Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology

Folding Wing Aircraft, 1920, with Wing Over Fuselage

Folding wing airplanes were first designed for aircraft carrier use in WWII, or where they?  F. M. Osborne designed a high wing monoplane, that itself being an advanced design for the day, which also had wings that folded onto the top of the fuselage for storage.  It also had a wing that went over the top of the fuselage for added lift.  This hints at the design of the SR71-Blackbird and F-16, which turn the fuselage itself into a lifting surface. 

 

Mauser Recoil Operated Rifle, 1899

Paul Mauser patented a recoil operated rifle in 1899, 45 years before the M1 Garrand was adopted as the first recoil operated main battle rifle by any army.  It would be interesting to compare the M1 and the 1899 Mauser, and see the similarities.

The Daisy Air Rifle, BB Gun

Although Clarence Hamilton had started Plymouth Air Rifle with his partner Cyrus Pinckney, and the pair got two patents on air rifles, Hamilton took his third design to a company in which he owned stock, Plymouth Iron Windmill Company.  He proposed to the company president that they give an air rifle away with each purchase of a windmill.  The president, Lewis Cass Hough, took Hamilton's prototype, and shot a BB into the wastebasket in his office.  Zing!  It was an impressive shot.  Next he took the gun outside and shot into a wooden shingle, and zing, the bb went through the shingle.  Hough said "that's a Daisy!", and the name stuck. It wasn't long (1894) before the company dropped windmill sales, and changed the name of the company to Daisy Manufacturing. 

Laws of the Universe

1.  If you talk a lot, you will say more stupid things than clever things.

2.  When hiring an attorney, the most important test is the "secretaries test". If the secretaries hate an attorney, he/she should not be hired. 

3.  If you want something done twice as fast, you may have to spend 10 times as much.  This only works once.

4. If people want improvements without any changes, they really don't want improvements.

5. Things that are done illegally are done most efficiently. 

6.  The most efficient conferences are held in corridors.

Shaving the Yak

This weekend I will be shaving a yak at my house.  Shaving the Yak is a computer term that was coined at MIT a few years ago, and means: "Any seemingly pointless activity which is actually necessary to solve a problem which solves a problem which, several levels of recursion later, solves the real problem you're working on."

Seth Godin has a great post on shaving the yak on his blog. His story of shaving the yak goes like this:

"I want to wax the car today."

"Oops, the hose is still broken from the winter. I'll need to buy a new one at Home Depot."

"But Home Depot is on the other side of the Tappan Zee bridge and getting there without my EZPass is miserable because of the tolls."

"But, wait! I could borrow my neighbor's EZPass..."

"Bob won't lend me his EZPass until I return the mooshi pillow my son borrowed, though."

"And we haven't returned it because some of the stuffing fell out and we need to get some yak hair to restuff it."

And the next thing you know, you're at the zoo, shaving a yak, all so you can wax your car.

My version of shaving the yak started with the act of buying a nice new home office set up, with desk, hutch, return, bookcase, and lateral files.  This is nice stuff, and a step up from the yard sale metal desk we have now.  However, before we put the nice new furniture in our computer room/home office/place where our kids download music and play internet games, the wife decided that the room should be painted. 

Ok by me, its a small room.  But then the thought was that is we are going to paint the room, we should get new window shades for the room, or it would look odd.  But if we are going to get new window shades for the room, we should really make it nice by trimming out the window, and only then measuring the window for shades.  But if we are going to get shades, and you want the color to match other shades that we might be getting on other windows, you should buy them all at the same time, so the color will match. 

We backed off buying more shades than the one, due to cost and budget.  So the plan now is to trim out the window, get the shade, match the shade color to a trim paint color, paint the trim, paint the room, and move the new office furniture in.  Of course to trim out the window I had to buy a table saw, but that was something that was on my wish list for years anyway.  Also the fine tooth saw blades. 

I think this episode qualifies as "shaving the Yak." All we really wanted to do was move in a new desk set.  Photo to follow.

The Krag Jorgensen Patent

The Krag Jorgensen rifle was the main U.S. Army battle rifle around the turn of the century, and a more detailed article has more details on its history.  I ran across the patent for it, and thought the drawings were exceptionally beautiful.

   

The First BB Gun

Clarence Hamilton made an improved airgun over the existing and very successful model made by Markham Air Rifle Co.  He partnered with druggist Cyrus A. Pinckney and with a loan on Pinckneys drug store, started the Plymouth Air Rifle Company, in Plymouth Michigan.  Their first model was based on the version patented by Hamilton in 1888. 

The First Full Suspension Bike

You might think the first full suspension bike was associated with mountain bikes, and could have logically happened in the 1980s.  Or it could have been associated with American cruiser bikes of the 50s.  But a pretty modern looking full suspension bicycle was patented in 1891, by McGlinchey.  As in full suspension bikes of today, the rear stay is articulated, and has a spring to allow give.  The front forks have a spring to absorb shocks.  Another full suspension bike from 1890 has a link below.

The full suspension of 1892 was not exactly for off road or mountain bike use.  In those days, the roads would be considered "off road", compared to the smooth pavement of today.   In additon, the solid rubber tires needed some cushioning on the rough roads, and hence there was quite an interest in spring suspension of bikes.   

Other early suspension systems on bikes are at:

Rear suspension, 1892

Front suspension, 1889

Front suspension, 1889

Full suspension, 1890

Telescoping forks, 1922

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.