This post was first published on 14th November, 2014.
The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age – Aldous Huxley
Every child is a genius.
I wish all SiNApSE readers a very Happy Children’s Day.
This post brings you the knowledge about 4-year-old Sydney Dittman, who invented an aid for using knobs, called Aid for grasping round knobs (US 5231733), an extremely useful invention for the disabled. She invented it while playing with her toys and now you know that inventing is nothing but play and fun.
For Patent Geeks, here is the info:
Abstract: Apparatus for grasping circular knobs which may be attached to drawers or doors of cabinets or the like including a generally dome-shaped grasping element having a handle attached thereto and extending outwardly therefrom. The internal surface of the generally dome-shaped element includes a series of internal shoulders of various diameters for the purpose of grasping knobs of various sizes so that the handicapped person may more easily manipulate the drawer or door to which the knob is attached.
Claims:
1. Apparatus for grasping knobs or other circular elements which may be attached to a drawer or door, comprising:a generally dome-shaped grasping element including an internal recess for grasping a knob which may be located, for example, on a cabinet door or drawer or elsewhere; a gripping member attached to said generally dome-shaped grasping element, said gripping element extending outwardly from said generally dome-shaped element to provide a member which may be more easily gripped by a physically handicapped person; and said internal recess including an internal surface area which is adapted to conform to the external surface of a knob and grasp said knob so that a physically handicapped person can more easily manipulate that knob;said internal surface area of said internal recess including a series of internal, stepped shoulders to grasp knobs of various sizes, including at least first and second longitudinally extending surface areas joined to internal, transversely extending shoulders to provide a series of surfaces and shoulders of varying diameters to grasp knobs of various sizes or various surface portions of such knobs.
2. The structure set forth in claim 1, including:said generally dome-shaped grasping element including a second recess to receive said gripping member for attachment to said grasping element.
3. The structure set forth in claim 1, including:said gripping member being elongated so that a handicapped person can more easily grip the member.
4. The structure set forth in claim 1, including:said dome-shaped grasping element including at least first and second longitudinally extending surface area joined to external transversely extending shoulders to provide areas to receive one or more fingers of a handicapped person to facilitate manipulation of the entire apparatus.
Description field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a device for grasping drawer or cabinet knobs which is particularly useful to physically impaired persons who would otherwise, due to such impairment, have great difficulty in opening and closing drawers or cabinets utilizing such knobs.
