Sun 10 Dec 2006
The Rolamite
Sunday, Dec 10th, 2006 at 8:53 amCategories: Invention; Technology
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An invention whose promise is not yet fulfilled?
One night in September 1966, a lean young, sandy-haired engineer named Donald Wilkes went into his garage workshop in Albuquerque NM to try an idea. What came out several hours later has been hailed as the first truly elementary mechanical invention of the 20th century.
Dubbed the Rolamite, it’s an almost frictionless bearing with countless applications in modern devices ranging from toasters to space vehicles. Engineers say it will take its place alongside the wheel, lever, and spring as a fundamental discovery of major significance.
Basically, the Rolamite consists of two rollers held in a track on opposite sides of an S-shaped band of springy metal, the rollers glide effortlessly in the track because the band moves with them as they roll along. Since the band and rollers are both moving at the same speed, there is no slip or drag between them and therefore virtually no friction. The device is so versatile it can function as a switch, a valve, a pump, a fuse, a thermostat, a force amplifier, a clutch, a speed changer, a brake, a pressure-sensing control, a solenoid, a fire alarm a — you name it and it’ll do it.
[Mechanical Engineering (April 1968): Link]
Via Boing Boing.
This does look like a remarkably useful technology. So why it not in widespread use?
Nikolai Tesla … an archetype of genius and tragedy.
“He had no hobby, cared for no sort of amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the most elementary rules of hygiene.”