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36 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 2, 2004 Allen Kenner of Ashland took the lowly screwdriver to a new level with an idea for a free-spinning, ratcheting rubber grip. Kenner patented the grip mechanism and has a contract with Sears to produce screwdrivers that incorporate his idea. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Ashland inventor makes a deal with Sears to market his spin-grip screwdriver By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Allen Kenner wanted to build a better tennis racket. Twelve years later, the Ashland man has a better screwdriver — and the patent to prove it. Better yet, Sears is selling his design under its well-known Craftsman brand. Kenner’s tool works like a ratchet, without all the mechanical parts. Essentially it’s an ordinary screwdriver with a high-friction rubber grip permanently slipped over the handle. The grip spins freely in either direction, separated from the handle by two nylon bushings until hand pressure compresses the rubber and closes the gap. "You squeeze (the grip) and it grabs on," the 43-year-old inventor said, showing a visitor the screwdriver Sears calls "Grip-N-Drive." "It’s very simple," he said, "but it took a long time to get there." Advertisement Kenner’s inventing odyssey began when he was teaching tennis. He noticed that beginners had trouble shifting their grip between forehand and backhand strokes, a skill that comes only after thousands of volleys. He decided to make a racket with a grip that could rotate between the forehand and backhand positions. Working in his spare time, on a tight budget, he decided to patent the design on his own. He bought a copy of David Pressman’s "Patent It Yourself" and started poring over the U.S. Patent Office files on his computer. It didn’t take long to discover that many patents had already been issued for tennis rackets with rotating handles, but Kenner had never seen such a racket for sale. "I started to wonder why those inventions didn’t make their owners any money," he said. In his book, Pressman tells budding inventors to look for ways their idea can be applied in other fields. Kenner, who studied architecture and design, realized a rotating handle could be useful in something like a screwdriver. He spent countless hours making different kinds of rotating handles, but none worked quite right. The "Aha!" moment came one day when he was squeezing tennis balls out of a plastic container. "Of course," he remembers thinking. "It’s got to work like your hand." In July 2002 he received U.S. patent number 6,419,601 for "squeeze-activated hand interface systems for rotatable items." He went shopping for somebody who would pay him for his idea, knowing the odds were long. "Less than one invention in 1,000 makes its inventor any real money," he said. "There are a lot of worthless patents out there." He worked for a time with Professional Tool Manufacturing, the Ashland outfit that developed Drill Doctor drill sharpening machines for home workshops. Pro Tool’s Hank O’Dougherty introduced Kenner to his contacts at Sears. After months of negotiations, Sears wrote Kenner a check that covered his development costs and agreed to produce at least 50,000 screwdrivers. They’ll also pay him a percentage of the price for each one. He long ago quit counting the time he’d invested in the tool. "If you asked my wife (Dr. Wendy Schilling), she’d say ‘Way too much,’ " Kenner said with a laugh. The new tool has some distinct advantages over a traditional ratcheting screwdrivers, said Medford machinist Mike Barnum, who built several of the prototypes that Kenner used to pitch his product. "A regular ratcheting screwdriver takes friction from the screw to make it work," Barnum said. "His screwdriver turns so freely and easily you don’t need any friction from the screw." The tool’s ease of use will make it attractive to older people who have joint problems, said Barnum, 54. "I think you could use them pretty much anywhere you’d use a regular screwdriver, only with less work." Kenner would like his success to inspire others to put their imagination to work. "Lots of people think the day of the do-it-yourself inventor is over," he said. "That’s absolutely not true. "A lot of times, people don’t undertake things like this because they think they’re not possible. If you believe in something and you want to make a better life, you can do it." Meet the inventor Ashland inventor Allen Kenner will visit the Sears store in Medford Saturday and Sunday to talk about his new "Grip-N-Drive" screwdrivers. Kenner will be at the Sears store in the Medford Center from noon to 3 p.m. both days. The screwdrivers are sold in a packet of five (two sizes of Phillips tip and three sizes of flat tip) for $19.99. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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