#2097: Bottless

Plastic bottles are a godsend in terms of transporting clean liquids but a global pain in the ear to deal with, once used.

The caps are generally complicated to make and they also require different recycling processes to be in place from those applied to the bodies of bottles.

Today’s invention is a plastic bottle which is easy to make, via the usual blow-moulding process, but which can also be used as a cap (ie of the same, recyclable or biodegradable material).

Two such items are shown, moving along a production line, with closed ends on the left and open ends to the right.

The bottle on the right, left empty, can have its base screwed onto the left bottle to act as a cap.

A chain of say six small bottles could be filled and screwed together thus, with the empty, rightmost one as the only cap required.

The end a of any bottle can be cut off (using scissors) and used as either a cocktail glass or a tumbler.

#2096: ClipCode

Today’s invention is a pair of nail clippers with a serrated edge.

The positions of the serrations can be selected by the user so that a subtle pattern can be created in anyone’s fingernails.

I estimate that it would be possible to have about five such notches cut into each nail without these being obvious to a casual observer.

The result would be a code, representing 2^(10*5) different messages -which would allow identification of an individual.

Such a code, whilst crude, could be carried by anyone -perhaps even without their knowledge.

It would also have a clearly limited lifetime and might, if necessary, be destroyed in a few, nailbiting seconds.

#2095: GameGoods

Today’s invention is to link a computer game to a laser cutter (or, in future a 3D printer).

When you achieve some sub-goal in the game, you get access to codes which allow the cutter, attached to your machine, to create a facsimile of some artifact within the game itself (eg the raygun of Zod).

This can then be used to house your mobile phone which will allow additional elements of the next stage of play to be activated.

The phone will talk to the games machine via wifi and its touchscreen can be used to trigger control events.

#2094: DroneDome

Fighter pilots have a tonne of gear to support on their helmets these days.

It’s even thought that helmet movements, which are sensed and used to place head-up information in front of a pilot, might be used to control UAVs.

Today’s invention is to turn the helmet itself into a drone within the cockpit.

This would have a number of external air jets attached and controlled so as to unweight this system from the pilot’s head.

The effect would be to lower the neck stresses caused by the very high accelerations of tight cornering in 3D and thus allow pilots to concentrate for longer with less fatigue.

#2093: ThiefThwart

Today’s invention is a way to ensure that one’s luxury car doesn’t get stolen.

The driver’s seat would have a lock mechanism attached to its spine via the headrest locating holes.

Locking the car door (with no weight on the seat) would cause the driver’s seat motors to drive the seat back forwards into contact with the steering wheel. The lock would engage with the wheel and automatically snap closed around it.

This would make the car visibly impossible to drive away -at least without being prepared to wreck the interior.

It would also avoid the need to carry around all sorts of extra ironmongery.

#2092: AntiDraw

I’m keen to help people to give up smoking (rather than forcing them to do so).

Today’s invention on this theme is a set of covers for cigarettes. A loved-one of someone trying to give up would buy a pack of 20 lottery scratch card cigarette covers.

They would then glue these around the outsides of some cigarettes (increasing the number covered per pack as time went on).

The smoker would have to choose whether to play the lottery or smoke a cigarette, each time, since removing the scratchcard would destroy any chance of smoking that particular one (and trying to scratch in situ would have the same effect).

#2091: SecuRetrace

I’m told that housebreakers are happy when the snow falls, because they can detect, using footprints, any egress from a property which hasn’t yet been followed by the return of the homeowner.

Today’s invention is a security enhancement for anyone lucky enough to be away from home during the winter.

It consists of a wheel and handle device with shoe soles attached.

When you walk to your car, you run the wheel alongside your outgoing tracks to give the impression of another set -of incoming ones.

#2090: Travelake

Today’s invention is a way to enable very small vessels to travel around the world.

A large ship would be built, probably in the shape of a catamaran. This would have a central, raised section linking the two hulls beneath which small craft could travel, under their own steam, or driven by steering the ship so that the prevailing wind passed between the hulls.

Floating booms between the hulls at the front and rear of the ship would effectively isolate the boats from breaking waves and damagingly high oceanic winds.

This configuration would allow people to undertake global-distance voyages without the danger and fatigue which exposed trips would experience.

It might even allow long-distance swimmers the same protection whilst training, for example.

#2089: CashWash

So it seems that ‘Millennials,’ ie young folk, believe that, although cash makes them much more aware of their spending habits, it’s physically dirty.

This makes them dependent on credit card use, even when it’s not convenient (and subject to ridiculous surcharges).

Today’s invention is therefore a cash machine or (ATM) which takes in dirty notes (as eg car parking machines do now) and replaces them with crisp new ones.

Not only would this encourage people to avoid debt, it would also allay fears about notes being impregnated with cocaine, fecal matter or, heaven forbid, terrorists’ cyanide salts.

#2088: Absentinel

Today’s invention is a software plugin for networked diaries.

When you set up your out-of-office message, the programme would automatically ask you for someone to handle your high priority messages. It would then detect if the person who is nominated to take those urgent calls (Ms A, say) has themselves booked a holiday while you are away.

If they have, then you would be informed and any emergency calls would be automatically redirected to Mr B (as nominated by Ms A) during that period.

The depth of this redirection sequence would be limited so that the ultimate call handler still had some idea of what to do.

In particular, this approach would also ensure that no loops could form ie
MsA->MrB->MsC->MsA would be ruled out.