Steve Divnick | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Inventor, Businessperson |
Steve Divnick is an inventor and businessman. His patented inventions include the "Spiral Wishing Well" (1985) seen at museums, zoos, libraries, churches, and retail stores and restaurants throughout the world, [1] and a smaller coin-bank version for individuals. [2] Other inventions and patents include Adjustable-Loft and telescopic golf clubs for travel personal water craft (PWC) rails for houseboats and yachts, boat lifts for docking small vessels onto larger boats. [3] In the early 2000's, he developed one of the first online meeting room providers called Voxwire which he later sold to a telecommunications company in New York. His most recent invention is "Golf Ebikes" that allow golfers to ride an ebike directly to their own shot rather than sitting and waiting half the time watching a cart-mate play. They include a quick-attach side-mount bag carrier that tilts out and becomes the solid kick stand.
This is a waterless product which allows people launch coins on a spiral path onto the smooth fiberglass surface of the vortex funnel. The coins spin faster and faster as they cling to the nearly vertical throat of the funnel in a blur of speed before they drop into the locked base. The coin revenue is kept as a donation by the organisation who owns the well. It therefore has similar functionality to a traditional wishing well without the size and water. In 1987, Popular Science reported the typical take was $5–$25 per day, with one Salvation Army branch reporting a peak of $532 in one day. [4]
According to documentation on the Spiral Wishing Well website, the first Well they sold was in 1985 to the United States Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio where it has had over $4 million tossed into it. Many locations passed the $100,000 amount. The first one-day record was $532 at a Kmart store, another at a small school that raised $7,352, and a church that raised $40,979. [5]
The first Well that Divnick made was as an offering device for the children in his church. He began to see the potential as a non-profit fund raising device in public locations, and the company has shipped thousands of Wells all over the world where they have raised in excess of $1 billion for charity. 100% of the revenue stays with the charity. Divnick and his company never receives any portion of the coins tossed into the Wells.
Many of the waterless wishing wells are sponsored by individuals or companies. Since they are placed in retail and other foot-traffic locations, they provide significant positive community relations for the sponsors.
The Wells are also popular with science teachers who use the company's Student Guide to teach topics such as tornadoes, whirlpools, planetary orbits, and the physics of a vortex. [6]
He patented the Divnick Adjustable Loft Telescopic Golf Club [7] in 1992 and has sold thousands of them throughout the world. It has a transmission inside the head that can be locked on all the lofts in a full set plus half lofts for even greater distance control. When extended for play, it is the length of a 4-iron (38.5 inches, 97.8cm) and is as solid as a regular club. When collapsed, it is only 18 inches long (45.7cm) and fits into an included belt bag for travel or storage. It has been tested and compared to traditional clubs with robot laboratory robots and players with the conclusion that it hits as well as regular clubs. [8]
While the Divnick Adjustable replicates every loft in a full set, it isn't as long as a driver so it can't generate as much club head speed or distance. Similarly, it isn't as heavy or "squared up" as a putter. Some customers want more distance and more of a putter feel, so Divnick added telescopic drivers and putters that many customers purchase as a "3 Club Set" [9]
He has also made custom clubs for trick-shot performers including 20-Foot drivers, 9-foot putters, and 4-headed drivers. [10] This led Divnick to start manufacturing, "The World's Longest Driver" which is a 5-Foot long driver with a giant head. It is primarily used at charity golf outings to raise money by letting everyone hit it for a donation. [11] He has also made extra long drivers for professional golfers like Bryson DeChambeau who show off their skills for their social media channels. [12]
Divnick has always advocated walking, especially with the single Divnick Club. But as he got older, walking because more difficult. He didn't want to graduate from walking into a "sit-down couch with 4 wheels" so he set out to develop a way to get around the course more easily. He remembered as a young boy being able to stand on the pedal of a bicycle and coast without thinking about balance, so he reasoned that he could develop a golf bag carrier that mounted on the side of the ebike so it could pivot out and become the kick stand. He also wanted it to be quickly removable so the bike could be used for general riding. He launched his "Universal-Fit" Bag Carrier in 2022 that could be attached to any fat-tire ebike's rear rack. [13]
He also started selling ebikes that had most of the features needed for golf...fat tires, low and open step through frame, and a sturdy rear rack. But none of the manufacturers were making bikes that had ALL of the best features, so he designed the "GolfEbike" and started manufacturing them in 2024. [14]
Ebikes not only provide smooth rotational exercise with their "pedal assist" feature, they speed up the game by allowing you to ride straight to your own ball. Golfers no longer have to sit and wait half the time watching their cart-mate play. This is critically important for the future of green-grass golf. The entire golf industry is promoting faster play to attract the next generation. [15]
Ebikes are fun, safe, and easy to ride. They can be ridden to-and-from the golf course (no special license is required) or folded up and transported in a trunk. Many golfers and course managers believe that ebikes will change the way golf is played as they become more and more common on golf courses. Divnick wants his GolfEbikes to be the leader in that movement.
PWC stands for Personal Water Craft. For instance, Jet Skis. PWC Rails started out with Divnick wanting a better way to load his PWC's on his houseboat. The rails worked so well that other houseboat owners in the marina asked him to make rails for their houseboats. This quickly spread into a global business. While houseboat manufacturers had always made their own rails, Divnick did something with his that had never been done before. He built them with a hinge so they could be tilted straight up when not in used. This opened up the swim platforms for things like swimming and fishing. Previous versions suck out and blocked the platforms and caused problems when maneuvering houseboats near gas docks. Divnick incorporated some other unique features that make his Rails the industry standard. He sells them as bolt-on kits to existing houseboats and yachts, and supplies them to houseboat manufacturers who no longer build their own. [16]
Divnick's inventions start with making something for his own use, then recognizing that people will pay to get one for themselves. Over the years, he has developed a criteria for how to determine if a product will be successful or not. If an idea doesn't qualify, he doesn't pursue it commercially, even if it is clever and works great for his own use. Many would-be inventors have asked Divnick for advice and consultation, so he has created a document describing the criteria, answering questions about patents, how to create and test prototypes, manufacturing options, and how to market the ideas. He doesn't recommend paying money to a "patent mill" or spending any money getting a patent unless the idea meets the qualifications of the criteria. Divnick offers this criteria and advice free on https://www.divnick.com/inventing. He says, "My goal is to help other inventors to be successful and avoid the mishaps that can cost a lot of money and cause many great ideas to be lost."
