On December 14, 1852, Cullen Whipple received U.S. Patent No. 9477 on Mechanism for Pointing and Threading Screw-Blanks in the Same Machine:
Cullen Whipple was born September 4, 1801, in in Petersham, Worcester, Massachusetts. In October 1840 he was one of ten incorporators who formed The New England Screw Co. a capital of $20,000. Whipple, who had been in the employ of the Providence Screw Co., was a prolific inventor and made several important inventions related to screw making, including U.S. Patent No. 2754, issued August 18, 1842, on a Machine for Cutting the Threads of Wood-Screws (Reissued March 5, 1850, as RE165, and again on June 13, 1856, as RE371); U.S. Patent No. 3029, issued April 6, 1843, on a Machines for Turning or Shaving the Heads of Blanks for Wood Screws; U.S. Patent No. 3038, issued April 10, 1843, on a Machine for Remiving the Burrs from the Under Sides of the Heads of Wood-Screws; U.S. Patent No. 6148, dated December 7, 1952, on Improved Machinery for Making Wood-Screw (Reissued April 12, 1859 as RE687); U.S. Patent No. 9110, issued on July 6, 1852, on Screw-Threading Machinery; U.S. Patent 9191, issued August 10, 1852, on Machinery for Threading Wood-Screws; U.S. Patent No. 9460 dated December 7, 1852, (Reissued April 12, 1859, as RE686 and RE686), U.S. Patent No. 9669, issued April 12, 1853, on Improvement in Machinery for Shaving the Heads of Screw-Blanks; U.S. Patent No. 14,041, issued January 1, 1856, on an Improvement in Screw Machinery; U.S. Patent No. 15052, issued June 3, 1856 on Making Screws.
Whipple’s inventiveness was not confined to screw making, and he had a several patents in other fields.
On December 13. 1816, the first patent (Patent Number 2705A) for a floating dry dock was issued to John Adamson, of Boston, MA.
There are three principal types of drydocks: marine railways, graving docks (permanent in-ground drydocks), and floating drydocks (a floating structure that is partially submerged to allow a ship to enter then raised to allow the ship to be serviced on a dry surface). Adamsons was a floating dtrydockt
On March 2, 1831, Congress extended this patent an additional 14 years from December 12, 1830.
On December 12, 1899, George F. Grant, a dentist, received a U.S. Patent No. 638,920, on a golf tee:
The golf tee comprises a wooden spike with a flexible rubber peg supporting the ball. Dr. Grant was a better inventor than a marketer, he never reaped the benefits of his invention.
A few weeks earlier, on November 21, 1899, received U.S. Patent No. D31878 on a Golf Tee, and while it would certainly hold a golf ball for striking with a club, it was nothing like modern golf tees:
A few months later, William Herrick received U.S. Patent No. 648956 on a Golf Tee more like Atherton Sewall’s:
It wasn’t until December 16, 1924, almost exactly 25 years after Grant’s patent, that another patent issued on the type of golf tee that wad imbedded in the ground:
U.S. Patent No. 1,522,544, issued January 13, 1925, shows a tee that would be recognizable by modern golfers:
U.S. Patent No. 1,542,505, issued five months later on June 16, 1925, shows a tee very close to the modern product:
Finally, William Lowell, a dentist like Grant, and an avid golfer, received U.S. Patent No. 1,670,627 for a “Golfing Tee” made of wood:
The gutta percha tip was dropped, and the shaft refined, but his “Reddy Tee” marked the era if the modern golf tee.
On December 11, 1900, Ronald F. McFeely received U.S. Patent No. 663,777 on a Pulling-Over Machine:
This invention related to a machine for pulling boot or shoe uppers over the last preparatory to the lasting operation, and in McFeely’s own words, “it is the first practicable machine of this character. The patent was assigned to the United Shoe Machinery Company of Boston, Massachusetts.
McFeely was a prolific inventor for United Shoe Machinery, patenting improved Pulling-Over Machines on March 1, 1910, (US Patent No. 950701), June 11, 1912 (U.S. Patent No. 1029387), June 25, 1912 (U.S. Patent No. 1030522), on March 17, 1914 (U.S. Patent No. 1090220), and on April 13, 1915 (U.S. Patent No. 1135954); a Nail Feeding Machine on September 5, 1911, (U.S. Patent No. 1002421); a Pounding-Up Machine on March 5, 1912 (U.S. Patent No. US1019067); a Jack for Shoe-Machines on June 25, 1912 (U.S. Patent No. 1030827); a Gripper on May 31, 1910 (U.S. Patent No. 959874), and on January 16, 1912, (U.S. Patent No. 1014835); a Work-Support on August 3, 1909,(U.S. Patent No. 929869); a Machine for Working Uppers Over Lasts on April 4, 1911, (U.S. Patent No. 988582); a Machine for Use in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes on August 1, 1911, (U.S. Patent No. 999327), and on April 13, 1915 (U.S. Patent Nos. 1135949 and 1135950); a Nail-Separating Mechanism on September 5, 1911, (U.S. Patent No. 1002422); an Apparatus Employed for Fastening Shoe-Uppers by Means of Wire on September 19, 1911, (U.S. Patent No. 1003484); a Method of Making Shoes on April 13, 1915 (U.S. Patent No. 1135951); a Tack Feeding Mechanism on June 25, 1912, (U.S. Patent No. 1030315); and many more.
McFeely’s last patent, U.S. Patent No. 1558737A, issued October 17, 1925, eight years after his death in 1917, at the age of 58. Little remembered today, his inventions sped the production of shoes, making them far more affordable.
On December 19, 1968, U.S. Patent No. 3,415,512 issued on Apparatus Causing Artificial Snowfall:
The principal object of the invention is “to provide apparatus that assures a continuous movement of snow particles, repeatedly blowing them upwardly to a point where they are dispersed and will fall downwardly and thence return to a predetermined point without manual or mechanical assistance, for an indefinite period of time.”
Somewhat surprisingly, there is some prior art: U.S. Patent No. 3,147,175 issued September 1. 1964:
Inventors continued to refine the technology into the 1970’s, see U.S. Patent No. 4,028,830:
However, it was not until 1975 when someone thought to enclose the whole system, as shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,905,140.
U.S. Patent No. 4076234 continued the development of this important decorating technology:
Interest in turning the living room into a snowglobe continued into the ’90’s, as evidenced by U.S. Patent No. 4,962,922
On December 9, 1919, Tom Doroszuk received U.S. Patent No. 1,324,342 on a Bicycle Sleigh:
According to the patent, its object is “the provision of a vehicle simulative of a bicycle and similarly operated ·whereby a rider may advance over the surface of ice or snow at a relatively high speed.”
There were earlier patents on winterized bicycles, including U.S. Patent No. 504,625 on an Ice Velocipede:
U.S. Patent No. 551442 on an Ice Velocipede:
U.S. Patent No. 566,483 on Ice or Snow Vehicle:
U.S. Patent No. 638,575 on an Ice Velocipede:
U.S. Patent No. 756,767 on a Runner and Propelling Attachment for Bicycles or Other Vehicles:
U.S. Patent No. 1,146,210 on a Velocipede Sled:
And some subsequent developments, including U.S. Patent No. 1,399,643 on a Bicycle Sleigh Attachment:
On December 8, 2024, Lloyd Espenschied and Herman Affel received U.S. Patent No. 1,835,031 on a Concentric Conducting System — coaxial cable:
Coaxial cable opened a wide spectrum of frequencies for long distance telephone service, making it possible to carry thousands of simultaneous phone calls on long distance circuits, and permitted the transmission of television signals. Espenschied was the holder of more than 100 patents in both wire and radio communication systems, and his co-inventor Affel likewise held numerous patents. Both were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.
On December 7, 1909, U.S. Patent No. 942,809 issued to Leo Bakeland on a Condensation Product and Method of Making Same:
Bakeland called the product Bakelite, and unlike the plastics before it, Bakelite became instant success, it was cheap to produce, non-flammable, versatile, and could retain its form even when its heated, Bakelite quickly found thousands of applications in products of all kind.
Bakelite was not the first plastic. That honor goes to Parkesine, a celluloid based on nitrocellulose treated with a variety of solvents, created by Alexander Parkes in 1856. Daniel Spill, who worked with Parkes, too over Parkes’ patents, improving the Parkesine, and naming the resulting plastic Xylonite. Businessman John Wesley Hyatt discovered a method to simplify the production of celluloid, making industrial production possible, and founded the Celluloid Manufacturing Company in the US.
On December 6, 1955, Friedrich Nallinger and Rudolf Uhlenhaut received U.S. Patent No. D176278 on the design of an automobile.
The patent covers the production version of the 300 SL race car. The production version of the 300 SL debuted in 1955 with a sleeker and more stylish body, but the same gull wing doors of its race car predecessor. The production 300 SL had a tilt steering wheel. It also had fule injection, and to accommodate the fuel injectors, a raised ridge had to be formed in the hood of the 300 SL, and to maintain a second, parallel raised ridge was formed in the hood as shown in the design patent above.
