Considering the number of inventions in the world today, the majority of ideas tend to already exist. Just ask Derek Manson of One.61. While he has seen this first hand through his CAD business, it came as a surprise when he was unable to find the gloves he needed reports The Southland Times.
A former fitter/welder from Tiwai with a design degree he now develops three dimensional designs with the help of a computer and uses a $250,000 rapid prototyping machine to build them in plastic.
However, he has struggled to find a cost-effective way to duplicate his products using silicone moulds.
The resin he used needed to be manipulated in a complete vacuum or it captured air bubbles which resulted in flaws in the final product.
There were machines available that could do the work but they cost in excess of $100,000. Mr Manson thought it would be cheaper to work the resin by hand.
The problem was finding a way to allow his arms to work in a vacuum while his body was at normal atmospheric pressure. He needed to develop some gloves to make this possible.
About two years ago it occurred to him that astronauts faced the same dilemma and with some research he came across a United States school teacher who had a Phd in aeronautical engineering and was solving similar problems for Nasa.
“I contacted him and told him I had an industrial application for what he was doing. He was absolutely stoked.”
While the teacher is now working with Richard Branson on the applications in space suits, Mr Manson has the intellectual property rights for the commercial use and will develop a full vacuum chamber with the gloves attached internally which he intends to manufacture.
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