Patents Take Ti
But Protect Inve
BY SUSAN USHER
Obtaining a patent can be a time-consuming and
costly process, but for the man who believes in the uniqueness
of his invention, it can be worth the effort.
Necessity may be the mother of invention, but it provides
no protection for the inventor, as does a patent.
Patenting refers to the granting to the inventor of
useful product or process the privilege to exclude others
from making his invention. In the U.S. any process or
device may be patented if it is novel and useful and if
plans and a working model arc supplies. American
patents are valid 1? years, a period intended to give the
inventor time to make a profit, yet not permanently
deprive others of the free use of the invention.
Two Brunswick County inventors, Roger Morton of
Holden Beach and William R. Reinhold of Sonthnort
recently obtained patents after from two to 10 years of effort.
Morton has been making his collapsible trap for
marine animals for two years at Morton Trap Company
o>: Sand Dune lane near Holden Beach and marketing
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WILLIAM KKINHOLD's next stop Is finding money to
machine a working metal model of his Kotnrque rotary
engine. Here he displays a wooden prototype.
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them in the U.S. and abroad. On Sept. 3 he finally received
U.S. Patent No. 4,538,376.
"They're just catching on locally," Morton said of his
traps, though they've sold well at exhibitions elsewhere.
Meanwhile he continues to look at potential new and expanded
markets for his traps?fui ueep water slu imping,
the Canadian fishing industry, the East Coast crabbing
industry and the South and Central American shrimping
industry, which has captured nearly 100 percent of the
American commercial market, he said.
if i'uat trend continues, he said, he may have to concentrate
more of his own marketing efforts on South and
Central America.
Depending upon how the mouth is modified the versatile
trap can be used to catch shrimp, crabs and
lobster.
This isn't his first patent and may not be his last. In
December 1979, Morton received his first patent, for a
collapsible fish trap, after a similar amount of effort. He
is now working on a crab trap, but said he thinks that
design variation is covered under his first rmtnnt
On March 26, William R. Reinhold of Southport obtained
U.S. Patent, No. 4,506,637, for an idea he conceived
in February 1575 and has yet io market?the "Rotorque"
rotary internal combustion engine.
The engine uses two opposed rotors in place of
pistons. Combustion takes place with alternating
cheeses: the others are air charges.
"It has a sling shot effect that means the power flowis
trying to expand outward." he explained. "This will aid
in PCV and American emission standards."
While it may be his first patent, the engine is not the
mechanically-inclined Reinhold's first invention. Since
his childhood in Portsmouth, Va., the military veteran
has come up with a slide rule for addition and subtraction
and a variation on a standard fish head leader.
in the 1970s he ana investors Frank 1 -angrier of Rolling
Spring lakes and the late Malcolm Mellose of
Southport formed Rotorque Associates to finance the
patenting process and to seek additional backing for the
Rotorque engine.
Reinhold says his engine will idle at 1,500 revolutions
per minute and turns up to 15,000 revolutions per minute.
It is a smooth-running engine, as are most rotaryengines,
he said, and increases horsepower with increased
revolutions per minute. It has less weight per
horsepower than most engines, he said. An engine
weighing less than 100 pounds would be sufficient to
power a full-size car.
Reinhold said Rotorque also is a very low-friction
engine, therefore both fuel-efficient and more durable
than most engines. He predicted a longevity of 100,000
miles. Rotorque is well balanced and more symmetrical
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ROGER MORTON'S latest Invention is a nesting tni
terent sizes.
and has less vibration than most other rotary engines.
It would run on a variety of fuels, he predicted, from
steam to low octane gas to even kerosene or white
gasoline.
"The family lawn mower will cut the whole lawn witli
a cup of gas," he said. "At 15,000 revolutions per minute
a vehicle will cruise 180 mph.
'This engine will be like the sewing machine to tlu
early garment business of the 1850s," he predicted.
But Keinhold, an unemployed machinist, has only n
wooden prototype to show potential believers: a situation
he hopes to rectify by attracting the $45,000 to $50,000 in
capital needed to develop a working metal prototype.
"I can't think of any reason it won't go, but 1 still
tiave to build a prototype," he said.
Morton's marine animal trap, like the fish trap
before it, ts lightweight, easy to manufacture and repair.
It is nestable and can be carried in relatively large
numbers on a small boat. It's suitable for use in largcand
small-scale trapping operations.
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NSWICK BEACON, Thursday, November 7, 1985?Page 5-A
SIAM PMOIOSRT SUIANUIHC*
ip that ran be adjusted to collect marine unimals of dlfThe
tra|> has numerous advantages over drag nets
i and other types of traps. Morton said.
It can be used In deep water and in areas where the
sea floor Is uneven or rocky a hazard to traditional drug
i nets.
The traps have mouths that can be adjusted to allow
selective trapping long and narrow for shrimp, for instance.
This eliminates most on-bourd sorting and provides
a higher quality of seafood for market,
i A funnel-shaped top working with the sides and boti
torn of the net-covered frame prevents mast marine
i animals Irom leaving the trap Optional opaque panels
encourage shrimp tfl stay near the bottom of the trap in
the dark and flexible strands around the mouth can
discourage escape also.
Hut by simply releasing the cables that hold the
mouth in place, the trap can bo inverted for fast emptying
and rehuiling.
While more ex|>enxivc than traditional traps, Morton
said, it also outfishes and outlasts them.
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