Boss Paul says, "What we have here is a failure to communicate!":
Research and analysis of the U.S. Patent Office Federal Government Website.

Shipka's Forum Prompt:
Fun With Patents

Post must be at least 250 words and are due by Wednesday, February 22 by 5:00 pm.

P.C. Paul's Response #1 ·  P.C. Paul's Response #2 ·  K. Bailey's Response ·  P.C. Paul's Response #3 ·  E. Woodward's Response ·  Y. Martin's Response

K. Zajdel's Response ·  M.J. Bowen's Response ·  A. Sheikh's Response ·  A. Reed's Response ·  S. Norfolk's Response ·  B. Bauhaus' Response

E. Jones' Response ·  A. Campbell's Response ·  C. Gatton's Response ·  N. Barsky's Response ·  S. Miller's Response ·  E. Berman's Response

         I also sent tech support here at UMBC an email on the problem considering this is an Engineering/Science/Research institution and I refuse to believe that we are the only ones who have to use the US Government Patent website.

Response to P.C. Paul's Post by H. Johnson
I was also unable to view the images on the patent site. The patent site said I needed a plug in to view the tiff files. I went to http://www.internetiff.com/docs/internetiff.htm and then clicked on 'free', then downloaded the two plug-in’s for Internet Explorer to allow it to display tiff files. I installed it.

Response to H. Johnson's Post by P.C. Paul
Thanks. I just have to be careful with my home computer because it's a dinosaur. I try to limit to word processing because it really can’t handle much more at this point. I downloaded the first patch shown (AlternaTIFF) with no luck. It sounds from what you said I am expected to download both? But also from what you said you downloaded the second patch from interneTIFF with success. I’ll try it. I can’t work with technical descriptions alone. Thanks again.

         Update: I downloaded the second patch and three times I opened it and three times I got the installed 100% and the computer locked up with the message remaining on the screen. This computer is really old and doesn't like a great deal of messing with.

         OIT emailed me and said (of course) why don't I download the patch to my Home computer or a work PC. I informed them my home computer is too old, (all the money I make goes into paying tuition so on a part time job there's nothing left for anything, especially a computer.) I am not as fortunate as some as to have an office PC. Most companies don't want to give you a good job and have you disappearing during "core hours" to go to school, so I have to do a crappy part time job like practically everyone else on campus. I emailed back OIT explaining the problem but it appears that it will not be resolved, if ever until summertime when usage is low and OIT upgrades the software in all the labs through one big patch the administrator does through the network. Funny, but he couldn't see the images on his computer either.

         The Official Rube Goldberg Web Site
         http://www.rube-goldberg.com

         Rube Goldberg Machine Contests
         http://www.rubegoldberg.com/Contest

         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg

         This web site shows one of Rube Goldberg’s machines.
         http://mashable.com/2013/08/21/rube-goldberg-machines/

Response to P.C. Paul's "Rube Goldberg Machines" by S. Norfolk
Besides Warner Brother's Looney Tunes, Rube Goldberg Machines can also be seen in MGM's Tom and Jerry cartoon classic "Build a Better Mousetrap" and most recently in the Aaarman Entertainment Claymation films (most famously Chicken Run and of course Wallace and Gromit) (all 3 shorts and Curse of the WereRabbit). All feature machines that are way over complicated for comedic effect.

Response to P.C. Paul's "Rube Goldberg Machines" by N. Barsky
Ever read the book Unuseless Japanese Inventions? It describes an art form called Chindogu, where you create things which almost seem like a good idea, if you're drunk or half-asleep. Stuff like an upside-down umbrella that collects rain-water, plastic-wrapping that allows you to read a newspaper in the bathtub, or containers with milk you attach to a man's chest enabling him to experience the joys of breastfeeding.

         For some more examples, go to the following webpage:
         http://www.chindogu.com

Response to P.C. Paul's "Rube Goldberg Machines" by S. Miller
I found your link very amusing to the point where I was afraid of disturbing others in the library. The Hay Fever Hat *The all day tissue dispenser" was very funny. The pictures do so much!

Response to S. Miller's Response by P.C. Paul
Quite "politically incorrect" also.

         I found this website very interesting in the way that I learned about many new inventions that I had never thought existed. I really want to find a way to prevent getting my purse stolen again and I am going to continue to look into this idea.

Response to K. Baily's "Purse Alarms" by P.C. Paul
Correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't the way the purse was stolen also make the alarm effective or ineffective. I'm curious as to how it was stolen. My mom in her seventies, raised on the streets of Queens was mugged on the streets of Philadelphia. Her hand bag was turned in so the opening faced her torso. The assailant took advantage of her frailness and his strength, just grabbed the purse with both hands and gave one hard snap in an attempt to break the strap. Unfortunately the strap didn't break and he ended pulling my mom to the ground. at that point she just let him have it.

         Years ago in the night club the women would place their purses on the dance floor and dance around them. A woman I knew wasn't quite as smart and ditched it in a corner near the Judeo/Christian Holidays and had it stolen. Did you leave it in a shopping cart, reach for something on the shelf or walk a few feet with your back turned only to turn around and find it gone? I'm thinking that how it is stolen is just as important as how to secure and protect it.

Response to K. Baily's "Purse Alarms" by S. Miller
Not only is this assignment generating ideas for invention but also it is unknowingly bring up a venue to voice how unsafe Baltimore streets are. In regards to the “purse alarm”, I agree that this would only work if the purse was stolen and not snatched/mugged off of a person's body. This summer I was attacked and mugged in Fells Point on Thames St. He grabbed both me and the purse and I was dragged for literally a block and a half. I screamed (the most natural of alarms) and to no avail the struggle went on for an almost comical amount of time. True, at a point I entered into what I would like to call “feral child mode”, but no amount sound in this instance would have aided me. After this, I too, thought of some gadgets to protect me from what will most likely never happen again. These ideas ranged from a faux handle or even a removal retractable shell to a trap door that would open up at the bottom of the purse to disperse my belongings on the ground. By creating a “busted piñata” effect there would be a free for all of my possessions that I, for one, would then have an equal grabbing chance at.

Response to S. Miller's response by P.C. Paul "To me this sounds like the definition of..."
...terror! A block and a half and no one comes to your aid? That’s horrible. I am a native born Long Islander whose parents grew up in the Queens and the Bronx so I was taught "street sense." On the other hand, I have been attacked several times and find at time, no amount of "Street Literacy" can save one. 75' on N.YC. was not such a hot place. Mayor Patacki really did a great job cleaning up the city to absurdity. Mid 70's, early 80's 42st. was a "smut district" and this is right next to the famed "Theater District," and Broadway, (the same the New Year Ball is dropped every year). With the smut comes the riff-raff and so the "Theater District economy was plunging. Now when one goes in that area one would never recognize the area, it's all family entertainment now and it's really a treat to walk freely about the streets not living in fear. In a nutshell? NYC=predominantly harmless.

         I moved a couple of times since 93' and was in Philadelphia for five years. Down in the area where Temple University is, the students there had a saying, "If you only got mugged once this month you're doing well." I attended Drexel down in University City, so called because right next door is Ben Franklin's university, University of Pennsylvania. All one had to do was just step out of the bounds of the campus security posts and sure enough one would find trouble. South Street was also troublesome as this was the nightlife entertainment district. Anything outside of what was called "Center City" and this was only a few blocks of high riser businesses and coffee shops, one was bound to find trouble. In a nutshell? Philly=Problematic.

         Baltimore City. Egads! It scares me! I live right on the southwest side of it in the industrial park and the riff-raff floats through on their way to the next bar. Within one block the row houses begin. Most are boarded up and abandoned. I once passed through 10 pm Saturday night and most homes weren't lit indicating no one lived there. Floating around Baltimore City it seems the only place remotely (note remotely) safe might be Inner Harbor and even then M-F 9 to 5 I have my doubts. In a nutshell? Baltimore City=Gorilla War Zone. A commission is also now looking into the crime figures to see if maybe they have been fudged all in all during O'Malley terms in office. There are suspicions the numbers may have been fudged to make Baltimore look better on paper.

         I looked up on the patent site student desks as two words in the title which proved more fruitful than searching for student desk as a phrase in the title. I knew what I was looking for. I had a full size draftsman’s table once which I regret ever having let go of. The draftsman table had foldable adjustable legs so it could be collapsed and stored away. Draftsman tables are notoriously large tables for one person and usually heavy and no movable. The table was constructed of metal tubing like the student desk but of various sizes that slid into each other. Around the smaller tubes were collars with screws that would permit the raising and lowering of the smaller tubes connected to the table surface. The larger tubes acted as the base of the table. This permitted the user to adjust the table to the height and angle the user chose. With four larger tube legs bent at 90 degrees at each end forming a "[" with the broad surface on the floor, the smaller tubes slid up and down inside the larger tube. When the thumbscrews were tightened, the collars held steadfast against the larger tube. This permitted the user to adjust the table to different heights and different angles other than horizontal as necessary.

         I knew I wasn’t the only one who had problems with these student desks and from the list of complaints in the class it was an oddity why do we "still" have these kinds of desks. That answer was simple. Schools need to spend money on better things other than ergonomic tables and if people are in them for limited amounts of time then why replace what isn’t broke. One should note that every semester yet another class room gets a more traditional or modern approach to learning by receiving long banquet tables and separate chairs, but this is also based on new methods of learning in the classroom. (Old school stressing the knowledge of the individual and new school stressing the collective knowledge and encouraging sharing of knowledge). ACIV B wing on the first floor one of the really small rooms just received some banquet tables arranged in a solid square with nothing at the center, i.e. something approximating a round table, which facilitates face to face discussions, but now I’m getting off topic.

         With all the complaints mentioned I researched student chairs. There is a patent for an adjustable student chair and the patent text addresses many of our complaints, but it is clearly not made for adults but for grade school children. The invention is US Patent # 6,921,135 dated 7/26/2005 named "Child’s Adjustable Chair." I can’t see the images and with only a text description of the object I feel handicapped. It is fascinating that something that has been painful for so long, so much so that schools are moving away from purchasing similar furniture that this invention would not come along until 7/2005. this seems to me like a long time in coming.

         Matt and I were comparing notes and he was having a similar problem. We couldn’t seem to come up with ideas on specific objects and also kicked around in the database for a while. We both had the same experience on this level and we both had a similar experience on another level. For Matt it was the CD and for me it was the telephone. Matt must have bought a music CD during the weekend and mentioned how this object caused him to complain because of the way it is packaged. Yes we both know and everyone else probably does also this is done to prevent thieves from getting the little desired treasure out of the case, stick it in their pocket and walk out the store. Almost a year ago a company came out with a tiny microchip that would have a code in it like a UPC code but could be embedded into the object. The military wanted these to reduce work in logistics when shipping and receiving goods. A warehouse person could simply scan the pallet with a wand and instantly get a count of what was contained on the pallet. This way it could be checked against the receiving list for accuracy. Now, I also know having said this there are also perverse reasons this technology could be and probably will be used for, but I wish to forgo that because I discussed it in another essay. The point is Wal-mart was the test store for this chip and they were going to use it to protect the highest theft item in the store, men’s razor blades. If someone put a pack of razor blades in their pocket and tried to walk out while passing the scanners, the alarm would go off and they would be asked to step back. I said to Matt this would be the way to eliminate the shrink-wrap problem with CD’s because the security code would be embedded in the object. On the other hand I did say this code could be used for perverse means, as a way of accounting for all the objects one has and filling up a database. I did data mining at one point and having a database like this produces some very fascinating information about us that I believe is private. As an example, Giant because of it’s consumer discount card determined to market beer and diapers next to each other. Reason? If the man of the house was to be left with the baby he wanted something to do with his time, essentially watch TV and drink beer, so he would buy diapers and a six pack of beer.

         As far as my interaction during the weekend, I had to call my job Saturday to find out my hours for Sunday. While dialing (Can you still call it dialing? Isn’t that from a rotary phone?) I pressed one number wrong. This meant that I had to hang up the receiver and begin to dial again. The answer is obvious. The question simple. "Why doesn’t a telephone have a ‘backspace key’ or a ‘delete key’ or an ‘erase key’ or a ‘floating cursor’?" I am not being original on this because on Talk Radio 680AM I heard this question posed once before, but this was the only object I interacted with that made me stop and think. Sunday night, after work, I started a new search in the Patent database to find some interesting changes to the telephone but no "telephone backspace key."

         In the search I found a real recent patent dated 1/10/2006, US Patent # 6,985,311 called a "Cellular Telephone Flip Screen Magnifier." I can’t see the object which does not help me in deeming how useful it really is. The reason I mention this is because there were inventors like I. M. Nuts, who made inventions that in ways seemed like Rube Goldberg machines but were never as complex. They were objects that did solve a problem but with common sense were totally unnecessary like a mechanical doughnut dunker.

         The "Cellular Telephone Flip Screen Magnifier" does address a real problem in that as we require smaller and smaller cellular phones we also get into the inherent problem of the screen getting smaller and smaller which is something we didn’t really think about when we read "Dick Tracy" in the Sunday funnies. With the screen getting smaller and smaller, those of us with vision correction find it harder and harder to operate the phone without being able to read the screen. Here I think the object sounds great but one wants to see how evasive it might be before committing to one.

         The patents themselves discuss what the problem is with a particular invention and then throw a sales pitch of how the inventor proposes to solve the problem. Many times they cite other patents in the past by number and demonstrate their weaknesses and how the inventor’s new solution remedies the shortcomings of the previous invention. It’s an intellectual one-upmanship.

         The word descriptions of the object without the images are just painful to read and I know full well are painful to write. The inventor is expected to create a blueprint of the object in words and language such that if the images were destroyed the object could be created from the text alone. I had to do this as an exercise in my first Tech Writing course at a community school and a person who was smart chose a simple object because the description could become quite cumbersome quite quickly. I chose a screwdriver and such a simple object proved to be difficult to exactly describe in language.

         The language is also speaking to a bureaucracy, the U.S. Federal Government Patent Office and as with all government language becomes more cumbersome than technical writing. The language has to be precise as to what it means and does not mean and even clearly state what it does not mean. It is impersonal with emphasis placed on the object as with technical writing and science writing. This creates language that reads as "Agent acts upon something causing something" language. This is not normal for people outside of science, engineering, mathematics, etc so it sounds cold, impersonal and rather dry. The purpose is to emphasize the objects and the actions, people are not the focus, the objects are.

         The focus of the hammer handle I also had to reconsider. My father’s hammers had wooden handles. Some of mine had wooden handles, others had ergonomic handles and they were purchased in the late seventy’s. My body hammers had fiberglass shafts with rubber handles in order to reduce hand strain while swinging them over an extended periods of time. A while ago I saw a program on technology about why Stanley changed the handles to its hammers to fiberglass with a steel shaft. The purpose was to reduce the impact shock to the user that was transmitted through the hammer handle. In other words, once a blow has been struck, as with all energy it is neither created nor destroyed so it has to change form and go somewhere. Part is sound and part travels through the hammer handle into the user’s hand and up through their forearm and wrist. The handle absorbs some of the energy reducing user fatigue.

         Petroski talked about in the thirties how designers came in are began to re-design machines which really also becomes the birth of ergonomics. A great place to look is at automobiles, say the interior of a car made in the fifties and a car made today. Dashboards in the fifties were all metal with stuff protruding out of them, sometimes ornamental. On the passenger side, the dashboard was practically as close as it was to the driver. Why? There’s no good answer. Now look at the passenger side and the dash is way away from the passenger. There really is no good reason for having the dashboard anywhere near a passenger. It just isn’t necessary. Being wrapped around he driver, yes this makes sense. One what’s their hands off the steering wheel as little as possible and placing everything as close as possible to the driver facilitates this.

         Henry Ford’s son was a visionary in the Fifties and saw this. He designed the "Edsel." Yes the Edsel. All the controls that the driver needed to operate were built into the steering wheel. This is exactly where the idea of "Speed Racer’s Steering Wheel" came from. (Just like Generals, some ideas never die, they just fade away). The Edsel received a bum rap. The very thing that was so unique about it was its very death nail engineering flaw. The flaw was in order to establish the electrical connection between two objects that needed to rotate, there was a copper contact plate on the steering wheel and one on the steering column. This allowed current to flow from the switches to the copper plate in the steering wheel, across the copper plate in the steering column and through a wiring harness attached to the copper ring. Every possible electrical nightmare was there just waiting to happen with time and fatigue. Corrosion between the plates, eventual separation due to flexing of materials with time going down the highway, too many electrical wires located in one area of concentration dissipating heat due to resistance and causing wires to fuse together, etc. So bottom-line the main ingenuity of the Edsel was also its death nail. This is why Edel’s were considered such awful cars.

Response to P.C Paul's "Adjustable Student Desks and More" by S. Miller
"Dashboards in the fifties were all metal with stuff protruding out of them, sometimes ornamental" This sounds terrifyingly dangerous!

Response to S. Miller's response by P.C. Paul "How do you spell terror..."
..."Nineteen Fifties" and before had all kinds of ornamentation with little thought to safety. Yes, these automobiles as treasured by some as they are were extremely dangerous. Hail him or curse him, we can all than Ralf Nader for the changes in the Auto Industry. "Unsafe at Any Speed," was one of his books in the sixties.

         The object I am thinking about re-inventing is the Pointe shoe--which is what I typed into the search window. I assumed that there would not be an inordinate amount of patents for the point shoe, I knew of about six brands off hand, but I was quite shocked when one patent appeared on the screen. The following information appeared on the screen above a profile picture of a Pointe shoe: Dance Shoe, Glenn M. Baruck, Northbrook, Ill. (US), and Assigned to Leo’s Dancewear Inc., Filed on December 28, 2001 as application number 10/33,987. Underneath the drawing was text describing the use of the shoe: “Pointe shoe for ballet dancing comprising: an upper to cover a portion of the foot; a toe box which is rigid and provides support for a dancer to stand en pointe, the toe box surrounds the toes of the foot; a shank; and a front sole which are attached to the upper, the front sole is located to be positioned under the ball of the dancer’s foot, the rear sole is located to be positioned under the heal of the dancer’s foot.”

         The first thing I noticed about the text, was its use of language--it used terms that dancers use with frequency, and described the shoe in a way that a dancer could easily imagine its appearance without an illustration. “Ball of the foot,” is what teacher’s use to dictate how to stand in ballet slippers, and to describe the position the foot must go through to traverse from flat foot to pointe, or the reverse. “En pointe” refers to how dancers stand in the Pointe shoe, literally how ballerinas always dance. It was interesting that the patent didn’t say ‘on toe’ which is usually the term that those unfamiliar with the art use. In a document that is too technical, and otherwise removed from dancer ‘lingo’ it was refreshing to see language of the art used to describe the shoe of the art.

         Above the illustration, in the upper left hand corner, was a box that said click for text. After clicking on the box, “Abstract” appeared under the illustration. I was a more specific/detailed description of this particular Pointe shoe. The “Abstract” read: The Pointe shoe has an upper, a toe box, and a split sole. The split sole has a front sole and a rear sole. The front sole may be located below the ball of the dancer’s foot and the rear sole may be located below the heel of the dancer’s foot. The split sole provides more flexibility to the Pointe shoe and eliminates or reduces the “break in” of the shoe. Furthermore, the spilt sole is lighter and easier for the dancer to rise up on her toes”. This section definitely provided more detailed information, but I was drawn to the product when I read “eliminates or reduces the ‘break in’ of the shoe.” To ‘break in’ a Pointe shoe is a tedious task for a dancer--some hammer the toe box, some smash the shank between the door and door frame to soften it, and even after that, it takes hours of rehearsal for the shank and shoe to form to the foot and accentuate the best possible arch/appearance of the dancer’s foot. So, a shoe that claims to limit that headache is quite intriguing. And again, the patent for this shoe is geared toward the consumer.

         Since the Pointe shoe was categorized under dance shoe, I thought that I might discover more patents for Pointe shoes if I typed ‘dance shoe’ in the search window. I found a great many more patents, but after clicking through each one, I found only five patents pertaining to Pointe shoes: Capezio in the year 1928, Bonaventuk in the year 1925, M.L. Bunnell in the year 1929, --a slipper for ice ballet (which I never knew existed, and judging by the shoe and steel toe piece seemed impossible and extremely dangerous) by J.L. Kenny 1949, and Elizabeth Gaynor in 2000. Only minor things had been changed, and the appearance of the shoe was modified so slightly that one was hardly distinguishable from the next--much like the corps de ballet. Since the art of ballet hasn’t changed, at least the basics have not even been modified; the shoe reflects the steadiness of the art.

         I chose to look up metallic CDs and flameless candles because they are the two I may decide to venture out and explore on my re-invention task. Originally in reviewing flameless candles I put candles in as the search keyword. I had over 3944 hits and I was amazed. When I looked up flameless candles there was one hit. On the actually patent it was quite a handful of people attempting to perfect this task. Some people were changing the shape and some were even evaluating the wax attempting to see if another method can achieve the same result. There were 49 attempts to succeed in this task.

         In regards to the CD idea I had many, many hits once I put in the actually word CD.24271 in total were under that topic. The next search I put in was making CDs .Once I did that 17 came up and I began to read the backgrounds and fields of the inventions on the actual patents, at this point I began to be very curious. In doing this I was very pleased. I learned quite a bit of information that I can use for my project. There were also quite a bit of fun facts that I had encountered as well. I was also pleased to see (and I don't know why) that when I put in metallic CDs there were NO HITS.I have found my re-invention.

         In my search, I found nothing lacking on the topics I found on the websites so I guess it is all in the topic you choose and what you are attempting to achieve in you search. I even searched other topics and the searches were still positive.

         Searching issues aside (I could have just swallowed my pride and used the advanced search page, but I prefer to figure things out on my own), I found the search results were nothing like what I expected. I'm kind of interested in making some sort of improvement to the personal mp3 player and the results I got extremely verbose and specific results. I guess I was expecting 'iPod' to pop up, but now I realize that specific components have been patented as well as the actual device. It was also interesting that not just tangible products or parts came up in my search results; I also got results for algorithms and encryption systems used in various mp3 players.

         The content of the patent was also nothing like what I was expecting. I thought the structure was very interesting (abstract, claim) and it really reminded me of a research study. I was not that surprised at the length; I figured anything patenting a device would be very wordy, but the language, at least for electronic products made my head hurt (and I like to think I have a pretty decent vocabulary concerning electronics).

         I really had no idea that patents were so involved and specific, which is probably foolish of me. It definitely makes sense that everything has to be patented and there is little room for ambiguity. I guess I'll have to get very specific myself when it comes to the re-invention of a device...if anyone has any ideas please let me know!

"In the same boat..." a response to K. Zajdel's "Patents..." by P.C. Paul
As far as coming up with at least two ideas. For some reason with all this "stuff" around me, nothing I am interacting with is giving me problems at the moment. Thinks I have thought of are giving me marketing/advertising problems, i.e. how to target the audience. I have two more ideas, which one is wholly un-useful and unhygienic but easy to target its primary audience. The other idea is for now and probably for at least a generation impossible to implement plus I have no idea what to use for a search term. First the hardware would have to be developed, next the firmware, and last the software. I seriously doubt there are any patents to date going in this direction. Marketing would be a breeze because there are many people who would like to do this. Once the hardware and firmware is developed, a world of possibilities opens for software applications. The main problem, I think, is there may not be other patents out there to follow. This is "bleeding edge" stuff.

         The un-useful and unhygienic idea is a cellular phone made out of hard candy like a “Lifesaver.” The thought comes from a series of old jokes in a chat room. At the time beepers were still popular and were being sold in the iMAC color traditions of clear colored cases. These things were not marketed by color but flavor. The person who started this said she wanted a “grape” (purple) beeper instead of a “cherry” (red) beeper so if she wanted a snack she could lick the beeper. If that was true was black licorice? It may be “flavored” cellular phones may be the way to go.

         The other new thought is a “cyberpeople jack.” This becomes a whole system. Being able to jack in/and out the thought processes in one’s brain to a computer. The thought begins with those who think visually/spatially but cannot draw or explain their ideas in words. The problem is one gets these terrific and ridiculous ideas, but there is no way to get them out of your own “inner space” into an “outer space,” something which physically represents or conveys meaning to others. The problem is either this doesn’t fit into the given parameter of “re-inventing/re-engineering” or if it does, it becomes a gray area in the assignment. I don’t think I’ll find a patent for any type of interface from the human brain to computer code.

         I tried doing a search on Google for compact disc adhesive packaging and stuff like that, even adding “patent” to the search criteria. My results were lacking once again. I found pretty much nothing but sites selling CD cases and stuff like that.

         I still had the patent site up and I continued with my original search all the way through the first 500 results. I got nothing. I changed the search to “adhesive tape” and looked over the results. There were even more hits for this search and a lot of the same results were coming up. I threw in “CD” into the search- same thing. I was getting frustrated at this point.

         I tried “compact disc packaging” and I got 22 results. They were almost what I wanted. These results were all about the packaging of compact discs, but unfortunately, none of them touched on the sticky strip at the top that comes in the store. I tried adding “label” to the search, but that gave me things on personalized labeling and devices that will make labels, like P-touch tape things.

         At this point, I just gave up for now. Looking for information and patents for the adhesive strip are just as frustrating as trying to get it off of my CD case. I still want to find what I’m looking for, but I need more information, I suppose. If anyone knows the technical name for the adhesive label on a CD, please tell me. Also, if you know of someone I could contact for more information, that’d be great too.

A response to M.J. Bowen's "Damn This Frickin' Adhesive Strip..." by S. Norfolk
Captain Charisma has heard and fully understands your torment. I had the same type of trouble with my graters idea. That is so true.

         I am still jumping through ideas, didn't know if this was the best idea to research on but I thought it would be interesting to see what would come up. When I had typed in blankets, there was a lot of information about how blankets are made. What I didn't know is that there are different classes of blankets. I knew there were different types but had no idea there were different classes. There was also information on Afghan blankets, and other blankets from other countries.

         The blanket changed for each field, for instance there was explanations for what medical fields use blanket for and how they define blankets. There are blankets that range in different prices; it ranges for how warm (comfy, thick, etc) one would want the blanket to be. The amount of information was overwhelming and I don’t think I got bored with what I found, more as surprised in the range of information I found.

         But looking how blankets are made, I didn’t find any blanket that would make sure it doesn't fall off. I don’t know if any one else had this problem, but I keep having it, maybe because I am a rough sleeper. But the blanket I want to invent would be like a regular blanket but fold in (kind of like a sleeping bag) but not all the way so the whole back of the body is covered just enough so a persons feet will be fitted in side, there would be enough lee way to toss from one side to another but the blanket would still stay on the bed. and not go from side to side or on the floor.

         I know this might be a corny idea, but this is all I have really though of so far. Not sure if anyone else has gone through this same problem. Hopefully later on I will be more concrete with my idea.

"Blankets & Box End Wrenches?" a response to A. Sheikh's "Blankets" by P.C. Paul
I'm sure other people have had the problem. We are now being expected to concentrate on artifacts that we encounter and look for problems. I think this is a different breed of person. At times I had to re-engineer tools on the spot as a mechanic because a problem would become common yet there wasn't a tool made. I could do something like that except there are very few 70's full size GM cars running around. The specific problem was with age and deterioration, the bolts on the top of the rear shock absorbers would become inaccessible with box wrenches made at the time. Most wrenches have a slight angle on them when held with the box end contacting a flat surface, say 15 degrees from horizontal. Because of this angle one could not get on the bolt with the wrench because the top of the trunk would interfere. The solution was real simple. Find a wrench forged in Hong Kong, India, or China because they were a little softer. Place it in a vice and clamp it down till it was completely straight. Then to get a little more space, I would grind the flat portion of the box end to gain a little more space. The wrench was now a specific tool made for a specific purpose.

         This was peculiar because in my Grandfather’s times most internal combustion engines had solid valve lifters. (now they are all hydraulic) Solid lifters had to be constantly adjusted (hydraulic lifters adjust themselves). The space was tight so the wrenches were thin and straight in order to gain access to the adjustment nut. But because of the engine configuration, these wrenches were open-end design and not box wrenches. To have a straight box wrench was unusual.

         So, that's what I think I will reinvent. Although I wasn't sure exactly what the technical name for those alarms was, I used those three words to search. That is after I learned to navigate the Patent website. But with those three specific words, my result was not what I was looking for. I had to use the advanced help screen to help me locate the car key clicker thing that I didn't know the technical name for.

         While I am still searching for the real name of this device, I did enjoy navigating my way through the website. I read some of the patents that appeared when I put in different queries, and saw that they were pretty easy to read. Hopefully, they'll be as easy when I query the right thing.

"Waterproof Please..." a response to A. Reed's "What to Reinvent" by P.C. Paul
Please make your beeper thing waterproof!

         On the one hand, a rider can surf without a leash. This way, he risks losing his board all together. On the other hand, a rider can surf with a leash, but then he risks, particularly during a wipeout, being caught on an underlying reef or debris or being pulled down and held under water while his surfboard topples about. I don't know about you, but both of these options, well, suck.

         Ok, down to business... I first searched for 'surfboard leash' on the patent site. I just typed the phrase into the little search box in the top right corner of the page. It only came up with two links. I wasn't too surprised by this. I also wasn't surprised that the links connected to a patent of a surfboard leash 'clip' and had nothing to do with the actual leash. I read over both the clip patents and decided that i had just wasted 5 minutes of my life. I couldn't decipher what the actual purpose of this thing was. it seemed so... useless. So, I did some further 'googling' on the subject and figured out that it was just a part of the surfboard leash that's attached to the rider's ankle. Woo-hoo.

         Moving on, I then searched for 'surfboard' on the patent site thinking that I may find maybe five or six patents as opposed to the frivolous two from my previous search. The thing came up with like four pages worth! There were patents ranging from the surfboard clip to the fin insert to a powered surfboard. Pretty wild. I wasn't expecting to find anything about a powered surfboard although I have often wondered why no one thought of that yet, many times before. Now I know that I’m the slow one and someone already thought it up three years ago.

         All of these patents presented pictures and layouts of the actual product. They were all labeled and, underneath the pics, lists were depicted which explained the various parts of the patented object. I was relieved that the patents were easily understood and not too technical for my taste: the powered surfboard patent was the most fascinating. What a sweet idea (even though I’m the real inventor... I just never got around to designing it or patenting it) the most intriguing thing about the board was that it was invented by some guy from Minnesota! Whaaat?! Do they even have bodies of water there? Crazy.

         Anyway, after all my attempts at searching for a patented surfboard leash, I came up empty-handed. Although, this is not necessarily bad news. This lack of a patent leaves me with much more freedom to re-design and re-create as I see fit and maybe even create my own patent.

         Trying to find information on the patent site (http://www.uspto.gov) was unsuccessful. I typed in re-closable potato chip bags and I received one hit. On the page, it was full of different numbers of patents and I click most of them but none of them had anything to do with re-closable bags of anything. After awhile, the patents on the page started to all looked similar. I began to loose interest to click on anymore patents so I decided to conduct a Google search. I found more information on the Google search (still a bore) and I found several patents for re-sealable bags as a Ziploc, pinch and pull bags and the Euro-sealer. The rest of the results from Google were not pertaining to my idea. I revisited the patent site again, and typed in Ziploc chip bags, re-closable chip bags, re-sealable chip bags and I even typed in Ziploc for fun. From the Ziploc search, I came across the partial list of trademarks…not too exciting.

         In all honestly, I truly cannot believe that I am the first person to think of re-closable chip bags. Given, we do have so many different forms of chip handling, but bags are the most commonly used out of all the others. Maybe I haven’t been typing in the correct keywords for the search. It’s astonishing how a hungry college student can think of something so simple as to reseal potato chip bags, so it will not make noise in class. Hopefully no mastermind has a patent for this concept. I can’t wait to put this together!!!!!!

         So, a few weeks ago I went to the store with my boyfriend to get a bottle of wine, but for some reason neither of us had a bottle opener. We probably spent about 30 minutes trying to open the bottle of wine with a knife and other sharp objects. And when we finally got the bottle open the edges were broken and the cork wouldn't even fit into the opening anymore.

         This got me to thinking… couldn't they make wine bottles easier to open? I realize that the cork probably helps seal in the flavor of the wine for aging and so forth, but there has to be an easier way to close the bottle than with a cork. For example, why not use a twist on cap? Or change the bottle? Think about it, there is boxed wine which is very easy to use... you just hold the tap and fill your cup.

         After coming up with my idea for a re-invention, I was looking on the patent website and I didn't find anything that necessarily pertained to my re-invention but I did find some helpful information about the invention of the wine bottle and the invention of the cork.

         I also found some stuff about bottle stopper for other products that I think may be helpful when re-inventing the wine bottle/wine bottle cork. And I also found some useless information about champagne bottles that could also help with my wine bottle re-invention.

Avid's Dog Microchip

         Anyhow, my first search under the patent website was “pet and microchip.” My goal was to find the dog microchip. I find the invention interesting and wanted to know more about it. It also got me thinking of re-inventing or re-introducing the microchip for children. Now, I know this sounds a bit inhumane (and please don’t think I’m crazy!), but it really might be useful for parents. In no way am I trying to relate a child to a dog; however, both can be kidnapped by some unknown predator. From what I know, the chip is inserted when the dog is a puppy and it’s so small (the size of a small piece of rice) that the chip is inserted by needle. (Correct me if I’m wrong). If you want more info or are curious to know more about the dog microchip (or want ACCURATE INFO), you can go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microchip_implant_(animal). I also attached a picture of the dog microchip if you’re interested in taking a peek.

         Anyhow, each microchip contains a special number for identity purposes and is placed onto a database. If the puppy gets lost or stolen, the database can locate the dog according to its number embedded in the microchip. I think that this would be helpful for children--but only up to a certain age. If I were to do re-invent this object, the microchip for children would have a life span and could dissolve after it has expired, ridding the child from a microchip. However, if you think about it, we all have identification numbers—our Social Security Numbers so the idea really isn’t too out there! In my own opinion, I certainly wouldn’t want to have a chip inside of me for the rest of my life, but as a child, I could care less as long as the thing doesn’t pose a threat to my ‘fun-hood’. In my opinion, circumcision is in some way more inhumane than inserting a chip into a child (again, please don’t think I’m crazy!) I think that this could be useful in tracking children and maybe it would cut down on kidnappings. I don’t know, maybe it is a crazy idea!

         ...Back to the patent website, my search came no where close to what I was looking for—well not until the 32nd hit. The number one search was: Acene-thiophene semiconductors. I didn’t bother to click on this website because just the title was incomprehensible so I couldn’t imagine what kind of technical jargon was entailed in the actual patent. I had to scroll down to search number 32 before finding Pet Identification System and Method. After clicking on this patent and viewing the next screen, I didn’t understand some of the choices in the digital format, such as the webmaster’s choice of the red outlined choices, View Cart and Add to Cart. I find this a bit peculiar—do people actually buy these patents? I thought this site’s purpose was to provide a list of patents to users who are interested in submitting patents or finding information about them, etc.—the non-buyable/bartering consumerism.

         The abstract was a good aspect to the digital patent. It gives the choice for readers to warm up to the topic before getting into the intense details. I found this invention very interesting:

“The system includes methods to obtain accurate nose prints either by chemical transfer system or with close-up photography for entry into a database. The system assigns locations where nose prints are acquired with an account number which in turn automatically assign an identification number to a dog when registered. Data relating to and including the nose print, a photograph, description, and information regarding the owner are transferred to a central database optionally from pet shops by E-Mail or by giving all photos and registration forms to a dog owner who then fills out forms and sends all materials to central office via mail.”

So I guess a doggie’s nose print is equivalent to a person’s fingerprint—there is no identical nose print in the doggy world?

         I think in this particular patent case, it would be important to provide some background of the inventor to this patent. My thoughts when reading this abstract were: Is Louis B. Meadows a veterinarian? Is that how he’s knowledgeable in a dog’s nose print? It is important to know how credible people are when developing patents. For instance, it was interesting to learn about Adler’s background in how she came to amend the conventional prescription bottle. It should be like a mini-bibliography/autobiography, kind of like the descriptions we see on novels and such. I think it would a valid idea.

         Scrolling down further, I was very confused over the numbers to the right side—these numbers which stand for something in the patent term world equate into nothingness for me. There should be a key to understand those numbers. This would make the site more user friendly, and would possible give readers more eagerness to read these forms.

         The following sections: The Claim, Background of the Invention, Brief Description of the Invention, Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description of the Invention, and Examples are all valid sections, but the Brief Description of the Invention was barely brief. Also, the way the format is laid out could be a bit more organized. A table of contents may be helpful to users who get bored of scrolling down very easily. This way, there’s a better chance the reader will get through most of the material. Instead of clicking on the images, they should be integrated in with the words. I think this would be extremely helpful to have the words parallel to the images. It would give the digital space more liveliness and the space wouldn’t seem to overwhelming with the use of images; however, this is my own observation. Each reader prefers different formats to help them read better; I find pictures to serve as a little breather from text—an aesthetic change for the eyes.

"View Cart and Add to Cart" a response to C. Gatton's "Patent + Site= No Fun!" by P.C. Paul
Okay, here's the purpose of the View Cart and Add Cart.

         As an engineering aide, it was my job back in the old days we got this stuff in bound publications. I was then given a bunch of stuff we were currently working on and stuff that was stalled. "Stalled meant that there was something missing that we needed to move forward with the company's invention. In other words, we were looking for an invention that we could not possibly create because it was completely out of our field, but we needed the technology to complete something we were working on.

         It was my job on Monday mornings to scan new patents to look for something that might be useful in helping to solve a problem we had or that would allow us to follow through to the all important next patent. the problem is that everything has gotten so specialized that let's say I had this great invention, but I needed say waterproof adhesive that could be applied and would cure (dry) underwater in 15 seconds. I'm in the field of building underwater widgets but not adhesives. I would scour the database looking for a patent for an underwater adhesive; contact you to buy this underwater adhesive which would permit me to move ahead with patenting my underwater widgets.

         Does this make sense?

         A club is the common juggling object that many non-jugglers mistakenly think is a bowling pin. If I'm not mistaken, a bowling pin is heavier. The juggling club is hollow inside except for the stick running from the end through the body. It is flipped in a full circle as it is juggled. Clubs were invented by American Indians, though Wikipedia seems to suggest they weren't juggled until the nineteenth century. If my memory serves me correctly, however, juggling is traditional in all continents.

         The search yielded five results, two of which were designs of actual clubs, and another two which were juggling torches (which are basically just clubs with flammable ends). I will discuss in this post the entries dealing with the two clubs.

         One of the entries, dated to 1981, claimed to be presenting a new and improved club that was "easier and less expensive to make, and which may be sold at a relatively low price," but it was hard for even an experienced juggler like me to tell from the description how it was different from the clubs I'm used to. I had an even harder time determining what it was about the lengthy 1987 entry that made it different from previous models of juggling clubs. The writer seemed to be arguing that previous clubs had a weaker center of gravity, making it more difficult for jugglers to control.

         I didn't start juggling clubs until 1989 or 1990. It's possible that the design described in these patents have since become the standard. I do know that there are two general styles of juggling clubs, European (which is narrower) and American (which is bulkier), but I couldn't find any mention of this difference on the database.

"Kewl!" a response to N Barsky's "Juggling Clubs" by P.C. Paul
I didn't know you were a juggler. I had a friend where it ran in the family from father to son. His father was a unicycle performer. My friend went on to Hofstra University and received a degree in Magic and Circus Acts.

N. Barsky's' response to P.C. Paul's response
Nowadays, most of us jugglers are self-taught. I learned when I was eleven, because I occasionally had to stay for several hours in the library where my mother worked. There I found a book that taught the basic steps. By a happy coincidence, the International Jugglers Association held its annual convention in Baltimore the following summer, and that's how I came into contact with other jugglers and picked up some more advanced skills. I'm also a kohen, from the Jewish priestly ancestral line, and in ancient times people from this line juggled, though I wasn't aware of that fact until after I learned. So maybe it's genetic or religious destiny that I acquired this skill.

P.C. Paul's response to N. Barsky's response
Oh, he was self taught also. He just wanted to take it to the next level. It wasn't just performing, he was also being taught the business side also.

         While searching the patent website I was surprised at how detailed the patents actually were. Not only did they explain in appropriate detail how and with what material’s their new and improved teapot works but they also explained why the “outdated” model was longer sufficient. Mu H. Chen has a patent from 1988 that outlines the "Electronic Boiling Point Musical Alarm." This patent explains why the need for this invention was necessary; it even outlines that the flaws in the old model are as followed:

“1. The sound produced by the whistle is monotonous and noisy.
2. Due to the fact that the vapor pressure within the teapot has to reach a certain level before the whistle can blow, the time when the whistle begins to whistle is not the exact time at which the water starts boiling.
3. It is not feasible to convert an ordinary teapot into a whistle-type teapot.”

         I was very surprised at how much attention was given to the effectiveness of the whistle as well as the superficial sound. I did not know that the whistle does not sound at the exact moment the water reaches its boiling point. The new purposed invention corrects this by including “an electronic boiling point musical alarm which has a music-generating IC and some amplifying circuits installed thereon so that when the teapot water reaches the boiling point, the alarm will musically sound.” I found it particularly amusing that the lapse of a few seconds in notification of the old model would be such a concern. If I can wait for water to boil, I can wait a few seconds more for my Earl Grey or English Breakfast but I am glad to know that attention is being given to these finer details which will then produce a continuous dialogue of improvement and invention in regards to an artifact’s efficiency.

         The point where I find myself now is questioning how pleasing a music alarm would be. Would a repetitive melody be any less obnoxious than my dog’s own alerting system? Some tunes are worse than this. The patent did include a diagram of the mechanic of the music generator but it did not give an option to hear this new and “claimed” improved sound. Is the choice open to the company who adapts the technology? This is something that I would later like to include in my patent.

         http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1='teapot+whistle'&OS=

         So. For my reinvention, I want to create a car that is both automatic and stick shift (manual). After talking to Shipka and students who took 324 before, they thought it was a good idea. Except one of these students said she had test driven a Mazda that did that. I searched it all up and found nothing. I looked and looked on Mazda's website, and then i googled "manual and automatic transmission" and just found mechanics telling other mechanics how to switch over their own personal cars.

         Absolutely nothing of value to me. I looked on the patent websites and I am having difficulty narrowing my search down to something that can be the pinpoint of what to join together from these two very different cars. I did some more research and Shipka really helped me figure out other ideas and how to advertise this product, and more importantly WHO to advertise to.

         Over the next couple of days I will have to either call Mazda people or look harder and find who they advertise to with this car (if it exists) and I will re-invent it, and who their target audience is.