Today’s invention is a system for ultra cautious drivers.
Instead of using just their own safety belt, when traveling on their own, they can insert a two-way catch (blue) into their belt mooring which allows them to clip both their own belt and that from the passenger seat around them.
Today’s invention is an oar for a rowing machine. This is intended to give a more realistic rowing action, during training, than the usual handlebar arrangement.
An oar-like arm is attached to the chain which is joined to the flywheel/air damper. The other end of the oar fits into a spring-loaded vertical axle which is, in turn, bolted onto the front stand of the rowing machine.
This allows an oarsman/woman to experience the asymmetry of pulling on an oar and provides an extra source of resistance via the (variable) spring rate.
A further version would allow the axle to be placed on either (or both) sides of the machine. It might also contain a cam within the axle in order to rotate the shaft of the oar according to the current degree of pull-back (thus helping rowers practice turning the blade into and out of the water).
Tennis can be a particularly hard game when your opponent is more skilled than you.
Today’s invention is a net for a tennis court which can be moved a short distance from its normal, central position and locked in place so as to provide a larger area on the side of the better player. This makes it easier to return his shots, requires that his service be very accurate and allows the lesser player to cover less of the court.
Such an arrangement effectively handicaps the more accomplished player, in a quantifiable way, and thus allows people of differing ability to enjoy a challenging game together.
Today’s invention is a smartphone application which allows realtime measurement of the frequency with which potholes are being driven through in a given region.
Motorists would attach their smartphones firmly to the dashboard. Every time a pothole was driven through, the vertical acceleration would be detected and the location sent to a central database belonging to the roads authority in question.
When displayed on a map, effects such as temporary ramps could be excluded from consideration, allowing holes in the road to be prioritised for repair on the basis of the number of drivers affected and the severity of the bumps.
Today’s invention is a combination of two old favourites -the pogo stick and the skipping rope.
The rope is replaced by a rigid hoop, the ends of which are attached to the pogo stick’s handlebars and which are driven overhead by a small motor.
The direction and speed of the motor can be determined by the user or set to operate randomly, so that the user is challenged to jump the stick over the rope -and thus improve their fitness and coordination.
Given that lifts are getting faster and traveling through greater heights, the lifetime cost of overcoming their air resistance may be significant.
Today’s invention is therefore to attach streamlining shells to the tops and bottoms of lifts so that they may create much less turbulence within their shafts.
If these could be made in a lightweight, reinforced material, the underside one could also act as a crush zone in the event of an unplanned descent.
Online purchases are increasingly encouraged by recommendation engines and social networking.
Today’s invention is a way to allow people to swap clothing with others who share the same measurements.
A website like Amazon would note who bought eg dresses in size 12. These contact details would allow those people to opt in to a system which then enabled them to be identified as buyers of certain items, to discuss their views and offer to swap clothes in the knowledge that they will fit.
This results in better social networking, enhanced product information via customer feedback and a greener, less wasteful approach to fashion.
Today’s invention is a tablecloth which is stored like a rollerblind in the form of a springloaded roll at one end of a table.
This allows a less-than-pristine tablecloth to be quickly removed for activities requiring a clean surface -such as doing homework -but without having to wipe everything down and fold coverings up for temporary storage.
Use a strong enough spring and you can even perform the old stage trick of pulling the tablecloth out from under that vase on the table top.
When a toaster is first used in the morning, both the bread and the heating elements are cold.
Today’s invention is a control circuit for toasters which monitors the temperature of both heater and toast and which continuously adjusts the current flowing to the element so that the intensity of browning and the delivery rate of slices are both constant.
Frustrated by not being able to send big email attachments? This drives me nuts several times a month.
Today’s invention is an email program plug-in which detects that your attachments are over the limit imposed by some sysadmin.
Rather than just telling you this (with no further advice), the program would automatically locate the files on your local server and insert the url into your email, so that the recipient could download at their leisure.
