Category: Feasible inventions

One downside of mobile phones is that whoever calls you may be unaware of your current circumstances and the people who are within earshot of your conversation.

This is less than good if, for example, you are being phoned to arrange an interview when your present boss is in the room.

There is probably a privacy-invading solution which invoves carriers pooling location data for any bystanders, but they would have to have their phones on -besides which, the sharing of that information might be illegal.

Today’s invention is therefore a way to alert a caller to the fact that you aren’t free to chat -without the embarrassment of having to say so.

A combination of cellphone button presses could be made to send a tone, or even an ovelaid text message on screen.

A small repertoire of these codes could stand for ‘can’t talk now’, ‘can’t discuss that’, I’ll call you back later’, ‘I’m entering a tunnel’, etc.

These actions could be arranged to be done discreetly by thumb, without removing the device from one’s ear.

Small-format digital cameras are now capable of such high quality output that they are commonly used by professionals as backups -to grab a shot which they might otherwise miss.

These devices often come with a wireless shutter release.

Today’s invention is to attach several such cameras to the stem of a monopod and to arrange for them to take photos automatically when the main SLR release is pressed.

The basic configuration would see the small cameras all pointed at the same point at some fixed distance in the forward direction.

A more advanced set-up would have them aimed slightly to the left, right, higher and lower than the main DSLR (perhaps even by having the main camera transmit to them its target so that they could offset themselves, spatially, temporally and in terms of aperture settings).

This would provide automated ‘bracketing’ of even fast-moving subjects, ensuring that a photojournalist would rarely miss that critical moment.

(I’d also like to see a shutter release which offered the option of working by just exerting downward pressure on the monopod).

Wheelchair users compete in a number of sports. Despite what I think about golf and what the rules probably say, today’s invention is intended to allow those in wheelchairs to get involved on a more-or-less equal basis.

The chair would be able to tip slightly to one side, into two different, stable positions (levered onto a strut, shown in red).

The first of these (1) would allow the raised wheel to spin a club head up to speed manually. Dropping the wheel into the second position (2), at the right moment, would allow the ball to be struck.

With practice, this system could be used for putting too.

Every corporate entity is concerned to portray a coherently branded image to the world.

This gets challenged when colour images are uploaded to a website (by random employees with no visual taste -think eg Microsoft here).

Stock images of customers wearing magenta and teal dropped into a subtle Pantone-branded background can look truly ghastly, even if the subjects are apparently ecstatic about the products and services on offer.

Today’s invention is therefore an image processing program which reads the colours in an image, pre-upload, and automatically replaces each with the one which is closest from within an offical corporate palette (compare this with the picture on the left).

This is pretty easy to achieve technically, looks much better than a uniform colour wash and could be manually checked before publication.

Today’s invention is an application of this amazing machine.

It would allow the forming of a bicycle frame from a single steel tube.

Obviously some welds would still be required eg where the seat post passes over the crossbar (and to attach the various cycle parts).

The making of the frame could be performed very much more quickly than by the conventional process of cutting and brazing multiple pipe sections.

When attempting to dig heavy (or partly frozen) soil, some technology (beyond that of the spade) would be useful. This assumes that you don’t want the expense and effort of hiring a fullscale rotovator.

Today’s invention is a fork with three or more conical, screwed tangs. These are chain-driven by a motor in the shaft, so that they drill into the earth.

When they are fully embedded, the user leans on the shaft and the soil yields, allowing it to be dug up by more conventional means.

When running, I notice that if I take off my outer, waterproof jacket, I have no option other than to wrap the arms around my waist and tie a knot in them,

This is a bad way to treat the garment and tends to destroy the waterproffing in the area that is repeatedly knotted.

Today’s invention is therefore a running jacket whose arms have corresponding long strips of velcro on the outside of one and the inside of the other.

This would allow them to be wrapped about my waist, adjustable in a continuous way, and held there firmly, without having to pause in my already slow, barefoot progress.