Ho, Ho, Ho and Fa-La-La-La-La: Christmas Patents

A ton of persons have gotten patents for points linked to Christmas. Listed here are some of the most interesting ones I’ve observed.

There are a number of patents meant to support mom and dad convince kids that Santa has been there. 1 of these is U.S. patent no. 5,523,741 for a “Santa Claus Detector.” This patent handles a Christmas stocking that incorporates a gentle bulb or LED, a battery to power the gentle, and a concealed change that turns on the light-weight. The change is related to a pull twine. When the stocking is hung on the hearth, the pull twine is positioned throughout the opening of the fireplace, forming a barrier throughout the hearth opening. Right after the youngster has gone to sleep on Xmas Eve, Santa Claus arrives down the chimney with his bag of toys and triggers the twine, which turns on the light. The subsequent early morning, the boy or girl will see the light-weight on and know that Santa was there! (Or, as the patent describes, the guardian can secretly pull the wire and switch on the mild.) The function of this creation, according to the inventors, is to reassure kids that their excellent habits was rewarded by Santa.

An additional 1 utilized by moms and dads to show to a baby that Santa has visited is the “Santa Claus Pay a visit to Kit,” U.S. patent no. 7,258,592. The package includes a stencil to leave boot prints on the ground, a letter from Santa, and a snack merchandise for Santa. The kit is intended to reduce a child’s worry that Santa Claus could possibly not depart presents.

There are various patents for hearth extinguishers incorporated into Christmas decorations. A person patent addresses a hearth extinguisher hidden inside of the trunk of a artificial Christmas tree that is activated by a heat sensor. An additional patent is for a Christmas tree ornament that has a hearth-retardant powder. The ornament pops open when the temperature reaches a specified place, releasing the hearth retardant powder and, ideally, putting out the fireplace.

Plenty of persons have patented Xmas tree stands, almost certainly simply because there is a fantastic want for a single that is secure and retains the tree straight. A single these patent is U.S. patent no. 10,123,646. This tree stand involves a tarp within it so the tree can be tipped out of the stand onto the tarp when it is all set to be discarded. It’s a mixture of a tree stand and a tarp, so it requires two flawlessly valuable items and turns them into a person (in my opinion) not-so-practical thing. It seems also complicated to be simple: it has a hinged, pivoting collar, spurs, a rotating wheel and cylinder, baffles, a cable, restraints, screws, a foot pedal, and a rolled-up tarp. All of this makes the tree stand far extra complicated than needed. I consider the most straightforward way to get down a Christmas tree is just to acquire it out of its stand and have it exterior.

A further patent that looks to just take an standard endeavor and make it far more complex is U.S. patent no. 10,121,127, entitled “System and Strategy for Processing Group Gift Cards.” This is computer software that can be used to handle the order of a team reward. For case in point, when you and your close friends want to chip in to get a different friend a birthday current, another person collects the income from the other individuals and purchases the present. I really do not know what is so time-consuming or sophisticated about this, and I don’t discover it to be a trouble. But the inventors of this creation came up with a option, so they must feel there is a trouble. So, instead of employing the outdated-fashioned approach, you can use their software package, which is demonstrated in 30 figures and described in 78 columns of text. Beautifully basic.

1 far more overly intricate patent is for a pie-baking dish. This pie plate allows you to make a pie with horizontal layers rather of vertical kinds. Regular pie plates can be utilized to make a vertically layered pie, these types of as a cheesecake. All you do is position a person layer of ingredients on top of one more layer. A pie with horizontal layers is a pie with concentric circles of substances. It is substantially more difficult to make this form of pie. Gravity functions in opposition to horizontal levels. I’m not positive I’ve ever found a pie with horizontal levels. But, in scenario you want to try generating 1, these inventors have developed a pie plate to enable make it simpler. The pie plate has internal walls to preserve the horizontal layers individual and internal heating channels with vents to cook all of the layers evenly. I’m not confident how a lot of of us would use this form of pie plate, but it may possibly be entertaining to check out.

There are some patents that do not describe complex innovations. One these kinds of patent is a structure patent for an synthetic Christmas tree. I’m not a admirer of synthetic Xmas trees, but a whole lot of men and women have them. U.S. structure patent no. D832,133 exhibits a geometrical tree that has a central pole and layers of horizontal slats all over the pole organized as branches. The problem with this patent is that it would be rather straightforward to style and design all over by shifting the arrangement of the layers or the variety of slats. Design patents only protect the distinct structure shown in the drawings as such, they supply fewer safety than utility patents. But, structure patents can be incredibly precious if the distinct design and style is likely to be copied.

My all-time most loved Xmas patent, nevertheless, is the “Apparatus to Prevent Pets Climbing a Xmas Tree.” The need to have for this creation is not shocking to any one who has kittens or cats. As the patent clarifies, “as is frequently perfectly known in the prior art, animals, such as cats, like to climb up the branches of a Christmas tree. [Duh!] Oftentimes this will end result in knocking some of the ornaments off such tree. These ornaments may well be broken…” The creation is in essence a large circular monitor that clips under the most affordable branches of the tree and is supposed to frustrate the climbing felines. If you have a cat, nonetheless, you know that this product will do just the opposite. Any cat who sees this major screen will be curious and simply just leap up onto it. The display will develop into a staging system for your cat to take a look at the tree. So, I never believe it will get the job done. But, truly, who seriously wishes to cease cats from climbing Christmas trees in any case? It’s way as well substantially fun to observe them perched on the branches, swatting ornaments and searching embarrassed when they land clumsily on the ground!