Student Invents New Eyedropper

Inventor Jay H. Robbins '56 took out U.S. patent number 2,722,216 last week for a safe and accurate device for self-administering eye drops which prevents spilling. The new eye-dropper is fitted with a bridge that straddles the nose, steadying the glass tube and enabling the user to squeeze the medicine into any part of the eye. Robbins pointed out that the "successful independent inventor is rapidly disappearing from the American scene." Large industry corners most of the patents, with the result that less than one percent of unassigned patients ever reach the public. He hopes, however, to market the eyedropper in the near future despite the odds against him. Robbins has also invented a device to teach young children how to tie their own shoes.