#1064: ConductION

When a sparkplug does its thing in an engine cylinder, it creates a small cloud of ions in a gaseous mixture of fuel and air. This conducts electricity -a mini lightning bolt which then ignites the fuel and drives the piston.

There are lots of patents which are concerned with how the cloud of ions may be better dispersed using eg ultrasound or magnetic elements of the sparkplug.

michael_lorenzo_sparks

Todays invention instead attempts this using a strong magnet embedded in the piston crown. As the piston moves through the top dead centre position, this drags the ions created into a column between the plug gap and piston crown -extending the initial spark front and providing a fuel burn which is better spread in an axial direction within the cylinder.

Using an electromagnet with electronically controlled flux density as a function of crank position may further enhance this effect and decrease ‘knocking.’

#1063: Footunes

Many people who engage in sports find it hard to keep track of the way their feet make contact with the ground. If you are a distance runner, this actually matters: heel striking, even with a 2cm foam cushion on your shoes, can result in all sorts of joint damage over the long term. A small change in cadence/grip can have huge effects on results for a sprinter.

Today’s invention is a set of low-height studs embedded in the soles of trail running shoes. These are good for grip in themselves but each stud has a piezoelectric crystal inside which is deformed by the impacts of running (kids shoes sometimes embody a crude version by which a small light illuminates on landing).

JaImE_GiL_sole

As the foot hits the ground, each stud translates the voltage generated in its crystal to an audible beep at a unique frequency. Studs emitting the same frequency are placed in symmetric positions on left and right soles.

During running, a sound pattern occurs which tells the runner whether they are running too much on heels or toes and, more importantly, whether the left foot impact pattern matches that of the right foot.

#1062: MealTime

I’m someone who eats so quickly my meals sometimes disappear before I have much chance to savor them.

Today’s invention is for people who eat too fast and therefore often cram in more than is healthy for them.

Michal_Zacharzewski_eaten

It consists of a transparent disc which clips to the top of any standard sized bowl or plate. Arms extend from the disc under the plate and are locked in position, covering the freshly-cooked meal beneath.

The disc has a central section which rotates (driven by a clockwork mechanism) and which has an octant-sized aperture -allowing a portion of the meal to be eaten through this.

The octant slowly rotates around the plate, so that eating can occur at a restricted pace. When the full 360 degrees have been sequentially cleared, the clockwork releases the clips, freeing the plate for the dishwasher.

#1061: PorcuPads

I live in a house filled with heavy furniture and large plant pots. The carpet, such as it is, takes a hammering from all this weight, leaving unsightly, flattened patches which tend to fade noticeably less.

Today’s invention is a beermat-sized pad made of translucent plastic. From one side, a matrix of spines points downwards, whilst the top surface remains flat (a bit like a very stiff hairbrush).

A._Carlos_Herrera_spines

The spines are three cm or so in length and act as an inverted bed of nails, supporting the heavy objects, without becoming themselves distorted and without flattening the carpet fibres.

Light can penetrate to the carpet pretty effectively and the pads can be linked at the edges in order to spread any loads more widely, if required.

#1060: EponentiatAir

James Dyson -is he really a billionaire, as reported in the press? Cool, we desperately need more people who have made serious money from inventions. Some of his have been rubbish, but that’s the point: he will have a better one tomorrow, since he keeps on going.

His latest idea is the air multiplier. As a fan, probably not that great an invention, but as a design object product…sheer genius.

Jenny_Rollo_windtunnel

I haven’t done all the fluid dynamics calculations, but today’s invention scales this approach up and applies it to an area for which James won’t hold the patent: helicopters.

Imagine a ring of multipliers arrayed around the fuselage of a helicopter -pointing downwards. Each would be fed from the exhaust of its own jet engine. This would make such a vehicle very much less damage-prone than rotors and even allow conventional ejection seats to operate safely.
(NB this is very different from the VTOL vectoring which eg a Harrier jumpjet performs, due to the entrainment or ‘multiplier’ effect).

#1059: ShellPhone

There is a sea of discarded mobile phones in the world and it’s deepening by the day.

Today’s invention is intended to lessen the damage these cause to the environment by using real seashells as casings for phone electronics.

Mohamed_Aly_shell

These shells are free, when you have located a suitable beachload, strong, visually attractive and entirely recyclable. All that needs happen is to fit a hinge and insert a phone’s guts…hey presto, a genuine clamshell design.

#1058: Hischairy

Flying long-haul is a test of patience, especially in cattle class.

Today’s invention is a way to make use of existing in-seat technology to help relieve an extra few minutes of boredom in between restless twitching, movies and sporadic naps.

aschaeffer_seats

Each seat back display could show the basic booking details of the seatholder, as selected via the same interface used to choose between ‘AirCrash III’ and ‘Alien Apocalypse’.

This information could be optionally augmented, in a form of aerial graffiti, with extra details about their reason for flying, what they thought of the chicken and their ultimate destination.

Overtime, a history of seat occupancy would build up -adding interest and value to each position. People would perhaps pay a premium to sit in the 51b steerage seat used by George Clooney when he was 21, for example (he hated the chicken).

#1057: MuckMapper

Today’s invention is a variant on the domestic robot vacuum cleaner.

This starts by performing the usual random sweeps within a room, but over time, it monitors how much dirt has been collected from which part of the room (its movements could be recorded with reasonable precision using eg crude ultrasound reflections from walls and furniture).

Thiery_henry_dust

Once the cleaner realises that most crud is collected from beside the front door and under the table, it subsequently reprograms its movements so as to emphasise any such regions.

Its attention would thus come to be paid to areas in proportion to the history of dirt collected there.

#1056: Friendetection

People can feel affection for others even if they don’t necessarily find them that visually attractive. It could be argued that someone’s looks are a less good indicator of their suitability as a mate than one’s internal feeling about them. These may not be conscious, but are roughly indicated by the degree to which one’s pupils automatically widen when seeing them.

When you look at a nearby object, using multifocal lenses, your pupils widen and that allows light to pass through a larger number of long-focal-length rings of concentric lens material…and vice versa.

Catalina_Villamil_eye

Today’s invention is a contact lens which allows the wearer to inspect a large number of photographs of potential mates. The viewing distance is set so that wide pupils will allow the image to appear in perfect focus, thus showing that the image is of one to whom the wearer is strongly attracted emotionally.

#1055: ShotShout

Everyone knows that green screens are used by filmmakers who want later to insert a more interesting backdrop to a scene.

Today’s invention adopts the idea by colouring, in a nice uniform matt green, all items of filmaker’s hardware on a set which might inadvertently extend into a shot.

Thiago_Miqueias_camera

Any instances of this unnatural shade appearing in recently taken images could automatically alert the crew in realtime, by beeping.

This would allow amateur directors to avoid having to reshoot multiple scenes because for example, someone allowed a microphone boom to be captured as a reflection from some shiny surface..