The Bessler Curse

[rlortie]

Jon,

Quite an inovative toy you have there. What do you call it?

IMO it could be described as a double compound rack and pinion drive. It appears to have a 2:1 ratio.

As the inner rack is pushed or pulled in the outer racks will move twice as far in the opposite direction relative to the inner. But only half as far when related to what ever it is attached to. (I hope I got that right) :0)

Michael should love this one, he has been thinking rack and pinion for some time.

Ralph

[Michael]

Uh, actually no I haven't Ralph that was one post a while ago. Interesting though.

[Jon J Hutton]

Im not sure what to call it....hopefully not a lemon. The ratios can be made to be whatever you want depending on where you attach the wire or rope or what the size of the smaller wheel is. Im working on a wheel (Almost finished) that will lift about 1 1/4 lb weight 12 inches but the weight doing the work weighs 1 lb and also only travels 12 inches. The test worked...now its seems (finger crossed) all I have to do is work out the releases and path the weights travel.......not holding my breath though.

[rlortie]

Jon,

I am finding this to be intriguing and perplexing at the same time.

As I understand your above post, you are lifting 1-1/4 pounds 12" with one pound of force falling 12"! Now to my thinking that is "over-unity"

I will be anticipating to see if this 12" is relative to the two sections of the compound rack and pinion, or to an outside point of reference.

Makes me want to log on to Mcmaster-Carr.com and order some cheap "open-end" timing belt, (sold by the foot) and make up four tracks by glueing it to some flat bar.

I could also order the pulleys to match the belt or make my own by attaching the same belt material to MDF discs. Cut two for the outer large radius and two 1/2 that size for the inner. Glue one large and one small together and you have your pinion gears.

Next question is; Is the axis of these pinion gears pinned to the wheel?

Ralph

[Jon J Hutton]

Ralph,

Don't spend your money yet...Like I said Im not holding my breath, although the first test seems interesting. The lift has nothing to do with the device I posted, however, I plan to use it in my wheel. I've been wrong on this board before and have been blown out of the water for it...and rightly so. So I'm being very careful not to say something without proof. So just sit tight till I run more tests.

[rlortie]

Jon,

I do not plan on it right away, I just thought you and other members may get some use out of my idea to build such a device in an economical way. You can get the timing belt material for less than $3.00 US per foot. A proven method for making gears and positive none slip belt drives with custom ratios.

Ralph

[Jon J Hutton]

Ralph,

sounds great, by the way I just checked out my lift on wm2d (simple and easy program) and it worked just like I said.

[AgingYoung]

Some time ago I was looking at an english printed document from a chinese university (on risk as a function of liquidity) and as I read the document I was informed I would have to download a chinese font to continue. I declined. I couldn't see the need to have a traditional chinese font (lots of code) on my computer to read an english printed document.

Recently I've been trying to figure out an ilo dvd player that I bought. As I was reading a pfd file I got this same sort of message. Does anyone have any idea why I should need a chinese character font on my computer to read an english text?

Gene

[rlortie]

Gene,

It is not telling you to download a Chinese font! Its Acrobat telling you that you need to update to Acrobat 7.1 or what ever number their now at.

You need to update their Chinese translater support package, not download characters.

Ralph

[AgingYoung]

The American Inventor is on!!!!

[AgingYoung]

Ralph,

I find it strange that I can read some adobe files yet not others. The entire document is in english. I don't see a need for chinese character font support. I have a computer that has a fried cpu that has 8 programs on it (isolated) that have chinese logos for icons. One of those programs is a registry editor. I'm very skeptical of any need for chinese character support.

Gene

[graham]

Hey Gene, I watched that American Inventor show last night and all I can say is that if this is the current state of American inventivness then we are in big trouble.

A toilet roll holder with combined soap dispenser , a tandem bicycle , a bi level nut tray and so on. No sign of a wheel either. Very disappointing.

Graham

[ken_behrendt]

Graham...

The interesting thing to note is that all of those frivolous inventions you referred to probably cost their inventor a small fortune in terms of patent fees, prototype development, etc. They are all hoping that their invention will become the next hula hoop and they'll make a bundle of loot off of it.

Yes, it can happen, but I think I read somewhere that only a few percent of all patented inventions ever make a profit for the inventor. Sounds like about the same odds one gets with a lottery!


ken

[AgingYoung]

Graham,

These are the ideas of common people. The level of inventiveness at the corporate level is way beyond any of this. One thing that the winner of this contest is going to have is that their product is going to be a household word when they finally bring it to market. I think this show is absolutely brilliant. Advertisers are paying for airtime, funding this search for the next great American invention. That invention could be in direct competition with some of the advertisers. It's like 'if you give me a hundred bucks I'll shot you in the foot.' What a deal. At a minimum you have others paying to promote your product. It's brilliant.

Someone did have a 'free energy' solar powered ice chest. If someone would enter that competition next season with a gravity powered wheel they would win. They would have incredible exposure to the idea and might just be able to issue some stock. 1.5 billion shares at $100/share .... that should pay for a brokerage to do an ipo.

Gene

[ken_behrendt]

Gene...

Sadly, chances are that five years from now, no one will remember the show or any of the inventions featured on it. Of course, if some inventor did present a undeniably working gravity wheel then that would be a horse of a different color.


ken