Mark B. Morrow Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 The story of the guy who invented the intermittent wiper system and sued Ford when they stole it from him. Sort of "Tucker" with a happier ending. http://www.flashofgenius.net/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonj80 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 The story of the guy who invented the intermittent wiper system and sued Ford when they stole it from him. Sort of "Tucker" with a happier ending. http://www.flashofgenius.net/ Kearns didn't just sue Ford, he also sued GM and Chrysler and many foreign makers. He got the most money Chrysler (18.7million) then Ford(10.1million). His cases against GM and the Foreign manufacturers were dismissed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford-150 Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 so what i am gathering from the trailer i saw on tv is that a guy invents a more efficient windshield wiper that ford had interest in, ford then backs out and says its their invention so goes on a legal battle.... anybody know more about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Google is your friend. http://www.booknoise.net/johnseabrook/stor...lash/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkFive Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 (edited) I saw the trailer on youtube and the movie is about the guy's battle against the Ford Motor Co. only. Didn't he also battle with the other 2 members of the big 3 as well? I read a synopsis of the book and it would appear so. Lots of great car shots of 60's cars - the Continental Mark III and Mustang appear prominently. Edited September 22, 2008 by MarkFive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Thanks for the link. The most frightening thing about Kearns, from the automobile companies' point of view, is that he is not particularly interested in money. He wants justice. "They think they can pay me thirty million dollars and put me on a park bench," he says. "Well, Bob Kearns is not somebody's lackey." When I first met him, a few months after he received ten million dollars from Ford, he was living by himself in a small, dark unfurnished apartment in Houston. A sleeping bag was on the floor, and boxes of legal documents were everywhere--on the floor, on the kitchen counters, stacked on the toilet. He has since bought a Colonial house and some property on the eastern shore of Maryland (it's right next to a house owned by Mario Boyardee, the canned-spaghetti heir), but he hardly ever goes there. He sleeps on friends' couches around Detroit, or on the floor of his office. He says he simply wants to make windshield wipers. That is all he has ever wanted. He will go on suing until automobile companies around the world are stopped from manufacturing his wiper, and he can make it himself. A whack-job. I think I'll pass on the movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanh Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Thanks for the link. A whack-job. I think I'll pass on the movie. and a man of principle.......LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 It happens. People get difficult. From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_screwdriver "Canadian P.L. Robertson invented the Robertson screw and screwdriver in 1908. Robertson had licensed the screw in England, but the party with which he was dealing intentionally drove the company into bankruptcy and purchased the rights from the trustee, thus circumventing Robertson.[citation needed] He spent a small fortune buying back the rights. After that, he refused to ever allow anyone to make the screws under license. When Henry Ford tried out the Robertson screws he found they saved considerable time in the production of cars but when Robertson refused to license the screws to Ford, he (Henry Ford - ed) realized that the use of the screws would not be guaranteed and stopped using them." As well, IIRC, the auto companies tried to weasel with the dude who invented the coolant reservoir bottle and drainage system. Took litigation, but he collected, with settlements in the $10 million range. BTW, the Wiki page has a prcture-list of all the different screw types. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 Pony Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Thanks for the link. A whack-job. I think I'll pass on the movie. No, he wasn't a whack job. He invented it and then the Big Three tried to steal it from him. He went about the lawsuits a bit unconventional but - It wasn't just Ford, although they were the first. I work in Intellectual Property law and this case (along with the Kodak/Polaroid instant picture case in the late 70's) are required reading when in school. Trailer is good - Flash Of Genius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 (edited) For sure, he got ripped off. It's just that, after finally collecting settlements, to keep being fixated about having to make 'em yourself. I mean, they're just windshield wipers, not heart-valves. With all that money, if you still have a hard-on for rubber, design and build a better butt-plug, or whatever. That's why I labelled him a whack-job, I'm glad he got some restitution, but jeez, why not go open a bordello or something entertaining, if you feel you have to do something, instead of schlepping windshield wipers? Edited September 23, 2008 by Edstock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 Pony Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 (edited) For sure, he got ripped off. It's just that, after finally collecting settlements, to keep being fixated about having to make 'em yourself. I mean, they're just windshield wipers, not heart-valves. With all that money, if you still have a hard-on for rubber, design and build a better butt-plug, or whatever. That's why I labelled him a whack-job, I'm glad he got some restitution, but jeez, why not go open a bordello or something entertaining, if you feel you have to do something, instead of schlepping windshield wipers? I rarely disagree with you on anything so your response caught me by surprise. Yea he was fixated even after it was over. But working in the IP industry, I can understand when some basement inventor comes up with a novel invention and companies try and steal it. Yes they were and are just intermentent windshield wipers. Hard to believe now but in 1967, all of the Big Three were trying - and failing - at making them. And when they came out they were considered revolutionary. I remember when my grandparents bought either their '72 Galaxy or '75 LTD and they had them on it and us kids were amazed. So I guess I give Kearns a bit of latitude for being obsessive. My how times have changed. Windshield wipers being exciting! P.S. - I watched the trailer again - the Mark III still looks stunning Edited September 23, 2008 by 96 Pony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probeGT Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 I saw this movie at (Michael Moore's!) Traverse City Film Festival in August. Pretty well done, Kinnear's good, and there are some nice Fords in it. Ford itself comes off pretty badly, but not as badly as it could have. They had the actual Mark III that's in the movie outside the theater, and it was pretty sweet. Guy who owns it lived in Denver (his dad bought the car new) and now lives in Traverse City. Hopefully he'll keep it parked in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark B. Morrow Posted September 23, 2008 Author Share Posted September 23, 2008 (edited) I have always liked Kinnear and I like old cars (especially Fords) so I will see the movie. I also liked Tucker. Interesting side fact: Ford had a variable speed, not intermittent, hydraulic wiper system on Lincolns and Thunderbirds in the early '60s. Both My '63 Lincoln and my '66 T-Bird have them. The wipers are driven off the power steering pump and there is a sliding switch that regulates the fluid and the speed. They can go very slowly but they do move constantly. Edited September 23, 2008 by Mark B. Morrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probeGT Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 I did think while watching the movie about what an apparently simple/easy idea this is. Isn't it just a capacitor building up a charge and then releasing it or something? I don't quite get why it took so long to develop the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 (edited) I did think while watching the movie about what an apparently simple/easy idea this is. Isn't it just a capacitor building up a charge and then releasing it or something? I don't quite get why it took so long to develop the system. Sure, today it is simple. Back in the early 60's transistors were still very new and just becoming cost effective (you need 2 transistors for the circuit and amother to turn on/off the relay; technically the circuit is called a monostable multivibrator). I posted this a couple of months ago (of course you can't find anything here any more because there is no search capability). I lived one street over from Dr. Kerns (as we kids called him), went to school and played with his kids and actually rode in his personal car (a Galaxie I believe) with a prototype of the system (yes, in a red metal box with a knob on the front) when I was about 10. It took many, many years for him to make a nickle and in the end, he lost most of it to lawyers and his wife (who divorced him). I'll have to watch it, to see how accurate it is. Edited September 24, 2008 by theoldwizard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Google is your friend. http://www.booknoise.net/johnseabrook/stor...lash/index.html I just read this synopsis. Funny thing is, I knew Ted Daykin at the end of his career at Ford ! Ted Daykin was the department manager in charge of the EEC-IV PCM ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 I'm not sure at what level.... but I bet the movie will hurt the Big 3 market %. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probeGT Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 I'm not sure at what level.... but I bet the movie will hurt the Big 3 market %. As I said, the movie is definitely not favorable toward Ford, but it doesn't really sledgehammer them either. Early in the movie, Kearns and others say how much respect they have for Ford and its history, etc. The guy who plays the agent for Ford approaches Kearns with (I think) three different offers, the last of which is $30 million dollars, and the way the movie plays you see Ford as trying to do "the right thing." Maybe it's just because I'm such a Ford fanboy, but I really think the movie portrayed Ford much better than it could have. I thought the irony was that he refused the $30 million and throughout the movie was always saying he wanted them to admit they stole it, but when the jury finds for him, they find that Ford did not willfully infringe. And, he only got (I think) $10 million. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LincolnFan Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 I lived one street over from Dr. Kerns (as we kids called him), went to school and played with his kids and actually rode in his personal car (a Galaxie I believe) with a prototype of the system (yes, in a red metal box with a knob on the front) when I was about 10. It took many, many years for him to make a nickle and in the end, he lost most of it to lawyers and his wife (who divorced him). I'll have to watch it, to see how accurate it is. Wow, that sucks. Wonder if that last part will make it to the movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 Pony Posted September 27, 2008 Share Posted September 27, 2008 I lived one street over from Dr. Kerns (as we kids called him), went to school and played with his kids and actually rode in his personal car (a Galaxie I believe) with a prototype of the system (yes, in a red metal box with a knob on the front) when I was about 10. It took many, many years for him to make a nickle and in the end, he lost most of it to lawyers and his wife (who divorced him). I'll have to watch it, to see how accurate it is. I'll be interested in seeing your thoughts after you see the movie. I too will go see it (which is rare as I usually wait for them to come out on DVD!) The sad lesson of this movie and the case - which has nothing to do with Ford, Chrysler or GM whom he went after - is that you have two choices. Run with the money or stand up on principal. Only problem is, principal will cost you the majority of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_in_va Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 the way the movie plays you see Ford as trying to do "the right thing." Maybe it's just because I'm such a Ford fanboy, but I really think the movie portrayed Ford much better than it could have. Yeah, but what most people will see are the TV ads, which make Ford look like this absolutely evil corporation and don't portray the nuances of the story. It fits in with the ongoing demonization of the US automakers in the media. Even if the movie flops Ford PR will probably still need to step in and do some damage control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Yeah, but what most people will see are the TV ads, which make Ford look like this absolutely evil corporation and don't portray the nuances of the story. It fits in with the ongoing demonization of the US automakers in the media. Even if the movie flops Ford PR will probably still need to step in and do some damage control. Agreed, I want to go and see it for two reasons....first is because Lauren Graham plays the wife and second, so I can see the awesome cars.... He won his case, and the auto industry today is far different than it was years ago, still gotta watch yourself, but in todays information age....harder for them to try that crap now. Not impossible....just harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark B. Morrow Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 Ford's PR Department issues press release. http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/30/ford-re...ate-wiper-pate/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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