Thursday, February 27, 2020

Interlude: 8 Giant Shoes @ Romans-sur-Isère (France)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

If you are trekking through the South East of France this Spring, and would like to see some monumental shoes, then stop by Romans-sur-Isère, home to France’s International Shoe Museum. Currently closed, and undergoing renovation, to repair weather-related damage to the historic Visitacion Convent that houses the shoe collections, the Museum has moved outdoors, creating an 8 giant-shoe business tour of the city of Romans.

The 8 giant-shoe stops  on the tour include replicas of the following famous shoes:

1. Chaussure sans talon (1937) - André Perugia
2. Derby Tressé (1990) - Stéphane Kéliane
3. Escarpin à talon aiguille (1963) - Charles Jourdan
4. Escarpin giraffe (1995) - Stéphane Couvé-Bonnaire
5. Derby Roel (2016) - Robert Clergerie
6. Chaussure Poisson (1955) – André Perugia
7. Escarpin Choc-Choc (2004) - Bruno Frisoni pour Roger Vivier
8. Escarpin étoilé (1994) - Andrea Pfister



The monumental shoes enhance and increase the visibility of a Museum collection that encompasses both the old, and the new, in footwear fashion. The Museum collection includes a 3000-year-old Egyptian sandal made of papyrus fiber, together with some of André Perugia's most extravagant models, and Christian Louboutin’s red-soled pumps. The 8 monumental shoes of the city tour are also strategically positioned, close to renowned shoe shops and shoemaker’s workshops that have traditionally sustained the economic activity of the city of Romans-sur-Isère.


The 8 giant shoes on show for the city tour were unveiled on November 30th, 2019. The shoes are not only replicas of some of the finest pieces found within the Museum, specialized sculptors (MG Composites, Arsculpt and Atelier FX Déco) were commissioned to reproduce the shoes in monumental sizes. Indeed, each of the famous shoes, also mounted on locally commissioned concrete pedestals, fabricated by Chapsol, measures on average, at least, 6 ft (L) x 6 ft (H) x 3 ft (W).


The video (in French), included below, provides a glimpse of the fabrication process of the monumental sculptures. Beginning with a 3-D numerical scan of the museum pieces, the 3-D (volumetric) images of the pieces enabled the creation of a mold. The shoes were then fabricated out of polyester and several layers of fiberglass in a cast made of polyurethane foam. Once unmolded, both halves of the shoe undergo various finishing processes. The final painting process for the monumental shoes is similar to the process used for painting cars.




References
ART SCulpt
http://www.arsculpt.fr/
Atelier FX Déco
https://www.fxdeco.com/
Chapsol
https://www.chapsol.fr/
La Joconde – Portail des collections des musées de France
http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/joconde/fr/
MG Composites
http://www.mgcomposites.com/
Musée de la Chaussure
https://www.museedelachaussure.fr/infos-pratiques
Musée de la chaussure 8 chaussures géantes en ville

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Oh, papents! LifeStraw® personal water filter (3)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

LifeStraw® markets a high-end, stainless steel, personal water-filtering "straw". The high-end model has two caps, one on top, covering the mouthpiece, and another on the bottom, covering the filter inlet for unclean water. The ornamental design of the capped, stainless steel, high-end LifeStraw® personal water-filter is patented in the US design patent USD783773S1, titled Water purifier.

As a reminder: a utility patent protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a design patent protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]].

The stylish, high-end, stainless steel Lifestraw® is no less efficient at purifying water and delivering undistorted taste. The LifeStraw® Steel model delivers a patented(1), synergistic, 2-stage filtering system,  that removes:
Stage 1 (using a fiber membrane filter)
- 99.999999% (log 8) of bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholera, and Salmonella Typhi), 
- 99.999% (log 5) of parasites (e.g., Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum), and
- 99.999% (log 5) of microplastics
Stage 2 (using a carbon-activated filter) 
- Chlorine 
- Bad odor and taste 
- Organic chemical matter

The design patent Figure 3, showing a side view of the water purifier with caps. is included below, together with an image of the marketed, high-end, LifeStraw® Steel model. 

____________
Note
(1) Aspects of the synergistic, 2-stage water filtering invention are recited, for example, in US20100051527A1, titled Microporous filter with an antimicrobial source, and  US20100044321A1, titled Microporous filter with a low elution antimicrobial source.

References
LifeStraw®
MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent
ht
tps://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s1502.html

Monday, February 24, 2020

Oh, patents! LifeStraw® personal water filter (2)

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

An ornamental variation of the original LifeStraw® personal “straw” water filter, equipped with an offset mouthpiece, is also patented in the US. The offset mouthpiece design is patented in USD782609S1, titled WaterPurifier.  

As a reminder: a utility patent protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a design patent protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]]. This is an important distinction, since the LifeStraw® personal water filters are also the recipients of many US utility patents, disclosing the filtration processes used to guarantee both the safety and undistorted taste of the cleaned water.


To the right, the design patent Figure 3, showing the offset mouthpiece variation in the ornamental design of the LifeStraw® personal straw filter. To the left, a "before and after" image of  just how much turbidity (i.e; dirt)  the straw filters are actually able to remove. 




References
LifeStraw®
MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Oh, patents! LifeStraw® personal water filter (1)

Copyright © Françoise Herrman

The Lifestraw® personal water filtering system, now a company brand in the outdoor adventure and expedition sector, is the retail offshoot of the much larger Vestergaard humanitarian enterprise. A company working in partnership, since 1994, with the Carter Center for Peace and Health Programs, developing filtration systems within the context of the campaign for eradication of Guinea Worm Disease, and other humanitarian products, such as, for example, the PermaNet®a long-lasting insecticidal net for the prevention of malaria

The Lifestraw® personal filtering system is equipped with a microporous membrane (0.2 micron pore size) that removes 99.999999% (log 8) of bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholera, and Salmonella Typhi); 99.999% (log 5) of parasites (e.g., Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum); and 99.999% (log 5) of microplastics and turbidity. The Lifestraw® has an unlimited shelf life. Once opened, it filters about 1000 liters of water, which is enough water, for a single individual, for 5 years.

The ornamental design of the original straw filter is patented in the US design patent USD782610S1, titled Water purifier.  As a reminder: “a utility patent” protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a “design patent” protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171) [MPEP Chapt. 1502.01; [R-07.2015]].

The patent Figure 3, showing a side view of the Lifestraw® water purifier, is included below, together with an image of the marketed personal water purification Lifestraw®.



Reference
LifeStraw®
MPEP – Chapt. 1502-01 – Distinction between design and utility patent
The Carter Center
The Carter Center – Guinea Worm Disease Campaign
Vestergaard

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Oh, patents! LifeStraw® (Vestergaard®) filtering system


Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Vestergaard Frandsen, a company originally founded in 1957 for the production of uniforms in Denmark, partnered with The Carter Center for Peace and Health Programs in 1994, under the leadership of the founder’s grandson, Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen. The partnership was established to produce water filters for the prevention of Guinea Worm Disease (GWD). The needed water filters had to be both tough enough to cover the opening of water jars for repeated use, and fine enough to filter out the larvae of Dracunculus medinensis nematodes, causing GWD.

GWD, also called Dracunculiasis, is a water-borne disease, affecting people who drink larvae-contaminated water.  In 1986, when the Carter Center for Peace and Health Programs began leading the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) Program for the eradication of GWD, approximately 3.5 million people were infected, each year, in 21 Sub-Saharan countries. In 2019, a total of 53 cases were reported in a spectacular countdown to zero (Carter Center GWD Campaign). When eradication occurs, in other words, zero cases with no further control measures required, GWD will be the second disease eradicated in the world after smallpox, and the first parasitic disease eradicated without the use of vaccines.

In partnership with the Carter Center for Peace and Health Programs, Vestergaard Frandsen not only produced filters for water jars, they also pioneered personal,  long-lasting  (up to 4000 liters of filtration), battery-free, water filtering systems, called pipe filters, which eventually became known, and marketed, as the LifeStraw®, for both humanitarian and athleisure purposes. A filtering system with an uncommon trajectory, since it has, in fact, migrated from R&D (research & development) for humanitarian purposes to mass consumer, home, outdoor and sports markets, embodied in a host of different water-filtering products. Products that are currently garnering many accolades, including a Gold Halo Award for social entrepreneurship in 2017, and a Red DotDesign Award in 2019.

The original Lifestraw® design is not only remarkable in the way it is designed to look and function like a straw,  it is first and foremost, a highly reliable filtering system. The micro membrane filters, with a pore size measuring .2 microns, are designed to remove 99.999999% (log 8) of bacteria (including E. coli), 99.999% (log 5) of parasites (Giardia, Cryptosporidium, etc.), and 99.999% (log 5) of microplastics and turbidity (dirt). The  submicron ultrafilter membranes, with a pore size measuring .02 microns (10 x smaller than the micron membrane filters), are also able to filter 99.999% (log 5) of viruses. However, LifeStraw® filtering systems not only use microfilter and ultrafilter membranes for filtering of microbiological substances, the filtration systems are also synergistically combined with low doses of antimicrobial agents and activated carbon filters, designed to filter out any remaining chemicals, odors and heavy metals. This combination of filters results in both safer and better-tasting water.  

The Lifestraw® filtering invention is recited in several patents, one of which is US20100051527A1, titled Microporous filter with an antimicrobial source. In this patent, the LifeStraw® filtering process is patented, in contrast to patenting of a specific filter product. Thus, the filtering invention recited in this patent has a large scope of embodiments, found in the many various LifeStraw® models, whether they are intended for personal, home or community use, respectively contained within straws and water bottles, pitchers, or larger vessels.

The LifeStraw® filtering invention disclosed in US20100051527A1, recites the synergistic combination of two different sorts of filtering processes, mechanical and chemical filtration, both of which present known disadvantages, when they are used separately. Mechanical filtration subsumes the use of a micro- or submicro- porous membrane, acting as a barrier that separates microbial particles (e.g.; viruses and bacteria), by particle size, from the drinking water.  In contrast, chemical filtration releases an antimicrobial agent (e.g.; chlorine or iodine) into the drinking water, to deactivate microbes on contact.  

Disadvantages of chemical filtration are the inverse ratio of dwell-time to concentration of anti-microbial agent. In other words,  the shorter the dwell-time or contact of the water with an anti-microbial agent, the higher the concentration of antimicrobial agent needed, resulting in taste and odor distortion. A distortion that may even have harmful health effects. Thus, chemical filtration also uses iodine scavengers (i.e.; absorbers), such as Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) filters, which are in turn sometimes enhanced with silver and copper for additional anti-microbial properties, in view of removing traces of the iodine or chlorine anti-microbial agents, causing taste and/or odor distortion.  

Disadvantages of mechanical filtration are the potential “caking” of the micropores, through which water is filtered, resulting in clogged filters. Clogging that might be partially prevented via flushing of the surface of the filtering membrane, but that does not prevent the formation of a sticky biofilm elsewhere, upstream of the membrane, within the membrane fibers, or on the inner walls of the filter housing. A biofilm generated by separated, but non-deactived microbial particles, and other remaining particles, which together might create a potentially dangerous situation, if the filtering membrane were to rupture for one reason or another, releasing microbial particles in the drinking water.

In response to the problems associated with both sorts of filtering systems (distortion of taste and odor due to the use of high doses of chemical filtration agents, on the one hand, and caking of mechanical means plus the formation of a biofilm, on the other), the LifeStraw® filtering system combines both mechanical and chemical filtering processes. In combining both systems, the LifeStraw® filtering system invention is able to take advantage of their synergy. In other words, LifeStraw® filtering systems are able to use lower doses (lower elution rates) of antimicrobial substances (causing less or non-detectable distortion), because the purification of drinking water relies on mechanical filtration, rather than on chemical filtration alone to purify the water flowing through the filter. Indeed, LifeStraw®  chemical filtration means are used just for preventing the formation of a biofilm. Conversely, incomplete mechanical filtration is supplemented by the use of an anti-microbial agent, able to deactivate the separated microbial particles that breed biofilm, and that cannot be completely flushed out via mechanical means, thereby preventing release of microbes in case of membrane rupture.

The advantages of this synergistic system are, at least, threefold. The filters are longer lasting and less costly to produce. They use less depletable chemicals via chemical-releasing resins or eluting coatings, which is important considering availability for deprived locations, or isolated areas. They are also safer, in case of membrane rupture, since an anti-microbial agent is used to deactivate separated microbes that would otherwise risk contaminating drinking water, while breeding biofilm within and outside of the mechanical filtration means (i.e; the membrane). The use of less anti-microbial agents also means less potentially adverse effects on health.

The abstract of this invention is included below, together with the patent Figure 1 drawing, and an image of a personal LifeStraw® user drinking river water. The Figure 1 drawing, extracted from the patent, illustrates the principle of the LifeStraw® filtering system 1, comprising a fluid inlet 2 and a fluid outlet 3. Downstream from the fluid inlet 2, there is a chamber 4, containing an antimicrobial agent 5, preferably a halogen such as iodine or chlorine, in the form of a halogenic resin, through which the inlet fluid passes, in the direction of the arrow 7. After contacting the halogenic resin, the halogenated fluid passes through a micro- or submicro- porous membrane 8, designed to separate microbial substances 11, such as bacteria, parasites and even viruses, from the inlet fluid. The separated substances 11 accumulate on the surface 12 of the membrane, where they will be eventually deactivated by the anti-microbial agent, and/or partially flushed out (e.g. when the user blows out any water remaining in the straw). Before the halogenated fluid exits through the fluid outlet 3, it might additionally pass through a third chamber 10, containing a halogen absorber 9, designed to remove any distortions of taste and odor caused by the halogenic substance (e.g.; iodine or chlorine).


A fluid filtration device having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet and a confined fluid path between the inlet and the outlet through a microporous filter with a pore size adapted for filtering microbes, for example bacteria and virus. The device comprises an antimicrobial source, preferably halogen source, adding antimicrobial substance to the fluid in the confined fluid path between the fluid inlet end the microporous filter in order to prevent biofilm formation in the microporous filter. [Abstract US20100051527A1]


References
LifeStraw®
The Carter Center
The Carter Center – Guinea Worm Disease Campaign
The Carter Center – Guinea Worm Disease Fact Sheet
Gorvett, Z (March 5, 2018) The Miraculous Straw that lets you drink dirty water - BBC
Potter, E. (Jan 17, 2019) LifeStraw: Water for a Changing World – Forbes.com
Red Dot Award (2019)
Gold Halo Award (2017

Friday, February 14, 2020

VDay 2020


Copyright © Françoise Herrmann



Today is VDay, a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, targeting rape, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), and sex slavery. The February 14 re-interpretation of Valentine’s Day arises out of Eve Ensler’s famous play The Vagina Monologues. A play, which tells the story of one woman refugee, and through her, all the women in Bosnia and Kosovo, 27,000 of which were raped as a war tactic, in connection to the events surrounding the March 5-1998- June 11, 1999, Kosovo (former part of Yugoslavia) War, in Central Europe.

The Vagina Monologues play opened in NYC, in 1996. On VDay 1998, the play raised 250,000 dollars in a single benefit evening, which funded the VDay nonprofit organization. The rest is history. More than 100 million dollars have been raised for this cause. The Vagina Monologues, and spinoff versions, are performed each year, in celebration of Vday, on campuses worldwide, including here at SJSU.

 The organization One Billion Rising, founded in 2012 to the beat of the song and dance Break the Chain, represents the one billion women (1 in 3) who experience violence worldwide, during their lifetime.

The City of Hope, a sanctuary funded by the Vday nonprofit organization, opened in Bukaru, Democratic Republic of Congo, for women survivors of violence. A sanctuary, which is the topic of the Netflix documentary, The City of Hope
  
Tune in and rise! Happy VDay to all!

References
Eve Ensler
The Vagina Monologues (SJSU Shows & Benefit)
Vday 2020 (Splash page)
VDay (website)
One Billion Rising
City of Joy in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (Splash page)
CityofJoy.org (website)
City of Joy (Official Trailer for the Netflix documentary 2016)
Rise 2018

Monday, February 10, 2020

Oh, patents! Kickstart International MoneyMaker treadle pump

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

To assist in the transition from rain-fed farming to irrigated agriculture, Kickstart International also produces a MoneyMaker treadle pump. The Kickstart International treadle MoneyMaker pump (MMP) is designed to provide a reliable way of transporting water. It is also easy to repair, low-cost and light, while remaining stiff-enough for stable operation.To pump water with a treadle pump, the user stands on the treadles, pushing one treadle after another in a reciprocal manner.

The YouTube video below shows a Kickstart International treadle MMP in operation.


In general, the reported advantages of using treadle pumps, compared to bucket irrigation, are increased income via increased crop yield, due to increased area irrigated (UNFAO, 2000)

This Kickstart International MMP invention is recited in the US patent US8770954B2, titled Human-powered irrigation pump. This patent recites an improvement on the many existing treadle pumps, since they were first developed and introduced in Bangladesh, in the 1980s (UNFAO, 2000). The inventive improvements address the specific context of African agriculture, where water is generally pumped from more distant ground sources for irrigation.

The abstract of the Kickstart treadle MMP invention is included below, together with the patent Figures 3 and 4A.  Figure 3 depicts an embodiment of the treadle MMP pump 200, where two treadles 208, 208’ are coupled to a horizontal reciprocating rocker 202, supported by a rocker pivot 212 (shown in Fig. 4A), mounted to the frame 218. The rocker 202 is mounted between the treadles 208, 208’, at a distance below the horizontal treadle pivot 214. The horizontal treadle pivot 214 enables the treadles to rotate up and down, during pumping. The treadles 208, 208’ are respectively connected to two pistons 206, 206’, each piston also connected via tensile member to the reciprocating rocker 202. Thus, the downward movement of treadle 208, pushing piston 206 down, will also bring down the reciprocating rocker 202, forcing it to rotate on the rocker pivot 212, in turn pulling up piston 206’ and its connected treadle 208’.  

The lowest and highest points of reciprocating travel for the treadles 208, 208’ are depicted in Figure 4A as distance Z, while the lowest and highest points of piston travel are depicted as distance γ. Likewise, the offset elevation of the treadle and rocker pivots 212, 214, is shown as distance x

Footplates 220 are shown at the distal end of each treadle, to minimize slipping when pumping, on both Figures 3 and 4A.
A human-powered pump assembly includes a frame and a treadle pivot attached to the frame, such that the treadle pivot defines a horizontal rotational axis. The pump assembly includes a pair of treadles coupled to the treadle pivot and a rocker pivot attached to the frame, such that the rocker pivot defines a separate horizontal rotational axis. The pump assembly includes a reciprocating rocker coupled to the rocker pivot and to the pair of treadles to constrain the motion thereof, such that the rocker pivot axis is located below the treadle pivot axis. [Abstract US8770954B2]
References
Kickstart International Inc.
UNFAO (United Nations Food & Argriculture Organization) Kay, M. & T. Brabben (Oct. 1, 2000) Treadle Pumps for Irrigation in Africa. IPTRID -  International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage - Knowledge Synthesis Report.
http://www.fao.org/3/X8293E/X8293E00.htm

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Oh, patents! Kickstart International MoneyMaker hip pump

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Africa encompasses more than one-quarter of the world’s arable farmland (World Bank Data). It is a continent of great opportunity with untapped potential. However, only 4% of Africa’s farmlands are irrigated. This means that the whole continent remains largely tributary to rain cycles. In other words, small-scale farmers, comprising 80% of the workforce, are stuck in famine/feast cycles, able to farm when it rains, and left idle during dry seasons or droughts. The problem of weather dependency (rain-fed farming) also causes farmers to all plant and harvest at the same time, in turn to sell in oversaturated markets, thus creating unsold harvests and large amounts of spoilage. It is estimated that, If just 20% of farmlands were irrigated, the hunger problem might be solved. However, beyond survival, the goal is also prosperity, empowering farmers to permanently lift their families out of poverty.

In response to this problematic situation, Kickstart International Inc., co-founded by an American engineer, and British construction entrepreneur, Dr. Martin Fisher and Nick Moon, developed the MoneyMaker hip pump. The MoneyMaker pump is one of the many affordable and durable tools the company has designed to harness the entrepreneurial drive of families, seeking to make money to lift themselves out of poverty “quickly, cost-effectively and sustainably”. This particular irrigation tool is specifically designed to target some estimated 20 million farmers, who have access to sufficient renewable groundwater resources to escape rain dependence. Thus, the MoneyMaker hip pump is designed to provide access to groundwater, independently from rain cycles, so that farmers might produce harvests all year long, in order to sell in markets during the dry season, when prices are higher, in turn making profits, empowering them to make investments in ever improved means to increase productivity.

The Kickstart International Inc., hip pump invention is recited in the US utility patent US7517306B2, titled Hip Pump Assembly. The patent recites a pump assembly comprising a low-friction piston and cylinder pumping mechanism. The pumping mechanism is hinged off a base footplate, in such a way that the pumping mechanism can rotate relative to the base footplate and cooperate with the user, pushing the piston in and out the cylinder to pump. The hinge axle of the foot baseplate comprises the pump’s inlet and outlet pipes. Thus, the pumping cylinder actually rotates around the pipes.

The base footplate is otherwise designed to fold up against the pump, where it can be attached with a clip, for easy transport. The whole assembly actually weighs less than 5 kilos (approx. 10 lbs). It is also designed for easy operation, without fatigue during an extended period of time. Likewise, no training or technical background is required for operating and maintaining the pump.

The pump is called a “hip” pump because of the hip movement solicited from the user, rocking backward and forwards, transferring weight from one foot to another on the ground, when pulling and pushing on the piston handle, during pumping. In other words, the hip movement, coached by the rotation of the pumping cylinder on the hinged footplate, transmits force to the pushing and pulling movements, invoked in pumping. It is this distribution of effort on the whole body, vs. just on upper extremities, which results in a much less tiring experience. The hinged footplate also makes it possible for users of varying height to use the hip pump, since a short person simply uses the pump at a more acute angle than a tall person. 

In terms of performance, the hip pump is designed to suck up water as deep as 8.5 meters (approx. 30 ft.) at sea level, and push water up into a tank up to 7 meters above the pump. The pump can irrigate crops up to 100 meters (approx. 325 ft.) from the source, at a flow rate of more than 1000 liters/hour (approx. 260 gal/hr), which is far more efficient than using buckets. The pump is also designed with a maximum suction ratio, considering piston stroke, the volume of the cylinder and proximity to the valve box. Finally, all component parts of the pumps are inexpensively produced locally, where they do not require additional tools for assembly.


The abstract of this invention is included below, together with the already indexed Figure 41 drawing, extracted from the patent.
Provided herein is an innovative human-powered pumping device comprising a piston and cylinder pumping mechanism that is hinged off a base. In use, the piston is driven in and out of the cylinder by a handle which is pushed and pulled by the operator. The base is resting on the ground and the cylinder is hinged off the base such that the pumping mechanism can rotate with respect to the base during the pumping motion.           [Abstract US7517306B2]
References
Kickstart International Inc. (website) 
World Bank – Arable farmland world wide / per country