Patent No. 4,043,329

*** The following post is for mature audiences only ***
(What is meant by mature is NO GIGGLERS!)

I was getting my softball uniform ready in preparation for tomorrow's game when I noticed something about my equipment that had previously escaped my attention. Emblazoned across my protective cup is, "Patent No. 4,043,329". I had never thought about a protective cup being patented. I always thought they'd been around since ancient times. I've seen pictures of ancient Roman soldiers wearing similar equipment on the History Channel, so I could only assume that this wasn't a new invention. So I went to the United States Patent web site and to my surprise the patent is dated 1976! That would explain why there haven't been any ancient cups unearthed in any archeological digs!

My curiosity was far from being satiated. I wondered what other devices necessity had mothered before the cup. Evidently the Urological Drape was more important, Patent No. 4,043,328. It beat the cup's invention by 15 days. The Waterproof cast protector, Patent No. 4,043,326,

"A flexible covering for placement over an individual's injured limb having a cast or bandage"

When my little brother broke his arm my mom used something similar on him except she called it a Trash Bag! We couldn't afford special medical supplies, not when we could make them. Had she only patented the Trash Bag we'd be rich! You can do a search at the top of this blog for past posts of my regular column, Today's Invention by typing in "Today's Invention" in the field provided. They may never be patented and they may never be as good as the Protective Cup, but come on, I know my stuff is better than the Urological Drape!