Handbook N-P - Fulton County Public Library

Pa
Mr. Meredith has been employed in garages, electrical appliance stores and radio shops
since his graduation from the engineering school. He has worked on his tubeless radio for six
years before perfecting it.
The inventor will not let persons see the same until he receives his patent from
Washington. The Meredith radio does away with tubes which always have been a source of
trouble to radio fans. Meredith plans to manufacture the product and has received offers from
several radio and tube manufacturers for his invention.
Mr. Meredith is the son of Henry Meredith, aged 87, who is the oldest resident of Akron.
Mr. Meredith Sr. was a Fulton county commissioner for twelve years. He enjoys good health and
spends his winters in Florida.
[The News-Sentinel, Monday, September 26, 1938]
FRANK ALEXANDER INVENTS FALLEN AIRPLANE DETECTOR
AND TWO OTHER DEVICES
Frank B. Alexander, Rochester’s own inventor, has just received confirmation of
copyrights on three varied, useful devices, a fallen aeroplane detector, an adjustable hinge and a
hospital ambulance, which he is now offering to leading manufacturers.
In these days when much interest is focused on the airplane, his detector comes in for
most attention. “Many deaths from airplane crashes would never have occurred if it had been
possible to find the wreckage within a shorter period of time,” said Mr. Alexander. “Actually,
large air liners have been lost for months before being found. As these searches sometimes extend
over a period of months, the expense and loss of time, as well as possible deaths of searchers,
would have been obviated had there been any practical provision made for immediate finding of
the plane. That’s where this invention comes to work. . . . it provides a simple and effective
means of marking the location of a fallen plane, whether it is in mountainous country, in thick
forests, or in water.
Leaves Trail of Ribbon
“Briefly stated, the device consists of a long wide ribbon of bright red material which is
rolled and contained in a box on the underneath side of a plane. When a pilot finds it necessary to
make a forced landing he pulls a release and the ribbon floats out behind the plane for half a mile
as the plane goes down. Searching planes can easily spot the long colored ribbon on the ground
from many miles away and can know in an instant the exact location of the plane, which must be
at either end of the ribbon. The ribbon is fireproofed and is made of durable material.
“The Fallen Airplane Detector will fill a long-felt need in aviation,” said Mr. Alexander.
Its simplicity and compactness make it adaptable to practically any type of plane.
Boon to Hospital Patients
The hospital ambulance for use inside a hospital, provides a means whereby a patient can
be quickly and easily moved from a bed to an operating table, or vice-versa, by a single nurse or
attendant. This is done with a minimum of disturbance and discomfort to the patient.
His adjustable hinge is designed to make it possible to raise or lower a door or gate
vertically without removing the hinge, thus compensating for the sagging or settling of a door
frame. An easy-to-make adjustment, with a small round tool will enable anyone to take the sag
out of a door or gate.
Other Inventions
Other registered inventions of Mr. Alexander include an animal trapping device, a cue-tip
drier and a rural mail receptacle that fits inside a rural mail box. The United States Postal
Department has given him permission to make installations of this device in every rural mailbox in
the United States.
Drawings or photo-line prints are on display in The News-Sentinel window.
[The News-Sentinel, Monday, June 23, 1941]
LOCAL MAN INVENTS NEW AIRPLANE, CAR MUFFLER