Awesome Patents

Hand Tool Rescue previously created a unique tabletop vice with jaws that used a fractal design to grip irregular objects. He came across a 1913 patent for a fractal device – a chair that uses rotating sections to adapt to the shape of someone sitting on it. He collaborated with Josh Fick to create the metal parts with a fiber laser.

Hand Tool Rescue loves to take old patent drawings of unusual tools and recreate them in his workshop. This time, he made a wrench unlike any we’d seen before. It features a rotating jaw with grooves to help grip and turn tapered, smooth, and standard fasteners. The Canadian snow quench was a nice touch.

These unique greeting cards feature line art illustrations based on patent drawings. The collection includes silly items like Mr. Potato Head and that little plastic thing they put in pizza boxes, and more practical inventions like the kitchen stand mixer and handcuffs.

Designers, inventors, and engineers frequently patent their ideas so they can’t be freely copied. Author Thomas Rinaldi’s fascinating coffee table book catalogs 1000 original patent drawings from iconic and ubiquitous objects such as furniture, lamps, appliances, and electronics.