Did You Know...
...that in 1800 ether was first used by partyers as a fun diversion? Sniffing the gas led to hilarious and raucous laughter as people watched each other become more and more intoxicated and silly. Several doctors independently realized the value ether would have to anesthetize surgery patients. Of those who claimed rights to the "discovery," none had a happy ending. One had a seizure and died defending his rights. Another spent his life in an asylum because he had been denied acclaim. A third became addicted to chloroform and, in a New York City jail, he soaked a cloth in the drug, severed an artery and bled to death.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7327049 | Wave generator power plant The Wave Generator Power Plant converts the energy in sea waves into electricity. The wave motor portion of the power plant utilizes a buoyant, moving, semisubmerged, cone-shaped pontoon that is powered by the sea wave motion. The reciprocation is changed to rotary ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7315092 | Wave powered electric generating device Disclosed is a wave powered electric generating device for generating electric power from wave-driven water body in a fast, easy, inexpensive, and efficient manner such that the set up has less configurational complexity, involves easy installation and maintainabili... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7310944 | Wave energy converters (WECs) with velocity multiplication A WEC system embodying the invention includes a column and shell, arranged to move relative to each other, and a lever-like apparatus having an input end and an output end and an intermediate point, between the two ends, the intermediate point being rotatably connec... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7293960 | Power generation assemblies, and apparatus for use therewith A floating power generation assembly comprises at least three floating units (900) floating on a body of water, and at least three anchors (916) secured to a solid surface beneath the body of water, each of the floating units (900) being provide... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7254946 | Thermodilution catheter having a safe, flexible heating element A thermodilution catheter having a heating filament which is fabricated so as to be thin and flexible enough to avoid contact with the patient's blood. The heating filament is either inserted in a preformed catheter lumen, incorporated into a wall of the catheter bo... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7242106 | Method of operation for a self-protecting wave energy conversion plant A wavefarm (10) comprises a multiplicity of wave energy converters, comprising linear generators (19, 20, 21) and (22) which are driven by floats immersed in the sea, (14). In normal wave conditions, all of the generators supply a land li... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7239038 | Apparatus for electrical signal generation based upon movement and associated methods A generator/sensor may include a pair of arcuate swing arms having respective opposing ends pivotally carried by a base so that the arcuate swing arms are transverse to one another and define a movable crossing point therebetween. A body may be carried by the arcuat... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7105942 | Plant, generator and propeller element for generating energy from watercurrents A plant, generator and rotating member for the production of power from currents in a body of water, comprising a fixedly mounted of floating structure, and a plurality of replaceable generator units (750) supported by the structure and which are driven by th... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7076949 | System for multiple harnessing and complemented conversion of energy from sea waves System for multiple harnessing and complemented conversion of energy from sea waves. The system includes a structure of vertical guides along which the central floating body moves, a submerged captive-air tank, held up by the floating body, with the body and the tan... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7023104 | Wave energy conversion device for desalination, ETC An impulse-type “wave motor” employs a seabed-mounted or supported structure mounting a wave energy absorbing panel on a hinged lever arm for reciprocation motion to obtain optimal absorption of wave energy from wave motion in the sea. For deepwater wavelengths ... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7003947 | Gyro wave activated power generator and a wave suppressor using the power generator A gyro wave-activated power generator utilizing wave energy which has, as a component, a control moment gyro, and which comprises a floating body (1), a control moment gyro (5) supported by the floating body, and a power generator (10) connected... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6954006 | Hydroelectric system A hydroelectric system for disposal in a continuous flowing water vein includes at least one generator and a housing configured to include a venturi flow restriction for accelerating flow to the generator. ... | 10/11/2005 |
| 6933623 | Wave energy converters utilizing pressure differences An elongated cylinder is fully submerged, in vertical orientation, just below the mean water level of, e.g., and ocean, and of a length, dependent upon surface waves of preselected wavelength, such that the top of the cylinder experiences relatively large pressure v... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6925800 | Wave power machine The wave force machine as such is constructed in such a way that it is capable of utilizing the upward force from the waves with (FIG. 1) the force from float (1) and rocker arm (3) via rocker arm pipe (4), wherein 1 or more lock bearings... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6857266 | Wave energy converter A wave energy conversion apparatus is described. It comprises at least two devices (3, 4), each comprising a surface float (5, 6), at least one of the surface floats being rigidly attached to a submerged body (9, 10). The movement of the two dev... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6208035 | Power generation apparatus utilizing energy produced from ocean level fluctuation A power generation apparatus utilizing energy produced from ocean level fluctuation includes a working platform having a plurality of guy rods provided around its circumference each attached with a buoy under the working platform in the water; and a dampe... | 03/27/2001 |
| 5842838 | Stable wave motor A wave motion energy harvesting apparatus of the invention comprises a float portion detachably interfitted with and axially moveable with respect to a hydrodynamically resistive portion. The float portion of this apparatus is moored by means of a line at... | 12/01/1998 |
| 5770893 | Wave energy device A wave energy device comprising a tube assembly comprising a plurality of open pipes of different lengths and natural resonant frequencies each (FIG. 8) where each tube (13) floating upright in the water (FIG. 2), with the tower end of the tube open to th... | 06/23/1998 |
| 5701740 | Device for a buoy-based wave power apparatus A device for buoy based wave power apparatus, where the buoy (30) coacts with a cylinder piston arrangement which is connected to the sea bed, and where the arrangement is provided with the valve means (34, 35) enabling fluid flow through a piston (32) an... | 12/30/1997 |
| 4838025 | Hydraulic motor with buoyant tubular members A hydraulic motor comprises at least two tanks each having an arrangement of upper and lower telescoped, relatively reciprocating tubular members. The lower tubular member extends from the bottom of the tank, the upper tubular member being guided during r... | 06/13/1989 |
| 4781023 | Wave driven power generation system This invention relates to a system for the generation of useful energy from the power in ocean waves. The wave power generation system is an array of individual absorber units each consisting of a buoyant raft, connected to a stable mooring assembly by me... | 11/01/1988 |
| 4718231 | Assembly for harnessing wave and tide energy The assembly comprises an elongated float member which floats on the surface of a body of water having waves moving therealong. A support arm freely pivotally connects to the float member for maintaining the float member parallel to the surface of the wat... | 01/12/1988 |
| 4683719 | Man made floating island A man-made floating island includes platform units above the water with vertical members extending downwardly therefrom on which movable floats are mounted which move in response to wave action. Motion of the floats operates air compressors and the result... | 08/04/1987 |
| 4563591 | Wave driven engine Apparatus and process for use in converting the energy of ocean waves to useful power form wherein two floats supporting a rigid structure are spaced apart to maximize the end movement of said rigid structure, and an energy extraction device preferably of... | 01/07/1986 |
| 4453894 | Installation for converting the energy of the oceans An installation for exploiting the energy of oceans, comprising at least one floating-member, or float, capable of moving along the surface of the sea under the action of waves, at least one reference-member deeply submerged, said reference-member being s... | 06/12/1984 |
| 4438343 | Wave power generator An apparatus for converting the wave motion of a body of water to electrical energy includes a housing having a pair of opposed counter rotating shafts mounted to a common output shaft for driving the output shaft in a single direction and includes counte... | 03/20/1984 |
| 4425510 | Method and apparatus for tidal generation of power A system is disclosed for generating electric power in response to the rise and fall of tidal water. The system comprises a movable container which is mounted on a float to move up with the tide with reference to a coaxially enclosed fixed plunger, which ... | 01/10/1984 |
| 4413956 | Wave pump apparatus A wave pump apparatus includes a number of upstanding cylinders connected together by a subframe. Each cylinder mounts a float on the outside of the cylinder connected to a piston within the cylinder. The upstanding cylinders are spaced approximately a di... | 11/08/1983 |
| 4408965 | Wave powered turbine Apparatus for generating power from wave action comprising a barge (12) and at least one float (14, 15) connected thereto by rigid members (16, 17, 18, 19) pivotally connected thereto by sockets (20). A watertight cylinder (37) including a piston (40) is ... | 10/11/1983 |
| 4408455 | Wave action energy generating system The invention is an improvement in the economical generation of energy by providing a system for utilizing the wave action of bodies of water, such as ocean waves. The system consists of a pair of floating units, each separately connected to a shaft membe... | 10/11/1983 |
| 4392349 | Spaced apart wave generator float array Apparatus for extracting energy from fluid motion, i.e. waves, comprising spacing a plurality of floating modules, which may be single floats or arrays, on the fluid's surface far enough apart to minimize apparatus cost and close enough together to utiliz... | 07/12/1983 |
| 4389843 | Water wave energy transducer A water wave energy transducer comprises a boat having pivoted arms projecting out over the water, a float being mounted on the outboard end of each arm so that the arms are oscillated by wave action on the floats. Drive sprockets fixed on the arms coaxia... | 06/28/1983 |
| 4363213 | Combined body and power generating system A system is disclosed for converting a standard buoy design into an electrical power producing apparatus. The vertical arms slide in sleeves attached to the buoy body and terminate in feet in the form of flat discs. As the buoy bobs and pivots in the wate... | 12/14/1982 |
| 4341074 | Wave-energy converter The invention provides a device for converting wave energy into useful work, and comprises a body adapted to be moved to and fro by waves on a liquid, and means such as a hydraulic piston in a cylinder for converting this movement of the body into a power... | 07/27/1982 |
| 4319454 | Wave action power plant A wave action power plant powered by the action of water waves has a drive shaft rotated by a plurality of drive units, each having a lever pivotally mounted on and extending from said shaft and carrying a weight, in the form of a float, which floats on t... | 03/16/1982 |
| 4313716 | Articulated, energy converting structure An articulated marine structure for an offshore body of water which is subject to wave movement. The structure includes at least two floating elements which are pivotally joined along a common edge to permit relative movement between the respective elemen... | 02/02/1982 |
| 4302161 | Wave pump apparatus A wave pump apparatus includes a number of upstanding cylinders connected together by a subframe. Each cylinder mounts a float on the outside of the cylinder connected to a piston within the cylinder. The upstanding cylinders are spaced approximately a di... | 11/24/1981 |
| 4288986 | Wave powered generator This invention relates to a method of and device for generating energy from waves in water. The device includes a cylindrical buoyant body which has a regular shape in cross-section and annular tracks on its end faces. Gears adapted to constrain the body ... | 09/15/1981 |
| 4285196 | Wave power generator Apparatus for deriving power output from wave energy is disclosed. A rotatable member is provided which is capable of rotating in only one direction. A float is provided which rises and falls in response to wave action, and thereby moves relative to the r... | 08/25/1981 |
| 4279124 | System for extracting subsurface wave energy New and improved methods and means are described for the efficient, expeditious, economical, and safe conversion to usable form of almost all subsurface wave energy available within a predetermined annular region spanned by an array of submerged wave ener... | 07/21/1981 |