Electricity: Electric Cat Fur Collector

This machine is the electric cat fur collector.  If you have a cat you know that cat fur accumulates without mercy no matter how often you dust or sweep—and if you have a long-haired cat, the problem is even worse.  Furthermore, because it is very light, attempting to sweep it up or even vacuum it is an exercise in futility. The electric cat fur collector is a cordless vacuum  made with a fine metal brush on the top side.  Batteries maintain a modest negative voltage in that metal brush. Since cat fur tends to accumulate a positive charge, the positively charged fur will be attracted to the negatively charged metal brush.  The brush in turn  is positioned so that the fur is attracted to the mouth of the vacuum where it is sucked in and vacuumed up.

Electromagnetism: Mail Checker

For those whose mailboxes are quite a distance from their front door, it’s challenging to know when you r mail has arrived so you know when to collect  it from the box.  The electromagnetic mail checker notes when the mailbox door is opened and closed by the mail delivery person.  It keeps track of the number of times the mailbox is opened and closed, and sends a radio (electromagnetic) signal back to the home base up to 1000 feet away (larger units for longer distances).  The home base turns on a light when the mail is delivered and turns it off when the mail is removed by the homeowner.  If for any reason it gets out of sync (for example, if the homeowner opens the box a second time to put mail out to be picked up), simply doing a reset on the home base unit will set it for the mail delivery.  Because the light stays on until the mail is collected, you don’t have to be home when the mail comes.

Sound Waves: Sound Activated Muffler

The sound activated muffler is designed for use with machinery such as tractors, motorcycles, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, weed whackers, and edgers, all kinds of commonly used but noisy machinery.  The idea behind the Sound Activated Muffler is that sound waves can be canceled with equal-but-opposite sounds. Thus, a small microphone detects the noise that the machinery generates, then  a small signal generator inverts the noise, and a small amplifier emits the opposite sounds to cancel.  This is similar to the principle behind noise-cancellation headphones, but in this case, it would be attached to the sources of the noise rather than the receiver.

Alternate wave force/motion: Wave-Powered  Emergency Power

Ocean  waves contain enormous amounts of energy simply because the mass of water in motion has an enormous amount of energy associated with it. Water waves have two motions: up and down, and forward.  In the case of an emergency at sea, there is a need for a source of power that does not rely on batteries, which can fail, and which can provide power purify water for drinking, operate an emergency beacon, and provide other essential services.  This  wave-operated generator uses the up-and-down motion of the ocean to mechanically power a piston, which (with a cam shaft) converts to a rotator motion. That in turn moves a rotator in a magnetic field (from permanent magnets) to generate electricity, which can be used to power either a small desalination system, or power a small radio, whatever is needed most at the time.

Reflection  and Refraction of Light: Prismatic Cloth.

Crystals reflect and refract light waves that strike them. Because different colors of light are refracted both from the front surface and the back surface of a crystal, and because the colors refract at slightly different angles (based on the different wavelengths), crystals can generate “rainbow” reflections. This is also why soap bubbles show rainbow surface colors.  By manipulating the thickness of a refractive film melded on a reflective cloth, the effect is like a mirror of varying thickness with a silvered background.  Because of the varying thickness of the film, rainbow colors are going to be seen when light is incident on the cloth.  Moreover, if the thickness of the refractive layer is controlled, patterns of rainbows can result, making this useful for everything from dynamic couture dresses to billboard advertisements that are eye-catching without requiring expensive electronics or battery operated equipment—and that’s what makes it practical for clothing and other portable items.    

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