For more than 170 years, the uniquely brilliant and sometimes bizarre creations of British inventors have been kept in huge, damp and dusty underground vaults.
But now that the Office for intellectual property (IPO) presents a digital transformation of its archives for the 21st century, patent experts have brought some of the more unusual innovations of a nation of inventors.
Some inventions, such as the “self-mandatory sunscreen vest” or the nozzle-driven “flying car”, which reach deaths, are so eccentric that they could have appeared in a Wallace and gromite film.
And just like the Claymation figures from Nick Park, many of the country’s pioneering inventions were conceived by amateur finders, which were to be created in scales at the foot of their gardens.
Great Britain is known for its innovative inventions, including the jet engine, the microwave, the lava lamp, cat eyes, carbon fiber and the clone process that gave the world the dolly.
Every year around 20,000 patent applications are submitted to protect them from imitation, hoping that they will become everyday gadgets and bring in millions of pounds.
One of the “bizarre” inventions discovered in the digitization of these records is the “self -ordering sun room”, which releases sunscreen on the skin via a membrane made of semic leather. A “Gucci design for adults …” can contain. [and] Spiderman design for children. “
The lotion would be “injected” by holes in the collar to ensure a “soft, moisture -supplied skin”. The patent was granted in 2013, but is no longer in force.
A few “football training blinkers” was developed to help young players “to look up” while they break into the goal instead of concentrating on the ball on their feet. The invention, for which there is still a patent, prevents the training athlete from “seeing how his feet hit the ball and thus promotes coordination and spatial imagination”.
A “new” swimming goggle from 2006 has internal lights around the eyes that “entertain and should be more attractive when wearing” and are supposed to lure children into the water.
The creator claimed that the wearer could be happy about the “surprise of other swimmers” who discover him with the unusual glasses. The patent was in force for ten years before the inventor decided not to extend the registration.
In 2010, the ideas that did not receive a patent permit were an application for an “half umbrella”, which was described as “more aerodynamic and less likely that it was blown away in strong winds”.
The flying concept car, completely with a jet engine that is mounted on a hydraulic hinge and protrudes over the roof of the modest family combination, was also unsuccessful.
Somehow the vehicle, which apparently did not need a runway, could be flown backwards and forward.
The application from 2011 explained that the flying car was “small enough to be parked in a garage” and was economical because it could cross “abbreviations” and relieve the road. Conveniently, the jet engine could be used to “increase the speed on motorway rides”.
In 2009, two men from Clacton-on-Sea failed to receive a patent for a beer color, which was supposed to keep an ice-cold pint appropriately refreshing in a humid British summer.
The application says: “When cold drinks are in the sun, they get warmer within minutes …” That means that the drink is not as refreshing as it is intended. “
The L-shaped umbrella represents an “angular barrier” that “puts the cold drink completely in the shade and minimizes the temperature climb, so that the drink is still cold enough to enjoy” and “absorbed condensation”.
The patent office – today IPO – was founded in 1852. It has branches in Newport, Südwales and London and employs 1,600 people who specialize in the allocation of rights for inventions, brands and designs as well as the support of companies and companies about their intellectual property rights.
It is free to submit a patent application, but there are costs for the conclusion of the process that includes the examination by IPO employees and the subsequent publication so that interested parties can argue that the invention is not new.
In order for an invention to be issued, a patent must be new and original and must not only be an obvious change from something that already exists.
Andy Bartlett, deputy chairman of the CEO of IPO, who presented the online addiction tool for news, said: “Great Britain has always been a nation of innovators-from the microwave to the cat eye, our creative minds have shaped the world around us.” Since more than 170 years we have the privilege to see first -hand how imaginative our inventors can be. Even if not every idea leads to a patent – and some of the bizarre ideas could cause a smile – every registration represents the drive of a person to solve a problem or improve life.
“With our brand new one IPO Search tool, we open up a treasury of British patents that everyone can explore. Regardless of whether you are an ambitious entrepreneur who wants to take new ways, a professional inventor, a curious student or simply someone who wonders whether your brilliant idea is really original, you can now explore our abundance of patent data easier than ever . The next world -changing invention could begin with a search on our new platform. ”