The following portfolio of work is a random pick of 50 projects and is just a sampling of our design accomplishments going back to 1977.

(Some projects may be awaiting clearance for release)

 

 

 

First iPhone based protector with Morping User Interface showing gaming functions.

Client: Vorelco Product

I.P. Category: Consumer Electronics (Advanced User Interface)

Service Category: Prototyping & Product Development

This technology is one of several iPhone/iPad designs by Jack Durban.

As shown only the Gaming U.I. is illuminated allowing the user to focus on just the appropriate icons which in this case are gaming controls.

 

First iPhone based protector with Morping User Interface

Client: Vorelco Product

I.P. Category: Consumer Electronics

Service Category: Prototyping & Product Development

This technology is one of several iPhone/iPad designs by Jack Durban.

 

First iPhone based remote control

Client: Vorelco Product

I.P. Category: Consumer Electronics (Advanced User Interface)

Service Category: Prototyping & Product Development

This technology is one of several iPhone/iPad designs by Jack Durban. The Graphical User Interface consists of the latest in character morphing by Pelikon. The entire user interface can be zone and character selected. As shown the entire U.I. is illuminated but the user could elect to deactivate all icons excpt those that relate gaming functions!

 

First Celluar phone charging station

Client: JuiceBar

I.P. Category: Consumer Electronics

This technology resulted in a minor success due to considerable competition.

 

First Celluar phone charging station

Client: JuiceBar

I.P. Category: Consumer Electronics

Service Category: Prototyping & Product Development

Same as above except styling.

 

First Rack mounted Specular Transmissometer that provides Transmission percentage output as well as user error windowing.

I.P. Category: Scientific measurement (G.U.I.)

Service Category: Product Development

This proprietary technology is the world's most advanced low noise lock-in amplifier based Optical Monitor.

 

First six decade gain Optical Monitor/Controller

I.P. Category: Scientific measurement (G.U.I.)

Service Category: Product Development

This proprietary technology is the world's most advanced low noise lock-in amplifier based Optical Monitor. This all analog instrument boasts six decades of gain!

 

First Rack mounted Specular Transmissometer that provides Transmission percentage output as well as user error windowing cont'd.

Client: Vorelco Product

I.P. Category: Scientific Measurement with local and remote In situ measurement.

Service Category: Product Development

This technology is a Specular Transmissometer Projector and Receiver mounted to an adjustable 80/20 frame.

 

First Rack mounted Specular Transmissometer that provides Transmission percentage output as well as user error windowing.

Client: Vorelco Product

I.P. Category: Scientific Measurement with local and remote In situ measurement.

Service Category: Product Development

This technology is a Rack mounted Specular Transmissometer that provides Transmission percentage output as well as user error windowing. This instrument is ideally suited for factory and lab environments.

 

First true Green Technology based Vending technology…

Client: Vorelco owned

I.P. Category: Vending / Green Technology

Service Category: I.P. Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a commercial vend on demand

system that greatly reduces energy consumption. Patents pending.

 

First Fruit Smoothie vendor…

Client: Vorelco owned

I.P. Category: Vending & Robotics

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a commercial fruit smoothie vendor

that utilizes advanced thermoelectric quick chill technology and agitation.

The system was designed to be in field retrofittable into existing

commercial vending machines.

 

First triangulating single point wireless navigation system with

inherent dead reckoning loss prevention technology…

Client: Vorelco / Investor

I.P. Category: Asset Tracking & location awareness

Service Category: I.P. Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a very innovative active tag based asset tracking and navigation system that provides precise navigation data from a single point interrogator using a mechanically or electronically scanning electro-magnetic radiator. This system allows low cost wireless tracking of persons, pets, vehicles, shopping carts, detainees and other mobile objects.

This technology consists of the single point EM Plotter and one or more active EM Tags that contain internal coordinate maps of the area in which they operate in. As the EM Plotter scans an area which can be be any geometric shape as determined by a simple set up routine, it paints the scanned area with coordinate embedded pixels. If an EM tag enters into an EM plotted area it will detect and decode the coordinate embedded EM pixels and resolve its location by means of a look up table containing the map coordinates. If the internal map tag data shows the tag as being outside of its designated operating area it can react by locking its host vehicle or other technology, sounding an alarm or alerting system.

 

Applications include Vehicle, device, personell, livestock, pet,detainee and agent (Robot) travel containment.

Other more exotic applications include local air traffic control of manned and unmanned civilian and military aircraft all from a single point interrogator!

 

First Web based service providing post production compositing and motion graphic authoring.

Client: Private Investor

I.P. Category: Online Business

Service Category: I.P. Development

Vorelco provided the entire scope of I.P. for this patent.

 

First Video Media Player embedded wedding Album…

Client: Private Investor

I.P. Category: Media

Service Category: I.P. Development & Prototyping

Vorelco provided the entire scope of I.P. for this patent.

This innovative product is a high end wedding album that

not only contains the event’s photos but the wedding itself

on video played from a low cost flash memory card.

 

First Solid state (Chopperless) Infra-red firefinder…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Advanced Electro-Optics

Service Category: I.P. Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a miniature heat sensor matching

the sensitivity performance of the hand-held version opening

up several more applications and markets.

 

PLEO the Robotic toy Dinosaur..

Client: Ugobe

I.P. Category: Robotics

Service Category: I.P. & Existing Product Development & Prototyping

In 2005 Vorelco worked with Ugobe to help design the PLEO robotic

toy dinosaur and provide I.P. strategies. Vorelco was responsible for

electronics and sensor design and transition from wired to wireless

control and I/O. Vorelco conducted an exhaustive patent search to

determine patentability on the current design as well as new additional

functions.

Ugobe found themselves in a real dilemma when their funding was

about to be run out if they missed a major milestone which was the

transition from wired control to wireless. With just a couple days from

this critical deadline Vorelco worked around the clock and was able to

achieve the deadline with only moments to spare.

This milestone was not easily achieved as the early prototype version

was not ideally suited for battery power with its 11 hobby type servos.

To add to the already burdensome task ahead there were countless

bugs in the motion scripting and GUI.

The amount of energy required to run the servos, controller and the

wireless data link was so high that we had to load up batteries on Pleo

like a pack mule.

Under all that load Pleo could barely walk but all the investors needed

was proof that Pleo could perform scripted motion without wires.

In the end we accomplished this all important goal for our client and

their backers released another round of funding leading the way to their acquisition.

 

First major breakthrough in Ladder accessory technology in decades…

Client: Private Investor

I.P. Category: Tools

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology resulted in a small serving tray that provides tools,

paint, and other items to trades and DIY market. The unique and

patent pending “in rung” retainer permits loading and unloading

with one hand, allowing the user to keep one hand on the ladder

while climbing up and down.

The client came to us with a very rudimentary prototype that was

no more than a stainless steel bucket attached to a pole that was

fed through the rung of a ladder.

To move the “bucket” the user had to carefully disassemble the

contraption and hope that the components or the bucket didn’t

fall on someone under the ladder. The chance of the painter

falling from the ladder was actually increased by the original design.

Vorelco came up with a rather brilliant method of retaining the

paint bucket with a quick release handle that gripped the interior

of the ladder rung.

To make this happen we had to perform a quick market study

of the entire extension ladder market and determined that

among the various extension ladders sold there was a fixed

range of ladder rung diameters.

This allowed us to design a spreading gripper handle that was

adjustable across the rung of ladder rung diameters.

Now the user can simply squeeze the product’s handle and while

having one hand free to hold onto the move it to the next rung as he or she paints!

Then to add utility to the product Vorelco further developed the technology adding features that would allow applications in several other markets.

We converted the original rudimentary bucket concept to a highly functional tray that could hold not only paint but an array of tools and accessories. We named the product “Ladder pods” .

This project was a great example of just how far Vorelco can take a product idea. We took a completely unworkable, unmarketable concept and turned it into a sizzling hot product only limited by the client’s ability to effectively market it.

The original inventor did not have to do anything but sit back and watch the metamorphosis of a rudimentary concept being tuned into a highly marketable product.

 

First Robotic ergonomic keyboard. This keyboard automatically changes shape over time or keystroke count reducing repetitive stress syndrome…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Robotics

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology resulted in an ergonomic keyboard that changes shape at predetermined events like keystrokes or time effectively changing the angle and rotation of the user’s hands while typing.

Vorelco was able to design a single D.C.gearmotor driven active hinge that slowly and smoothly articulated the split keyboard.

 

First CD/DVD titling template…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Accessory

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology permits neat lettering of CD’s and DVD’s by using a media specific template.

First Robotic liquid and aggregate spill detection and removal system…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Risk mitigation

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology is capable of detecting spills upon surfaces like floors and counters using optics and ultrasonics.

 

First dual beam combination Gloss Meter Reflectometer using a scanning optical head…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Advanced Electro-Optics

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology resulted in a dual beam combination Gloss Meter Reflectometer using a scanning optical head that performs dual beam function on an internal reference standard. This device provides NIST traceable performance without need for calibration, ever.

 

Robotic self deploying Satellite antenna…

Client: Optistreams

I.P. Category: Robotics & Communications

Service Category: I.P.& New Product Development, Prototyping

The original mission was to just design a knockoff of the Motosat mobile satellite dish system. Although this was exactly what the client wanted Vorelco was able, on its own dime, to come up with an original product that not only vastly exceeded the original design requirements but now fills applications well beyond the rest of the market.

In a field of copy cat technologies this design stands apart and was awarded a U.S. Patent and another awaits approval.

What Vorelco did for this client was astounding. We were able to create a completely autonomous continuous rotation satellite dish mount with WiFi. This design allows unlimited continuous rotation for in motion continuous tracking of a geostationary satellite

An on board embedded PC based server runs three axis motors that control Azimuth, Elevation, and skew and interface to on board GPS, inclinometer, and Digital compass sensors.

The Server provides local WIFI to users within a few hundred feet of the mount. Among a field of industry giants no one else has ever advanced the art more.

Now beyond simple satellite communications this technology can provide many more services like military and disaster response applications.

One such new application was the technology’s ability to provide unmanned local air traffic control and monitoring of enemy activities. This system can provide both broadband and radar functions.

The device can perform conventional radar functions then upon detection of anomalies can switch to broadband mode and report the event in near real time.

Vorelco is unconventional in that we can't just do the bare minimum or what is "Good enough" to get by. We are much more than just another design house. As we develop a product we are constantly looking for missed opportunities for our clients.

Unlike some in our industry that might be more self serving we immediately notify our clients upon any new discovery or art that could immediately improve the product's capabilities or the representative Intellectual Property.

 

First in situ integrating sphere based diffuse transmissometer used to monitor the quality and consistency of web produced films…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Advanced Electro-Optics

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology called “Lumiscan” resulted in an affordable in situ diffuse transmissometer that monitors in real time the production of polymer films and Plexiglas.

This system works by projecting a collimated light beam through the film or panel as it is being manufactured and measuring the recovered light on the other side of the material under test.

Since the target material is designed to diffuse light we capture the light into an integrating sphere and then synchronous detector / amplifier.

The result is a laboratory grade instrument in a real time manufacturing environment permitting real time quality assurance. The Lumiscan also provides tolerance windowing using high and low alarms which can stop the manufacturing process in real time upon detection of out of tolerance product.

This saves Plaskolite, our valued client from having to learn after the fact that product went out of tolerance during the manufacturing process.

 

First ultra low noise high gain Reflectometer for the metal finishing and coatings inspection industries…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Advanced Electro-Optics

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in high performance portable Reflectometer that is revolutionizing coatings measurement.

 

First Advanced Electro-optical Monochromator controller with remote 2nd order suppression…

Client: Dyn-Optics

I.P. Category: Advanced Electro-Optics

Service Category: Existing Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a system that saved technicians from having to manually by hand insert second order filters in Monochromator based measurements. This seems trivial but failure to properly apply such a filter when required leads to erroneous measurements of critical optics that are often used in aerospace, medical, and military apparatus.

 

First hand-held Infra-Red Fire detection device with man-down alarm for Firefighters…

Client: Dyn-Optics

I.P. Category: Advanced Electro-Optics

Service Category: Existing Product Development & Prototyping

The original “Fire Finder” was a large and heavy hand held Infrared viewer that was used by fire departments and our military to detect invisible or hidden fires and hot spots. This device used a pair of 9 volt radio batteries as its power source. The 9 volt battery is by far the worst choice in battery power due to its poor power density.

Vorelco was tasked in completely redesigning and modernizing the Firefinder. We thoroughly examined the existing technology and rosterized every design shortcoming that needed to be addressed

The first task was to get rid of the dreadful power source and switch over to the best universal battery choice for many portable hand held applications, the AA cell. Next we completely redesigned the electronics for miniaturization, low power, and much higher fire detection gain. Vorelco was able to shrink the product envelope, dramatically increase performance and reliability, all while reducing cost to manufacture!

 

First real time cable television audience measurement system…

Client: Millennium Networks

I.P. Category: Communications

Service Category: Due diligence, Existing Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a First real time Cable Television audience measurement system. Using IVDS spectrum this device monitored Television viewing habits and unlike Neilson reported the data instantly with never before realized resolution.

 

First automatic (unattended) heart monitor/defibrillator…

Client: Cardiac Science

I.P. Category: Medical

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in the First automatic (unattended) heart monitor and defibrillator with right leg drive sensing patient cable warning hospital staff of electrode integrity problems. Vorelco was tasked with the design and validation of the power supply and patient interface and electrode to patient integrity using right leg drive as a reference.

 

First Zone controllable P.A. technology using Infra-Red remote to control…

 

Client: Private investor

I.P. Category: Commercial audio

Service Category: New Product Development

 

First portable MTBE analyzer…

Client: Private investor

I.P. Category: Portables & Test Equipment

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology resulted in an advanced portable fuel test analyzer to validate gasoline composition in mandated clean fuels programs.

 

First commercial LCD Projector…

Client: Crystal Video

I.P. Category: Video Apparatus

Service Category: New Product Development

Before the big names in LCD projection came along Steve Baker developed the first commercial LCD projector. Vorelco provided the electronics design.

 

First wireless motion sensing golf bag security system…

Client: Private investor

I.P. Category: Loss Prevention

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology resulted in a portable early warning motion sensing alarm that would page the owner if his golf bag or other alarm equipped property experienced any detectable motion indicative of theft.

First White LED based Specular Reflectometer/Photometer…

Client: Dyn-Optics

I.P. Category: Advanced Electro-Optics

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology resulted in a full spectrum white light Reflectometer using the new Nichicon white LED making battery powered optical instrumentation possible.

Anti-pushout technology and "Purchek" is born…

Client: Inventronics

I.P. Category: Loss prevention

Service Category: I.P.& New Product Development

After spending many hours with several retail loss prevention experts like Shawn Thompson of Lucky Stores (today's Albertson's) we determined that there was a way to expand the capabilities of "The Wheel" cart containment into another loss category called "Pushout".

The term "pushout" describes the act of filling a shopping cart with goods, often very expensive goods then using the cart to conceal and transport the goods out the in door of a store.

Vorelco went to work on customizing the parking lot perimeter loop transmitter design to provide localized in floor zones around cashier lines as a means of detecting and alarming any pushout events.

Jack Durban of Vorelco named the technology "Purchek" and it remains the product name today. This new technology resulted in yet another patent of several for Jack Durban and Jeff Lace.

The way it worked was rather innovative. As a patron with cart entered the store the "Wheel" would receive a signal that would arm it to remain in a "lock up standby mode".

If the patron and cart entered into an active checkout and completed a transaction the "lock up standby" flag would be reset and the patron and cart would be free to exit.

If however, the patron and cart were to attempt to exit the store without passing through an active check out the "lock up standby" would go to lock up mode preventing the exit of the cart.

 

Inventing the Wheel, the locking shopping cart wheel…

Client: Actodyne General

I.P. Category: Loss prevention

Service Category: I.P.& New Product Development

The "Wheel" as it is known throughout the loss prevention industry is the worlds first shopping cart security system to address shopping cart theft and "Push out" which is the act of using a shopping cart as a means of concealing and transporting unpaid goods from within a store to outside the store.

Spanning decades, many individuals and businesses tried and failed to deliver a practical solution to shopping cart loss.

At the time we were engineering the product there were two devices on the market, the Polytracker and the Cartsaver products. The two systems operated nearly identically with the only difference being Cartsaver was a huge contraption that hung off the side of the cart and the Polytracker was all internal to the locking caster.

The Polytracker was an all in wheel design that worked on the principle of counting wheel revolutions as a means of computing distance travelled. When a patron reached a predetermined rotation count or distance travelled the Polytracker would lock the cart preventing further travel.

When a store was about to go on line the folks at Polytracker would send someone out to the store to conduct a survey of the store property layout. Distances from the store's exits to various locations about the parking lot were measured and from this data a maximum count was determined and loaded into the Polytracker internal memory.

Whenever the Polytracker equipped cart entered the store it would receive a command to ignore wheel rotation counts and permit unlimited travel within the store. Upon exiting the store the Polytracker would receive another command to start computing distance travelled.

Upon reaching the predetermined maximum distance the cart would halt. The inherent flaw with this design was that it was completely blind as to real location and just relied upon distance travelled outside the store.

Cart travel data was computed in a static fashion not allowing for deviation. In other words the designers created ideal or best case distance calculations limitations when in fact the real world is not ideal or best case

Store patrons do not always take the ideal route to their awaiting car. Some will deviate from an ideal route and some will just become completely lost and may cover considerable more distance before locating their vehicle.

If the maximum distance is exceeded prior to locating the vehicle the cart will lock up where ever it is at the moment. This could be anywhere in the parking lot including traffic lanes! Another problem with static boundary calculating is symmetry.

Stores and store parking lots are not designed for symmetry as in the store being ideally located right in the center of the parking lot. This being the case, one cannot create a static symmetrical boundary map as a means of limiting patron travel.

For example, a fixed distance limit of 500 feet could be offset to the point where one direction might lock the cart in random but relatively safe location but the opposite travel direction may lock the cart in the middle of a busy intersection!

After reviewing the competitor's offerings it was clear that we needed to create a safe and reliable solution that would lock carts in a predictable manner that would not put patrons at risk of injury.

The design would have to be contained within the wheel itself and operate long enough on internal battery power to allow the product to be either serviceable or disposable.

It was determined that a buried perimeter loop would be ideal in prescribing an allowed area of cart travel much like the "electric fence" product that keeps dogs from wandering from a yard.

But unlike the dog collar product we would have to operate for years without a battery change. This was quite a challenge due to the fact that at the time the era of micro-powered circuits was just emerging and there were no affordable "off the shelf" micro power analog op-amps available.

To overcome this dilemma we used a CMOS logic gate array CD4007 in its linear range of operation and was able to achieve enough gain to detect and amplify the perimeter loop signal.

At this time micro power processors were also not available at low cost. To overcome these challenges we decided to look at chips that were used in low power applications like P.I.R.'s "Passive Infra-red" and related alarm technologies.

This direction proved invaluable in that there were high volume, low cost, micro current level encoder/decoder chips already on the market by Holtec.

 

First portable geological monitoring system…

Client: Geo Kinetics

I.P. Category: Portables & Data Acquisition

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology was used to monitor and record data from tilt sensors in locations where property was at risk of landslide and other geological events.

First Active Tag based focusing of arriflex and Panavision cameras…

Client: Birds & Animals Unlimited

I.P. Category: Asset Tracking & D.M.E.

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology was shelved due to FCC part 15 restrictions at that time. The idea was brilliant but relied upon a technology that used two unique bands of radar operation which at the time was not permitted

 

First line of Infrasonic/Infrared alarm technologies for home and office…

Client: Wizard Alarm

I.P. Category: Loss prevention / Security

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology resulted in a residential and commercial Infrasonic / Infrared combination alarm sensor technology. The Infrasonic detector measured the amplitude of subsonic wave produced by changes in cabin or room pressure when a door or window is opened.

Vorelco also designed several other security technologies including auto-dialing alarms, low power Passive Infrared detectors, motion detectors, and accessories.

 

First digital end of hose, water usage meter…

Client: Private investor

I.P. Category: Green Tech. & metering

Service Category: Existing Product Development

 

First voice response toilet seat reminder “Tidy John”…

Client: Private investor

I.P. Category: Fad, Gimmick

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology resulted in a device that mounted to the under side of a toilet seat lid and would play a user recorded phrase like “Hey dummy you left the seat up” if the user, typically a male of course, left the seat up after urinating.

In the product’s design we deployed a low cost low power P.I.R. sensor to detect the presence of a user and an inexpensive tilt sensor to determine the toilet seat being in a vertical or horizontal position. Since the reminder message was user recordable we often wondered just how creative or colorful some user reminder messages were!

 

Robotic Space Vehicle Rocket Nozzle manufacturing…

Client: Product Development Rocketdyne a division of Boeing

I.P. Category: Robotics & Dispensing

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

Rocketdyne found itself in real trouble when its fortune 500 adhesives and dispensing vendor bailed out on them right in the middle of a critical project.

The vendor explained to Rocketdyne that what they were looking for simply could not be accomplished.

When Vorelco was approached we looked over the specifications and indeed the requirements were very challenging but that's what we live for. The specifications called for the precise dispensing of a fine grain nickel powder in a very narrow .060" wide path without any measurable lateral deviation.

Vorelco with the help of Fanuc Robotics developed the world's first Robotic multi-compound dispensing system used to automate the handling and distribution of materials used in the manufacturing of thrust chambers or rocket nozzles.

Prior to this breakthrough several lab technicians wearing protective masks and gloves would, by hand, using medical grade syringes, dispense hazardous compounds into the seams of hundreds of preformed stainless steel tubes that collectively make up the rocket nozzles used on the Space Shuttle, Titan missile and other programs.

Besides saving Rocketdyne a fortune in production costs, this dispensing system also kept carcinogenic Nickel powder from becoming airborne during the deposition process using an innovative oscillating pinch tube based nozzle tip.

The system consisted of two separate end of robotic arm mounted dispensers, one for liquids and nickel powder and the other for the dispensing of brazing compound paste.

Although we were welcomed to patent this technology by our client we elected to keep the technology freely available in the interest of advancing the program which benefits us all.

 

First advanced basketball training system (The Sniper)…

Client: Swiss Alp water

I.P. Category: Robotics & Pneumatics

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a commercial Robotic Basketball training machine designed to precisely serve a ball to anywhere on the court to a trainee wearing a unique RFID module.

The system not only recorded if the trainee’s shot was a basket or miss but from where on the court the player was during the shot. It was the first use of a pneumatic air cylinder to fire a ball.

The conventional method of launching a ball of any size was the usual dual spinning wheel approach like that of a baseball pitching and tennis ball serving machine. In this case the ball was the largest of all major sports, the basketball and we could not fathom a ball this large in diameter being launched in this manner.

We looked at several possibilities and arrived at using a pneumatic air cylinder to launch the basketballs. This decision was made after examining the uniquely stable design of the projectile. The basketball by its very design is very hard and stable not easily distorted or compressed when properly inflated.

It was clear that if we could develop enough velocity behind the ball to reach our maximum target range of 50 feet we could then focus on repeatable accuracy. After a little math and trial and error we were able to see promising results right away. The result was a very advanced fully articulating robotic ball launching machine that ran on local internal power and compressed air. The product is marketed from Switzerland with machines all over Europe. A patent was awarded to Jack Durban and the co-inventor.

 

First Professional Class A Audio Compressor…

Client: Avalon

I.P. Category: Professional Audio

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a high end professional Class A audio compressor used in recording studios and events.

First Non-stinging TENS…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Medical

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a First Non-stinging TENS “Transcutaneous Electro Neuro Stimulator.

The prior art in muscle and neuro stimulators used a square wave induced bi-phasic voltage that caused discomfort when used in the treatment of many maladies.

This technology created a proprietary waveform that did not distort when introduced to the epidermis. The technology also was the first to use constant current regardless of electrode to epidermis contact integrity.

 

First wireless loss prevention device for the Bar & Restaurant industry…

Client: Valumex

I.P. Category: Dispensing

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a residential and commercial First wireless loss prevention pouring spout designed for the Restaurant and Bar industry.

This securable pouring spout deployed a miniature R.F. transmitter that sent a coded carrier to a receiver/decoder in a cash register that would log the sale and produce a receipt putting an end to “free pours” from the bartender.

 

First line of automated beverage mixing and dispensing appliances for the Bar & Restaurant industry…

Client: Valumex

I.P. Category: Food & Beverage

Service Category: New Product Development & prototyping

This technology resulted in First wireless loss prevention pouring spout designed for the Restaurant and Bar industry.

This securable pouring spout deployed a miniature R.F. transmitter that sent a coded carrier to a receiver/decoder in a cash register that would log the sale and produce a receipt putting an end to “free pours” from the bartender.

 

First line of commercial HEPA / Potassium Promaginate air filtration systems…

Client: Envirocare (Honeywell)

I.P. Category: Appliance Tech.

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology resulted in a residential and commercial line of combination HEPA and Potassium Permanganate air decontamination and purification system.

This system not only removed particulates but dangerous aldehydes. Aldehydes and other preservatives are often present in manufactured textiles, fabrics, resins, dyes and organic acids. These unhealthful compounds commonly emit from new carpets and fabrics.

 

Green technology Commercial auto flusher…

Client: American Standard via a subcontractor

I.P. Category: Green Technology Water conservation

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology resulted in a commercial motion sensing based flushing system that ran on long life batteries.

 

Green technology based commercial toilet...

 

Client: Dakota Tech.

I.P. Category: Green Technology Water conservation

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology resulted in a residential and commercial water saving toilet. The battery powered flusher was designed to produce two user selected flush modes, “Solid waste” and “Liquid waste”. Either selection would result in an ideal amount of water to be released.

 

Green technology “Utilisentry”…

Client: Jeff Specht Company.

I.P. Category: Green Technology Water conservation

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology resulted in a residential and commercial utility monitoring system measuring and displaying water, Gas, and electric usage. The system is also capable of establishing usage benchmarks.

 

First P.C. Brainwave analyzer to measure correlates of psychometrics of intelligence…

Client: In house with Dr. John Ertl phd

I.P. Category: Medical & investigational

Service Category: I.P. & Existing Product Development

This technology was born of the genius of world renowned cybernetist Dr, John Ertl phd of Canada. First PC-based Brainwave / I.Q. analyzer measuring correlates of psychometric intelligence in predicting academic performance in school age children.

 

First line of precision instruments to address the needs of the dairy industry…

Client: Western Dairy Research

I.P. Category: Measurement & Control

Service Category: Product Development & Prototyping

This technology consisted of a full line of products including a precision hand held meter that performed vacuum and pulsation ratio calculations and a complete dairy facility monitoring and control system that modernized the dairy industry. This was also our first trademarked slogan "Quality to measure by".

First hand held meter to precisely measure the performance of milking equipment used in the dairy industry.

This technology saved the dairy industry countless millions of dollars preventing injuries to cows that hasten Mastitis caused by faulty automated milking apparatus. This technology was evaluated and praised in a white paper presented by Dr. Hans Bozler PhD at USC.

 

First use of synthesized speech in vessel monitoring system...

Client: Vast Tech

I.P. Category: Measurement & Control

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This technology used synthesized human speech to alert a boat operator to system malfunctions much like a vehicle dashboard but without having to visually monitor the many marine gauges and accessories that can be overwhelming.

This device would perform a systems check one by one letting the skipper know if there was any unsafe condition that required attention like the presence fuel vapors in the engine compartment or say excessive bilge water accumulation. We designed a full compliment of on board sensors to augment the monitoring system.

 

First pre-Dolby era Hi Fi multichannel Sound processor…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Consumer Electronics

Service Category: New Product Development & Prototyping

This product was sold for a couple and faded into obscurity.

 

The DELTA LOAD PUMP The world's first self counter-balancing walking beam oil pump…

Client: Nucorp Abeline TX Div.

I.P. Category: Robotics & Measurement and control

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology brought robotics into the oil field.

Problem: Oil wells were suffering from rod string separation and energy costs were high due to changes in payload. The payload variations were caused by changes in weight of crude, paraffin, sand and mud.

When walking beam oil pumps are balanced using a fixed weight at the opposite end of the walking beam, the installer attempts to compensate for fluctuations in payload but load variations can often exceed this compensation method.

When an oil pump experiences a large imbalance two problems emerge. Depending upon which condition manifests, under or over payload weight the pump will have to work very hard on one of its two directions being up or down and if there is an over payload the rod string may experience stretching and eventual separation.

Rod strings can run several hundred feet or more into the ground and recovering them can be a real costly challenge.

Solution: Robotic counter balance on linear bearing. To address this problem we first had to define all of the operating environment challenges like temperatures, ingress of moisture, dirt, dust, and of course corrosives inherent in crude oil composition.

We arrived at a dynamic linear bearing based design driven by a high power linear actuator. To determine ideal balance position of the shuttled counterweight we monitored the Pump motor current in both cycles.

If the motor current increased during an upstroke the shuttle load counter-balance would be moved towards the rear of the walking beam and if the motor current increased during a down stroke the counter-balance would be move towards the front of the walking beam both attempting to reach ideal balance.

 

First commercial attache case voice scrambler…

 

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Security

Service Category: New Product Development

This technology consisted of a battery powered voice scrambler neatly hidden inside an attache case.

 

Leasentry, the first usage limiter for leased equipment…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Risk Mitigation

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This technology allowed equipment leasing companies to lower their credit requirements for sub par credit customers by offering them an opportunity to have the equipment they need but with a usage control device attached.

The Leasentry would keep track of machine usage in hours or cycles and every predetermined billing cycle it would require a usage authorization code to continue operation. The authorization code was issued electronically or by postcard upon receipt of payment.

If the customer failed to make their rental payment and no authorization code was granted the rented machine would cease to operate until such time the code was entered.

 

Disco was hot, hot, hot…

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Fad / Gimmick

Service Category: New Product Development

Well, most wouldn't admit it but we invented the LED shoes and jewelry that sparked a fashion trend that remains a hit today. It was 1978/79 and were designing lighting controllers for stages and dance floors.

After a while of seeing dancers on lit floors it only made sense to put the lights in shoes.We began to churn out prototypes and landed on a design that became a small hit that sold in most large retailers.

The real excitement however came at a Dallas shoe show when a large tennis shoe manufacturer saw our new line of L.E.D. casual shoes, tees and jewelry asked if we would join forces with them to create a night jogging shoe.

Now every time I see a child wearing LED shoes I just smile and I am sure when I reach the golden years these shoes will still be a hit. A haunting reminder that we all have to start somewhere.

Well the shoe was a moderate hit but function was trumped by fad and it was back to flashing lights. We went on to develop a LED Frisbee and offered to Whammo but they said they were not interested in going through the expense of modifying their tooling for what sounded like such a short lived product.

Whammo introduced the product that Christmas. I guess we were on to something.

 

All in-door garage door locking mechanism

Client: In house

I.P. Category: Loss Prevention

Service Category: I.P. & New Product Development

This was my first patent that I was working on while in High school. I found school to be very boring and usually spent all my time designing and drawing complex mechanisms, motors and engines.

I could draw complete detailed combustion engines and other prime movers by age 11. The Camlock 1 was a simple center of door locking mechanism for utility and garage doors. Instead of the conventional sliding latch with lock this design had no external parts to handle.

Unlocking the door involved the mere inserting and turning of a key. The lock was flush to the door surface and was connected to a shaft that spun an off centered eccentric 90 degrees causing a vertical shaft to traverse vertically into and out of a captive retainer.