Is your refrigerator big enough for usual demands, yet too small when company comes? How about an add-on food cooler that could temporarily hookup to your refrigerator? This could be an insulated cooler with a hose to circulate refrigerated air from the refrigerator to the add-on cooler and back. Just connect this supplementary "refrigerator" when needed, then disconnect and store the cooler when not needed. The cooler hose could be flat to fit under the door gasket of a normal refrigerator that is not equipped with a hose coupling. Refrigerators could also be designed with this feature, including a fan and temperature control for the add-on cooler. Save money in the long run with a smaller refrigerator - yet have the capacity of a larger unit when needed!Possible Start Building Blocks –- Existing concepts for refrigerators, portable coolers, old-time icebox milk coolers, home heating/cooling distribution system with dampers to close off unused rooms, etc.
- USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas - 62/441, 62/177, 62/37$ ($is wildcard character)
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It seems like the latest addition to automatic car washes is an air blower to blow the water off the car at the end of the process. There does not seem to be this feature however for do-it-yourself car washes. How about a car wash wand that could also blow-dry air as a selectable option? The options are usually WASH, WAX, and RINSE but with this new feature, another option could now be DRY. This probably could be compressed air fed through the wand instead of water. Possible Start Building Blocks –- Existing concepts for hair dryers, PC board dryers, air compressor blow nozzle, car wash wand, etc.
- USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas - 134/95.1, 34/666, 239/447
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In outer space, one side of an object is very hot and the other side is very cold. Using these phenomena, how about a Stirling Engine to generate electrical power in space? A portion of the mechanical energy developed by the engine could be used to rotate the sides of the Stirling Engine to alternately heat and chill a gas. The rest of the mechanical energy could be used for electrical power generation. You could also use the above Stirling Engine concept for generating power on or in the water. In a generator of this type, one side is colder because of the temperature of the water. The sun could heat the other side of the generator. You could use a Fresnel lens to intensify the sun's rays. Thinking of a light channel, you could even direct the sun's rays down to a lower depth in the water where the water is colder, and therefore have a greater temperature differential than if the generator were on the surface of the water. Again, a portion of the mechanical energy developed by the engine could be used to rotate the sides of the Stirling Engine to alternate hot with cold. The rest of the mechanical energy could be used for electrical power generation. In addition, the water could act as a low friction bearing, similar to those bearings in hydroelectric plants. Possible Start Building Blocks –- Existing concepts for Crookes Radiometer, other "external combustion” engines, etc.
- USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas - 60/520, 60/517, 60/526
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How about manufactured "skipping stones"? This could develop into a new sport or competition. The rocks could be specially designed artificial stones, instead of the usual way of collecting stones on a shore. All the stones in the package would be the same, within close tolerances. Computer analysis could give the best rock configuration for skipping. Plastic molding techniques could give the consistency and cheapness of cost. Perhaps these stones could be biodegradable or retrievable. Maybe it could be the next popular item similar to the Yo-Yo, Pet Rock, Hula Hoop, Frisbee, Fishing Casting Contests, etc. All these are probably patented and trademarked. Maybe this is the next new one! Possible Start Building Blocks –- Existing concepts for plastic molding, hockey pucks, sport flying discs, medical tablet manufacturing, packing peanuts, etc.
- USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas - 473/588, 446/153
- Search string to copy/paste into your favorite search engine - "skipping stones" and theory
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How about a wrench that could change colors instead of breaking or stressing a bolt? By changing colors, the wrench could give a rough indication of torque applied in tightening hardware. The colors could be calibrated in foot-pounds, e.g. orange 70 foot-pounds, red 100 foot-pounds. Perhaps this could be a disposable wrench included in do-it-yourself build-it kits for those people with minimal tool knowledge. One possibility to achieve this color change responding to stress would be the new multichromic polymers or nanostructures. These new compositions change colors depending on a variety of stimuli - one being stress (compression, torque, etc.).Possible Start Building Blocks –- Existing concepts for torque wrenches, toy wrenches, torque indicating bolts, etc.
- USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas - 73/862, 81/57, 430/338
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How about a small snow blower for cars? This snow blower could run off car engine or battery. This could be a robot-looking and be controlled by a joystick control to clean the snow from underneath a stuck car. It could crawl underneath and blow snow from under the car chassis. Something similar to a modified ice fishing hole auger might work too. This could supplement or replace a regular snow shovel and be particularly helpful for older or handicapped drivers stuck in the snow.Possible Start Building Blocks –- Existing concepts for grain augers, tunnel borers, equipment for tunneling under roads, ice fishing hole drill, robot lawnmowers, etc.
- USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas - 37/227, 37/251, 37/248,37/250
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Have you ever been late for work because of weather conditions that developed during the night? How about an alarm clock that would automatically advance the clock wake up signal depending on adverse weather conditions? Maybe the local radio station could send an extra signal on their carrier wave to alert of bad weather conditions. Example - alarm goes off 15 minutes early because of bad weather. Maybe the radio station would just issue the signal of bad weather and the clock-user would pre-program how much extra time to give for each event. Example - one driver may need more time for a few inches of snow than another driver.Possible Start Building Blocks -- Existing concepts for alarm clocks, weather radios, TV information feeds, cable TV feeds, weather monitors, etc.
- USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas - 340/825, 368/10
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