The ODK site being the size it is I would not expect anyone could remember every image.
G'day
MaxI don't even remember my own posts
Your finding that
1904 patent reminded me of how inventions are rarely
sue generis,
but are inspired by something other, natural or man-made. Or that man is capable of
making amazing metaphorical connections - from falling apples to gravity.
I mean, The
Wright brothers were keen observers of bird flight, but as bicycle makers,
were also exposed to gearing and chain-drives. Their 'wing warping' system of control is said
to have been inspired, not by a bicycle tube, but its cardboard packaging. The box could
be made to warp!
Similarly, the first mechanical lawnmower -
Buddings Patent - was inspired by observing
the machine that removed the nap off cloth in the textile industry.
Your post reminded me of Victa's snorkel patent. I looked at that patent and one reference
was for a car snorkel system from 1926! Merv, as a then car salesman, may have
encountered one decades before his own 1955 patent.
Max, it is amazing the patents you find!
Cheers------------------------
Jack
