Frances Gabe’s Self-Cleaning House

Frances Gabe had a vision of putting an end to housework. No more dusting or vacuuming. All a homeowner would have to do would be to push a button and the house would clean itself, as if the entire structure was a giant dishwasher.

Of course, this meant that everything in the house had to be waterproofed. But it also meant that the actual dishwasher and clothes washer became redundant. Just hang dirty clothes in the closet and stack dishes in a cabinet — they'd get washed along with the rest of the house.



Gabe offered two stories for how she came up with the concept of the self-cleaning house. The first was that, as a newly married young woman, she once noticed a jam stain on the wall. Instead of scrubbing it off she decided to get a hose and sprayed it off.

The second story involved divine inspiration. After divorcing her husband she said that she was sitting, feeling despondent, and praying to God to provide her with some purpose to keep her going. Suddenly two angels appeared on her shoulders. And then, she said, "I picked up a pencil and began scribbling. I thought I was just doodling. Then I stopped and looked, and there was the self-cleaning house."

She received a patent (No. 4,428,085) for the self-cleaning house in 1984. She also transformed her own house in Newberg, Oregon into a prototype. From what I can gather, she never managed to make the entire house self-cleaning, but the kitchen could clean itself.

When she was alive she would offer tours of the house, but she died in 2016, and the new owners of the house haven't maintained its self-cleaning features.

Incidentally, Gabe was an invented name, so it's not what appears on her patent. Her full name, when married, was Frances Grace Arnholtz Bateson. She constructed 'Gabe' out of her initials.

More info: mit.edu, wikipedia

Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 09, 2022 - Comments (6)
Category: Architecture, Inventions, Patents, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods

The Golden Age of Patents

Alex is a master at finding oddball inventions that received a patent. Surely one of his spiritual ancestors must have been Wallace Peck, who did a humorous book that imagined such inventions.

You can read the whole text here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 30, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Humor, Inventions, Patents, Books, Nineteenth Century

Taste-O-Vision

A Japanese researcher, Homei Miyashita, has created a screen that, when licked, imparts the flavors of food. From Reuters:


Miyashita explains that he "hopes to make a platform where tastes from around the world can be downloaded and enjoyed by users, much like music is now."

Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 14, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Food, Inventions, Technology

Secret Shoulder Straps

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 09, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Body Modifications, Fashion, Inventions, Nineteenth Century

The Microsoft Hinged Box

Microsoft received its first patent in 1986 (Patent No. 4,588,074). By this time it was already a huge company, having released Microsoft Windows the previous year. But its first patent wasn't for anything related to computers or software. Instead, it was for a kind of hinged box designed to store and support books and articles.

It then didn't receive any more patents for another two years.

I'm curious about the backstory of this hinged box. What inspired its invention? Did Microsoft ever attempt to manufacture or sell it? And why did the company feel compelled to patent it?

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 06, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Technology, 1980s

Rejuvenique Facial Toning Mask

Still being made and sold! Get yours via the Amazon link below!

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 04, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Body Modifications, Inventions, Technology, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century

The Mailomat

Very handy for Xmas rush!

Article source: Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California)10 Dec 1939, Sun Page 59

Another good article here, with more pics.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 24, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Inventions, Technology, 1930s, 1940s, Postal Services

The Panasonic Audio Egg

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 21, 2021 - Comments (6)
Category: Domestic, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Inventions, Music, Eggs, 1960s

Method of executing a tennis stroke

In 1999, Kevin and George Repper were granted a patent (No. 5,993,336) for a "method of executing a tennis stroke". The method consisted of hitting a tennis ball while kneeling on the right knee — that knee being protected by a kneepad.

This raises two questions. First, how did they possibly obtain a patent for this? And second, why did they bother getting a patent for this? Did they seriously expect other tennis players to license this method from them?

I don't know the answer to the first question, but I have a hypothesis about the second. Some googling reveals that George Repper was a patent attorney while his son, Kevin, was on a high-school tennis team. So my guess is that the patent was some kind of father-son bonding experience, with the father showing his son how to obtain a patent. And it seems like the son is also now a patent attorney.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 19, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Sports, 1990s

Hotel Automat

Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 19, 2021 - Comments (4)
Category: Inventions, Technology, Hotels, 1960s