Chester Greenwood: Earmuffs with a spring-steel headband
Earmuffs with a spring-steel headband.
Skating on a frozen pond in Farmington, Maine, Greenwood's ears hurt in the cold and the wool caps of the day made him itch. He bent two loops of wire, had his grandmother sew beaver fur to the outside and flannel to the inside, and connected them with a band. His patented improvement, filed at 18, was the spring-steel headband and swivel joint that pressed the pads snugly and let them fold flat.
IP note
US 188,292 'Improvement in Ear-Mufflers', granted 13 March 1877 (age 18).
Recognition
Farmington factory ran ~60 years; Chester Greenwood Day (Maine).
What this means for a student inventor in India
[Editor: 120–200 words connecting this story to the Indian route — Section 6 (any true inventor may apply), provisional vs complete specification, disclosure at fairs (Section 31), renewals, and who owns what when a school is involved. Link to the relevant MYCrave guide.]
Related young innovators
- George Nissen — The trampoline
- Remya Jose — Pedal-powered washing machine
- Blaise Pascal — The Pascaline mechanical calculator
Sources
[Editor: list the 2–4 primary sources from the research notes for this entry, with the date checked.]
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