Category Archives: Inventions

Nail (Invention)

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Nail (Invention)

Will you nail these facts into your head?

  • A nail is an invention used to secure multiple objects together; or used for ornamental purposes; or to hang items, especially on a wall.
  • Typically, nails are a thin cylindrical shape with a point at one end and a flat head at the other, although some versions are without a head.
  • Hammers are most often used to drive nails into objects, although specially engineered air guns are also used.
  • Nails are secured in objects by the laws of friction, and they can bear a secured object’s force due to their sturdiness.
  • The Ancient Egyptians crafted nails of bronze around 3400 BC, while copper ones were also used in ancient history, and at a later stage they were created from iron.
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  • Originally, nails where individually handmade, generally built from a rectangular iron piece, made by families primarily for themselves and also by blacksmiths for commercial purposes.
  • Attempts to mass produce nails via the use of machines took place from the 1790s, although they only became an efficient, commercially viable option in the late 1800s with the introduction of ones made from wire, rather than ‘cut’ ones made from iron rectangular shaped rods.
  • Various metals can be used to make nails, from bronze, brass, aluminium, iron, and copper, and the steel ‘wire’ method of making them is now the most frequently used material and process.
  • The most commonly available nails range from 1 to 7 millimetres in diameter (0.04 to 0.28 inches) and 2 to 21 centimetres (0.8 to 8.3 inches) in length, and there are a wide variety of different types which are used for various and specific purposes.
  • Nails are extremely popular in the construction of many objects, including wooden houses and frames, which use 20,000 to 30,000 per house.
Bibliography:
Fourshee P, A Two-Bit History of Nails, 1992, Fourshee, http://www.fourshee.com/history_of_nails.htm
Nail, 2015, How Products Are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Nail.html
Nail (Fastener), 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_(fastener)

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Slinky

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Slinky

Generation upon generation can relate to the Slinky.

  • Slinkies are famous toys that are primarily a coil spring with multiple entertaining properties.
  • A Slinky has the ability of stepping down stairs automatically, with moments of apparent defiance of gravity, and its properties are mostly governed by the physics of waves, gravity and momentum.
  • In 1943, Richard James, an engineer for the American navy, designed the Slinky after attempting to create a spring for use in sensitive watercraft equipment, when he accidentally discovered the spring’s ‘walking’ properties.
  • The Slinky became available commercially in 1945, after some alterations to the spring, although it was relatively unsuccessful until a public demonstration in Philadelphia’s Gimbels department store, in the United States, where the toy became an instant hit and sold out within an hour or two.
  • The name ‘Slinky’, meaning ‘sleek and graceful’, was given by the inventor’s wife, Betty, who found the word, which she thought represented the invention, after paging through the dictionary.
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Slinky
Image courtesy of Marcin Whichary/Flickr
  • Slinkies are traditionally made of flat steel wire, with a high carbon count and a diameter of 1.5 millimetres (0.0575 inches).
  • Plastic versions of the Slinky, that eliminate the safety hazard of electrocution, have been released, however cheap plastic imitations are also available, but they do not have the same abilities.
  • The colour of a Slinky is generally a silver metal colour, although plastic ones are commonly available in various colours including multicoloured, as in a rainbow.
  • Slinkies entered the Toy Hall of Fame in the year 2000, and a year prior to this they where depicted on a postage stamp.
  • Slinkies are not only a toy, but a tool used by physics teachers, as well as scientists in specific experiments, including multiple zero-gravity tests performed by NASA.
Bibliography:
The Invention of the Slinky, n.d, Priceonomics, http://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-slinky/
Slinky, 2015, The Strong, http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys/slinky
Slinky, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slinky

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Safety Pin

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Safety Pin

Safety pins – whenever you need them, they are nowhere to be found.

  • Safety pins are an invention consisting of a clasp and a pin, and is a variant of a pin.
  • While safety pins have many uses, they are frequently used to attach fabric items to each other, without the danger of accidentally stabbing one’s self with the pin.
  • Safety pins are generally made of a metal wire such as stainless steel or brass, and the length of wire is curled in the middle to form a basic spring.
  • The ancestor of the safety pin, called a ‘fibula’, is thought to have been an invention of the Ancient Greek Mycenaean community, and it was used as a brooch, as well as a pin to hold clothes together.
  • The safety pin was invented in 1849 by the American Walter Hunt, a mechanic, who created it while fiddling with a length of wire.

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  • The safety pin patent was sold for $400 USD, which equates to roughly $10,000 USD in 2008 to W R Grace Company in 1849, while Hunt is said to have used some of the money to pay a small debt owed to a friend.
  • The clasp of a safety pin is used to secure the pin closed and prevent it from poking the user.
  • From the 1970s, safety pins were a common item worn by those who embraced punk fashion, both on clothes and as piercings.
  • In countries such as Turkey, where good luck charms are made with beads attached to safety pins, there is a high incidence of ingesting the pins by young children, who accidentally swallow them.
  • Numerous improvements to safety pins were made during the late 1800s and early 1900s, although it wasn’t until 1907, that pins had a clasps similar to the modern style clasp.
Bibliography:
Kershner K, Who invented the safety pin?, 2015, HowStuffWorks, http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/who-invented-the-safety-pin1.htm
Safety Pin, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_pin
A Visual History of the Safety Pin, n.d, The Museums of Everyday Design, http://museumofeverydaylife.org/exhibitions-collections/current-exhibitions/a-visual-history-of-the-safety-pin

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Pillow

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Pillow

Can you imagine sleeping on a literally rock hard pillow?

  • Pillows are objects that allow the head and neck, or limbs to rest or be kept elevated, although they are sometimes used for decorative purposes, but they are typically used on a bed.
  • Modern pillows are generally made of a fabric case with an internal stuffing of feathers, latex, foam, or synthetic or natural fibres, although inflatable ones are available and they are filled with air.
  • ‘Pillows’ are also known as ‘cushions’, although this term is more often used for similar items that are positioned on seats.
  • Although stereotypically softer today, pillows of the past where often hard, made of wood or stone among other materials.
  • Pillows are generally rectangular in shape, although they are often circular or square; while others fit around the neck, and they come in a variety of colours and patterns.

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  • In 7000 BC in Ancient Mesopotamia, pillows, said to be made of stone, were used by the wealthy, and a greater quantity of the items in one’s possession, generally signified a person of greater rank.
  • Pillows are available in many different sizes, from small travel ones to king size, and standard sizes vary depending on the country, but they are often between 40 to 48 centimetres by 60 to 73 centimetres (16 to 19 inches by 24 to 29 inches).
  • The Ancient Romans and Greeks designed some of the earliest ‘soft’ pillows, using straw, reeds or other materials as the stuffing.
  • A pillow is commonly covered with a fabric case that is easily removable for the purpose of washing, while some people also use a protector under the case to help prevent stains on the item.
  • In early times, a common reason for the use of pillows was to lessen or prevent insects disturbing or entering the body via the head while sleeping.
Bibliography:
The History of the Pillow, 2013, SleepCity, http://sleepcity.com/the-history-of-the-pillow/
Pillow, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillow

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Rolling Pin

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Rolling Pin

Roll out the mix with a rolling pin.

  • Rolling pins are an invention of a cylindrical shape that are generally used to flatten and level out food, most often dough, although they are also commonly used to roll out icing for cake decorating purposes.
  • Sometimes rolling pins have handles attached to both ends of the pin, a long rod, although the handle can be a shaped part of the pin itself.
  • Rolling pins range from 2 to 10 centimetres (0.8 to 4 inches) in diameter, and they can be as small as 12.7 centimetres (5 inches) in length and as long as 51 cm (20 inches).
  • Thinner rolling pins are generally rolled using the palm, while wider rolling pins generally have handles and generally have a greater force behind the push.
  • Rolling pins can be made of plastic, glass, wood, ceramic, steel, marble and silicone; and some are designed to have anti-stick properties.

Rolling Pin, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Invention, Culinary, Assortment, Wooden, Plastic

  • Some rolling pins may be heated or cooled, or filled with warm or cold water, to achieve a better effect when rolling certain foods.
  • It is believed that rolling pins were first used by the Etruscan civilisation in ancient Italy from around 800 BC, and were used to flatten dough.
  • There is a popular stereotype of housewives brandishing a rolling pin as a weapon when angered.
  • One of the first rolling pins to have separately attached handles that moved independently of the pin was patented in 1879, by American Philip Cromer.
  • Some rolling pins have indents or extrusions on the pin surface that imprints designs and patterns into the food.
Bibliography:
Rolling Pin, 2015, How Products Are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Rolling-Pin.html
Rolling Pin, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_pin

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Frisbee

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Frisbee

Frisbees glide quite smoothly through the air. That is, when they’re not being used competitively!

  • A ‘Frisbee’, ‘flying disc’ or ‘disc’,  is an invention shaped like a disc, primarily used to entertain, but it is also used as the main piece of equipment in the ‘ultimate’ disc field sport.
  • Frisbees are thrown by a flick action of the wrist, and are often thrown casually to and from people in a group.
  • The typical diameter of Frisbees or flying discs ranges from 20 to 25 centimetres (8 to 10 inches), however they are available in smaller and larger sizes.
  • The name ‘Frisbee’ is said to have originated from the Frisbie Pie Company’s metal pie tins that were used by university students as flying discs, and it is a trademark name owned by Wham-O, an American toy company, who bought the rights to the invention in 1957.
  • The first Frisbee discs were metal food tin lids and cake pans used by American Walter Frederick Morrison and his would-be wife Lu in the 1930s, which they eventually sold to passers-by for 25 cents, making a 20 cent profit.

Frisbee, Invention, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Invention, Sport, Assortment, Ring, Red, Orange, Blue

  • Fred Morrison, as he was commonly known, developed his disc idea when he became a pilot during World War II and suffered a period of imprisonment, and he finalised and commercialised his plastic invention in 1948 with Warren Franscioni, and called it a ‘Flyin-Saucer’.
  • The modern Frisbee stems from a redesign made in 1955 by Fred Morrison, which was later improved by Edward Headrick in 1964 to make the disc more accurate and stable when thrown.
  • While Frisbee has been a popular brand of flying disc, Discraft is a major brand of discs in the sporting industry and are commonly used for ultimate games and competition purposes, and as of 2015, the furthest a flying disc has been thrown is 263.2 metres (863.5 feet), by Simon Lizotte of Germany, in 2014.
  • The Frisbee was used in a sporting game in the late 1960s by students of Columbia High School in Maplewood, in the United States, which developed into the sport now known as ‘ultimate’.
  • Frisbees and flying discs are kept airborne by creating lift through the spinning caused by a throw, combined with the shape of the disc.
Bibliography:
Flying Disc, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_disc
Of the Game, 2015, What Is Ultimate, http://www.whatisultimate.com/history/of-the-game/
Toy company Wham-O produces first Frisbees, 2015, History.com, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/toy-company-wham-o-produces-first-frisbees

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