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.
PatentStorm News
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 |
| 5501232 | Method and apparatus for placing tear duct drain tubes A method of putting a two-duct probe into place in the tear ducts using a hollow cylindrical cannula which is closed at its distal end, with an oblong opening being formed in the vicinity of the distal end. A slot extending proximally from the opening all... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501233 | Apparatus for varying tobacco rod density A cam is provided having one or more end blades, each having a respective support surface to compress a corresponding end region of a tobacco rod, and one or more interposed blades, each having a respective support surface to comprise a corresponding inte... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501234 | Apparatus for filtering and purifying side-stream and second-hand tobacco smoke The present invention relates to a multi-stage tobacco smoke filtering apparatus which filters both second-hand smoke exhaled by a smoker, and side-stream smoke which is evolved from the burning tip of a cigar or cigarette. The apparatus includes an enclo... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501235 | Tobacco band apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine A tobacco band apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine includes a tobacco band passed around a head pulley and a tail pulley, a plurality of guide rollers arranged between the head pulley and the tail pulley for guiding the tobacco band, a tension... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501236 | Nicotine-impermeable container and method of fabricating the same The present invention relates to a nicotine-impermeable container and a method for fabricating same. Additionally, the invention relates to a nicotine inhaling device which allows a user to ingest nicotine vapors orally. The nicotine inhaling device of th... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501237 | Tobacco reconstitution process Reconstituted tobacco having good wet strength is provided. Tobacco material is extracted with water to yield an insoluble portion and an aqueous portion containing water soluble tobacco components. The insoluble portion is formed into a sheet-like shape ... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501238 | Cigarette filter containing a humectant A cigarette filter has a humectant, preferably sodium pyroglutamate, and optionally a surfactant. The humectant absorbs moisture from the tobacco smoke for wet-filtration of the tobacco smoke.... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501239 | Hair piece using decorative clip A hair piece comprising a switch of hair attached at one end to a clip. The clip comprises a pair of jaws having a mutual pivotal connection. The jaws of the clip are provided which a spring which urges the jaws into engagement.... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501240 | Cleaning method and cleaning apparatus The invention provides a cleaning method comprising: a step of immersing the object of cleaning first in a first tank to wash roughly by bubbling from beneath, and showering with purified water from above when lifting the object, a step of immersing the object... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501241 | Vegetable aerating device A device for drying food products such as vegetables by aeration. The device includes a container having a domed cover and housing a network of tubing having a plurality of apertures through which compressed air is discharged for drying food products supp... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501242 | Pressure relief valve A pressure relief valve includes an apertured ball valve element which is spring loaded and is rotatably and axially mounted in the valve bore so that when an over pressure situation arises fluid forces the ball axially off the valve seat against the forc... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501243 | Liquid storage tank sump An apparatus and a member therefor are disclosed for a sump assembly installed in a liquid storage tank having an exterior portion and a tank wall with an aperture extending through a portion of the tank wall, a generally cylindrical sump collar attached ... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501244 | Valve assembly A valve assembly 30 includes a pressure balancer 38 and a water mixing control element 150. Hot and cold water flow through pressure balancer 38 and a throttle plate 200 and into a mixing chamber 144 where selected amounts of the hot and cold water are mi... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501245 | Coaxial pressurized fluid flow regulator A pressurized fluid flow regulator for controlling fluid in a fluid circuit is disclosed having a high pressure feed chamber in fluid communication with a source of pressurized fluid and with an exhaust chamber which, in turn, has a fluid outlet connected... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501246 | Air/vapour separation device A device for separating gas entrained in a flow of liquid. The device comprises a main housing having a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet. A separation chamber is disposed within the housing between the inlet and the outlet, the gas entrained in the flow o... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501247 | Pressure regulator with means to block relative rotation of parts during assembly In a fluid pressure regulator, the combination comprising a body forming a cavity and a cap on the body extending over the cavity, the cap and body carrying interengaging threads allowing rotary make-up of the cap on the body; a diaphragm in the cavity an... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501248 | Expandable pipe liner and method of installing same A liner for lining the interior of subterranean pipes, such as sewers is formed from a seamless, knitted fabric sleeve having a pile construction in which piles extend away from a ground portion of the sleeve, open areas being formed among the ground and ... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501250 | Method for deleting and reintroducing yarns to a textile process Method to delete and reintroduce individual yarns as needed when they are being fed to a textile process by cutting an individual yarn, that is being forwarded to the process, rapidly to prevent producing a disruptive tension change in the process or in o... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501251 | Wire twisting and cutting tool A frame containing a wire supply coil and a clamping and cutting shears actuated by toggle links connecting the arms of the shears to the frame. The pivot of the shears is attached to one end of a piston, the other end of which slides in a cylinder in the... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501252 | Fastener Fastener for fastening together the ends of a length of steel strap wrapped around a package in a package strapper. It has a top and bottom. The top is above the section of a track where the fastening is established. The bottom is below the same section. ... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501253 | Apparatus for filling vessels with liquid In an apparatus for filling bottles with liquid, the liquid supply tank has several bottle filling adapters mounted to its body and providing a valve seat for liquid to flow from the tank to a bottle. The seat is proximate to a vertically movable valve bo... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501254 | Apparatus for filling a sack with a flowable material An apparatus for filling a sack with a flowable material, comprising a container having an inlet and an outlet and a sack holder to fasten the sack to be filled to the outlet of the container. The object of the invention is to provide a new apparatus for ... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501255 | Fuel recovery system A fuel recovery system warns a user of an impending overflow of fuel and also provides an overflow chamber into which relatively small amount of overfilled fuel are captured, thus preventing fuel spillage into the surrounding environment. The system is ad... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501256 | Chipper knife An improved chipper knife system includes reversible chipper knives having formed integrally thereon nose structures comprising a leading component of a chip breaking system. A clamp plate surface follows the nose structure and, by virtue of the nose stru... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501257 | Tree trimming apparatus A tree trimming apparatus connectable to an operating arm generally including a first housing connectable to the operating arm, a first shaft journaled in the first housing and rotatable about a first axis, means mounted on the first housing and operative... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501258 | Tire tread having a circumferential groove deeper than tread element height A tire is provided including a subtread, a plurality of tread elements extending a height "H", and a circumferential groove in the tread having a depth greater than tread element height "H" and extending into the subtread of the tire. Most preferably the ... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501259 | Inflatable restraint device and method of manufacturing same A one piece laminated air bag has an inner layer of sheet material, a middle layer of load carrying fibers and an outer layer of sheet material. The load carrying fibers are laid in a pre-specified pattern such that a majority of loads in the air bag are ... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501260 | Method using a jig for affixing an adaptor to the bottom of a business card A jig that may be used to temporarily position a thin adaptor so that it can be attached near the bottom edge of a small, generally planar member such as a card (e.g., a conventional business card or photo, etc.). The jig controls the placement of adaptor... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501261 | Window treatment operating mechanism An operating mechanism for a window treatment where the window treatment utilizes a plurality of sheet material louvers. The operating mechanism can be used when the louvers are mounted in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction. The operating mech... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501262 | Cord locking assembly for use with venetian blind A cord locking assembly mounted in the blind head box or the blind hand grip axially movably fitted on the hollow pole suspended from the blind head box. The assembly comprises a movable plug, a fixed plug hole sleeve for fitting engagement with the plug,... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501263 | Macrocomposite bodies and production methods The present invention relates to a novel process for making a macrocomposite body. Specifically, a metal matrix composite body is first formed and thereafter, a ceramic body or a ceramic matrix composite body is caused to form from at least one surface of... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501264 | Process for producing a composite using potassium hexatitanate whiskers having a tunnel structure A potassium hexatitanate whisker having a tunnel structure containing aluminum and niobium impurities in such amounts that Al2 O3 /Nb2 O3 molar ratio is 0.6 or higher and composite materials using the same. Also... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501265 | Fluid flow control for HVAC system with valve position readjustment to equalize conditioning rates in multiple zones A process is disclosed for adjusting the valve position of flow control valves which govern the flow of a heat exchange fluid to a plurality of individually controlled zones. The process resides primarily in a system controller in communication with a num... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501266 | Method and apparatus for injection molding of semi-solid metals A new method and apparatus for the injection molding of semi-solid materials (SSM). In this process (called Rheomolding), a superheated liquid metal is cooled into the semi-solid state in the barrel of a special vertical injection-molding machine, with th... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501267 | Air conditioning apparatus for an electric vehicle using least power consumption between compressor and electric heater An air conditioning apparatus for heating a cabin of an electric car having reduced electric power consumption is disclosed. An initial setting of the heating operation is that of using a refrigerating cycle 17. An average value of actual electric power c... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501268 | Method of energy load management using PCM for heating and cooling of buildings A method of energy load management for the heating and cooling of a building. The method involves utilizing a wallboard as a portion of the building, the wallboard containing about 5 to about 30 wt. % a phase change material such that melting of the phase... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501269 | Condenser unit A housing is provided for an air conditioning condenser of the type providing a fan creating an upward path of air movement through the housing, a heat exchange coil having and inlet and an outlet for connection to a source of hot refrigerant in a refrige... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501270 | Plate fin heat exchanger A fin for use in a heat exchanger of the type comprising a plurality of fluid carrying tubes for transporting heat exchange fluid is disclosed. The fin includes a generally planar base 24 having a longitudinal axis generally perpendicular to the direction... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501271 | Heat-exchanger tank A heat-exchanger tank consisting of a cover and a plate (5) fixed at the opening of the cover, the plate (5) being elongate and U-shaped, having a web portion (20) and two flanges (21, 22); and the cover consisting of a U-shaped middle piece (2) fixed wit... | 03/26/1996 |
| 5501272 | Multi-sensor relief valve well test system A well testing system is described which comprises a ball valve (10) having a plurality of fluid lines coupled thereto (20a, 20b, 20c). The ball valve (10) is located between a process fluid flow line (16) and a vent line (18) with each fluid line (20a, 2... | 03/26/1996 |
