Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology

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.

Corkscrewed and the Rodenator

There is a new reality show on the tv these days, called "Corkscrewed: the Wrath of Grapes".  In the show the two producers of the reality show "American Idol," Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, buy a vinyard near Paso Robles California, and proceed to have everything go wrong with their plan to be vintners. Their grape contracts are cancelled, the heat kills their owls, and gophers start to take over the vinyard.  The rodent disaster is saved when an inventor from Idaho drives in to save the day.  That man is Ed Meyers, President of an Idaho company that sells a rodent control product called the Rodenator.

The producers feel a little sorry for the furry critters for a few minutes, then when they think of the $6 million they have  riding on the harvest, they are all for nuking the gophers, at which time Ed is happy to provide the pyrotechnics.  Ed is shown in three episodes of the show that I have seen, and solves at least one of their many problems.

The Rodenator is a portable device which mixes oxygen and propane, and sends a swirling mixture into the rodent burrows.  A spark from the device ignites the gases, and the borrows for up to 300 feet are blown up, instantly killing the gophers, ground squirrels, or other borrowing pest. The Rodenator website has more information about the device, including videos of the device in action.

Ox-Gen, Portable Oxygen Supply

What do mountain climbers, coal miners, office workers in a burning building, and geriatric patients have in common?  A need for a portable emergency supply of oxygen.  Who knows how many coal miners could have been saved in recent weeks or years if each miner had a two hour supply of oxygen with them.  Office workers exiting a burning building also have a need for portable oxygen supply.  Forward aid stations in Iraq or in hurricane damaged cities could use such a device also.  And as for mountain climbers, a few years ago I was at 13,000 feet on Mt. Rainier and I and my companions were suddenly absolutely drained, from the effects of altitude.  We rested a bit, and just didn't have the juice to continue another 1000 feet.  Even 15 minutes of oxygen might have made a real difference to us then, but carrying a compressed oxygen bottle is just too heavy for such a trip, or for the other situations mentioned above.

A Boise, Idaho company has recently obtained FDA approval for a portable, non pressurized oxygen generation system that could help in each of these situations.  The devices made by Ox-Gen Inc. generate oxygen instantly in a non-pressurized product by combining two chemicals with a quick twist of a knob, and instantly produce 99.97% pure oxygen for 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the size of the unit. The 15 minute version weighs less than half a liter of water, so its actually practical to take on a climb of a mountain not usually requiring oxygen, but on which oxygen could be life saving for someone experiencing pulmonary edema.

Frank Fossella, President and Chairman of OX-GEN, has guided this project through the development of several prototypes and the FDA approval process, and the company is now ready to start production of these products.  Their web site is at www.ox-gen.us, and their products are shown in more detail there.   

Pool Cover Decking System

If you have a swimming pool, or know someone who does, you may have encountered this problem.  Powered pool covers on a roller are great for keeping debris out of the water, and to keep the water warm.  But they make one side of the pool just about unuseable.  The side that has the roller is unsupported its entire length, so it is springy, and the pool owners usually don't want you to sit on the edge because of its weakness.  Wouldn't it be nice if it could be made solid and strong enough to support people walking on the deck, sitting on the edge, and allowing that side to be used normally?  It would basically be a movable pool cover deck that offered full support, and allows you to enclose your pool cover.

A Ketchum, Idaho (home of the Sun Valley resort) structural engineer, Mike Bouiss, had an idea on how to fix that.  He built a deck that hides the pool cover, and is a rotating pool cover deck that is fully supported by a cantilevered lip, and flips open for access to the pool cover, roller, motor, and other equipment.  With the BB Deck, the edge of the pool is fully usable on the edge where that pool cover is stored, and one can walk on the rotating deck .  The deck can conceal the pool cover in a very aesthetic fashion, and provides a tray lid alternative in the form of a rotating walk on tray lid which can enclose your pool cover.  Photos and diagram are from Mike's web page, BBDeck.com.

Hamster Music

Cornell student Levi Lorenzo wanted to do a project about MIDI music technology,  so the project he came up with was to build a hamster controlled music generator.  The hamster controller uses 6 hamsters to control 3 rythmic tones.  One hamster controls the "rythmic qualities of the melodies", and the other controls the note sequence.  As the hamsters wander back and forth in their passages, the music created changes according to their position.  The music is actually not bad!

On Levi's web page, there are links to more information, sound recordings, and a video of the hamsters making music.

What I've Learned in Life

I've learned that one good turn gets most of the blankets.

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just
jackasses.

I've learned that whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think.

I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

I've learned that you can keep vomiting long after you think you're finished.

I've learned to not sweat the petty things, and not pet the sweaty
things.

I've learned age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities or polititians.

I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

I've learned that 99% of the time when something isn't working in your house, one
of your kids did it.

I've learned that there is a fine line between genius and insanity.

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away. And the real pains in the ass are permanent.

Swimming Pool Cover Innovation

If you have a swimming pool, or know someone who does, you may have encountered this problem.  Powered pool covers on a roller are great for keeping debris out of the water, and to keep the water warm.  But they make one side of the pool just about unuseable.  The side that has the roller is unsupported its entire length, so it is springy, and the pool owners usually don't want you to sit on the edge because of its weakness.  Wouldn't it be nice if it could be made solid and strong enough to support people walking on the deck, sitting on the edge, and allowing that side to be used normally? 

A Ketchum, Idaho (home of the Sun Valley resort) structural engineer, Mike Bouiss, had an idea on how to fix that.  He built a deck that is fully supported by a cantilevered lip, and flips open for access to the pool cover, roller, motor, and other equipment.  With the BB Deck, the edge of the pool is fully usable on the edge where that pool cover is stored.  Graphic and diagram are from Mike's web page, BBDeck.com.

Our Shrimp is Bigger Than Your Shrimp!

Idaho is still wild enough that once in a while a new species is found.  Last week, a new species of fairy shrimp was found in some dry lake beds that are seasonally full of a few inches of water.  This species of fairy shrimp is huge, as fairy shrimp go, measuring in at a whopping 3 inches. 

The playas, as these mud holes are called, are on military land, so the local idiots on their 4 wheelers and ATVs can't go tear them up, so that's good. 

I think I saw a movie where things like this were a foot long, and would clamp on your face and lay eggs in your stomach.

Courthouse Shootings

The recent court house shootings bring up the issue of how law enforcement officers, be they police, sheriffs, or bailiffs, can have a handgun, have instant access to it, but the bad guys can't access it.  Can these shootings be prevented?  And how do you prevent such tragedies? There is an answer, and it is made by a Boise company, Tactical Design Labs, the subject of a recent post on this blog.  Mike Lowe of TDL has designed a security holster that allows such speedy access that it can be used in quick draw competition.  At the same time, the bad guy just can't get it out of a holster.  After seeing the way this holster works, I can say that it is the answer for preventing court house shootings.

I recently talked to a police officer who had used it.  He was left handed, and had tried the right handed version at a demonstration.  He said he could draw a handgun faster from the TDL holster with his weaker hand, his right, than other officers could draw their handgun out of competing security holsters with their stronger hand.  It allows absolutely unimpeded access to the gun, and provides absolute prevention of access by bad guys.

There are a number of security holsters on the market, but TDL's is the only one that works!  Every Sheriff, Police Officer, Bailiff, MP, SWAT team, special forces, and military handgun carrier should have one. 

Diamond Z Grinders

You may have seen a blender, a grinder, or a hammermill, but one of my clients makes serious grinders.  I'm talking about grinders that can grind up a huge tree stump, an engine block, a refrigerator, or a ton of landfill in one gulp.  Farmer Melvin Zehr used a type of grinder to break up baled hay for his cattle to eat.  He thought he could build a better grinder, and he did.  His son Marty was soon designing grinders, and Marty's work led to the formation of Diamond Z, Inc.  Marty built an ever better grinder, and another, and so on.  In no time, Diamond Z had 20 years of grinder design under their belt, and their machines were the Cadillac of heavy grinders. 

One of their tub grinder has a 14 foot wide rotating tub, into which tree stumps, forest waste, railroad ties, etc are placed.  There is a square hole in the floor of the tub, and a few inches of a huge cylindrical hammermill sticks up throught the hole.  As a tree stump goes over the exposed hammermill in the floor, grrrrrrrrr, 4 inches of it is gone.  After a few passes, the whole thing has been turned into mulch.  Their tub grinders are mounted on semi trailor frames and are narrow enough, just barely, to move down the highway.  The grinder weighs 112,000 pounds, and is driven by two diesel engines with a total of 2000 horse motor.  The hammermill is made up of about 26 hammers, each hammer weighing 120 pounds.   That kind of power lets the machine chew up 42" diameter logs, root balls and all.

Marty is Chairman, and consults on the designs, while Bob Marshall runs the company as President, with Carl Bonner designing new machines and features, and Steve Peel as CFO.