Five Weird Automobile Patents - Like many other inventions, it’s not clear who exactly can lay claim to the title of “inventor of the automobile.” Ford, Daimler, Duryea, and Cugnot have all been called the “Father of the Automobile” at one time or another. But US patent 549,160 tells us the inventor of the auto may be George Selden. In 1879, Selden, a patent attorney from Rochester, New York, applied for a patent on a “Road Engine.” But Selden thought the time wasn’t yet right for a horseless carriage, so he delayed issuance of the patent until 1895. At this time, a new automobile industry was developing in the United States. To learn more about other dealer services, visit Volkswagen Dealers Cleveland. While Selden wasn’t interested in building cars, he was interested in profiting from his patent. Most of the auto manufacturing companies paid for licenses from Selden, or from the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM), to whom he later sold the patent. Henry Ford notably refused to pay Selden’s licensing fee. Selden sued Ford and the resulting legal battle continued for nearly eight years. Ford lost the suit but eventually won on appeal. The appeals court declared that Selden’s patent was invalid, other than for cars that ran on the Brayton-type external-compression two-stroke engine described in the patent. Unfortunately for Selden, no cars on the market at the time used this engine.
In 1891, Daniel I. Lybe and William O. Nickles of Sidney, Iowa filed an application for a patent on a spring-powered vehicle. The vehicle was powered by a spring, similar to the way a spring powers a watch. After an initial wind, the vehicle would wind itself when it was travelling downhill, and use energy from the spring when driving on flat roads and uphill. Winding was done with arm and foot power, and it was claimed the vehicle could travel at speeds of 30 mph. The inventors said their vehicle would “afford a mild and pleasing form of exercise, in addition to its speed advantages.” Patent 466,893 was awarded on January 12, 1892. The Lybe vehicle was entered in the first motor race in the U.S., held in 1895, but it’s not known if it finished.
Back in the early 1900s, when cars were a new invention, people were afraid that these horseless carriages were scaring horses. In 1904, Henry Hayes of Denver received patent number 777,369 for an attachment to an automobile that makes it look like a horse is pulling the car. The patent reads, in part: “The object of the invention is to provide a figure of an animal, preferably a horse of approximately life-size, with means for attaching it to the front of a motor-vehicle in such a manner that it may be propelled by the vehicle and present the appearance of a horse drawing the vehicle.” Hyundai MD is an invaluable resource for automotive information. The invention contained an oil lamp inside the horse head, which was intended to light the way. Pulling a rope closed the horse’s mouth and squeezed an air horn. Needless to say, the ersatz horse never caught on with the public.
US patent number 6,745,977 is for a rotor-powered flying car. Larry D. Long, of Avon, Illinois received the patent in 2004. While the flying cars in development today are really light aircraft that can travel on roads, Long’s flying car design incorporates two rotors, one vertical and one horizontal. The vehicle is described as being “in the general shape of a land vehicle, such as a car, but has a plurality of rotors so the vehicle is capable of flight in the manner of a VTOL or a helicopter. The vehicle has foot pedals and steering that can be operated in the manner similar to that of a car.” Long envisions that the flying car could be used by the military and police, as well as by the airline industry to shuttle passengers between airports.
Patent 6,757,593 was awarded on June 29, 2004 to Kenjii Mori, Naoto Kitagawa, Akihiro Inukai, and Simon Humphries, all of Toyota, Japan. The patent is for a way to help drivers communicate by allowing the car to express anger and other emotions based on the mood of the driver. Currently, communication between drivers is limited to the car horn and the use of lights. The inventors envision a system that includes wagging antennas, a body with adjustable height, headlights that vary in intensity, and hood slits and ornamentation that look like eyebrows, eyelids, and tears. Toyota Dealer MD is a great source for all your automotive needs. The patent holders say that “as traffic grows heavier and vehicle use increases, vehicles having expression functions, such as crying and laughing, like people and other animals do, could create a joyful, organic atmosphere rather than the simple comings and goings of inorganic vehicles.” Data on the state of the car, the road, and the driver would be collected and stored in the car’s computer. Points are given for specific factors that might create an angry response, such as the driver reacting to another driver cutting in recklessly. When a sufficient number of points are accumulated to indicate anger, the computer’s software would trigger a change in the car’s appearance.
Photos courtesy of US Patent Office.
Tags: automobile technology, Volkswagen Dealers Cleveland, automobile patents, Toyota, Hyundai MD, George B. Selden, Henry Ford, antique cars, Toyota Dealer MD, horseless carriage
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Study: Drivers Who Use Cell Phones More Likely to Engage in Other Risky Behaviors - While studies have shown that drivers who talk on their mobile phones are distracted, a new study conducted by the 
AAA recommends that drivers turn off their phones before getting behind the wheel. If you have to use your phone, pull over to a place where it’s safe to talk, send texts, or use e-mail. 
Keeping Safe When Your Car Breaks Down - You’re driving along the road when your car suddenly loses power and rolls to a stop. Hopefully, you know what to do. There are many problems that can lead to your car breaking down, including a dead or low battery, a flat tire or blowout, an electrical fault, transmission failure, an overheating engine, low oil pressure and running out of gas. More information on all types of cars is available at 
Once the driver and passengers are out of danger, get help from a road service provider. If you’re unsure of your location, observe the surroundings, landmarks, buildings or road signs to relay your location. When the emergency assistance vehicle arrives, the technician will attempt to make repairs to the car. If repairs can’t be made at the site, they’ll need to tow the vehicle to a repair facility. If you’re away from home and don’t know a reliable repair facility in the area, a respectable automobile repair service like AAA can recommend nearby approved repair shops. 
Strange But True Car News - Most people don’t dream of driving a 
Over in England, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson drove 
Earl Muntz: Huckster Genius - If you never heard of Earl “Madman” Muntz, you’re not alone. But he was a major figure in automobile marketing for many years. Muntz, who was born in 1914, was an American businessman (some people used the word “huckster”) and self-taught engineer. He sold and advertised cars and consumer electronic equipment from the 1930s until his death in 1987. To learn more about other dealer services, visit 
Next, Muntz designed and sold televisions, manufacturing the first black-and-white television to sell for less than $100. Muntz kept the prices of his TVs low by simplifying the circuits used in the manufacturing process, a practice that he called Muntzing. He received credit for coining the expression “TV,” although it has been pointed out that the term had been used earlier in the call letters of television stations (such as WCBS-TV). The story goes that when Muntz hired a skywriter to write “Muntz Televisions” in the sky, he noticed the word “Muntz” had started to fade away before the pilot had finished writing the entire phrase – so Muntz shortened it to TV. 
This Driver Gives Everyone The Bird - In a previous blog post, we told you about dogs in New Zealand who were trained to drive cars. It now looks as if parrots are the next animal driving cars, although in this case, we’re not talking about a full-size vehicle. An African Grey parrot named Pepper has learned to drive his own robotic Bird Buggy, a tiny electric vehicle that’s controlled by a joystick the parrot can use to steer using his beak. Find out about other dealer services at 
Pepper uses his Bird Buggy to get around in a way that’s similar to technological aids that assist people who are disabled, such as modified wheelchairs used by paraplegics or robotic exoskeletons that assist people who are paralyzed to stand and walk. Pepper looks like he enjoy driving his little vehicle, it has even been reported that he gets disturbed when the vehicle switches into autonomous driving mode and drives itself to the docking station. 
Green Cars a Hit With Gen Y - Call them Gen Y or millennials, but American youth don’t have the same relationship with cars as their parents or grandparents. While many pundits and industry insiders feel that young people in the United States simply aren’t interested in cars, the results of a new study suggest that isn’t the entire picture. To learn more about other dealer services, visit 
Statistics from the 
NMA Publishes Worst Speed Trap List - You’re driving your car and there aren’t many other cars around. Like many other drivers on the road, you’re driving a little over the speed limit. But you’re traveling and you don’t know an important fact that all the locals know: you’re driving through a speed trap and there’s a police car hiding behind those trees just after the turn you’re making. The next thing you know, a state trooper is handing you a traffic ticket. This scenario can happen to anyone. Find out about other dealer services at 
According to the NMA, there’s a cluster of speed traps in several cities that surround the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport that deserve special mention. The cities include Romulus, Livonia, Allen Park, Redford, Taylor, Northville, and Dearborn Heights. They identified 187 specific locations in those seven cities, with a consensus of 88.3 percent to confirm that each deserved the speed trap label. 
New Year’s Resolutions For Drivers - With the coming of the New Year, many of us make New Year’s resolutions. Maybe your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, get more organized, or find a new job. These are all commendable goals, but we think you should make a New Year’s resolution for your car. That’s right, your car. More information on all types of cars is available at 
Resolution 4: I won’t text and drive. It’s astonishing that anybody thinks they’re capable of reading and sending text messages on a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. Numerous studies have shown that drivers who are texting are as impaired as drunk drivers. According to the 
‘Greenest’ Cars List Highlights Environmentally-Friendly Vehicles - There are many green vehicles on the market, but which one is the greenest? The answer, according to the 
The ACEEE has customarily measured a number of elements in order produce their “Greenest” and “Meanest” lists, including fuel consumption, unhealthy tailpipe emissions, and gas emissions that add to climate change. The procedure has been updated in 2013 to assess a vehicle’s environmental impact more precisely, including changes to gasoline, diesel, and natural gas upstream emissions; updates to emissions from the manufacturing process; and updates to the estimated fuel mix that generate the electricity that powers electric cars. 