Category Archives: Inventions

Gear

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Gear

Gears are in nature and in machines… just where to look?

  • Gears are items used in machinery, and have the primary function of transferring power from a source to an application.
  • ‘Gears’ are also known as ‘cogwheels’, and when different sized ones are meshed against each other, the result is that the application speed will be different to the source speed.
  • Gears have protruding spikes, or ‘teeth’ , that interlock, or ‘mesh’ with others that have teeth of the same size, causing all those that are meshed to move when a force is applied to one.
  • Gears originated in Ancient Greece, particularly around 300 to 200 BC, when Archimedes, a Greek polymath, discovered many of the item’s properties and physics.
  • The most common type of gear is named the ‘spur’, that is circular or cylindrical in shape, and has teeth that sit on the circumference, parallel to the central rotating point; while other types can have curved or other differently shaped or positioned teeth, including internal teeth, or teeth that are placed along the item’s width.
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Gears
Image courtesy of Brent 2.0/Flickr
  • When a gear changes direction while moving, a lapse, or ‘backlash’ is created, caused by a space, due to the positioning of the teeth as they mesh.
  • Gears are typically made of metals such as steel or iron, but plastic ones are also available, and they come in numerous shapes and sizes.
  • The size of gears can be measured in ‘modules’, which is typically the item’s diameter divided by the number of teeth, although they can be measured in ‘pitches’ when using imperial units, which is a teeth per inch measurement.
  • Gears are generally made using a mold, and the molding technique generally reduces or eliminates the need for finishing touches.
  • Insects from the planthopper family, Issidae, such as an Issus nymph, have legs that include a gear mechanism, that causes the insect to jump at a tremendous speed.
Bibliography:
A Brief History of Gears, 2014, Ronson Gears, http://www.ronsongears.com.au/a-brief-history-of-gears.php
Gear, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear

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Wallet

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Wallet

Do you look fashionable with a wallet?

  • Wallets are items used primarily to hold items including, but not limited to, money, identification cards, credit cards, personal items and other types of cards.
  • A ‘wallet’ is also known as a ‘notecase’ or a ‘billfold’, and it is also sometimes called a ‘purse’, although not all purses are described or classified as such.
  • Wallets are typically small enough to fit in one’s pocket, but they do vary in size, and can often be folded.
  • The term ‘wallet’ was first used in the 1300s, used to describe knapsacks and bags that often stored food, although the modern use of the term did not originate until the 1800s.
  • Wallets are most often black or brown in colour, but vary, often depending on the gender targeted, and the materials used, and they can be decorated with images and patterns.

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  • Leather or other textile fabrics are the most commonly used material in wallets, although metal or other materials can be used.
  • Wallets often have numerous slots or bands to organise items, and the pockets vary in size by country, due to different money sizes.
  • Wallets can be easy targets for pickpockets, and to prevent this, they can be attached to garments using a strap or chain, or placed in a difficult to access pocket.
  • Some wallets have particular purposes, like those used for travel documents, and some are designed to attach to one’s shoe, wrist or around one’s neck, so that hands can be kept free, especially when exercising.
  • Wallets became particularly modernised and popular by the 1950s, with the introduction of credit cards.
Bibliography:
Brief Overview and History of The Wallet, 2014, Street Directory, http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/34774/modelling/brief_overview_and_history_of_the_wallet.html
History of Wallets, 2014, Wallets – The largest collection of Wallets for Men and Women, http://www.wallets.org/wallets/the-history-of-wallets/
Wallet, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallet

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Weighing Scale

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Weighing Scale

Now precise and accurate with weighing scales!

  • Weighing scales are devices used to ascertain the weight of various items.
  • ‘Weighing scales’ are also known as ‘scales’ and ‘weighing machines’.
  • Weighing scales are available as electronic or mechanical machines, and the latter uses a spring that is measured when pressure is applied.
  • Errors can easily occur in the measurements of weighing scales, caused by air movement, friction, magnets, temperature changes, water and moisture, among others.
  • More efficient modern weighing scales that use a spring, have been mentioned from the 1600s, although the first known recorded design was invented by Richard Salter in 1770.

Scales, White, Invention, Measure, Weighing, Culinary, Food, Ten Random Facts

  • Balancing weighing scales have been used for thousands of years to measure objects, and they also commonly symbolise justice.
  • Weighing scales come in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes, and are often made of metal or plastic.
  • Weighing scales are commonly found in kitchens, used in food preparation; bathrooms, used to measure body weight; and factories, for commercial use.
  • Early electronic weighing scales were invented in the 1940s, and these were the predecessors for the modern style scales that use load cells that measure pressure.
  • The term ‘scale’ as in ‘weighing scale’, originates from words like ‘skal’, ‘scala’ and ‘schaal’ that mean ‘bowl’ and ‘drinking cup’ in several different languages from the 1200s and earlier.
Bibliography:
Menk C, History of Weighing Scales, 2010, Ezine, http://ezinearticles.com/?History-of-Weighing-Scales&id=4791422
Weighing Scale, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighing_scale

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Crochet Hook

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Crochet Hook

Crocheting without a crochet hook must have been pretty difficult.

  • A crochet hook is a tool used in the art and craft of crocheting, and the tool is manipulated with one’s hand to make a series of loops from yarn, thread or other fibres, to create fabric or cord.
  • ‘Crochet hooks’ are also known as ‘crochet needles’ and the word ‘crochet’ is a French word that comes from the Old Norse word ‘krókr‘ meaning ‘hook’.
  • Crochet hooks are typically long and stick like with a hooked end, and sometimes they have a handle for better comfort and/or grip.
  • Crochet hooks come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, with at least 25 different sizes that are graded using letters or numbers.
  • Crochet hooks can be used in knitting to pick up dropped stitches, and for other craft purposes, and they can also be used to maintain hair dreadlocks.

Crochet Hook, Many, Wooden, Shiny, Textile, Tool, Craft, Invention, Ten Random Facts

  • Crochet hooks can be held like a knife or a pencil, although one technique is not necessarily better than the other, and it comes down to personal preference as to which is used.
  • Crochet hooks were most likely invented in the early 1800s, and first made of wire, and possibly originated in Ireland, Europe.
  • Some unique versions of crochet hooks include the much longer Tunisian hook, used in Tunisian crochet; and the cro-hook, used for double-sided crochet, that is particularly effective using two different colours of yarn.
  • Crochet hooks are typically made of plastic, wood, or aluminium, and originally they were made of steel, bone, ivory, and other materials.
  • It is common that only a single crochet hook is used in the practice of crochet, and it can be used in either the left or right hand, depending the user’s dominant hand.

 

Bibliography:
Crochet Hook, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crochet_hook
Marks R, History of Crochet, 2009, CGOA, http://www.crochet.org/?page=CrochetHistory

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Towel

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Towel

As author Douglas Adams said, towels are the one of the most useful items.

  • Towels are a textile item commonly used to remove and collect moisture, often water, from an object.
  • Towels are generally used by being placed on an object, and are typically pressed and rubbed for maximum effect.
  • Towels are most often made of absorbent material like cotton, bamboo, paper, synthetic fibres or other textiles, and the fabric often has a looped pile and is known as ‘terry cloth’.
  • The size of towels generally range between 30 x 61 centimetres to 76 x 152 centimetres (12 x 24 inches to 30 x 60 inches), although smaller and larger ones are available, and they are usually rectangular in shape.
  • Towels are commonly used after showering or bathing to dry oneself or one’s hands, and they can also be used for, but are not limited to, drying dishes and kitchen items, by sports enthusiasts to remove perspiration, at the beach to lay on, or for decorative purposes.

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  • Towels are often dyed a single colour, although imagery or patterns can be imprinted or woven in, and other decorative features can also be included.
  • Until the availability of mass production machinery in the 1800s, towels were uncommon, due to being time-consuming to make, and as a result, expensive.
  • Towels are generally made by machines that spin, warp, weave, bleach and dye the material, as well as package the product.
  • It is said that towels were invented in Turkey, in the Middle East, and they were originally light and sheet-like.
  • Annually, on the 25th of May, National Towel Day is observed in some countries.
Bibliography:
Bath Towels, 2014, Make How, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Bath-Towel.html
Rodd R, A Brief History of Towels, 2013, Lidtime.com, http://www.lidtime.com/a-brief-history-of-towels/
Towel, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towel

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Washer

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Washer

Washers do not wash… but they spread pressure around.

  • Washers are generally a circular shaped item, often thin, with a central hole used primarily to spread pressure from a central fastening point.
  • Some washers are used as a spring, spacer, locker or to prevent corrosion.
  • There are three main different types of washers: ‘plain’, used to spread load and to insulate objects; ‘spring’, to prevent vibrations loosening the fastener; and ‘locking’, to stop the fastener loosening by unscrewing.
  • Washers have numerous forms, which have been classified in the United Kingdom from 1968 using letters A-G, and further classified using diameter and thickness.
  • Washers, although generally flat, can be bevelled or indented, have curved edges or be a split ring.

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  • Washers are typically made of metal, often stainless steel, or plastic, as well as materials such as rubber.
  • Washers can reach sizes of 3 to 175 millimetres (0.1 to 7 inches) in diameter and 0.3 to 14 millimetres (0.01 to 0.55 inches) in thickness.
  • The first reference of the term ‘washer’ originated in the mid 1300s, although its etymology is uncertain.
  • Although generally circular in shape, washers can be the shape of a square, star or gear.
  • Washers are typically silver in colour, although they can be coloured copper or gold, the colour of which is often related to the material used.

 

Bibliography:
Washer (Hardware), 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washer_(hardware)

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