US Patent No. 1,448,235 for a "Portable baby cage".

US Patent No. 1,448,235 for a "Portable baby cage".

Here are the patent drawings behind the idea. Emma Read’s US Patent No. 1,448,235 for a “Portable baby cage” proposed a window-mounted enclosure designed to give infants in city apartments fresh air and sunlight. A striking glimpse into childcare thinking a century ago.

Patent illustration for a device that appears to be a bicycle, on the bottom, but features a person rowing oars as the drivetrain.

Life is but a dream

Patent for Bicycle Rowing Machine
1898
Inventor: Louis S Burbank

Patentschrift Nr. 427342. "Verfahren zur Erzielung einer Tonselektion, insbesondere fuer die Zwecke der drahtlosen Telegraphie".

Patentschrift Nr. 427342. "Verfahren zur Erzielung einer Tonselektion, insbesondere fuer die Zwecke der drahtlosen Telegraphie".

Hier ist sein erstes Patent. Mit 16 meldete er ein „Verfahren zur Erzielung einer Tonselektion, insbesondere für die Zwecke der drahtlosen Telegraphie“ zum Patent an. 1926 wurde es als Deutsches Patent Nr. 427342 erteilt. Ein erstaunlich früher Beginn.

The Author Depositing His Voice at the Patent-Office, to Prevent Counterfeiting (1894) by Albert Robida, from “The End of Books”, Scribner's Magazine.

Source: University of Toronto Libraries / Internet Archive

pdimagearchive.org/images/0d1e7147-b66e-451...

#patents

3/3 Long before the U.S. Patent Office took its modern form, Jefferson helped establish the principle that patents should be granted only after scrutiny, not simply by registration.

2/3 Under the U.S. Patent Act of 1790, patent applications were reviewed by a three-member board, and Jefferson, as the U.S. Secretary of State, took the leading role in that process. That is why he is often described as the first patent examiner in U.S. history.

Thomas Jefferson, the first patent examiner in U.S. history.

1/3 On this day in 1743, Thomas Jefferson was born.
He is remembered as a Founding Father and as the third President of the United States, but he also has a place in patent history.
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #USPTO

3/3 History shows that the alleged statement, if it was ever made, was wrong.
Could such a statement be valid today? Probably not. Every generation is tempted to confuse the limits of its own imagination with the limits of invention.

2/3 However, it is doubtful that he ever said it. Contemporary evidence points in the opposite direction and suggests that Duell expected the new century to bring inventions that would make earlier advances seem modest by comparison.

Everything that can be invented has been invented.

1/3 On this day in 1850, Charles Holland Duell, later Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, was born.
He is widely credited with saying “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #USPTO

2/2 Why settle for a “gentle” alarm when you can have a frame suspended over your bed that drops a cluster of wooden blocks directly onto your face? Nothing says “rise and shine” like a mild concussion and a fresh set of hematomas.

US Patent No. 256,265 for a "Device for waking persons from sleep".

1/2 On this day in 1882, Samuel Applegate received US Patent No. 256,265 for a “Device for waking persons from sleep”.
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

5/5 It remains a neat little patent fable. A granted patent can still fail later under closer scrutiny.

4/5 The punchline is that the story did not end there. The USPTO ordered reexamination in May 2002, and by 1 July 2003 all claims had been cancelled. Nevertheless, the patent became one of the best-known oddities in patent history.

3/5 The claims literally covered a method of swinging side to side on a swing hanging from a tree branch. The USPTO initially rejected the application over prior art, but eventually granted the patent.

2/5 Steven was seven at the time. According to later reports, his father, patent attorney Peter L. Olson, had filed the application when Steven was five as a way of showing him how the patent system worked.

US Patent No. 6,368,227 for a "Method of swinging on a swing".

1/5 On this day in 2002, Steven Olson received US Patent No. 6,368,227 for a “Method of swinging on a swing”. It sounds like a joke, but there was actually more to the story.
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

German Patent No. 334339 "Sitzender Osterhase mit als Magazin fuer Ostereier oder Attrappen ausgebildetem Koerper" [Sitting Easter bunny with a body designed as a magazine for Easter eggs or dummies].

Happy Easter to all who celebrate!
May your Easter Sunday be filled with colour, kindness, and the small hidden surprises that make Easter special.
#EasterSunday #HappyEaster

2/2 Developed with Wilhelm Maybach, it is often considered the world’s first high-speed gasoline engine. Compact, light and fast-running enough to power vehicles. Later, it powered the Daimler-Reitwagen and marked a key step in the shift from stationary power units to practical motorised transport.

Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler was a German engineer. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed liquid petroleum-fueled engine.

German Patent No. 34926 for a "Gas- bezw. Petroleum-Kraftmaschine" [Gas- or petroleum-powered engine].

German Patent No. 36423 for a "Fahrzeug mit Gas- bezw. Petroleum-Kraftmaschine" [Vehicle with a gas or petroleum engine].

1/2 On this day in 1886, Gottlieb Daimler received German Patent No. 34926 for a “Gas- or petroleum-powered engine”, known as the “Standuhr”.
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #AutomotiveHistory

Belgian Patent No. 348610 for a "Passoire d’action rapide pour légumes et autres comestibles" [Rapid-action strainer for vegetables and other foodstuffs].

The first prototype of the PASSE-VITE.

PASSE-VITE advertisement.

Moulinex might be the household name, but they didn’t invent the food mill!
#OnThisDay in 1928, Victor Simon patented the “Passe-Vite” in Belgium, 4 years before Moulinex’s “Moulin-Légumes”.
In commercial history, Moulinex won. In patent history, Simon was first.
#OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

2/2 Genius… until the Supreme Court ruled it was just two already-known things combined with no new use.
The real irony? Lipman had already sold the patent for $100,000 (~$3.5M today) before the Court erased it.
He still cashed out big. 😂✏️💰

US patent No. 19,783 for the "Combination of lead-pencil and eraser".

1/2 On this day in 1858, Hymen Lipman received US patent No. 19,783 for the “Combination of lead-pencil and eraser”.
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

Charles Francis Jenkins was an American engineer who was a pioneer of early cinema. Image Credit: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2008-4408

Charles Francis Jenkins was an American engineer who was a pioneer of early cinema. Image Credit: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2008-4408

Charles Francis Jenkins was an American engineer who was a pioneer of early cinema. Image Credit: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2008-4408

On this day in 1895, Charles Jenkins received US Patent No. 536,569 for the “Phantoscope”, one of the very first practical movie projectors.
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents

2/2 The treaty laid the legal foundation for the International Patent Classification, or IPC, one of the most important frameworks of the international patent system.

Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification

1/2 Not every milestone in patent history is a famous invention.
On this day 55 years ago, 15 states signed the Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification.
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents WIPO

2/2 If you’ve ever wanted to spend your final moments intimately connected to your house’s sewage system via a flexible tube, this 1982 masterpiece is for you.

US Patent No. 4,320,756 for a "Fresh-air breathing device and method".

1/2 On this day in 1982, William Holmes received US Patent No. 4,320,756 for a “Fresh-air breathing device and method” that literally tells you to snorkel for air through the U-bend of your toilet while your house burns down.
#OnThisDay #OTD #Patents

US Patent No. 2,929,922 for a "Maser communications system".

On this day in 1960, US Patent No. 2,929,922 was granted to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes for “Masers and maser communications system”, now known as the laser.
From fiber optics to life-saving surgery, it truly is the light that changed the world!
#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #Laser

US Patent No. 5,194,299 for "Repositionable pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet material", the Post-it note.

Post-it logo.

On this Day in 1993, Arthur Fry received US Patent No. 5,194,299 for a “Repositionable pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet material”, the Post-it note.
Sticky enough to hold, gentle enough to peel. Innovation that sticks!

#OnThisDay #OTD #PatentHistory #Patents #PostIt