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 |
| 5857338 | Seal system for geothermal power plant operating on high pressure geothermal steam A seal system for a geothermal power plant of the type having a steam turbine operating on high pressure steam produced from geothermal fluid includes a high pressure seal housing associated with the high pressure stage of the turbine. The housing has a f... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857339 | Combustor flame stabilizing structure A combustor structure is described which comprises a cavity defined in the combustor for trapping a vortex of fuel, air and hot combustion products to stabilize the flame, the cavity being formed in any suitable way such as being defined between two or mo... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857340 | Passive frequency stabilization in an acoustic resonator The resonance frequency of a gas-filled acoustic resonator (12) is stabilized against changes in frequency due to changes in the temperature of the gas and resonator (12) by placing a gas mixture and an adsorbent (16) within the resonator (12). If the tem... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857341 | Specimen-cooling device There is disclosed a sample-cooling device for efficiently cooling a sample observed with a scanning probe microscope down to a cryogenic temperature. Cryogenic temperature provided by liquid nitrogen is transferred to a stage base plate from a liquid nit... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857342 | Temperature controlling cryogenic package system A temperature controlled cryogenic package system for efficiently and precisely monitoring and controlling the operating temperature of a high temperature superconductor circuit placed on a substrate. The cryogenic package system comprises a heating eleme... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857343 | Room air conditioner having inlet and outlet closures and methods for their operation A room air conditioner includes an air inlet, an air outlet, a heat exchanger disposed between the inlet and outlet, and an air circulation fan. The inlet is opened and closed by motor-driven inlet vanes. The outlet is opened and closed by a vertically sl... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857344 | Atmospheric water extractor and method Atmospheric water extractor apparatus and method including a compressor an evaporator and one or more removable reservoirs for collecting drinkable water that has condensed on the evaporator. First and second chambers are provided separated by free-floating pi... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857345 | Method of managing a solid/gas adsorption or thermochemical reaction Method of managing a solid/gas adsorption or thermochemical reaction, the site of which is a device comprising a reactor, which contains a solid capable of reacting with a gas, an evaporator/condenser assembly for the gas and means intended to reheat the ... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857346 | Reactant for thermochemical systems and thermochemical system intended to employ such a reactant A thermochemical system and process for producing heat and/or cold by solid-gas chemical reaction is disclosed. The system and process utilizes a reactant formed of a compressed support and at least two salts which are distributed throughout the compresse... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857347 | Refrigeration system and a separator therefor A refrigeration system comprises a compressor, a condenser, a receiver and an evaporator, each having an inlet and an outlet, and a separator having an inlet and a first and a second outlet, connected to each other conventionally. The separator is positio... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857348 | Compressor A centrifugal type refrigerant compressor comprises at least one impeller (17, 18), electric motor (27) and drive shaft (22) mounted on non-lubricated radial bearings, such as magnetic or foil gas bearings (23, 24), with axial locating means (26) associat... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857349 | Refrigerating apparatus, and refrigerator control and brushless motor starter used in same When a lock detector detects a locked state of a DC motor in a starting stage, a torque increasing circuit immediately selects a starting sequence pattern of an output torque that is greater in magnitude by one preselected step, and outputs the selected o... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857350 | Evaporative cooling device The invention relates to an evaporative cooling device including a stand-alone housing that is not connected to any structure. The housing is multi-sided and evaporative pads are placed inside the opening of each of the multi-sides. An electric centrifuga... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857351 | Toy ball ice cream maker A toy ice cream maker being a preferably aluminum can with a lid insertable into a larger container wherein the larger container is encased in a spherical foam jacket. The smaller can has a lid and the larger can has a lid providing that ingredients for a... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857352 | Ribbon-freezing method and apparatus A method and apparatus for improved control of ice-crystal formation in solid and semi-solid organic materials during freezing in a bath containing a cruciferous-oil slush is disclosed. Ribbon racks are used both to separate the items being frozen from ea... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857353 | Wall cooling apparatus for a control panel, with a fan and a lamellar heat exchanger The invention relates to a wall air conditioning apparatus for a control panel, with a fan and a lamellar heat exchanger, featuring a box-like housing with an upper inlet opening and a lower outlet opening in the wall that faces the control panel, whereby... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857354 | Air-cooled absorption-type air conditioning apparatus with vertical heat-transfer fins An air-cooled absorption-type air conditioning apparatus performs both cooling and heating operations. The apparatus includes circulation pipes through which a thermal medium flows, the thermal medium being for controlling room air temperature. Further in... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857355 | Ammonia generator absorber heat exchanger cycle An ammonia GAX absorption cycle comprising a first pipe allowing a strong solution generated in an absorber to pass through a rectifier to rectify a coolant vapor provided from a generator the rectifier into a highly concentrated coolant vapor, a second p... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857356 | Process for the purification of a cryogenic fluid by filtration and/or adsorption Process and apparatus for the purification of a cryogenic fluid in liquid, diphase, gaseous or supercritical state, having a boiling point Pe, with at least one of its impurities having a boiling point Pe', with Pe'>Pe. The process includes at least one s... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857357 | Column configuration and method for argon production A system for achieving a low level of nitrogen in a lower pressure column in the feed to the argon column in a cryogenic air separation system by use of two beds of structured packing of about equal height in the lower pressure column, with mixing and red... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857358 | Method and apparatus for bending glass A method of and apparatus for bending a sheet of material heated to a formable, state such as glass, resinous polymeric material, viscoelastic material, and thermoplastic material, provides an improved pressing member for pressing the heated sheet against... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857359 | Knit slide fastener In a knit slide fastener in which a continuous fastener element row is knitted in a fastener element attaching marginal portion of each of fastener tapes simultaneously with the knitting of the fastener tape, the fastener element attaching marginal portio... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857360 | Washing machine having a balancing apparatus employing movable balls A clothes washing machine includes a rotary tub having a balancing apparatus at its upper end. The balancing apparatus comprises at least one annular chamber in which balls are movably disposed. A radially outer upright side surface of the chamber is incl... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857361 | Drum washing machine A balancing device for a drum washing machine is disclosed. The balancing device includes annular-shaped races provided on both sides of the a spin basket, and a plurality of movable bodies seated in the races. A spherical movable body is arranged to cont... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857362 | Centrifugal washing machine Centrifigal washing machine is disclosed, in which a small sized detergent solution spray pump can be used for reducing power, water and detergent consumptions, including an outer tub supported in a body of the washing machine, an inner tub rotatably held... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857363 | Cover structure of a clothes washing machine The leading end of the first member (21) of a cover assembly (20) is provided with rolls (30) in order to smoothly guide the cover assembly along sloped guide surfaces (13L and 13R), so that frictional damages are prevented as well as noises.... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857364 | Two-way lock mechanism with cam action A computer enclosure has a front bezel with two doors and a two-way lock mechanism controlling the locking of the doors. The swinging ends of the doors meet at a central portion of the bezel where the lock mechanism is located. The lock mechanism includes... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857365 | Electronically operated lock An electronically operated lock has a latch mechanism which is operable by a rotatable spindle. The spindle can be rotated manually either by an inside turn lever or a key operated outside plug or rotated electronically. A pinion is secured to the spindle... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857366 | Method of bending workpiece to target bending angle accurately and press brake for use in the same method A press brake for bending a sheet-shaped work between an upper tool and a lower die and a method of bending the work are provided. In the method, at first, bending angles at plural positions of the work are measured by a trial bending. Next, based on the ... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857367 | Brazing method In a brazing method, a flux-mixed liquid is prepared by mixing a brazing flux with a quick-drying oil. The flux-mixed liquid, when it is spread to an aluminum or aluminum alloy work, fixes the brazing flux to the work by a quick-drying character of the qu... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857368 | Apparatus and method for fabricating metal paths in semiconductor substrates through high pressure extrusion A high pressure metallization apparatus provides a chamber for enclosing or enveloping a substrate in a high pressure environment, and thereby extrude a film layer into any voids in the covers holes or trenches thereon. The high pressure is maintained in ... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857369 | Method for fabricating light weight pipe connectors A lightweight pipe connector fabrication method for rolling clamping groove for each end of metal plate made semi-finished pipe connector of various forms by using a specified groove rolling machine, the groove rolling machine including a rolling unit and... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857370 | Method of and apparatus for the trimming of leading and/or end portions of rolled products A method of and an apparatus for the cropping of leading or trailing end portions of rolled workpieces in which downstream of the rotary shear, a diverter is provided and upstream of the shear there is a rocker guiding the workpiece to the shear and havin... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857371 | Roll block for rolling wire, rods, pipes, or flat metal material to be rolled A roll block for rolling wire, rods, pipes and flat metal material to be rolled, has a plurality of exchangeable roll stands located closely next to one another in a roll line and each having a plurality of rollers, a plurality of C-shaped frames holding ... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857372 | Housing for cluster mills A cluster mill housing applicable to 20-high and 12-high cluster mills. The mill housing is similar in size and form to a comparable monobloc housing but is made of four distinct parts. The first part is a floor portion having a central lower roll cavity ... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857373 | Method and device for manufacturing cold rolled metal sheets or strips Method of producing metal sheets or strips by rolling a metal sheet or strip through cold rolling mills, characterized in that at least two work rolls (2) are textured according to a surface pattern consisting in a regular deterministic bidimensional patt... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857374 | Method and apparatus for forming a can shell A mechanical press receives can shell tooling having multiple stages each including a plurality of shell forming stations. Each station has an annular blank die which forms a sheet metal disk, and a peripheral portion of each disk is gripped between the b... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857375 | Can end stripper and part ejector Can ends are ejected from a tool station by a lifter ring and air currents in an ejector chute provided by a curved nozzle assembly adjacent an opening in the lower edge of the chute. It entrains can ends in air current across the die station and over a k... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857376 | Method and apparatus for decurling a curled lid Apparatus for decurling a curled lid for a container wherein three decurling units are mounted on a base having an upstanding support wall wherein the first unit provides a partially decurled lid, the second unit provides a further decurled lid for perfor... | 01/12/1999 |
| 5857377 | System for producing bent sheet-metal articles and components of the system The system for producing bent sheet-metal articles comprises a bending machine (80) having a punch (84) and a die (86) which cooperate with each other and define a bending space, and a manipulator (64) having a movable head (76) which can grip a piece of ... | 01/12/1999 |
