The World Series Starts today! There’s a lot of talk in major league baseball these days about using a robot umpire to call balls and strikes more accurately. Did you know that a Cheyenne couple invented a patented robot umpire device way back in 1950?
Lloyd and Nellie Holiday filed for a patent of their “Detecting Device for fast moving objects” on March 31, 1950. It was approved by the U.S. Patent office on July 28, 1953. The device would use two lens to measure the strike zone. A light would indicate a strike, no light meant a ball outside the strike zone. You can see a drawing of the Holiday’s invention (along with many other Wyoming patents) by searching the State Library’s Wyoming Inventors database for the links to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
As a United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) designated Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC), the Wyoming State Library can assist with general questions and provide assistance and instruction in the use of patent and trademark resources. Contact Karen Kitchens for additional information or questions at karen.kitchens@wyo.gov or (307) 777-7281.