Interlude - A mason's dream

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Daniel Rozin

 Angles Mirror (2013)

References

Daniel Rozin – NYU Tish School 
https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/itp/95804818

Oh, patents! Daniel Rozin’s Mechanical Mirrors

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Usually, patents and art invoke two very different creative processes. Patents disclose inventions, which are required to be both useful and to fulfill certain conditions of patentability [35 USC 101], such as novelty [35 USC 102], and non-obviousness to those skilled in the art [35 USC 103]. All of which conditions and definitions are specified in the separate branch of Patent Law, set forth in the US Federal Code Title 35 (USC 35) and in the US Code of Federal Regulations Title 37 (CFR 37). Prior to being patented, inventions are also filed and subjected to a lengthy examination process at a government patent-granting agency, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in the United States, the European Patent Office (EPO), in Europe, regrouping countries party to the European Patent Convention, or other national Patent Offices, such as the Japanese Patent Office (JPO), or the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CIPA). 

Once granted, a patent then confers to the inventor(s), heirs or assignees, the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or importing the invention, without prior licensing, or agreement with the inventors, heirs or assignees. Such patent rights are also granted for a certain period of time, usually 20 years for a US utility patent [35 USC 154], and 15 years for a US design patent [35 USC 173], contingent upon the payment of yearly maintenance fees, per the provisions of the US Federal Code Title 35, Article 41 [35 US 41].

Art, by contrast, is unregulated, unbound to the provisions of the Law, or the conferral of rights, and without utilitarian requirements, to name just a fraction of the more obvious differences. In rare instances, however, such irreconcilable differences in the creative process of art and patented invention come together, in an interesting reciprocal dynamic. Indeed, this is precisely what drives Daniel Rozin’s mechanical mirrors.

Rizon, an Israeli-American artist and NYU professor, whose art installations each depict different sorts of mirrors, (i.e.; surfaces where people are reflected), relies on patented inventions to make the installations work [Rozin, NYU]. Thus, Rizon is both artist and inventor, drawing on a combination of sensors, motors, custom software, video camera and computers to create his interactive digital art, each installation functioning as a mechanical mirror. All of the pieces are explorations at the intersection of viewer participation and image creation, powered by patented mechanical engineering, informing art. No one could otherwise conceive of wood pieces (whether round or square) or fluffy toys, functioning as mirror surfaces, capable of reflecting viewers, much less make all of the pieces of the installation actually work together as a mirror.

The following video showcases some of Rozin’s captivating mechanical mirror installations. In particular, the Penguins Mirror, the Wood Mirror, the Troll Mirror, the Pompom Mirror, the Peg Mirror, and the Fur Mirrors, are shown.  

The following US patents, awarded to Rozin, and most recent patent application, are members of patent families that include World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Canadian (CA) and Australian (AU) patents. Patents that each recite inventions, supporting the display of Rozin’s art installations, depicting mechanical mirrors.

• US6552734B1 - System and method for generating a composite image based on at least two input images.
• US6553138B2 - Method and apparatus for generating three-dimensional representations of objects.
• US6891561B1 - Providing visual context for a mobile active visual display of a panoramic region.
• US20020031252A1 - Method and apparatus for generating three-dimensional representations of objects.

References

[35 USC 41] Patent fees – Patent and trademark search systems.   https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#d0e301581

[35 USC 101] Inventions patentable. https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#d0e302376

[35 USC 102] Conditions for patentability - Novelty.   https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#al_d1fbe1_234ed_52  

[35 USC 103] Conditions for patentability - Non-obvious subject matter.   https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#al_d1fbe1_19797_b0  

[35 USC  154]  Contents and term of a patent - Provisional rights.   https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#d0e303482

[35 USC 173] Term of Design Patent. https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html#d0e304510

China National Intellectual Property Administration (in English): https://english.cnipa.gov.cn/

Desimone, J. (Jan. 19, 2016) Q&A: Daniel Rozin reflects on his mirror artwork. MOCA – Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL. https://mocajacksonville.unf.edu/blog/Q-A--Daniel-Rozin-reflects-on-his-mirror-artworks/  

Daniel Rozin – NYU Tish School: https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/itp/95804818

European Patent Office (in English): www.epo.org

Japan Patent Office (in English): https://www.jpo.go.jp/e/

US Code of Federal Regulations - Title 37    https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html

US Federal Code - Title 35: https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep-9015-appx-l.html

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): www.uspto.gov 

Oh, patents! The Skypod (2)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Autonomous Exotec Skypods dance their 3D way around warehouses, climbing up and down shelves to towering heights, swiveling around as if mounted on ball-bearings. The following video (viewable only on Youtube) offers a Skypod choreography to the tune of Edvard Grieg’s (1875) orchestral piece for Scene 6, Act II of Henrik Ibsen’s (1867) play Peer Gynt (1).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HoEFcZOiuY

Copyright © Exotec - A three dimensions dance performed by order fulfillment robots : the Skypod

The Skypods also move around with a visible stability, regardless of the presence, absence or position of the load transported in the payload crate. The US family member utility patent US2019263463A1, titled Automatically guided trolley for transporting and/or handling a load, discloses an invention that precisely addresses the load-bearing issue, relative to equilibrium, speed and energy-efficiency, including the corollary issue of swiveling-capacity.

In a nutshell, the invention disclosed replaces the typical 4-wheel drive suspension system of a vehicle. The invention system comprises two frames: one receiving the payload, and the other in contact with the ground, supporting the payload-receiving frame. The supporting frame further comprises two connected walking beams at the front and rear of the Skypod autonomous vehicle (termed automated trolley), connected to two idler wheels and two drive wheels. Translation of the two walking beams is designed to distribute the payload weight, received by the main frame, evenly between all wheels, idle and drive, at the front and rear of the vehicle, as well as left and right. The walking beam system is also much lighter, thus promoting enhanced vehicle performance. both in terms of speed and energy efficiency.

For those skilled in the art, the abstract of this patent, hyperlinked to the complete disclosure of the invention, is included below, together with the patent Figure 1, showing an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In particular, the patent Figure 1 depicts the Skypod vehicle (guided trolley)  10,  comprising a supporting frame 12 and main load-receiving frame 11, idle wheels 18 and driver wheels 16, engine 17, and the two walking beams 13 and 14, connected to the supporting frame 12, with translation arms (132, 142), and (131, 141), contributing to evenly distribute a payload weight to all the wheels. In sum, a new mechanical load-bearing-and-distributing system, enabling the visible stability, and calculated efficiency, of the autonomous Skypod vehicle.

An automated guided trolley for transporting and/or handling a load. The trolley has a main frame for receiving the load and a supporting frame having two walking beams extending respectively towards the front and the rear of the trolley. The walking beams are mounted rotatably with respect to the main frame respectively about a first axis and a second axis and such a walking beam includes elements for securing one arm of one walking beam to one arm of the other walking beam and for supporting the first of these arms on the other arm. [Abstract US2019263463A1]

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(1) Grieg, Suite No 1 Op. 46:IV - In the Hall of the Mountain King. 

Reference

Exotec (website): www.Exotec.com 

Oh, Patents! - Cosmetics - Razors

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Gentlemen! It’s your turn now. There’s more than one patent in your razors with a generous portion of mechanical engineering! You probably have all used safety razors where the head of the razor now pivots relative to the handle, in view of espousing the contours of your skin with every shaving stroke, and preventing cuts. You have also probably used electric razors where the motor is usually placed in the handle of the razor with some form of transmission to the blade area, providing you with an effortless shave! Gillette trailblazes forward to bring you a rotary motor inside the pivoting head of the razor that further bypasses the costly complexities of discarded blades, coupled to gear components transmitting the forces of the motor. 

The marketed result is the Proglide® Fusion® Power razor, a state of the art razor with a battery operated motor engineered inside the pivoting safety head of the razor, a discardable blade-only cartridge, and a dispensing lubrastrip to hydrate with every stroke!

And, of course, the best part is your shaved skin… as soft as baby's skin…! 

A safety razor has a handle (1) and a head structure (5) mounted for pivotable movement relative to the handle during shaving. The head structure (5) includes a motor (18) housed in a sealed chamber (9) for driving a device in use of the razor, such as to reciprocate a guard component or a blade, to vibrate the head structure, to actuate a dispensing device for delivering a shaving enhancement fluid, or to oscillate a support platform (101) on which a blade unit (110) is mounted. The shaving cartridge can include a guard component (38) with projections (39) which are moved towards and away from the skin being shaved when the guard component is reciprocated by the motor (18). [WO2006043027]