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Thursday, July 20, 2006
Liberty Heights inventor’s vision on blinds paying off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He always knew he’d invented something special. Something consumer-minded, marketable, different.
Now, Richard D. Hall has validation.
He was one of the first people I profiled when I started writing a column nearly two years ago. Back then, the all-around handyman and painter was perfecting Blind-Shine, his window-blind cleaning system. It lets you clean blinds in a snap, thanks to the Hall-designed “slip-on, slip-off” brackets. They take the hassle out of detaching and reattaching the cumbersome window dressing.
“I got them on my blinds,” said Hall, 45. “They come in the standard sizes and will last a lifetime. You can’t wear them out.”
The Blind-Shine kit ($19.99) includes a set of brackets, hardware (four screws), a 6-ounce bottle of concentrate and a brush with special bristles to fit between the louvers. A local store or two stocked the product, but it never took fire.
In the interim, Hall joined the Inventors Association of Georgia, hired a patent attorney and unsuccessfully sought ways to manufacture and market his $15,000 investment. He hit dead ends, but he didn’t relent.
One November night while watching TV, Hall saw an advertisement for the 2006 “Modern Marvels” Invent Now Challenge. That’s a national competition to find the next great inventor among everyday folk. It’s named in part for “Modern Marvels,” the History Channel series on inventions and ingenuity.
Hall entered his patented Blind-Shine brackets. He wasn’t the grand prize winner. He wasn’t one of the top four finalists announced in May. He didn’t make the list of 25 semifinalists, either.
Still, he has nothing to hang his head about.
Out of more than 4,000 submissions, Blind-Shine garnered honorable mention. It was one of 100 inventions tapped for the honor. Hall recently received a certificate of recognition from the event organizers.
Not a bad breakthrough for a creation born in a workshop behind Hall’s home in Liberty Heights.
“It was great,” he told me Wednesday. “What’s even greater is that the judges for the contest were actual inventors. I was elated.”
He should be.
“We had more than 4,000 submissions. Just imagine having to take a look at all those and narrow them down,” said Rini Paiva, spokeswoman for the National Inventors Hall of Fame, an event co-sponsor. “To be one of the 100 honorable mentions is an honor, even if you’re not a grand prize winner or semifinalist.”
Since his recognition, courters have come calling. One company wanted to market Blind-Shine at an expo in Las Vegas. Hall was leery.
“They wanted too much of the pie,” he said.
Hall wants to capitalize on his accolade but plans to be smart about it; not get taken. He’s heard horror stories about overzealous inventors. They lose their shirts.
“Eighty percent of them get taken,” he said. “My wife and I have agreed that we won’t put our house in jeopardy or anything like that. We want this to stand on its own merit.”
For more information about Blind-Shine, visit www.blind-shine.net.
