Who invented the safety pin?
The world met a very simple but useful product invented by Walter Hunt in 1849: the Safety Pin. The safety pin was created by an American inventor as a result of a claim to earn only $15.
Has the safety pin been patented?
The safety pin was patented in 1849 on behalf of Walter Hunt. (The Romans had a similar invention, but not the same, but similar.) In fact, the first safety pin patent was given to Thomas Woodward in 1842. However, this needle was combined with a metal piece attached to the tip of an ordinary needle. It was not safe or convenient. The safety pin we know today, dated 1849, is an invention developed by Walter Hunt to pay off his debts to draftsmen. The people that Hunt made a loan to made a claim and promised that if he made a useful invention with a piece of wire, they would pay off their debts and give money on it. Hunt also invents the safety pin after 3 hours of work. His prize would be only $400, not his patent. Because he had to transfer the patent of this invention to the people he made a deal with.
Walter Hunt (July 29, 1796 – June 8, 1859) was an American mechanical engineer. Through the course of his work he became known for being a prolific inventor. He got first involved with mechanical innovations in a linseed producing community in New York state that had flax mills. While in New York City to promote his inventions, one thing led to another and he got involved in inventing the streetcar gong that is used throughout the United States. This then led him to invent other useful items like the safety pin, sewing machine, repeating rifle, and fountain pen. About two dozen of his inventions are used today in basically the same form as he had patented it.
Who is Walter Hunt?
Walter Hunt was born in 1796 in a town north of New York. In the following years, he started working on a farm in this town. He spent his free time inventing efficient machines. In fact, one of them is a sewing machine invention that is known for its commercial failure.
While Hunt is thinking about how he will pay his $15 debt one day; he was also trying to form shapes by bending a piece of wire. Those bending processes would perhaps lead to the invention of the safety pin, which would make the life and especially the work of many people in the world easier. But Hunt sold the patent to the man who had invented the safety pin for four hundred dollars.
In 1827 Hunt received his second patent, this time he invented a gong for cars. When he witnessed the carriage crash into a little girl, it occurred to him to invent this device. The rider could play the gong with his feet without letting go of the belts he used to ride the horses.