When a parachutist nears the ground he or she may be heading for something unfortunate, such as a tree or a rooftop.
Today’s invention allows some last-minute diversion from these hazards to occur.
It consists of a harpoon gun attached to the jumper using a strong cable. This is wound around a small winch attached to the chute.
The parachutist would fire the harpoon at the ground, away from the hazard and then switch the winch on, dragging him to a safer landing.
There are lots of diet-assistant apps and many which will propose recipes based on what’s in your fridge.
Today’s invention is a diet app which allows you to scan in labels on food in the (now) usual way but which then says
“You have had 40% of your daily carbohydrate allowance, 10% of your fat allowance and 3% of your protein requirement…so you can have any of the following items for your next meal…”
These items could be products in the databases of whichever stores the original scans came from.
In open-cockpit motorsports and motorcycle events each driver’s helmet has several layers of see-through plastic film covering the visor, which can be torn-off as it gets dirty during a race.
These sheets of plastic although flimsy, add to the bucketloads of detritus that end up on the track (such as the rubber crumbs shed by tyres).
It’s also possible for one of these sheets to get sucked into an engine intake…no laughing matter at approaching 200 MPH.
Today’s invention is therefore a new racing visor which tilts up in the usual way but which has two small canisters (orange) fitted near the visor hinges.
One of these contains a roll of transparent film and the other a small motor. This moves the film across the visor gradually throughout a race so that no build-up of dirt can occur and no driver need be distracted by removing a tear-off strip.
The film would be retained safely within one of the canisters (and might later be analysed to assess the variation in insect and road dirt accumulated as a function of race time.
The transparent material might even be preprinted with information useful to the driver at a particular time in the race. Providing an extra length of film would allow the motor speed and direction to be remotely controlled to generate an overlay specific to some tactical instructions.
Today’s invention is a better handle for penknives.
The yellow cover indicated in the diagram would rotate about one of the blade axles and lock into this position, effectively doubling the grip length when using the longer blades.
This would make these knives safer and also act as a barrier to dust and pocket lint, when closed over the blade bay.
So here is an idea not easily findable in the patent databases…
It seems that people serve themselves less food if it contrasts in colour with the plate they are using.
Today’s invention is therefore a bank of lights below a buffet counter. Each light is adjacent to a different tray of food.
As you pick up a serving spoon, a light comes on from beneath the counter which illuminates your transparent plate in a contrasting shade to the meal element you are choosing.
Thus each selection you make is lit in a different, contrasting colour -which limits the amount you pile onto your plate.
When learning carpentry, it’s very easy to waste a tonne of wood by unskilled use of a saw.
Today’s invention should help.
It consists of an extra, fine-toothed blade which clamps over the normal serrations as shown.
This would be accurately located by alignment with the back edge of the main saw.
It would allow a novice to make smallish saw movements to start the sawing process with a well-placed notch. This would then help the main saw to follow the line created by the guide blade.
Marketing people once thought that the QR code would be a great idea, but it’s proving very slow to become universally useful.
Today’s invention is a simpler alternative.
Adverts everywhere, online and offline would carry a small pattern like the one above. This represents the leftmost squares on a phone keyboard.
Rather than having to take any pictures with a smartphone, the user quickly opens the phone and taps on the corresponding black squares.
This would make the entry process much less sensitive to poor visibility or printing.
Only three rows of six keys need be employed (to allow the user to look at and remember the locations of black squares in each row, in succession, with some ease).
This would still provide access to a minimum of 262,000 different mobile pages, before making use of the potential difference between permutations eg CATACT (enough for many of the companies with a need to attract consumer attention on the go).
Every advertisement for beer shows the bottles covered in condensation.
It makes the drink look much colder and more enticing for having just emerged from the fridge.
Today’s invention is therefore to create beer bottles which have apparent condensation droplets moulded into the surface (whether glass or plastic).
This makes even bottles sitting on an unchilled shelf seem much more attractive to a thirsty shopper (and could also be applied to lesser drinks).
I’m amazed by how many, high-end cameras are used purely to take the obvious, walk-up snapshots of well-known scenes.
Today’s invention makes use of those advanced cameras -which can usually connect to the Internet.
When one approaches any given location, your camera would be told about the positions from which local photos have been most frequently taken.
If you are about to use your expensive, artistic photographic tool to replicate a scene taken by 2,000 others that day, you would receive a message to that effect.
You would also get some directions to a less popular viewpoint, as well as extra suggestions such as ‘try a different height/ filter/ foreground subject/ lens’ etc.
Amongst the many other weird law and order measures in force within the UK, we have sections of roadway with ‘average speed’ limits. If you exceed that average, over a given distance, you get a fine.
Today’s invention is a modification to the standard speed trap detector.
This senses an average speed limit section of road and calculates the realtime speed limit which you have to observe at any moment so as to avoid exceeding the overall average.
If eg you have driven like a snail over the first 80% of the restricted section, then you should see a massive number indicated for the speed limit over the remainder.
Without other traffic in the way, this would make a prolonged stretch of such road much more entertaining to travel.
