FC: U.S. Patent Office awards patent for swinging on swing sideways

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Wed Apr 17 2002 - 09:33:21 PDT

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    [The most innovative patent yet! What will those cunning inventors think of 
    next? Here's my favorite excerpt: "It should be noted that because pulling 
    alternately on one chain and then the other resembles in some measure the 
    movements one would use to swing from vines in a dense jungle forest, the 
    swinging method of the present invention may be referred to by the present 
    inventor and his sister as 'Tarzan' swinging. The user may even choose to 
    produce a Tarzan-type yell while swinging in the manner described, which 
    more accurately replicates swinging on vines in a dense jungle forest. 
    Actual     jungle forestry is not required." --Declan]
    
    ---
    
    Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 12:22:05 -0400
    From: Gabriel Rocha <gabeat_private>
    To: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private>
    Subject: Patent for swinging on a swing sideways.
    Message-ID: <20020417122202.D16067at_private>
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    I still haven't been able to bring myself to believe it, but it is on
    the official uspto site, so I don't know what to think. This is the
    abstract for patent number 6,368,227 issued on April 9, 2002 (if the
    date had said April 1 I would not have believed it at all) --Gabe
    
    Abstract
    A method of swing on a swing is disclosed, in which a user positioned on
    a standard swing suspended by two chains from a substantially
    horizontal tree branch induces side to side motion by pulling
    alternately on one chain and then the other.
    
    http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='6,368,227'.WKU.&OS=PN/6,368,227&RS=PN/6,368,227
    
    
    
    
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