Exhibit draws inventive bunch
Associated Press
GENEVA — If you're struggling with smelly feet, sleepiness at the wheel or carrying shopping bags while juggling an umbrella, help is at hand.
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The International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques and Products, which opened yesterday, mixes serious business with new products.
Exhibitors, many of them who have worked a lifetime on their ideas, are showing off their products in the hope of securing marketing or manufacturing deals.
One of the hits at this year's show is "The Rat Pack." The brainchild of Irishman Michael Lynch, the device gets rid of rodent pests quickly, and, he said, with little mess.
In addition, it features virtually handsfree disposition of the dead mouse, or rat.
Inventions promoter Nicole Field of Cork, Ireland, had a chance meeting with retiree Lynch last year and is in Geneva to pitch the product to more people.
"Poison kills a rat slowly, and can harm other animals," Field said. "Glue traps are popular, but they are pretty inhumane — the rat's feet get stuck and it usually tries to gnaw them off to escape."
The Rat Pack is just a cardboard tube with a pocket of viscous fluid which suffocates the inquisitive animal when it bites into it. The dead rat remains encased in the tube.
"All the squeamish need do is bury the tube and rat together — it's 100 percent biodegradable," said Field.
Such is the secrecy surrounding unpatented inventions that the prototype was made in parts by three different companies before being reassembled. Now safely patented, the trap is going into limited production in Ireland in May, retailing for around $1.15, or 1 Irish punt.
For those worried about personal hygiene, Taiwanese inventor Chu Huei-Cheng may be the man to see about eliminating foot odor.
Last year, Chu invented a sneaker that cools itself as the wearer walks, using a pump in the sole to push out stale air and keep the shoe dry.
"Moisture is the leading cause of foot odor, fungal problems and skin irritations," reads Chu's marketing literature.
With six different styles already on sale in Taiwan, Chu's Fresh Air Shoes Enterprise Co. is hunting for worldwide distributors.
