My father taught me how to play tennis and we had many fun times together playing over the years. I never did defeat him, but that is not all together surprising since he also taught me the ideal of "quitting while you are ahead".

He played in the Easton Area Tennis League while in Pennsylvania and at the Northwood Raquet Club. He had many victories and we have a lot of trophies to prove it.

He spent countless hours watching tennis as well. As a family, we never missed a single grand slam (on TV) and went to the US Open many times. I had a great time with him going to the Amelia Island tennis tournament after he moved down to Florida, a memory I will never forget; not only was it father-son bonding, but it was an all women's match as well ;-)      
     

My father and his team worked together to create the color changing technology used in Overwriters and Changeable Markers from Crayola as well as their color-changing paints. Since the creation of this technology, Crayola has gone on to create a number of products based on these inventions.


For your reference, the patent numbers are as follows:

5,503,665 - Latent Image Compositions (Richard E. Miller and Charlene R. Couch)
5,478,382 - Color Changing Compositions (Richard E. Miller and Charlene R. Couch)
5,352,282 - Color Chaning Compositions (Richard E. Miller)
5,326,388 - Color Changing Compositions (Richard E. Miller and Charlene R. Couch)
5,232,494 - Color Changing Compositions (Richard E. Miller)
5,489,331 - Color Changing Compositions (Richard E. Miller and Charlene R. Couch)
5,492,558 - Color Changing Compositions Richard E. Miller and Cheryl Krieger)
5,498,282 - Color Changing Pan Paint Compositions (Richrad E. Miller and Robert C. Dereamus)


Please note there may be more patents in play and I am only aware of the ones my father had his name on.             
  

Another major invention from my father was the creation of Model Magic (a Crayola product).

Only a select few know the story behind Model Magic. For years he had a substance in his desk drawer at work that he referred to as Silly Jelly. The cousin of Silly Putty, he really enjoyed the properties of it, but alas, it was toxic and would not find its way to store shelves (at least not in America).

Years later he found out about micro-bead technology. After an extensive time of experimentation and study, he and Karen M. Mariano finally created the commercially-viable product we know as Model Magic.

There are many uses for Model Magic aside from arts and crafts. At one time there was even a plane manufacturer using it in the wings of planes due to its insulating properties and light weight. I also stumbled across people using it in high-end costumes called "cosplay". It is pretty amazing stuff! 

If you wanted to reference the patent numbers they are 5,171,766, 5,364,892 and 5,506,280.
    

While employed by Binney & Smith, Inc. (Crayola) he was credited with many inventions. One of the most notable was the invention of washable markers. Both parents and children alike should be thankful for such a product. Parents for its washable capabilities, and children for less severe punishment for "mistakes".


Patent Number 5,116,410 is the chief patent that covers washable marker dye.


URL: http://patents.com/us-5116410.html