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Friday, January 30, 2009
Patent Watch
Winter-related tech patents abound
Innerscope Research sensor vest tests biometric response to visual aids
Terrafugia's flying car simulation
OnLatte demonstrates its beer, coffee foam printer
Winter is upon us so let’s take a look this month at a few recently issued patents and published patent applications naming New England inventors on the topic of ice, snow, and other seasonal issues.
• I used to shovel by hand, then I bought a tractor, and now my oldest daughter uses an ATV to plow the driveway. What are kids for, right? Anyway, one “problem” with the ATV plow has been that although it could be be raised up and down via a winch on the ATV, you have had to manually adjust the angle of the plow. No longer. Patent No. 7,419,011, dated Sept. 2, discloses a new ATV plow with a motor that turns the plow right and left. Marc Curtis of Spencer and Kenneth Ehn of Leicester are the named inventors in this patent owned by Curtis International Inc. located in Worcester.
• Several Maine residents are named as inventors on Patent No. 7,430,821 (Oct. 7) covering a new snowplow and mount assembly for a truck featuring a more efficient latch mechanism which secures the plow to the mount. The listed inventors include Andre LeBlond of Owlshead, James Pieper of Glen Cove, Mark Stultz of Whitefield, Steven Klug of Union, and John Field of Hope.
• The Burton Corp. of Burlington, Vt., won Patent No. 7,396,036 on July 8 for a new snowboard with a nose and/or tail tapered in thickness provide improved “float” in powder. Scott Barbieri of Middlebury, Vt., and Peter Bergendahl of Winooski, Vt., are the inventors.
• Skiing in icy conditions? Patent No. 7,445,227 (Nov. 4) discloses a ski with an inside downwardly depending edge that digs into the snow surface to provide improved gripping and control during icy conditions. The inventors, all from Connecticut, are Gerald Harris, Jr., and Leah Harris, both of Rowayton, and Eric Witte of Fairfield.
• Patent No. 7,428,772, dated Sept. 30, relates to engineered fabric articles consisting of a single layer of fabric with different amount of pile and thus insulation. In this way, a shirt, for example, could have a lot of insulation at the chest, shoulders, and upper arms, and little or no insulation elsewhere for better performance and comfort. Moshe Rock of Brookline is the sole inventor of this MMI-IPCO LLC (Lawrence) patent.
• The Timberland Co. of Stratham, N.H., won Patent No. 7,428,787 on Sept. 30 for a gaitor interface used to connect a gaitor to many different kinds of footwear. The inventors include Kevin Crowley, II of Merrimac and David Miller of Dayton, Maine.
• Airplane icing continues to be a problem. Philip Jarvinen of Amherst, N.H., is the sole inventor listed in Patent No. 7,439,877 (Oct. 21) for a system which detects ice on the wings of an airplane using impedance and thermal conductivity measurements. The system features a low cost, low power consumption, low profile miniature electronic chip in a thin pliant patch placed on the wing.
• Murty Bhamidipati of Randolph is seeking a patent for a surface coating including a phase change material which can be applied to aircraft surfaces to inhibit ice formation. His application, No. 2008/0276837 published Nov. 13.
Kirk Teska is an adjunct law professor at Suffolk University Law School, and is the managing partner of Iandiorio, Teska & Coleman, an intellectual property law firm in Waltham. His book “Patent Savvy for Managers” is available online and in most major bookstores. He can be reached at kirk@iandorio.com.
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