Category: Feasible inventions

Today’s invention is lockers which actually lock.

Overhead lockers in an airliner, to be precise.

Every time we hear about some flight encountering turbulence, somebody has been hurt by a giant carry-on case hitting them on the head.

Recently, people in a crash have allegedly paused during emergency exit to collect their bags from above their seat.

Instead, I suggest that all lockers be remotely lockable by a flight attendant.

If the seatbelt sign is on, the locks are all engaged.

Knowing this, people would generally concentrate on escape, rather than their (replaceable) stuff.

Today’s invention is a tandem bicycle capable I reckon of setting (unfaired) speed records.

The rear rider sits on an extension of the normal frame and uses an extra set of pedals which drive the rear wheel through an additional gearset.

The design benefits from about twice the power and much less than twice the resistance (rolling, air drag).

Any record attempts might require solid tyres.

Huge handguns tend to be massively more powerful than they need be, hard to hold up and because of their big cartridges, very difficult to control with any accuracy.

They do have the advantage that any assailant, faced with a small cannon, will tend to be more intimidated than if a tiny Derringer appears.

Today’s invention offers a way for people who want to defend their property or family to appear more threatening and still have some chance of staying on-target.

This takes the form of a plastic model of a large-calibre pistol which is very convincingly textured and painted to resemble a huge handgun.

This acts as a case into which a small, controllable gun can be fitted.

When under attack, a gun owner can point a lightweight but scary pistol they are confident about handling effectively.

Today’s invention is an electric lawnmower which can’t cut its own cable.

The cable would be have a number of small sequins embedded in its surface.

A flashgun and camera (red), mounted inside the mower, would fire every half-second or so, powered by the cable itself. This would be set behind a small window which would be wiped continuously by a brush (blue) on the rear face of the blade.

If the camera detected any spots of bright reflection (from the sequins), the power to the blades would be cut off until the cable could be safely moved to one side.

The colour and weight of the cutlery you use affects the way your food tastes.

This could be used to help people trying to lose weight or restaurateurs attempting to make their meals more appealing (via lightweight utensils in shades that match the food itself).

Today’s invention is therefore cutlery each item of which is a hollow transparent shell with a secure stopper.

These can be filled, prior to serving a dish, with a fluid which varies in density (think syrup or water vs whipped cream) as well as colour (using food dye -or even elements of the meal itself).

After use, the utensils can be opened, cleaned and reused.

Today’s invention is a waste bin design which can be easily linked to similar ones in order to eg resist being blown over or knocked open by dogs (or, if you live in Canada, bears).

Each bin has a lid which can seal in the normal way.

When you open a bin’s lid, it can also seal a neighbouring bin, linking the two together.

A chain of such systems can close the loop, so that all bins are sealed and a robust structure formed.

The space formed inside the loop might be used as a chicken run or even a playpen for hardy children.

Certain governments are always talking about equipping various rebels, in other countries mind you, with weapons.

Leaving aside the moral malaise of the global arms business, there is a huge danger that proliferation of advanced weapons may result in their capture and later use against civilian targets.

Such missiles in the wrong hands are particular a threat to civil aviation.

Today’s invention is therefore a shoulder-launched rocket weapon with a number of tilt switches embedded in it.

These can be set during manufacture to allow the system to be used only against ground-based targets…ie with inclination and declination of only a few degrees.

This arrangement would offer a simple way to significantly lessen the potential threat to any aircraft.

Today’s invention is for those people who need two suitcases on wheels.

These bags are almost impossible to walk down the street with, in view of the fact that everyone else gets bowled over by this double-width panjandrum (not to mention the arm strain involved).

Instead, imagine a roller case with a super long extendible handle with a curved end.

Two such cases can be joined by these ends to form a halter, so that a user can walk upright between his cases, pushing a narrow-profile A frame…and without mowing down any innocent pedestrians.