Drop Stop is a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

ed device designed to prevent items from falling between a car's front seats and center console. It was invented by Marc Newburger and Jeffrey Simon of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Drop Stop is constructed out of black

Neoprene Neoprene (also polychloroprene) is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene.Werner Obrecht, Jean-Pierre Lambert, Michael Happ, Christiane Oppenheimer-Stix, John Dunn and Ralf Krüger "Rubber, 4. Emulsion R ...

filled with

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natura ...

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/ref> and is about 17 inches long. It has a slot sewn into it where the

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt red ...

latch can fit through. This anchors the device, allowing the car seat to slide back-and-forth freely. According to Newburger and Simon, the space between the center console and the front seats is always in dark shadow and thus the black color of Drop Stop matches any car's interior. Provided the gap between a car's center console and seat is no less than 3.5 inches, Drop Stop should fit. However, some cars, for example the

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mode ...

and

Volkswagen Jetta The Volkswagen Jetta () is a compact car/ small family car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen since 1979. Positioned to fill a sedan niche above the firm's Golf hatchback, it has been marketed over seven generations, variously as the Atl ...

, do not have enough space in the gap to fit the Drop Stop in place.

History

The idea was born after Newburger dropped a mobile phone down the gap while driving and almost caused a serious accident trying to retrieve it. As of December 2017, 2.4 million Drop Stops have been sold with revenues totaling $24 million.

Media exposure

Drop Stop was featured on a segment of ''

The Marilyn Denis Show ''The Marilyn Denis Show'' is a Canadian daytime television talk show which debuted on January 10, 2011, on CTV and CTV 2 (formerly A-Channel). Hosted by Marilyn Denis, the show airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on CTV and 11 a.m. ET on CTV 2 (timeslots v ...

'' entitled "The Best

As Seen on TV As seen on TV is a generic nameplate for products advertised on television in the United States for direct-response mail-order through a toll-free telephone number. ''As Seen on TV'' advertisements, known as infomercials, are usually 30-minute sho ...

Products", ABC's '' The View'', and ''

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 201'Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank' ...

''. On a special ''Shark Tank'' episode, which aired March 29, 2013,

Lori Greiner Lori Greiner is an American television personality and entrepreneur. She is an investor on the reality ABC TV series ''Shark Tank''. Greiner has hundreds of inventions and holds 120 patents. She became known as the "Queen of QVC" as a result of ...

introduced the product alongside the inventors, Newburger and Simon, who made a deal with Greiner for 20% equity in Drop Stop for $300,000. On a follow-up episode of ''Shark Tank'', which aired on November 22, 2013, Drop Stop announced a $2,000,000 purchase order with

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

. On March 19, 2014, Newburger and Simon were featured with their invention on ''

The Queen Latifah Show ''The Queen Latifah Show'' was the title of two American television talk shows hosted by Queen Latifah. The original ''The Queen Latifah Show'' ran from September 13, 1999, to August 31, 2001. The revamped ''The Queen Latifah Show'' debuted Septem ...

'' wherein they were referred to as "some of Lori’s most successful inventors." On a second follow-up episode of ''Shark Tank'', which aired on December 5, 2014, it was announced that Drop Stop was now available for sale in

Bed Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 5 ...

, in a "Lori Greiner Shark Tank" branded display. In February 2015, Drop Stop was named one of the nine most successful ''Shark Tank'' businesses. On a follow-up episode of ''Shark Tank'', which aired on January 21, 2018, it was revealed that the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-lar ...

had performed a three-month long test during which time zero traffic-related accidents had occurred in police vehicles equipped with Drop Stop. As a result, the police department announced they would be outfitting 3,000 police vehicles with Drop Stops.

References

External links

* {{Shark Tank , state=collapsed American inventions Vehicle safety technologies Automotive accessories Automotive safety