I was inspired today by this slightly crazy idea (graduated wine glasses which indicate which note will be played if you run your finger around the rim when the wine is at a certain depth in the glass).
One note at a time seems a bit limited, though, so today’s invention is to incorporate a syringe in the stem.
Someone holding the glass can push or pull the syringe to raise or lower the level of the wine and thus alter the note played on the rim.
Today’s invention is a laptop case which is engineered to maintain a gap between keys and screen when closed, using a large rubber stop between the two.
It would also have walls around the three non-hinge sides, one of which would form a hinged lid.
This arrangement would allow the interior space to be used to carry papers such as A5 sized documents or a notepad. Even the most wired individuals still can’t do without some paper.
This would provide a way to carry documents with added security and without needing to lug about an extra bag full of papers.
I was lucky enough to get to eat at a fancy hotel recently where they produced some ‘hand-baked’ biscuits.
Just like a hand-sewn suit, these were distinguished by small non-uniformities. Nothing so pronounced as to make me think the cook was actually a four-year old having a break from playdoh, but each was clearly different from its neighbours.
Today’s invention is a way for bakers to simulate the homemade effect. It consists of a baking tray in which the diameters and depths of the cups are all subtly different from each other. Some might even be slightly non-circular.
The effect of this is to create industrial quantities of biscuits which have just enough variation in shape, size and surface browning to be confused with hand-made products.
Any vacuum-formed packaging would have to accommodate numbers of each different biscuit ‘design.’
I work on a laptop with a screen small enough to be just about portable. It allows me to set up multiple desktops, but I can’t get used to having documents that I have to scour some unseen space to retrieve.
Today’s invention is therefore to modify a desktop manager program so that when a window is partly hidden by the physical edge of the screen, a scrollbar should magically appear at that edge (where the red > is pointing).
This would allow me to scroll up and down within, say, my Inbox, to see what new messages have arrived etc -without having to drag the whole thing into view.
There is a competition* to redesign the electricity supply pylon.
Today’s invention is an arch-shaped improvement whose top section is made of glass in an inverted catenary shape. This is good for carrying the weight of one (uninsulated) cable whilst retaining very low visibility.
It is embedded in a steel base which can be levered up in order to raise the arch and cable into position (and provide rigidity in high winds).
Each cable would also form a catenary, so that the visual effect would be of eight or so slightly out of phase sinusoids passing over the landscape: a metaphor for fluctuating voltage.
(*It’s £50 to enter)
Today’s invention is for athletes who have to wear mouthguards.
When breathing heavily, I find it can be hard to get air through one’s mouth with teeth clenched. Relieve the pressure on the guard to take in oxygen and someone is sure to plant a gloved hand in your laughing gear.
To avoid this, I envisage a gumshield with external vents…a little like jet engine intakes.
The wearer can suck air more easily through these (since they also hold the cheeks clear of the teeth) and around the back of the guard to the throat.
The world market for armoured vehicles is booming, I’m told, as more and more citizens live in fear of hijackings or kidnaps.
The advent of autonomous vehicles therefore presents a potential opportunity, which is the subject of today’s invention.
In the event of a suspected attack, or impending hijack, a driver could press a panic button which would have the vehicle automatically execute an evasive manoeuvre (eg a J-turn).
Control would be passed only briefly to the vehicle, so that an aggressive, skilful escape could be performed.
Despite the recent dominance of touchscreens, there is still a big advantage in the tactile feedback which ordinary old buttons provide.
Today’s invention is therefore a calculator with buttons which protrude through a touchscreen surface.
This has the advantage of combining the positive action of buttons, which people like when they are performing finance-related calculations, with the ability to have additional functions described in choosable touchscreen labels on each side of every button.
The buttons could be designed, as shown, to rock both up/down and left/right.
When I drive to the bottlebank, the area in front is always covered with shards of glass. People sometimes miss the aperture of the bank or trip en route to it from their vehicle.
Today’s invention is a simple way to avoid all those perforated tyres: a resilient rubber mat (blue) which covers the tarmac for a couple of car-widths from the bank itself.
Any glassware which hits the deck will not break and is retained within a low dam that can easily be driven over.
I may have mentioned before how sensitive I am to loud noises (especially that low frequency drumbeat that young people seem to enjoy).
Despite that, today’s invention is a way for lovers of loud music to achieve large-scale stereo sound (when, for example, watching a drive-in movie on an outside screen).
A submodule would be provided within in-car entertainment systems which enabled any pair of vehicles equipped in this way to reroute the normal signals to their speakers so that one car would emit the left hand channel and another car, parked at a suitable distance, would blast out the right-hand channel.
(Could even do quod/surround sound, just so long as I’m out of earshot please).
