Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology

The First Recumbent Bike?

I don't know if this was the first, but it is certainly an early recumbent bicycle, to J. Jarvis, 1902.  Another early one is to W.C. Kidney, 1907. 

   

The Scooter

The Razor scooter is quite popular with kids, with a sudden entry in the field a few years ago.  Here is a scooter from 1919 that looks very similar to the Razor and its imitators.  The Razor is shown below.

You Think You Are Having a Bad Day?

You think you are having a bad day?  I don't think so.

Another Reason Women Live Longer Than Men

What, me worry? I don't need no stinking hazmat suit!

Motorized Skates

The Clark Pedmobile was an early motorized skate.  I didn't find a patent on it, but you can bet he had one.  The current incarnation of motorized skates is the MotoSK8®, which will set you back about $700.  Photo below:

Ball Bearings

A type of bearing was known in northern Europe in the days of Rome (100 bc) (Technology in the Ancient World, Henry Hodges, p 243).  The Goths and Vandals of that era were basically societies on wheels, and moved from place to place, as grazing availability, farmland, and population pressure dictated.  They used a type of wooden roller bearing on the wheels of their wagons, which were much advanced over the Roman wheel technology.

Leonardo de Vinci also designed bearings of various types.  In the culture that he worked in, he could not profit from disclosing his inventions, so he kept them secret, and used them only on commissioned works.  Thus, few of his inventions were put into practical use. 

The technology did not exist to mass produce ball bearings until the late 18th century.  Ball bearings were first patented by Philip Vaughan of England in 1794, for use on axles and wheels.  E.A. Cowper adapted the ball bearing for bicycle wheels, and soon ball bearings were also used in the cranks, pedals, and stem of bicycles.  When automobiles began being built, they borrowed heavily from the technological advances that were embodied in bicycle technology of the time. 

Yeah, but can you say it backwards?

If you understand this post, you are an old timer like me, or watch old movies. 

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very  little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him ...

a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

Black Inventor, Isaac Johnson

A very modern looking folding bicycle frame was patented in 1899 by black inventor Isaac Johnson.  Its parts could be taken apart for more compact storage.  He did not invent "the" bicycle frame, but he did invent one type of bicycle frame, a folding type.  Earlier bicycles types were that of James Starley, and Harmon Moise.

Cambio Corsa: Campagnolo's First Gear Changer

When bike racer Tullio Campagnolo's cold hands couldn't remove his rear wheel to flip it over to his fast gear, he knew something had to change in the way bicycles were geared.  In those years of European racing (the 1930's) , a bike rear wheel had a low gear on one side of the wheel, and a fast gear on the other side.  To change gears, the rear wheel would be removed and flipped over. 

First, Tullio designed a quick release hub.  Then Campagnolo designed a gear changer that had gears on only one side of the wheel.  As the chain went from one gear to the other, the rear axle was moved back and forth to take up the slack.  It was called the Cambio Corsa.  With a little help from a friend, we dug up the Italian patent figures on the Cambio Corsa.  Enjoy!! Other derailleur and Campy information is here. 

Snow Peak Giga Power Stove

Young Japanese climber Yukio Yamai wanted to build outdoor products that were of a superior design, in which everything worked as needed by climbers in the outdoors.  A dedication to design perfection is seen in the products of Yukio's company, Snow Peak, Inc.

One such product is the Giga-Power Stove, which has a head design for mixing the fuel and air, patented in 1999. The Giga-Power comes in a steel and a titanium version, and has an optional piezo electric sparker.

The stove head fits nicely in one of their titanium pots, as does the small fuel canister, which makes a great package for an ultralight stove package.  Snow Peak is now run by Yukio's son, Tohru Yamai.  The stove and cookset are make to work perfectly together, with parts nesting to make a compact kit.  However, I can live without the folding chopsticks that SnowPeak makes for outdoor use.  Each to his own.