...that it was melting ice cream that inspired the invention of the outboard motor? It was a lovely August day and Ole Evinrude was rowing his boat to his favorite island picnic spot. As he rowed, he watched his ice cream melt and wished he had a faster way to get to the island. At that moment the idea for the outboard motor was born!
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 |
| 7134603 | Transparent transaction card and method for making a transparent transaction card The invention is a transaction card having a base comprising a core of substantially transparent material with a plurality of coats, on at least one of the core's surfaces, of a material which is substantially transparent to humanly visible light and which is opaque... | 11/14/2006 |
| 6874689 | LASER BEAM SCANNING DEVICE EMPLOYING A SCANNING ELEMENT HAVING A FLEXIBLE PHOTO-ETCHED GAP REGION DISPOSED BETWEEN AN ANCHORED BASE PORTION AND A LIGHT BEAM DEFLECTING PORTION HAVING A NATURAL FREQUENCY OF OSCILLATION TUNED BY THE PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF SAID FLEXIBLE PHOTO-ETCHED GAP REGION AND FORCIBLY OSCILLATED ABOUT A FIXED PIVOT POINT AT AN ELECTRONICALLY-CONTROLLED FREQUENCY OF OSCILLATION SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT FROM SAID NATURAL RESONANT FREQUENCY OF OSCILLATION Disclosed is laser beam scanning apparatus in the form of an electronically-controlled mechanically-damped off-resonant laser beam scanning mechanism. The scanning mechanism comprises an etched scanning element having a small flexible gap region of closely-controlle... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6834807 | Optical reader having a color imager The present invention relates to an optical reader that includes a color imaging assembly that generates color imaging data. An image analysis circuit determines if the acquired image should be characterized as a color photograph or as including a graphical symbol. ... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6764007 | Optical security system The present invention relates generally to an optical security system having a key, an optic lock, and a processing system. The lock generally has a plurality of optic reflective sensors, a plurality of readable discs, and a controller for processing information to ... | 07/20/2004 |
| 6761310 | Card reader A card reader (10), and particularly a manual insertion hybrid dip card reader, is described. The card reader (10) comprises a magnetic read head (28) for reading a magnetic stripe (62) on a card (60), and an integrated circuit int... | 07/13/2004 |
| 6758398 | Optical reader with ultraviolet wavelength capability An optical reader is provided for reading a bar code having ultraviolet-wavelength-responsive properties. The optical reader includes an ultraviolet light source, a photodetector, an optical system and a decoder. The ultraviolet light source generates ultraviolet li... | 07/06/2004 |
| 6745945 | Method for making contactless cards by lamination and contactless card obtained by said method The invention concerns a method for producing a portable object having a card format and comprising:—an object body including a plastic support sheet (12), a plastic incorporation sheet (18), and a first (19) and second (20) external co... | 06/08/2004 |
| 6739514 | Sales transaction system with electronic coupon processing A sales transaction system utilizing electronically stored coupons including a portable handheld optical code reader for scanning symbols on paper coupons associated with product items to be purchased a host computer for receiving data associated with the scanned co... | 05/25/2004 |
| 6726092 | Portable device service payments by multiple means Method and apparatus for use in a variety of communications systems providing one or more payment alternatives for communication services and automatically selecting of a group of alternative payment techniques while significantly reducing the amount of interactive ... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6726028 | De-inking screen Multiple shafts are aligned along a frame and configured to rotate in a direction causing paper products to move along a separation screen. The shafts are configured with a shape and spacing so that substantially rigid pieces of the paper products move along the scr... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6722569 | Optical reader having a color imager The present invention relates to an optical reader that includes a color imaging assembly that generates color imaging data. An image analysis circuit determines if the acquired image should be characterized as a color photograph or as including a graphical symbol. ... | 04/20/2004 |
| 6722574 | Business card A business card and a pen, which is adapted to detect a position-coding pattern on the business card and calculate a coordinate by means of the pattern. When activating a send box by means of the pen, a computer sends a .vcf file containing the card holder's particu... | 04/20/2004 |
| 6715678 | Portable reader for reading modules of the mini-card format connection to a personal computer The invention relates to a portable reader (1). The reader is characterized in that it comprises a part (2) for electric connection to the port of a computer, whereby said part (2) exhibits four conduction lines (8, 9, 10, 11) in addition... | 04/06/2004 |
| 6712273 | Versatile method and system for VCSEL-based bar code scanner A versatile system and method for VCSEL (vertical cavity surface emitting laser) bar code and data scanning is disclosed, including a housing (102) having a scanning surface (116), a detector element (106) disposed within the housing in close pr... | 03/30/2004 |
| 6705518 | System and method for providing tourism service using RF IC card, and storage medium for storing tourism service algorithm thereof A system for providing tourism service using RF IC card includes an RF IC card having an RF chip and providing a function of pre-paid card and a settlement server affiliated with domestic/international financial institutions, credit card companies, public transporta... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6705523 | System and method for delivering supplies to a production line A system and method is disclosed for delivering supplies from a loading dock to a production line using a supply delivery computer system that interfaces with a conveyor computer system to control transportation of supplies from a conveyor system to pickup stations ... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6698655 | Super cross-dock logistics system and method A system and method is disclosed for ordering, receiving, staging, and delivering supplies to assembly line locations in an assembly plant. Cross-dock and staging functions are combined at one facility--a super cross-dock--so that suppliers to a large-sca... | 03/02/2004 |
| 6695213 | Holographic card formats for presentation and security Disclosed is a holographic card for storing data in holographic format in accordance with the present invention includes a holographic layer for containing holographic information and a transparent protective layer overlaying the holographic layer. The ho... | 02/24/2004 |
| 6691920 | Recording and/or reproducing device and method for loading storage medium A recording and reproducing apparatus employing a flat, plate-shaped memory as a recording medium. The apparatus includes a selection operation unit for selecting data stored in the memory located at an end of a main body portion of the apparatus, where t... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6681988 | Method and system for managing a transaction card account A method and system for managing a transaction card account includes a dual function transaction card with primary and secondary transaction card functions that is issued to a cardmember in connection with the account. The cardmember is allowed to incur c... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6681986 | Method and apparatus for personal identification, and automatic cash handling machine An apparatus for personal identifying retrieves the personal identification number and entry conversion data corresponding to the identification number when a user is identified. The apparatus converts the numeric values entered from the numeric buttons, ... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6681990 | Item tracking systems and real-time inventory management Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, to support real-time inventory management. Changes to the inventory including the addition or removal of an item from the inventory are reported to the item tracking system in real-time. An inven... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6676020 | Radiation director apparatus and method using piezoelectric movement A radiation director is coupled to move under the control of a piezoelectric element. The director directs electromagnetic radiation from a radiation source under the control of the piezoelectric element. In a scanning station embodiment, an electrical si... | 01/13/2004 |
| 6672512 | Combined biometric reader/RFID circuit A circuit that combines the functionality of a biometric reader and an RFID circuit is provided. This circuit uses certain functional blocks for processing both t h e biometric signals and the RFID signals. As a result, the space and power consumed by the... | 01/06/2004 |
| 6669090 | Electronic marking of a medication cartridge The invention relates to: A method of providing an electronically readable item of information (725) on a medication cartridge (70). The invention further relates to a cartridge (70) containing an electronically readable item of information (725), a suppo... | 12/30/2003 |
| 6663006 | Prepayment wristband and computer debit system A financial transaction system that does not require the need for cash, checks or credit cards to carry out financial transactions. In return for prepayment of specified sum, a bar coded wristband is issued to a customer. On issuance of the wristband, a d... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6663000 | Validating components of a malware scanner In a malware scanner containing an updating program 20, a malware scanner engine 22 and malware definition data 24, the malware scanner engine 22 and the malware definition data 24 cross-check each other for validity. More particularly, each includes its ... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6659342 | Self-service terminal A self-service terminal (10 or 110) is described. The terminal (10 or 110) includes a self-contained power supply (44 or 144) such as a battery so that the terminal (10 or 110) does not require any external power connection. The terminal may also have a w... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6659352 | Semiconductor integrated circuit, a contactless information medium having the semiconductor integrated circuit, and a method of driving the semiconductor integrated circuit A semiconductor integrated circuit which obtains a driving power from a carrier onto which data has been piggybacked, the semiconductor integrated circuit being characterized by demodulating data by correctly discriminating it even when the obtained power... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6659357 | Device for processing data carrier cards The invention relates to a device for processing data carrier cards. Said device comprises a transport device (10) for retracting and dispensing a data carrier card (12), a read/write device (18) for exchanging data with the data carrier card (12), and a ... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6655590 | Smart card reader (57) Abstract: A card reader (10, 20, 110. 120, 210) for receiving a smart card (12) having leading and trailing edges joined by sides and laterally and longitudinally spaced card contacts (14) on a contact surface is disclosed. The card reader (10, 20, 1... | 12/02/2003 |
| 6655594 | Document, system, and method for data storage and acquisition A document, system, and method are provided for data storage and acquisition. In one embodiment, the document comprises an amount of data embodied in a bar code located on the document, where a number of data files are included in the data. Also, a select... | 12/02/2003 |
| 6644556 | Storage device including storage space indication The present disclosure relates to a storage device. In one arrangement, the storage device comprises a memory module, a controller, and a storage space indicator that conveys an indication of the amount of storage space that is available. In some arrangem... | 11/11/2003 |
| 6641053 | Foreground/background document processing with dataglyphs An image processing apparatus for encoding and decoding a document containing machine-readable code overlaid by human-readable content such that the code and the human-readable content are both discernable. In operation, a background image is generated, w... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6641046 | Reader for decoding two-dimensional optically readable information A reader for reading optical information is described which includes a housing for supporting a photosensitive array associated with an optical string adapted to focus optical information on the array. Also provided are array and optical string controls f... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6643002 | System and method for locating and positioning an ultrasonic signal generator for testing purposes The invention is directed to an ultrasonic testing system. The system tests a manufactured part for various physical attributes, including specific flaws, defects, or composition of materials. The part can be housed in a gantry system that holds the part ... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6641048 | Winged wristband An elongate strip formable into a wristband. The elongate strip includes adhesive contact portions and one or more laterally-placed adhesive winged detents such that upon looped formation of the wristband, an adhesive bond is formed at the contact portion... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6637652 | IC card handling device A card slot defines a space for receiving an IC card. A contact block has a plurality of contacts on one surface for contacting a plurality of contact points, respectively which are provided on one surface side of the IC cared received inside the card slo... | 10/28/2003 |
| 6637662 | Data code image reading apparatus Two-dimensional code image is read with a two-dimensional CCD, and displayed on an LCD. Keys or a touch panel can input a message regarding the read image by hand. The read image and the message displayed on the LCD are stored in the EEPROM with relations... | 10/28/2003 |
| 6634562 | Recording and reproducing apparatus, recording medium adapter apparatus, and recording and reproducing method There is provided a recording and reproducing apparatus, a recording medium adapter apparatus, and a recording and reproducing method which allows exit from the power saving mode without conducting the reset using ejection and re-insertion of a recording ... | 10/21/2003 |