Nature has always provided the impetus and reference for many innovations in the manufacturing and design process. In some cases, the construction of an item mimics a natural form. In others, the replication merely simulates the natural form or function. When first presented with this item, I was struck by the similarity (it seemed at the time) to a prehistoric bird, wrongly named the pterodactyl. You know – the scary one that is always depicted on the big screen. The actual name for this bird is pteranodon, it being a member of the pterosaur family. What caused the comparison was the reverse horn on the head of the bird. I found the shape of this tool to be strikingly similar, and could not shake the thought that the original designer may have been thinking along those lines.
This tool was designed to be a multi-function device. From my initial research, it became clear that it was another casualty of the patent-pending scam, in which, to protect one's brilliant idea, a little spurious exaggeration as to its registration is bolstered by the inclusion of the "Patent Pending" mark somewhere on the item. Patent research and litigation is often an arduous path, with the cost to defend a patent bordering on the GNP of a small nation. So, one threw up barriers with a clever bit of advertising and hoped. I have found that most items marked this way did not have a long marketing life. more...click here
