My annotated list of as yet unsuccessful ideas may be of some interest to you, and is therefore given below:
1. A “smart” pill bottle. This is a medical pill holder which displays on the bottle the number of times that the bottle has been opened on that particular day. That number is assumed to equal the number of doses taken that day. A glance at one's watch therefore shows whether the appropriate number of doses has been taken or not. Each day, the display resets itself to zero either at midnight or some other preset time.
As mentioned previously, I discovered after making a working prototype that a patent for a nearly identical device had already been awarded to an employee of Abbot Corporation. I contacted him and negotiated an agreement to work with him, but was unable to find a receptive licensee.
2. A visor extension (auto) for those awkward driving times when the sun shines from exactly the wrong direction for good forward vision. This potential invention employs a see-through, tinted sun visor which folds or slides out to extend either the bottom or side edge of the standard sun visor.
Unfortunately, as I later learned from a newspaper ad, this idea had already been incorporated into one of the new American cars by a leading auto manufacturer as optional equipment.
3. A tire change tent. This is a collapsible “half tent” that attaches to the outside of the wheel well to protect the person who needs to change a tire (or put on tire chains) during inclement weather, including some sort of warning light or signal to alert other drivers to the hazard ahead. Prototype never attempted.
4. A razor handle cuff to prevent water from trickling down the upper arm, thereby wetting the sleeve while shaving after putting on a clean shirt. Could be a simple “hand cuff” in the shape of an inverted, truncated cone. Snaps onto the wrist. Suspected limited market, because some of the new razor designs are not prone to this problem.
5. A side-walled shovel. This is a new digging tool consisting of a shovel with a triangular leading edge, so that a leading-edge, spring-mounted flap can be made which would trap dirt that otherwise would fall from the shovel while being lifted. (Ever tried to dig a square-shaped hole with a shovel, only to find that a sizable fraction of the dirt lifted immediately falls back into the hole?) Using a small-scale cardboard model, I made some preliminary tests with a spring scale which showed that approximately 20-30% more dirt could be shoveled out with the same number of strokes. Of course, the loaded shovel also becomes correspondingly heavier to lift. Decided the limited market would not warrant further work.
6. Hip and pelvis protector (air bag), to protect the frail elderly patient in the event of an impending fall. This would require some kind of sensing device to trigger inflation. The big problems, of course, are miniaturization and the prevention of unnecessary inflations. I have not attempted to make a prototype, since the fundamentals of the fall situation are not well understood. However, research in this area is now being pursued at the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center in Palo Alto, CA.
7. A really waterproof bathing cap to keep long or freshly coiffed hair dry while swimming. This was to be accomplished with the use of air-inflated thin tubing around the edge of the cap. Preliminary results of tests on some prototypes indicated that my system did not prevent leaking. Therefore, no satisfactory working prototype and no patent application.
8. Mechanic's gloves, very thin but insulating and protective, thus permitting fine work in very hot or cold conditions. No prototype attempted. I am not sure there is yet a suitable material that would satisfy these requirements.
9. Car that starts only when driver is sober. Requires some kind of breath tester or other sensor which would inactivate the ignition system if the driver fails a timed coordination task. Difficult to design a task that would distinguish between drunk and elderly drivers.
10. Device to clean the grooves of a Circulon pot or pan. This would be like a special compass which is automatically centered on each pot to apply a comb-like cleaning surface to the grooves. Satisfactory prototype never completed.
11. A human-powered flying platform. This is a low-flying vehicle powered by one person pumping air into an expanded space between the vehicle surface and the ground. The initial prototype (built without design calculations) was not properly proportioned to give either sufficient lifting force from the pumped air or even the proper placement of the center of gravity. This machine never left the ground. I did once have the background to pursue this invention, having worked long ago as an engineer for Hiller Helicopters in Palo Alto, CA. But for me to do the necessary calculations and design work at the time of this project would have required that I do some serious relearning of aeronautical engineering, because once the vehicle is airborne, stability and control calculations must be made to insure safety. Note the flexible skirt around the perimeter, which is required to allow the pumping action to increase the pressure under the platform.
It is my hope that the above list might help to inspire your creative mind to come up with solutions to these everyday problems. Or perhaps it will simply encourage you to consider other common problems for which you might quickly find that you have a practical solution leading to your own invention. |
