Inventors

Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Tom Roering
Invention: Amphibious recreation vehicle
Patent: No. 7,329,161
Brand Name: Wilcraft

Tom Roering is an ice fisherman who invented a cool product: a lightweight amphibious vehicle that is also an ice fishing shelter. It’s called the Wilcraft (“Wil” stands for water, ice, and land). If it falls through the ice, it floats. It has room enough for two people to comfortably fish together. It can be adapted as an ice rescue vehicle. And it fits on the back of a pickup truck. Take a look:

Photos of Tom and the Wilcraft. Each image can be enlarged by clicking:

The Wilcraft website: www.thewilcraft.com

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Art Fry
Invention: Repositionable stationery
Brand Name: Post-it Notes

As told on Post-it manufacturer 3M’s website, “The idea for repositionable notes struck Fry while singing in the church choir. His bookmark kept falling out of his hymnal, causing him to lose his page. So… Fry used a portion of his working hours to develop a solution to his problem. Now the world is singing the praises of his pet project: Post-it Notes.”

You can read the whole story of Post-it history at 3M.com.

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Categories: Inventors, People

Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Pam Turner
Invention: Easy-to-thread sewing needle
Patent: Pending
Brand Name: Spiral Eye Needle

About 10 seconds after Pam Turner showed me how to thread her Spiral Eye Needles, I was an expert. It usually takes me longer to thread a needle than it does to sew a button, but it really is impressively easy with Pam’s invention.

Pam says she remembers her mother having problems threading needles when she was young. Her mom used to say, “We went to the moon, why can’t somebody fix the needle?” Pam decided that if nobody else was going to do it, she had to.

Pam used to actually make the needles herself, using a grinder in her home. But now she has a manufacturer, and business is taking off.

The Spiral Eye Needle website: www.spiraleyeneedles.com

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Jerry Ford
Invention: Automatic wheelchair break device
Patent: No. 7,066,482
Brand Name: Safe-T-Chair

Elderly people with Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia sometimes forget to use the manual breaks on their wheelchairs, which then fall out from under them when they try to stand or sit. When this was brought to the attention of crop farmer Jerry Ford, he decided to do something about it. His invention is a rather clever automatic break system for manual wheelchairs. It’s even designed in a way that still allows the wheelchair to fold up for transport.

I met with Jerry on his farm and learned more about his wheelchair break system and its inspiration:

Here’s a better look at the photos in the video. Each of them can be enlarged by clicking:

The Jerry Ford Company website: www.jerryfordcompany.com

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Clint Fruitman
Invention: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator With Hot Or Cold Thermal Application
Patent: Application No. 11/025,615
Brand Name: The Painaway Pro

Clint Fruitman is a materials scientist and biomedical engineer who holds 15 patents from his years working in the plastics, semiconductor, jewelry, and pharmaceutical industries. All of this experience has come together in his latest invention, which makes it easy to administer the pain therapy technique called Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (more info about TENS at Wikipedia) and hot or cold therapy at the same time.

I’m trying something new with my inventor portraits. I’ve begun shooting video of the inventors I photograph and putting together a short film about each person. This is the first video in the series.

Being the first video of this type that I’ve ever done, I realized while editing what other important shots I should have gotten, questions I should have asked, microphone I should have used, etc. But I suspect that will always be the case to some extent. I have some really interesting inventors coming up for this project, and I think the videos are going to be a great new component.

Here’s a better look at the photos (click any one to enlarge):

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Michael Rosenberg
Invention: Media-Dispensing Apparatus and Method
Patent: Application No. 11/827,032
Brand Name: The Game Chamber

Michael Rosenberg’s kids have a lot of games for their Nintendo DS handheld system, at a cost of 30 or 40 bucks each. As kids will do, they sometimes let their bedrooms get messy, and games get lost or broken. Finally, out of frustration, Michael decided to invent a gadget that stores games in a way that ensures they don’t get lost: in order to remove a game from the Game Chamber, you have to put the one you’re using back in.

Here’s Michael with a Nintendo DS and his dog Busta (click any photo to enlarge):

I can’t imagine how a toy could get lost in this room:

And finally, here’s Michael in the plastic injection molding factory where the Game Chamber is made, standing among various molds for dozens of products made at the factory.

The current model Game Chamber holds 6 Nintendo DS games, but Michael is developing models that hold more games, and that come in different shapes and sizes appropriate for different age groups and different game systems.

The Game Chamber website: www.gamechamber.com

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Chris Garvey
Invention: Temperature Responsive Roof Vent
Patent: No. 7,127,855

Chris Garvey isn’t just an inventor. He’s also a patent attorney, so he’s endured the process that he takes his clients through. He invented a skylight that uses a mechanical system to open and close itself in response to changes in temperature, letting in fresh air. Look carefully at these photos and you’ll see that the prototype, currently installed in his home, is made partly out of a shower door:

Chris is also a pretty hard core libertarian, and was the libertarian candidate on the ballot for Governor of New York (in 1998) and also Attorney General (2006). He didn’t win, but he’s still hard at work, if the mountains of papers in his home office are any indicator:

One more photo of Chris in his office, plus one in his attic, beneath the skylight:

Chris’ website: Collard & Roe, PC

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Tony Pagoto
Invention: Personal Computer Wire Management System
Patent: No. 7,247,798
Brand Name: WireMate

Tony invented a system that keeps the overwhelming mess of unruly wires under your desk tidy.

Tony’s a photogenic guy, but so is his living room. Even though it’s not related to his invention, I couldn’t resist setting up another photo:

While some people his age are heading into retirement, Tony and his partners, all over 60, are just getting their company off the ground. In his own words:

“Dreams and determination aren’t only for the young. My partners and I are ‘older guys.’ I am 64 and my partners Don and John are 64 and 68. I am President and do operations, Don does marketing/sales and John is our patent attorney/treasurer. We have known each other for over 50 years. They say never to go into business with friends and relatives, but we have done that and have benefited greatly from it. My Uncle Anthony and Cousin Stephen manufacture the WireMate for us here in the US. They also handle product inventory and order fulfillment for us. My uncle is 81 and has been an inspiration to me in terms of his vitality, support and belief in what we are doing. My son-in-law Eben is our webmaster. My neighbor Maria is our graphic artist and my neighbors David and Lorraine are our focus group. It has been an interesting trip. I have no doubt that the WireMate will sell millions of units/year as it finds its way into more and more homes and corporations.”

WireMate website: www.wiremate.com

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Julia Truchsess
Invention: Digital Picture Frame
Brand Name: Digi-Frame

After building a successful career inventing electronic toys including MicroJammers, Rhythm Rods, and Singing Bouncy Baby, Julia came up with the idea for digital picture frames in the late 90s. When the Digi-Frame debuted, larger companies were also launching similar products, but Digi-Frame was the “Rolls Royce of Frames” according to reviewers. The story of how Digi-Frame came to be, and why it’s no longer around, is a pretty interesting one, and Julia tells it in her own words after the photos. Here is Julia with one of Digi-Frame’s large models:

Julia in her home office with her husband:

And here’s Julia’s workspace, full of electronic stuff I don’t understand, and a display of dolls and toys featuring technology she invented:

What follows is Julia’s explanation of Digi-Frame’s history. The product no longer exists, but the original Digi-Frame website is preserved here. And now, Julia:

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Part of a continuing series of inventor portraits.

Inventor: Brian Fried
Invention:Wrist Band Construction for Balloons
Patent: No. 6,938,275
Brand Name: Balloon-O-Band

Brian has invented several products for the home, but this one (modeled below by his daughter Alana) is for the outdoors. It makes the point that sometimes inventions can be simple.

Here’s what Brian has to say about his invention (along with artwork from the patent):

“My daughter Alana was the inspiration for the Balloon-O-Band. She lost 3 character balloons ($8 each x 3 = $24) at one kids show. Then we went to an amusement park and she was taking the balloon on and off between rides and I had to keep untying the ribbon, and I noticed that this was happening to parents and children all around me all the time. I couldn’t take it anymore, so like with many of my inventions, I needed to find a solution to keep our kids happy and parents keep their sanity and investment!”

Brian’s website: BalloonOBand.com

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