It had to happen, I finally got around to reinventing the wheel.

Rather than persisting with that simple old round geometry, today’s invention is a way to have wheels (top of the image) transform themselves into tracks (bottom of the image) by varying their internal geometry. The suggestion is to do this by using an outer track with driver wheels raised off the ground in both cases. Idler wheels would be moved radially inwards or outwards within slots to create a circular arc or flat profie (or intermediates between these).

In the wheel case, the idlers might even be locked in position around the circumference of a circular hub, so that the whole thing could roll, effectively using the track only as a wheelrim.

This would provide, when a wheel’s low-rolling and turning resistance weren’t required, a better response in terms of grip and load distribution.

Someone has now built a version of this (although they seem to be using extensible tracks and only two idlers, in a rather complicated mechanical system -but it certainly works).

When planning permission is sought for some new building, it can send small ripples of uncertainty around a neighbourhood. Amongst the local residents, there will usually be some knee-jerk noes and some don’t knows and some don’t cares.

In order to help people form a more informed opinion, today’s invention is simply to create a VR simulation of the proposed building, based on any CAD drawing that has already been prepared.

This would need to be rendered in sufficient detail that issues like the before-and-after light levels could be investigated, together with questions regarding access, services, etc. I’d like to see an acoustic model incorporated which could help assess how noise levels might be affected for example, and for industrial buildings, how waste might be managed.

Only then could all parties really begin to understand the implications of a planned development -and have their concerns validated or negated.

The effort required to build such a model would be substantial (although more useful than a cardboard version) but it would provide a valuable extra hurdle in helping to prevent unwanted development or unfounded objections.

Academics are restricted sometimes from making full use of their mental powers because the nature of their profession is that reputation counts for a lot. This can be easily misinterpreted to mean that making any unsubstantiable suggestion, or even slightly crazy proposition, is forbidden to them.

They therefore need a way to bounce early-stage ideas around with more than their trusted collegiate peer-group -but without exposing themselves to embarrassment.

Today’s invention is a bulletin board for academics on which their postings appear anonymously. This allows them to contribute ideas without jeopardising their reputations or being intimidated by the “standing” of others. It would also mean, of course, that they would miss out on the credit for any of these ideas. (This could actually be good, in screening out those people for whom the business of intellectual creativity is just an ego trip).

At any time, anyone posting to a given thread could propose a group meeting to advance their thinking face-to-face (with a view to building some kind of research programme, perhaps). There could even be a mechanism by which those who were against a meeting might find themselves simply not invited to it.

It’s been assumed, since trains were invented, that they would be giant, friction-driven monsters made of cast iron and brass.

Today’s invention revises that idea…by suggesting (again) that the existing tracks be used to carry micro-carriages.

These would flexibly transport small freight packages (maybe as small as a suitcase) and would run on only one track at a time. This would avoid all the nightmarish scheduling issues to do with having thousands of two-directional trains vying for the same track space.

Each small carriage would be made of lightweight materials and be individually driven by a small gas turbine -or even a modern steam engine with a low pressure jet exhaust (anything other than rail friction -maybe even mag-lev?).

What happens when vast numbers of these are heading for multiple collisions across the network? Well, each would also carry a lightweight sigmoid-shaped bridge rail. When a collision is predicted, the carriage would lower its bridge rail section to one side of the track and either park itself momentarily, in its own mini siding, or place it between the tracks in order to swap rails.

This approach would also allow all conventional rail traffic to continue on its merry way as normal.

Cars should, in my view, not require any kind of fettling these days…even having to stop to fill them with fuel is a total pain (especially at £1.01 per litre). I take a similar view of having to fill the windscreen wash tank…ok, the water is free, but it’s still an unnecessary hassle.

Today’s invention is a water recycling system for car windscreens. Wipers would, instead of firing the water off sideways onto unsuspecting pedestrians, deflect it down the screen into a gutter at the base of both front and back screens. (I’d also site the spray nozzles at the top of the screen…I believe in making use of gravity, whenever possible). Dirty water would pass from here to a very crude filter tank (to remove the bugs, leaves and some exhaust particulates)…maybe even by a combination of centrifugation and settling.

In a country where it rains every day, this would reduce the frequency of water tank filling to an acceptable once a year chore.

Use of a better filter would enable radiator top-ups to be taken care of automatically also.

Coathangers are well known to proliferate in wardrobes around the world and yet, when I need to hang up my suit, I can never find one (my other clothes are carefully hung on the floor).

Today’s invention attempts to solve the mystery of the missing coathangers (Their alternative usefulness as drain cleaners, dipsticks and advent crowns may also contribute to their local scarcity in my house, of course).

A triangular envelope would be incorporated into every jacket, across the back of the shoulders region. On removing the jacket, this could be inflated (using only a couple of breaths) to form a semi-rigid, flattish coathanger shape, capable of supporting the garment until next deflated for wearing.

This might actually provide better support than a knife-edged metal one. It could also embody a slot, within the triangle, through which a pair of trousers could be hung.