Ingenious Inventions Vol. IV

NEON

What it does: Neon gas fills tubes to provide a cool, long-lasting, oddly brilliant, non incandescent lighting tailor-maid for signs that must be seen from a long distance.

Inventor: Georges Claude

Place:  Paris, France.

Patent Date: January 19, 1915.

PIGEON STARTER

What it does: Startles pigeons from traps for an improved recreational shooting experience.

Inventor: Henry A. Rosenthal

Place:  Brooklyn, New York.

Patent Date: February 16, 1875

THEREMIN

What it does: This electronic music-making device emits haunting tones when "played" by moving one's hands in the vicinity of its active parts, two radio frequency oscillators.

Inventor: Leon Sergejewitsch Theremin

Place:  Leningrad, Russia.

Patent Date: February 28, 1929

CHIA PET

What it does: The chia pet is a hollow-bodied decorative ceramic figurine, sculpted with grooves on its external surfaces to accommodate a seed paste. The paste sprouts tinto vegetation to resemble hair on the figurine's surface.

Inventor: Ron Manoah

Place:  Dunwoody, Georgia.

Patent Date: February 24, 1994

ZEPPELIN

What it does: The zeppelin dirigible is a lighter than air craft with a rigid frame designed as a vehicle for passengers or freight.

Inventor: Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin

Place:  Stuttgart, Germany

Patent Date: March 14, 1899

LAVA LAMP

What it does: The lava lamp is an ornamental lamp consisting of a transparent glass vessel and a visually pleasing lava-like substance that continually bubbles to the surface and then flows back down when the lamp is on.

Inventor: Edward C. Walker

Place:  Hampshire, U.K.

Patent Date: March 16, 11974

GOAT TRACTION FOOTWEAR

What it does: The shoe invention described in this patent takes as its model the impressively sure-footed mountain goat.

Inventor: Michael Ray Friton.

Place:  Portland, Oregon assigned by Nike, Inc.

Patent Date: May 8, 2001.

KITTY LITTER

What it does: Kitty (or cat) litter is an absorbent, easy to replace substance resembling sand, used in a box or bin as a place for house cats to do their business. The litter keeps odors and messes to a minimum, and cats seem to appreciate having their own neat and tidy toilet facility.

Inventor: Edward H. Lowe

Place:  Cassopolis, Michigan.

Patent Date: May 12, 1987

CHICKEN GOGGLES

What it does: When chickens are cooped, they tend to attack one another. Eye protection helps to prevent them from being blinded by the pecking. (The goggles are not intended as a vision aid for fowl).

Inventor: Andrew Jackson

Place:  Munich, Tennessee.

Patent Date: June 16, 1903

ASTROTURF

What it does: Astroturf simulates the look and feel of grass but with added durability, for use both indoors and outdoors for a variety of recreational and sporting activities.

Inventor: James F. Faria of Decatur, Alabama; and Robert T, Wright , of Pensacola, Florida.

Patent Date: July 25, 1967

BUBBLE WRAP

What it does: Bubble Wrap is a popular cushioning product used for packing and mailing fragile material throughout the world. (It is also fun to pop). 

Inventor: Marc Chavannes, of Brooklyn, New York, assignor to Sealed Air Corporation, of Hawthorne, New Jersey.

Patent Date: July 28, 1964

ESCAPABLE COFFIN

What it does: Provides a means of escape for anyone finding himself in the unfortunate circumstance of having been buried alive.

Inventor: Franz Vester

Place:  Newark, New Jersey.

Patent Date: August 25, 1868

"TOWERING INFERNO" FIRE BLANKET

What it does: This innovation in fire control was intended to provide an alternative method to extinguish fires in tall buildings, thus minimizing the casualites and injuries in a tragic "towering inferno" situation.

Inventor: Arthur Paul Pedrick

Place:  Sekset, Sussex United Kingdom

Patent Date: October 27, 1976

OUIJA BOARD

What it does: The Ouija board is a novelty used for conducting seances and communicating with the dead.

Inventor: Elijah J. Bond, of Baltimore, Maryland; assignor to Charles W. Kennard and William H. A. Maupin, both also of Baltimore, Maryland.

Patent Date: November 10, 1981

GENETIC ENGINEERING

What it does: Manipulates DNA structure by incorporating replicable genes into cells.
Inventor: Stanley Cohen, of Portola Valley, California, and Herbert Boyer, of Mill Valley, California.

Patent Date: December 2, 1980.