#1738: Flatflex
I saw some elastic bands recently designed to take up the shape of various animals etc in 2-D.
Today’s invention is to apply this idea to power cords for all sorts of electrical equipment.
The cord would be coated in a slightly stiffer than normal rubberised outer layer. It would thus be maintained in a planar layout, making it much more difficult to trip over and almost impossible to form tangles.
An appliance would still have some flexibility to be moved a small distance away from the wall socket, without drastically distorting the 2-D shape.
This could obviously be used to promote some related product by embodying a logo or message.
Comment by Patrick
As a way to avoid the problem of tangled iPod earpiece cables, imagine a necklace formed into a resilient spiral from flat cable and with only the last 30cm made of normal, ultra flexible cable. The spiral could be pulled on over the head and allowed to conform to the breastbone and back of the shoulder blades. The flexible ends would run from the shoulders to the ears. Once finished listening, you could pull out the ear pieces and just let them dangle from the necklace –> much less tangling.