Love for inventing pays off

No one can deny the convenience of the life-altering invention, The Clapper. So, when inventor Mark Grossmeyer blew the minds of executives at Joseph Enterprises, a San Francisco-based company responsible for the advertising for The Clapper and Chia Pets, it was because of an addition.

The addition of a Plus and a remote.

The Clapper Plus is only one of the many innovative inventions Grossmeyer has lining the walls in his basement bunker.

The husband and father of two has several different inventions some of which can be found in retail stores like Walgreens including the Clapper Plus and VCR Co-Pilot. However, what makes him different is his passion for creating something new.

Grossmeyer’s wife, Barbara Grossmeyer, said his obsession with the invention started when he was young. “When I met him 30 years ago… his mother always told me he wanted to invent something but he didn’t know what to invent. The way she said it (mother) he had something that needed to come out of him but he didn’t really know what it was, and that really scared her,” Ms. Grossmeyer said.

Almost every invention under Grossmeyer’s belt has its own unique story about its creation.

When the Clapper Plus is purchased, you receive your typical Clapper which turns off your lights with a clap of the hands, but the Plus adds a remote.

Grossmeyer said the inspiration for The Clapper Plus came to him one night while he was lying in bed. “I thought to myself, I don’t have a Clapper in my house, why not? And I was lying in bed at the time and didn’t want to wake up my wife. I definitely wouldn’t want to clap… and I thought wouldn’t it be nice if you could just push a button instead of clapping,” Grossmeyer said. He added that there is a laziness factor to The Clapper Plus.

Although his other invention, the VCR Co-Pilot, isn’t the most applicable today with VCRs becoming obsolete, it was during its heyday. Grossmeyer said he dawned on the idea for the Co-Pilot after his wife, Barbara Grossmeyer, asked him to program the VCR to tape a show she wanted to watch, later. They were in a hurry and he couldn’t figure out how to program the VCR and thought about making a remote with large dials, making it simple to program times.

During the creation of the Co-Pilot, Grossmeyer said he went to the furniture and television warehouse American and tested the universal VCR remote on all the televisions. He became a regular at American, he said.

Grossmeyer has been an engineer at the Johnson Controls Inc. for 30 years but taught himself all he knows as a young kid. He built a tic-tac-toe machine in which he played against a computer. When he opened up the machine, thousands of coils and wires were scattered about inside of the wooden box. “I remember being in the 8th grade and instead of thinking about my classroom work I was thinking about, how do I wire the circuitry to get this thing to work,” Grossmeyer said.

One of Grossmeyer’s more novel inventions is the Quick Thought transparent keyboard. It attaches to a Smartphone and is about the size of a Post-it pad on either side. Grossmeyer said it makes it easy to get work done on a Smartphone while away from a computer. The way it works is the transparent keyboard attaches to the back of a smartphone and you use that to text or type on whatever program available. This makes it easy to get work done, while away from the office. You are also able to type on the back of the keyboard, if you don’t have a desk available.

The bunker-style headquarters in Grossmeyer’s basement is where he builds prototypes for his inventions. You see the massive desk with mechanical equipment only after you pass the 1900s-style radio, phonograph and Johnson Controls’ first Pneumatic Control Center which helped control building temperatures. The storage area full of Clapper Pluses, VCR Co-Pilots, Christmas Chia Trees and other inventions engulfs the back of the room.

For those golfers, Grossmeyer created a golf swing aide that can help correct crooked golf swings and putts. To use the Accu-Trac, you place the mat on the floor, dim or lower the lights in the room and test your swing over the mat with a special golf club. As you swing over the mat, the neon light will streak across the mat where your club does, showing you how straight or crooked your swing is.

Much of Grossmeyer’s products are manufactured in China where he helped Joseph Enterprises sent up a factory. The factory boosts up production every year for their big Christmas push, when Joseph Enterprises runs most of its advertising commercial campaigns.

Joseph Enterprises’ lack of an engineer was a golden opportunity for Grossmeyer. There relation grew as Grossmeyer helped with products like the Clapper Plus and Chia Tree with Star Light. He receives a portion of every sale of his inventions and is active in overseeing production in China.

Barbara Grossmeyer said the family always looks forward to the Christmas commercials for the Clapper Plus and putting up their Chia Tree with Star Light. “We would always looked forward to the commercials come November and December. We would always yell through the house to the kids, Clapper,” Barbara Grossmeyer said.

Grossmeyer said inventing was what he was meant to do in life. “For me, it was just my nature. It was what I loved to do, and I was drawn to it, some people are drawn to music, some sports but I love to invent,” Grossmeyer said.

Check out a multi-media presentation of Mark's inventions. Click here.