | Electrical equipment mount An electrical equipment mount designed for providing angulated mounting of transformers or other electrical equipment to the utility pole, wherein one or more crossarms are suspended from the utility pole by means of a pole gain, bearing plate, or other f... | 10/27/1981 |
| 4262047 | Fiberglass utility pole crossarm A generally horizontal log of fiberglass honeycomb material defining side-by-side upstanding adjacent cells substantially throughout the log is provided and the log includes a hard outer covering enclosing the log on all sides. The covering is bonded to t... | 04/14/1981 |
| 4195808 | Combination mounting bracket and support pipe A combination mounting bracket and support pipe for mounting a luminaire or the like to a vertical pole is disclosed. The combination mounting bracket and support pipe includes a curved tubular support pipe having an elongated slot in one end thereof whic... | 04/01/1980 |
| 4194080 | Utility line support structure A utility line Y support structure having a tubular pole adapted to be erected to extend upright from the ground, a pair of Y arms extending upwardly and outwardly from the top of the pole, connector means connecting the bottom of the Y arms to the top of... | 03/18/1980 |
| 3977139 | Tower having raising and lowering means A tower which is especially useful as a radio antenna tower comprises an elongated antenna pole or mast having reinforcing truss structures on opposite sides thereof comprising triangular trusses at spaced locations. One set of trusses on one side employ ... | 08/31/1976 |
| 3975580 | Articulated crossarm assembly for electrical conductor support structure A self-aligning articulated crossarm assembly for supporting electrical transmission lines is provided which utilizes unique mounting structure for insuring that the assembly assumes a true perpendicular orientation with respect to the supported line even... | 08/17/1976 |
| 3968602 | Protective workman and equipment covers Protective covers for workmen and equipment including a ground or pedestal type terminal cover fabricated to protect ground and pedestal type terminals and the cable connections connected therewith against weather, moisture, water and etc. A sealed enclos... | 07/13/1976 |