Home Archive by category "Possible inventions" (Page 39)

Category: Possible inventions

#2079: FreshFeatures

‘Tamper evident’ is a buzzword within certain sections of the packaging industry. The pop-up screwtop on jars of jam is an example. Similarly, businesses often have their electrical gear examined and a sticker applied which says ‘Checked, on date X.’

Today’s invention is another form of anti-tamper or safety verification technology.

At its simplest, this might involve taking and laminating a picture of the unmolested item and bonding this to its outer surface. The image itself might be modified of course, so a better approach is to supply any device which has a screen with an image of each of the device’s essential features in factory-fresh condition.

It becomes very hard for anyone to hack in and change the images themselves.

This might best be employed to prove to a user that eg a microwave oven’s safety mesh was intact, or that an ATM had not been interfered with by attachment of external devices.

#2078: BalanceBolts

The average Kwik-Tire outlet will attach new rubberwear to your vehicle at a speed to rival an F1 pit crew.

This means however that your wheels will be left in a state of ovality so that even driving on a smooth road, if you can find one, won’t be much fun.

The traditional solution is to pay a bit extra to have ugly zinc weights clamped to your alloy wheel rims. Fine if you own a Rover but not acceptable if you like the wild side of 40mph.

Today’s invention therefore makes use of the otherwise ridiculous bolts which are often found on expensive wheels.

When these are rebalanced, the machine would calculate which bolts could be replaced by those of a heavier material.

You would drive off with one or two of them made with eg tungsten inserts (there would be a range of bolts made with different masses that the machine could select for the required circumferential locations)…Perfact balance but without the ugly (and potentially lethal) clamped-on ballast.

#2075: Eyesky

Today’s invention is advertising hoardings which are moored in the sky (using large barrage balloons).

These are designed to be visible to many passengers aboard planes as they take off and land.

Seeing these ads, when emotionally excited by such manoeuvers, will make it much more likely that the targeted consumers would buy the products in question on emerging into the terminal.

#2074: HeliJect

Today’s invention is an ejection seat which has a small autogyro rotor built in (rather than a parachute).

This allows for a highly reliable descent which is more controllable and steerable than a parachute would be.

It also removes the uncertainty about whether a chute will open.

A version with a small power unit (and an extending tail rotor) would provide an even more effective escape mechanism.

#2071: AleRTA

When you have just been involved in a car accident, everyone within range will be shaken up.

It can take minutes, even if no-one is hurt, to get around to deploying warning triangles upstream and downstream of the scene.

Today’s invention is a flexible, glass fibre mast, resembling an old fashioned CB radio aerial, which extends upwards, driven by a motor to a height of say 5m above a vehicle. It could be deployed manually when the hazard warning lights are activated or even automatically when the car suffered a sudden impact.

This would be topped by a flashing light to indicate an accident to oncoming vehicles in either direction.

A more advanced version would allow for several independent masts in case the vehicle had partly or wholly overturned.

(Their batteries might well be isolated from the main unit in order still to operate even if the car was badly damaged. Alternatively, the masts could be stored in a bowed configuration, requiring them only to be released to hoist the warning lamp(s)).

#2069: Roadrive

Imagine a future when electric vehicle motors are very common and therefore comparatively inexpensive.

Since most journeys which people make are familiar, they can choose a motor/gearbox/battery unit, from a selection of say five modules which come with the car, which is the best for the trip they are about to make.

This would provide the optimal combination of range and economy and would simply slot into one’s vehicle before each departure.

#2067: ShadowSeats

I work on trains a lot and I’m often irritated by the sun shining in on my laptop and making my screen content almost invisible.

Today’s invention is therefore a program which helps with seat booking.

You enter details of the journey including your preference for a table or sitting facing forwards, the preferred angle of your laptop screen and the departure time.

The program then looks up the weather forecast and will evaluate, for every available seat, the angles at which the sun will hit the carriages at numerous positions along the route.

It is therefore just a matter of geometry to indicate those seats which will allow your laptop screen to be most visible for most of the journey.

#2066: TubeTanks

Today’s invention is a new form of fuel tank for commercial aircraft.

This would take the form of aerodynamically-profiled rings attached to the front of each jet engine. These would increase drag only marginally whilst lessening the dangers associated with pumping fuel.

Tanks would simply clip into place from a truck equipped with a small lift. Less fuel loading time has to be popular with airline schedulers too.

Wings could concentrate on providing lift and the tanks would be much more easily inspected and maintained.

The number of rings would be increased for longer flights and there would still be internal pipework to allow transfer between tanks for trim maintenance.

#2065: SteerSpare

Cars often carry a spare wheel which is narrower than the normal ones in order to save space.

Today’s invention takes that idea to an extreme by using an ultra-thin spare wheel as a part of the steering mechanism.

In an emergency, the airbag (orange) would be removed and the spare wheel extracted and fitted on an axle.

Refitting the airbag container would allow this to continue to fulfil the role of temporary steering wheel.

#2063: AirAnchor

It’s very hard to land a helicopter safely on a highly non-horizontal surface.

It can be harder still to hold it there, especially if the surface is moving -as in the sloping deck of a sinking ship, during a rescue mission.

Today’s invention is a set of rotor blades which have a larger than usual variation in their angle of attack.

This allows them to be electronically controlled, during the last stages of descent onto some slope, so that the blades, still rotating in the same direction, begin to supply downforce, rather than upthrust.

The aircraft would thus be pinned securely to any surface, making the exchange of material easier. Personnel would have to battle with airflow away from the machine, but in an emergency, that shouldn’t be impossible.

This approach could be modified to allow eg helicopter drones to attach themselves to vertical surfaces if required.