Hello My Friends,
I could not resist sharing the following article, by Jennifer L. DeLeo, in which she lists 10 of the strangest patents on record.Â
Enjoy,
MarkÂ
Although granted patents are deemed useful, many of them don’t seem that useful at all, including a sensor that detects whether you’ve hit a pedestrian and a clock that tells time in dog years.
10 WACKY TECH PATENTS
by Jennifer L. DeLeo
Buzz up!on Yahoo!
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Anyone who comes up with a new idea, or an improvement of an existing entity, should have that idea patented. You are, after all, competing with hundreds of thousands of likeminded individuals who just may invent the same thing you have.
Since 1963, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted more than 2.5 million utility (technology) patents in the U.S., which are issued for “the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof.” An issued patent generally prohibits others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up to twenty years from the date of patent application filing.
Although granted patents are deemed useful, most of the ones we encountered through Google Patent Search don’t seem that useful at all, including a sensor that detects whether you’ve hit a pedestrian and a clock that tells time in dog years. Here are ten of the strangest tech patents to ever have been issued.
1.
Invention: Conductivity sensing device for diapers
Patent number: 4205672
Filing date: Nov 28, 1977
Issue date: Jun 3, 1980
Inventor: Karel Dvorak
Instead of relying on your sense of smell to indicate whether your baby’s diapers need changing, this invention consists of a device that senses dampness in a diaper for you. The diaper will have a plastic waterproof outer layer and an inner layer of urine-absorbent material, while the sensing device will comprise of a pair of electric “connected jaw members” that clamp on the edge of a disposable diaper and detect a change of conductivity within the diapers.
2.
Invention: Automatic bed maker
Patent number: 4441222
Filing date: Jul 30, 1981
Issue date: Apr 10, 1984
Inventor: Peter J. Tascarella
Most people can’t be bothered with making their bed everyday. But if Peter Tascarella has anything to do with it, the dreaded process will be done automatically. His electronically operated bed cover is secured to the frame of a bed with rods, and mechanical arms and rollers are used to make a bed and smooth bed cover wrinkles automatically.
3.
Invention: Jet powered surfboard
Patent number: D289031
Filing date: Jul 23, 1984
Issue date: Mar 31, 1987
Inventor: Egon Monostory
Surfing made easy thanks to jet power? Not much information is given about this unusual surfboard, other than the fact that it’s supposed to be jet powered.
4.
Invention: Clock for keeping time at a rate other than human time
Patent number: 5023850
Filing date: Jul 9, 1990
Issue date: Jun 11, 1991
Inventors: Rodney H. Metts, Barry D. Thomas
Humans wear watches or own clocks to keep track of the time, but for an animal, time moves at a much different rate. The inventors explain that “animal time” can be determined “by dividing the average lifetime of a particular animal into the average lifetime of a human being.” For example, a dog lives about 11 years while a human lives about 77 years; the ratio is seven. As a result, their invention is a novelty clock or watch that would show the standard 12-hour display with the hands revolving seven times faster for dog time than human time. Even further, the date would be displayed on the timepiece known as “Dog Day.”
5.
Invention: Voice communication concerning a local entity
Patent number: 7113911
Filing date: Nov 21, 2001
Issue date: Sep 26, 2006
Inventors: Stephen John Hinde, Paul St John Brittan, Marianne Hickey, Lawrence Wilcock, Guillaume Belrose, Andrew Thomas
An entity without the ability to communicate, say, a plant, is given the chance to speak. This invention allows for such entities to interact and communicate through the use of a beacon device that is transmitted over a short-range communication link, such as an infrared, radio-based, or sound-based system. The transmitted data is then “picked up by equipment carried by a nearby person and used to contact the voice service over a wireless network. The person then interacts with the voice service, the latter acting as a voice proxy for the local entity,” according to the patent document. The said process gives the impression that you are conversing with the plant.
6.
Invention: Emoticon keyboard
Patent number: 6629793
Filing date: Apr 26, 2002
Issue date: Oct 7, 2003
Inventor: Steve Miller
We can create emoticons (such as smileys) with keyboards by combining various keys to form a big grin, a sad face, and so on. But what if you had a keyboard system with a different key for every emoticon? This invention includes a keyboard with keys representing emoticons and abbreviations; a keyboard processor that produces enhanced scan codes in order to create the emoticons on your screen; a keyboard driver for interfacing with the keyboard; and an application that receives the emoticons or abbreviations determined by the keyboard driver.
7.
Invention: Method and device for recognition of a collision with a pedestrian
Patent number: 6784792
Filing date: Jul 1, 2002
Issue date: Aug 31, 2004
Inventors: Bernhard Mattes, Gottfried Flik
For drivers who are involved in an accident in which something (or someone) is struck, sensors mounted on the bumper and hood of your vehicle are smart enough to detect if what you hit was a pedestrian. The sensors rely on two criterions: the pressures or deformations measured are compared with the typical impact of a pedestrian; the changes in velocity and/or acceleration of the vehicle caused by the impact are determined, and then compared with the changes in velocity and/or acceleration with the impact of a pedestrian.
8.
Invention: Showerhead with removable electronic media device
Patent number: 6823536
Filing date: Oct 23, 2002
Issue date: Nov 30, 2004
Inventor: Rudolph Chi Wai Yip
The inventor describe the need for a waterproof audio device in the bathroom that doesn’t have to be mounted to the shower wall, is small and compact, and can be easily removed from the shower if need be. This invention is an electronic media device that is integrated with a showerhead; therefore, it is easily mountable and removable in a shower or bath. The audio part of the device is completely separate from the showerhead (allowing no water to affect it) and includes a memory unit for storing audio data.
9.
Invention: Device for radiation shielding wireless transmit/receive electronic equipment such as cellular telephones from close proximity direct line-of-sight electromagnetic fields
Patent number: 6947764
Filing date: Nov 13, 2002
Issue date: Sep 20, 2005
Inventors: Juan C. Carillo, Jr., James S. Carillo
Everyone is concerned with the amount of radiation given off by our cell phones. This device is meant to shield or block us from those electromagnetic fields. It includes a wearable garment—such as a baseball cap—an electronic carrying pouch, a fan, and eyeglass or screens, and is placed between the user and the cell phone to act as a shield.
10.
Invention: Novelty bar of soap having low cost electro-mechanical vibrating assembly
Patent number: 6802819
Filing date: Jul 18, 2003
Issue date: Oct 12, 2004
Inventor: Chu-Yuan Liao
Chu-Yuan Liao took soap to an entirely different level. This invention places electro-mechanical parts inside a bar of soap to make it vibrate. Powered by two alkaline batteries, the electric parts are contained inside a waterproof housing in the center of the soap, which is something that was never done before. Note: Vibrating Soap actually exists!
