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
