Nathan Kane Innovative Lives Presentation
name: label: Creator
content: Kane, Nathan, 1969-
label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
topic: label: Topic
content: Bellows (Mechanical engineering)
label: Topic
content: Industrial equipment -- 1980-2000
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 1980-2000
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 1980-2000
label: Topic
content: Projectors
label: Topic
content: Toys -- 1980-2000
label: Topic
content: Slides
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was created by the Innovative Lives Program of The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation on September 17, 1997. The Innovative Lives series brings young people and American inventors together to discuss inventions and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kane, Nathan, 1969-
label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Nathan Kane Innovative Lives Presentation
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection consists of original, master, and reference videos documenting Nathan Kane, inventor of Pass-It-Football, a remote control for television, Project-A-Sketch opaque projector for children and low distortion bellows folds for industrial machines.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Nathan Kane (1969-), is an inventor of several inventions that range from toys to industrial equipment. As a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Kane won the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize in 1997, for his inventiveness. The Lemelson-MIT Prize honors distinguished careers in invention each year. Kane's invention of an ultra-low distortion bellow fold patterns allow extremely light-weight, structurally rigid, long-extending bellows to be made inexpensively from a single sheet of foldable plastic. Traditional bellows, by comparison, are much heavier and more expensive to manufacture, because they consist of a complex assembly of fabric layers sewn to stiffening panels. Kane's folded patterns have many applications, such as making collapsible containers, expandable shelters, low cost pumps, and low cost protective bellows for industry. The increased extending ability means two to three times less material is needed for production, which cuts cost. The bellow is also two to three times lighter and more compact when folded, allowing machines that use the bellow to move further and, for precision applications, more accurately. Kane also invented the Pass-It television remote. This television remote is built into a foam rubber football so viewers can pass the remote with ease. Another invention is the Project-A-Sketch--a projector intended for children and which displays art or solid objects onto a wall.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.5 Cubic feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1997 September 17
custodhist: label: Ownership and Custodial History
content: The collection was transferred to the Archives Center on March 10, 1998.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0637
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into four series.

Series 1: Original Videos

Series 2: Master Videos

Series 3: Reference Videos

Series 4: Photographs and Slides
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, 1998.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 1980-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: This collection contains original, master, and reference videos documenting Nathan Kane, inventor of low-distortion bellow folds for industrial machines, the Pass-It  television remote control, and the Project-A-Sketch opaque projector for children. This video was created on September 17, 1997.