Maurice Daniel, Master Inventor

Notable Projects and Inventions

Lumitex Project A fabric made of woven optical fibers was invented by Maurice Daniel in October of 1978 and a first patent was obtained November 18, 1980. This patent was followed by a series of fiber optic illumination patents (see patent listing). A number of prototypes were also made culminating in the fabrication of a fantasy dress in March of 1982 that illuminated in patterns of changing colors. The product was named Lumitex and unsuccessful attempts were made to market it to various manufacturers including Owens Elevator Corporation in Cleveland and Armstrong Tile Corporation in Pennsylvania. Late in 1983 Maurice Daniel joined with two other Partners to form Lumitex, Corporation operating out of a garage in the Cleveland area. Intensive efforts were undertaken to market the product and obtain funding. As Vice President of Engineering for the entrepreneurial company , Maurice Daniel made prototypes and production product for the company latter engaging the services of a job shope to weave new product. During this time panels as large as four foot square were made with a color wheel and a mercury arc lamp for the source of illumination. After falling deeply in debt Maurice Daniel left the company in 1985 to pursue regular employment. The company however survived, obtained investment capital, and today generates $10 million a year in gross revenues. Mr. Daniel is still a minority shareholder in Lumitex and continues to earn royalties. Link to Lumitex

Icosahedron Decimal Dice (IDD) Project A dice with an 20-sided icosahedron geometry was invented by Maurice Daniel in 1996 to be used in games and to roll lottery numbers. The 20-sides allows normal decimal numbers from 0 to 9 to be imprinted twice on the dice. The dice were color coded to specify the order in which the dice should be read. Patent Number 5,909,874 was received on the dice in June of 1999. Daniel teamed with a manufacturing partner and a business partner and manufactured the dice in Cleveland, Ohio. The dice were sold locally but efforts were unsuccessful in selling the product to national chains needed to reach financial break even.

Daniel Displacement Engine (DDE) Project Based on a long series of investigations going back to college, Maurice Daniel invented a displacement engine that could move a payload from one location to another by electro mechanical means without employing reaction forces. Starting in early in 1999 a series of five prototypes were designed, built and tested. The fifth prototype was build by Product Ventures and successfully tested at the University of Maryland in June 2002 (See photo). Physics and mathematical analysis was performed throughout this project period resulting in original physics being developed to reach an understanding of the concept. Phase/Shift Corporation was started with three other very talented partners consisting of a manufacturing manager, a satellite sales rep, and a marketing expert with political connections. The objective was to market the DDE to major satellite manufacturers to perform station keeping of geostationary satellites. When the stock market bubble burst in 2001 the market for satellites disappeared and eventually the company was dissolved in the spring of 2003. Near the and of the project Daniel's analysis reached the conclusion that advanced electro-mechanical "inertialess" engines could be built that could lift themselves and a payload off the surface of the earth against gravity.

Long Range Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Sensor SBIR An underwater sensor capable of detecting the underwater portion of a submarine or ship's bow wave was invented by Maurice Daniel and resulted in the award of a SBIR Navy contract for his employer, the DCS Corporation, in July 1990. Daniel designed and build the special underwater pressure sensors with the assistance of several other engineers and technicians. The apparatus was tested in the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay to detect ships passing through these waterways. In the final tests ship's bow waves were detected over a mile away and calculations indicated that bow waves could in theory be detected hundreds of miles away.

Low Intensity Conflict Aerosol Munitions SBIR A non-lethal method of defeating tanks and other Armored Vehicles was invented by Maurice Daniel and resulted in the award of a SBIR contract under US Army Picatinny Arsenal sponsorship beginning in September 1992. Methods were devised to project bright colored paint at passing tanks from road-side mine devices. The difficult-to-remove paint would cover the tank optics and vision blocks effectively blinding it. The bright colored paint would destroy the tanks camouflage making it an obvious target. Experiments and studies were conducted to determine the best paint projection methods to use and first level specifications were devised. Following this SBIR contract improvements continued to be made on the device and other non-lethal devices were invented by Daniel and proposed in various contracts.

Spiral Reflector Patents Among the many light distribution patents held by Daniel the spiral reflector patents are of particular significance. Spiral reflectors would allow light from an extended light source to be efficiently collimated into a parallel beam of light that could be beamed into an optical fiber network or used in a variety of other illumination applications. Spiral reflectors first appeared in patent 4,576,436 (issued 1986) and in patents 5,021,928; 5,183,323; and in a SBIR proposal to the National Science Foundation in 1994. It was also used in a proposal to DARPA for an innovative X-ray lens concept. Mathamatical analysis was performed on these reflector arrangements which demonstrated that they could capture a greater share of the light output from an extended source than other conventional approaches. In principle such reflectors could be arranged to beam white light into an intense laser-like beam.

TREX Police Baton Provided assistance to Terrence Winston, inventor of the TREX police baton beginning in 1995. This unique baton with curved ends allows police to hit, block, take down, and escort suspects with less injury than conventional batons. Maurice Daniel assisted with product development and all business aspects of the project and became a minority partner in the company. The baton was brought into production but failed in marketing despite widespread interest in the product.