Science: The Path of Progress: Jul. 29, 1940

Every week the U. S. Patent Office grants an average of 770 patents. Among inventions recently patented are:

> Women’s shoes which can be raised or lowered by a screw-operated jack in the heels.

> A golf putter equipped with a two-handed grip and a leveling gauge, for easing strain and better sighting.

> A combination policeman’s billy and gun.

> A buoyant bathing suit, woven from tubular threads containing tiny, air-filled capsules.

> An apparatus which wakes a drowsing automobile driver by blowing ammonia vapor into his face when he relaxes his grip on the wheel.

> A submarine torpedo which drops depth bombs along its course.

> A nonslip crutch with three legs instead of one.

> A bed sheet provided with corner pockets which grip the corners of a mattress.> A comb provided with individually detachable teeth which can be replaced if they break off.

> An electrically heated toilet seat.

> A false face which can be variously distorted by blowing from a mouthpiece into inflatable parts.

> A wind-driven wagon with wind vanes mounted in the wheels.

> An apparatus to prevent windstorms from taking off roofs by vacuum suction (a falling barometer switches on a motor which raises flaps on the roof, spoiling a possible vacuum).

> A climate machine which brings all but the view of any resort from Miami Beach to Sun Valley right into the home. Duplicated are proportions of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air, humidity, smells and (via sunlamp) its special brand of sunshine.