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 |
| 4577116 | System for providing electrical energy to a missile and the like A system for providing electrical energy to a missile and the like. The system including a turbine driven by a gas supply on board the missile. The turbine driving a generator thereby eliminating batteries and other electrical power sources heretofore use... | 03/18/1986 |
| 4527072 | Divisible cabin for a windmill A cabin for a windmill comprises inherently rigid, self-supporting, relatively disengageable parts. Cabin parts which occasionally have to be submitted for repair and/or maintenance work are removable from the windmill. During the repair and/or maintenanc... | 07/02/1985 |
| 4525633 | Wind turbine maximum power tracking device A method and apparatus for controlling the level of power transferred through a stand-alone wind power generating system utilizing a wind turbine whose output is converted to electrical power by means of an induction generator are disclosed. In the disclo... | 06/25/1985 |
| 4524283 | Energy converter Described herein is a device for converting such forms of mechanical energy that comprise even slow and random movements, such as the waves of the sea, the flow of a river, the blowing of the wind, and the thermal expansion caused by the radiation of the ... | 06/18/1985 |
| 4521692 | Motor generator shutdown circuit for extended ridethrough This invention relates to device for detecting a threshold value of the frequency of an input signal. A gate signal is generated from the input signal, whose period has a relationship to the frequency of the input signal. A counter counts pulses from an o... | 06/04/1985 |
| 4520273 | Fluid responsive rotor generator The rotor generator includes an elongated generally cylindrically shaped mework. An elongated rotor is longitudinally aligned within the framework and is rotatably mounted therein. The rotor has a plurality of curved blades which are capable of causing r... | 05/28/1985 |
| 4520271 | Stop-start device for a motor vehicle engine In a so-called stop-start device for a motor vehicle engine particular consuming devices in the motor vehicle are changed over to a mode of operation with a lower current consumption, when the engine is switched off, or a switching-off of the engine is pr... | 05/28/1985 |
| 4520272 | Engine speed regulating system Stabilization of the engine speed is effected rapidly particularly during idle running because there is provided a generator control means capable of suppressing or stopping power generation of a generator driven by an engine in the event the engine speed... | 05/28/1985 |
| 4517467 | Wind turbine with gale protection A wind turbine with a single rotor blade drives an alternator whose output is connected to an a-c network to supply same with power when the alternator acts as a generator under the driving force of the wind. The network establishes a synchronous speed fo... | 05/14/1985 |
| 4517466 | Vacuum pump A vacuum pump directly driven by a starting motor of an engine which can operate with a constant number of rotations even while the engine is running. The starting motor is shut off when the engine has reached a predetermined speed and then restarted to d... | 05/14/1985 |
| 4514644 | Ocean powered pump A pumping unit suitable for driving an electric generator and which is powered by ocean surf and waves. The unit includes a tower which is located on an ocean beach, and which includes a generally horizontal boom. The boom includes two forward sections di... | 04/30/1985 |
| 4513206 | Exploitation of wind energy for producing electrical power A prime mover (4), such as an internal combustion engine, and a wind rotor (1) are connected to an AC generator (2) by a differential gear (3) having its planetary-gear carrier meshing with the shaft of the AC generator (2), and having one of its half-sha... | 04/23/1985 |
| 4511808 | Installation for exploiting water currents in flowing waters by means of a plurality of water wheels An installation for exploiting the energy of flowing water in a river stream comprising a plurality of anchored pontoons supporting a plurality of waterwheels; the pontoons being arranged in a plurality of rows, the pontoons in each row being in tandem su... | 04/16/1985 |
| 4511806 | Pressure drop power generation What is proposed is an electrical energy generator that uses air pressure from a pressurized source for breathing purposes in an underwater or smoke environment wherein a conduit passes the air pressure to a turbine generator that operates at high speed i... | 04/16/1985 |
| 4511805 | Convertor for thermal energy into electrical energy using Stirling motor and integral electrical generator The present invention relates to external combustion engines and more precisely to motors using the Stirling cycle designed to directly convert thermal energy into electrical energy. In accordance with the invention, this transformation is carried out inside ... | 04/16/1985 |
| 4510396 | Method of controlling automatic stop and restart of an engine An engine of a motor vehicle is automatically stopped under predetermined conditions and automatically restarted under other predetermined conditions. The engine is restarted by a starter which is driven in response to an engine start signal. In automatic... | 04/09/1985 |
| 4510395 | Double-axle drive for electric self-propelled railway vehicle A longitudinal double-axle drive for an electric, track-bound, self-propelled vehicle is disclosed in which the electric propulsion motor is disposed longitudinally between two driving axles of the vehicle. The motor drives both driving axles via a respec... | 04/09/1985 |
| 4508971 | Two reservoir solar air-weight impelling hydro power system Using a two Reservoir System, a portion of the water moves from Reservoir to Reservoir. In its path, it collects air, which is expanded by Solar Energy, which helps to move weights, by an expanding and contracting float method to create substantial Hydro ... | 04/02/1985 |
| 4508973 | Wind turbine electric generator A wind-operated electric generator system of simple design incuding a stationary circular arrangement of segmental wind inlet passages extending around a vertical axis and having vertical inlet openings at the outer ends, the inlet openings having inwardl... | 04/02/1985 |
| 4503337 | Power supply system for heat and electricity A power supply system for generating at least one of heat and electricity which includes a number of statically and functionally independent units adapted to generate at least one of heat and electricity which enable a maximum utilization of primary energ... | 03/05/1985 |
| 4503338 | System for controlling the advance and rotation of the actuator of a starter for heat engine The invention relates to a system for controlling the advance and rotation of the actuator of a starter for a heat engine. The shaft of the electric motor rotates a dish provided with an inner thread cooperating with a screw bearing a toothed tail. The la... | 03/05/1985 |
| 4501973 | Skids for rotating machinery A skid is disclosed which is particularly suitable for supporting rotating machinery in environments where it is exposed to temperature variations and external mechanical forces and where failure of the machinery can result in the generation of an extreme... | 02/26/1985 |
| 4498017 | Generating power from wind A wind machine turns a shaft to activate a multi-stage positive displacement pump having intake and discharge means respectively coupled to intake and discharge fluid lines in a recirculating hydraulic system. Control means regulates the operative positio... | 02/05/1985 |
| 4496846 | Power generation from wind A wind machine turns a shaft to activate a multistage pump having intake and discharge means respectively coupled to intake and discharge fluid lines. Idling means is provided for each stage and constricting means is located in series with each stage betw... | 01/29/1985 |
| 4496848 | Device for harnessing wind energy including shock absorber A wind energy collecting device comprise a vertical rotor and blade of which the face exposed to the wind includes cells for engulfing air currents. The blades drive a uses device through unique shock absorber means.... | 01/29/1985 |
| 4496847 | Power generation from wind A wind machine turns a shaft to activate a multistage pump having intake and discharge means respectively coupled to intake and discharge fluid lines. Control means regulates the operative positions of the intake means or discharge means to remove selecte... | 01/29/1985 |
| 4495424 | Plant for utilization of wind and waves A plant for the combined utilization of energy from both wind and waves includes a plurality of fluid flow engines for utilizing both energies, and generating power therefrom. Each engine includes blades for making use of the energy of the wind, and a flo... | 01/22/1985 |
| 4495423 | Wind energy conversion system A wind powered device on a support structure is provided with a drive shaft mounted for rotation about its axis on the support structure and is coupled to an electric generator connected to a utility power grid. A rotor is mounted on the support structure and ... | 01/22/1985 |
| 4494006 | Method and apparatus for controlling a multicompressor station A method of control and control apparatus for load sharing between multiple compressors working in parallel and/or in series which enables all of the load-sharing compressors to carry their optimum share of the load. This load-sharing scheme follows the s... | 01/15/1985 |
| 4492874 | Synchronization fuel control for gas turbine-driven AC generator by use of maximum and minimum fuel signals Systems and methods for synchronizing a gas turbine-driven generator to an AC power system by employing optimal time control theory to directly drive the turbine-generator to a synchronizing point. The fuel commands, synchronization points, and trajectori... | 01/08/1985 |
| 4492875 | Wave powered buoy generator The wave powered buoy generator includes a hollow buoy which has inner and uter surfaces. The buoy is preferably spherical in shape. One or more windings are mounted to the buoy parallel to its surfaces with each winding having a pair of ends. A magnetized... | 01/08/1985 |
| 4491740 | Windmill power system The present invention relates to a windmill power system, particularly a passive solar powered windmill. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a windmill in which a solar chamber and a stack produce an upwardly flowing natural convection draf... | 01/01/1985 |
| 4490623 | Wind motor machine An improved wind motor machine having a wind rotor rotatable about a vertical axis. The rotor core body of the machine is provided with convexly curved wind application surfaces and coacting outer wing bodies having load supporting airplane wing-shaped cr... | 12/25/1984 |
| 4488053 | Electric constant speed/variable speed drive/generator assembly The invention is an "electric" constant speed/variable speed drive/generator assembly (10), which finds use in aircraft, and in particular, in "all-electric" aircraft. The assembly (10) includes a planetary differential (20) whose output is controlled by ... | 12/11/1984 |
| 4486668 | Alternator with vacuum pump A vacuum pump is attached to a front side of an alternator, that is, between a driven pulley and the alternator, wherein a pump shaft is detachably coupled to an alternator shaft through a tubular bushing shaft. A seal member is disposed in the tubular bu... | 12/04/1984 |
| 4486669 | Wind generator kite system This invention relates to a new system for generating electrical energy by wind power. The wind generator is suspended in the air like a kite by wind currents and is attached to the earth by a high strength cable to which are attached electric cables and ... | 12/04/1984 |
| 4486667 | Drive system for an electric generator A machine for generating electrical power having a mechanical oscillator arranged to drive the armature of a linear generator. The oscillator, in turn, is driven by an independent prime mover.... | 12/04/1984 |
| 4486038 | Energy storage Energy is stored in a hoop 12 spinning around a stator 10 both made of soft steel. At the interface between them there is a cavity in which there are conductors to provide a magnetic bearing between the hoop and the stator. A magnetic levitation device ke... | 12/04/1984 |
| 4485310 | Combination of a compression or expansion turbine engine and an electric motor A motor generator set utilizing a compression or expansion turbine engine. Fixed to the shaft of this turbine engine are the drive and pick-up rotors of a brushless direct-current motor with permanent magnets, the turbine engine bearings serving also as b... | 11/27/1984 |
| 4484082 | Power plant and process utilizing gravitational force A power plant and process for converting gas expanding and contracting energy sources into useful forms of energy and utilizing gravitational force, wherein a piston containing a magnet and able to free fall within an enclosed cylinder, having a non-magne... | 11/20/1984 |
