Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology

Cleverchimp Rickshaw

Looks like Todd at Cleverchimp has a new model of utility bike, and this looks cool!  Looks like a great kid hauler, grocery hauler, stuff hauler.  Might even be a two seater with a slight modification in the seat.  Good luck, Todd!

Stonehenge

It is a huge mystery how the ancient stone age Britains moved massive stones, and stood them upright.  This was done before metals were available, so only timbers, ropes, and stones were available as materials.  A man in Flint Michigan named Wally Wallington has demonstrated some ingenious techniques for moving huge stones, and he says Stonehenge could have been built with similar techniques.  He goes a step further and moves some big stones singlehanded.  The link to his movie is below:

http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/moving_big_rocks/   

Speaking of Stonehenge, people might be interested to know there is a full size replica of Stonehenge in Washington, overlooking the Columbia River near Goldendale.  These pictures are of some neo-Druids from a few years ago.

The Three Hundred Spartans

A new movie looks pretty interesting, about the story of the 300 Spartans who fought Xerxes army of 1.7 million men.  The trailer to the movie "300" is here, and this is one I want to see.  Below is an update of a post on the subject, with new information added.

In 481 BC when the Persian king Xerxes was going to invade Greece for conquest, he assembled a huge army from his tributary states. They were so numerous that it was hard to count them. So they counted out 10,000 and had them stand in a densely packed circle. Then they built a waist high wall around them. Then they had the rest of the troops enter the walled circle until it was full, and called it 10,000 per filling. The Persian army filled the circle 170 times, for a head count of 1,700,000!!  Of these there were 80,000 cavalry, 20,000 charioteers and camel riders.

This was and is the largest army ever assembled in the history of the world.  The Persian army was made up of armies from each province or satrapy of the kingdom, and my theory of the purpose of the head count is that this technique was to verify the number of soldiers that each provincial governor said he had contributed, which might have been an inflated number.

This illustration from The History of the World, by Ridpath, 1915.  The Persian navy sailed through a specially built canal in the Athos peninsula which had been in preparation for three years. 

The Persians continued via a land march to the Pass of Thermopylae, where they were faced by 300 Spartans and 8700 Greek soldiers from allied cities.  These were an advance force representing the Greek cities, because troops from the other cities were occupied and could not assemble in time.  Xerxes demanded the surrender of the Greek force, proclaiming that the Persian arrows would fill the sky.  The king of the Spartans replied "Good, then we'll fight in the shade." 

The Spartans, including the king of Sparta, held off the Persians assaults one after the other, with great slaughter of Persians.  The Persians finally got through the pass, at a loss of 20,000 killed, and the Spartans killed to a man.  The Persians found a mountain trail around the pass, and assembled a force behind the Spartans lines, and attacked from both sides. Before the final assault the Spartans sent most of the other Greeks to rally the other Greeks to oppose the Persians, but all the Spartans stayed to face the final Persian assault, and perished.

One thing the Spartans did, besides buy time for the Greeks to get organized,  was to throw off the Persian plans.  Xerxes had spent years preparing for the invasion, and had filled vast stores of food warehouses along the route.  When a marching army of 1.7 million men has to stay in one place and be fed, that can be a logistical problem.

The Persians then met the Athenian fleet, who they greatly outnumbered.  The Athenian fleet mauled the Persian fleet, and the main force of the Persians returned to Persia, leaving an army of 260,000 to finish the conquest in the Spring.  They were routed by a Greek force of 108,000 soldiers at Platea. What the Greeks  had discovered was a new strategy of fighting, the phalanx, and they had perfected its use during decades of Greek against Greek warfare.

Brits in Afganistan

In the early 19th century, England and Russia pursued their own national goals in what they called the "Great Game."  Russia wanted to extend its borders or influence to include access to a warm water port, and to encroach on English interests in India.  Great Britain wanted to deny Russia an increase in influence, and also wanted to extend its control over regions bounding Russian holdings. 

In 1838 England sent an army in Afganistan to install a deposed former ruler, and to depose the usurper, who enjoyed wide popular support.  With fierce resistance, the English army and their native allies captured city after Afgan city, and finally took Kabul.  After an occupation of over a year, a popular uprising rose up and many people were killed, including British officers at a parlay with the revolutionaries.  Their mutilated bodies were displayed in the marketplace of Kabul.

A treaty was made by which the British would withdraw to Jelalabad, from which they would continue to exit the country, with the British garrison of Jelalabad.   In the middle of winter,  16,000 British troops and many wives and children of the troops left Kabul and headed to Jelalabad. 

The army was harassed by snipers the entire way, with stragglers picked off from the flanks and rear, and from behind every rock on the route.   Finally the army came to Koord Cabul pass, which had been fortified to oppose their passage.   At that point the army turned over the women and children as captives, to save them from the fate of the soldiers.  The passage was negotiated, and the army passed through the pass under constant harassing fire.  The army dwindled and became a handful of survivors.  Within a few miles of Jelalabad there were six survivors, and five of those were killed outside Jelalabad.  One soldier of the 16,000 made it to Jelalabad, Dr. Brydon.

The Commander at Jelalabad refused to recognize the validity of the terms of surrender, and within the year several British forces retook Kabul, and rescued the women and children of the higher ranking officers. 



Dr. Brydon reaches Jelalabad after retreat from Kabul.

 

The Medieval Trebuchet

by Ciera Shaver, age 15

"Bad Neighbor", cocked and ready to fire.

The trebuchet was invented in China in the 5th century BC. It was a more modern version of a siege weapon that was an improvement of a previous one, called the “ancient sling.” It was a significant siege weapon of the Medieval Ages for many reasons. It had many uses, it was used both defensively and offensively, and fought in several battles.  Although it is was very simple in principle, it was very technologically advanced for its time.

"Bad Neighbor", in released position.

The trebuchet was a very versatile siege weapon. It was a weapon of choice for many armies for numerous accounts. It was capable of launching stones Weighing more than 300 pounds, and made them travel more than 300 yards. It was used both for defense and attack, and was the most powerful medieval battlefield weapon, and was usually very successful, as it was both accurate, and powerful. The trebuchet not only threw stones. It was also threw many other kinds of objects, including horses, men, bombs, animals, and corpses of infected horses and men.  Some of these objects were thrown with the object of infecting city defenders with diseases, or to  contaminate drinking water, and thus was an early form of biological warfare.

"Bad Neighbor", detail of trigger.

Not only was the trebuchet used in battle, but it was also used to toss rose petals at ladies during tournaments. The trebuchet was used in many influential battles in the Middle Ages. In 1191, at the Siege of Acre, Richard Lionheart constructed two trebuchets called, “God’s own catapult,” and “Bad Neighbour.” At the siege of Sterling Castle in 1304, Edward Longshanks made a giant trebuchet for his English army called "Warwolf" At the siege of Lisbon in 1147, two trebuchets launched stones every 15 seconds, which was a huge advancement for that time period. In 1422, Prince Coribut was the first to shoot manure out of his trebuchet at the siege of Carolstein.

The length of the arm on a Trebuchet determined how much power would be exerted from it. The longer the arm, the more force it gave. The longest arm in the Middle Ages was Edward Longshank's that measured 50 feet long, and threw 300 pounds. The sling of the trebuchet doubled the power of a trebuchet by both distance and force. Although both large and small trebuchets were incredibly effective, they both had advantages and disadvantages. A larger trebuchet was able to cast objects much farther, but was difficult to move around, required many people to operate (20-100 men), and it had a slower rate of fire. A smaller trebuchet didn't have as much range as a large trebuchet, but it was much easier to move from place to place, and it only took one person to set up for fire.

The trebuchet played a huge role in siege weapon technology in the middle ages. It started out as simply a new version of a simple weapon, and developed over the years into a very useful and versatile weapon. It was the most different, yet powerful, weapon of its time, and it sparked the idea of new, and improved trebuchets to still be used in the future.

My Method of Construction

This trebuchet was constructed with plans found on the internet, at Andy's Home Page, which is a site that gives directions on how to make many different kinds of trebuchets.  However, these directions made a trebuchet that was about 3 times the size of mine, so the very first part of my project was to convert all 35 pieces of wood, seven of which had angles, into a smaller scale, so it wouldn't be so large. My next step was to measure and  ut each piece of wood needed for the construction. The directions from the  ebsite were not very clear (most of the steps were only described in pictures) so for some steps I had to improvise.

Many of the pieces that have angles at the ends I had to cut to fit because the angles in the directions did not fit my model. After I had built the base and frame, the next step was to build the arm, which is the main source of power for trebuchets.  The counterweight box was filled with approximately 6-8 ounces of BB's, and the BBs were sealed with wood glue and sawdust. I used a segment of a bicycle spoke as the axle of the arm,  with bicycle cable ends serving as bearings for the axle to rest on. The instructions from the site for the trigger made absolutely no sense, so I  once again, had to improvise. With help from my father, we used a cut down black paper clamp to hold one rope from the sling.  We found that we couldn’t screw an eyehole screw into the thin beam, because it would split,  so the clamp was used instead.  We then used brass picture frame hangers as the  release pin for the free end of the pouch line.  The release handle was made from a sturdy paperclip, and was bent to form. By placing the release pin under the paperclip handle, and then releasing, the pouch will  sling into the air, and release the object in the pouch.

What I have learned as a result of my project:

                The trebuchet was a very versatile weapon during the Middle Ages.  I had no idea how much it was used, and how differently it was used! My immediate assumption was that it would only be used to launch stones, but I soon found that it launched much, much more than just stones! I also did not know how powerful it was! It was amazing to me that such a simple mechanism could throw such a huge and heavy object, so far!  It seemed nearly impossible when I first read that it would cast stones that weighed 300 pounds, 300 yards in front of them! I did not know how much it had impacted some of the wars that it was used in. If the trebuchet weren't to be invented, I’m sure that some newer inventions inspired by the trebuchet would have never come to be.

My Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet
http://clackhi.nclack.k12.or.us/physics/projects/trebuchet/8%20-%http://20Trebuchet/Song/main10/background.htm
http://www.vu.union.edu/~stodolan/trebuchet/history.html
http://redstoneprojects.com
http://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com
http://www.answers.com/topic/trebuchet

First Front Suspension Bike?

Here is an interesting and early (1890) front suspension bike, using a spring in the fork assembly to soften the rough roads of the day. 

Pitotubes - Its Rocket Science for Your Packing

 

Alisa Caviness-Driscoll is the founder of AMD Travel Accessories, Inc. and the creator of Pitotubes. Alisa grew up living and sailing in the Caribbean and continued exploring the world with 15 years of discovery in the travel industry. Alisa's experience as a flight attendant fed her passion for travel and put her in direct contact with thousands of business and leisure travelers.

The Challenge

In her years of travel, Alisa has heard one common complaint from all of her globetrotting friends. Whether it's shampoo, lotion, or that pricey perfume, "the top came off and it got all over EVERYTHING!" Men and women on business or leisure travel have all had the experience of personal care products leaking in expensive bags and ruining valuables. It's no way to start, or end, a trip.

The Solution

Alisa's idea was simple...find a travel bottle that is airplane proof and capable of withstanding ALL the rigors of travel. After spending a year at cosmetic and personal care packaging tradeshows and countless hours at market research, Alisa realized that the product she was looking for didn't exist. And so the lifelong traveler's entrepreneurial journey began. With the help of the industry's finest engineers, Alisa created Pitotubes.

The Benefits

Pitotubes are sleek, luxury, airless travel bottles that transport personal care products with elegance and ease. Travelers of the world can now customize their shaving kits and cosmetic bags with our signature bottles. Simply transfer your personal care products into the Pitotubes and forget about searching for travel sizes or cleaning up after the big spill.Alisa says, "My energy and inspiration comes from inventing and enhancing products that all travelers of the world want and need." AMD Travel Accessories, Inc. was launched in 2004 and continues to develop new and exciting products for fellow travelers.