Less Famous Inventions of Famous Inventors

There are a few inventors and their inventions that most people recognize. But usually these famous individuals claim many innovations, some of which have been largely ignored or even forgotten by the general population.

For example, probably the most famous inventor in America, Thomas Edison, is known for his electric lights, recording devices, electric transportation, and developing solutions to create a community-wide electric grid. He had more patents than any other person for decades, listed as an inventor (some joint) on 1,093 in the US alone.

One of those less frequently cited was for an electric vote recorder. Edison's "Electrographic Vote Recorder and Register" was issued patent no. 90,646 in June, 1869, years before his most illuminating (ha-ha) invention.

Edison's Electric Elections

Of course, Edison was known for being a fairly unpleasant person, and unfairly competing with contemporaries.

One such contemporary he maligned is another of America's greatest inventors, Alexander Graham Bell. You most likely know him as the inventor of the telephone. Bell invented and patented the device that would one day morph into today's ubiquitous, hand-held computer-inclusive smart phone in 1876.

Less influential and well-remembered is the "Aerial Vehicle", patent no. 757,012, of April 1904. It isn't sufficient to carry a person, and functions more as a kite, but clearly the interest of inventors had pivoted from communications and power to new transportation by the 20th century.

Fly with Bell!

Among the great electric inventors of the 19th century is Nikola Tesla. His was the mind behind equipping power grids with alternating electric current via Westinghouse Power (look up the "war of currents" sometime). His power and electrical inventions are the most well-known.

But, did you know he invented and patented a fountain? Indeed, Tesla was granted patent no. 1,113,716 for a fountain that could utilize more water in bigger, grander displays. 

Striking fountains from Tesla's labs

George Washington Carver was the most prominent agricultural scientist and innovator in his day. Urging Southern farmers struggling with soil depleted by cotton to use crop rotation systems that included nitrogen-replenishing legumes was just  one of his social contributions. He's usually associated with peanuts, with good reason. 

No, he wasn't actually the inventor of peanut butter (a frequently-made yet inaccurate claim), but he did publish a bulletin on how to grow peanuts and 105 uses for it, and is credited with eventually pioneering at least 300 uses.

What you likely don't know he invented was a cosmetic product, granted patent no. 1,522,176. This "vanishing cream", like a concealer, was based on... peanut oil. So it's still peanut-adjacent.

If you visited my summertime "Playful Patents" display, you probably saw something about one Lonnie G. Johnson. He's most famous for inventing a squirt gun popularized as the Super Soaker. 

But Johnson was actually a scientific genius outside his spare time making cool toys1, and worked for NASA for years. Evidence for this particular set of skills lies in his less-famous patent no. 4,476,693, Thermal Energy Accumulation. The purpose was to provide heated running water, such as in a kitchen sink, via more efficient processes than the standard commercially available systems.

A diagram of the thermal device

Taking a step back in time, one Isaac M. Singer is credited with inventing the mechanical sewing machine, and was subsequently issued many patents for it, the first in 1851. Singer is still among the most popular brands of sewing machines today.

Taking a step further back in time, Mr. Singer also invented a "Machine for Carving Wood or Metal", granted patent no. 6,310 in April 1849. He was issued a second patent for improvements to wood carving machines in 1855, but otherwise only received US patents for sewing machines and their related equipment. 

Singer facilitated many kinds of crafts

"The Real McCoy" is a phrase bandied about, with little knowledge of its origins. It comes from the frequent request for using his patented automatic lubricator products, which were superior to other cheap imitators.

Evidently McCoy also took a brief break from revolutionizing lubricants for heavy machinery and railroads to invent ironing tables. He was granted patent no. 150,876 in May, 1874 for one iteration, but no one really talks about this one when they bring up his legacy. 

Somehow not as famous as the automated lubricators

I'd like to have included some female inventors, but most of the well-known women were only issued patents for inventions equally familiar (which may be as much as 0 familiarity). Or, they were similar to Hedy Lamarr, who was famous as an actress, despite some of her incredible innovations and being a co-inventor of patent no. 2,292,387 "Secret Communication System" (listed with her married name).

If you know of any female inventors who had some less famous inventions, mention them in a comment.

IP & the Constitution

While you're preparing to celebrate Constitution Day (either on your own on the 17th or here at Fondren on the 18th), take a moment to appreciate how America's IP system was originally formed within Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8.

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

It's a brief statement and perhaps vague, but it is the building block on which all of our modern US IP concepts were built. It outlines the continued laws that give authors, creators, and inventors (or owners) exclusive rights to their creations, but only for a specific limited time. Length of copyright protection has significantly increased across the years, but we haven't strayed too far from the original principles. 

Perhaps the most significant change is related to marks (trademarks). There is no specific mention of them in the articles and clauses that lay out other forms of IP--copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. Congress didn't gain power over trademark legislation until much later, and that was under the Commerce Clause.

See the explanation of Federal power over trademarks here.

For more on the powers given to Congress over IP, and the associated section of the Constitution, see a general explanation here and the details on each here.

I'd like to close by sharing a patent for the ink formula (oak gall based) used to write the Constitution, or perhaps some other component of the document, but wasn't able to find anything from the correct era. Searching for late 18th century patents is particularly challenging.

Puzzling Patents

Actually, this would more appropriately be called patents for puzzles, but I can't resist a good title.

Recently, a jigsaw puzzle was placed in Fondren's staff lounge, and it got me thinking about puzzle IP. Were jigsaw puzzles ever patentable? If not the puzzles, then perhaps their production or manufacture, or even a process for assembling a puzzle, has been patented.

As it turns out, there are a lot of patents for various aspects of jigsaw puzzles, dating back to the early 20th century (according to my results). I found most interesting those patents for early jigsaw puzzle production, such as 1935's patent no. 1,995,959, Die for Cutting Puzzles and Like Cut-Outs. 

It still looks like a laborious process

There were also a lot of inventions concerned with preserving puzzle progress or a completed construction. I found three early versions most useful, starting with 1933's patent no. 1,904,724, Jig-Saw Puzzle Holder, with adjustable dimensions for different puzzles sizes. 

Simple, yet an effective solution for those wobbly edges

Later that year, patent no. 2,003,845, Adjustable Frame for Jigsaw Puzzles, provides a different structure for the framing as well as a surface with increased friction to keep pieces from sliding apart. 

Years later, in 1950, patent no. 2,506,189, Adjustable Jigsaw Puzzle Frame, takes various levels of ability into concern, and incorporates an element that elevates and angles the puzzle. Inventor R.B. Attridge had in mind those who might struggle otherwise, stating in the second sentence that "Solving of jig saw puzzles affords a wholesome pastime for invalids and convalescents, for example, for disabled veterans". Props to Attridge for some early accessibility design thinking! For those who may think 1950 isn't that early, consider when the ADA was passed.

A frame with added elevation and angle properties, for accessibility

Later, the puzzle patents become more concerned with adapting puzzles to new purposes and environments. For example, patent no. 5,536,009, Pool Puzzle, Method of Play, which is a floating puzzle meant to be assembled in the pool. I can't say I've much considered swimming and puzzle assembly compatible activities, but perhaps that's why I'm not an inventor like fellow Texan Scott D. Edwards. Then again, I also spent countless hours when younger reading hardback books while in a pool, which is almost as incompatible a pairing.

Unfortunately, it looks like a very simple puzzle

Many of the most recent reflect a trend in spatially expanding puzzles. For example, Thomas and Jean Greenwald own patents for two three dimensional puzzles. First, in 2021, patent no. 11,198,056, Multiple Level Jigsaw Puzzle, and in 2023, patent no. 11,717,745, Tier-on-Tier Multiple Level Jigsaw Puzzle.

I didn't pick this one because it was kitty-shaped, really

I started to think about whether the puzzle aide I owned was patented. It wouldn't have appeared among the results for my above search [query: ((jigsaw OR (jig WITH saw)) AND puzzle) AND (cardboard OR wood)]. Take a look at the pictures, and shout out some suggested search terms in the comments!

It's a large rectangular piece of felt and an inflatable cylinder

Mine has been rolled up in a closet for too long

The felt piece rolls around the inflatable cylinder and has two elastic stays, held together with Velcro