On August 6, 1935, William D. Coolidge received U.S. Patent No. 2,010,712 on an improved cathode ray tube. Cathode ray tubes were critical to televisions and computer monitors until the relatively recent invention of LCD screens, and they are still used to generate x-rays in medical imaging equipment.

In 1911 Coolidge developed a ductile form of tungsten that made the manufacture of filaments for incandescent bulbs, for which in received U.S. Patent No. 1,082,933 (later declared invalid. IN 1913 Coolidge invented a hot cathode tube dubbed the Cooliidge tube that allowed for improved medical imaging, for which he received U.S. Patent No, 1,203,495. His basic design is still in use today.

Coolidge won The American Academy of Arts and Sciences Rumford Prize in 1914; was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1925; the Howard N. Potts Medal in 1926; the Louis E. Levy Medal in 1927; was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1938; was awarded the Faraday Medal in 1939; was awarded the Franklin Medal in 1944. In 1975, shortly before his death at age 101, he was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

On August 4, 1925, U.S. Patent No. 1,548,653 issued to Martin Borglum on an Automobile Signal. 99 years later it is hard to image the problems still to be solved in the automobile industry, and the limited technological resources to address those problems. Mr. Borglum’s solution to signaling direction changes? Hang a “peculiar and grotesque figure adapted to be mounted upon the vehicle in a conspicuous position in which the figure will have movable arms for indicating visually proposed changes in direction of the vehicle and movable eyeballs coordinated with the arms to shift in the same direction with the latter whereby to vary forcibly and in an odd striking way call attention to the signal and to the proposed change in direction” on the side of the car:

That this seemed like a good idea in 1925 is a testament to how far we have progressed since then. Here’s a better view of Mr. Borglum’s Cargoyle:

Directional signaling was apparently one of the big problems of the day, because that same day several other patents issued on direction signals. Anthony Ritsky proposed mounting a spinning arrow on the car fender in his U.S. Patent No. 1,548,386:

George L.Cantwell proposed a signal mounted on the spare tire on the back of the car with an arrow that signals the driver’s intent in his U.S. Patent No. 1,548,115:

Three entirely different solutions to one of the problems of the day, brilliantly illustrating the importance of diversity in thought. There are few bad ideas — just different levels of good ideas.

On August 2, 1892, George A. Wheeler received U.S. Patent No. 479,864, titled “Elevator,” but which was really the first patent issued on what we now call an escalator.

Jesse Reno received a patent (U.S. Patent No. 470918) on an endless conveyor or elevator about a year earlier on an endless conveyor or elevator, but it was more of a conveyor belt, as the title implies, than what we call an escalator. Reno’s device was actually installed in Coney Island for a brief time, where it lifted park patrons to the dizzying height of 7 feet. In 1902, Reno founded the Reno Electric Stairways and Conveyors, Ltd. and installed his invention in various locations. Otis eventually purchased Reno’s patents when Otis entered the field a few years later.

Another important name in the development of the modern escalator is Charles D. Seeberger. Working with Otis he installed the first step-type escalator made for public use at the Paris Exhibition of 1900 (where it won first prize). He applied for a patent on October 7, 1901, which bumped around the Patent Office for nearly a decade before issuing as U.S. Patent No. 994,879:

Seeberger received numerous patents on escalators, including U.S. Patent No. 999,885, 1,014,400. 1,014,856, 1,015,406, 1,020,060, 1,023,443, 1,025,316, 1,034,841. 1,043,542, 1,049,613, and 1,095,361.

Patents aside, Seeberger really is the inventor of the escalator. He coined the term from scala (Latin for steps) with elevator. He registered the term as his trademark on (Reg. No. 84,724) on May 29, 1900, which he eventually assigned to Otis. However, in 1950 in Haughton Elevator Company v. Seeberger, the registration on ESCALATOR was cancelled because the term had become generic. The decision noted the that escalator was used by Otis the same way as it used the generic term elevator, the Commissioner noting that “the word ‘escalator’ or “escalators’ is written in small letters and in the same manner and same context as the word ‘elevator’ or ‘elevators’ which obviously has not trade mark significance.” 85 U.S.P.Q. 80, 81 (Comm’r 1950). It is a common problem with inventors of something new, that the name they give their new product often becomes the generic name for that new product, particular if the the term is used carelessly.

Eight days ago we posted about the invention of the ice cream cone at the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis. Today’s gastronomic wonder comes from New Jersey: the Pizza Cone was patented forty years ago today by Joseph Eufemia, of New Milford, N.J. His U.S. Patent No. 4,463,021:

Other contributors to conic dining include Michael Thilavanh, who patented a generic “Food Cone”:

Gilbert Shin who invented an Ice Cream and Food Cone:

William Pordy who invented a Food Cone:

and Salvatore Ruggiero who also invented a Food Cone:

A quick Google search suggests that Pizza Cones are quite popular, and perhaps Mr. Eufemia, like many inventors, was just ahead of his time.

On this day in 2003, the last classic VW Beetle also known as the Volkswagen Type 1, rolled off the assembly line. A total of 21.5 million Beetles were produced between 1938 and 2003. although early production was interrupted by World War II. The Type 1 was initially marketed simply as “the Volkswagen,” and was not officially named the beetle until 1968.

The Beetle was the idea of Adolf Hitler, who in 1934, saw the need for a “people’s car” — simple, inexpensive and mass produced. He insisted on car that could accommodate two adults and three children and get the equivalent of 33 mpg on the autobahn. The design is often credited to Ferdinand Porsche, who was responsible for the final design, however the concept traces back to work by Béla Barény and others in the 1920’s. As one would expect, the Beetle changed a lot during its 65 years of production, but one thing that never changed was its distinctive beetle shape.

On this day in 1927, the first iron lung was installed at Bellevue hospital in New York for the post war polio epidemic. The first iron lung was developed and patented by Phillip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw. The received U.S. Patent Nos. 1,834,580, 1,906,453, and 1,906,844,

However, when these patents were asserted against John H. Emerson, a later entrant in the field, who made valuable improvements to the technology, they were all found to be invalid. Collins v. Emerson, 10 F. Supp. 885 (D. Mass. 1935), although the First Circuit reversed as to the middle patent (U.S. Patent No. 1,906,453). Collins v. Emerson, 82 F.2d 197 (1st Cir. 1936).

The patents were found invalid over the Woillez publication from 1876. The district court noted that the only evidence tending to show that the respirator described by Woillez was ever used is contained in a publication by Knapp, and there was no evidence that it received any substantial commercial use. However the court also correctly noted that the statute 35 USC 31) “makes a prior publication more than two years old the equivalent of a prior use as an anticipation.” One of the Court of Appeals judges believed “[T]he changes from the crude apparatus of Woillez to the practical and useful respirator of the plaintiff’s patents seem to me to have involved invention,” that should have saved the first patent as well, but did not carry the day.

The contributions of Drinker and Shaw and of Emerson were important to the care and comfort of numerous patients, particularly during the polio epidemic, and were important steppingstones to the respiration technology we use today. Drinker’s work was also important in the development of naval rescue equipment. Emerson went on to work on breathing equipment high-altitude flights and SCUBA equipment.

Continuing the mail theme from Friday’s post, on July 28, 1942, U.S. Patent No. 2,290,920, issued on a Coin Operated Mailing Machine.

This was actually the third patent to issue to inventor Linden Thatcher on this invention in 1942 (U.S. Patent No. 2,358,424 and 2,273,300) and is one of a total of five for this prolific inventor.

All these patents were assigned to the Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter Company, which has a long history of inventing and patenting. In 1902, Arthur Pitney patented his first “double-locking” hand-cranked postage-stamping machine (U.S. Patent No. 710,997), and with patent attorney Eugene A. Rummler, founded the Pitney Postal Machine Company, which became the American Postage Meter Company in 1912.

In 1920, the company merged with Walter Bowes’ Universal Stamping Machine Company with the invention of the first commercially available postage meter. U.S. Patent No. RE14916, a reissue of the Company’s earlier U.S. Patent No. 1,273,792.

On July 26, 1775, the U.S. postal system was established by the Second Continental Congress, with Benjamin Franklin appointed the first postmaster general. Although no patents surround the creation of the postal service (the first U.S. patent did not issue until fifteen years later, on July 31, 1790), the U.S. Postal Service has received 660 patents since 1975, on things like digital stamps (US11348056) and mailboxes (D727589)

It’s hard to imagine the Postal Service ever enforcing these patents against FedEx or UPS, but they probably provide a good defense against third party claims against the Postal Service.