GazEtc

Mother-son team patents cup holder for crutches

Donna Ford from Malibu, California and her son Jack have received a new patent (8,146,614) on a cup holder for crutches. The invention was inspired by Ms. Ford's own difficulty carrying around her coffee after an injury.

The Inventor was on crutches for approximately 4 months and needed to carry coffee to the office and around the home while on crutches without the use of hands, without relying on others to carry items for her, and with minimal spillage. With assistance from her 8 year old son Jack, who wants to be an inventor when he grows up, the Inventor used packing tape on her first day on crutches to hold a plastic cup holder from her son Jack's seat in the family van, and modified the holder to use temporarily while on crutches.

The Fords' patent application, originally filed without an attorney, conveys a refreshing enthusiasm.

Jack and the Inventor are very excited about their first invention and Jack insisted that inventor file for a patent on the new invention created by her with her son Jack's assistance.

Eventually, the two inventors hired a patent attorney, who ensured that Jack signed the formal documents required to be named as an inventor.

The patent attorney also helped make the arguments that the Fords' patent should be granted even though theirs wasn't the world's first crutch-mounted cup-holder. But, being a patent attorney, he couldn't resist the urge to take out the fun part of the application -- Jack's excitement about the packing-tape prototype -- and replace it with unhelpful background information. 

Crutches are known in the prior art. Crutches are often used to aid the mobility of a person with a temporary disability, such as a broken leg.

New invention makes applause louder, easier

As athletes reach ever higher levels of performance, aided by new technologies in sporting equipment, the performance of spectators has not kept pace. When it comes to spectator participation, the most effective performance-enhancing technology is probably the vuvuzela,  a plastic trumpet so reviled it has been banned from many sporting venues. Two inventors from Maryland have developed a more sporting alternative: applause-enhancing gloves.

In their new patent (8,225,425), the inventors describe a phenomenon that may be unfamiliar to dedicated vuvuzeleros.   

[I]t is not uncommon for spectators to express their pleasure by clapping hands or applauding.

Even those who are already familiar with applause may not fully appreciate the athleticisim it requires. 

[R]epeated and intense applause can lead to fatigue and a reduction in the volume and intensity of subsequent applause. Vigorous hand clapping is difficult to maintain for an extended length of time. During the winter months, gloves or mittens mute the applause. In addition, the physiology of a spectator's hand affects the quality of the applause. A young child cannot generate an applause that is as loud as that of an adult. 

The patented gloves give voice to the applause of the tired, young, and bundled masses by fitting each palm with a hard, hollow dome (12). When the palms are clapped together, "a loud and distinct sound is generated which is greater in volume and of a higher pitch than that achievable by conventional hand clapping." 

The inventors note that the soft portion of the glove can be made of a "fabric that is unisex."