SnacKup - snack presentation system

While driving out to their favorite fishing spot, two friends stop at a gas station. They each grab a snack for the road. The driver buys some Combos and the passenger gets a bag of Caramel Bugles. Off they drive. The passenger enjoys the sweet and salty Bugles as he has two hands available, one to handle the bag and the other to eat with. The driver is frustrated while eating his tubular pretzel treats. He does not wish to get crumbs inside his new Mazda6, yet getting the Combos with one hand is tricky. He hears the passenger chew another handful of Bugles. He looks at the bag of Combos. He starts to wish the other guy would choke on those snacks.  What he really needs is a way to present his snacks that would not endanger the interior's integrity.

Presenting the ETI SnacKup. This snack presentation system will allow the driver to eat snacks that are lifted to the proper height. The SnacKup holds 470cc of snacks. A photo eye is used to sense when the snack level is too low. It then signals the lifting plate to rise. The 3 volt motor and screw drive then lifts the plate with .5 punds of thrust and brings snacks to the top level. Here the driver can reach the Combos at the optimal level. The snacks can be saved for later by placing a lid on the cup. The Lift and Retract button gives a manual option as well as resetting the SnacKup for the next bag of crackers. Note that the center console is shown as a Mazda6 and other center console might differ.  

This is a $250,000 idea. It would need to sell in the $19-$29 range and would require considerable marketing. Distribution would partner with the Brookstone, Sharper Image, and Sky Mall type magazines. It is in the rough design (at best) and there are a lot of functionality problems to overcome. At this stage it is only slightly better than a shallow SOLO® cup.

Design Hurdles.

• Define best lifting mechanism
• Ability to clean
• Design slip gears for when people push down the lift plate by hand

Now the Driver munches on his Combos with joy and flourish. The passenger looks into his simple bag full of crumbs and feels a little old fashion. If only he also had a SnacKup.

Please let me know if you think this Million Dollar Idea has a chance.

Does it need a different feature?

Is there a major design flaw?

Do we need to start production so you can have one?

 

Until next time – Keep Thinking

Eric The Inventor

TreaTag - the Halloween Yard Sign

There is an unspoken competition that occurs every year. On Halloween the children of a neighborhood rank the adults on the coolness scale based solely on the candy they receive. Over the years this has raised the candy quality many levels. A national phone service even highlighted this social phenomenon in a commercial.  A family dressed in Star Wars outfits uses their network devices to plan a better route on Halloween.

Hershey’s Candy Company worked hard to make their product, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, the most desired treat. Kent wants to be ranked highly so he buys Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The only problem is that the kids might not make it to his house because they don’t know what he has. If there was just a way to let them know?

 

The ETI Commercial Marketing Division introduces the TreaTag. This is the first Halloween yard sign that kids will read. The TreaTag consist of a Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) printed sheet and two ABS folding supports. The supports go into the two pocket sleeves in the printed sheet. The TreaTag is free with every extra-large bag of Reese’s. The supports fold up to fit in the bag and protect the sharp point. When the sign is installed the supports will fold away from each other, offering an active resistance to the LDPE sheet.  

This is a $1 million dollar idea. The Candy industry spends millions on advertising over Halloween. This would increase that coverage considerably. The sign construct might also have wide ranging possibilities for the Political industry, Garage sales, Grad Parties. The COG is about $0.45 in bulk. The real savings is in the shipping and distribution. This will weigh significantly less than traditional yard signs with wire frames.

Hurdles:

Putting “sharp” items in with kid’s candy

Encouraging the public to use them

Signs manufacturing in a way that is safe for food contact

Kent displayed his TreaTag for a week ahead of time. On the big night he “up-ed” his game by using glow sticks to back light the sign. Kids did not miss his house. Kent finally received the unspoken high ranking he always deserved. The next morning revealed the truth. This year it is the neighbor’s house that got egged.  Way to go Kent! Way to go.

Until next time – Keep Inventing

Eric The Inventor

TeeNote - public communication system

Jill is staying after school to help with the upcoming Junior High dance. When she is done she needs her mom to pick her up. There is no more payphones, and they are never coming back. Her parents can’t afford a cell phone for her. Jill is forced to find a passing teacher and ask to use their phone. Now the teacher feels obligated to remain in the front of the school until Jill’s parent arrives. What is needed is a modern public communication option.

 

The public education technology division of ETI is proud to announce the TeeNote. This public communication system consists of a station for sending a text and a larger screen for displaying the text response. The student would enter a code into the station. Then TeeNote would offer them 2-5 options of phone numbers to text that the parents have preapproved. After sending the message the student would wait by the response screen for an answer. If needed the student could reply again.

This is a $500,000 Idea. The market is limited to schools. The TeeNote system would cost almost $10,000 to buy and install. The upkeep cost would average $200 a month. The value is also restricted because it is not far out of the concept stage. As electronics and programming are required, an outside service would be needed during the development process. This does have a chance at a non-profit company with a corporate sponsor. If it could be sold to Verizon, Best Buy, Apple as public service opportunity, it would have a better chance.

 The TeeNote system is the reinvention of the payphone. It will allow every student to communicate with someone without having to have a school employee monitor the system.

Warning – Soap Box Diatribe - I believe this is needed because parents, students, and schools have lost the ability to plan ahead. Is this because we don’t want to be held accountable for being someplace on time? Jill and her mom could have arranged a time and a place. That is what everyone did  for 100's of years. But those days are gone with the payphone, and they are never coming back.  

Until next time - Keep Thinking

Eric the Invenmtor

LighTote - purse with integrated illumination

On Friday, Sandy is walking out to her car after an evening talking to friends. She can’t find her keys in her purse. It’s too dark. On Saturday, Sandy pauses before going into the movie theater with her boyfriend. She can’t find her ChapStick® in her purse. It’s too dark. On Sunday, Sandy is in church and wants to take notes. She can’t find her pen in her purse. It’s too dark. Sandy wishes there was a better way.

 

The ETI LighTote is the world’s best purse with integrated illumination. The purse contains a switched hinge in the purse’s joint. This feature contains a battery and a switch. When the LighTote is opened it turns on two strings of LEDs that are strung around the lower walls of the purse. This indirect light allows the user to find the needed item without dilating their pupils and losing night vision.

The LighTote is an easy $750,000 idea. It is easy to manufacture as a $4 cost of goods (COG) upgrade to any existing purse and could add $15 of value. There are a million options for distribution. The market is huge. It is an item that 50% of the public purchases once a year.

Hurdles:

·         Patent Issues – It might be difficult to write a patent with enough protection. So every other company will have a version in 1 year.

·         Battery Life – If the purse is left open it will drain eventually. A timer in switch would help.

·         Ignorance – Ladies might not want to see what is on the bottom of their purse.

This concept is long overdue and leads into several new concepts; phone chargers, exterior flash light, fiber optic exterior luminescent designs. Men might be the most excited about the LighTote. We love putting LEDs on everything and we hate waiting outside movie theaters while the girlfriend looks through her black hole of a purse for lip gloss. This probably means she plans to interrupt my Jet Li movie with kissing. There will be plenty of time for making out after Jet Li has restored honor to his family.  

Until Next Time – Keep Inventing

Eric the Inventor

MusiCrew - Online Jam Session App

There would be nothing better for a guitarist on a Saturday afternoon than to pick up his six-string and play a few sets with his friends. Unfortunately, Steve is new in town.  After mastering his new favorite 80’s song, Steve has no one to play it with. If he could just connect up with other musicians that also love Men At Work, he could fully realize his dream.

MusiCrew, the newest app from ETI, will bring these artists together. Steve the guitarist starts a group called “Who Can it Be Now”.  He selects the kind of artists he needs; Bass guitar, Drummer, Australian Singer, and a little Saxophone.  There are millions of artist registered with MusiCrew and they all have a rating that has been assigned be other MusiCrew artists. Steve sets the rating level he requires and then he opens his group up to anyone in the world to join. He gets Mark, a buddy from college, to drum. Raindrop, a lady from Seattle, signs up to play Bass. Some Australian, Colin Hay, says he’s great at signing MAW songs. Although a little odd, there is a mouse saxophone player that is highly rated, so she’s in too. At the scheduled time, they log onto the “Who Can It Be Now” group site and record. Everyone does great. MusiCrew sends the recording to the players and makes it available for the thousands of Steve’s followers to download.  (Alright they were all Colin’s followers.)

 

This is a full $1Million Idea. The money would be raised through music downloads and artist fees. It could easily break off into the Professional artists running workshops. Imagine all the people that would sign up to play guitar or sing with Maroon 5. The next level purchase would offer editing software.

Obviously there are a several technical issues.

·         Would network connection lag times throw off the timing?

·         What would be the Copyright issues?

·         Would it require a server the size of a warehouse?

Every musician would join and every musician’s friend would buy the recordings. I’m not kidding here, this is the next step in social networking. Although I do not play music, even I would learn the harmonica to play “Soul Man” with Dan Aykroyd. Which artist would you pay to play with?

 

Until Next Time, Keep Thinking!

Eric the Inventor

TriMow- Grass Trimmer attachment for Mower

The man of the house stops to review his yard. For the last hour he has pushed 6.5 horse power of grass cutting machine over every inch of his yard. Now every blade of grass is standing perfectly at the right height. He takes a breath of relaxation, but it is cut short. Along the garden bed and the fence there is a 2 inch strip of grass that avoided the mower. He will have to get his trimmer out and walk the same yard he already walked. Slightly defeated he pushes his mower back the garage. If there was a way to mow and trim at the same time this man would be enjoying a cold Pepsi and a Twins game instead of being out in the sun for another 30 minutes.

The ETI TriMow (pronounced “trim-mow” not “tri-meow”) is here to restore weekends back to the American home owner. This attachment will trim grass on the left side of your mower. The Guide Wheel will automatically adjust the Spring Arm so that the TriMow Power Head will remain an effective yet safe distance from the fence. The on / off switch is manual with an cable up to the handle. The mower’s motor would run a small generator that produced 14 volts for the Power Head.

Design Challenges…

• Guide Wheel will not be able to handle uneven surfaces. (i.e. Picket Fences)
• TriMow Height may need to be adjusted a different points in the yard.

This is a $400,000 idea. It is held back because it is an accessory to another medium priced purchase. As trimmers start at about $75, this attachment might need to be in the $100 range. The product does not totally eliminate the need for a trimmer. There will be some spots in the yard not approachable by mowers. This is the design is also a long way away from complete so the business value is quite low.

 The TriMow is a great idea that needs doing. I need … I mean … Hypothetical home owner  guy needs every minute he can save on the weekends. And that ice cold cola is not going to drink itself.

Untill next time  - Keep Inventing

Eric the Inventor 

PapeRoaster

The world is full of documents that that people no longer want. They also do not want other people to see them. That is why Adolf Ehinger made the first electric paper shredder in the 1959. His concept of the duel cutting cylinders attached to a motor has really been the standard over 50 years. Unfortunately this form of destruction cannot be trusted any more. As proven by such authoritative shows like CSI and Psych, these strips of paper can be reconstructed by people with nothing else to do.

It is also worth noting that there is now quite a large industry around document destruction. If a company shreds paper at their location then they have to dispose of the shredded paper that takes up twice the space that non-shredded paper does. There are companies like Shred-it that make millions by simply taking your paper away and disposing of it. The world is ready for a solution that really destroys documents and doesn’t generate dumpsters full of paper.

 

The world is ready for the ETI 3000 PapeRoaster. This takes the destruction process to an irreversible state. The paper is loaded into the PapeRoaster and is shredded into 1/8 inch strips. This process increases the surface area of the paper. Roller Cylinders feed the paper down the center. At this point two Heat Jet Manifolds will ignite propane. The strips of paper drop into the gauntlet of fire and are reduced to ashes. The final charred waste is collected in a high temp polymer bin.

The American Office now has a way of to achieve total document destruction.  Some of our cautious customers have expressed concern about an open flame and fuel source in the copy room.  The ETI 3000 PapeRoaster is fully incased in a 1 inch thick cement enclose. The Rollere Cyclinders inside restrict the flame and heat from moving up the shredder.  As an added precaution the bin door will not open if the temperature inside is over 110° F. These safeguards insure complete incineration without a chance of harming the operator.

Design challenges include.

• There is a good chance for the process to have air flow issues. Too much air and the ash will blow everywhere. Not enough and the fire does not burn.
• A vent might be added to allow heat to exhaust outside.

This is a $500,000 idea. Every major office in the world would want one. The units would sell for $3000 and could be built for $500. Shipping will eat into the profits as the Cement casing would weigh it down. Ongoing sales of the fuel could help offset some costs.

With the ETI 3000 PapeRoaster  bad guys everywhere would not fear the CSI search warrant. Lets see Gil Grissom reconstruct that on an oversized light table.

Until next time - Keep Thinking

Eric The Inventor