Inventions

Having worked from 1978-2001 as a professional engineer and inventor, I am named as inventor on 39 patents, mostly for tools and medical devices. Many of these have been successfully commercialised.

Although I no longer invent professionally, I now invent simpler devices to address my “unmet needs”. Where these may be useful to others, I make them available under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. This means that you may use or modify the design for non-commercial purposes, so long as you acknowledge me as the original creator and any derivatives are also shared under the same license terms.

If you would like to make use of the designs for commercial purposes, please contact me.

Washing Line Cover

It’s much more energy efficient to dry clothes on the washing line, rather than use an electricity guzzling tumble drier, but what do you do on a showery day? This very simple cover for a rotary washing line is the answer. Each panel is a truncated triangle of waterproof rip stop sil-nylon, with elastic sewn…

Folding Tray for Walking Frame

This folding tray allows a walking frame user to carry things securely. It takes very little space and when not in use, it folds away. To see how it works, watch the videos here and here I designed it to be easy to make at home. The tray is made of ply with picture frame…

DIY solar control awning

My office in Cambridge UK faces south, so I designed and am sharing the design for this simple demountable awning that can be put up quickly and easily to stop the sun streaming in. This keeps it cool on hot days. I find the shade this provides allowed my office to be at a comfortable…

Bayer’s blood glucose meter

I invented Bayer’s DEX and ESPRIT blood glucose measurement systems. Its novel cartridge of test strips makes life a little easier for people with Diabetes. This became one of Bayer’s most important products.

Braun hair styler

I invented the controller used in Braun’s range of cordless hair stylers.

Bosch SDS clic

I invented the SDS clic mechanism, which very significantly increased sales of Bosch jigsaws for 5 years before the arrival of the first competitor system. This was one of about 40 developments for Bosch.

Femidom manufacturing

I invented the machine that manufactured the female condom for its first decade worldwide. This has helped 100s of millions of women prevent HIV infection and control their family size.