A close-up of a jam lock prototype, which was produced at the Manufacturing Technology Resource Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

Latest on the area invention list is the "HitchHand," a device designed to balance long loads -- plumbing pipe, lumber, carpet and more -- in pickup trucks.

Most Americans associate the name of the late William P. Lear to the corporate jet world, but before making his mark with successes in the manufacture and marketing of the Lear Jet, he was an inventor.

He was responsible for the development of the first practical car radio and the eight-track tape.

Lear designed the car radio and sold the rights to Motorola Corp. when he was 22. Lear, who eventually held more than 100 patents for radio and navigational equipment, developed the autopilot for aviation.

Inventions over the years have provided thousands of jobs and have added to the prosperity to the world.

The late president Dwight D. Eisenhower may have said it best:

"The (patent) system encourages imaginations to dream, and to experiment -- in sheds and garages, in great universities and in corporate labs -- leading to innovations and discoveries that have created great new industries."

The American patent system is as important today as ever and continues to produce some spectacular results.

The 20th century has produced some big inventions -- microprocessor, ram chips, lasers, compact discs, microwave ovens, fiber optics, satellite communications.

Included in the recent-year inventions are three by Cape Girardeau eye surgeon Dr. Charles Cozean Jr. who has three patents on surgical tools, one of them a device called a hydraulic capsulorhexitome, which makes cataract repair safer. It was patented this year.

Cozean also has patents on a similar surgical device that used ultrasound instead of hydraulic pressure and intraoccular lens.

A patent is pending for the KTMU invention by a Jackson man. Robert Foulk, who has designed the Keith Track Mobility Unit (KTMU), an all-terrain mobility unit to help in handicapped people's mobility.

Foulk is negotiating with an Ohio manufacturer to produce and distribute the KTMU.

Latest on the area invention list is the "HitchHand," a device designed to balance long loads -- plumbing pipe, lumber, carpet and more -- in pickup trucks, by Brian Johnson, of Goreville, Ill.

Johnson, founder and chief executive officer of Happy Hollow Inc., which produces the new product, previously worked with the family business, Johnson Siding and Roofing, in Southern Illinois and Cape Girardeau areas.

Johnson's invention has won a national award at the annual National Inventors Expo, held at Walt Disney World at Orlando, Fla.

Johnson received a $1,000 U.S. Savings bond for his ingenuity in designing the Hitch Hand. Johnson's product was one of three U.S. patents recognized from more than 60 exhibits at the Expo.

Johnson's product is available through more than 300 dealers in the United States and has been exported to Canada, the Cayman Islands and Australia.

Johnson and his wife, Gwena, work out of their home. Sales doubled the first year of production and are more than 100 percent today for 1999.

More than 60 patents have been granted to Cape Girardeau residents during the past two decades, from a remote control for alarm clocks to a device for operating on the back of the human eye, from spatulas to bibs, cat litter additives to fire resistant insulating compounds.

Other inventions that received patents in the area include a mop head with entirely replaceable parts, by inventor Charles Nenninger, who also has plans for developing some other new items.

These all go along with invention of the past that have improved life on the farm, in industry and business, and in the home.

A brief trace of invention history:

-- The cotton gin, to separate cotton seeds and fiber, by Eli Whitney, in 1793.

-- The harvester, to harvest crops, by Cyrus McCormick, 1829.

-- The plow, and another farm machinery, by John Deere, in 1846.

-- Barbed wire, by James Glidden, in 1873.

-- The telegraph by Samuel Morse in 1840.

-- The telephone by Alexander Bell in 1876.

-- John Fitch, the first steamboat, actually a row boat powered by steam, 1785.

-- The first practical steamboat, by Robert Fulton.

-- The bicycle, by Pierre Latlement of France, 1866.

-- Mass production of the car, by Henry Ford.

-- The first airplane, by the Wright Brothers, who previously operated a bicycle shop.

-- The sewing machine by Elise Howe, in 1842.

-- The first coal stove by Jordan Matt, 1833.

-- The first washing machine by Alva Fisher, 1910.

-- Bakelite, by Leo Beeke, in 1909.

-- The cash register, by J. Ritty. in 1879.

In the search for "the better mousetrap," improvements to lawn mowers and golf carts, inventors have come up with some pretty bizarre inventions. Millions of patents have been issued by the U.S. Patent office, including the pneumatic shoe-lacing machine, a jet-powered surfboard, a fly-swatter with sound effects, and a smoker's hat, designed to pull in smoke, filter and purify it, before releasing it to the environment.

Hundreds of inventions and gadgets are included in the "Gallery for Obscure Patents," which can be found on the Internet. In fact, you can search, retrieve and study more than 2 million patents, which have been issued over the past quarter-century, by visiting http://patent.womplex.ibm.com

The Manufacturing Technology Resource Center at Southeast Missouri State University has been an aid to some small businesses in the area with new products and inventions.

A new Rapid Prototyping machine at the technology center can produce a plastic prototype for new products.

"This is a service we can offer area manufacturers," said Gary Frey, an assistant professor in the Polytechnic Institute at Southeast.

Frey is in charge of a new, $207,000 Stratasy Rapid Prototypeing Machine obtained recently.

The new machine can produce prototype models within a few days, and, in some cases, hours.

This same process used to take highly skilled craftsmen weeks or months to perfect, said Frey.

Rapid prototyping machines -- this one is 4 feet tall, 2 feet wide and 3 feet in depth, weighs about 400 pounds -- can fabricate the plastic parts layer-by-layer, using thin horizontal cross sections to form the parts in a relatively short while, said Frey.

Consolidated Plastics of Bloomfield recently needed a prototype in a hurry and enlisted the help of technology center, which put together the prototype, receiving the plans and specs just before Christmas, and delivering the prototype just after Christmas.

"The company wanted the prototype in a hurry, and we put it out in a hurry," said Frey. "We got the plans and specs for the part just before Christmas. "We had it ready just after Christmas." The operation probably saved the company three months in time.

Latest to use the technology center's program was Don Staples, president of Jam Lock Manufacturing. The technical computer graphics class at the university worked with Jam Lock on a project.