100 Years Later: Patents of the World War I Era

June 28, 2014, marked the one-hundred year anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the precipitating event which catapulted the globe into World War I. Across the world, events to commemorate the First World War Centenary will take place between now and 2018, the centennial anniversary of the war’s end. In Sarajevo, the site of the assassination, a multitude of historical exhibits , a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and a speech by Bosnian politician Bakir Izetbegovic urging peace in the region took place. In Italy, a rendition of Verdi’s Requiem Mass was performed at the WWI memorial in Redipuglia to recognize the millions of Italians who died in the war. Leaders from the European Union congregated at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, to mark the occasion.

As with other milestone occasions, we have decided to commemorate innovations and inventors from the World War I era, looking at a range of patents issued in that period. This review was interesting because it shows the difference in the scope of intellectual property then as opposed to now. We’ve tried to gather a good representation of diverse inventions from fields like transportation, medicine and food production. We noticed one patent we decided to share issued to a renowned inventor of the period, Nikola Tesla, who was born July 10, 1856. We also found a couple of patents directed at military equipment, especially rocket-propelled bombs, showing the scope of military development by American inventors in 1914.

 

Apparatus for Transmitting Electrical Energy
U.S. Patent No. 1,119,732

In the early days of building America’s electrical infrastructure, a major issue encountered by engineers and inventors was the leakage of electrical power away from the transmission system. Electricity generated at a central power generation plant and then distributed to distant places had the ability to leak into conductor supports, or leach into the air once the surface density of the electrical cable reaches a certain point. Charging an electrical terminal as highly as possible can help in distributing electricity across a power system, but increases the damage risks associated with electrical distribution systems.

This patent was issued by the USPTO to famed inventor Nikola Tesla in December 1914. It protects an apparatus that discourages electrical energy from leaking away from the distribution system. The electrical transmission apparatus is connected to the ground and to elevated terminals and can better transmit a high tension charge across long distances. Readers may be interested to find that this patent assigned to Tesla, an inventor with an intriguing history regarding patents, was issued seven years after the patent application was originally filed. Although patents today sometimes take a few years to be processed by the USPTO, most of the patents we found in our coverage of 1914 inventions were issued a few months after the application was filed.

 

Train-Protector
U.S. Patent No. 1,119,200

Not only was travel by train a major means of transportation for much of the public in 1914, armed robbery by intruders was still a very real concern for travelers. Those people passing through rural areas during this period could be accosted by burglars gaining unauthorized access to a moving train. Once the intruder gained access to the moving train, passengers in most situations were powerless to prevent the intruder from taking their possessions.

In December 1914, a unique system for protecting train passengers from armed robbers who have gained access to a moving train was patented by Jozsef Stofa of Hungary. This system involves a number of curtains or barriers that can be dropped to prevent an intruder from entering a train car even if that person has gotten onto the moving vehicle. When the intruder steps on a platform in front of a car door, his or her weight on the floor would cause an electric circuit to close; the closed circuit causes the barrier to drop. The system was capable of being configured with multiple barriers to prevent someone trying to rob the train from getting away easily.

 

Hoof Remover
U.S. Patent 1,100,754

Pigs feet, or pigs trotters as they’re sometimes called, may not enjoy the same popularity as bacon or other pig products, but from time to time they’ve been considered a culinary favorite by some. In fact, the recent late-2000s global economic crisis has led to an increase of pigs feet and other cheaper meat purchases among many people. Perhaps the most labor intensive part of preparing pigs feet involves removing the hoof from the trotter so that the meat can be eaten.

In June 1914, the USPTO issued a patent to William F. Lueth of Indianapolis, IN, protected a hoof remover device capable of mechanically separating the pig hoof from a foot. The device is comprised of an oscillating bar ending in two prongs which can quickly separate hooves from a large number of pigs feet; in the patent’s description, the inventor states that the device is capable of removing up to 600 hooves in the course of one hour.

 

Breathing Device
U.S. Patent No. 1,113,675

World War I is widely considered to be the first industrial war, and for many soldiers it was the first time they either used or encountered poison gasses. Noxious fumes were also a great safety concern at home, exacerbating the negative health impacts of fires or heavy industrial facilities. Some gases produced by these situations can even be fatal if too much of the poisonous gas is inhaled by a person.

One of the more highly recognized patents issued during 1914 is this one, assigned to Garrett A. Morgan of Cleveland, OH. It protects a breathing device comprised of a fireman’s hood with tubes for supplying air as well as removing exhausted air. This is, in essence, one of the world’s first gas masks. The tubes are treated with material to render them flame-retardant, and the lower end of the tubes are lined with wet sponge material to cool and freshen the air.

 

Rocket Apparatus
U.S. Patent No. 1,103,503

WWI also forced the world to experience the first widespread usage of bomb explosives as a strategy of war. Prior to this conflict, one of the drawbacks in using explosive charges in a rocket or bomb was the incredible weight of the combustion chamber’s walls, which had to be very thick to safely carry the charge. This excessive weight limited the ability for bombs and rockets to ascend to any meaningful altitude for long-range deployment.

The USPTO issued this patent in July 1914 to Robert H. Goddard of Worcester, MA, to protect a rocket apparatus with a combustion chamber; combustible material is introduced to this chamber from a casing within the rocket. This design greatly reduced the mass of the rocket material in proportion to the mass of the propellant material, allowing explosive charges in a rocket to reach high altitudes. The rocket apparatus in this invention could also be fitted with a number of tubes for discharging projectiles.

 

Process of Making Anthraquinone
U.S. Patent No. 1,103,383

Our society has found many uses for the organic compound known as anthraquinone. This material is derived from the oxidation of anthracene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon often found in coal tar. Since its discovery, it has been involved in the production of synthetic dyes for papermaking as well as antimalarial medications. However, in the earlier days of anthraquinone production, it was more difficult and often cost-prohibitive to attempt deriving this substance from impure anthracene, which could still produce some anthraquinone.

This patent, issued during July 1914 by the USPTO to joint inventors Fritz Singer and Ernst Milarch, both of Offenbach-on-the-Main in Germany, protects a process for deriving anthraquinone from anthracene using nitric acid. The process was much more capable of obtaining the antimalarial chemical from impure sources of anthracene, such as might be suspended within nitrobenzene, than previous known methods.

 

Cigar Tuck Cutter
U.S. Patent No. 1,087,715

One hundred years ago, our society had much different views on tobacco use than we do today, thanks in large part to our knowledge of the negative health impacts of smoking on the human body. Many tobacco products, including cigars, were much more widely acceptable and development of smoking accessories used to be more robust. Cigar cutters are one such accessory still in use by cigar aficionados.

This patent was issued in February 1914 to George Washington Bowman of York, PA, to protect a cigar tuck cutter comprised of a fixed knife and a pivoting knife meant to cut the top of a cigar which is situated on a spring-pressed cigar retaining device. The retaining device includes a guard meant to guide the cigar, encouraging uniform cuts, and to prevent a user from cutting his or her fingers. This cigar cutter is designed to be more flexible than previous designs and also prevent cigars from breaking while being cut.