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Gadgets Galore Manalapan inventor helps keep napkins, melons, bagels and more in their place. Arthur Beloff likes to solve kitchen preparation and dining problems, but he’s not a cook – he’s an inventor. The Manalapan resident’s newest invention just came on the market. It is called “naphold” – a holder to keep napkin in place when you are dining. Shaped like a clothespin, but smaller and transparent, the naphold is all plastic. A pitch of one end opens the other to clasp a napkin onto a tie or a bit of material on a woman’s dress. Inspiration for the 2-inch long naphold came at a dinner party for eight. After several of the guests had dropped their napkins, one guest said, “Art, why don’t you invent something to keep your napkin on your lap?” Other guests supported the request. Beloff had already invented other practical items, including a bagel slicer and a cutting tray that safely holds roasts, watermelons and other slippery items while they are being sliced, so his reputation was established. He had already worked with plastic and knew that certain kinds had “memories” and would return to their original positions when moved, working something like a spring. “Creating a one-piece clip was a matter of trial and error to find a plastic with a greater degree of memory,” Beloff said. He wanted to make a naphold that would be large enough for a logo or label and small enough “so a sophisticated diner would not feel uncomfortable wearing it.” Café Cellini, 2505 S. Ocean Blvd., was using the naphold in May, before closing for a summer vacation from June to September. The café’s address and phone number are printed on the topside of the holder. Diners are invited to take the napkin clips home with them. Beloff says inventors must find a need and then develop a product to fill the need. That’s how his plastic cutting tray and bagel slicer were created. Several people complained about slippage when carving large items, such as ham, turkey, and watermelons to be made into fruit baskets, before Beloff devised a dishwasher-proof polypropylene plastic tray that would hold large food items in place. He invented the bagel slicer when his wife cut her hand slicing bagels. There is a drawback to Beloff’s hobby, though. “Everybody wants to be an inventor,” he says, “but it’s expensive.” After an idea for a product is developed, an inventor often hires a prototype developer to create a prototype. From there, he goes to a patent attorney. After that, the product can be manufactured. When Beloff manufactured the bagel slicer, he discovered a cookbook, The Bagel Bible (Globe Pequot, $10.95) by Marilyn Bagel. (Yes, Bagel is her legal name.) Bagel licensed the book to Beloff. -Skippy Harwood, Palm
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