Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1960 [PAGE 590]

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19591

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

587

These actions were taken by the following vote: Aye, Mr. Clement, Mr. Herrick, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Pogue, Mr. Swain, Mrs. Watkins, Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Williamson; no, none; absent, Mr. Harewood, Mr. Stratton.

R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S O F T H E UNIVERSITY PATENT COMMITTEE (37) The University Patent Committee submits, with the concurrence of the Chairman of the University Research Board, the following recommendations relating to inventions by members of the staff. 1. Intermittent motion clutch — Associate Professor Roy B. Perkins, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chicago Undergraduate Division, inventor. This device is for slowing and/or stopping and/or reversing the driven shaft during part of each of the revolutions of the driving shaft. It transmits motion in such a way that power may be transmitted only if the angular velocities of the driven and driving shafts are in the same direction. The Committee requested an opinion on this invention from Professor N. A. Parker, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Urbana, and Dr. E. I. Radzimovsky, a member of the Machine Design Division of that Department. It is the opinion of these individuals that the machine may have some merit for transferring motion but only when negligible power is applied. They also state that the novelty of the design may be doubtful. For these reasons the Committee is of the opinion that the commercial value of the invention is doubtful and recommends that the invention be released to the inventor. 2. Amides of phthalic acid possessing parasympathomimetic properties — L. G. Abood, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Chicago Professional Colleges, inventor. These substances are similar in their pharmacological action to nicotine and acetylcholine, although considerably less potent. They were developed because it was desirable to make compounds which will mimic the action of acetylcholine and act specifically on the central nervous system. It is the opinion of Dr. Francis J. Gerty, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, that this idea has very doubtful commercial value. It appears that large sums of money and considerable research effort would be required to develop this invention to the point where it would be useful. Accordingly, the Committee recommends that this invention be released to the inventor. 3. Inhibition of tiller development in corn by potassium gibberellate — Harvey Allen Lund (deceased), Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Ernest Benton Earley, Professor of Agronomy, and Joe H o w a r d Cherry, Assistant in Agronomy, inventors. This idea relates to the application of potassium gibberellate to seedlings of hybrid seed corn. Tiller (sucker) formation was significantly inhibited by this spray. A study of the results of the investigation also disclosed that the amount of grain obtained was diminished from each corn plant by the application of this chemical. This research, carried on by members of the staff of the Department of Agronomy, was financed in part by the Commercial Solvents Corporation. The contract providing for this support states that the sponsoring agency upon payment of all costs of obtaining a patent shall be granted a royalty-free nonexclusive license while the University may charge other licensees an amount that is fair to the public, University, and sponsor. The Commercial Solvents Corporation has indicated an interest in obtaining a patent under these conditions. Accordingly, the Committee recommends that this corporation be authorized to apply for such a patent if that be its decision and that otherwise the invention be released to the inventors since it is the opinion of the Committee that it has doubtful commercial value. 4. Log periodic dipole arrays — D. E. Isbell, Staff Member, Antenna Research Laboratory, inventor. These antennas provide unidirectional radiation patterns of constant input impedances over any desired bandwidth. The antenna configuration is simple, permitting practical methods of fabrication, and the design should Prove useful in many applications. It makes possible the construction of "all wave" rotatable beams of very low cross section for use in the H F to U H F spectrum. The Committee concurred in the opinion of the Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering that this invention holds a likelihood of commercial possibility. Therefore, it recommends that the invention be released to the University