Did You Know...
...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!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8178989 | System and methods for adjusting a yaw angle of a wind turbine A method of adjusting a yaw angle of a wind turbine. The wind turbine includes a nacelle that is rotatably coupled to a tower. The method includes coupling a yaw drive assembly to the nacelle for adjusting an orientation of the nacelle with respect to a direction of... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8174142 | Wind turbine with paired generators A wind turbine 20 has a turbine wheel 22 with a perimeter rim 24 and/or an intermediate rim 117 that are concentric with the axis of rotation of the turbine wheel. Electrical generators 46 and 48 are placed in engagement wit... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8174133 | Environment friendly remote control A remote control is suggested, which comprises an electric signal transmitter being supplied with energy from an electrical energy storage device. The remote control comprises a generator for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy to be stored in the el... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8169094 | Generating system using solar energy and wind power A generating system includes a first generating device (1) and a second generating device (2). The first generating device includes a housing (11), a solar cell panel (12), a storage unit (13), a heat conduction layer (16), ... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8169100 | Torque transmission for an aircraft engine The torque transmission system for an aircraft engine permits a starter-generator to drive the engine on starting at a speed reducing ratio. Once the engine is running, the engine then drives the starter-generator also at a speed reducing ratio. ... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8169098 | Wind turbine and operating same A method for operating a wind turbine erected in a body of water, comprising: measuring vibrations of the wind turbine during operation; identifying at least one periodic component of said measured vibrations, wherein said periodic component is associated with inter... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8164213 | Orbital track wind turbine An orbital track wind turbine for generation of electrical energy from wind power is provided. The wind turbine includes a plurality of spaced vertical supports to which at least two parallel spaced circular tracks are fixedly secured. These circular tracks are coax... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8164311 | Control device for electric rotating machine A control device has a unit for selecting each of states of an inverter applying a voltage to a generator, a unit for predicting a first current of the generator, flowing at a second time elapsed by one control period from a first time, from a detected current and t... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8159081 | Controlling propeller rotor overspeed An engine having at least one stage of propeller rotor blades, and a load, the at least one stage being associated with electrical generation means to generate electricity for the load. The load is switchable into a high load state in the event of an overspeed signa... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8154138 | Municipal wastewater electrical power generation assembly and a method for generating electrical power An electrical generating assembly 10 which may be selectively used in combination with and/or as part of a municipal wastewater treatment facility 12 and which allows the wastewater treatment facility 12 to generate electrical energy 48, 62, ... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8154143 | Wind energy converter comprising a superposition gear A wind energy converter configured for transmitting power to an electric grid includes a variable ratio gear system mechanically coupled between a rotor and a generator. A control system is configured to mechanically control a rotational speed of the generator so th... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8154137 | Portable power source having detachably mounted accessory A generator has a receiver adapted to receive an electrical accessory in a manner that allows the electrical accessory to be quickly removed when desired by a user. The receiver allows an electrical accessory, such as a parallel connection kit, transfer switch, or w... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8148835 | Method for controlling a wind energy plant The present invention is related to a method for controlling a wind energy plant with plural control units, which perform control tasks in the wind energy plant, comprising the following steps: a) one priority at a time is assigned to the control units,... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8148839 | Ribbon drive power generation and method of use The ribbon drive generation apparatus is comprised of a ribbon-like curved shape, composed either of metal or other suitable material, attached to a containment tube, peripheral rings, shaft, or porous central tube, with the complete apparatus being contained in a t... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8148832 | Electric power generating system An electrical power generating system includes a spring system that stores stored energy, the spring system having an input for recharging the stored energy and an output for releasing the stored energy, wherein the spring system generates a monitor signal based on ... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8138620 | Methods and systems for operating a wind turbine power converter A method for providing an output power to a load is described. The method includes coupling a multi-thread power converter system to an alternating current (AC) generator and to a load and monitoring at least one operating characteristic of the AC generator. The met... | 03/20/2012 |
| 8134345 | Cryogenic exciter The disclosed technology is a cryogenic static exciter. The cryogenic static exciter is connected to a synchronous electric machine that has a field winding. The synchronous electric machine is cooled via a refrigerator or cryogen like liquid nitrogen. The static ex... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8125095 | Variable speed synchronous generator An input shaft rotates at variable rotation rates and is driven by a variable speed source of energy or power such as by the propeller of a wind-driven electrical generator. The input shaft is connected to a first rotor which electromagnetically interacts with a sec... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8125096 | Hydro turbine generator A hydroelectric turbine generator and control system is provided that optimizes the maximum possible power output at all times by strictly monitoring power output from the generator unit and modulating the wicket gate angle and the runner blade pitch independently o... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8120196 | Wave-powered water wheel type generator A Styrofoam-filled plastic cylinder that has collapsible paddle wheel fins attached about the circumference. Two shafts extend from the ends of the cylinder. The shafts are held by bearings. The bearings are attached to a frame structure that is embedded into the se... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8115330 | Wind turbine and method for operating a wind turbine The present disclosure relates to a method for operating a wind turbine, the wind turbine comprising a wind rotor having at least one rotor blade and a generator connected to the wind rotor, wherein the generator is adapted to be connected to a grid, wherein the met... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8115331 | Wind turbine generator, active damping method thereof, and windmill tower A wind turbine generator, an active damping method thereof, and a windmill tower in which vibrations of the wind turbine generator itself or the windmill tower can be reduced at low cost are provided. The acceleration due to vibrations of a nacelle is detected with ... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8110937 | Wave energy capturing device A wave energy capturing device (10) comprising a base (12) adapted for fixed connection to a submerged surface (14). At least one elongate buoyant paddle (26) is pivotally mounted to the base (12) about a first pivotal axis (22 | 02/07/2012 |
| 8097972 | Gas turbine with magnetic shaft forming part of a generator/motor assembly A gas turbine engine including a first shaft being one of a main shaft concentrically mounted to at least one turbine rotor and a tower shaft directly driven by the main shaft and extending generally radially therefrom, the first shaft having a reduced diameter port... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8098054 | Optimal load controller method and device A method and device for optimizing power output of a power generation system having a load engaging system, a load optimizing system, a load selection system, a motive driver and one or more loads or power transfer parameters. The power generation system is illustra... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8097970 | Method and arrangement in wind power plant A method and an arrangement in connection with a wind power plant, an electric drive of the wind power plant comprising two or more partial converters in parallel, which constitute a frequency converter of the electric drive, and each partial converter comprising a ... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8093731 | Gearless human power generation An electric power generation system is disclosed. The electric power generation system comprises a string configured to be pulled. The electric power generation system further comprises a bobbin configured to rotate when the string is unwound from the bobbin. The el... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8093870 | Generator apparatus with active load dump protection A generator apparatus includes a generator, a generator controller, and a rectifier bridge. A detector unit for recognizing a load shutoff is also provided. When a load shutoff is recognized, a switch is controlled to be transmissive so that energy produced by the l... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8093734 | Cogeneration system In a cogeneration system having at least with a generation unit comprising a generator connectable to an AC power feed line between a commercial power network and an electrical load, an internal combustion engine for driving the generator, and a battery, the cogener... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8084881 | Wind-driven electricity generation device with segmented rotor A vertical wind-driven electricity generation device is described, which utilizes a unique segmented Savonius rotor and which is easily handled, transported, assembled and maintained, even by a single person. The blades of the rotor are segmented into a plurality of... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8080891 | Hybrid braking system and method A wind turbine hybrid braking system is presented. The system includes a generator coupled to a main shaft of the wind turbine for generating and transmitting power. A mechanical brake is coupled to the main shaft for applying reaction torque upon braking of the win... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8080895 | Energy generation from compressed fluids A method and system to use compressed fluids to generate electrical energy or an equivalent useful form of energy. A first embodiment uses pressurized air that can be stored to selectively and directly generate energy as required. A second embodiment uses a pressuri... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8080888 | Hydraulic generator drive system A hydraulic generator drive system. The drive system has a control system that utilizes a first loop control that receives a signal associated with hydraulic pump or motor output and sends a command signal to a pump controller in order to control the hydraulic pump.... | 12/20/2011 |
| RE43014 | Wind turbine assembly and related method Wind turbine assembly, and related method, is provided that exploits an aerodynamically enhanced wind region of a building in proximity to a parapet of the building. A wind turbine assembly includes a support assembly configured to couple to a building in proximity ... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8076909 | Method and system for monitoring the condition of generator end windings A method and system for monitoring the operating conditions of an electric generator. The system includes a triad sensor array formed within a predetermined section of a fiber optic conductor. The triad sensor array is formed of a group of sensors including a first ... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8076789 | System and method for controlling wind turbine power output A system and method for use in controlling a wind turbine's power output by a wind turbine controller. The method includes determining a predicted wind speed for the wind turbine, determining a current wind turbine power output, and determining a predicted wind turb... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8067843 | Wireless mouse with power generating function A wireless mouse includes a magnetic ball, a power generating device and a power storage device. The power generating device includes an inductive coil, being dome-shaped and partially covering the magnetic ball and configured for generating inductive voltage follow... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8058739 | Main circuit of electric power generating apparatus for dispersed power supply In an electric power generating apparatus for dispersed power supply using a permanent magnet type electric power generator having many kinds of windings in order to obtain the maximum output by force of wind without using PWM converter, there is a problem that gap ... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8058850 | Overload control of an electric power generation system with unknown availability of mechanical power capacity A control system for an electrical power generation system (EPGS) provides overload protection without disconnecting a generator of the EPGS from an excessive electrical load. Available engine power and current levels of the electrical load are continuously measured... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8058851 | Generator control unit with fast field discharge A generator control unit for fast field discharge of a field coil is disclosed. The generator control unit comprises a control domain for detecting an excessive generator output voltage, a buck regulator with a feedback pin fed from the control domain, and an over-v... | 11/15/2011 |
