Invention: Superconducting ships

Technology 18 June 2007

Superconducting ships

Electric ships have been studied for some time by naval engineers because they could offer a cleaner, faster and simpler alternative to diesel-powered craft.

They could be especially efficient if their propellers were powered by superconducting motors. The only trouble is, superconductors operate at temperatures close to absolute zero (-256°C) and the heat generated is difficult to dissipate inside a ship.

Fortunately, German engineering giant Siemens thinks it can get around such problems. It has designed a motor that uses high-temperature superconductors which only need to be cooled to about -140°C or so. The motor is also placed inside a pod that sits directly beneath the ship, so it is almost completely surrounded by seawater. The heat is then pumped away and the surrounding seawater allows it to dissipate far more efficiently, keeping the motor at the required temperature.

Read the full superconducting ships patent application.


Sticky sweet-spot

Audiophiles dream of the perfect sweet-spot: the point in a room, in-between two speakers, where the stereo effect is at its best. Sadly, most audio systems produce pretty small sweet-spots and sound quality drops when you move out of the zone.

Japanese company Sony wants to create a sweet-spot that follows you round the room, like the eyes in the Mona Lisa painting.

Each speaker in the system has a transmitter that can be detected by the system. The listener also carries a tracker that allows the system to triangulate his or her position. It then adjusts the sound from the speakers to create a sweet-spot exactly where the listener happens to be standing and adjusts the sound accordingly as the person moves.

Read the full sticky sweet-spot patent application.

Folding child-seat

Every parent knows that a child’s car-seat can be difficult to fit and even more of a pain to store when not in use. Thankfully, US car maker Ford has come up with a clever design to could make things easier for parents.

It consists of a normal-looking adult car-seat that can be converted into a child-seat in just a few seconds. The child-seat is built into the backrest of the adult-seat and can be erected when the backrest is folded forwards.

For extra safety, the child-seat faces backwards and is also supported by another adult-seat in front.

Read the full folding child-seat patent application.

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