Bizarre human powered flight patents

The dream of human powered flight has been around since Daedalus and Icarus tried it, and inventors have certainly tried to patent methods for flying using human muscle alone.

The earliest US patent on the topic is thought to be Delaware doctor Watson Fell Quinby who in 1867 patented his Flying apparatus, illustrated below.

Quinby proceeded to patent variations on the concept, with, in 1869, his Flying machine, illustrated below...

...and, in 1872, his Flying apparatus, as shown below. Quinby was also the author of Solomon's seal: a key to the pyramid (1880).

In 1889, there was Reuben Spalding of Colorado, with his Flying-machine, illustrated below. He explains that it was meant to provide a "simple, comparatively inexpensive, easily-operative, and efficient apparatus of this character."

.In 1970 there was the patent with the detailed title Fluttering wing aerial propelled apparatus suitable for carrying a man, illustrated below. The inventor was Alfred Ernst, writing from an Italian address.

For the UK, there is Susan Atkins, who in February 2013 had published her British patent application Human powered flying garment. It has an interesting description, stating that it is made to resemble a bat and has a wingspan of 13 feet, "made to measure its inventor". Despite this hint, I do not know if it's actually been tried out (the same goes for the previous patents). Helium-filled balloons are included to aid lift. Below is its main drawing.

Six patent specifications were listed by the patent examiner as being of some similarity.

So, is this old dream impossible ? Not so. In 1979 the English Channel was flown using muscle power alone, in the Gossamer Albatross, which won it the 2nd Kremer Prize for human-powered flight. An amateur cyclist managed it, flying at a top speed of 29 km per hour at a height of 1.5 metres above the waves. Taking off from the cliffs on the British side did help, but he still took 2 hours and 46 minutes. A patent for the aircraft was published as Lightweight aircraft by Dr Paul MacCready and others. The main drawing is given below.

This was a successor to his Gossamer Condor, which had already won the 1st Kremer Prize -- and was flown by the same intrepid cyclist, Bryan Allen. New and light man-made materials as well as clever design were essential.

Below is a video about the English Channel crossing of the Gossamer Albatross.

Bizarre advertising patents

Some advertising seems bizarre, and some patents capture that. Here are illustrations from actual American and British patents, with links to the patent specifications.

There is for example Advertising device, from 1917. The showman is showing an apparent case of perpetual motion, although power is secretly being provided through the uprights. Not really advertising, but that's what the Oregon inventor, Leander Wheatley, called it. 

In a similar vein there is Display device, from 1939. Amilio Antinori of Illinois thought of someone being strapped to the wheel and then being rapidly spun, such as "a performer of an illusion, a lay figure, or merchandise to be displayed." 

Then in 1914 there was Combined scarecrow and advertising device by Samuel Hunter of New York state. Sound effects were to be included to attract the attention of a passerby to the advertising supplied. 

There is also David Leb's Advertising system, where a temporary tattoo is used for advertising on the backs of, for example, boxers. The patent was assigned to Cyber World Group of St Laurent, Canada. 

Turning to the UK, there is Illusionary advertising sign or the like periodically illuminated, from 1915, by a British electrical engineer. It involves the old theatrical trick of turning backlighting on or off so that a scene becomes visible or invisible. 

There is also Devices for exhibition and advertising purposes. It's a British patent by a German citizen, dating from 1926. 

The ingenuity (and, often, naivety) of inventors never ceases to amaze me. 

Some unusual Santa Claus patents

Christmas is almost upon us. This post is mainly images from US utility and design patents depicting good ol' Santa Claus.

What about this bizarre one ?

And then there's an illuminated Santa.

And also a Santa Claus bank. Published in 1953 as, indeed, Santa Claus bank. 

Santa has to struggle down the chimney... (Christmas toy, from 1926)

...but sometimes things go wrong, such as a dog barking so Santa races back up the chimney without making his delivery (Toy, from 1933).

and then of course there's all the packaging for the presents, as in 1948's Novelty carton. 

Have a good break, everyone.

Self-serving tables: a bizarre invention

When I was employed as a patent specialist I mainly handled new inventions, most of which were reasonable ideas. It was, however, the older patents, including the odd and even bizarre ones, which really won my heart.

One such was applied for in 1919 by Essex Deloatch of Philadelphia. The title is Motor control system for self-serving tables. The main, and deliciously detailed, drawing is shown here:

The inventor explains that the idea is to ensure that "a large number of patrons may be expeditiously served without the employment of waiters or any considerable number of attendants." It seems that the cost of labour was a worry for catering establishments even then.

He also wanted to prevent the "annoyance caused by waiters reaching past the guests seated at the table" with a mechanism operated, for all the tables, by a single operator.

Guests who are ready to be served push an electrical button in front of them. A pocket is provided in which is placed the order, the money for it, and later the change. One side of each table is adjacent to a wall with a serving hatch. Yes, that's right, the table swivels automatically so that dishes can be served and collected from the hatch. Each position at the table is noted by the operator so that the right dishes are served to each position.

The cost of the system, and the need for space to allow that each table is adjacent to a serving area behind a wall, must have, one presume, have meant that Mr Deloatch's proposal was refused when offered to restaurants. From experience I have found that inventors are often unaware of such objections, mesmerised as they are by the cleverness of the invention.

It was only after writing this post that I realised that this invention was a refinement of Deloatch's earlier patent, filed in 1915 from Newport News, VA, titled Dining or lunch room serving table, where the waiter telephones the orders through. As the drawing shows people it is even more fun:

Both of these patents were listed as relevant by the USPTO patent examiner in Smorgasphere's 1967 filing for the Food server patent, where the entire table swivels through the wall. Again, did they not think of the cost ? A drawing showing the left hand of the table in the restaurant and the right half behind the scenes is shown below.

Cheaper than all this is surely the idea of dishes going past the guests so that they can select those that they want, as seen in some Oriental restaurants.

To finish off, what about the 1866 invention by William Lance of Pennsylvania, his Self-waiting table. I'd like to see this one in a restaurant if only for the novelty value.