h a l f b a k e r yIt's as much a hovercraft as a pancake is a waffle.
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Having recently helped a friend to move house, Ive become aware that many household items, while not being particularly heavy, are awkward as hell to get you fingers around. Sometimes you need two people to move something which (weightwise) could be easily carried by one, or you find yourself having
to use two hands to cradle something which is light enough to be carried with one hand. Thus an already tiresome task takes twice as long as it should to accomplish.
Vacuum Handles are the answer. Taking the humble Dust Devil as my inspiration (a handheld tiny vacuum cleaner for those of you not in the know), Im imagining a kind of handle-shaped tube, with the centre wrapped in easily-gripped foam rubber, and both ends actually being small but very high-powered vacuum cleaners. The centre of the tube contains the (rechargeable) power source for the twin vacuums, and each end has a sucker-like cup built of very flexible rubber. These rubber cups dont actually provide any sticking power on their own, they just allow the vacuums a greater area of purchase on whatever it is youre trying to move.
Need to shift a TV? Not a problem. Affix a Vacuum Handle to the screen, switch it on, and you can move it one-handed, leaving your other hand free to carry something else. A washing machine? The Vacuum Handle takes it in its stride, albeit after youve cranked the power up to full and bought a half-dozen of them. Might also be useful for moving the slightly skittish cat that hides under the bed as the whole flat is removed from under it.
I should add that Im typing this with really sore fingers after spending an afternoon shoving them into awkward nooks and crannies of household appliances that I never knew existed. I would have explained this idea better, but its kind of sore to type
Nature might abhor a vacuum, but I would have loved to have had a couple of them to hand today.
And also, once you have moved, the Handles still come in handy for double-barelled dust-busting purposes.
An elaboration
http://bz.pair.com/fun/vachan.html [20Kb image] [bristolz, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Vacuum Handles
http://www.anver.co...uum-cup-handles.htm The low-tech version. [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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You're aware that low tech versions of these have existed for ages? |
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Yeah - but i was imagining something that doesn't just rely on suction-cups, and so could pick up anything, even if it didn't present flat surfaces to the handle. In my defense, I did also mention a recalcitrant cat in the description: it would also work for all other kinds of soft furnishings... |
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Gawd bris, your elaborations put us mere mortal doodlers to shame. |
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lostdog, bris is our resident guerilla illustrator (guerrillustrator?). You should feel honoured. Or honored, depending on where you are. |
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Thanks for the pic, bris - just as I pictured it. |
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