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Special Report spotlights the eight top entries in 2023 as well as past winners whose ideas are now in the market, making a difference in the world.

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A ‘Create the Future’ Winner Featured on ‘Here’s an Idea’

Spinal cord injury affects 17,000 Americans and 700,000 people worldwide each year. A research team at NeuroPair, Inc. won the Grand Prize in the 2023 Create the Future Design Contest for a revolutionary approach to spinal cord repair. In this Here’s an Idea podcast episode, Dr. Johannes Dapprich, NeuroPair’s CEO and founder, discusses their groundbreaking approach that addresses a critical need in the medical field, offering a fast and minimally invasive solution to a long-standing problem.

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Thank you from our Sponsors

“At COMSOL, we are very excited to recognize innovators and their important work this year. We are grateful for the opportunity to support the Create the Future Design Contest, which is an excellent platform for designers to showcase their ideas and products in front of a worldwide audience. Best of luck to all participants!”

— Bernt Nilsson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, COMSOL, Inc.

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— Kevin Hess, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Mouser Electronics

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Table Stabilizer

Votes: 0
Views: 5894
Consumer Products

Tables most often have more than three legs and as a result, they sooner or later will rock because the legs do not come into contact with the floor uniformly. Furthermore, the problem may not be the table but the floor being undeven and irregular. Many have tried to find a solution and some low cost spring loaded glides are on the market but they fail to adequately address the issue. A wobbly table can be merely an inconvenience or it can result in serious injury if something spills, falls/breaks that is hazardous.

This solution works for all tables having more than three legs and it consists of a very simple adjustable foot or mount that is connected by a cable or rod to a similar foot on the adjacent leg. Each foot is attached to the rod or cable through a pivoting bellcrank that coordinates the movement of one foot with the other.

If a leg does not contact the ground there is no support for the foot and it is free to move down until it touches the surface at which point it then will more no farther. The table is made stable because no springs are involved and the table has all the legs in contact with the floor surface. This mechanism provides rigid support that will be maintained so long as the irregularity in length does not exceed the travel of the bellcranks.

If the table is repositioned and the floor contact is disturbed, the feet automatically reposition to maintain contact. This is a very simple mechanical device that is relatively inexpensive to fabricate and install within the design of most tables. For a four legged table, only two legs require the device and for a five legged table, four legs would need to be equipped.

Existing tooling can be modified to easily accommodate this design. It may add 2 to 6% cost to a typical table. It requires no maintenance and it can end wobbly tables everywhere. It can also be applied to refrigerators, washing machines and dryers. Anything that has legs can use this device.

This device has been tested on tables of verying designs and configurations of support legs. It has proven to solve this centuries old problem and it should be incorporated into all tables or applicances to end this wobbling problem.

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Stanley Demster
  • Type of entry:
    individual
  • Profession:
    Engineer/Designer
  • Number of times previously entering contest:
    2
  • Stanley's favorite design and analysis tools:
    solidworks, autocad, LabView, Visio
  • For managing CAD data Stanley's company uses:
    None
  • Stanley's hobbies and activities:
    engineering
  • Stanley belongs to these online communities:
    none
  • Stanley is inspired by:
    helping others
  • Software used for this entry:
    Visio, Aurocad
  • Patent status:
    none