Patents are not always serious business…
It is the season to be jolly and thus also a good opportunity to enjoy some of the stranger inventions which have passed across the desks of patent attorneys around the world.
The inventor of US Patent 6,490,999 was concerned that too many snake owners did not spend sufficient time handling their snakes for fear of “losing control of them”. As a result, most pet snakes are kept indoors and thus under less than optimum lighting conditions. It would accordingly be beneficial, opines the inventor, if a snake owner could spend quality outdoor time with their beloved pets as natural sunlight and the warmth it produces could be very beneficial to the epidermal health of any reptile. Thus was born a collar apparatus for collaring a snake to take it for a slither…
Most of us have come across a spider trapped within a bath or basin. As a result of a spider’s inability to negotiate or scale the smooth inner contours of a bath of basin they are often trapped without any way out. UK Patent Application 2 272 154 addresses the problem faced by our invertebrate friends by providing a “spider ladder”. The spider ladder comprises a thin latex rubber strip (1) and a suction pad (5) for attachment to the side of bath or basin. A trapped spider can now readily escape the confines of a bath or basin by simply scaling steps (2 and 3) of the ladder.
The inventor of US Patent 4,344,424 surmises that certain individuals are constantly exposed to food. Notable, says the inventor, is the housewife who must frequently cook meals during the day. During preparation of such meals there is the temptation to nibble on the food being prepared. Cooks prone to nibbling need no longer struggle with temptation, compliments of the Anti-Eating Face Mask.
The lack of privacy afforded by showering facilities at institutions such as hospitals, college dormitories and gyms is the problem with which US Patent Application 2007/0157359 is concerned. In particular, the patent application is concerned with the unpleasant and embarrassing experience of becoming unclad at such facilities.
According to the inventor a covering that would preserve one’s dignity by minimising exposure while also insuring a thorough cleansing would certainly be a welcome addition in the market place. And so we have the genesis of the bathing poncho…
It is almost Christmas and, therefore, just fitting that we conclude with a Santa related invention. US Patent 5,523,741 discussed the modern folklore that a child that has behaved during the previous year will be rewarded with one or more Christmas presents by Santa Claus. Thus, in the minds of young children, Santa’ arrival is denoted, amongst other things, by Christmas stockings filled with treats. It is the object of this patent to provide a children’s device capable of providing selective illumination to signal the arrival of Santa.
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