Bamboo Leaf Discovery In late October 2004 two things came together About four years ago I noticed my sister Sue Robben Bisanzo had Bamboo Trees growing in her yard in Riverside, Connecticut. She allowed me to take some trees which I transported and replanted in my yard. A couple of years later Sue asked me to design baby bedding artwork with a Noah’s Ark animal theme. So I bought a book about animals to learn how to draw them. Laurie Stoltenhoff Robben told me about an ice skating party at Dorothy Hamill Ice Rink…to bring my daughter Bailey to…but I wouldn’t be able to skate with her. I thought that if I put something attached to the bottom of my shoes I could walk on the ice with Bailey. The book about animals had a section about the Polar Bear that said Polar Bears are able to catch their prey because they have a non-slip grip on ice, not because of their claws but because of the shape of their paws and their fur. So I went to the freezer grabbed a piece of ice and went to my back shed. Inside the shed I rubbed the ice on a decorative piece of synthetic Polar Bear fur. It didn’t work. I left the shed and picked up the nearest thing I could find, a Bamboo leaf. I rubbed the top of the leaf with the ice, but it was slippery. Then I rubbed the underside of the leaf and it gripped!
The Shed in my Backyard
Polar Bear Fur (synthetic polarbear fur)
Bamboo leaves on the ground
United States Patent 7,475,499 Robben January 13, 2009 Device for neutralizing the slipperiness of wet frozen surfaces Abstract Traction on wet slippery icy and/or snowy surfaces is improved by the use bamboo leaves which are disposed on articles which engage the slippery surfaces. The bamboo leaves are disposed on the articles in question with the underside of the bamboo leaves oriented so as to engage the slippery surfaces. The bamboo leaves are preferably cut into shaped forms such as circles, squares or the like, which are releasably secured to the articles in question. The securement can be accomplished with releasable adhesives or releasable hook and loop devices. Articles to which the bamboo leaves can be secured include footwear, gloves, crutches, canes, walkers, vehicle tires and any other articles that would benefit from improved traction on slippery icy and/or snowy surfaces. When the hook and loop securement option is used, one sheet of the hook and loop material will be secured to a surface of the bamboo leaf shaped forms and a complementary sheet of the hook and loop material will be secured to the article in question. Inventors: Robben; John Ferris (Riverside, CT) Appl. No.: 11/338,370 Filed: January 25, 2006 Current U.S. Class: 36/86 ; 2/16; 2/62; 36/59R; 428/98 Current International Class: A43B 1/06 (20060101); A41D 13/08 (20060101); A43C 15/02 (20060101); B32B 5/00 (20060101) Field of Search: 36/86,59R,59C References Cited [Referenced By
Microscopic Image of a suction cup found on the underside of a Bamboo Leaf.
on Jan 15th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
very cool indeed!
How, though, would one find bamboo leaves in January? I’ve seen bamboo at the edge of the parking lot at the YMCA – but do they have to be fresh?
on Jan 15th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
ps What function do the suction cups serve (to the bamboo)?
on May 27th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I dont know what purpose they serve to the Bamboo tree. What do you mean about ‘fresh’? you can email me at Projecticewalker@aol.com.