Inventions And Patents
Inventions and patents, and a short biography about each inventor.
VISITOR COUNT
Saturday, December 10, 2022
Invention - Optical Glass
Sunday, November 13, 2022
What Is A Patent?
The Latin word "patent" means "to lay open" or "make available for public inspection."
A patent is a numbered legal document connected to an intellectual property or invention which is issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office after a patent application has been approved. It is granted to anyone who invents a device, product, or object that is useful or improves upon an existing invention.
The inventor has a limited period of time (usually 5 to 20 years) to demonstrate their invention and to offer it for sale. The actual patent prevents all others from copying it and selling it. Anyone who interferes, infringes or attempts to steal the details of a patent in order to duplicate it to put his own name on it can be sued.
The inventor must write a description on the patent application that is worded with just enough detail so a person with basic skills in that particular field could operate the device. The description must be written on an "Enabling Disclosure" form and show that the invention is actually in his possession when the patent was filed.
Anyone can make the argument that by sharing details, the invention is at risk to be copied because of this disclosure. But it is the patent itself that protects the inventor from other people who try to file a patent application for something they never invented or have never operated.
If the basic information about the invention is omitted, then the patent is considered violated and it might not be re-issued. Depending on the gravity of the violation, the patent could also be permanently revoked.
Not everyone agrees that a patent is a good thing, so they don't bother getting one. Ben Franklin is a case in point. For all his inventions, he never filed for a single patent because he wanted to cut the red tape so the public could be exposed to the product.
There are some inventors who refuse to get a patent until the last weeks before the product goes public because they feel the "basic" wording of the Enabling Disclosure gives away too much information about their intellectual property so it can be duplicated. Not filing a patent leaves themselves open to anyone who wants to copy their idea.
There are some inventors who get a patent for every step in the process of creating their invention because they feel they are actually protecting it from theft.
Each invention is different. The process of creating it is different. Each inventor needs to decide how to proceed in obtaining patents - either get patents in increments or obtain one for the whole completed project.
The bottom line is - a patent protects an invention from being stolen.
If it can be stolen because someone was able to figure out the end result because there was more than enough information provided from the steps in the beginning of the project, then either the Enabling Disclosure was not basic enough (it was too precise) or it is best if the inventor waited to file for the patent when more of the invention is in place for his patent to protect his invention.
Sharing years in advance before an invention is market-ready is one of the reasons why inventors end up in court, either being sued or suing others for infringement.
Please tell your friends about our blogs so they can enjoy reading them too. Thanks!
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Inventions vs. Discoveries
An invention is a new product or process that solves a technical problem. A discovery is something that already existed but had not been found. Inventions can lead to discoveries and discoveries can also lead to inventions. Ben Franklin's discovery of lightning prompted him to invent the lightning rod in 1752.
Many inventions were invented thousands of years ago and sometimes the origins are lost to time. Sometimes scientists discover a model of an early invention where they can tell how old it is and where it came from.
Patents tell us when, where and by whom an invention was invented. But people who don't apply for patents, like Ben Franklin for example, leave the door open for anyone to claim they were the inventor of one of his discoveries.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Inventor - Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton, 1642-1727 |
Isaac Newton was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. But he was also an inventor. He was a thinker but a very poor student in school. Instead he devoted his mind to inventing devices or improving on existing inventions. In his youth, he invented a small working windmill, a clock that operatedby the force of dropping water, and a sundial.
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Inventor - Blaise Pascal
Pseudonym: Louis de Montalte
Etienne Pascal
Blaise Pascal, inventor |
Blaise Pascal was a a child prodigy, and inherited his father's mathematical mind. Ultimately he became a French philospher, mathematician, physicist, inventor and a Catholic writer. He and his sister Jacqueline were educated by his father at home. Blaise was always in poor health and suffered from seizures, but he was bright and he had a head for numbers.
His family were devout Catholics , starting as members of the Jansenists, a splinter group of the Catholic Church. His father was a judge in the tax courts and it was his job to calculate and collect the taxes. Blaise watched his father labor for many hours calculating by hand how much tax he had to collect from each household. In 1643, Blaise invented a mechanical adding machine for his father to calculate the taxes more quickly and accurately. Blaise was 18 years old. He named the adding machine "The Pascaline."
He studied hydrodynamics and hydrostatics and invented the syringe and the hydraulic press. He supplmented his income by writing articles for the Catholic press. Much of his work was published after his death.
His name has been attributed to: Pascal's Principle (hydraulic brakes, jack, and crane), Pascal's Law (they hydraulic lift system), Pascal's Triangle, Pascal's Theorem, and Pascal's Wager (live your life as if God exists because you will lose very little if God turns out to be a myth. If he is real, one stands to gain immeasurably.) The Unversity of Blaise Pascal is in his home town.
He was diversified and in addition to his achievements, he is revered for improving upon the technology used for the roulette machine, the foundations of hydrodynamics. One of his published works was "Provincales" in which he attacked the Jesuits while defending Antoin Arnauld, founder of Jansenism at that time,
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Invention - The Corset
A number of different people have been credited with inventing the corset but not all of them were granted a patent. More women than men were granted a patent for designing, modifying, or improving on the corset in any way.
From 1842 through 1876, these are the patents granted to women which are on file at the US Patent Office:
- Mary Brush was the second woman to be granted a patent. She lived in Davenport Iowa and received patent #2 on July 21, 1815 for inventing the corset.
- On January 21, 1842, Elisabeth Adams improved on it and was granted patent #1940.
- On September 10, 1850, Louisa Balia was granted patent #7627 for desginging corset stays.
- On December 23, 1858, Anna S. McLean, of Williamsburg, New York, was granted patent #22,443 for the corset.
- On August 26, 1862, Adeline J. Brooks of Philadelphia was granted patent #36,272 for the corset.
- On September 15, 1863, Lavinia H. Foy of Worcester, Massachusetts was granted patent #39,906 and #39,909 for improvements in corsets with corset skirt supporters
- On September 15, 1863, Mina Sebille, of New York, received patent #39,964 for improvement to corsets.
- On June 24, 1864, Eleanor M. Marshall of Hillsdale New York received patent #43,321 for improvements in mammiform breast protectors
- On November 28, 1864, Harriet H. Thompson of Washington DC received patent #45,103 for imrpovement in abdominal supporters.
- On November 29, 1864, Lavina H. Foy received another patent #45,296 for improvement in corset skirt supporters but it had to be put in her husband's name James H. Foy.
- On May 23, 1865, Clarissa Preston of Detroit Michigan received patent #47,856 for improving the corset.
- On May 1, 1866, Lavina H. Foy of Worcester Massachusetts received patent #54,323 for improving the combined corsets and bustles.
- On February 5, 1867, Cathrine Allsop Griswold of Willimantic, Connecticut received patent #61,824 for improvements in the corset.
- On May 28, 1867, Mellissa E. Bulkley of Providence Rhode Island received patent #65,163 for improving the corset.
- On January 14, 1868, Clara Z. Cummings of Buffalo New York received patent #73,235 for improving the corset.
- On April 7, 1868, Martha B. Solomon of Charlestown Massachusetts was granted patent #76,354 for improving children's corsets.
- On July 7, 1868, Lavinia H. Foy of Newton Courtre, Massachusetts was granted patent #79,647 for improving the corset.
- On August 10, 1869, Marie T. Smith of New York was granted patent #93,429 for improving corset fastenings.
- On December 20, 1870, Mary P Tilton of Trenton New Jersey was granted patent #110,310 for improving the pads in corsets.
- On November 14, 1871, Caroline L. Hamlin of New York was granted patent #120,967 for improving the corset.
- On December 19, 1871, Mary J. Vavorstrand of Illinois was granted patent #122,081 for improvement in corsets and skirt supporters combined.
- On December 26, 1871, Melissa Bulkley of Rhode Island was granted patent #122,152 for improving the supporting corset fastenings.
- On March 26, 1872, Harriet G Emery and Margaret C Fuller of Boston Massachusetts were granted paent #124,801 for improving children's corsets.
- On November 19, 1872, Sarah A. Pake of Wisconsin was granted patent #133,209 for improving the corset.
- On April 8, 1873, Mary Russell of Union Bridge Maryland was granted patent #137,724 for the corset
- On March 31, 1874, Annie Hobart of Massachusetts was granted patent #149,040 for improving corset protectors.
- On October 27, 1874, Clara P Clark of Wakefield Massachusetts was granted patent #156,278 for improving the corset
- On February 9, 1875,Susanna Burns of Eastport Maine received patent #159,530 for improving the corset.
- On February 1, 1876, Mary Vavorstrand of Missouri, received patent #172,901 for improving the corset.
- On February 1, 1876, Harriet Chapman of Philadelphia Pennsylvania was ggranted patent #172980 for improving the corset.
- On March 21, 1876, Annie Whittier and Calista Andrews of Ohio recived patent #175,224 for improving the corset.
- On April 27, 1876, Annie Wilson of New York received patent #176,499 for improving the corset.
- On May 2, 1876, Louise schmitt of New Orleans received patent #177,019 for improving the corset.
- On September 26, 1876, Mary Mansfield of Salem Massachusetts was granted patent #182,526 for improvement in clasps for corsets.
- On October 3, 1876, Fanney Batcheller of Boston was granted patent #182,742 for improving the corset.
There are 313 more women who received patents for their contribution to improving the corset up to the year 1963.
Monday, March 14, 2022
Inventor - Benjamin Franklin
With his numerous inventions, Benjamin Franklin certainly made his mark on the world.
Ben Franklin |
During Franklin's time in colonial Philadelphia, there were people who made-do and people who didn't. If a gadget was invented to make life easier, most gave it a trial. People relied on what they heard from others who had tried the product before they gave it a chance.
Ben Franklin was always on the move. His inventions came about mostly from to necessity. While he ran a printing shop, he started US Post Office, started the first lending library, invented the catheter, the odometer, the Franklin Stove, the Lightning Rod, Bifocal eyeglasses, the glass harmonica, the Long Arm reaching device, swimmie fins, and the political cartoon.
See our post about Franklin Stoves.
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Inventor - William Chester Ruth
After the war, Samuel and two Union Army friends went to Pennsylvania where he met and married Louisa Pinn, the sister of one of the two Army friends. Her father ws Reverend Robert A. Pinn who was a Union soldier during the Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Inventor - Edward Goodrich Acheson
Monday, December 16, 2019
Invention - Super Soaker Water Gun
Lonnie Johnson, Inventor |
Birth Name: Lonnie George Johnson
Nickname: "The Professor"
Born: October 6, 1949 in Mobile, Alabama
Inventor: Best known for the Super Soaker Water Gun but also invented over 80 other products such as a compressed-air-powered robot (The Linex), No-Heat Hair Rollers, a Musical Wet Diaper Detector, Energy Converter (converts Solar energy to electricity), Hair Drying Curler Clips, and Nerf Foam Dart Guns,
Home Base: Ansley Park, Atlanta, Georgia
Married: Linda Moore Johnson, 4 children
Education and Employment:
Tuskegee University - 1973 - Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. 1975 - Masters Degree in Nuclear Engineering
United States Air Force - Engineer, Assigned to Strategic Air Command (Stealth Bomber Program).
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - 1979 - Systems Engineer for Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn
Chairman of the Board of The Georgia Alliance for Children
Founded Johnson Research & Development Company
*****
When you read about some of the inventions on this blog, you might find yourself saying "Gee, why didn't I think of that!?"
This is one of those inventions.
Given his impressive resume, the last invention that anyone would associate with Lonnie Johnson would be a water gun toy because his background yields to more heavy duty technical stuff like spaceships and military armaments.
He said he was the kind of kid who took his toys apart to see how they were made. He admits he is mechanically inclined which he says comes from helping his father repair things around the house.
One day he was playing around with rockets and made jet fuel on the kitchen stove that nearly burned down the house.
He liked to take all kinds of things apart to study them and modify them. For that reason, his friends nicknamed him "The Professor." In 1968, when he was a high school student, he won first prize for "Linex," his homemade robot that was powered by compressed air and made entirely out of junkyard scraps and spare parts.
In 1981, the idea for his Super Soaker came about by accident while he was working on an environmentally friendly heat pump that was powered by water instead of Freon. A high pressure nozzle was attached to the bathroom faucet and when he turned on the water, the water literally blasted out of the nozzle and shot across the bathroom. It was too powerful for the heat pump but it would be a novelty if it were a water gun.
He needed to finish working on the heat pump, but he put together a prototype for the water gun and gave it to his daughter to test it with her friends and they loved it. He planned to patent and market the toy to earn some money so he could finance his other projects.
In 1983, he filed for a patent and three years later in 1986 he was awarded US Patent #4591071. The blueprints simply described it as a "Squirt Gun"
But this is not just any water squirt gun. It is a "go big or go home" water cannon that he eventually named the Power Drencher Water Gun.
Lonnie Johnson's Super Soaker |
It took another four years of fine tuning and perfecting the water gun, and when he was ready to look into marketing, he learned that it would cost him $200,000 to get it manufactured and distributed to stores. On his military salary, it was not possible.
He set out to find a company who would manufacture and distribute it for him. He interviewed many companies and finally in 1989, he signed a contract with the Larami Corporation in Philadelphia.
Due to another water gun toy with a similar name, he changed the name of his water gun to Super Soaker. It was on store shelves by 1990, with a price of $10 to $60, depending on the size and model. It took ten years from designing it in 1981 to selling in stores in 1991.
Early model Super Soaker |
It was a success. In 1991 alone, his line of Super Soaker water gun toys generated over $200 million in sales.
A young boy with his Super Soaker |
Just because he now had lots of money coming in, Lonnie Johnson didn't retire to rest on his laurels. In 1991, he founded Johnson Research and Development Corporation to discover new products and to continue to improve and expand on the Super Soaker toys. He had many ideas he wanted to develop.
The Nerf Super Soaker 50 water gun |
The Nerf dart gun toy was popular at that time, and although it was a fun toy, Johnson thought he could improve on it by shooting multiple foam darts. His design became a Nerf projectile foam dart gun.
In February 1995, Hasbro bought out Larami Corporation and they continued honoring Larami's contracts. Or so Lonnie Johnson thought.
In February 2013, Johnson discovered he was being underpaid in royalties for the Super Soaker and Nerf toys, so he filed a lawsuit against Hasbro. The two went into arbitration and in November 2013, Lonnie Johnson was awarded $72.9 million in royalties from Hasbro. According to Hasbro, the Super Soaker had total sales of about $1 billion.
At last count in 2018, Lonnie Johnson holds over 130 patents. Here is a list of some of his other inventions and patents.
https://lonniejohnson.com/patents
A young boy's collection
Young Enthusiast Chris Reid' displays his Super Soaker Collection - Amazing!
Watch Lonnie Johnson tell the shorter version of his story on his YouTube video - 4 minutes in length.
You are here:
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Inventor - Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 |
A much younger Leonardo da Vinci |
Some of da Vinci's Inventions
Leonardo Da Vinci was a famous painter and sculptor who did not attend formal school. He was taught by family servants how to read and write, and some basic mathematics, but for most of his middle years, he was self taught. His time outdoors was where he began to observe the natural world, the properties of water, and how birds of prey caught their food.
One of da Vinci's notebooks |
His notebooks had thousands of pages of illustrations, verse, and anatomical drawings which showed he had quite an understanding of the human body. He sharpened his skill by dissecting corpses of animals and humans in order to learn how the body works. Most of his drawings were done starting around the 1480s and his drawings of the body were hailed as the first of its kind.
In 1517, Leonardo da Vinci suffered paralysis of his right hand so he wrote in reverse. The writing could only be read by holding it up to a mirror. When he died, he left over 6,000 pages of journals filled with his ideas, inventions and grocery lists. Rumors abounded that he wrote in reverse to protect the work from being stolen, while others believed it was to protect against smudges because writing from left to right would have smudged his writing and ruined the journals. Although his paralysis was well documented, it is entirely likely that he did it also to protect his work from being stolen.
Many people feel that the "Mona Lisa" was da Vinci's greatest masterpiece, certainly the most famous of his works. His sculpting work also brought him notoriety. In the late 1400s, da Vinci was commissioned to create a 20 foot sculpture of the Duke of Milan's father riding on horseback. One hopes they didn't want the sculpture in a hurry because it took him 17 years to do the sketches and build a model of the sculpture. In 1499, Milan was invaded by the French army and the sculpture was destroyed.
Leonardo da Vinci as an accomplished inventor., showed his expertise lay in understanding how things worked which he accomplished with little effort. He invented the parachute, several types of winged flying devices (airplanes, etc.), scuba gear, the water wheel, the anemometer (which measured the speed of wind), and a giant crossbow.
The parachute idea was first credited to Sebastien Lenormand in 1783, but it was actually discovered several hundred years earlier when da Vinci's drawings were examined, that he was first to conceive of the idea.
The first commercial helicopter was not built until the mid-1940s, but da Vinci's sketches contains those of modern day flying machines including a helicopter.
When cannons took too long to load, he built 33-barreled guns that could be loaded and fired at the same time. He also invented the triple barrel cannon which was used on the battlefield.
His invention of the armoured car was before the modern tank and it was loaded with a large number of weapons and able to move in any direction.
Although da Vinci has been given the credit for inventing the modern day clock, what he actually did was design a more accurate clock.
He had many ideas and even though they needed the assistance of amny pulleys, weights, gears, and tools, da Vinci's self-propelled cart was impressive because it could move without being pushed.
He invented the revolving bridge which was key for soldiers fighting the war. The bridge was portable, able to be folded up and stored in comfortable parcels so soldiers could bring it out to progress over waterways and damaged bridges.
Leonardo da Vinci sketched ideas for several hundred inventions covering every aspect of life. Many were years ahead of their time, but he built very few of them during his lifetime. His aspiration was to organize and publish his ideas, but he died before that happened.
As a successful artist, he was given permission to dissect human corpses at the Hospital of Santa Maria in Florence and later in Milan and Rome. His drawings of the human anatomy, building of skeletons, and his detailed writings for chapters helped in the teaching of anatomy to future doctors. Although da Vinci had no formal schooling, his contemporaries regarded his genius as being so rare that his remarkable talents were inspired from God rather than from human skill.
da Vinci's Mona Lisa |
Although the Mona Lisa is considered his most famous portrait, the Last Supper is the most reproduced painting of all time.
da Vinci's Last Supper |
Trivia
In 1994, Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, bought Leonardo's notebook The Codex Leicester for $30.8 million, the most expensive book ever sold. The notebook is 72 pages long and written sometime between 1506 and 1510. It holds many of da Vinci'sw diagrams, ideas, and sketches, relating to the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
Death
In 1516, King Francis I of France bestowed on him the title of Premier Painter, Engineer, and Architect to the King." One of the perks was a country manor home, the Chateau of Clous which was where he spent his last years painting and drawing. He died there at age 67 in 1519.
Leonardo da Vinci lamented on his deathbed that he failed God and men by not practicing his art as he should have. He sent for a priest to make his confession, and receive the Holy Sacrament. King Francis I became his close friend and some legends claim that he held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died. He never married, never fathered any children. His work and his pupils were his family.
In his Will, he stipulated that 60 beggars carry tapers and follow his casket. His principal heir and executor was Francesco Melzi, one of his best pupils, who sketched da Vinci through the years and give us the likenesses we now know as da Vinci. Melzi received his paintings, tools, library, and personal effects. Another long time pupil named Salai and his servant Baptista each received half of the vineyards. His servant woman received a fur-lined cloak.
Salai owned the Mona Lisa painting at the time of da Vinci's death but it later turned out to be one of several copies. In Salai's own Will, the date of his copy of the painting was around 1513 or so. In 1524, it was assessed at 505 lire. In 1962, there was a proposal to insure the painting for over $100 million before making a tour around the world but the insurance was not purchased. Instead the money was spent on more security.
His exact gravesite near the palace church of Saint-Florentin was completely demolished in the early 1800s during the French Revolution making it impossible to identify da Vinci's actual gravesite.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Inventor - Frank Abbott
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Inventor - Samuel Abbot
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Inventor - James Dyson
His attention turned to vacuum cleaners when he got frustrated by his Hoover's performance. The dust bag pores kept getting clogged with dust and the suction suffered for it. He got the idea of using cyclone force to create a vacuum cleaner that would not lose its suction.
He received the “Prince Phillip Designers Prize” in 1997 and “Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award” in 2000. The University of Bath honored him with a doctorate degree in Engineering in 2000.
In 2005 he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and in 2007 he was appointed as a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honors.
His effort of making things better has helped him achieve sales of more than $10 billion worldwide.
Dyson exports his products to more than 50 countries and has approximately 2,500 people working for him globally which are mostly scientists and engineers.
Please give our link to your friends so they can enjoy reading our posts too. Here's the link to this post. Thank you.
https://inventionsandpatents.blogspot.com/2019/04/inventor-james-dyson.html
Monday, April 8, 2019
Inventor - Charles A Lindbergh
- Lillian Vida Lindbergh Roberts (b. Dec 7, 1877 - d. Nov 4, 1916, age 29). Married Loren Britton Roberts in 1911, 1 child, Louise (1912-1974)- Edith May Lindbergh (b. Jan 18, 1890-D. April 8, 1891, age 1)- Eva Augusta Lindbergh (b. Sept 12, 1892-d. Jan 28, 1985, age 92). Married in 1916 to George W. Christie (1890-1956) 2 children. Married in 1970 to George H. Spaeth (1890-1988)
- Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (b. June 22, 1930 - d. March 1, 1932, age 1)- Jon Morrow Lindbergh (b. August 16, 1932 - still living ) UPDATE: died July 29, 2021, age 88, Married March 1954 to Barbara H. Robbins, 6 children. Married to Mara Lindberg, 2 children, Anne and Alena.- Land Morrow Lindberg (b. 1937), married on Aug 30, 1960 to Susan Miller- Anne Spencer Lindbergh Perrin (b. Oct 2, 1940-1993, age 53) Married 3 times. 3 children. Connie Feydy, Marek Sapieyevski, Charles Lindberg Feydy.- Scott Lindbergh (b. August 12, 1942 -) Married Monique DuBois- Reeve Lindbergh Tripp (b. Oct 2, 1945). Married June 19, 1968 to Richard Brown, 1 child, Jonathan (b. 1983-d.1985, age 2). Divorced on Feb 11, 1987, Married Nathaniel Tripp on Feb 11, 1987 - 1 child , Ben
He hung up his barnstorming hat and reported to Brooks Field on March 19, 1924, for a one year training course with the US Army Air Service. Eight days before graduation, on March 5, 1925, he had a mid-air collision with another Army plane during maneuvers that forced him to bail out. At the end of training, only 18 of the 104 cadets completed the training. aLindbergh earned his Army pilot's wings and for finishing first in his class. He was given a commission of Second Lieutenant in the Air Service Reserves Corps.
After Lindbergh toured 82 American cities, meeting with people and promoting the commercialization of aviation, he became a goodwill ambassador for the US.
Lindbergh was also a renowned writer and wrote seven books in his lifetime. One of his books titled “The Spirit of St. Louis” won a Pulitzer Prize in 1954.
Although Lindbergh's personal life has nothing to do with inventions, it is interesting to note that between 1958 and 1967, he also fathered seven other children with three mistresses.
Please share our link with your friends so they can enjoy reading our posts too. Here's the link to this post. Thank you.
https://inventionsandpatents.blogspot.com/2019/04/inventor-charles-lindbergh.html