Floridians patent separable pants, air-conditioned shoes

Can't decide which pair of pants to wear? Why not split the difference?

It would be easy if only some big clothingmaker would buy the rights to U.S. Patent No. 6,161,223: "Pants separable at crotch for style mixing."

Allison Andrews of Longwood received approval in December 2000 for the pants with left and right pant legs attached in the middle by a closure system, like a zipper, to allow for a "variety of visual effects."

She's one of two Florida inventors who earned a place of distinction in the Gallery of Obscure Patents, a Web site featuring "strange" and "intriguing" patents. The gallery, maintained by Delphion, a commercial Web site for researching patents, is at http://www.delphion.com/gallery.

It's an apt place to begin this occasional column on patents and inventors.

After all, "What a novel idea!" is music to the ears of inventors when seeking approval for a patent. In the rules of the trade, a patent application must be "unobvious" and accompanied by a title, description and drawing. A prototype or working model is not required.

The lure of making money or becoming famous are key motivators for inventors to file patents. And, in the quest to be unique, the material can also be humorous, which guarantees plenty of material for the Gallery of Obscure Patents.

"We were surprised at how popular it became" when it was first introduced, said curator Tom Griffin. All patents included in the archive have been the result of nominations from users of the Web site, he said.

Griffin whittles down the nominations subjectively looking for entries that are in good taste, are visually interesting and have some sort of general usefulness. He specifically avoids patents that have become commonplace, like those dealing with golf bag designs or toilets. Co-workers help select the final entries for the archive which is updated periodically. The most recent update was Jan. 2.

The gallery, started in 1997, contains more than 50 patents. Based on original patent illustrations, some graphics on Delphion's Web site are animated, colorized or both.

Click on the drawing for the pants patent and it performs an animated split about a half dozen times.

Then there's the "Gravity powered shoe air conditioner" (Patent No. 5,375,430), the theoretical brainchild of Israel Siegel of Miami. Based on his background in biology, Siegel has written numerous patents specializing in personal air-conditioning devices, many of which can be worn. Neither he nor a manufacturer has made a prototype. But each patent has been submitted "with the idea of making money," he said.

The shoe patent is featured in the gallery's archive and was approved in December 1994. Siegel figured if it were manufactured, it could help anyone keep their feet cool. Pressure from the weight of the foot causes a substance like Freon to condense, he said, resulting in an air-conditioning effect.

"People have to work so, on a hot day, why not get a cooling effect?" he said. He thought it also would be useful for soldiers stationed in hot climates.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office offers a Web-based, full-text search engine for issued patents and patent applications at: http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html.

-- Debbie Wolfe can be reached at dpwolfe@sptimes.com or write to: Patents and Inventors Columnist, St. Petersburg Times, 490 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

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