Industrial fair
The fascination of a quiet place – what inventors want to improve
Toilet paper rolls with lighting are presented at the Inventors’ Salon. photo
© Christiane Oelrich/dpa
Brainstorms in the loo are not uncommon, and the loo itself can also benefit from them. say inventors. Who doesn’t need a toilet paper roll with lighting?
It was actually a flash of inspiration “at the daily meeting”, as Uwe Bezold puts it, in the toilet. There, the engineer from Bayreuth, who works in an office building in Zurich – where many people use the same toilets – ponders the toilet brush. “Almost everything is now contactless: pulling off, cleaning the toilet seat, the tap, a dispenser for disinfectant – but everyone has to hold the toilet brush by the handle,” he told the German Press Agency at the Inventors’ Salon in Geneva. “That’s a gap in the hygiene chain.”
And so Bezold developed a toilet brush frame with simple means – “a bit of tin and plastic”. With “Cleanstem”, gripping arms with disinfectant slide down the handle when you pedal. Hospitals, homes for the elderly, hotels, restaurants – he sees a wide field for his invention and, like hundreds of exhibitors at the Inventors’ Salon, is looking for business partners who want to take up his idea.
Looking for investors
The Inventors’ Fair takes place from Wednesday to April 30th. Of course it’s about tough business: More than 800 exhibitors are looking for financially strong investors. 80 percent of the exhibitors are companies and institutes that present solutions to tricky technology problems or innovations in areas such as the environment and mobility, and more than half come from China including Hong Kong. Tinkerers who tinker in the garage at home on inventions for everyday problems are rather rare, but they exist.
In the case of Lucyle Carrara from Geneva, it was her son Aaron who gave her a “toilet-rich” idea when it came to the tiresome subject of potty training. She developed the black “Crocodisk” sticker, which is stuck in the potty and reveals a colorful crocodile or unicorn when peed. It was a piece of cake to get Aaron on the potty. The sticker can also be stuck in the toilet bowl, says Carrara. “By the way, target peeing to reveal a colorful crocodile also attracts fathers of small children,” she laughs. The sticker is indestructible when cleaning, and Carrara thinks it contributes to protecting the environment, because the faster the children are clean, the fewer diapers are needed.
toilet shops
And then there is the toilet paper roll with lighting. The Toadylight frame makes the reel look like a mushroom, the bumpy surface glows in the dark with phosphorescence in yellow, green or orange. Eric Vassaux of Geneva says many people don’t want to turn on the light when going to the toilet at night. They find their way to the loo blindly, but often not the paper. “Not everyone has a toilet paper roll holder. The roll is often somewhere on a cupboard or the floor,” he says. Hence the light. The frame can also be attached to the wall with a suction cup. For around 50 euros, he says, this can be brought to men and women.
The company QRC from Liechtenstein also deals with the toilet business in the broadest sense. It promises to train the pelvic floor and other core muscles without any effort. That can cure incontinence and back pain, says Managing Director Emiel Spiessens. “As we age, muscle strength decreases, and targeting these muscles is difficult,” he says. Anyone who takes a seat in their armchair will feel the pulsating magnetic stimulation in the seat like a tingling sensation on their ass, that’s all. But the muscle work will be done, he assures. Hospitals and retirement homes have already reported continued success.
Inventors Fair