The inventor of the Frisbee has passed away recently. It is interesting to review the claims of the original Frisbee patent granted way back in 1965. One might wonder what innovation can be found in a flying soccer, known for many decades.
When reviewing the first claim of the patent, one might notice that the first three paragraphs describe a common known structure of a soccer having curved edges. Let us review the first claim of the Frisbee patent:
“An aerodynamic toy comprising:
a circular central portion having a center surrounded by a substantially flat circular surface area whose boundary is defined by a predetermined radius;
a rim circumscribing the circular central portion;
a surface of curvature extending from said boundary and curving downwardly to a point of juncture with said rim to form an upper convex surface and a lower concave surface of the toy; and
air flow spoiling means located on the convex surface of curvature and extending substantially from said boundary to the point of juncture at the rim, said spoiling means comprising a plurality of concentric circular raised ribs being concentric about said center.”
Only the last paragraph reveals the uniqueness(“the inventive step” in legal terms) of the soccer ” plurality of concentric circular raised ribs being concentric about said center” , if you have a chance look at any Frisbee you can see that until today all Frisbees include this feature, which improves its aerodynamic properties. The “raised ribs” change the pressure differences between the lower and upper part of the Frisbee and improves the soccer elevation. This invention serves as a good example as to how small changes in a product can make a difference, the new Frisbee design became a popular professional sport game and sold over one hundred million units.
Links:
Frisbee inventor dies at 90:
Original freebee patent: 3,359,678 http://www.google.com/patents?id=zG5qAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false