Category:
Patents

The Mole Torpedo

Weapon tunnels through the earth to the enemy. Why is this not in constant use today? Too easy nowadays to sense seismic activity?


Full patent here.




Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 10, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Death, Inventions, Patents, War

Electro-Stimulation Bicycle

Inventors Young Sam Chun and Hyoung Tae Kim of Korea were recently granted Patent No. 11,458,310 for an "electro-stimulation type indoor bicycle." If I'm reading the patent correctly, it gives you an electric shock if you pedal too slow:

the electrical stimulation indoor bike can be characterized in that the control unit controls the electrical stimulation unit so as to generate stronger electrical stimulation than electrical stimulation corresponding to the speed profile, when a rotation speed of the pedal is slower than that of being defined in the speed profile.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 07, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Exercise and Fitness, Patents

Wailing-Activated Rocking Cradle

Mister Muzzey had a good idea way back in 1962 and was actually ahead of his time--his patent also references a baby monitor to transmit the cries to the parents' room--but I wonder if his device ever went into production? As you can see below, there are modern versions today.





Amazon link.



Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 03, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Babies, Domestic, Inventions, Patents, Parents, 1960s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

A third leg

Back in the nineteenth century, Alexander Robinson operated a photographic studio on the Isle of Man. In 1885 he applied for a British patent (British Patent Specification 15,376) for an unusual invention — a fake third leg, which he envisioned using as a prop in his studio.



From his patent application:

a light artificial leg made to any required size, bent or straight, or with adjustable joint or joints, and to be attached to the person so as to appear to be a third leg. The end next the body is provided with straps, and a joint close to the body or soft air cushion or both so as to fit it in any required position to the body. It must be dressed with trousers, knickerockers, stocking, sock, legging, shoe or boot to correspond with the dress of the wearer, and can be fitted with spurs or not as desired. It is preferaly made of papier-mâché, cork, tin, pasteboard or inflated rubber cloth. To enable two of the legs to rest clear of the ground I prefer to let the real leg at least, or both, to rest on fine wire suspended from above.

His invention makes more sense once you know that the Isle of Man's heraldic coat of arms consists of three legs. I imagine that tourists would come to his studio to get a photograph of themselves with three legs, just like the Isle of Man.



I don't know if Robinson was ever granted a patent for this. The British patent office, unlike the American one, is not fully searchable online. More info: History of Photography journal

Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 14, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Photography and Photographers, Patents, Nineteenth Century

Select-A-Size Mirror

The Select-A-Size mirror, invented by Milton Doolittle, had a knob you could turn to make yourself look slimmer or fatter. As explained in the 1976 Canadian patent:

A mirror has an upper portion which is held in flat condition by being secured in the upper portion of a vertically extending frame. The integral lower portion of the mirror is flexible, and its curvature is variable about a vertical axis, so that by varying the curvature of the lower portion, there is provided an image of the appearance of a person's body after a weight loss, the upper flat portion reflection a true reflection of the person's face, which would change comparatively little, if at all, after a weight loss. The curvature of the mirror lower portion is varied by rotation of a knob threadedly engaging a screw that moves a lever connected to the mirror. The mirror is supported on a stand or a wall support by a vertically movable member in a hollow tube at the back of the mirror, so that it may be vertically adjusted to reflect the face of people of different heights in the flat portion of the mirror.



Palm Beach Post - Mar 20, 1983

Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 02, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: Patents, 1970s, Dieting and Weight Loss

Means of protection for feminine wear

Thanks to Natalie Teeple's invention, women riding public transportation in the 1910s had the means to give a sharply pointed response if "mashers" pressed up against them.

It is well known that rude and flirtatious youths and men, "mashers," frequently avail themselves of the crowded condition of cars and other means of transportation to annoy and insult ladies next whom they may happen to be seated by pressing a knee or thigh against the adjacent knee or thigh of their feminine neighbor, who, as often happens is too timid or modest to create a disturbance by calling attention to the fact.

It is the object of my invention to guard against undue familiarity of the character designated by the provision of means whereby the offender is automatically warned, punished, and deterred from persistent offense; and to this end my invention consists primarily of an elastic resilient spring arranged in conjunction with a spur or prick and adapted to be attached to an under-skirt in such manner that when subjected to extraneous pressure the sharp point will protrude;

Compare this with the "defense shoes" of the 1950s.


Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 26, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Patents, 1910s, Women

Dermal Steaming Apparatus for the Head

Full patent here.







Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 22, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Hygiene, Patents, 1900s

Chess Football

Patent No. 5558335. Pretty much like regular chess, but inside a simulated football stadium.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 12, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Sports, Patents

Trick Bass Viol

I would have enjoyed seeing the dogs emerge from the viol itself, but--as I interpret the patent--they are in the box at the base of the instrument. Still, a musical instrument filled with beer is also acceptable.

Original patent here.





Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 06, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Music, Patents, Dogs, 1900s, Alcohol

Shoes with Hinged Soles

There must be a good reason why, for millennia now, all shoes have come with unibody-construction soles. But Robert M. Lyden thought differently.

Full patent here.







Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 17, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: Body, Inventions, Patents, Shoes, 1990s

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Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

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Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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