Home Archive by category "Feasible inventions" (Page 3)

Category: Feasible inventions

#2877: WClamp

Today’s invention is a way to ensure a public toilet cubicle door stays closed, even when the lock is broken, as is often the case, these days.

Design considerations include pocketability and the need never to handle anything which has touched the cubicle or, heaven forbid, the floor.

I give you…the C clamp. As shown, this is cheap, and would be easily carried by travellers, involve no skin contact with the door (grey) or walls (blue) and be visible to people who will not see any ‘engaged’ sign if the lock is broken.

Also, it would be almost impossible to undo from outside.

#2872: Ccupp

I like having coffee in a double-skinned, stainless steel cup, which keeps the outside cold and the inside hot.

Some people of my acquaintance, however, object to getting their hot drinks in a cup which feels cold.

There is, of course, a whole field of psychology devoted to priming effects, such as the fact that being offered a physically warm cup, tends to create a ‘warmer’ atmosphere in meetings.

So today’s invention is a normal vacuum-insulated cup (white) embedded in a water jacket (orange). Filling the jacket to different heights, and with water at different temperatures, allows the host to provide a longer lasting hot drink in a cup whose temperature can be set almost independently.

#2870: BearingBlast

I once worked for a deeply dysfunctional company that spent a fortune on Aeron chairs and then installed them in a meeting room with a wooden floor which was still covered in builders’ dust.

The effect was that all chair movement ground to a halt and all those bearings got damaged.

Even in well managed and cleaned offices, wheeled furniture tends to get gummed up. It’s hard to have smoothly running meetings when half the participants are literally bogged down.

Today’s invention is a simple system that connects the shock absorber in the base to a set of small jets (one directed at each wheel bearing).

As you sit down, a fraction of the energy applied by your descent to the chair, that would be wasted as heat in the damper, is used to propel clean air over the casters. This tends to keep dust/ hair/ cannabis shreds away from the moving parts.

#2866: Bowliner

When we have guests to stay in our small house, I don’t like to flush the toilet during the night because it wakes everyone up.

Today’s invention is a yellow coloured toilet liner which allows me to leave pee in the bowl without anyone noticing, so that I can flush the following morning.

These could be made in a biodegradable material (with a hygienic retrieval loop), maybe even in a flushable paper.

#2861: Stour signal

It’s sometimes difficult to get workers and tradespeople to wear their safety equipment.

Today’s invention is a dust mask which reacts to the presence of dust in a workshop or room under construction (or demolition) and beeps until you put it on (like a smoke detector).

A sensor in the mask would detect the pressure of breathing and disconnect the speaker.

#2857: VigilStrigil

I’ve been a bit perturbed to see the state of my friend’s hot tub.

This is entirely wooden and is kept outside, so it develops a scummy surface film -nasty.

Today’s invention is a wiper blade which periodically scrapes the internal surface clean, so that a recirculating pump can filter out any debris.

It’s probably a good idea for the wiper not to operate when bathers are in occupation.

#2855: Breastplates

Bullet proof body armour tends to constrict female soldiers and security staff.

That someone is wearing such armour is, in addition, more obvious when a female’s natural body shape is replaced by a padded cylinder…so covert vests tend to be thinner and thus less safe.

Today’s invention is a pair of additional, individually fitted, ceramic plates to be worn over the chest, simulating breasts and providing females with added protection.