They were all so excited.

Rows and rows of inventors were trying to show their wares to bring their ideas to market.

Some were lining up to do a spot that might get on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. Others were meeting lawyers, hoping to have their ideas licensed, manufactured and distributed.

They were all at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for INPEX, the innovation and new product exposition.

Lim Jung Min came all the way from Seoul, South Korea, to show off the cup tutu: a cardboard holder for plastic and hot drink cups that is cut to fold and form a skirt that keeps cups from slipping.

Marc Rasscheart didn't have to travel as far. He brought his Christmas tree watering device from Ross to the show. Mr. Rasschaert developed a funnel that is disguised as a bird's nest with a pipe that runs to the tree stand. The tricky part of his invention is that there is a light that goes on when the tree has enough water.

His patent for the device is pending. He is spending the convention talking with people who might be interested in manufacturing and selling his product.

Other inventions ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, assessments that were left up to the observer because every inventor thought his was sublime.

Terry Staples, of Zion , Ill., patented a system to attach a doll to the hood of a car and make it look as if someone is hanging on and flying in the wind.

Paul Solis, of Hitchock, Texas, showed up with his wooden penny hockey games.

Ka Wai Chen, of Hong Kong, brought his removable windshield wiper that fits to a motorcycle helmet. His display was complete with water dripping onto the front visor of a helmet.

There also were new solutions to old problems, such as Ramone Ward's Coach Guard, a mouthpiece for NFL coaches to wear so that they don't have to hold up their clipboards to keep the opposition from reading their lips.

Sandra Beckham of Bowie, Md., was showing her Sani-Grip a system for handling public restroom doors, designed for people who don't want to use their hands. Her prototype had a dispenser and receptacle for the Sani-Grip towels.

MaryAnn Gentile, a mother of nine, from McCallisterville, Juniata County, had the Mo-Shins on display. This was a thin pad with adhesive on the back to absorb sweat that accumulates in shin guards for soccer players. The Mo-Shins keep the shin guards from smelling.

There were solutions to problems we didn't know we had, such as the Fun-L-Top a "revolutionary" new lid for popcorn containers. According to Stephen Schreiber's promotional material, "eating popcorn from all the conventional containers on the market today leads to easy spillage, messy eating and germ introduction." The Fun-L-Top is a cone that fits over the container so the popcorn can be poured into your hand.

Scott Bonge, of Little Rock, Ark., had a solution to keeping goatees even. Mr. Bonge kept pretending to shave to show off the GoateeSaver, an adjustable device that fits on a man's face to create the template for a goatee. It's held in place by biting on a mouthpiece.

Mr. Bonge's slogan is "real men wear goatees."

Then there were those inventions that seemed to be so crazy, they just might work.

Cheng-Chi Wang, an associate professor at Far East University in Taiwan, was showing off a system designed to stop robberies. His device would allow a bank or convenience store clerk to hit a button that would drench would-be criminals in pepper spray as they attempted to escape.