YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio—When Jerry B. came up with the idea for the Laptop Trapeze, a simple device designed to keep a laptop computer or tablet in place when resting against the knees, using it to watch adult material wasn’t his first plan for the product.
“The idea and use of the Laptop Trapeze was initially for laptops so you would recline and relax while working or surfing,” the inventor explained. “Then I realized it worked even better with a tablet computer. Instead of holding the tablet with one hand and surfing with the other, you could now let the Trapeze hold the device for you and use both hands to type or surf or just hold a glass of wine with one hand and work with the other.
“A co-worker of mine kept making fun of the product and calling it the ‘Laffy Wacky Masturbation Strappy’ (I'm guessing he used it that way because I gave him one),” Jerry B. continued. “And I always thought, well, sure you can use it that way if you want to. Watch some porn and take care of a little business while you're relaxing, ha ha.”
Jerry B. said he came up with the idea while working in a hotel room during a business trip in 2011. With his knees propped up and the computer resting against them, the computer kept sliding from his knees to his waist.
“I thought if I could just slide it a little further up my legs it would be great,” he said. “So I went home and started playing around with binder clips and an old dog leash. I rigged it together and it worked.”
After sharing the invention with friends and family and getting plenty of positive feedback, Jerry B. next took the invention to a company in Kansas to create a prototype. Those initial designs he then took to the Invention New Product Exposition show, where the Laptop Trapeze generated serious buzz.
“At the show, everyone loved the idea, and if I had some to sell I would have moved over 100,” he said. “I ended up winning a Gold Medal for best new computer device. After that I figured I was on to something, so why not take a chance? I worked with a manufacturing company and had them produced.”
That’s not to say, however, that there weren’t obstacles: financing, packaging, finding a reliable manufacturer and so on, he noted.
Available since 2013, the Laptop Trapeze—a simple patent-pending design of a padded knee rest, nylon straps and clips to attach to a laptop or tablet—retails for $10.99, but Jerry B. said he is interested in working with adult companies to offer the Laptop Trapeze as an upsell item with their products.
For more information, or to order the Laptop Trapeze, visit www.LaptopTrapeze.com or email [email protected].
