Did You Know...
...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.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6820513 | Reverse gear device of a combined variable transmission system A reverse gear device of a combined variable transmission system includes a housing which is mounted on the rear wheel axle of a motor scooter for housing a drive bevel gear, a driven bevel gear, an idle bevel gear, an idle gear shaft, shifting forks, and a sector p... | 11/23/2004 |
| 5816968 | Idler sprocket assembly for a phased chain system A chain and sprocket system includes a plurality of chains and sprockets. The system includes a crankshaft, an idler shaft and two overhead camshafts. The two sprockets on the idler shaft that connect by chain to drive the camshafts are phased or offset w... | 10/06/1998 |
| 4735104 | Drive transmission unit for equal forward and reverse speeds, in particular for a ship drive An input shaft is keyed to a first bevel gear, in constant mesh engagement with a second bevel gear keyed to a countershaft and rigidly associated with a first clutch, for causing a first pinion to become rotatively engaged with or disengaged from the inp... | 04/05/1988 |
