Now while all of the above devices have been invented and patented the point is that every one of them has a bug, that is a flaw in it somewhere; by which I mean that in each and every case, except the toys and amusements, the device is too hard to work, costs too much, takes too much time, is too troublesome, is too poorly made or is not as comfortable as the old-fashioned thing.
It is your business as an inventor to improve it so that your device will do the work or serve the purpose better than it has ever been done before. In order to improve a compound, device or machine to this extent you will have to introduce some new principle, or element into it and it is this added cause, or part in combination with the other and well-known arrangements that gives it a new and novel twist and for which you pray that letters patent may be granted.
Fig. 108. BUMPING-THE-BUMPS
Some Big Inventions Needed.—Safety First.—That there were 38,000 deaths, 500,000 seriously injured and 2,000,000 slightly injured persons caused by all manner of accidents in 1915, shows how badly improvements are needed for all kinds of machinery, in the operation of mines, railroads and steamships and in the manufacture of certain chemical products such as phosphorus matches and dynamite. There is money and lots of it in inventions that have for their object the safeguarding of human health, limb and life. Fig. 109 shows a life-saving gun.
Fig. 109. A NOVEL LIFE-SAVING GUN
Automobiles.—The automobile is the speed machine of to-day. Pneumatic tires, transmission gears and differentials, must go for they are bothersome, complicated and costly. An engine without poppet valves, carburetor, high tension ignition system and water cooling system with its expensive radiator would be most welcome. A magnetic clutch that does away with the transmission gears is shown in Fig. 110.
Fig. 110. THE OWEN MAGNETIC CLUTCH