Crystal Clear® Resin used to Develop Trailer Hitch Novelty Item

Inventor Mike Gershwin of Evansville, IN, sat in traffic one day staring at the trailer hitch attached to the truck in front of him. It occurred to Steve that the empty trailer was missing something and thought of a couple of design ideas to fill the void.

An accomplished welder, he developed some prototypes to replace the trailer hitch ball that included advertising ideas and positive messages about America. He came up with decals that affixed to a metal base to complete the design and set out to patent and market his idea. He quickly discovered that the decals were susceptible to the elements and did not last long. Even "heavy duty" decals deteriorated quickly and needed to be replaced.

After finding Smooth-On on the internet, he called the technical support line and decided that Crystal Clear® 202 liquid plastic would provide a coating that would increase the useful life of his decals and help make his invention a production reality.