(HAUPPAUGE, NY July 9, 2014)—Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone invites residents to explore creative new works to the July15 meeting of the Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club where inventors will showcase their ideas.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to see what Long Islanders are capable of dreaming up and building,” County Executive Steve Bellone said. “The club gives people who have an idea a way to meet with others to figure out how to turn their dreams into reality and succeed as a business.”
The showcase will feature up to 10 inventions. Among them are:
· A medicine cabinet lockbox, to keep prescription drugs out of the hands of abusers and out of the water supply, invented by Thomas McAbee, executive director of the Lloyd Magothy Water Trust in Southampton. Keeping prescription drugs out of the drinking water is a key element in Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s Reclaim Our Water campaign.
· A device to prevent dangerous truck rollaways, created by Tom Accardi of HTK Engineering in Yaphank.
· Clothing for women with physical limitations such as arthritis, that can make it difficult to get dressed, created by Anne Byrnes.
· The Roller Squeegee™ and the Roller Keeper, designed to save time and money and make painting a little neater and a little cleaner, created by Chris Ferencsik, West Islip.
· An invention that helps keep smaller photographs straight while they are scanned on a flatbed scanner, built by.Victor Susman of Kings Park.
· A system to make it easier for one person to bleed the brakelines of a vehicle, invented by Vincent Menten.
· The Hideaway Hinger, a 180-degree folding, locking hinge, created by Ronnie Gaenzle of East Setauket.
· A device to keep a power tool connected to an extension cord and prevents snags. The Plugtector was invented by Tom Robbins of Smithtown.
· Knot Out, designed to get knots out of jewelry, shoelaces etc. Knot Out is a housewares tool that gets inserted into the knot and plunger acts as reverse scissor motion to loosen the knot. It was created by Brian Fried of Melville.
· A “multiphibious vehicle” from Smithtown inventor James W. McIntee Jr. which he designed to traverse water and land. By next year, the retired Boeing Co. safety manager hopes to take it airborne,flying a few feet off the ground. “I’ve been thinking about this for 40 years and building it for one,” said McIntee, who was inspired to invent a different kind of vehicle after seeing the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, about a flying car. McIntee said he had been attending club meetings for about a year and got advice on such topics as the wisdom of building his own product or licensing the work to others. He plans to market his vehicle, which he believes will sell for $60,000 to $100,000, depending on the model, by taking it to car and boat shows. He holds a trademark on the invention, with a patent pending.
Residents interested in inventions are encouraged to attend the monthly meetings, which are held at the H. Lee Dennison Building, 100 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge. All meetings, including the showcase, begin at 7 p.m. Entrepreneurs and guest speakers share advice on business strategy, understanding patents and patent rights and more.
