Invention Of The Day – Page 52 – Just another break-step productions sites site

#2351: Campons

I have lashed out lots of cash, historically, on various bits of kit to make the vibram soles on my boots less gripless.

These faux crampons either snap off on tarmac surfaces or simply fail to cope with leaves and mud on the same trip.

Today’s invention is therefore variable shoe spikes.

A small array of cams is fitted to the inside of one’s heel, as shown.

By pulling the orange handle, the cam blades rotate to allow the wearer to set the degree of bite required (from snowdrift to parquet floor).

Naturally I’d like a set with a motor and remote control.

They could also be fitted to the toe end of one’s boots, of course.

#2350: PowerSocket

Replacing hip joints is increasingly common.

Today’s invention is for people who have this operation but who may have, or develop, muscular wastage which makes walking difficult.

The hip joint has a strong magnet embedded within it (yellow).

The user wears a girdle which contains a selection of solenoids (red).

These can be switched on and off in a phased way, so that the system acts as an induction motor, rotating the hip joint back and forth through a controlled angle.

This supports the normal action of the leg muscles, either by way of permanent augmentation or during rehabilitation.

#2349: Escapod

Pilots of fast jets have long used ejector seats.

Today’s invention is to fit these aircraft with a number of additional ejection devices, specifically for high-value equipment modules.

The hardware has different maximum acceleration limits from the people on board and so these would be set to fire their pyrotechnics milliseconds after the crew’s seat(s) had departed.

Anything of particular significance…eg secret technology or reconnaissance data might be mounted in a standalone UAV to allow it to attempt to return to base.

Such modules might even have specific self-destruct capabilities so that, if captured, they could obliterate themselves more effectvely than if just involved in a crash.

#2348: Trelliscreen

Windscreens are surprisingly strong but if you happen to have a collision with a wandering moose or some stationary street furniture, every additional reinforcement is welcome.

Today’s invention is a way to brace one’s windscreen and thus lessen the chance of penetration or widespread crazing of the glass.

Sensors in the bonnet detect the impact and cause the reinforced wipers to jump upwards as shown. These are longer and stronger than usual so that they extend over the top edge of the screen.

In this position, the wipers snap together to form a defensive barrier.

#2347: Snaperforation

I know that I’m always advocating a paperless existence, so today’s invention is for people who still hark back to the olden days of vellum, quills and filing cabinets (ie lawyers).

When you want to put your sheet of random paper into a ring binder, there is never a hole punch to hand.

Imagine, therefore, if the prongs on the clips within the binder actually had a circular blade on one side and ‘anvil’ on the other.

Snap these closed on your sheet of paper and a pair of beautifully round holes is formed, allowing the document to be neatly stacked for future reference.

#2346: Footlights

Professional athletes in training expend a lot of effort attempting to learn to reproduce the optimal pattern of steps in their event.

This applies to sprint, hurdles, high-jump etc. -anything which depends critically on precise foot placement.

Today’s invention is to equip an athlete’s shoes each with a tiny projector. Clipped to the top of the toe box, this projector would shine a simple outline of the left foot onto the track when the right foot impacted the ground…and vice versa.

This would show where one’s next foot placement should ideally be.

It would even be updateable in realtime….if, for example, a hurdle had been taken badly, so that the right foot landed in an unusual place, software would calculate the adjustment required to the planned left foot position to get back on track as fast as possible.

This might also be useful for teaching dance to those of us with two left feet.

#2345: CellarSeller

Our consumerist society is so absurd that a whole industry has arisen to allow people in small homes to store the quantities of stuff they have bought but have no room to keep with them.

Today’s invention is a simple way to remind people that this is not very healthy and to help them get rid of their surplus possessions.

When you place items in storage, each is photographed before being consigned to your crate or locker.

These images are later piped to your computer screen as a random screen saver.

This keeps you aware that you already own a set of bone china crockery with matching cruets -and might discourage you from inadvertently buying more. Labelling the images could even allow one’s browser to intercede when you were in the process of making an online purchase of something like the products you already own.

Over time, if the contents of a crate had not been accessed, an owner could authorise that the images be posted to ebay, so that they could be automatically sold without the emotional pain of having to part with one’s superfluous belongings.

#2344: ScissorShields

I was shocked to hear, from some primary school teachers, that about 70% of 10-year olds can’t use scissors; having been denied access to them for ‘safety reasons’.

Today’s invention aims to fix that silliness.

The scissor blades each have a sheath fitted which is free to slide along the blade (and with an internal spring so that the sheaths want to shoot off the blades).

A wire loop joins the sheaths, via a pair of pegs on the handles.

When the scissors are open, the sheaths move close to the handles, leaving only a very small length of blade exposed for cutting.

As the cutting progresses, the handles move closer to each other and more of the blades are unshielded.

This allows scissors to be used by the inexperienced but prevents even a child’s finger from making contact with any significant length of bare blade.

#2343: StorageStoreys

I visited a supercomputer facility today which was located, for historical and security reasons, near the top floor of a tall building.

Today’s invention is inspired by the idea that, in the event of fire, or earthquake, a giant bank of servers and storage would all be destroyed (even if the data were backed up elsewhere).

So, imagine a supercomputer built into a purpose-built lift car, together with its cooling supply and electrical power supply.

This would allow the computer to be easily located at different levels within a building (by plugging into a network hub located near the lift shaft on different floors).

In the event of a fire, this lift would automaticaly disconnect, seal the doors and travel downwards. At ground level, the entire car would run out of the building, on rails, to a safe distance.

#2342: Tubrush

Today’s invention is a travel toothbrush with a flexible handle.

This contains a small reservoir of toothpaste, so that the handle can be bent around to load the brush, as shown.

Travellers would be able to carry a smaller than usual teeth cleaning package and never be in danger of ending up with one of the necessary components missing.