Talk:Head restraint

invention of automobile headrest and whiplash restraint
Although many claims have been made about the invention of the auto headrest before 1940, in the 20s and 30s the maximum speed of automobiles and the condition of roads were such that there was no need for a whiplash restraint. Therefore, any text asserting that the auto headrest was invented in 1921 is simply invalid.

We have created an article that we believe to be verifiable, factual, and accurate and have submitted it to Wikipedia several times. When the article is researched we often find it has been modified and the original text has been omitted.

G.J. Schifano, retired CEO, Kustom Fit Corporation, formerly Trimline Products Corporation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bridgecreek (talk • contribs) 20:53, 3 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Er…sorry, no. With all due respect for the involvement you claim in the auto head restraint (not "headrest") industry, you seem to have rather completely misunderstood how Wikipedia works. By all means please do contribute as you can, but this is an encyclopædia, not a corporate history or an autobiography, and your statement "We have created an article (…) we often find it has been modified" suggests you need to read Wikipedia's policies on conflict of interest and article ownership before making any further contributions.


 * Your claim doesn't hold water that head restraints couldn't possibly have been invented before whatever which date you have in mind because traffic and road speed conditions didn't warrant them. Go look at Seat belt and see for yourself; inventions are often invented years or decades before a widespread need for them becomes apparent.The autobiographical material you added (and I removed) reads as follows:

''In 1959 Greg Schifano of Arcadia California, was distraught when his doctor told him he had recently treated seven cases of auto whiplash, which left one man totally immobile and in a wheelchair. Schifano went to work to design a whiplash restraint, patent number 266,229-DK-L-1444 Schifano. These first units were manufactured with his own multidensity foam, hard in the center and progressively softer to the outside, secured to an existing seat, which later became known as the auto headrest. Schifano's Company, Trimline Products Corporation, sold thousands of them through many aftermarket retailers, auto parts stores and service centers in America and in many foreign countries.''


 * Not only is there no support provided for any of this, not only do readily-accessible patents clearly demonstrate invention prior to 1959, but there seems to be no such patent as "266229-DK-L-1444 Schifano", which does not appear to conform to any country's patent numbering system. A google search on 266229-DK-L-1444 Schifano returns only this article and mirrors and paraphrases of it. A bunch of other Google searches (Schifano restraint patent, Schifano head restraint, Schifano whiplash, Schifano patent, Schifano 266229 patent, etc.) come up similarly dry. Why is that, Mr. Schifano?


 * Once you submit material to Wikipedia, it ceases to be yours; it can and usually will be changed. The standard for inclusion of an assertion in a Wikipedia article is verifiability, not personal knowledge, opinion, perspective, or preference. Assertions must be supported by reference to reliable sources. Assertions in a Wikipedia article that are not supported by reference to reliable sources can and will be removed, altered, and/or replaced by assertions that are so supported. The article had major problems, starting with its title; the term "headrest" is colloquial and improper. They are not "rests", they are restraints, safety devices, and that is amply (and verifiably, and reliably) supported by all relevant regulations, standards, studies, etc. The article now has the correct title and a great deal more encyclopædic coverage of the subject with reference to unassailable sources (the technical safety standards for head restraints used in the US and in the rest of the world). That doesn't mean it's finished; most Wikipedia articles are in a constant state of development and that includes this one. But it's better now than it was before.—Scheinwerfermann T&middot;C 21:22, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Auto safety history
Completely true and easily verified, in the 1950’s and early sixties there was a big push from word of the National Automotive Safety Association in conjunction with the Chamber and Junior Chamber of commerce for public awareness in auto safety, for seat belt and headrest (whiplash restraints) clinics to be held in most major cities. The labor to install these items in your car, was furnished free, from volunteers from hundreds of high school and junior colleges, and the headrests and seat belts were furnished at COST from Kraco Seat Belt Co., Kustom Fit and Trimline Products Co. With the help of National Accident and Injuries statistics, these clinics were a huge success in making the public aware for the need of these safety items in the newer, faster, modern automobiles and traveling speeds.

We could not find the Bernard Katz name on, in, or around any of these clinics that lasted for a period of about eight years.

Why IS that?

To confirm our suspicions we looked though hundreds of old issues of automotive magazines, including Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Classic Car, Auto Trim News, Heming’s, etc.. where we found many advertisements and articles on these new auto safety products, from Kraco, seat belts, Trimline, auto headrest’s, Kustom Fit, bucket seats, hoping to find some Benj Katz safety products! But no such luck!

Why IS that?

Could it be that the Katz Co. went defunct before the real needs of the motoring public were to be met? Who knows?

Is all this information and safety history worthy of encyclopedia publication? According to Wikipedia’s guidelines? Absolutely! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.29.162.78 (talk) 21:55, 26 November 2011 (UTC)


 * There does not appear to have ever been any entity such as the "National Automotive Safety Association" you mention, and the only agency with a name and mission even vaguely similar to this apparently fictional organisation you describe is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which did not yet exist during the timeframe you mention. I'm sure you ran a bustling enterprise, but repeating your assertions in ever-more-insistent tones does not imbue them with veracity. Nor does a listing of what you think you remember not reading in old magazines. Nor does ranting about the existence of an individual—I refer to this Mr. Katz—whose 1921 patent seems to upset you so. If you can find reliable support for your assertions so that they can be verified by editors who—unlike yourself—do not have a personal interest in seeing your particular version of history described in this article, by all means point us to that support. Otherwise, kindly please shush, run along, and let the grownups work on improving this article. —Scheinwerfermann T&middot;C 00:43, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

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