The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-07-15
INVENTORS KEEP
 BUSY DESPITE
 THE HARD TIMES
Patent Office at Washing. ton Filled to Overflow. ing With All Manner of Inventions - Conn Has Its Own Experts


 washington. July 15.--UP)- Hard times or no. hopeful inven- tors are offering the world con- stant stream of remarkable achievements and frivolous gad- gets.
 Recent inventions registered at the United States patent office range from a snowpiow to a non- straw hens nest, to an improved type of sea wall.
 An inventor in the sheep walks of Australia has received pat ent for a "deburring machine" designed to remove foreign mat ter from wool.
 Minor and freak inventions dom- mate the patent office lists.
 Olaf Bjork of Taft, British Co., 1umbia, has invented backstop for automobiles, a simple devise of rubber and coll springs, taking the place of the familiar rear bumper It is designed to cause a. recoil when one automobile sneaks up and bumps another in the rear.
 Another recent invention is combination fountain pen and inkstand, in which g. device in the inkstand operates the filling de- vice in the pen, thus saving labor for the pens owner.
 Another inventor gained exclu- sive rights in g. highway crossing signal, consisting of the conven- tional crossing sign plus an illu- minated picture of locomotive headed In the same direction ae the approaching train.
 New Haven. Conn, July 15.- UP)--Hiram P. Maxim of Hart ford and the Lakes of Milford simon and Thomas A. Edison Lake-probably are Conecticut's best known inventors.
 Maxim, noted as the inventor of the Maxim silencer for fire arms, recently turned his talents toward development of devices for silencing other noises. He has put into productoin g. "noise elim- inator" for hospitals, office build ings and other places. It fits into the window and filters out noise while permitting free ventilatoin.
 Some months ago he was re- ported working on a silencer for the exhaust of airplanes.
 Simon Lake, famed as the father of the modern double-hulled sub marine, still labors in labora- tory jammed with apparatus, models and blueprints. He has designs for huge cargo-carrying submarine which he may perfect provided Sir Hubert Wilkins suc- ceeds in proving the practicabil- fly of Arctic navigation with sub marines.
 With Captain Sloan Danehower commander of the Wilkins Polar submarine Lake has fitted q a special salvage and rescue sub marine, the Defender. The Defen- der Is capable of submerging | over a wrecked submarine or ves- sel and releasing divers through | a trap door into It's keel to con- duct rescue or salvage operations
 Lake named his son Thomas Ava Edison Lake and the son | has lived up to his name. For 20 years he has experimcnted with | aircraft, hydroplanes, engines and other mechanical devices. His lat est invention Is a hydroplane boat consisting of a stream1ine fusilagc mounted on three pontoons.
 Two pontoons, constructed so as to bank automatically on sharp | turns. support the forward end and an outboard motor is located be- tween them. Another pontoon, supportln gthe stern. acts as rud- der.
 Lake believes the craft Is ca pabale of great speed. since it need not slow down for turns and bare ly skins the surface when in operation.
 Philadelphia, July 1b.--(UP)- A device which saved it's inventor more than SIP in three months" has been perfected by guest at the Shelter for the unemployed, James c. Smith, Philadel- phia patent attorney, said to-day.
 The invention consists of a hol- low cane equipped with a spike at the lower end and A series of wires running up 1t.
 And its purpose
 To salvage cigarette stumps.