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Safety Device Protects Little Fingers

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By JOHN CEBALLOS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

RIVERVIEW - John Doyle remembers the date he was inspired to create a product he believes can help prevent serious injuries.

"It was June 8, 2003, and we were still living in Long Island," said Doyle, who moved to Riverview in August 2005. "My daughter Christina, who was 11 at the time, was at a friend's house, and she got her hand caught in a door.

"I remember because she had to get nine stitches."

Two years later, as Doyle baby-sat his grandson Darien, he noted the hard slamming of the door as the child entered and left the house.

That evening, Doyle and his son John Jr. went to a hardware store and bought the materials necessary to create the prototype they had been thinking about for two years.

"We knew how we wanted it to work right away, and we were able to build it," said Doyle, who has a background in home-repair services and is a commercial sales specialist for Lowes.

It resulted in the creation of the Art Star Kraft Door Stop.

Doyle has a patent pending on the product and more than 5,000 have been manufactured.

The product is a portable, adjustable doorstop made from Delrin, the brand name for a lightweight, low-friction, wear-resistant plastic.

The device is placed on top of the door, where children cannot tamper with it, and goes into safety mode when the door is opened. The door may be shut by an adult by using the door stop's manual controls.

After developing the prototype, Doyle took his invention to Paul Kim and Howard Heintz, two of his Riverview neighbors.

"To my knowledge, all other door stops have to be removed in order to shut a door," Heintz said.

Kim became Doyle's business partner, and has helped him finance his invention, and Heintz has served in an advisory capacity.

In addition to preventing injury, the door stop can be used to prevent children or pets from locking themselves in or out of a room.

Doyle said the device retails for $19.95. For information, go to www.safetydoorstop.com.

Reporter John Ceballos can be reached at (813) 865-1555 or jceballos@tampatrib.com.

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