Category Archives: Inventions

Comb

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Comb

A comb equals tidiness.

  • Combs are grooming tools with long, thin spokes called ‘teeth’, that are particularly used in hair styling.
  • Combs are typically made of metal, plastic or wood and have numerous teeth evenly spaced apart, although many combs have half of the teeth spaced closely together, and the other half spaced in a more open arrangement.
  • Combs have been used for thousands of years, and the earliest known time is in Ancient Persia, 5000 years ago.
  • Combs are commonly used for styling, decorating, securing and separating hair or textile strands, and to neaten hair.
  • Combs can be used as a simple instrument, with the spokes able to produce a musical sound when picked.

Comb, Pink, Black, Blue, Pale, Handle, Hairdresser, Ten Random Facts

  • Combs were originally made of wood, bone, ivory and shell, and later tin, silver and brass, and were commonly made as decorative hair accessories.
  • A comb with fine teeth can be used to catch or kill parasitic animals such as fleas or lice.
  • Combs come in many shapes, sizes and colour, but are commonly flat and rectangular.
  • Sharing combs can transfer infections, parasites or diseases from one’s head to another’s.
  • Combs are generally cheap items that are commonly purchased from grocery or department stores, and are sold singularly, or in packets of two or more.
Bibliography:
Comb, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comb
History of Comb, n.d, Lifestyle Lounge, http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/history-of-comb-7186.html
Jackson-Arnautu N, History of the Comb, n.d, EHow, http://www.ehow.com/about_4661215_history-comb.html

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Fire Extinguisher

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Fire Extinguisher

Fire extinguishers can save lives…

  • Fire extinguishers are emergency items used in the case of a small fire.
  • ‘Fire extinguishers’ are also known as ‘extinguishers’.
  • Fire extinguishers are typically in the form of a cylindrical container that is generally red in colour for high visibility, with squeeze style handles to release the contents.
  • Fire extinguishers contain a fire extinguishing substance and a pressurised agent as the propellant, and can be handheld or on wheels with different extinguishers used for different fire types.
  • Handheld fire extinguishers are typically 0.5 to 14 kilograms (1.1 to 30.9 pounds) in weight.

fire extinguisher, red, white, bottle, handheld, holder, Australian, single, Ten Random Facts, Emergency tool

  • The earliest known and patented fire extinguisher was invented by Ambrose Godfrey, a German chemist, in 1723 in England, and used gunpowder and fuses for expelling the liquid.
  • The first modern style portable fire extinguisher, a copper container filled with potassium carbonate and pressurised air, was invented by George William Manby, a British captain, author and inventor, between 1810 and 1820.
  • Fire extinguishers typically contain substances of  either water, dry chemicals, wet chemicals, foam or carbon dioxide to extinguish fires.
  • Fire extinguishers are typically found in public and commercial buildings, houses, and land water and air vehicles.
  • Fire extinguishers should be periodically checked and maintained, as damage can cause incorrect discharge and ruptures that lead to deaths and explosions.

 

Bibliography:
Fire Extinguishers, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_extinguisher
History of Fire Extinguishers, 2011, Fire Safety Advice Centre, http://www.firesafe.org.uk/history-of-fire-extinguishers/

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Tape Measure

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Tape Measure

What would you do with out a tape measure?

  • Tape measures are rulers that are flexible and are used for measuring.
  • ‘Tape measures’ are also known as ‘measuring tapes’.
  • Tape measures are primarily very long rectangles made of metal, plastic, cloth or fibreglass, or sometimes paper, that include markings in increments according to a specific system of measurement.
  • Tape measures are typically used in tailoring or construction, the latter often using metal tapes.
  • Tape measures are typically stored rolled in a circle, and sometimes they retract into small containers, and these types of tape measures were originally referred to as ‘spring-click tapes’ and are now commonly called ‘retractable tape measures’.

Tape measure, Metric, yellow, White, Metal, Construction, Tailor, Blue, Purple, Fibreglass, Ten Random Facts, Measuring Tape, Three

  • Metal tape measures used for construction purposes are semi rigid when extended, typically have a perpendicular metal tab to hook onto objects, and sometimes they include specific markings to mark out trusses and studs in house construction.
  • Englishman, James Chesterman from Sheffield, invented, or improved upon, the retractable tape measure in 1829, which was successfully patented, and then later improved upon by Alvin Fellows in Connecticut’s New Haven, in the United States, on 14 July, 1868.
  • The longest tape measure in the world is gold plated and was made in 1956 by a surveyor and tape-maker, Justus Roe, and it measures 180 metres (600 feet).
  • Tape measures are often double sided, with metric measurements on one side, and imperial on the other.
  • Retractable tape measures usually have a stop mechanism so that they tape can be extended and held into position, and then released with the press of a button.

 

Bibliography:
Tape measure, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_measure
What is a Tape Measure?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-tape-measure.htm

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Rubber Band

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Rubber Band

Do not stretch the rubber band or it will… SNAP… too late.

  • Rubber bands are typically circular bands that stretch and are generally used to hold groups of items as one, or holding items in position.
  • It is said that the biggest consumer of rubber bands on earth is the US Postal Service that use them to sort and group mail, and they are also used in the floral industry and newspaper delivery services, and for holding other items together, like cut asparagus and other food stalks; pens and pencils and decks of cards.
  • ‘Rubber bands’ are also known as ‘elastic bands’, ‘lackey bands’, ‘laggy bands’, ‘binders’, and ‘elastic’.
  • Modern rubber bands were invented by the Englishman Stephen Perry, a businessman and inventor, that were patented on 17 March, 1845 in England.
  • Rubber bands are made from natural rubber (latex) or synthetic rubber, although they are generally manufactured with natural rubber due to the increased elasticity in this product.

Rubber band. elastic, small, assorted, blue, red, thick, large, brown, tan , yellow, Ten Random Facts

  • Rubber bands release heat energy when stretched, but absorb heat energy when retracted.
  • Rubber bands are found in many different sizes, shapes, colours and stretchiness, and can be larger than 43 cm (17 inches) or as small as 3 mm (1/8 inch), although they typically range from 3 to 18 centimetres (1.25 to 7 inches) in length.
  • In Britain, the use of rubber bands by the Britain’s Royal Mail postal service has caused significant media attention in the country, due to the large quantity of elastic bands found discarded on the ground everyday, so much so, that at one stage they changed the bands from brown, to red, to make them more visible, and therefore more likely to be picked up by postal workers.
  • Rubber bands are created by heating a mixture of rubber, sulfur and other chemicals into strips, that are then extruded into tubes, cured and cut into bands.
  • Rubber strips, similar to rubber bands, were first historically made by the Maya people, Aztecs and other Mesoamericans thousands of years ago.

 

Bibliography:
Roux G, The Birth of the Humble Rubber Band, 2013, Sciencelens, http://sciencelens.co.nz/2013/03/17/rubber-band/
Rubber band, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_band
Berlow L H, Rubber Band, 2014, How Products are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Rubber-Band.html

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Salt and Pepper Shakers

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Salt and Pepper Shakers

What do stamps, shells and salt and pepper shakers have in common? They are all collectables.

  • Salt and pepper shakers are small containers that hold powdered food seasonings, typically in Western countries.
  • Salt and pepper shakers typically contain ground pepper and salt, and are generally tipped upside down over a meal and gently shaken to release some of their contents.
  • ‘Salt and pepper shakers’ are also known as ‘salt and pepper pots’.
  • Salt and pepper shakers are made in many different materials, such as ceramics, plastic, glass, metal or timber.
  • It is believed that a salt shaker was first invented in 1858, by John Mason, a tinsmith from America, but it wasn’t until the 1920’s that sets of salt and pepper shakers were commonly manufactured, and later they became even more popular due to cost effectiveness of ceramic production.

Salt and Pepper Shakers, Chicken, Three, Six, Pairs, Collection, Pretty, Blue Interesting, Red

Photo courtesy of Val Laird
  • Salt and pepper shakers are commonly a set of two, sporting many different colours, shapes and sizes.
  • Salt and pepper shakers may include a grinding function to grind peppercorns and large salt crystals.
  • Salt and pepper shakers grew in popularity in the 1920s due to the addition of magnesium carbonate to the salt to prevent lumps and clumping caused by moisture, which was added by the Morton Salt company in Chicago, in the United States, making it easy to pour.
  • Salt and pepper shakers are popularly collected due to their unique shapes and historical significance and large collections exist, some of which have as many as 40,000 sets.
  • Salt and pepper shakers generally have small holes to restrict the amount of seasoning released, with salt shakers typically having the least number of holes.
Bibliography:
Bulls D, Collectable Kitchenware: Salt & Pepper Shakers, 2013, Kings River Lite Magazine, http://kingsriverlife.com/03/23/collectible-kitchenware-salt-pepper-shakers/
History of Shakers, n.d, Kim’s Salt and Pepper Shaker page, http://kimmykay.tripod.com/snppage/id1.html
Salt and Pepper Shakers, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_and_pepper_shakers

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Wrench

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Wrench

Tighten your brain with these wrench facts.

  • Wrenches are gripping tools used to tighten or loosen objects by rotating them, particularly nuts and bolts.
  • ‘Wrench’, the typical American term, is also known as a ‘spanner’, especially in British English or a ‘spanner wrench’.
  • Wrenches have a long history and have been used for various purposes including the straightening of spear shafts and similar, and the term was used before 1790, while the word ‘spanner’ has been used from as early as 1630.
  • Special alloy steel is typically used to make high quality wrenches and are typically plated with chrome for corrosion prevention.
  • The first patent of a wrench is commonly attributed to Solymon Merrick in the United States in 1834, however, an earlier patent of a similar one was granted in 1832 to Henry King from Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States, and King’s wrench was an ‘improvement in the rack wrench’.

Wrench, Silver, Monkey, Box End, Open End, Combination, Silver, Small, Big, Chrome, 14mm, 15mm, Kinchrome, ten Random Facts

  • Wrenches commonly have an end with either a c or u shaped opening and/or a notched hole, which is used to grip the nut or bolt.
  • Popular wrenches include box-end, combination, open-end, flare nut and adjustable, with the latter having a movable clamp.
  • Wrenches can cause injury, particularly by slipping, if used incorrectly such as by using on a incorrect angle or a different nut size.
  • Wrenches come in a range of sizes that have the size usually stamped on the tool, with imperial tools numbered in fractions of inches and metric tools in millimetres.
  • Wrenches with nut-shaped sockets can have 6, 8, 12 or 16 sided holes for gripping.

 

Bibliography:
Crawford P, Spanner Jaw Sizes, 2013, Dundee Satellite Receiving Station, http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/~psc/spanner_jaw.html
Wrench, 2014, Encyclopaedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/649432/wrench
Wrench, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrench

 

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