Home Posts tagged "fabby" (Page 17)

Tag: fabby

#1987: LogoLock

It seems that users of Apple laptops are victims of the anomaly that the big Apple logo on the lid needs to lie with leaf uppermost when they are about to open the shell.

Then, when it’s opened, everyone passing sees them using a machine with the logo upside down…(I wonder if Samsung have trademarked the Apple logo thus inverted? ; )

Today’s invention is a simple mechanism to allow this ‘problem’ to be overcome.

In diagram A, a user rotates the apple badge on the outside of the case anticlockwise, using the ‘bite’ for purchase. This disengages a catch (pink) inside the lid.

Opening the lid (B) allows the badge, whose axis is above its center of mass, to fall into the correct orientation as viewed by a passer by.

When finished, the user shuts the lid and spins the badge back until the catch re-engages.

#1986: Scooparking

With the price of metal soaring, the owners of mechanical diggers stand to lose even more equipment from building sites.

This is a particular problem when these machines have to have buckets of different sizes and these all need to be secured overnight (or over the weekend).

Today’s invention is a range of digger buckets which is designed so that the vehicle wheels can be driven into them and parked, as shown. Once the vehicle has its steering lock applied, removal of any buckets is a herculean task.

Each vehicle can have up to four spare buckets, which are made shallow enough avoid fouling the digger wheelarches.

I’d also recommend driving the vehicle until the tyre valves are located deep inside the buckets (to avoid deflation and illicit bucket removal).

#1981: FrameFlask

I came up with today’s invention a few weeks ago in connection with my joint column with Mark Sheahan.

It comprises a drink container which is secreted within a racing cycle’s seatpost.

This could allow drinks to be carried on indoor tracks (which is currently forbidden, due to the danger of spillage).

It also eradicates the drag which would be caused by an external bottle and makes it much less easy to steal the container from a parked machine.

#1980: StreetShare

Today’s invention is street advertising hoardings which get themselves pasted online too.

Adverts on street-level billboards would have a dotted line figure (or figures) included.

People would have their photo taken in this amusing or incongrous setting, so that the image would be posted on say their facebook profile and shared.

The reposting of the image would allow many more people to see the original poster. This process could also result in prizes for those appearing in the most popular images of a given advertisement.

Another version might allow the facial feature distribution of a person imaged to be used as a code to select some additional message or bonus content to be injected into the final, online image.

#1971: SpeedShare

Today’s invention is a way to enhance the gamification of various online activities.

Imagine a group of people whose machines are connected to the Internet via a single router.

This device has the ability to apportion to each of these players a fraction of the available bandwidth -in real-time.

The system could be made to react to the speeds with which the individuals perform some set task…the fastest people ‘win’ some extra bandwidth. Or, it could be used to help support the performance of those who were slow when undertaking some particular type of work.

Access to network speed in multi-user activities could in itself fulfil the role of a reward for achieving certain goals within a game or work-related setting.

#1968: BreechBreather

Tanks are always in need of somewhere to hide from eg predatory warplanes.

Today’s invention allows them to lurk underwater, without much additional kit to cart about.

A tank would drive into a body of water, and quickly switch off its engine. The crew would then open the breech of its main gun and use that as a way to get air from the surface -as well as being able to see above water using two wirrors attached to the muzzle and breech block.

Armoured vehicles could thus wait, undetected, underwater for significant periods of time.

#1963: SkyShuttle

Now that the space shuttles are being transported around the US piggybacking on 747s again, today’s invention offers a way to contribute towards the next phase of space exploration.

It takes the form of a novel payload container for the shuttle cargo bay.

This would be a pressurised cylinder with seating and facilities like an airliner. It would have windows that allowed occupants to look out through the ports in the shuttle’s sides. The container might even allow limited numbers of people to move from the airliner to the shuttle during flight.

Although it would go nowhere near space, passengers could legitimately claim they had flown aboard the space shuttle, get a certificate and be charged a large premium for the privilege.

#1961: Brrrush

Today’s invention is a toy car which contains an old-fashioned carpet sweeper mechanism.

As the vehicle is rubbed across the floor, so the rotating brushes sweep the usual debris, which playing children create, inside.

Each car could be weighed at the end of a week as a measure of its ‘mileage’ and a prize awarded according to the cleaning it had accomplished.

#1959: AbLootion

Buying a safe for domestic use is massively expensive (given that it will probably have to be built into a specially-created wall cavity).

Today’s invention is therefore an alternative. It consists of a replacement front door for one’s washing machine.

This looks no different from the outside, but comes equipped with a new, more secure lock and hinge mechanism, compatible with the existing electromechanics. The valuables are inserted through a watertight port into a hemispherical pod on the inside of the door.

The pod allows use of the machine to continue without either obstructing the door during loading or the washing when it is rotating. Some clothing will pass between the transparent door and the pod, so that it’s hard to spot.

Not only is the washing machine an unlikely place to store goodies (red), it can be left running when you go out, further camouflaging their location.

As everyone knows moving a dry machine is hard work. Moving one full of water and attached to the plumbing is a non-starter.

#1954: StoreDoor

Today’s invention is inspired by a question in New Scientist (you will probably need a subscription to read this).

It seems that reams of paper don’t burn primarily because the paper is treated with “rutile titanium dioxide, one of the most fire-resistant substances known”.

So imagine fire doors which are made hollow, but with postal slots in their surfaces. This would allow spare paper to be stored, as blocks, conveniently until needed.

It would also allow paper waiting to be shredded to be kept in a secure place, inside firedoors, whilst actually doing something useful.