BIRMINGHAM,AFP – AT a recent invention fair, there was a seat belt for a dog , a seat belt for bags of groceries and a gadget that you can put on to the exhaust pipe of your car to make it impossible for a thief to start it.
Douglas Buchanan, a Scotsman, was one of the inventors at the Great British Innovation and Invention Fair. He designs special protective body armor. The armor sounds like something that a comic book hero might wear. It is made of leather, Kevlar and titanium. Animal control officers who have to catch dangerous dogs wear the armor.
Every where he goes, Douglas Buchanan carries a shopping bag of partially invented inventions. Some of them are half finished and others are nearly complete.
One of his inventions is a “book-minder”. He invented it when he was eating in restaurants and he wanted to read at the same time. It is little piece of folded metal with clips to hold the book in place so that you don’t have to hold it.
For businessmen who have to travel, there were attaché cases containing a barbecue, an ironing board and even a set of golf clubs.