A nd Suddenly

the Inventor
A ppeared
TRIZ,the T/zeory of
Inventive Problem Solving

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By Genrich Altshuller
Translated by Lev Shulyak
Preface to this edition

Twoyearshavepassedsincethefirstpublicationofthistranslation.M any
thingshavehappened with TRIZ theory.Ithasgrown rapidly beyond its
originalRussianboundariesreachingtheUnitedStates,Europe,India China
Taiwanand more.
SeveralcompanieswithRussianscientistsandTRIZexpertshavesettheir
rootsin the United States becoming very successfulin applying TRIZ
technology.A listofAmerican companiesprovidingTRIZ servicesislocated
inAppendix3.
InventionMachine,lnc.(IM)from Cambridge,Massachusetts,wasthe
firstRussiancompanyto promoteTRIZ in theUSin 1991.TodayIM offers
TRIZ computersoftware and training.They also provide TRIZ servicesto
companiesforsolvingtechnicalproblems.
Ideation International,Inc.(111)basedin Southfield,M ichigan,was
the second US company formed with Russian TRIZ experts.IIIprovides
training andconsulting,andhavedevelopedthreeWindows-based software
solutionsystem s.
TechnicalInnovation Center,Inc.(TIC) another Massachusetts
company, in conjunction with the Center for Technology
Commercialization,aNASA technologytransfercompany becamethethird
majorsourceforTRIZconsultation,trainingandpublications.
SeveralRussian TRIZ experts- VictorFey from Detroit M ichigan and
ZinovyRoysen from SeattleW ashington -havealsoformed theirownTRIZ
consultinggroupsprovidingtrainingandproblem solvingservices.
American companieshavebegun includingTRIZtrainingforengineers.
GOAL /QPC,based in Methuen,Massachusetts,andDetroit-based
Am erican Supplier Institute (ASI)are active training organizations
promotingTRIZ.lnNovembeq1995,morethen 200peopleattended anASI
sponsored TRIZ symposium in Detroit.Thesym posium reaffirmed TRIZ as
anim portanttoolforsystematicinnovation.
Sincethe initialpublication ofthisbook qlrvvxcm and Machine Tzesign
magazineshavepublishedadiclesontheprosperousapplicationOG RIZtheory
inAmericanindustries.
Finally,a plan to establish the Altshuller Institute for Technical
Creativityhasbeen born.TheInstitute,tobeIocatedinMassachusetts,will
be a centerforthe translation and development ofTRIZ research and
publications.ItishopedtheInstitutewillcoordinate certification ofTRIZ
expertsandtrainers,andwillhelpdevelop curriculumsto bring TRIZ into
Americanacadem icinstitutions.Itwillalsopromotenew researchOnTRIZtn
continueitsgrowth in theWestaswellasdevelopnew applicationsin1mt, 11
technicalandnontechnicalareas.
ThankstoStevenRodmanandRobynCutlerfertheirhardworkinediting
andredesigningthisnew edition.Wearepositivethatthisbookwillbecome
anevenmorewidespreadintroductiontoTRIZinthewesternworld.

LevShulyak
Y/orcester,slassachusetu
January,1996
Preface from the original
1994 edition

*nMyonlyintentioninthisliot)kistoshow thatfàeprocessofsolving
tecltnicalproblemsisaccessibletoanyone.importanttolearn crld very
ead fïngfoworkf/lroug&''
H.Altov (Genrich Altshuller)
KEventltingshould bemadeassimpleaspossible,butnotsïmplene
AlbertElusteln

Today technicalprogress ischangingthe faceoftheearth atan ever

acceleratingpace.Scientist,
sareGndingwaystolearn morein lesstime to
remembermoreand longer todethingsfasterkand soon.Thiscreatesan
enormousneedforaconstantlygrowingsupply ofnew ideasandsolutions.
Moreover,the body ofknowledge and theapplication ofthiskaowledge to
solvingtechnicalproblemsisexpandingrapidlyHow canwemanageallthis
new informationandmakeituseful?
Unfortunately one ofthe entrenched beliefsmany peoplehold isthat
ilwentivenessisinnate and thereforecannotbetaughtorlearned.Butwe
arenotconsistent.W hileweresistorignoreteachingtechnicalinventiveness
wedohavemusicand az'tcourses- andschoolswhich take in a1lsortsof
studenta,notjust$heextremelytalentednrartistic.
Thus,wea1s0needschoob andcoursesofstudythatwillteac.hustobecome
moreirzventiveorinnovativeandwillteachushaw tosolvetechnicalaswell
asnontechnicalproblemsmorecreativelyWecandothisbyprovidinganew
theoryforsolvingteclmicalproblemsthatisbasedontheexperiencesofpenple
who havesolved realproblem s.This theory exists and has been used
suceessfullyby many peoplein many countriessince itwasoriginatedby
Henry AltshulleroftheUSSR in 1946.Thesystem hasspread teover300
schools,teaching m any personsofa1lages in the formerUSSR,Finland,
GreatBritain Hungaz'yandothercountries.
Evidenceofit'simportancecanbefoundinthefac'tthat,in 1978.student.s
ofDnepropetrovsk Universityandothercollegesin thefonnerUSSR were
requiredtopassatestonthisTheoryofSolvingTechnicalProblems.
Thesystem'syoungeststudents arefifth and sixth graders.Itis too
dim cultforyoungstersbelow thesegradestolearnatheory,sinceitrequires
someknowledgeofphysicstosolvethegivenprnblems.
Theauthor,HenryAlkshullerkisthepresidentoftheInvento/sM sociation
ofRussia.In1984hepublishedthebookArldSuddenlyf/leInventorAppeared
t'1'
heArtofInventing)inwhichhedescribedthebasicpartsofhistheoryin
simplelanguage.
Ifyouareaninventororapersonwholikestoworkouttechnicalproblems
thenthisisthebookforyou.
You willIearnthe basicconceptsofthe Theory ofSolving Inventive
Problems,I'.IAIZintheRussianabbreviation).Youwillfind78realproblems
and27practicaltonlstosolvethem inthisbook.
ThisisthefirstpracticalbookforthoseinAmericawh0wanttowettheir
feetintheoceanofinventing.ThisiswhyIdecidedtotranslateit.
ln stlmeoftheanswerstotheproblems,theauthorreferstoinventions
thatwereupatentedNintheUSSR.Thesearenotrealpatentsasweunderstand
theterm.Theyareso-calledGAuthor'sCertificatesp- patentsonlyvalidin
theUSSR.
In the translation ltried topresenretheflavnrofthe originaltext.
Sometimesitwasimpossible.ToadaptthisbooktoAmericanreaders Ihad
tomakesomechanges.Threeappendiceswereadded.l'hefirstappendixhas
answerstoa11thetext'sproblems.rl'hesecondcontainsallthemethodsand
trickstheauthordescribedinhisbookinordertosolvethoseproblems.The
thirdexplainssomeelementsoftbeauthor'stheory.
My firstexperiencein learning thethet)l'y camearound 1961.Iwas
designingavezysensitivetransducerandwasstuckwithaproblem thatdid
notallow metomakeafinalformulationofthedesign.Thenthefirstsmall
bookofHenryœ tshullerksbtçTbBecomeanInventorcameoutonthemarket
andthisbook helpedmetosolvetheGunsolvableMproblem inashorttime.
SincethattimeIhavepatentedover20inventions- manyofwhichwere
developedbecauseofitistheory
TodayWayneStateUniversityinDetroitisthefirstAmericaninstitution
tooffercoursesteachingthe Theory ofSolving Inventive Problemsusing
Altshuller'sconcept.SeveralTRlz-basedcomputersoRwareproductsarenow
availableinEnglish.
Thosewhowanttoperfecttheirknowledgeinproblem selvingcandoso
throughcoursesthatarenaw availableattheTechnicallnnovationCenterof
W orcester,Massachusetts.
Iam positivethatyeuwillenjoyreadingthisbook andIwishyougreat
success.
Itlstlmeforourcoxmtrytoregalntbeleadershlpinthetechnical
w orld.
MyspecialthankstoHenryAltshullerwhoallowedmetotranslatehis
book.toEdith MorganjRichardLangevinandAlexanderRoghach-mycopy
editors-andtomywifeforherpatienceandherappreciationoftheimportance
ofthiswork.
LevShulyak
Contents

Part11TheBem'nning oftheTheory
(211It1)tt,r1:It'sI:f1I)ossiilli,..........................................................,.............1
(;idit1)ter2:E;eArflrit1sirzlI)1eexamI)les........................................................1
(211iï;ltflr51:rlrechniczll(2orltrEtçlictiorls......................................................111
Chapter4:ThinkForYourself.................................................................18
Chapter5:SuperimposeThatWhichisNotSuperimposable...............21
Part2:n eEra ofTechnlcalSystems
Chapter6:Boat+Boat............................................................................26
Chapter7:SomethingAbouttheSystem s..............................................31
Chapter8:FourPeriodsoftheSystem ...................................................34
Chapter9:M-Field From Generation ofS-Field ..............,.....................39
Chapter10:TheAlphabetofS-FieldAnalysis.......................................44
Chapter11:Tr.vitYourself......................................................................49
Pa.
Z't3:'l'heScienceofInventing
Chapter12:CunningandPhysics..........................................................54
Chapter13:How toSolveProblemsthatdonotExistYet.....................58
Chapter14:ucrownMPerformanceoftheCoronaDischarge.................61
Chamter15:WhatWastheBossThinkingAbout?.................................63
Chapter16:TheImmenseScienceofPhysics........................................65
Chapter17:'l'heRibbon Invented byMoebius.................,.....................67
Chapter18:Head fortheIdealFinalResult..........................................70
(111t:I)ter164:()rtlerirttlleu13rairl'sAttic''...........................,.....................7zl
Chapter20:Being anlnventorisaProfessionoftheFuture................78
Chapter21:A LittleBitofPractice..................................,...................,.83
IYZ.'t4:'I'heAZ.'
tofInventing
Chapter22:TheRoadsWeChoose .........................................................88
Chapter23:StrangeMirrorsoftheOperatorSTC
(Size.Tim e.Cost).................................................................94
Chapter24:A CrowdofMiniatureDwarfs...........................................100
Chapter25:TheIdealMachineisNoMachine....................................106
Part5:TheAlforithm of'Ihlent
Chapter26:TheSuitforPortos.............,..............................................110
Chapter27:Let' sBuildaModelofaProblem ......................................112
Chapter28:FamiliarTrick:ThereisaSubstance,andThereisNo
Fllllmt.nnc,...........................................................................116
Chapter29:IfTheProblem isStubborn...............................................119
Chapter30:How toBecomeaMaster..................................................121
Part6:TheAm azinxWorld ofTasks
(2dkJt1)ter:41:ItTra1(esSslit.......................................................................12il
(211lt;)ter32:I1eystoIàroë)1errls..............................................................1ê!4k
(2iïJt1)ter33:E;irftI)leIttlles.....................................................................1:46)
(2i1tt1)ter35:Iueatrrltolrlverlt.................................................................1C;()
(rlïtt1)ter31):IrïtotlteIrtqrerïtor's()ltrqlIrjilex.........................................1t$:!
ztlll)eft(Iix 1:zklïs1versttl17roblerrls........................................................1($4k
ztflrhetï(Iix:):Met'ïods.ilffectsttrtil'l/riclks.............................................1t;EI
ztrlr)ert(Iix3:IàrovidersofTFItI25-t)aseilE;ervicesirïtlïelJES/S..............,..1($64
2tt)otlttlle/%tltllor..........................................,.....,...................................,....17(j
/ti)otzttiteTrrarïslator...................................................................................171
 Part1
The Beginning
ofthe Theory

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Thefirsttime Isaw an inventorwasbeforetheSecondW orld War.W e

livedin Baku,where Iwasastudentinthefourthgrade.Oneday,coming
backfrom schoolIsaw somerepairmensadlysmokingcigarettesnexttoa
brokenelectrictransformerbooth.rrherepairmenwerelookingatabigblack
transformerstandingonahighbrickfoundation.Thefoundationwasmore
than onemetertallandthetransformerlookedlikean impressivemonu-
ment.Peoplewerewaitingforacranetotakethebrokentransformerdown
andinstallanew one.
Later.Idid myhomeworkbythelightofanoiIIamp.Wehadnoelectric-
itythatevening,northesecondevening,northethird.A craneinthosedays
wasconsideredveryrareandvaluableequipmentandgettingonewasnota
simplematter.Theelectricianscom plainedaboutthesituation,anddidnot
know whentheycouldfinishtheirjob.
Idid notrealizethatan inventorlived in Apartment#11.Therewere
rumorsthatthisneighbor,who wasa bookkeeper,on the nextdaywould
bringthetransform erdownfrom thefoundation.Everytenantinourbuild-
inghadanickname.Someofthem werenamedveryrespectfullylikeuuncle
KostyaloruuncleVlad''- butthebookkeeperwasjustGBookkeepen''
OnthenextdayIskippedmylastclassbecauseIwascurioustoseehow
Bookkeeperwould lowerthatheavytransformer.Iarrivedjustin time.At
theentrancetoourbackyardstoodahorsecarriagef'
ullofice.Workerswerf
2
unloadingtheiceandputtingitnexttothefoundationofthetransformer.
Imustfirstexplainsomething:lnthosetimeswedid nothaveelectz'ic
refrigerators.Everyday,springtofallahorsecarriagedrovefrom houseto
housedeliveringbluishicebloclts.Familiespurchagedtheicearzdfllledwooden
boxeswithit.Sometimestheyfz'lledjustpailsandpotswith theice.
Astheworkerscarriedthe iceblocltsto the transformer Bookkeeper
stackedthem nexttothefoundation.W henthenew foundationmadeofice
reachedthesameheightasthebrickone,Bookkeeperplacedawoodenboard
ontopoftheice.Theworkersusingprybars,slowlykcentimeterbycentime-
ter,mnvedthetransformerfrom thebrick foundationontotheicefounda-
tion.
Theicesqueaked.Howeverbecausetheiceblockswereplacedvez'yaccu-
ratelythefrozenfoundation didnotfallapaz't.Finalls Bookkeeperperson-
allycoveredtheicewith apieceofcloth.Wea11stoodandwatched.Soona
smallstream ofwaterappeared on thegroundfrom themeltingiee.In the
beginnlngtheflow wassmall.Soonitgrew biggerandbigger- becausethe
SeptembersuninBakuisstillasstrongasinsummer.
Everyoneintheyard evenascandalousoldmanwiththenicknamelrrrea-
suren(hewassurethatheknew wherethegreatesttreasureswerehidden
buttherewu oneproblem:Hedidnothavemoneytogetthere)saidthatthe
icewasaverygoodidea.UncleM ichael- everybody now calledthebook-
keeperbyhisfirstname- satonhisfoldingchairreadingthenewspaper.
F'rom timetotimehewouldopenthesideofthec10th tolookatthemelting
ice.
ThenextmorningIranoutintotheyard.Thetransform erwasalready
halfway down.Although itwasSunday theworkerswerethere.A riverof
waterranfrom beneaththec10thcover.Iwasdumbfounded.Evezyoneknew
thaticemelts andIknew itaswell.Nobodyhadsguredoutthatatrans-
formercouldbemovedontoabloc, k ofice- and theicewouldlowerthe
transformertotheground.How hadUncleMichaelandnooneelse figured
itout?
Befere,theicehadbeenjustregulariceusedonlytocoolthings.Butnow
icecouldreplaceacrane.'Whykicecouldprobablydootherthingg- andnot
onlyice!Suddenlytheideastruckmethatperhapsanythingcouldbeused
forpurposesotherthanthatforwhichitwascreated.
A wordoccurred tome:Inventing.Ifigured thatUncleM ichaelhad
createdaninvention andthereforehehadbecomeanInventor.Maybesome-
bodywouldwriteanarticleabouthim inanewspaper.especiallyifhecould
findawaytoliA anew transformerontothebrickfoundation.
OnMondayhoweverthecranearrived.n enew transformerwasputon
thefoundation andtheoldonewastakenaway.Theelectriciansconnected
thenew transformerthecarpenterrebuiltthebooth andthepainterspainted
it.Thejnbwasfinished.ButIwouldalwaysrememberthatunderanycin
cumstances,includinglhopeless'cases.asolutiontoaproblem couldbefound.
3
Somethingcouldbeinvented andthatsomethingcouldbeverysimpleand
surprisinglywonderful.
Ireceivedmytirstpatentwhileinthetenthgrade.Latertherewereother
inventions.Iworkedatthepatentofliceandhadmeetingswithdifferentin-
ventors,Ibecamemoreandmoreinterested in themechanicsofcreativity:
How wereinventionsmade?W hathappensintheheadoftheinventor' ?W hy
doesasolutionpop-up suddenly?
Doyouwantt.obecomeaninventor?Ifso.trytosolvethefollowingproblem;
Problem 1
To breakornotto break?
(lncetthedirectorofaplantpro- .
ducingelectriclightbulbscalledhis .
enlneeringstafftogetherforameet- .
ing.Heshowedthem abundleofIet-
ters' *'
' '
'
.Thesearecustomercomplaintsn .X6 *
hesaid.mrrhey aredissatisfiedwit'
h s.i,)y.pyr.-. . o.
ourlightbulbs.Wehavetoincrease wo = .v.x-
thequality ofourproduct.lthink
thereisaproblem with thepressureinsidethebulbs.Sometimesthepres-
sureishigherthannormalsometilnesitislower.Cananybodythinkhow to
measurethepressureinsidethebulbr
'tltisverysimple*oneoftheengineerssaid.c akethebulb breakitand...C
''Breakit?lDexclaimedthedirector.
i'Tohavequalitycontrolwewillbreak onlyonebulboutof'ahundred'
repliedtheengineer.
'$W ehavetotestepcr.vbulb' *saidthedirectorhopelesslyHeturnedtohis
engineersandsaid,wrrhinkitoven''
Andstztfcfczk/vtltefnt?erl/orappeared.
'irfhisproblem isforschoolchildrenlhesaid.i'Openthetextbook....>
Andheexplainedwheretofindanalmostcompleteanswertothisprob-
lem.
W hatcanyou suggest?Doyou haveany ideasonhow to measurethe
pressureinsidethelightbulb?
Afteracouplehoursofthinking.itispossibletomakealistoffivetoten
solutionsforthisproblem.Usuallytheseideasareveryweak.Oftenpeople
ofrertoweighthelamp.Theoreticallytthisispossibleifyouknow theweight
oftheemptyIampandthevolumeoftheglassbulb.Youcan weighthebulb
withthegasandthuscalculatetheamountofgas.
In practicethissolutionisunworkable.Thereiss'erylittlegasinthebulb
- onete nth.orevenonethousandth ofagram.lttakesaspecialscaleto
measurethiskindofweightinordertomeasuredeviationsfrom normal.It
4
 wouldtakealotoftimetogothroughthesemeasurementsandcalculations.
Itmightbegoodin thelab butnotinthemanufacturingplant.
Evenanexperienced inventorwillnotfindtheoptimum solutionatonce.
Dissatissed with asolution.theinventorwillcontinuetoanalyzeideaafter
idea.n einventorwillthink abouttheproblem dayandnight.Everything
theinventorseeswillbeusedin amentalattempttosolvetheproblem.
Ifitsnows,theinventorthinksofcold.W/lcfifwecoolthelamp?Gaswill
becomeliquid anditwillbeeasytomeasureitsvolume.
Abusfu11ofpeoplegoesbytNoise,sound....WhatifweuseIzlfrcsouzld/lrsc
speedofthesounddependsonthedensityofthegas.
Thereisasoccergameon'1''V Whatifasmallballisplacedinthebltlb?
Thespeed withwhichitfallsdepettdson thedensity ofgas.
Andsoon dayafterdaymonth aftermonth yearafteryear- sometimes
a1lthrough life.Sometimesthe life oftheinventorisnotlongenough,and
otherinventorsmustpickuptheproblem and continuetosearch fora solu-
tion.R'
Whatifwedoitthisway'?''asksthenextinventor.
Itoften happensthathalfway tothe solution theproblem isputaside
I withtheconclusionthatitcannotbesolved thatthereisnothingwecando.
You can imaginea scientistsaying:*êToachievea speedabovethesound
barrierwehavetostudy runnersand sprinters.How doesagoodsprinter
differfrom abadone?Whatisthesecretoffastrunning?ThesearethingsI
needtoknow.r
Runnersarealldifrerentand moreimportantlytheresultofsuchastudy
cannotbeusedtobuildasupersonicmachine.Differentprinciplesareneeded.
Thismethodoftrialanderrorhasitsrootsinancienttim es.Inessence,it
isasold asmankind.Everything changesovertime butthem ethodoftrial
anderrorrem ainsthesame.Onefamousscientistofourtim e ProfessorB.
Ginsburg,said:t*Myinventionsweretheresultofsortingoutdifrerentideas.''
Attheendofthe20thcenturytheprofessorlookedforanswersbysortingout
differentideaslThisisexactlyasitwasdonetwothousand twentythousand
twohundredthousandyearsago.
S0wemustlookforabetterwaytosolvetechnicalproblems.
Technicalevolutionhasitsowncharacteristicsandlaws.Thisiswhydif-
ferentinventorsin differontcountries workingon thesametechnicalprob-
lemsindependently,comeup withthesameanswenn ismeansthatcertain
regularitiesexist.Ifwecanfindtheseregularities then wecan usethem to
solvetechnicalproblems- byrules,withformulae,withoutwastingtim eon
sortingoutvariants.
Ofcourse manyskepticsscoftuWhatyouaresayingisthatwecanteach
everybodytoinventlnIhavestudiedthetheoryofsolvingtechnicalproblems
notoneyearknottwoyears,buta11mylife.InthebeginningIworked alone
thenothersjoinedme.Throughoureffbrtsanew theoryhasbeen developed.
Bookshavebeenpublisbed textbookswritten,problemsclassified seminars
started and schoolsopened.Atthepresenttime thisuniqueproblem solving
5
techniqueistaughtinmorethan300schoolsinRussia.
Thetheoryofinventingcanbetaughtatanyage- but.justasin sports.
theearlierthebetter.Wefoundthatprofessionalengineersweretheeasiest
grouptoteachinthebeginning.Becausethetheorywasinitsformativestage,
experiencehelpedinsolvingproblem s.Asthetheorygrew stronger,webegan
teachingyoungerengineers.andthenstudents.W elaterinvitedhighschool
seniorstoparticipatein collegegroups.In 1974 amagazineforyoungsters
startedtopublishinventors'problems.Theywerereal-lifetechnicalproblems
ver'ysimilartotheproblem ofmeasuringthepressureinsideanelectriclight
bulb.Thepublishingcompany receivedthousandsofletterswith potential
solutions.W eanalyzedthem madecommentsontypicalmistakesexplained
smallpartsofthetheory.andpublishedanew problem inthenextissue.
We cannotteach children in kindergartenyet.Ourlimithasbeen stu-
dentsinthefifthandsixthgrades.Tolearnthethenryofinventingoneneeds
toknow alittlebitofphysicsandchem istryandthisisnottaughtinkinder-
garten.Toovercomethisbarrierwe need tooflbrfun problemsinstead of
seriousones.
Asanexam ple,Iet'simagineanemptyroom with onlyadollIyingonthe
window sillandtworopeshangingfrom theceiling.Ourtaskistoconnectthe
lowerendsoftheropes.Takingtheendofonerope,apersoncannotreachthe
endoftheotherrope.Somebody,orsomething,musthelptoswingtheend of
thesecondrope.Thistask issetforonepersononlyandthereisnobodyto
help,
Thesolution couldbeworkedoutbychildren whohavenoknowledgeof
physics.Thesecondropemustbemoved- butitistoolight.Itneedssome
weightatitslowerend todevelopa pendulum effect.Thedollcan bethe
weight.That'sall.Theproblem issolved.
Thisproblem canbem ademoredifficultifweplacetwoballoonswiththe
dtlllintheroom.Balloonsarenogood asweightsbecausethey aretoolight.
Balloonswould attracttheattentionofthechild,andthedollwouldnotbe
consideredforawhile.
Wecanevenfurthercomplicatethetask.Let'stakealltheobjectsfrom
theroom andseeifthechildcansgureouthow touseashoeasaweight.Y()u
canseethat,antheonehand,thisproblem isnotinventive.Yet,on theother
hand.itresemblesaninventiveproblem .Wewilltalkaboutthesesimilarities
later.Wecanonlysay now thattherearenobarriersseparatingtheseprob-
lems.
ln thisbookwewilltalkonlyabouttechnicalcreativityand inventive-
ness.Thisbookisn0tatextbot)k ofcourse.M yonlyintentionistoshow that
theprocess ofsolving tcchnicalproblem sis accessible toanyone thatthe
processisimportanttolearn andthatitisveryexciting.

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Chapter2
Severalsim ple exam ples

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lnspiteofdiflicultiesIam goingtoconvinceyou thatsomeofthefollow-

ingproblemsarereallyinventiveandthesolutionsthatinventorshavefound
areclassisedasinventions.Youcan solvetheseproblem snow withoutlearn-
ingthetheoryYoualreadyhaveenoughknowledgeandexperiencetoworkon
them.
Problem 2
There is a ç'trick''involved
Itwasayounggirl'sbirthday Oneoftheguestsbroughtabigboxt)fchoco-
latecandies.'rhecandieswereshapedlikesmallbottlesfilledwiththickrasp-
ben'y syrup.Everybody liked them.Oneoftheguestssaid,GIwonderhow
thesecandiesaremade'?''
GFirstthey madethe bottlesand then they 5Iled them upwith syrupl
explained anotherguest,
''Thesyrupwouldhavetobeverythick othenvisethecandywouldnotbe
sturdy enoughcsaidthethirdguest.GAtthesametime,thesyrup would be
verydimculttopourintothebottle.Itispossibletowarm thesyrupmakingit
moreliquid.The prablem now is thatthesyrup would meltthechocolate
bottle.Wewouldgain inquantityand loseinquality.Therewould be many
defectivecandies.''
 Andsltddenlvl/lt,Inventorappeared.
''IhaveanidealMheexclaimed.''Iltnow how tomakethistypeofcandy
quickly andwithoutdefects.Thetrickisto....n
Heexplainedeverything.Ofcoursethecandycouldbeproducedsimply.
Thinkitover.W hatdidtheinventorsuggest?
Thisproblem waspublishedintheyouthmagazinelsor/eerkI'ruth.Tttere
werethousandsoflettersin reply,andalmostallofthem hadtherightan-
swer.Youprobablyhavealreadyfiguredoutwhatthetrickis:Thesyrupshould
bepouredintoamold frozen and thendippedintothemeltedchocolate.Icy
syrupinwarm chocolateistheinvention.ItwasdoneintheInstituteofChem-
istryinEstonia.
Thereisanothermagazinecalled TheO/'
/ic/clGazette.Thousandsofin-
ventionsarepublishcdin thismagazineeverytwoweeks.Thedescriptionsof
theseinventionsaresometimesverylengthybutcontain intheend thees-
senceoftheinvention,Inanyissueofthemagazine threetofivepercentof
theinventionscouldbedevelopedbyschoolagechildren.Theseinventionsdo
notrequirespecialknowledgeinphysicsorchemistry.Theyaresmallinven-
tions,ofcourse,buttheyarcinventionslTheseideasarebothnew anduseful.
Whatwouldhappenifwegavethechildrenevenjustalittlebitofknowl-
edge?!
Pc
oblem 3
Wh 1V. .:
atpl
aceshould
wechoose?
;ii1 Y1?
*
.-ù
I
! .
I 4O
*:#> W
Therewasanoldtowerinthe E ? *** ''
centralsquareofatosvn.oneday C. 7 ',''' -'
Concern SN'aSexprelsed thatthe --- '
towerwassagging.A com mittee
wasestablishedtostudywhether
ornotthetowerwasreally sag- ''
ging.Allmembersorthe com mitteeagreedthat inordertotake measure-
ments,theyneededtofindafixedpoint- onethatwouldnotmtweandwas
visiblerrom thetower.
Itwaspossiblethatthesquareitseltland thebuildingsaroundit were
sagkringaswell.A park aboutfifteenhundredfeetawayhadseveralledges
thatwerenotsagging.However.youcouldnotseethepark ledgefrom the
towerbecauseoftallbuildings.
t'
A verycomplicatedsituationOsaidthechairmanofthecommittee pon-
deringt14equestion,''Maybeweshouldaskouracademiciansr
Andsuddenlythefnrf?nlorappeared.
*'Don'tbotherthem l'fhesaid.Ropenthesixthgradephysicstextbook and
youwillfindthat....>
Andheexplainedwhattolookfor.
 Doyouhaveanyideas?
Probably you have already Iigured itout.Ifnot,don'tbedisappointed.
Open aphysicstextbookandfindthesection onwatenlevelingdevices.
Let'staketwoglasstubes,setoneinthetowerand theotherinthepark
ontheledge.Connectthem withaflexiblehose,andfi11thesystem withwa-
ter.Becausethisisawater-levelingdevice,thelevelofthewaterwillstayat
thesameheightrelativetosealevel.Let'smark the levels.lfthetoweris
sagging,thelevelofwaterin thetowerglasstubewilleventuallyriseabove
theoriginalmark.
A very smartinvention andonly theknowledgeofsixth grade physics
wasused.
Let'swork onaproblem thatismorecom plex.
Problem 4
'tA''and t'B''weresltting ona fence
Inoneofthechemicallaboratories,engineerswerebuildingamachineto
producea new fertilizer.Twoliquid componentsweretobe dispersed sepa-
rately int,oa fine mistby thismachine.Let'scalltheseliquids uA''and uB.''
DropletsuAraresupposedtomovetowardsdropletsuB *formingnew droplets
'*
AB,''thenew fertilizeraccording tothechemist'splans.When themachine
wasturned on dropletsuA. *contacted otherdropletsGA''anddroplets ahK
wereproduced.'rhesamethinghappenedwithdropletsuB.'Butthe chemists
did notwantdropletsUAA''and*'BB.'
uMaybewe shouldmixliquidsah'andGBObeforewemakedropletsj'said
onechemist.
'*No,wecannotm ix them upbeforedispersionDsaid anotherchem ist.G1
don'tknow whattodol
Andsuddenlyl/lcInventorappeared.
Grrakethephysicstextbook.Youwillfindthelaw thatyouneedinorderto
solvethisproblem.'
Whatlaw doyou think hewastalkingabout?
Ifyou look intoaphysicsbookyou can easilyfind this simplelaw.Pan
ticleswith thesam echargerepeleach other andparticleswith adifrerent
chargeattracteachother.Let'schargedropletsuAMpositive,anddropletsUB''
negative.Whenthetwostreamsofdropletscometogetherwewillhaveonly
droplets*AB.nYoucanseethatingenuityplussom eknowledgeofphysicswill
helptosolveabout5vetotenpercentofrealinventiveproblems.Whatiflin
addition weusesomespecialtechniques?
Everyprofessionhasitsownrules techniquesandtricksthathelpdothe
jobbetteç fasterand easier.Thesameistrueofsolvinginventiveproblems.
Bytheway,wehavealreadylearnedsomeofthem .
Doyou rememberProblem 72 with thecandy and syrup?Theinventor
said,uhetrickis...lrrheutrickmisthemethod,thewaytosolvetheproblem.The
problem withthecandyhadtwotricks.The
firstwasthateverybodywantedtowarm the
syrup.HowevectheInventorofreredtheop-
4)
positeaction - coolorevenfreeze it.The
secondtrickwasknowingthatfrozensyrup
meltsatroom temperature.The object B0/r/#/f#5'&8'
changed thestateofitsphysicalprop-
erty.Thesametransformationhappenedin ,W

theproblem thattheBooltkeepersolved.The z:â

ice melted and the transformerwasslowly
lowered.
Manymethodsarebasedontheapplication ofphysicalefrectsand laws.
MethodsdiFerfrom physicaleFectsandlaws becausemethodsaim atsolving
technical-inventiveproblems.Physicallaw statesthatmattercanbetransformed
from onestateintoanother.Themethodspecifiesthatduringsuchtransforma-
tions.thephysicalpropertiesofthematterchangedramaticallyandthesetrans-
formationscanbeusedtosolvemanyspecifictechnicalproblems.
Thesearetwoverypowerfulmethods:
Method#1:Doitinversely,and Method #2:cbangethe stateoftbe
physicalproperty.
InanygivenissueoîTlteOfficialGazettewecanfindinventionsmadeusing
thesemethods.Furexample,Patent#183122:''Methodforunloadingrawtrranu-
latedsugarfrom tankers.r'rospeeduptheprocess,thesugarisfi1'stmixedwith
watertomakeitliquid andthenpumlx!dintoastoragesilo.n eliquidsugaris
thendriedbacktogranulatedsugar.
Anotherexample,Patent#489938,isamethodforrestoringthefree-flowing
characteristicofbulkmaterialinstorage.n einventorsuggestedfurtherfreez-
ingitwithliquidnitrogeninsteadoftheusualmethodofheatingitwithsteam.
Thenitrogenbreakstheicebetweenparticlesandthenevaporatesasagas.
Theinventorusedtwom ethods.First.Doitinversely- freezethemate-
rialinsteadofheatingit.Second.changetbestateofthephysicalproperty
ofnitrogen.n tlnitrogenisatErstliquidandthenbecomesagas.
Now tryaproblem thatyoucansolveyourself
Problem 5
ltcan disappearbyitself
In thepast,people usedunspillableinkwells.Ifwetillsuch an inkwell
withsand how canweremovethesandfrom theinkwelllater?Foundryengi-
neersoncefacedasimilarproblem .Forgedmetalpartsneededtobecleaned.
Sandblastingmachineswereusedforthispurpose.Sandcleansparts- and
Iodgesincavities.Now wehavet()removethesandfrom theparts.W henthe
partsarebigandheavy,itisinconvenienttoturnthem overand shakethe
sandout.
10
 uMaybewecansomehow coveralltheholesrsuggested0neengineer.gN0
it'stoomuchextrawork.Icannotseethesolution.Thesanddoesn0tcomeout
ofthecavitiesbyitself''
AndsuddenlytheInventorappeared.
''Yes.'hesaid Rthesand can disappearby itselfW hatwehavetodois
makesandparticles0utof...n
W hatshould thesandparticlesbem adeof?
Noticethata11thepreviousproblemsbelongtodifrerenttechnologicalfields,
butinventorsused the same techniques tosolve them:Method #1:Do it
inversely andMethod #2)Cbange the stateofthephysicalproperty.
Hereisonemoreproblem:
Problem 6
There isa patent
Thereisaneedtomakemanyholeslomm indiameterinarubberhose.It
isnothardtopunchordrilltheholesexceptthatthehoseisveryflexible.It
stretchescompressesandbends.So m akingtheholesaccuratelyisacompli-
catedtask.Thesupenrisortriedtoburntheholeswithaheatedironrod but
theedgesoftheseholeswereunevenandbrittle.
uNothingcan be done!How annoyinglnexclaimedthesupervisor,almost
crying.
AndsuddenlytheInventorappeared.
GDonotcrylMhesaid.Rltisverysimpleln ereisanEnglish17at(mt;:
#.1268562
wheretheinventorofrered...l
W hatwasin thispatent?Thinkaboutit.
You havefamiliarizedyourselfwith only acoupleofmethods.Thereare
aboutahundredofthem somesurprisingandingenious.You willagreewith
meafteryousolveanotherproblem.
Problem 7 ....-
Whatkind ofdetectivesarethey? 0It -
, y' o
A companypurchasedsunfloweroil.
Thedeliverywasarrangedbytank-cars. .
'
Z J.'r.-''-'
.. . - - +?
!>
Evex'y tank-carhad a capacity of3000 ' * *'
l
dii
t
ec
sro
sv
(
e7r
5
e0dgth
al
alt
on
esve
)
.
rTyhteimbe
uyer
thestuan
dd
kewna
l
y
s # - -4k* -- -
unloadedtherewasashortageofalmost ---3
30liters.'l'hebuyercheckedthemeasur-
ing devicesand al1werein order.He ''
checkedoutthesealson theupperhatch and theleakageofthetank.Noth-
ingwaswrong.Heeven consideredthe thin film oi-oi1ontheinsidewallsof
thetank aswellaschangesintheoil'stem perature.Therewasnothingthat
11
couldaccountforthedifrerence.
Som eexperienced detectiveswereaskedtoinvestigatetheproblem and
theyfoundnothing.Thetruckneverstoppedduringdelivery andthedriver
neverpouredoiIoutofthetank.Eventhedetectiveswerepuzzled.
Andsuddenly theInventorappeared.
'iW hatkindofdetectivesareyou'?uheasked.ult'saIlvevysimple.Wehave
tothinkforawhile.'Thenheexplainedwhatwashappening.
W hatdoyou thinkwashappening?
Thisproblem waspublishedinayouthmagazine.Thepublishergotthou-
sandsofIettersfrom studentsin schoolsandcolleges,andeven from engi-
neers.Theauthorsoftwoletterswerepolicemen.Thereweremountainsof
letters,butnone hadtherightanswer.
Thedetectivescouldeasilyhavediscovered thesecrethad they known
oneoftheinventor'stricks:lfitcannotbedonenow,itshouldbedonein
advnnce.
Itturnedoutthatthedriverhungabucketinsidethetankwhenitwas
emptyThevendorlilledthetankerwithoil.Atthesametime.thebucketwas
ûlled.Thetruckwenttothebuyer'ssiteandwasunloaded.Thebucketfullof
oi1wasstillhanginginsidethetank,andthedriverofthetruckremovedit
later.
ThisisMethod#3:Doitin advance.ltisoftenusedbyinventors.
taet'slookataproblem in medicine.A plastercastisverydimculttotake
offwithouttouching the skin.An inventoroffered toinsertarubbertube
containing athin saw blade underneaththecast.When thetimecomesto
remevethecastthedoctortakesahandsaw frame connectsittotheendsof
theblade,andcutsthecastfrom theinsideout.

W lï/#@&/z#<f
*j'

12
Chapter3
TechnicalContradictions

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Wehavelearnedthreemethodsorprocedures,s()rar.Youmaythinkthat
thisisgoing tobe simple- justlearn hundredsofmethods and you can
solveanyproblem.Unfortunatelyitismuchmorecom plicated.Considorthe
followingexample:
Therearemachinesthatmakeweldedsteelpipest)falargediameter.In
theshop,workershangupbigrollsofsteelribbon.Theendofthisribbonis
inserted intothemachinewhich turnsthe ribbon intopipes.Weldedpipe
comesoutofthemachineata speedoftwo feet-per-second.Everythingis
fine,exceptthatthepipemustbecuttoaspecificlength.
Let'ssaythatweneed tomakepipesthatare12feetlong. Thismeans
everysixsecondsapipemustbecut.A rotatingcuttingdiskbladestartsto
cutthepipeassoonasthepipereaches12feet.Thebladetravelsalongwith
thepipeas itcomesoutofthemachine.Afteritcutsthepipe,the blade
returnstoitsstartingpoint.Thisentireprocessneedstobeaccomplishedin
lessthansixseconds.
ln orderto cutthepipe f'aster avery powerf'
ulcutting mechanism is
needed.Because such a mechanisnzm ustbelarge andheavy, itwilllose
speedtraveling alonp the pipe.lfwemakethecutting mechanism lighter
andsmallerinordertogainspeed itcannotcutthepipeasfastasneeded.
Thisformsaviciouscircle.
Tosolvethiskindofproblem.engineersusuallyuseacomprom isesolu-
13
tion.Asaresultofsuch acompromise thecuttingmechanism neithercuts
fastnormovesfast,sothe pipecomesoutofthem achine1.5timesslower
thanitshould- averydisappointingsituation.
Youhaveprobablyalreadyfoundthesolution:Do itin advance- cut
thesteelribbon beforeitreachesthemachine.Howeverthiswillnotsolve
theproblem becausenow wewillIosetimefeedingthemachineforeachpipe.
Thehighoutputofthispipe-welding machinedependsupon acontinuous
unbrokenprocess.
Thisproblem remainedunsolvedIbralongtime.Byusingvarioustricks.
engineersincreasedthespeed ofthecuttingbladebutlosttheaccuracy of
thepipelengths.Somepipescameoutlnnger,othersshorter.A complicated
electronicssystem wasdesignedandtheaccuracyrose- alongwithproduc-
tioncostsandmaintenance.
Tltefnrt>n/orappeared.ofcolzrm and offeredtotzsetlt'orucl/lol,
s.
'Method
#3:D oitin advanceand M ethod #4:Doalittleless.
Themeaningofthe fourth method is:Ifan action cannotbe done
com pletely,itmustbedonepartially.Thismeansthattheribbonshould
benotched notcut.Afterthepipeiswelded toitsrequiredlength aslight
jerkwillbeenough toseparateitfrom thenextpipe.Itisawonderfulsolu-
tion,isn'tit?Theullying'diskbladeiseliminatedcompletelyThepipegoes
throughanelectricm agnet.An impulseofcurrentasharpbreak and the
pipeisseparated.
Asy'oucansee,the'ttrick''istohaveacombinationoftwom ethods.Sepa-
rately,thetwomethodswillnotproducethenecessar.vresult.
Tenthousandtwo-methodcom binationscanbeproducedoutofonehun-
dred individualmethods!You canimaginethenumberofsolutionswecan
getifweuseacombinationofthree four orfivemethods.So letusstop
solving problem sby sorting outdifferentsolutionsorusingthetrial-and-
errormethod.
Somemethodsofsolution wereknowneven attheendofthe19thcen-
tury.Variousspecialistshavesincemadeitemized listsof'20to30methods.
lfwegoonestepfurther- notonlyaddingnew methodsbutclassifyingand
combiningthem - wecansolvem anym oreproblems.
Itwasfound thatsinglemethodscan only beutilized in lim ited areas.
Therefore.itisstilldifEculttogetridofthetrial-and-errormethod.
W hatifwetry tolook attechnicalproblemsfrom a difrerentanglein
ordertounderstandhow theproblemscameabout?W hatisthedetinitionof
an''inventiveproblem''oraGtechnicalproblemrr'
Letus look again atthe problem ofthepipe-making machine.Itisa
complicatedmachinewithmanymechanicalsystemsandparts.Asem ciency
in one system isincreased - themachineweldingthemetalpipes- the
wholebecamemoreproductive.Howeverim mediatelyatechnicalcontradic-
tion appeared:Them achineweldsthepipem uch fasterthanthe cutting
mechanism cancutthepipe.
14
 To solvethis new problem - thefasterthewelding process,themore
dimcultthecuttingprocess- anattemptwasmadetoincreasethecapacity
ofthecuttingmechanism.Again atechnicalcontradiction appeared:In or-
dertogainspeedincuttingthepipe,amorecemplexandheavycuttingmecha-
nism isneeded.Ofcourse thisheavierand more complexcutting mecha-
nism isslowertomovedownthepipe,again slowingtheprocessasawhole.
Technicalsystem saresim ilartoliving organisms.Theyconsistofinter-
related parts.Changingonepartofthe system may havea negative
effecton thesystem 'sotherparts.
An improvementin onepartofasystem thatimpairsotherpartsofthe
system oradjacentsystems createsaTechnicalContradiction- andmak-
inganinvention requiresremovingTechnicalContradictions.

An inventivesolutionalwayshastworequirements:
(1)lmproveasinglepartorcharacteri
sti
c
ofthe system without
(2)impal
ringotherpartsorcharacterlsticsofthesystem
oradjacentsystems.

Problem 8
Vehicle fortheplanetMars
In asciencefiction storyaboutspaceexploration anexpeditiontoMars
wasdescribed.Thespace ship landed in arockyvalley andthe astronauts
promptlypreparedtheirvehicleforatripontheplanetsurface.'rhisspecial
vehiclewasdesignedwithbiginflatedtires.On theveryfirststeepslopethe
vehicletippedover.
Andsuddenly...No.unfol-tunatelytheInventorcouldnotappearinthis
storyWhatdoyauthinktheInventorwouldhaveoffered?
Keepinmindthattheastronautshadnowayofchanging thetires.
Thisproblcm wasalsopublishedin ayouth magazine.In themajorityof
theIettersreceived theanswerwastosuspend aheavyweightunderneath
thevehicle.Thecenterofgravity ofthevehiclewouldbecomelowerandin-
creasethevehicle'sstability.
Donotrushtoexpressyourideayet.Let'sGrstm akean analysisofthe
othersuggestions.Now wehaveacriterionforourevaluation.Wasthetech-
nicalcontradictionremovedornot?
Theweightsuspendedunderneath thevehiclewillincreasestability but
atthesametim ewillimpairitsmobilitytotravel.'rheclearancewillbeless
andcausetheweighttostrikerocksand thegroundm oreoften.A technical
contradiction!
15
 Herearesomeoftheotherideasandsuggestions:
a.Partiallydeflatethetires,sotheywillbehalf-full.
b.lnstallanextratireoneach sideof'thevehicle.
c.Havesomemembersofthecrew lean outt)fthevehicle tomaintain
balance....
Itisnotsodifriculttoseethatineachoftheseideaswegainsomething
whilewelosesomething else.Deflatingthe tiresreducesthe speed ofthe
vehicle.Additionaltiresmakethevehiclemorecomplicated- andwehave
nomeansofdoingthatonMars.Askingtheastronautstodoacrobatictricks
isnotajustifiablerisk.Becauseofthedifricultyofavoidingcontradictions
oneofthereaderswrote:WNothinglcanthinkof'canbedone.Lettheastro-
nautswalk.n
Canyouimagineasailorwhodoesnotknow thatitisnecessarytoavoid
reefsandcliffs?rrheinventorislikethatsailorwhenhedoesnotknow thathe
m ustremovfzatechnicalcontradiction.
Doyouremembertheproblem aboutmeasuringthepressureinsidethe
electriclightbulb?rl'heideatobreakthobulbwaspatented,althoughinreal-
ityaninventionwasnotcreatedbecausethecontradictionwasnotremoved
Themorebulbswebreak themoreaccuratethetestwillbe and themore
brokenbulbswewillget.
Beforeyousay,ç'IhavesolvedanInventiveproblem l''
askyourself,ç'WhatklndofcontradictionhaveIremoved?''
Itisnotdifficulttosuspendaweightunderneathavehicle.Theideaisto
suspenditaslow aspossible.Now wehaveanotherproblem .A l()w suspended
weightwillreduceclearancebetweenthevehicleandthem'ound.Thedesire
tosolvethisproblem withoutusing'iinventivetricks'willnotimprovethe
mobilityorthevehicle.
Letustl'yanew m ethod.anewtrick:Wewillplacetheweightverylow in
fact.rightnexttotheground- notoutsidethevehicle butinside.Wewill
hidetheweightinside- thetires!Wewillinsez'tsteelballsorroundstones
andtheywillrolloven...
ThisisM ethod#5,calledRM atreshkar Matreshkaisadollthathasa
smallerdollinsideit,andanotherdollinsideoftheseconddoll,andsoon.To
savespaceitispossibletoplaceoneobjectinsideanother.
A patenttothiseffectwasissuedinJapantoimprovethestabilityorfork
trucksandautocranes.
Theproblem andtheanswerareliketwobanksofariver.An attemptto
guess the answerislikejumpingfrom onebank ofthe riverto the other
Technicalcontradictions andmethodstoremovethem workasabridge.The
theoryorsolvingtechnicalproblem sissimilartothescienceofbuildinginvis-
16
iblebridgesthatcarrythoughts leading tonew ideas.
Bytheway contradictionsandmethodsshould becomparedtosupport
columnsofthebridge.Itisnoteasytojumpfromonecolumnontoanother.ln
addition tocolumns weneedt0ppanelssothatwecanwalkfrom onesideto
theother.Weneed aspecialapproach togetfrom tasktocontradiction and
from contradictiontothemethod(trick).Thenwecanwalkstep-by-stepfrom
theproblem statem enttotheanswer.
WewilltalkmoreaboutthepartsofthebridgelatenW hatisveryimpon
tanttounderstand is:
Theinventormustfindand removetechnicalcontradlctlons.
Thetheory ofsolving technicalproblemsbeginswith thisvery simple
statement.

.. k.
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/
/
-. .. ' .. .

17
Chapter4
Think ForYourself

. Syiy
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Sofaryouhavelearnedfivemethodsofsolvingdifferentproblem s:
1.Doitinversely
2.Change thestateofthephysicalproperty
3.Doitin advance
4.D oalittle Iess
5.GMatreshkr
YouhavealsoIearnedthatphysicaleffectsandphenomenacanbeusedin
themethodsdescribedabove.And finallyyouhaveaveryreliableindicator
bywhich toevaluateyouridea.A goodinventiveideawillcertainlyrem ove
contradictions.
Iwillgiveytluseveralproblemsasanexercise.Rememberdonotsortout
ideas.Usethemethodsyou haveIearned'i.e. physicaleffectsandknowl-
edgeaboutcontradictions.
Problem 9
Oneasgood asmany
Onceupon atime in alaboratory.adevicewasbuilttostudy them ove-
mentofdropletsofliquidfertilizerttlbesprayedfrom anaircraft.Airrushed
18
through a pipecarryingmillionsofdroplets.However,thisdeviceproduced
onlyver.ysmalldroplets.
Duringtheexperimentitwasfoundthatdropletsoflargersizesshouldbe
testedaswell.
ç'luet'spurchaseseveraldevices''ofreredoneoftheengineers.
ç'ltwilltakemoretimethanwehave.Besides,itistooexpensiveccontra-
dicted anotherengineer.*Twenty testswillrequiretwenty difrerentspray-
And,ofcourse,theInventorsuddenlyappeared.
Gonesprayerwillworkaswellasmanydifferentsprayerslhesaid.ul'he
dimensionsofthedropletscouldbechangedif...''
Heexplainedwhatshould bedone.
W hatdoyouthink?
Probablyproblem #9lookssimpletoyou.Although thenextfew problems
aremorecomplicated 1thinkyou willwork them out.
Problem 10
To make watersofter
Once.a famouscoach - a formerchampion diver- complained to his
colleague:uItisdifriculttoworktoday Divesarebecoming moreand more
complicated.Wehavetothinkofnew combinations,andtrythem.Theprob-
lem isthatthe largenumberofunsuccessfullandingshasincreased diver
injuries.Thewaterisnotsosoftwhenyoufallfrom atalltower.SometimesI
feelthatadivercouldmakenew dives.butoAenisafraidtogetinjuredand
notabletoenterthecompetition.''
U hereisnothingwecando,''hiscolleaguesaid.uThisisthenattzreofthe
sportwearecommittedto.Thereareinjuriesinmyteam aswellduringun-
successfuldives.'
And suddenly theInventorappeared.
N'herewillbenomoreinjuries.Wewillmakethewatersofter.Whatwe
havetodois....*
Whatdoyou think we havetodo with thewatertomake itsofterand
eliminateinjuriesduringdives?
Problem 11
Everlasting palnt
The presidentofafurniturecompany said tohisengineer:gDuringthe
lastyearwe soldonehundred setsoffurnituretokindergartens.Unfortu-
nately thecustomersarecomplainingthatthekidshavestrippedorscratched
thepaintoffthefurniturel
u'Phisisnotourproblemlsaid anoffendedengineer.Woucanscratchthe
hardestofpaints.Thishasnothingtodowith us.Maybe theyshould buy
19
unfinishedfurniture.n
i*No,*saidthepresident.AItisgoodto
havecolorfulfurnitureinkindergartens.
Perhapswecanfindapaintthatwillpen-
QJ .
w , x.
etrat
u
ede
Thieoinsidethewood?,
-
sisa fantasy!. laughed theengi- o .z ' &
neer.X housandsoftimespeoplehavetried
toimpregnatewoodwith paintwithvery ..J-
poorresults.Youknow that.o
AndsuddenlytheInventorappeared.
:6No,thisisnotafantasyl''heexclaimed. ..
'Klttakessomeingenuity andbravery to '
solvethisproblem .n etrickis....M
W hatdoyouthinkthetrickis?

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20
Chapter5
Super-
lm pose ThatW hich is Not
Super-
lm posable (Joinwhatis notjoinable)
N xe
N< W
N=

e : .
,Y'

/ .

Thehtmtedfox,ifruwilllxlEeveBamn Mtmchausen,foundawaytojumpout
ofitsownsldn.Let'sleavethishuntmg
' storytotheBaron'
scomqcience.Atthesame
O e,ase rs/cupmne VthM lvene gpmblem.WesY ohc tforie
anmveqwefolmdtechnicalcontratlictiorusandjtustwhenitseemedthattheanswer
wasathand- suddenlytheanswerdisapmared!
EvenifyouholdthetCVIIZUCZconfzadidionw1t.11stronghands,thereLsnoguan
anteetl4atyouwillM dtheanswen' PhesametC'CIUUC.AIcontmdictionm uldbere-
movedbyusingdiFerentmethods.
w M e e n- a, 'e oM - dedvv A mpbyie Y ne a. 'e o- .h oi er
woG atiehe- ofeveceànlc/œn- ieonlhddenapàxslalœnH ieon.
Itlookslikethis:OnepartofateCIZIZiC,aIsystem shouldhavethecharacteristic'Aoto
perfonn acertain action,anditshouldalsohavethecontradictorycharaderistic
uanti.Aetom dbrm theoppxsiteaction.
A TechnlcalContradlctionusuallyrelatestothewholesystem,
ortoseveralpartsofthesystem.A Physlcal
Contradlctlonrelatesonlytoonepad ofthesystem.
Undemtandingthissotementwl signiNcantlyincre.aseyourchantmsofm>'
tothecorred ariswer
Ixt'slœ katProblem #s- removingsandfrom theforgedpar4a'rhephysical
21
contradictionint,141problem isri'fkarticlesshotzldbehardinordertocleanpmts,and
atthesametimenothard(liquidorgaseotlstinonlertoberemovedfrom thearea
insideofthepartslitssoonmsthisldndofcontratlictionisfbnnulated,theanswer
becomesobviotm WehavetoapplyM ethtd #2:Chnnsdngthestateofphysical
properties- andnothingelse!Let'smakeparticlesoutofdryice.Hardparticles
willcleantheparts,andIaterttun :1:0gasandevaw ratxs
InProblem 0 ,how tomakeholesintherubY rhose,thephysicalcontm dic-
tionsarealmostthesame.Thepipeshouldbehardinordertodri11holesinikand
shouldbesolttopreserveelasticityThemethcd isthesmne.Wehavetofreezethe
pilx!.orlillitwithwaterandfIVX!Z,ethewaterAftertheholesaremadesthepilx or
watershouldbeheated.
Therearecertainrulesthatallow us,dtuingtheanalysisoftheproblem,togo
from ateclmicalcontradictiontoaphysicalone.Inmanycasesthephysicalcontra-
dictioncouldbefonnulatedliom thedescriptionoftheproblem itself
Problem 12
Droplets onthe screen
Theweldingprocesswasstudiedinareseamhlaboratory.Sdentistswereinter-
estedtofmdouthow ametalrodwouldmeltinanelectricam lmdhow thisarc
changesduringthisprccems.Theytarnedthem weron,setthearcandElmedwhat
happened.W hentheyreviewedthemoùetheyfoundthatonlythearcwasvisible.
Thearcisbrighterthanthedropletsofmetal.andthereforethedropletscouldnotbe
seen.Itwasdecidedtorepeattheev riment.lnthenew exw rimentasecondarc
wasignitedtolightuptheclropleG Amoviewastakenagain.Nowonlythedroplets
wereseenonthescreen.n eoriginalarcwmsnotvisibleonthescreenatall.The
scientistsm ndertxi.qvhatshouldwedoT'
Azldsuddmtlvl/lclnventorapimared.
dA typirxalphysicalcmntradidionlhesaid.'Theproblem is...J
Whatkindofphysicalcontradidionisit,aridhawmem wemmoveit?
lfyouhavereadcarefullytheconditionsoftheproblem youcaneasilyfonnulate
thephysicalcontradiction.n esecondarcshouldbethereinordertoseethemetxal
droplets.anditshouldnotbethereinordertoseethelirstarc.
Techle ontraidio> m c uallyfo= ulae invel mildterms.Forexample
inordertoincreasethesreedot-atruckweneedtoreducethecargoweight.'l'he
sreedisincontlictwiththeweight.Howeveqitîsmhsibletoaniveatacompromise
solution.Inphysicalcontradidiorlstheconflictisveo'strong.Fortunatelytheworld
ofinventinghasiks0w1:nzles:'fheM gherthedegreeoftbeconnictotheeasier
itistodetennineandrem oveitw
Thearrthatlightedupthedrzp?etsshouldbeandshouldntbe.'lhismeansthat
itshouldl)ethereforsomeperitxloftùne,anditshould notbethereforanother
mriodoftkne.OnandofronandoftOnsomeframeswewillseedropletsonothers
- onlytheam Duringthe51.m demonstrationixlthobjedsAvillcomeoutonthe
screen,andwewillseethearcandthedroplets.
22
 œ sisMeG M e :G e cte M e menem Kpm e e te eorG
Spafe'
Doyouremembertheproblem ahmttheweldedpiyes?n esteelribhm wmscut
partiallyin someareasandwasn0tcutin otherareas.Thereisa trickierwayto
sumrimposethatwhich Lsnotsumrimm sable:Giveonechnm eteristictothe
wholeobject,andtheoppositechnm cteristlctoitsparts.Atfirst,itseems
thatthisisimptssible.Indeed,how c.anyoubuildawhitetoweroutofblackbricks?
'lbke,forexample.thechaindriveforabicycle.Eachofit,selementsLsrigid,but
thewholechainLsflexible.Inshort,physicaleontradictionsthatreqtziretustosuper-
impxsethatwhichisnotsumrimmsabledonotIeadfzladeadend.0nthecontrmy
theyfacilitateandmakeeasiertheprocerxsofsenrchingforthebestsolution.
Foranotherexample,corksiderPrvblem #10- How to makewatersofter.
Thisisadimcultproblem.Itisnotclearyethow tostart.Iaet'sfizsttrytoformulate
thephysicalcontradidion.'l'he1. 1shouldlx SIIGIwithwateqandatthesametime
the- 1shouldbefllledwithsomethingthatLssoftersothediverwillnotlyeinjured
duringthejump.WhatLssofterthnnwater?Gasorair.Theconcllzsion1:The- 1
shouldlx tilledwith....
Itseem sthatwehavecometoadeadend.'f'
hewatersupportsthediveqbutitLs
'Ymgh.hanrduringthedive.'l'
hegasisusor butyoucannotjtunp1r1t0a- 1SIGI
onlywithgaserairtthe- lisarqa.nlly*empty'')Nom whenwerevealthecontzadic-
tion.wecanseeasparkofthearuswerLet'shaveIX)f.IIwaterandgasinthepx)l.Let
thediverjump1:1f,0amivftu.eofwaterandgas- gaseotlswaten'lhtsisexadlyhow
SovietinventorsgottheirPatent#llz7604.InthispatentwaterLssaturatedV t.IIair
bubblesYforethejtunp.ThecontradidionLsremoved.(7m9e0% waterisstillwaterk
eventhoughyoudon'tfeelitinthesameway
Noticethezipzagpathmadeonotzrwaytothesolution.n epre-existingcondi-
tionfortheproblem isonlytheexistenceofwater- andthereforetheanswerisnot
cler Wee koneslpba& % mwalrlM ti-wa/rlo ,irl.ltsœme theproblem
becamemorecomplicated.'l'henextstepisveryimmrtant:combinewaterandanti-
water(waterandairkhatdandsoit,rigidandfleible,hotandcold).
Aswesaidbefore itcanbedone- inatimeoraspaceframe.
Problem 13
Thick and thln
A factoryreceivedanordertomanufacturealargequantityofglasssheets
ofovalshape one millimeterthick.First rectangularplateswerecut and
thenthecornersweregroundtotherequired ovalshape.Becausetheglass
wasverythin thereweremanybrokensheets.
*Weshould makethesheetsthickerMsaid theworkertohissupervisor.
uWecarftcsaidthesupervisonuWehaveordersonlyforsheetsonemm thickl
And suddenly theInventorappeared.
uphysicalcontradictionlrheexclaimed.xdoursheetglassshouldbeboth
thick and thin.Thiscontradiction can be separated in a time fram e.The
23
glassstockwillbethickduringthemachiningperiodl
W hatdoyouthinkaboutit?
Problem 14
How to getoutofadeadend
Acompanystartedthepnxiuctionofanewmachine.verysoontheshopfacedan
unex problem.onecompmentofthismachinewastobemadeoutofaslxucial
steelplate.'f'heplatestxxkshouldbeeledricallyheatedto12000C.n entheheated
platewouldbeplacedunderapresstoshapeitintoitsrequiredform.Dulingthis
processitwasfotmdthatwhenthesteelplatewasheatedover801 C itlxwcame
dtunagedduetotheharmfulefrectofaic
Thesux rvisorcalledforameetingim mediattlly
C'hesituationisjustlikeinafaiortale.Cvoingt,otherightisgetting1:1t0tznuble;
goingtotheIeftisgettingintoevenmoretrouble.'l'heplatesttx:kshouldbeheatedtzl
120?.C otherwiseitcannotI:efonned,andatthesametimeitcannotl:eheatedover
80(rCinordernottodamagethesurfacerhesaid.
'4ltisverysimplelosaidoneoftheyoungestengincxelx uW ewillheatitto1001 C
theintermediatetemm ratuzu''
Xhat'snogoodlobjectedtheoldmastenNheplatesNvillbedamagedbecattse
theystillwilll>eheatedY yondtheiracceptabletemperature,andfonningcannotbe
doneto usethetemm rattuvisnothighenoughc
ultisanintricatetask'saidthesupervison'V e'vegottosolvethisproblem nouc
AndthefnrcrllorapA aredàem
i.Ihavethesolutionlhesaid.
W hatdoyouth1* theInventorofrered?
Problem 15
Stubborn spring
Imaginethatyouhavetocompressaspiralspring4''longand2''indiametm
placeitinsideaIXK)K and closethebcokinsuch awaythatthespringwillnot
unwindandyetstillbereadytoexpandatanytime.Asimilarsituationhapm ned
when engineelswereassemblingadeNrice.ltwmsn toeompre-ssaspring,
placeitirksidethedeviceandclosethecover.How canthisbedone?
iKWewilltieitwithastringlsaidoneofengineers.tgthenviseyou cazmotdo
anythingwiththisstubbornspringl
çR sisnoe ,''obje ieoieren#nœn* espe gH ideiedeùœshold
And slzckfezt!ytlwfz?owl/orapptnred.
Vverythingisfmelphesaid.url'hespringshouldl:efreeanditshouldnotbefree.
complvssedandnotcomprerxsed.Oncewehaveacontradiction wehaveaninven-
tivetaskc
How wouldyousolvethisproblem?
24
 part2
The Era of
Technical
System s

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Chapter6
Boat+ Boat

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# +M +# *$ Y *', '+
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Inmanybooksaboutthehistor.voftechni calevolution the19th century

is calledR'
l'heCenturyofSteam.'Historiansinthefirsthalfofthiscentury
calledthisG'l'heCenturyofElectricitycW hatnameisappropriatein Iightof
developmentsinthesecondpartofourcentury?Sofarwedonothavejust
oneopinion.Itcouldbe:'TheCenturyoftheAtom Moruq'heCenturyofSpace
Exploration.'Maybe tKrf'heCenturyofChem istoc'Or...ê'Electronics'
?'
Ifan engineerlivingatthebeginningofthe20th century couldseeour
lifetodaythatengineerprobablywouldbesurprisedatthenumberoffamil-
iarm achines.Thesem achineswoulddifferprimarilyinscalecomparedwith
theirancestors.Carsthesizeofhorsecarriageshavebecomebigtractortrailer
trucks.Anairplanethatcouldonlycarrytwoorthreepeoplehasbecomean
airbuscarrying300to 400 people.Shipshavebecome tloating cities.Tun
bines,cranes,buildings,research laboratories- everythinghasbecometen
timesbigger.
Dozensofo1dtrucksinthepastarenow equaltoonesuper-truckcarry-
ingtheircombinedloads.Yes thegrossweightisthesame butsenricingand
maintainingonesupertrucktakesfewerpeople.Loadingandunloadingtrucks
takemuch lesstimeaswell.Manyoftoday'sinventiveproblemshaveap-
pearedbecauseofthisdevelopment.
Let'sIookatarelatedproblem:

26
Problem 16
Aleran emergency Ianding
Ahugefmnqmltairplanemadeanemergencylandingonafeld200milcxsfrom
theaixw zt'l'heairplanewmsunloadedandirïslxzcted.Cm cks.dentsanddamageto
theoutsidewerefotmd.Itwasnecerxsarytomovetheairplanetotheshopforrepairs.
Becausetheairplaneweighedmorethanonehundredtons,ithadtol:ebmughtto
theshopcarefullytopzwentadditionaldamage.Theexw rtsgottogetherItwould
notbesuc,habigproblem ifonlytheairplanewassmaller
Woushouldnotthinksomuchlrsaidastudent-apprentice.
Nov yhadaskedhim totllemeeting,buthehadcomeanywayHehadanidea,
andhewantedl presentit.* ereisnothingwecandowithoutadirigible.Wehave
tohœktheairplanetothedirigibleand....n
qbtmgfello< oneoftheexwztssadlysaid.uWedonothaveadirigibleoftlmt
carkacityM ides,wecannotliAtheairplane1r1t0theair.Sq forgetthedirigible.''
ArlW suddenlyf#eInventorappeaa
Wou'rewrong;hesaid.t'Wedoneedadirigible,andwetfonotneedadirigible.
Wehavetolilttheairplane- andwedon'thavetoliftitl
Hethenexplainedhowweœuldrvsolvethesecontradidozy rmuirements.
CanyouguesswhattheInventoroFered?
ThesizesofmachineshaveincreasedrapidlyTheylmveiIZCI'eaSGIbyfactom of
hvo,ten,andevenahundredtimes.
Growth,howeveqLqnotunlirnite 'l'he z'
timecomeswhenfurthergm wthLqlxlthun- .'
@ggygp
eulnolnilnlandnona nefdal.zttthatpnlt /XVCIXC tW6'd
iftwomachinesarejoinedtogethenanew j'
svstem apx azs.Thksnew system thenlxp.
giastogrow andevolveliketheindividual
machinesbeforeit.
Ixfsrece
àllthelzistzla =diedevelop -
(- .îj.k
mentoftheship.'rhesrstboatwmsmw. /.-
f-
fp .
- '
.

eredbytwopaddlexrfheO tshiphadone
rowofoam ThenIargnrshim hadtsm tluw
r- 6
andfourmwsofoan - - 'f
S/
E
InandentRome.ashipwmsbuiltwith
thirtyrowsofoars!Itwmsverydiëcultfor t
;*-
yh
.e
J
t
ltq
lz----- <...
g s
Ny
oarsmentoctylrdinntef,heirlxlwiTv.M id% (
' N.
theIladdleswerelongandheavy'lhe(11.
tancelxt- ntheupm nncstmwsandthe
waterwasmorethan60feet.
lxatxhrlxxoplestartswdtoblaildshim œm .
prisedofpaddlesandasail.zkstimepassed, rr(
27
thesizeoftheshipsincreased andthenttmlrandsizeofsailsincreasedinsteadof
thenumberofpaddles.Graduallypaddle-sailvaselswerehU'IIGI111t0sail-paddle
vesselwandIater1nt.0.qnslingships.Thensnilinfrequipmentstaztedtoevolve.Fizst
therewasonemast,andthentwomastsandsoon.'l'hesizeofsailsincreased asdid
thentunlxrofsailsoneachmast.
Thencamethenextstep:Thesteam enginewasdeveloe andthesrstsail-
steamshipwasbuilt.Sam thepnxessreyeatedagain.Sail-steamshipsweretUI'I::SII
intosteam-sailvesselsjandlater11% steamships.
Everytimesystem A combineswithsystem B anew system ABemerges.This
new systemM hasyinprinciple,newcharacteristics- new qualitiesthatneitherA
norB had before.Evenwhen anew system LsformedoutofthesimpleA+& the
resultisnotequaltoZX.buttosomethingbiggerForexample:Onelxlatplusone
boatcombined1nt.
0asystem isnotcxqualtotwoboats.Itisacatmnaran.n esystem
Q'
atamuranismoresGblethanjtlsttwosepal'atehlats.
'Ihisvel.
yimm rtantfeatureorsystemscanixleasilytracedinthenextproblem
ahmtweevils.
Problem 17
A thermometerforweevils
Onceuponatime.scientistsgottogethertodis-
ctsssaproblem ahmtweevilq.Itwmqfoundthatthe
conditionsofexistenceforthissmallbeetlehadbeen
studiedvery little.Nov yknew,forexample,what
thelxxlytemperatureofaweevilwas.
* eweevilisverysmallcmaidonesdentistqbu t;% 19
cann
Yotusearegk
tlarthennometxmb 1:. r
ehavetodesignaspecialdevicer
''agreedan- ! , .I
othe
Arnsc
di
e
sn
utist
dd e.
ni
q
ly'
i
z/k
/s
lew1
In1
1
vr
eeqourir
nt ce
pa
pe1
otof
cmtft
.i
mec r(
,' é
j'.t
pj
$.1tisnotnecessaryf.odevelopanew deviceche
l: j,,j
.
.

said.N'akeanordinary...'' ''N*'*' . f
r t'
,,
m mtdoyouthinktheInventorosbrt'd? ''
Thisproblem wmspublishedinPioneerlbuthmagazine andonlyonewordwas
addedinthedescriptionoftheproblem.glass.TheInventorsaid:u'Pakeanordinazy
glm%....*
Halgoftheartswersofreredbyreadez'swere:'Takeaglass,51Iitupwithwatzm
throw theweevilintoitandmeasttrethetemxruturewitharegularthennometeno
Thisksnotthec'onw taruswenOnesmallweevilcannotchangethetemlxfrat'ureof
thewatern econfusionwllsinthewordRglar oncewehaveaglasvs.itshouldlx!
tille withœclerlm attsethisisitsprimepttrm se.
lne goxlvelvenuvepmblem YoM.% mHx efoxdoen.suG woe
leadyou towrongideas.ThereforeintheTheozyofSolving InventiveProblerns
iex loneveo e m - tM e:M - M t-- Rm M o m p- e G e ple
28
wordan isisM ethod#7.
Forirustance,ifaumicro-adjtlstablescrew'ismentionedinthepmblem,itshould
bereplacedwithwordslikeGadjtustnblertxithathmqaveryprwisemovementT'rhe
worduscwwrdiqaprears,andimmediatelyitYcomesclearthatthesolutionmaynot
beconnectedwiththescrewmotionorthedevit'e.
Meanwhile let'srettu'ntoourproblem.ltisneces-sarytotakeaglass(()rsmall
hm orplasticbag),5llitupwith weevils,andmeasurethetemm ratarewith a
conventionalthennometenA hundredwemilsAvillcreateasystem thathasnew
characteristiœ.Thesizeofthatsystem ismuchgreaterthanthesizeofitsseparate
pads.ThereforeitAvillnotbedimculttomeastuvthetemm ratureoftheweeùls.
IneveryissueofneOmcialGczcffcwecanIindtechnirxalinnovatiorusthatwere
donebyincotwratingsimilarordilrerentobjedsintoonesystem.
Tl'iisisMethcd #8:Incorw rating similarortlilerentobjectsintoone
ee %
Forexample,let'scorksiderRatent#408586.Yeazsagoboilez'swerelinedupsepa-
ratelyNowtheyareplaccdintooneblock n econstrudionbecamesimpleqthepipe
lengthwmsredueed andtheblcvkneededonlyonechimney
/2n0therexzuxzple:Ckninaalfee:lin asilogivesoffa1otofheat thereforeitis
necessaryto(1001thesilo.Barnsfordomesticnnimaksneedtobeheated.lnPatent
#251801theauthorofreredtocombinethetwoenclosures.Heatfrom thesilonow
heatsthebarns.
Anotherexample:If'wetakeamotorlxmt
andinstallasnowmobile4ormotorcycle1onit
.'z thereisnonew invention.HoweverianAmeri-
caninventorgotPatent#3935832foravehicle
thatisaboatand asnowmobileatthesame
i rz g . time.Itusesonlyoneengine.theonepom the
kkJ
.' (
'A' snowmobile.'rhisisa?u,!t,system.
(g
!;N't
. jt
, .I- .
,j
.
y'
'
i Ahkmter
tonsomeoccasi
ons.woul
dliketo
havetworifleswithdiflbrentcharges- bullets
4 .1.
, rr /
.
andpellets.'rogohtmtingwithtworitlesisnot
'' k . convenient.Thehtmternfxxdstouseonerille
- . ..u - .,
X ' . ' - '
imdthensuddenlyneedstousetheother.Of-
ten,thehunterdoesn'thaveenoughtimetosadtc.hthem.m aatifthetworiflesw'ere
tiedtogether?Inthepast,thatisexadlywhatpeopledid.lyatertheysguredoutthat
tworitlestiedtogethersharemanycommonykarks- andthesepartscouldbeelimi-
nated.Indeed,whydoesth1-%doublerifleneedtworiflebutts?Aftertheextvaparts
wereeliminated,theresultwas thedouble-barreledgun.
Onemoreingeniottsexample:Wastematerials- ashandclinker- arecreated
atmetallurgicalplantsandareeliminatedthmughpipesbywaterA hardm ust
develolxsontheinsidewallsofthesepipes.Thiscrustmtlstusuallyberemovedby
hand.Enginee!striedtosolvethisproblem foralongtime.Otherengineerstriedto
solvethedifrerentproblem ofprotectingtheinnersud'
aceoft'oal-wmstepipesh'om
excesswear.Sharpparticlesofcoalscratchthemetalm akingthepim sdiflicultto
29
protat.InventorM.Shampovofl'
eredtofonnaconunonsinglesystem outofthese
pipelines.Fizstthelinewoktldpumpashandclinkersluny thatwoulddevelopa
crustinsidetlzepipe-s,thenitwouldswitchtothetx)alwasteslunythatwouldclean
thepixs.'rhecyclethenrepeafs.Theproblem issolved.
Toform anewsystem,oneshouldunlteobjectsinsuch
awaythatanew featureappears.
Now wewillolreranotherproblem asanexercise.
Problem 18
The otherway around
A plantgotanordertomanufadureglassf11f, e1.sofonemeterindiameterand
twometershigh.HolesweretobemadeevenlytlmmghouttheElterErtgineezs
lookedatthedrawingsandwereshocked.Thoursandsoftinyholeshadtoi:emadein
everyfilter.
qlosvshouldwemaketheseholesF'thechiefengineeraskedhissubordinates.
w vwegoingtodrillthemr
GMaylxlweshouldmakethem wit.hlongred-hotneedlesrayotmgengineersaid
uncertainly
vknlzl.
f?t* zl/J'tltefzlœrl/o?'ap)warrt/.
''Weneedneitherdrillbitsnorneedles.Eve ' shouidbedonetheotherway
aroundMhesaid.tqhke...l
W hatdoyouthiriktheInventoroFered?
Hereisahint:Doittheotherwayarotmd.Wewillnotmakeholesinthecylinden
butmakethetylinderoutof..hole.a'lhke
glasstulxs,bundlethem,andthereisa
cylinderurithholes.Oqtxakeglmssrpds,
bundlethem,andthereisafilterwith A-x. )
j: '.'.A
' '-
x.'
Simpletoa- mbleanddisa- mble. J.' . $ ll
Bythewaynoticethatinthisex- 1 '
ampletwomethodswereused.
n esoli
d !'R n
t'
yl
inderwasrepl
acedwithmanysmall 1
W :1
tuYsor
Thirods,bundledtogethec 1
'I1'
II:
'A1,Ie
,l
tionans d/i
osrMe
cot
nh
seolid#a9t:
ion. enta- .A:
# Fl
1l:
: Itj
C !I
A
lI'
I '
Fq
Wj1
Fragmentati 1fl
t:
.ë1 .lll,
(also xessando nandconsolidati on l1j!#.
I jûl1 :j -
olten,pir
nsolvingain
nvti-
ep
nrto
ic
ve
ess
p)
ra
oreet
bl s
sed
ms r::
I:I
l
,.',,I'1d
e !: 1,
I!o)
WhenthereLsatwo-partcontradiction. :IjI1)i1Ilj '
ll'11 ',l
- s tI':l;'jI . .

b omethi ngshouldbe,andshouldnot
e- thereLsatwo-partuke/'tosolveit.
t
Il
Il ,I!
''jI
'.
30
Chapter7
Som ething Aboutthe System s

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Iftheamoebacouldspeak,itwouldsay:iMysingle-cellancestorslivedon
theEarthbillionsofyearsago.Now,everythingconsistsofsingle-cellcombi-
nations.Wood forexample isacombination ofcells.A humanbeingisalsoa
combinationofcells.ThismeansthattheEraofCellsiscontinuinglm
Witha11duerespecttothesingle-cellspeaker,weshouldobject.Woodand
hum anbeingshavedifferentcharacteristicsthan singlecells.rrhewood as
wellasthehumanbeing,aresystemsofcells.n ereisnolongeranactualEra
ofCells,thereisanEraofSystems.
Growthofsystemsbydevelopmentandcomplicationisauniversallaw.In
thetechnicalworld developmentgoesfrom acelltoasystem.An automobile
isacell theautom obileindustry isa system .h telephoneisa cell thetele-
phoneindustryisasystem.
When asinglecellbecomespartofasystem itperformsmoreemciently
and developsfaster.Atthe sametime,thecelldependson the system and
cannotexistwithoutit.
Contemporarytechnologyisatechnologyofsystems.ItsGcellsnarediffer-
entdevices machinesandequipment.n eyfunction insidethesystem.n ere-
fore,somepeopleinthesecondpartofthe20thcenturycallthisdtTheCentury
ofTechnicalSystems.''
Thereisastrictsubordination insideatechnicalsystem.Anelectricbulb
in acarissubordinatedtotheelectricalsystem ofthecar.Thecarissubordi-
31
natedtothecarindustrywhichincludesmillionsofcars roads gasstations
andrepairstations.
Ever.ytechnicalsystem hasausuperioresystem above(supersystem )and
aRsubordinate'system below (subsysteml.Anychangein ahierarchicalsys-
tem effectsboth systems.A technicalcontradiction emergesbecausesome-
bodyforgetsthislaw.Onepartofthesystem getsanadvantageoveritsusupe-
riorHorGsubordinateMsystem .Therefore itisnecessarytocnnsidertheinter-
estsofnotonlythesystem thatneedstobeimproved butalsotheinterestsof
thesubsystem sandthesupersystem .
Let'slookataspecificproblem tolearnhow toconsidertheseinterests.
Problem 19
Let's do itwithouttelepathy
Once,anew carstalled onahighway.Theconfused driverwastryingto
explaintothepassenger:<Itisbadluck.lranoutofgas.Iforgottolookatmy
gasgaugel
<IthappenslosaidthesympatheticpassengenuBesides,thosegaugesnever
work accurately.Thetankisemptykbuttheneedleisrarfrom thezeromark.
Itwouldbegoodtohaveagastankthatwouldsendatelepathicsignalsome-
how'whenthegasisalmostgonel
And sutfdezl/gvtheinventorappeared.
*Itcould bedonewithouttelepathy;'hesaid.'KIhaveanidea....*
W hatdidtheinventoroffer?
Letusmakean analysis.Theautom obile inourcaseisasupersystem.
Oursolutionshouldnotjeopardizeanywinterest''ofthatsystem.Thismeans
thatnothingshouldbechangedorredesignedintheautom obile.Thisistypi-
ca1foranysupersystem aslongastheproblem doesnotrequiredrasticchanges
orreplacementofthatsystem .Wewillconsiderthisarequirement.
Subsystemsalsohavetheirownrequirements.Thecar'sfuelcontrolsys-
tem (ourcentralsystem )consistsoffoursubsystems:gas,gastank some-
thingthatmakesasignalduxf- whatwe
aregoing toflnd).and thedriver'shead.
Tobegin with.any Gmodificatianrofthe srzpke
driver'shead isnotacceptable.We also
cannotconsiderany changesin thegas. -= = --
TherearetwosubsystemsIet
':uxoandthe //
gastank. -2Q!:L- -
Now,Iet'sexaminetheconditionwhen
thereisnogasin thetank- oralmost
none- andthereisasignalfromuxlRe-
member,thegastank hasa very simple
requirement:Itcannotbechanged.Sothe
conclusionisthatGxnshouldalm ostequal
32
nothing othenvisethegastankortheautomobilemustbemodified.Forex-
am ple '4X'cannotbeanX-Raydevicebecauseitwould make thecarm ore
complicated.
Bythistimetherequirementsforthesupersystem ,thesystem andthe
subsystem shavebecamesoclearthatwecandetermined:xcwithmathem ati-
calaccuracy A littlelaterIwillshow youhow itcan bedone.Thinkitover
yourselffornow.Theempty,oralmostem pty,gastankshouldsendasignalto
theheadofthedriver.W henthetankisfullofgas,thereisnosignal.Onlyc '
canhelpustoachievethis.i'X''shouldbesosmallthatneitherthecar(the
supersystem )northegas(thesubsystem)wouldrequireanychangeswithits
introduction.

:
t)..

W7
Chapter8
FourPeriods ofthe System

- 1 1-
I
b'TACEf ' STA@E2
o I l1:*

.---
>
,
I
---. .oe
I
$7:/ # nAcE.

Every new system hastopassa test.A very strictjury checksoutthe

resultsofthistest.Thejuryconsistsof'Iuife''andRpracticelThejuryasks:
uW hatisit?Ah,it'sanengine!Let'sseehow itworksinthesystem .Wellit'is
notbad.Wewillgiveitamarkof3(onascale1-5).Andwhatisthis?Ah,is
thisapowertransmission?Yes.Thistransmissionisverygood,wewillgiveit
a.5.W hereisthecontrolsystem?Isitonlytwobuttons?W hatifthecondi-
tionsofworkarechanged?W hatifwehadanemergency?W ewillgivethis
system ajprradeof2.,9
Therulesofthejuryareverysimple.Only systemsthatdo nothave a
markof?2>canpassthetest.Itdoesnotmatterwhatmarksthesystem has
so Iongastheyarenotu2.*'Themain requirementfrom thejury isthata1l
subsystemsshouldworktogethereveniftheyhavelowerm arks.Itmayap-
pearstrange,butaIlcontem porarySystem satthebeginningoftheirdevelop-
menthadlowm arks.Thefirststeamboathadagluttonoussteam engine.rrhe
transm issionfrom theenginetothepaddle-wheelsdevouredalmosta11avail-
able energy.The paddle-wheelitselfdid notwork efficiently.Even in that
form .thesystem hadabigfuturebecauseitwasaver'ygood combination.
Although al1thepartsworkedinefficiently theydidworktogether.
A technicalSystem issimilartoan orchestra.ltisenly asgood asthe
musicians'synchronized playing.Therefore theinventor'sefrortshould be
concentrated in thebeginningonfindingthebestcombinationofasystem's
34
parts.ThisistheFirstPeriodin thelifeofaSystem.
ThereareFourPeriods and eachhasitsownproblemsand methodsfor
solutions.
Letuslearnaboutthesestagesfrom thehistoryofthedevelopmentofthe
airplane.
TheFlrstPerlod:
SelectlonofPartsfortheSystem
Thedevelopmentofairplanesstartedaboutonehundredyeazsago.Inven-
torswereinterestedindetermining,uWhatisafyngapparatus?Whatparts
should itconsistof'/Shoulditbewingswith an engine orwingswithoutan
engine?Whattypeofwingsshouldbeused- stationary orilexiblelikeabird's
wings?Whatldndofengine- muscles,steam,electricalorgaspowered'?'
Finallytheairplane'sformulawasfound.Thewingswerestationaryand
theenginewasofinternalcombustion.
TheSecond Period:
Im provem entsofPans
Thisstaledwiththeucorrectjonofbadmarks.nlnventorswereimprtwing
differentpartsoftheSystem.Theywerelookingforbettershapesandhow to
optimize theirrelationship.Theywerelooking forthebestmaterials,sizes
andsoon.How manywingsshouldanairplanehave?Shoulditbeatriplane,
biplaneormonoplane?Whereshouldthecontrolsbeplaced- inthefrontor
intherear?Whereshouldtheenginebeplaced?Whatkindofpropellersshould
bedesigned- topullortopush?How manygearsshouldanairplanehave?
Attheend oftheSecondPeriod,theairplanelooked quitefamiliartous.
TheThirdPeriod:
DynamizationoftheSystem
Thepartsimmediatelybegan losingtheirown image.Partsthatusedto
bepermanently connected changed into partshaving Ilexible connections.
Peopleinvented retractablelandinggear.n ewingsnow can changetheir
prosle.n efrontpartofthefuselage can bemoved upordown.Airplanes
weredevelopedwithswivelenginesthatproduceaverticallift.Sectionalaim
planeshavebeenpatentedwherepartofthefuselagecanberemoved loaded
andplaced back.
The Foudh Period:
Self-developmentoftheSystem
Thishas notyetbeen revealed.Wearejustbeginning towitnessa few
veryshystepsintothefourth period- rocketandspacesystems.Spaceships
canreorganizethemselvesduringoperation.'rheycangetridofrocketboost-
ers,open solarpanelswhileinorbit and deliversatellitesintoorbit.These
areonly thetirststepsin thedevelopmentofsystemsthatcan adaptthem-
35
selvestoachangingenvironm ent.Allfuturisticsystemsinitially areseenas
fantasy,butwhennew technologiesmaterialize thesefantasiesbecomereal-
ity.Afterall,whenJulesVernewrotehisstoriesaboutspaceflighttheywere
alsoSjust''fantasy.
Nom let'sreview theFourPeriods:
1.SelectionofpartsfortheSystem .
2.Improvementsofparts.
3.Dynam izationoi-theSystem.
4.Self-developmentoftheSystem .
Onehastherighttoask:uW hatarewegainingbyhasringknowledgeabout
theseperiodsr
Let'slookataspeciticexample:
A longtimeago.inventorsdevelopedadevicetoweighormeasurediffen
enttypesofobjects- steelballs,nailsscrewsandsoon.Thedevicewasvery
simple:A funneland acylindricalcontainerwithtwogates.Theballstobe
measuredwereloadedthroughthefunnelintothecontainenW hentheupper
gatewasopened,theballsfllledallthespace,thentheuppergatewasclosed
andthebottom gatewasopenedtodischargetheballs.Thisdevicewascalled
abatcher.Withthisbatcher,theballsare w...
-
measuredbyvolume.Thevolumeofballs .-..%
perbatchequalsthevolumeofthecyl- ECNNEI
inderbetweentwogates. -. z,=.
- ..

Althoughthi
sisasimplesystem.it /1,
-
,
.
y
.,
isarealisticone.In1967thissystem was
. ,
j
J(7-
improved.Threeinventorsgotthepatent --- ...-
rightsonanewbatcherwheretheme- .jjrf2. . . t
. ..
c hanicalgateswerereplaced with elec-
tromagneticones.W hen the poweris
.-i <'-cytln Rtcnt
-cosrnfstp
turnedofffortheuppermagnettheballs
willfalldown and fillthespace between the gates.Now wecan turn the
uppermagneton and thelowermagnetoff.The measured balls willdis-
charge from thebatcher.
There isa new task now :M akean invention to improve thebatcher.
W ithoutaknowledgeofthelawsofSystem Developm entyou mightbelost.
Nothinginthetaskindicatesthatthem agneticbatcherisbad.Iam certain
thatyoucansolvethisproblem veryeasily.
ThisSystem isin theSecond Periodofitsdevelopment.Thenextinven-
tionshouldbringthissystem intotheThirdPeriod.
TheThird Period isDynamization.Thism eansthatthefixed magnets
should becom emoveable.Now when wehavetochangethevolumeofthe
measuredm aterialwecansimplymovetheuppermagnetupordownalong
thepipe.Thebatchingsystem hasgained anew quality!Thebatcherwith
36
moveablemagnets,Patent#312810 wasinvented fiveyearsafterthe mag-
neticgatewasinvented.Thissystem couldhavebeeninventedm uchearlier
- l iterallytheminuteafterthemagneticgatewasinvented.Fiveyearswere
lost!M aybethisisnottoomuchofaIossbuttherearethousandsandthou-
sandsofcasesjustlikethis!Tomakethesystem moredynamicisMethod
#10:Dynamization.
Problem 20
There is acatamaran/thereis no catamaran
Intheshiprepairingdockanew steamboat-catamaranwasbuilt.
RItisawonderfulshipcsaidtheo1dmaster.
dqres,itisabeautifulship,Hagreedtheengineer.G'rhemain advantageof
thisship isthatitisvery stable.Thisshipwillgothrough many different
conditions- partiallyonrivers,partiallyon theocean.Itisrelativelycalm
onrivers,butontheocean....'
AndsuddenlytheR nenlorappears.
iKThisship isindeedvevywonderful nobodywillarguethat*'hesaid.
uButitneedsonemoreimprovement.Itshould beacatamaran andnota
catamaran.H
W hatkindofimprovementdoyouthinkthelnventorhadinmind?
W henyouworkonthisproblem keepinmindthatthesystem ''catamaran
+river*ispartofasupersystem - urivertransportationqoThismeansthatthe
catamaranshouldconsidertheinterest,sofa1lpartsofthesupersystem .
Now wewillofferyou aspecialproblem.Thisproblem isdifferentf' rom
others.Itispossibletocom eupwith som ethingnew - asolution thatcould
beaninvention.In otherwords thisisnotatextbook problem.ltisa real
inventivetask.Donotrushtheanswer.Thinkitoverfindaninterestingsolu-
tion,andtrytodevelopit.
Problem 21
The law is theIaw
Oneday thepresidentofatoycompanyinvitedhisengineerstoameeting
andaskedthem:tf anweinventanew dollbasedonVanka-vstankar
TheengineerssaidthatNevalyashka(adollweightedonthebottom sothat
italwaysreturnstoanuprightpositionlandthevanka-vstankawereinvented
alongtimeago.W hatmorecanwediscover?r rhisisaveo'simpletoy.'rhebody
ofthetoyhasaroundbottom.Theinsideofthelxdy ishollow andaweightis
attachedtothebottom inside.lfyoutrytoplacethetoyoniKssideitwillgetup
andswingfrom sidetosideforawhileandthenstand upright.
ultisreally simplelsaid theyoungengineer.''Nothingcouldbe added or
removed.'
d'InventorZaitsevhasinvcnted anew Vanka-vstankalarguedthedirec-
tor.ulaook,Patent#645661wasissued
forthisnew design.'' **
Theengineersbentoverthenew W
toyOntheoutside,thistoylookedlike
thepreviousones.Thetrick wasin-
side.The weightwasmounted on a
shaftinsuchawaythatitcouldmove
alongtheshaftup ordown.Thetoy
could swingstanding on itshead or
lyinghorizontally.
G'rhisis the law 0l'increasing @@
V
dynalnizationlsaidthechiefengineer.
hIn the beginning.partsofthema-
chinehadrigidconnections.Laterthe
inventorsworkedoutIlexibleconnec-
tions.A toy islikea machine there-
forethedevelopmentof'atoy should
follow thesameIawsofdevelopment
asamachine.Icanpredictthatsome-
body willcom eup with a Vanka- @*
Vstankawheretheweightisdivided
andwillm akethesepartsmoveable''
hesaid.
'tltisalreadyfiguredoutlsaidthe
presidentofthecompany.u'fhisisthe
uvanka-vstankaoinventedbythein-
ventorLitvinenko.Patent#676290.H
Heplaced onthetableonemore
toyofthevanka-vstankaseries.Thedollwasswingingdifferently.theswing-
ing frequencywaschanginga1Ithetime.
'çThat'sit,''saidthcchiefengineerwhileopeningthebodyofthetoy.isrl'he
weightisdivided thepartshavebecom emoveableinthesamewayasinan
hourglass.Thesandismovingfrom one portionoftheglassintotheother
changingtheweightofeach poriion.' rhereforethefrequencychangesc
''Everythingnew thathasbeen done wasdonein anotherfactorylHex-
claimedthe president.''Aretheybetterthan weare?Couldn'twethink of
somethingelse?You said thatthereistheLaw ofIncreasingDynamization.
Ver.ywell.let'susethislaw andinventanotherVanka-vstankathatwillbe
moredynamic.''
Andsltddenls'thefntptlalorappeared.
R'l'heLaw isthe Law ohesaid.tirfhere isaway tom ake this toym ore
dynamic.lwouldliketoof1br....''
Mrhatcanyousuggest?

38
Chapter9
M -Field From Generation ofS-Field

Now wewouldliketoofferyouamoredifscultproblem.Bytheway,you
alreadyhaveseen thatadiëcultproblem isdimcultonly becausewedonot
know theLawsofDevelopmentoftechnicalsystems.
Problem 22
The universalfield
Ata factory thatm akesagriculturalm achinezy thereisa sm allpieceof
fencedlandthatisusedfortestingequipmentmobility.Once,thefactorygot
orderstomanufacturemachineryformanydifrerentcountries.Thosediffen
entcountrieshavedifrerentsoils.'
rhe factory found thatin ordertotesta11
thosemachinesitwouldneedmanydifrerentsoilcompositipns.
uWeneed140differentfieldslsaidthepresidentofthefactorytohisengi-
neeratthemeeting.uilow canwegetsomuchland'
?n
*Itwilltakeal0tofmoneyaswellladdedthechiefaccountant.GNo,itis
notrealistictobuild140fields!Thesituationishopelessln
And suddenly theInventorappeared.
U here arenohopelesssituationsOhesaid.uWecan build one universal
fieldthatwould replace140.W hatweneedis....O
W hatdoyou thinkweneed?
A detailedexplanation follows.
39
 lhopethatyouwon'tofrerasasolution anyofthefollowing:
a.Dividethem ainfieldinto140pieces.Thefactoryfieldisnotbig.
b.Deliverm achinestoallthedifrerentcountries.Everymachinehastobe
testedmanytimes andtheexpensewould betremendous.
c.Changethesoilontbefieldthewayitisdonein thecircus(140move-
ableareas).
d.Freezeanddefrostthesoil(thisistooslow).
e.Deliverdifferenttypesofsoil(tooslow andexpensive).
Suchideaswouldimproveonlyonethingandworsenanother.W ehaveto
overcomethetechnicalcontradictioninordertochangethequalityofthesoil
withoutmakingitunacceptablycomplicated expensiveorbyincreasingthe
sizeofthelield.
Let'sfirstsettheconditionsofthetask.W hatisgiven?ThesoilisaSub-
stancethatwewilldesignatewiththesymbolS1..ltisnecessarytolearnto
controltheparametersofS byem ployingsomeltfield''force.Letusdesignate
this5eldforcewiththeletterF.Now wecandraw adiagram:

s,
/F
Therearesixbasicfields:
1.Gravitational:F(;11
2.Electromagnetic(electrical/
magnetic):F*2/F>(f;
3.Nucleart'ieldofweak interaction:FNW
4.N uclearfieldofstrong interaction:FN5
5.M echanlcal:FM
6.Therm al:FT
We willnotconsiderthenuclearfields.W hatweneed isavery sim ple
solution.Wehavetoeliminatethegravitationalfieldaswellbecausewehave
notyetIearnedhow tocontrolit.
Therearethreefieldsleft- electrom agnetic mechanicalandthermal.
Now wecanunderstandwhythistaskisadifficultone.Soildoesnotreactto
an electromagneticforce and isveryreluctanttorespondtomechanicaland
thermalfields.Wecanclearlyseeaphysicalcontradiction.FieldF shouldact
onsubstanceSl(soil)- thisisbythespecificationsoftheproblem - butIield
Fcannotacton thissubstancebecausethefieldsweareusinghavenoeffect
ontheparam etersofsubstanceS1.
Thistypeofcontradictioncanbefoundinmanytaslts.Thereisonetypical
methodthatcouldbeusedtoremovethistypeofcontradiction.lfitisim pos-
40
sibleforfieldF toactdirectlyonsubstanceS17then abypasswayshouldbe
implemented.Let5eld F actonsubstanceSlthroughanothersubstance,Stx
thathascgoodresponsetoJieldR
F

S$* -- -- -- S2

Thereisan action (indirect)andthereisnoaction (direct).

SupposewedecidetouseamagneticGeld.Whatkindofasubstanceshould
S2be?Theanswerisobvious,A ferrom agneticsubstanceshouldbeused.For
instance,ironpowderisagoodsubstaem cebecauseitcouldbemixedeasilywith
substanceSl(soil).Magnetizedparticlesareattractedtoeachothenn estron-
gerthemagneticfield thestrongertheattractivepower.A mixtureofsoilwith
ferromagneticpowderinastrongmagnetic5e1dcouldbeasstrongasgrnnite.
n esamemixtureinaweak magneticfieldcouldbeassoA assand.
Hence,iftheiron powderismixedwith somesubstance,amagneticfield
could easilycontrolthepropertyofthatsubstance- compress stretch bend
relocateandsoon.
ThisisM ethod#11:Add m agnetiepow dertothesubstanceand ap-
ply amagneticfield.
Thiscombinationhasexceptionalpower.Hereareseveralexamples:
0i1tankersoccasionallydum pwaterpollutedwithoilintotheocean.rfhis
isusuallypunishedbyhigh Gnes.'l'heproblem istoprovethattheoi1onthe
oceansurfacebelongstoa particulartanker.Recently avery sm artm ethod
wasofrered.Duringtheloadingprocessasmallamountoffinemagneticpar-
ticles(foreachtankerthoseparticleshavetheirowncharacteristics)wasadded
totheoil.W hen theCoastGuardfinds
anoi1spotontheoceansudace asample
is taken,and the analysisofthem ag-
netic particles willindicate to which
tankeritbelongs.
Anotherexample:Dmingtheprocess
ofmanufacturingparticleboardsitisde-
sirabletohaveelongatedwoodenchipspo-
sitionedalongthelengthoftheboard.erhis
willincreasethe strength oftheboard.
How isthisdone?Itisimpossibletoplace m TCPIS
everychipbyhand..xninventorsuggested
theuseofmagneticpowdenTheparticles
ofthatpowderwillstronglyadheretoev-
ery chip,and am agnetwillarrangethe
41
chipsthewayweneedthem .
Itispossibleto fbrcemagneticpowdertoadheretocottonfiber.Thiswill
simplifytheprocessofspinningthecotton.Latertheparticlescanbewashed
awaywithoutdam agingthequalityofthefabric.
Onemoreexample' .Ifmagneticpadicleswereaddedtothemixturefrom
which wooden match-headsaremade wewillgetmagneticmatchesthatare
easiertopackage.lngeneral.addingmagneticparticlestoanyobjectsimplifies
automationofthepackagingprocess.
Thenextproblem isa veryeasyoneforyouto to'.Strictly speaking,this
problem isnoteasierthantheproblem about'ttestingmachinezy''Butwithnew
knowledge,youshouldbeabletosolvethisproblem withoutanydimculties
Problem 23
Walt,Rabbit,1willgetyou!
Tomakeacartoonmovie,itisnecessarytomakethousandsofdrawings.In
ever.yyardofmovi
efilm thereareabout52 drawings.Inaten minutemovie
therearemorethan15000drawings!Onemovie-studiodecidedtomakeaGcon-
tour'-film.Thisishow itwasdone.Onaflatsurfacetheartistlaysoutapicture
withcoloredstring.Theoperatortakesashottheadistmovesthestring,and
theoperatoragaintakesanothershot andsoon.Itiseasiertomovethestring
thantodraw anew picture.
''
Thatistooslows''saidtheoperator
q'es,youareright.itisslownsaidtheartistmakingthecorrectionstothe
string.GInordertomakearabbitrunacrossthescreen wespendawholework-
ingdayl
A??Jsuddenlvthe/rl&'e??lorappearg
'Yait.itabbit,lwillgetyou.''hesaiddecisively
lVhatdoyouthinktheInveatorofrered?
A Trixxmvirate whichincludesasubstanceaferromagneticpowderanda
magneticfield,iscalledanM -Field.'I'hesame'Triumvirate''couldbebuiltwrith
otherfields.DoyourememberProblem #15aboutthestubbornspring?Prob-
ably,you havealreadytiguredoutthatthespringshouldbeK'hiddennintheice.
Forthatpulw sethe''Triumvirate'shouldbebuiltoutofaThermalfleld(F )
spring(S!).andice(S2).
Tohavedirectcontroloverthespringisnotpracticalinthisparticularprob-
lem.Thebestcontroloverthesplingistouseicetpreferablydry icebecauseit
doesnotproducewaterwhenheated).
In Problem #9 theenlargementofthedropletsof'theliquidsubstance
thereisonlyonesubstancethatisknown- droplets.W ecansayatonce:Te
solvethisproblem weneedonemoresubstanceandafield.Tosim plifythe
taskwecanaddferrom agneticparticlestfltheliquid andcontroltheprocess
ofGadherencemofdropletsbythemagneticM -field.
Itw'illlooklikethis:
 Fv

s,w -- -- - - Sz
Whatifthespecificationsofthe problem d:notallow usto add foreign
substances?
Then wehavea contradiction:Thesecond substanceshouldbe and the
secondsubstance should n0tbe.In this casewe willdividetheflow ofthe
dropletsintotwoparts.Onedropwillbechargedpositive theotherdropwill
benegative.Thecontradictionisremoved.Wehaveonesubstance,with no
additives,and atthesametimewehavetwodifferentsubstances(positive,
S1,andnegative,S2).'rhesystem isconstructedoutoftwosubstancesand a
l'
ield,andtheproblem issolved.Thedropletswithdifferentchargeswillad-
heretoeach other.Itisvez. y easy tocontrolthissystem by increasing and
decreasingtheamountofchargetothedroplets.
Triumvirateswith diflbrentfields(notonlymagnetic)areconditionally
called S-Fields(from theword Rsubstancerand ufieldO).'rhusM-fieldisone
par'toftheS-Fieldfamilyinthesamewaythataright-angletriangleisapart
ofthetrianglefamily.
Itisnota coincidence thatIam comparingtriangleswith S-Fields.The
introductionofS-Fieldsplaysavez'yimportantrolein thetheoryofsolving
inventiveproblems.Itisthesameasthevalueofthetrianglein mathemat-
ics.Thetriangleisaminimalgeom etricfigure.Anycomplexgeometricfigure
couldbebrokendown intosimpletriangles.Ifwelearntosolvesimpleprob-
lemsbyusingS-Fieldswecansolveothermorecomplextechnicalproblems.

. > .,
*
. e'
z ;..
. j #5'
.
. . ;.- ' z
A' . V'
.''
:.
s ,. : zz <t>.
. z7

< zd
. ,.k''

43
Chapter 10
The AlphabetofS-Field Analysis

N.N. h$ .' 52
.
J'
J
S/ -
X .'
a. (.) v : ....w .

'
4.,M
,
''
ms W . .
.

. .
.. ...;. ..? ...
. ..., :...(..A N
..
> - & .. . . >
...ru
Q.v .f & - ==

S-Field form ulascan becompared tochemicalformulas.Forexample

hereistheureaction''thatdescribestheanswertoProblem 22:
F FMo

ss '
yss----sa
Thewavyarrow meanswunsatisfiedaction.''Thedoublearrow means
Khastomakeatransitiontoanothersystem.mThebrokenarrow means
Ghastointroduceanaction.''
TheconstructionandtransformationoftheS-neld isalargepartofthe
TheoryofInventiveProblem Solving,andiscalledus-FieldAnalysisae
Atthistimeitisenough tojustknow afew simplerules:
Rule#1:In ordertosolveaproblem thathasapartialS-n eld,the
S-Field mustbecom pleted.ThisisM ethod #12:S-FieldAnalysis.
Letusnow returntoproblem l9,thegastank ThereisasubstanceSl(an
emptygastank)thatdoesnotknow how tosignalitsown condition.Byusing
thefirstnzlewecouldeasilydraw adiagram ofthesolutiontoourproblem :
44
 sf '
)S$-<---.
>.52
F F

The fields acting on thesubstanceswillbe drawn above the line.The

fieldscreatedbythesubstanceswillbedrawnbelow theline.
Hence,intheS-Fielddiagram thisproblem issolved.What'sleftistodeter-
mineS2andEn eûeldshouldactonthedriverinourproblem.n ismeansthat
itcouldbeelectrom agnetic opticalmechanicalaudioorthermal.'l'heoptical
fieldisnd convenientbecatlseadditionalopticalsignalswi.lldistractthedriver's
attention.Itisevenlessconvenienttousethermalsignals.Whataboutacousti-
ca1(sound)signals?Now weunderstandtheroleofS2.
Thissubstance,whenthetankisempty,shouldinteractwiththetankand
produceanaudiosignal.Theproblem issolved.Lettusdropasimplebuoyinto
thetank.Whenthetankisfullofgas,thebuoyfloaksinusilencelThesidesofthe
buoyshouldhaveasoh,surfacetopreventitfrom makingasoundwhenhitting
thesidesortopofthetank.
Assoonasthetankisalmostempty thebuoywillhitbottmm andproducea
soundthatcanbeheardbythedrivenn isS-bnieldsystem wehavebuiltmaybe
drawnasarhombus:
F,

Sj+ -------> Sa
Fz/

175gAEl8cfn#rf
#l G.
;.
,,,z. V y
Sl S2XPV . .' * o

tkaf
s
'
t
#/ypHuoF
A
45
 ()r.naoreprecisely:
F$

S$*..---...-..-.>.Sa

Fz
ThemechanicalfieldF1:theenergyofshaking,actsonbuoyS2,which in
turninteractswithtankS!.andthankstothat,audiofieldF2isdeveloped.
M anyproblemsseekingasolutionintheareaofmeasurementanddetec-
tioncanbesolvedby addingtosubstanceS1aspecialS-Field<tattachm entl

FtX
s2

F2
/
Thesameway asthechemicalgroup COOH ''attachesMtoradicalR in the
organicacidform ula:

R C
X ou
R canbedifferentbuteveryorganicacid asweknow containsthegroup
COOS.
Rule#2:lf)byspecificationoftheproblem,auurorthlessos-Fieldispresent.
anintroductionofsubstance S3betweenSland S2isnecessary in orderto
improveit.ThisS.9couldbeamodification t)fS1orS2.Itcan beshown like
this:
F
I
1
s, Sa
l
I
sa (*,orSz)
46
 'PheS-Fieldcanbebroken downusingdifferentmethods:
a.ChangeF,S1,orS2;
b.RemoveFlSl,orS2;
c.IntroduceasecondfieldF2.or
substanceS3.
In ordertosolve theproblem itis easierto introduce S!
J.When thisis
prohibitedbytheconditionsofthetask acontradictionarises:Itisnecessary
tointroduceathirdsubstanceS7J,anditisprohibited todoso.Thefollowing
ruleshowsabypasswaytodothat:
The third substance,S3,should be a modification ofan already
known substance,SlorS:.'Phen thecontradictionisremoved.Thereisan
S3.andthereisnoS3.
Letusexplainthisrulewithanexample.
Manyelectricpowerstationsoperateoncoal.'rhecoalisdeliveredbyrail-
road carsandunloadedintolargesilos- reinforcedconcretefunnels.There
isascrew conveyorsimilartothosefoundin ()ld meatgrinders.Theseconvey-
orsarenotusedtochopthecoalbutonlytoconveyittothepipeline.Thenthe
coalmovesdowntheinclinedpipelinebyitselftotheballmill ahugerotat-
I ingcyli
nderwi
thmanyheavysteelballsinside.Theballmillcrushesthecoal
intocrumbsandpowderA faststream ofairtakesthecrushedcoalandbrings
itinto aseparatorwhere thefinepowdergoesintothemain burnersofthe
station andtherestreturnsforanothercycleofcrushing.Thesystem works
wellaslongasdrycoalcomesintothesystem .Often wetcoalcomesintothe
system andtheGagonynbegins.Wetcoalstickstothescrewsoftheconveyori
wallsofthepipe,andneckattheentranceofthemill.Latertheexcesswater
isremoved,butnotbeforethewetcoalhascaused alotoftrouble.
Many inventorsin differentcountrieshavetriedtooutwitthewetcoal.
Theyhavedrieditchangedtheshapeofthepipes,andevenshakenthepipes.
Finecoalisaverydangeroussubstance.Duringexperim ents itcan self-ig-
nite.Firesandexplosionshaveoccurred.
FinallyAznericansinventedanew liningmaterial- upolyfluoroethylener
(Teflon)tocovertheinnerwallsofthepipes.Itwasveryexpensive,butitseemed
thattheproblem wassolved.lloweverkitwassoonlearnedthatreflonweam out
rapidlyundertheseconditions.
ThesentenceNvetcoalstickstothewallsofthepipeninthelanguageofS-
Fieldanalysislookslikethis:è'
TheuselessS-Fieldisgiven- twosubstances(Sl,
S2)andam echanicalseldofadherence.HTeflon (S3)isacom pletelyaliensub-
stemce.The ruleisbroken!Asyou already havesguredout'S3should notbe
m adeoutofTeflon butfrom m odiiied pipemetalormodisedwetcoal.Thewet
coal,S1Fbeingmodified;becomesdr.vcoal.ThismeansthattheroleofS3would
beplayedbydr.vcoal.Evenathinlayerofdrycoalbetweenthewallsofthepipe
and thewetcoalimmediatelyprevent,sadherence.W hen acookispreparing
raw cutletstofry crumbsare spread overthem topreventadherence f.othe
fryingpan.rl''
hecookusestheruleofS-n eld analysiswithoutknowingit.
47
 Klmeofthedriedcoalpowderisdivertedintothescrew conveyor.Thisisthe
simplestchange,buttheproblem issolvedbliiliantly!
Noticethattheproblemsaboutthedroplet-sand thewetcoalhavesom e
sim ilarities;hence.inthefirstproblem wehavetobuildanS-Field,andinthe
secondproblem wehavetodestroytheS-Field.
In both problemsitisrequiredto introduceanew substance,andatthe
sametimeitisimpossible- ordimcult- tointroduceit.n iscontradictîon
couldberemovedbyutilizingtheexistingsubstanceS which,whenmodified,
becomesS. $.
A paradoxicalsituationem erges.Thereisnonew substancefwehaveused
anexistingone),andthereisanew substance(wechangedtheexistingone).
ConventionalthinkingusesasimplelogiclqksHmeansgyes*andi4no''means
uno.ouBlacknis% l ack''anduwhite''isRwhit.e>andsoon.
TheInventiveProblem Solvingtheorydevelopsotherkindsofthinkingbased
ondialecticallogic.W es''andGno'cancoexist::eY'
esennbenoHnndO lackcnn
1:ewhite/'

NONO NONO NONONONONO NONO

NONO NONO NONONONONO NONONONONO
NONO NONO NONO NONO NONO
NONO NONO NONO NONO
NONONONO NONONONONO NONON
NONONON NONONONONO NONONO
NONONO NONO NONONO
NONON NONO NONONO
NONO NONO NONO NONO
NONONONONO NONONONONO NONONONONO
NONONONONO NONONONONO NONO

48
Chapter 11
Try itYourself

Nr z
'
x r..
.' .e*'
-:kj- (

-..w :OY
... ... .
' .
.A'?F
'A 1 M-
N' N. ï
j'
..
cA-
kL
'r'
tw '
J ê ' 'A . -
-
c.
-
7-
.* i
i
l'0Ye ' ''*' 1'' '' V
CAR4Sp# # .-..
, w'
w . ' k =>.z.
a.'--,
--
-'
.- -.'
.xx
2't:7)/ ' x. XA ..-. ' J
- .

Let'srecallsom eofthemethodsthatwehavelearnedsofarinthispart:
(6) Conficting requirementsareseparatedin
timeorspace.
(7) M1specialtennsmustbereplacedwith
simplewords.
(8) Incorporation ofsimilarordiserent
object.sintoonesystem.
(9) Fragmentation/Consolidation.
(10) Dmnmization.
(11) Addmagneticpowdertoasubstanceand
thenapplyamagneticfield.
(12)S-n eldAnalysis.
Now,let'sdosomeexercises.
Hereareseveralproblems.Rememberduringtheprocessofsolvingprob-
lemsyouhavetousethemethodsandrulesthatyouhavelearned.Youmust
dropthehabitoflookingforasolutionblindly,orbyruleofthumb.pickingup
differentvariants,

49
'
Problem 24
+.J
. ,e'
', û.'.
*zN
g In spite ofaIIstorms
. 4 '.
' : .. ..'...
.. (
' - '
;
' ... -W
. '%?
X ',4'' ln the ocean notfar from the
.
):). we.
... /zz7/zstz/' '...n''
/' . ,.<p'
'
tG ..
..t
. ,
,jst- c. T
NS
.-yry .-, ! beach,ahydraulicdredgewaswork-
.*
..h
r
..:.:C' - * ing.ltm adechannelsdeeperforbig-
.i.j# w.,. yw
v,
Z/6
e'j > ''r.
.,A.y .I
'..,
.'. w. .
gerships.Theground lifted from the
.. ,-.. .., .
'w. yvz.'y
rw,;
w. ) .
y . ,.;
.. + . bottom oftheocean wasmixedw ith
>.Y
.Ja
',
.
.1
x .tv, ?
. 4
w' sh .. <.
4 , theoceanwater,andpumpedthrough
a pipelinefive kilometers long.Thislong tailofpipeswasooatingon the
wavesbehindthe dredge.Empty metalbarrel-pontoonswerekeepingthe
pipesafloat.
u'rhereisaweatherforecastabouta severestorm cominginMsaidthe
forem anoftheshift.*Wehavetostopworking disconnectthetailandbring
itintothebay.Afterthestorm wewillbringitbackandconnectit.Wemay
losealldaydoingthis.r
'EW hatcanwedo?''themechanicasked.R1fthestorm breaksthepipeline,
itwillbemuchworse.M
And here/:t'fnventorappeared.
xtsv'
ecanworkinspiteofaIlstorms*hesaid.R'I'hesystem œpipe-pontoonr
shouldbecome....o
W hatkindot-system ishetalkingabout,andhow shoulditwork?
/ ' I
Problem 25
PropellerforCarlson .. P ''' ! '.$
1
Th '
s 'u%.
# tt
cametoatoyfactoryand saidtothe (
e di
rectorof a l
arge to
y store ' 1.
chiefengineersRourcustomersareask-
ing for atoy - a flying dollcalled '
Carlson- butwedonothaveitinour '' '
* e
store.Weseetearsintheeyesofchil- ' ..œ .
. V
dreneveryday.Helpusl''
*;W ehavetwo samplesofa toy called Carlson''answeredthe engineer.
'Xakealook....''
OnedollwasaclosecopyoftheoriginalCarlson butitcouldn'tfly The
otherhadapropellermuchbiggerthantheCarlsondollitselfThisdollcouldn't
stand-up- butitcouldflylikeatoyhelieopter.
dtlt'stoobadlsaidthedirectoneonedolllooksIikeCarlson,butcannottly
Theotherdollcantlybutdoesnotlook likeCarlson - itlookslikeawind-
m ill''
u'rhisisatechnicalcontradictionltheengineersaidspreadinghisarms.
dTomakea smallpropellerisno good- Carlson willnotfly there isnot
enough powerfrom thesm allpropeller.Ifwemakethepropellerbiggerwe
50
willdestroy theappearanceofthedellanditwillnotstandbyitself.Ireally
donotknow whattodo.''
Andhere,ofcourse.theJnt.enlornppeared.
ulaet'sstaat'tfrom thephysicalcontradiction''hesaid.urrhepropshouldbebig
andshouldnotbebig.Everythingisclear.weshouldusethemethod....''
Whatmethodishetnlkingabout,andhow canheuseit?
. ' . . . . .
Problem 26 ' '.''.
Tenthousand * * Ch o ' .
pyramids * '.
0
In a research laboratory o
peopleweretryingtodevelopdia-
mondtoolsforpolishingsurfaces.
Thetoolscam etlutverywellbut
itwas difficultto manufacture
them.Thediamondgrainshada ?
pyramid shape and werevery :'
sm all.Itwasnecessarytoplacethem onthesurfaceofthetoolbyhand with
theirtipsfacing up.
G'l'enthousandpyramidsanda1lbyhandosaidtheagitatedworkers.RW'by
can'tsomeonethinkofsomewaytomechanizethiswork?''
ç$Wehavetried''answeredthesupen-isorofthelab''butnothinggoodhas
emergedl
Andp?erethelilr/crl/t)rcppecred.
Kltisawonderf' ulproblem ''hesaid.qvehavetorecallthemethod....n
W hatmethodmustwerecall?How cantheplacementofthediamondsbe
mechanized?
Problem 27
An alm ostexcellentmachine
Attheindustrialagriculturalshow anengineerwasgivingademonstra-
tionofafruitpackagingconveyor.
Beforethisconveyor,fruitswerepackagedintocartoncontainersbyhand.
Nom itisdoneby machine.Theconveyorplacesthecontaineronthetable.
Thefruitsrolldownthroughatrough.Anelectricmotorvibratesthetablefor
thefruitstobepackedproperly.Thisisanexcellentm achine butithasone
defect.W hen thefruitsfallintothecontainerthey hiteach otherand are
damaged.
uIsitpossibletolowerthetroughalongwhichthefruitslidesdowntothe
containerr askedoneofthevisitors.
GYes thisispossiblel said theengineer.Uheproblem now isthatwhile
you arefillingthecontainerupyouhavetoIiftthetrough.Thismeansthat
we need an automaticsystem to controlit.Themachinewillbecomemore
complicated.Tolowerthecontaineriseven morecomplicated....n
Andslzdde/lfvthelnrcn/orappeared.
'ioneapplehitstheotherone,''hesaid.wThisisatask fortheruleofde-
stroyingtheS-Field.Take....'
And heexplainedhow tofixitsothatnoneofthefruitswillbedamaged
duringthefalleven themostfragileones.
W hatcanyouoffer?
Problem 28
There is no fountain Iikethat
Theauthoritiesofacertain towndecidedtobuildafountain.A competi-
tion wasannounced.TheCom mitteeIooked through thedesignsthatwere
subm ittedbythearchitects.
w'Phereisnothingexciting.AllthishasalreadybeenbuiltMsaid thejury
sadly.*Wewouldliketohaveafbuntainthatwouldbetheonlyoneofitskind
inthewholeworld.''
'tcan you thinkofsom ethingbetter?''askedoneofthemem bersofthe
jury.upeoplehavebeenbuildingfountainsforaIongtime.Theprincipleisthe
same- streamsofwatercrossingeachother.lnoneoftheprojectsan archi-
tectollbredtousealightinsidetheIbuntain.'rhisisnotneweitherlerhereare
fountainswithfire light- evenwithcolorand music.'
Andsuddenly theInventorappeared.
*1am goingtoofrerafountaindesignthatnobodyhasbuiltyet.Itisgoing
tobethemostbeautifulandsurprisingspectaclel'
TrytofigureoutwhattheInventoroffered.Maybeyoucan continuede-
velopinghisideaandcreateanew invention.

.. kf*
.
a(

/
/
.. ( ..&...
$.. A . .... p

52
Part3
The Science of
Inventing
Chapter 12
Cunning and Physics

Bythistime youhavealreadyreadonethirdofthisbook.Let'ssumm arize

everythingyouhavereadsofar:
Longago,inventiveproblemswereworkedout- andevennow inthem a-
jorityofcases- byusingthe'*THa1andErroremethod.Thismethod how-
ever,isoRenineffective.Ittakesalotoftimeeffortandresources.Olteninven-
tionswerecreatedmanyyearslaten
ThescientiEc-technicalrevolutionrequiresacompletelynewmethodforsolv-
ingtechnicalproblem s.Tothisend Then eoryforSolvingInventiveProly-
lem s(1'RIZ)wascreated.ltteachesustosolveproblemswithoutselectingan
*empty''traditionalvariant.Hereisthebasicidea:Theevolutionofatechnical
system,likeanyothersystem issubjecttothegenerallawsofevolution.'I'
he
knowledgeoftheseIawsallowsyoutodevelopthemethodsandtoolsforsolving
inventivetaslts.
Therearethreegroupsofmethedsthatyouhavelearnedsofar:
1.Varioustriclts(i.e..Doitin advanee).
2.The methodsbased on utilizingphysicalefrect,sand phenomena.(i.e.
Changingthestateofphysicalpropertiesofsubstances).
3.Complexmethodsthatincludetricltsandphysics.ti.e.,BuildingnFieldsl.
Very often,duringtheproblem solving process,oneusesatrick fîrst and
thenphysics.Successcom eswith applyingbothmethods.Therefore theappli-
54
cationofphysicsduringtheproblem solvingprocessis0neofthemajorareasin
then eoryoflnventiveness.
Let'sseehow acnmbinationoftricksandphysir.sworks.
Problem 29
Itisgoingtoworkforever!
Inacertainplant.onerobotkept brenkingdown.Itwmsavel'ygoodrobot
but0nesimplepartkeptbreaking.Itwasabentpipethroughwhichcompressed
aircarriedsteelballsathighspeed.'l'heballswouldhittheinnerwallofthepipe
in an area ofthe bend.Every timea ballhitthewall,asmallpiece ofmetal
chipped offtAfteracoupleofworkinghours.thisparticularsectionofthepipe
woreoutcompletelykcreatingaholeinthethick ruggedpipe.
Let'sinstalltwopipeslsaidthesupervisor.t'Whileoneisworlting,wewill
havetimetorepairtheotherone.n
Andsuddenly thelnventorappears
*'Whatgood isittokeep repairingthepipe'?'heexclaimed.uIhaveaver.y
suitableidea.lwillguaranteethatthismachinewillworkforeverle
Ittookonlyfiveminutestoputthisideaintopradice.Whatdidheofrer?
Let'smakeanS-Fieldanalysis.
'IhereisonesubstanceSl(steelballs)thatmechanicallyinteractswith the
othersubstanceS2(pipewalll.Therefore,auseless(evenharmful)S-bnieldex-
ists.Someoneattheplanttried todestroythisS-Fieldby introducingathird
substanceS3- difrerentliningsand layers.n isisthewrong approach.n e
correctwayistouseathirdsubstanceS3toprotectthewallsothatitwillnotbe
destroyedbythesteelballs.n issubsuncecouldl)ethesamesteelballsplaced
alongthecuweoftheinnersideofthepipe.
Inthiscasethewallwouldbeprotectedbyalayerofballs.Flyingballscould
knockoloneortwoballsfrom theprotectivelayeqbuttheywouldbereplaced
immediatelybyotherballsflyingin thepipe.Thisistheessenceofthetrick.
ThisisMethod #13:Self-service.
Now weneedtoknow someofthephysicallawson how touseSelf-ser-
vice.Inordertodevelop theprotectivelayeroftheballs weneed tousea
magnet.W ewillplacethem agneton theoutsideofthebend.Som eofthe
ballsfrom theflow willsticktothewallinsidethepipeassoonastheyreach
themagnetized area.Theprob-
lem issolvedlW eshouldmention
thatpelletblasting guns were x,rand o . o o io o O @
known long beforethis.These steelthalls o ooo o 0Q: wxls2
gunswere used to harden the o Q> oo o o
surfaceofsteelaboutaquarter o o
of a century before Patent s- ballssl oo
#261207onm agneticprotection O
wasissued.Everybodysaw the
55
problem buttheyweretryingtosolveitcontrarytothen eor.ybyusinglinings,
orby makingthatpartofthepipefrom strongerandhardersteel.
Problem 30
Superpreclsion valve
Themanagerofachem icalIaboratory invited an inventorand said:t% e
havetocontrolthegasflow throughthismetalpipethatconnectsthesetwo
containers.Thegasflow iscontrolledbyvalveswithpolishedglassstems.This
typeofvalvecannotguaranteetherequiredaccuracy ofthe gasflow - itis
dimculttoadjustthesizeoftheopeningthroughwhichthegasflows.m
b'Ofcoursecsaidtheinventor.uItislikethevalveonaRussianteasamovar.p
Thechemistbehavedasifhedidnothearanything.u' Wecan,''continuedthe
chemistç'installanlbberhoseand aclip.Buteventhatwillnotgive usthe
requiredaccuracyM
GclipsllaughedtlaeInventor.'rlothespins...r'
Thechemistsuddenly blew up.'iWehavebeenworkinglikethatforhun-
dredsofyears.Trytothinkofthevalveasasimpleuclipnorsamovarvalvebut
withanaccuracythatistentimeshighen''
AndsltdEfc?//vthefllpen/tlrreplied.
*IttakesaIittlebitofcunningplustenthgradephysics.W hatwehavetodo
is....MW hatdidtheInventoroffer?
ForapersonexperiencedinTRIZ thevalveisatypicalS-Fieldsystem .'l'he
bodyof'thevalveisS!,theturningstem isS2,themechanicalfieldisF51.The
Inechanicalfield Fm m ovespartS26hencetheclearancebetweenS1andS2be-
comesbiggerorsm aller.TheS-Fieldalreadyexists butworksunsatisfactorily
ThismeansthatwehavetobuildanotherS-FieldwithadifferentF.W hatkind
ofFieldcouldweuse- electrical,magnetic,electrom agnetic,thermal?
Here iswherethetrick endsand physicsstarts,In the physicstextbook
thereisachapterabouttheexpansionofasubstancewhenheatisapplied.n is
iswhatwearelnokingfor:ChangethesizeofthegapbetweenS!andS2.Thisis
M ethod #14:Heatexpansion.
Letusopenthephysicstextbook.Thisisthedescriptionoftheexperiment:
N'heballthatcouldnotgothrougha coldringcan now gothrough aheated
one..lztndbelow arethedrawingsoftheballandthering.Thisisthemodelfor
ourvalve.
Let'scomparethissolutionwithPatent#179489.A deGcetocontroltherate
ofgasflow com prisingavalvebodyandastpem thatsitstightinsidethebody.ln
ordertocontroltherateofthegasflow withthehighestaccuracythevalvebody
shouldbemadeoutofam aterialwith ahigh coeflicientofexpansion and the
stpem shouldbemadeoutof'materialwitha low coeflicientofexpansion.You
haveprebably alreadyfiguredouthow thatvalveworks.Assoonas heatis
applied thebedyofthevalvewillexpandmorethanthestem,creatingaspace
betweenthebodyandthestem .Themoreheatisappliedthemoreclearanceis
56
created.'l'hesignificance oftheinvention is that instead ofusing many big
moveablepartsacrystalstructureforthevalvecomponentsistused
Bythewaytheexpansionandcontractionofthecrystalgridcouldbedone
n0tonlybyathennalseld.Forinstance.somequartzcrystals- Seignettesalt
andTourm aline- willchangetheircrystaalgridsinan electricalfield.Thisis
from atwelAh gradephysicstextbcok,andiscalled theGlkevez'sePiezoeflbctc
Youhaveprobablyfiguredoutthatthe sam eeFectcouldi)eusedtodevelopa
micro-valve.n ereisonemoresimilarefrect- eM agnetostrictionlA magnetic
5e1dcouldexpandorcontractsomemetalmaterials.Thisisanotheranswerto
theproblem ofthevalve.
Problem 31
Let'sIookintothe future
Ifonewantstogettheresidueoftoothpastefrom analmostemptytube one
canplacethetubeen ahardsurfaceandsqueezeitwith apencil.Thisisthe
sameprincipleasthatusedinaperistalticpump.'l'herollerspresstheflexible
hoseagainstthebodyofthepump,andbymovingtherolleralongthewallthe
liquidorpmsteisforcedtoflow throughthehose.
'Y emanufacturetwentytypesofthispump;saidthechiefengineertohis
assistant.uln thenextmonthwewillbringthreemoretothemarket.Buteven
thoughinprinciplea1lthesepumpsarethesame theydifrerinsizeandapplica-
tion.Isthishow pumpswilllook inthefuturer
uprobablytheywillnotchangelsaidtheassistantf''l'heprincipleisthesame,
isn'titr
Andhere,Inventorsappeared- threeofthem?
'r fcoursenew pumpswillbedeveloped''consrmedtheGrstInventor.
c e peristalticprinciplewould
bepresewed,buttheaction would
betransferredt,othe micro levelD
sai
dthesecond. #0<f O
'A eareofreringtousephysical
efrects,''saidthethird.<Wewillhave
threenew peristalticpum ps.,
TheInventorsstartedtoopen S'
#/V
theirdrawings. R0ll O
W hatisyouropinionabouthow
thesepumpsshouldwork?Whattype e #()pF
ofphysicaleffecg couldbeused?

57
Chapter13
How to Solve Problem s
thatdo notExistYet
+ .
4-
.# ,
I 1 I.
. Ni
. -1
-/
*.
- sg

%-4,
k+ -

Thetransition from the''rough''movementofKmetalparts'tothe fine

movementofmoleculesandatomsisanotherprincipleoftechnicalevolution.
Thereforethemethodforsolving manytasksis Metbod #15:Transition
from m aerostrueturetom icrostructure.
An example ofthismethod isPatent#438327.In thispatentthevibro-
Kryroscope isoscillatedbyoutsidealternatingelectricalfieldsand haselec-
tronsandchargedionsasavibratingmass.
Massiveweightsmountedonrodswastheconventionaldesignofthevibro-
gyroscope.rf'heprincipleoftheinventionisthatm icroparticles(electronsand
ions)areusedinsteadofm assiveweigbts.rrhistypeofgyrorequireslessspace
andworksmuchmoreaccurately.
Inthepreviouschapter,youhavereadaboutthefourperiodsofthedevel-
opmentoftechnicalsystems.You probablyhave asked yourseltluokay,the
systemsgothroughfourperiods butwhatisnext' ?r
Thereare two possibilitiesthatlhavealready talked about. When the
system reachesitsownIimitsitjoinsanothersystem andanew,morecom-
plexsystem em erges.Thusthedevelopmentcontinues.Forexample the
bicyclecombinedwith theinternalcombustion engineandbecameamoton
cycle.Asanew system evolvesthedevelopmentcontinues.
Sometimestheroadtoconsolidationbetween systemsisclosed.ltisnec-
essary. t
oconsolidatesystemsandyetitisimpossibletodoso.Thistypeof
58
contradiction couldberemovedby breakingupthe existing system and
recombining itspartsintoa new system.Restrictionsweremainlyre-
latedtounification withforeignsystems,andwedidnotbreaktheserestric-
tions.
W hatifitisforbiddentoconsolidateortobreakupsystems?Supposethat
wehaveatask.Weneedtoincreasethespringinessofaspiralspringwithout
addinganythingtoitorbrealdngitup.Considerthatthemostappropriate
materialforthespringhasbeenchosen andchangingthatm aterialwillnot
makesense.
Atfirstglance,the situation seemshopeless.Nothing can bechanged.
How dowemakeatransition toanew system?Andyet,thereisasolution!
Thenew system isuhidden'insidetheoldone.Weusually lookatthespring
asapieceof'tironcbutinsideofthatpieceofRiron''arewholeworldsofpan
ticles.Agiganticsystem exists- anddoesnotexistbecausewearenotusing
it!Iwet'smagnetizethe spring in such a way thatovereach lonp a similar
magneticpolewouldbedeveloped.Thesimilarchargeswillrepeleachother
and,therefore compressionofthespringwillrequiremoreenergyTheprob-
1em issolved.Thespring looksasthough nothing haschanged.Wedidnot
addanythingorbreakupanyth ng.
Concluslon:
'Pherearetwo directionsforthedevelopmentofsystemsthatseem to
haveused-up alltheirresourcesofdevelopment.
Thefirstdirectionistheclasolidationoftheexistingsystem withother
systems orthefragmentation o subsystemsandtheirsubsequentrecombi-
nationintoanew system.
Thesecond direction isthetransitionfrom macrostructure(macrolevel)
tomicrostructure(microlevel)wheretheinternalworldofthesystem - pan
ticlesm oleculesandatoms- areinvolved.
Here 1would liketooffery0u an invention:Patent#489662.This isa
deviceforapplyingapolymerpowdenThisdeviceiscomprisedofacompart-
mentandan electrode.Inordertoincreasethequalityoftheapplied layerof
powder,theelectrodehasa microscrew thatallowsthe electrodetotravel.
Originally,theelectrodehad afirm connectiontothecompaz-tlnent.The in-
ventorofferedtomakethiselectrodemoveable.Thisisatransition ofthe
system from the second stageofitsdevelopmenttothe third stage.
You alreadyknow thesetransitions.
Beingfamiliarwiththelawsoftechnicalsystem evolution.wecanpredict
thefuturedevelopment()fthesystem.n ismeansthatthesystem now should
gofrom thethirdstagetothefourth.Itshouldbecomenotjustadjustable
(flexible)butself-adjustable.rl'heelectrodeshouldmovebyitselfrelativeto
thechangesin theenvironment.The nnaltransition ofthe system is
when tbe controlismadeon microlevels.Thismeansthatinstead ofa
screw to adjusttheposition oftherod athermalfield could be used ora
59
piezoeffect,orm agnetostriction.
Rememberthatweareinvestigatinganswerstoproblemsthathavenot
appearedyet!Yearswillpassby,andlifewillrequireincreasedaccuracy in
thisprocess.Onlythen willtheproblem appear- theproblem wehavea1-
readysolved.
W hen themethodoftrialanderrorisused theanswertoaproblem usu-
allyappearsmuchlater.TheTheor.yofInventingchangesthissituation- we
understand thelogicoftechnicalsystemsevolution andcanforeseethearis-
ingofnew problems knowingbeforehandhow theycanbesolved.

60
Chapter14
fdcrow n''Pedorm ance of
the Corona Discharge
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Intextbooksofphysics theeffectsandphenom enondescribedarevenrGneu-

tralcAnymatterwillexpandwhenheatisapplied.That'sit.Whatifthesame
efrectscould bedescribedin an uinventivermanner?Forinstance:The sub-
stancew illexpand w hen heatisapplied;therefore,thisphenom enon
couldbeused in 11caseswhen weneed tocontrolverysmalland pre-
cisem ovements.Ifwerewriteallthetextbooksofphysics wewillgetavery
powerfultoolacatalogofphysicalefrecf.sandphenomenon
Let'stake forinstance thedescriptionofthephenom enon called the?Co-
ronaDischargefdescribed inaneleventhgradephysicstextbook.Onecan ob-
semethedischargeinheterogeneous(nonuniform)electricaltieldsatregular
atmosphericpressure.Thisdischargeemit.salightintheshapeofa Hcrownc
thereforeitwascalledtheGcoronaDischarge.DThedensityofthechargeonthe
surfaceoftheconductorisrelativetoit,scurvature- themorecurvature the
greaterthecharge.Themnximum densityofthechargeisatthesharpedgeof
theconductoqwherethestrongestelectricalEeldisdeveloped.Whenthevolt-
ageofthefieldexceeds3x106V/m thedischargestrikes.Ionization underthis
conditionwillappearduringnormalatmosphericpressure.Thevoltagecharge
weakenswiththeincreaseofdistancefrom theconductzmn erefore theioniza-
tionandemissionoflightislimitedinspace.Wehavet,obevez'ycarefulwiththe
V orona DischargeHbecauseofitshighvoltage.ThetforonaDischarge'could
staztwiththepresenceofthinconductorsorparksprojectingoutside.
61
 Thus,thepresenceoftheGcorona''dependsonthecompositionofthegas
aswellasitspressuresurroundingtheconductor.
ThisisMethod #16:EffectsoftheCorona discharge.
TheCorona dischargewillhelp ustosolveProblem #1aboutthe mea-
surementofgaspressureinsidetheIightbulb.Ifweapplyhighvoltagetothe
spiralelementofthebulb theformationoftheCornnaDischargewilloccur.
ThebrightnessoftheRcrown''willdepend onthepressureofthegasinside
thebulb.
Let'sgobacktothetextbeok.TheCoronaDischargeproducesionizedgas.
Ifparticles()fpowder.dust,orsmalldropletsarepresentinthegas,theions
willRstick''tothem .Therefore theCorona dischargewillchargethosepan
ticlesofsolidandliquidsubstances.Now,itiseasytocontroltheseparticles.
'l'he wcoronaocould be used toclean gasesfrom dust.to disperseparticles
suspendedinagasflow totransportdifferentpowders todeterminethead-
ditivesingases,andsoon.
Producing charged paticlesisthemainucrown performance''oftheCo-
ronaDischarge.Asyoucan see,thesimplestphysicalphenom enon conceals
therichestpotentialforinventiveness.

62
Chapter15
W hatW as the Boss Thinking About?

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Sofarwehavetalkedacutsimplephysicalep' ecksthateveryv y inschool

knows.Howeveqthereisamoreœmplicatedphysics- thephysiœ thatcozege
studentsleanu'rhelmowledgeofthisphysiœ givesaninventormoremwerfultmls.
Thtstime,wew111studyaproblem that> 111- onlytheknowledgeofelemen-
taryphysita IxaterIwillexplainwhatwecanachieveifweusejtustalittlephysics
from college.
Problem 32
Iceon theeledricpowerIines
Itwasalxhautifulview - theelectricwireswerecoveredwithflufrysnow Forthe
electridansthtsteautydtesnotpmvokeexcitement.Whenthesnow melf.sittums
toice.Thelayersoficegrow andthewireswillstretchandbreaktmdertheheavy
weightoftheice.
lnasmallnoe emlu r ele cmwersouonwawore .œ ssouonwa
about100km awayfrom thetown.Itwasanormalprocedureinthewintertimeto
heattheelectdclines.A strongcurrentwasapplied thewireswereheated andthe
icemeltedfrom thelinex Duringtlzattime,allthecktstomersweredisconnected.It
wasaverycoldwinteqandthediredorofthestadonY gantoworryahmttheheavy
icing.Hegaveinstruc6omstoheattheIIG moreoften,which meantthatthectls-
tomexswouldlx,discennectedmoreoften.'l'hefadorieswerestoppedandthehghts
63
inthehouseswereshutofE'l'hecustomerscomplained,andthediredordecidedto
lteatthelineslessoften.'rhewiresstartedtobreak andthetownwaslehwithout
Imwermoreofttm.
usvhatshauldwedor thedirectorwasthinkingtushelookedatthecalendar.
Therearemanymoremontlusofnorthernwinterah ' ead.
'qhtsLsatedmicalcontmdiction.lfweheatthelinesmoreoftenthectxstomem
willtxlmplain.Ifwehcatthem lessfrequentlythedangerofbreakingwilltxcur'lhis
isanightmare.''
zlzlulsttçlzlellll'//lcfnv'etltorapNarvd.
ulx,tusopm thephysicstpextbook fortheeighth gradeMhesaid.M 'ehaveto
finishbuildingtheS-Fielddiagram andthenwewillufsetheefrectofeledromagnetic
indudionc
yVhydidtheinventorremindustolinishbuildingtheS-Field?How doweuse
electromagneticinduction?
'Ihereisaneltac-tricIine4substanceS1#andanelectriccurrent(lleldF87).Iceis
prolzibitedontheline.'lhismeansthatwehaveonlythesulxstanceandthelield.In
ordertohaveanS-Field wehavetobringinthesecondsuixstxmt'eS.Thissecond
substanceundermgularelectriccurrentwillheatitselfandheattheline.W hatisthe
trickhenf'rhew'ireoftheelcu riclineLsmadeofmaterialBeithverylow resistance.
anditdœ snotwannupundertheexistingcurrent.Wiressithahighresistancewill
wannup,butthecu-h-tomer.gwillnotgetelectricityThisisaphysic'' alt'ontmdiction.
'l'lzeresistanceoI'thewireshould bellighanditshouldnotbehigh,'l'heinventor
oFeredtoaddasecondsultance.TheNvireremninqthesame,butevery5vemetel's
afeniteringwilllx!irustalledovertheweire.n isringhasaveryhighelectricresis-
tance.Theelectriccurrentisdevelopedintheringsby electromagneticinduction.
'l'herinj. ,sw'illwannupveryfastandAvillradiateheattothewires.
Thepatentwasissuedonthatprinciplebutthisproblem couldhavebeensolved
byschtmlchildrenwhohavelearnfxlthebasiflsofS-Fieldanalysis.
Itseemsliketheproblem issolved.A gtxxlanswerhaslxaenreached.Howeveq
thefbrfiteringsheattheIineallyearround.Y()ucanimaginehow mur.henergywill
lx!wasted!Eveninthew'intertimeitisnotnecessar.vtowannupallthelines.Only
thoseIxartsosthelinethatareinareaswherethetemm raturesgœ sbelow 321,F
actuallynecxdwarminpAnew taskappeazs:How toturntheringsonwhenthereare
lowtemperaturt!sandttlm them ofrduringhightemw raturw ?
Inordertoworkonthatproblem oneshouldknow thatCerriteringsNvillremain
fem lmagneticonlyuptoacertaintemm raturelevelcalledthecuriepoint.Different
ferm magnetiematerialshavediflbrentCuriex ints.ltispossibletomakeaferm-
Inagneticmaterialsvith aCuriefxlintofalxlut326.E Thismeansthatthoserings
wouldturnononlywhenthetemmraturedn1;ksbelow 32)E andtttrnofrwhenthe
temlxiratureisalxwe323E
Appearanceanddisappearanceofthemagneticcharacteristicsdtuingthetran-
sitionthnmghtheCuriemintscouldtx,usedtosolvemanyotherinventivepmb-
lems.Rememlv thisveryinterwstingphysicalphenomenon.
'rhisisMethod#17:Curiem intofferromagneticmateriala
Chapter16
The Im m ense Science ofPhysics

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AnryGrijoh,apatientinamentalhospital,wmsinaninventivemaxi.Hewas
tryingtoinventsolidwaterthatwouldnotmeltattemm raturesG low 201 C.Tl1is
iswhathapmned:
Intheimaginazystozy'''l'heImsanembyRltshwriterstephenvainfel,Grijohgot
somewhitegranulatedpowderUnderhighheatthemwderbecomesclearwater
Thestorywaspubltshedin 1964.In 1967,threeyeam lateqsolidwaterwas
invented.Thiswaterœrxsistedof9093waterand 10* silidcadd.'l'hesolidwater
lookedlikewhitemwder
Theque-stionmayarise:W hydoweneedsolidwater?
IxttusseewhatAndriGri
johwotzldssay:
G yinvention allowstustobuildfactoriesin areasthatareriehin naturalre-
x- wbut- rlwa%rlfe ywairldehveM lkv ertnnkqtomorrowwater
willlx dehveredinpaperbao.m latwinhapmntotrade?Nlldndsofmetal,glass
andcemmiccontainersusedtotrwusmrtliquidwoulddisapwarcompletelyLiquid
willtxlsoldinmwderfonn.
N'herearethotusancks- terusoftholxsancks- ofwaysoftusingdrywatenInour
everydaylifeitwouldbringahlutat-hnicalrw olution.'rolzsewaterinliquidform
wouldIxcomeasridiculotzsastzsingchipyedwotxiasasottrceoflight.n
Scientistsaretryingtodevelopasolidwaterthatwillonlycontaintwo-three
percentsilicicacid.Thereisnothingmentionedaboutthisin physicsboollsas
yet.Physic-sisdevelopingvez.yfastanda1lthetimenew efrectsandphenomena
65
arebeingdiscovered.Youcanimaginehow importantitisforinventozstoknow
aboutthelatestdevelopments.
Hereisatypicalstory:W hileonegroupofscientistswastryingtodevelop
solidwaterianothergroupofscientistswasworkingtomakewatermoreliquid.
ln1948,theEnglishscientistB.Thomasdiscoveredaverysurprisingphysical
effect.'l''hefrictionofwaterinsidepipescouldbereducedbyusingminuteamounts
(1/100percent)ofsomepolymers.Frictionusuallyoccursbecauseoftheturbu-
lencedevelopedinthefastflowkLongmoleculesofImlyznel-sin thewaterposi-
tionthemselvesalongtheflow reducethevortices and makethewatermore
slippery
'rheresultoftheThomasdiscoverywaspublished and soon manyinven-
tionsappeared.thatusedthisefrect.TheThomaseffecthelpedtoincreasethe
speedofships,t. olowertheenergyconsumptionduringtransportationofdiffer-
entliquidsthroughpipesandt. oincreasethedistanceofwatershootingfrom a
firehosenozzle.ltecentlyinventorsfrom Moscow Univemityo/eredtoaddpoly-
merstotheiceinskatingarenas.'Phanltstothisinvention thehighpressure
undertheskateblademeltstheicem orereadily.n epolymeraddedtothe
waterreducesthefrictionofskating.
Wecan giveyoumanysimilarexam ples.'rheinventorneedst. o know the
immensescienceofphysics- thousandsandthousandsofeffects.Youcan say
thattherearenophysicistswhoknow al1theaspecf-sofphysics.ltisnotneces-
sala fortheinventorstoknow physicsbetterthanthephysicistsdo.f rheanswer
liesinmakingareferencebook thatwillincludephysicalefrectsandphenom-
enafortheinventor'sapplication.Itwouldbesimilartotheucorona'effect.but
thedescriptionshouldbem orecompleteandaccurate.'l'hevezyfil-stsuchrefer-
encebookwaspublished inthebeginningof1970.Inthesebooltsthephysical
eflbct.
swerestatedin thelightofinventiveuse.Itseemsthatanotherreference
book should becompiled with differentcombinationsofphysicalefl- ecf's.n is
hasnotyetbeendone probably,becausethenumberofcombinationsishuge.
n isisMethod #18:Combination ofvariousefeets.
Forexample,let'stakethreedifrerentphysicalelects.
Thefil'stefectisthelightpolarization phenomenon.ltisknown thatif
lightpmqsesthroughsomespecialsubstances itwillbepolarized.n eoscilla-
tionswouldbeonlyinoneplane- forexam ple,intheverticalone.
n esecondeffectistheefrectofspecialcrystalswhichchangetheangleof
incidenceaspolarizedlightpassesthroughthecrystal.
n e'l'hird e/ectistheexpansionofobjectswhenheatisapplied.
Iryoucombine thesethreephenomena you willgetathermometer.The
higherthetem perature,thethickertheplate,andthereforepolarizedlightwill
passthroughtheplat,eatabiggerangle.
Thelaws()fcom binationoftheseefrectsarenotknownasyet.Butthisisa
frontierofinventivesciencethatwillleadtonew solutionsf0rmanyinventive
problems.

66
Chapter17
The Ribbon Invented by M oebius

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In thestorywrittenbythesciencefictionauthorArthurC.Clarke u'I'he
W allofDarkness>thesageGreilsaid tohiscompanionBraildon,ttl-lereisa
flatsheet.Ithas ofcourse,twnsides.Canyouimaginethissheetwith only
onesider
Braildon looked athim insurprise.Gltisimpossibley''hesaid.
u'
Yes,atfirstglance,itisimpossiblecGreilsaid.d'Takeastripofpaper,it
hastw0sides.Itispossibletogluetheendsofthestrip tomakearing.The
twosideswillremain anoutsideand aninside.W hatwillhappenifwetwist
oneendofthestrip 1800 andafterthatwegluetheendsr
Greilconnected bothendsofthetwistedstrip.GNow slideyourfingerover
onesidel quietlysaid Greil.Breildondecided nottodothat.Heunderstood
whattheeldwisem an hadinm ind.
*1understandl'hesaid.sTherearenolongertwoseparateplanes.Now we
haveonlyonecontinuousplane aone-sidedplanec
TM stwistedribbonreceivedthenameM oebiusribbon,afterthename
oftheGerm an mathematicianwhofirstdescribeditswonderfulproperties.
ThisisM ethod #19:Geom etricaleffectoftheM oebiusribbon.
TrytoimagineanantthatistravelingontheoutsidesurfaceoftheMeebius
ring.Ifthe antdoes notcrossthe edgeofthe ribbon buttravelsalong its
surface,itwillcomeback to thestarting point.0nthe Moebiusribbon the
travelingtimeoftheantwillbetwiceaslongthen ifittraveled overanordi-
67
naryribbonring.Theantwillwalkoverbothsidesofthering- outsideand
inside.Thistypeoftrip- onanunknownplanet- wasmadebyoneofthe
heroesofthestoryGTheW allofDarkness.''Youmaysaythatthiswasafan-
tasy,buttodaythiswonderfulcharacteristicoftheMoebiusribbonisusedby
peopletosolvemanydifferentinventiveproblems.
Tz'ytoimagineaconventionalbeltformedintoaring.Theoutsidesurface
ofitiscoveredwithan abrasivematerial.Thebeltisinstalledin amachine.
Whenoneneedstopolishanobject.onepressestheobjectagainstthemoving
belt.Aftera whiletheabrasivesurfacewearsout,and thebeltmustbere-
placed.Thiswillcreatea lotoflostproduction time.NVhatcould wedoto
doubletheworkingtimeofthebeltwithoutincreasingitslength?
Severalyearsagoa Russian inventon A.Gubaidulin gotapatentfora
sandîngmachinewith abeltintheshapeoftheM oebiusribbon.Thesizeof
thebeltwasthesame,buttheworkingsurfacewasdoubledandsowasthe
lifeofthebelt.A ver,ysmartsolution wasn'tit?
TherearebeltIilterstocleanliquids.Afterawhilethesefiltersgetclogged
withsedimentandshouldbereplaced.Probablyyouhavealreadyfiguredout
whatshouldbedone.Yes,aGlterwithaMoebiusribbonispatented.Thereis
a patenton a taperecorderusinga Moebiusribbon.In differentcountries
about100patentshavebeenissuedondevicesandmachinesthatutilizethe
principleofthe Moebiusribbon.Thismeansthatinventionsaremade not
onlywhen oneappliestheform ula ç'tricksplusphysics''butalso''tricks
plusgeom etorc
Thereare twodiskscutoutofcardboard.Placeonediskon atableand
holdtheotheroneoverthefirstone.Connecttheedgest)fthesediskswith
woodendowels.Youwillgetameshedcylindecsimilartothewheelinasquir-
relcage.Now turntheupperdiskclockwiseandtheotherdiskcounterclock-
wise.A curvilinearshapeofthefigurewillappear,with athinuwaist.''that
lookslikean hourglass.Thegreatertherelativeturning angle thethinner
thewaist.Thisshapeiscalled arotatinghyperboloid,andithasmany chan
acteristicsthatattracta 1otofinventors'imaginations.The surfaceoftbe
hyperboloidiscunrilineaqalthoughitwasm adeofstraightlinearparts.There-
foreitiseasytomake.
TheShookhoveroweroftheMoscowTelecenterisahyperboloid.'l'hetower
ismadeoflinearmetalmembers.Thetwisted shapebringsgreatstability
andstrength.Tobuildthiskindoftowerwithothercurvilinearformswould
beverydim cult.Itwouldrequirecuzwilinearmetalparts.
Oneofthemostimportantcharacteristicsofthehyperboloidisthatitcan
changeitsshape very easily.Justturn (me sideortheotherside,andthe
curvature ischanged.Thischaracteristicwasusedin many inventions.In
Japan,forinstance hyperboloidrollsforaconveyorbelthavebeen patented.
Thecurvatureofthehyperboloid rollscould bechanged and therefnre the
curvature oftheconveyorbeltaswell.This isvery important.During the
transportoffreeflowingmaterial,acurvedbeltisneeded andforthetrans-
68
portofboxes aflatbeltisneeded.
ThisisMethod #20:Geometricale/ectofthe Rotating Hyperbo-
loid.
ThefollowinggformulabforaninventionwaspublishedinPatent#426618:
uAwheelforapotato-harvestingmachineiscomprisedoftwedisksconnected
with a numberofthin rods.Theserodshaveaflexibleconnection with the
disks,andthedisksarepositionedon a shaftin such awaythatonecould
turnovertheotherone.n
ThewordddHyperboloidowasnotmentioned,althoughthecharacteristicof
thehyperboloidwasusedtochangethecurvature.
n erearem any lgeometricalinventionsmbased on theusageofparabo-
loids spirals etc.Thismeansthatinventorsshouldknow notonly physics
butmathematicsaswell.Howeverinventorsshouldnotstopatmathematics.
Ifweaddtheknowledgeofchemistry,onthehighschoollevel,toourtheoryof
problem solving,theinventor'sarsenalwouldbemuchbiggerandrichen

.. <D
A!t

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69
Chapter18
A im forthe IdealFinalResult

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Hecentlythefollowingeventhapm ned.Anengineerwasworldngonaprx'ess
forametal-platinglubricant.'f'hisisaconventionallubricantwithanadditiveoftwo
mrcentfmemetallicpowder.When amachineisworking thepartidesofmetal
settleontherubbingsurfacesandreducewearing.Thelessclearancebetweenthe
surfaces,thesmallertheparticlesofm wdershouldixlinthelubzicant.Herethe
tCCIM'dC.::Icontradidionapm azsl'rhesmallertheparticlestheM tterthelubricant-
andtheharderitLstomakethelubricant.
TofollowthetheoryforsolvingateCIU'ZiCAIproblem weshouldimaginetheldeal
n nnlResult(IFR).Thksmeansthatwelmvetoanswerthefollowingquestion:
Whatwouldwewantin anidealsolution?IFR Lqafantasy adremn.Itrnnnotixl
reached butitw411allow tustzlbuildapathtothesolution.Doyourememberwhen
wecomparedthetheoryofsolvingteclmicalpmblernswithabzidge?'l'he10 isone
ofthesupmrtsofthatbridge.
W hatisthe11*11inthelubricantproblem ?Itisnotdimcazlttoanswer.Ideallythe
particlesofmetalshouldlx!reducedtotheirminimallimit- individualatoms.As
yousiv thetheoryprovokesaparadoxicalintimation:?Isitdifliculttogetverysmall
particlesofmetaal?rrhenitwillbemucheasiertogetsuper-smallparticleslH
Atthispointtheoryenck 'lbtakethenextsteprequiresknowledgeofchernistzy
011withsuspendedparticlesisamechanicalmixture.Ifwefurtherbreak up
particleswewillgetacolloidalsolution.Finallyifwecentinuetobreak upthe
particlestothesizeofatomswewillgetarealsolution.
70
 Now wecan definelFR moreaccurately Theidealfinalresultistohavea
solutionofmetalinoi1- ormorepreciselyoilandwithatomsofmetalinit.
Unfortunately thisIFR cannotbereached.Evenalchemistsknow thatonly
onesubstancecanbe dissolved in asimilarsubstance.0i1isan organicsub-
stance,andonlyanotherorganicsubstancecanbedissolvedinit.Metalisnotan
organicsubsonce.Ontheroadt,otheldealSolution liesthefollowingphysical
contradiction:Theatomsofmetalshouldbedissolvedintheoil(thisisourgoal),
butthey cannotbedissolved(thelawsofchemistrycannotbebrnken).Letus
takeonestepbackfrom IFR.Letusdissolvenotatomsofmetalbutmolecules
thatincludeametaal.Wewilluseamethod alreadyknowntoyou:Do alittle
Iessthan isrequired byIFR.Ifitisimpossibletomakeparticlesassmallas
atoms,thenwewillm akethem alittlebigger.Wewillmakethem molecules.n e
contradiction immediately disappears.Thereareno atomsofmetalintheoi1
(therearemolecules),andthereareatomsofthemetalintheoil(theyarehid-
deninthemolecules).
Oneproblem isleû;to besolved:Whatkind ofmoleculesshouldbeused?
n ereisonlyonenecessau characteristic.Themeleculesshouldhaveametal
andshouldbeorganic.Thismeansthatitshouldbeam etal-organiccompound.
Itwilldissolveinoileasilyandwillhaveametalatom.
Inordertosolvethisproblem wehadtouseseveraldiflbrentconcepts:IFR
PhysicalContradiction,theMethoduDoaLittle Lesslandasimplerulefrom
chemistry- a substancecan bedissolved onlyinsimilarsubstances.Evenin
thissituationtheproblem wasnotyetsolved.n emoleculesofametal-organic
substancehaveatomsofmetalalthoughweneedtheatomsofmetaltobesepa-
rate.WehavetorecalltheLawsofChemistryagain.In ordertoseparatethe
atomsofmet-alfrom themoleculesthemoleculesneedtobebrokenup.How can
wedothat?Itisverysimple:Wchavetoheatthesubstancetoacertaintempera-
flzre.'l'heoilwillheatupwhenthemachineisworking.Ifwetakeametalloorganic
substancethatbreaksupatthattemperature thetask issolved.
ThisisMethod *21:IdealFinalResult(IFR).
Letusnow seehow thisproblem wassolvedinreallife:
Anengineerwaslookingforasolutionusingtrialanderror.Hetriedvarious
methodsofbrenkingup metalmademanyexperiments,andlookedthrough
the liberaturefora solution.Yearspassed.Clnce 1levzasin a book store and
heardsomebodyasldngforahandbookonmetalloarganiccompounds.
'l'heengineerthoughtuinirst metalloorganicsubstancesincludemetaland
second theyareorganicsubstancex 'l'htsmennqthatsuchcompoundscan lx!(11.
solvedinoil.'l'hisLswhatwearelœkingforr
TheengineerlxughttheIXX)II,foundthepromrinformation,andpickedupthe
pmpersulxstanœ - cadmium saltofaceticacid.
Instoriesaboutinventiorusveryoftensimilarincidentsarede-scribed.Theyare
typicalmethe of' D ialandErnm Themlw)nloole forasolutionatrandom,and
dœsnotrealiz.ethatthetaskcouldhavebeensolvedbyttsingasdentiscmethv :
FormulatetheIFR anddeterminethephysicalcontradiction.
71
 Thetaskinthelxginningseemskugh,andthepersontrieseverythingtheysee
orhear:Ithappenedthatsomebodycameintothehmkstoreandaskedfora% kon
metalloorganicsubstances.Ifthathadnothappened,nobodyknowshow Iongtlés
problem wouldhaveremaintxdtmsolvedandforhowmanyyeazstheengineerwould
havelookedforthesolution.
Inoneofthepreviouschaptels,weformulatedthefollowingmethod:
Y itisn tointroduceanothersubstanceintoane ' ' one.
and forsomereasonitisprohibited,thenaslightlychangede ' ' sub.
exncecould beusedasanagent''
W hatdcesthatmean- uslightlychangedD- inourproblem?
n echange.smightbepbysical- heatitup.(. 1itdown,1. 1-% thesamesub.
stanceindiflbrentphysicalstatesandsoon.r
f'
hechangesmightl:echem ical:usea
substzmcenotin itspureconditionbutinacompmndform outorwhichtheagent
canbeextm cted.Ortakeasimplesubstqnt'eandtransferitintoachemicalcom-
potmdafterithasdoneit.swork.
ThksksM ethodfP22:Introductionofasecondsubsênnce.
Iwillgiveyouonemoreexampleofhow tousethismethod.
Crystalsofaltuninum oxidegrmvonlyfrom averypuremelt.ltisforbiddento
m w aluminum oxideclystalseven in aplatintuncnzciblebecausetheatomsof
platinum couldgetintothemelt.Inrealitythisisaninventiveproblem kvithapurely
physicalcontradiction.Wemttsthaveacrucibletomakeameltandwecannothave
acruciblein ordertohaveaptuvmelt.Thismeanswemtzstmeltthealuminum
oxidein...aluminum oxide.Wewilltakeanycontainer.fillitupwith aluminttm
oxideandheatitinsuchawaythatonlythecentmlpartwi11melt.Nowwehavea
meltoraluminum oxideinacrucibleofsolidaluminum oxide.Toachievethatwewill
useeledromagneticinduction.n esourceofenergyinourcasewillnothaveany
txmtat'twiththeheatedsubstancc.
Everythingisfineatthismomentexceptthataluminum oxideisadielectric,
anddoesnotcondud electriccurrent.rrhismeansthatthereisnoelectmmagnetic
indudion.Althoughthemeltedaluminum oxidecanconductcurrentinordertoget
ameltthealuminum oxidehmstobeheated.Butwecannotheatthealuminum
oxidelu atzseitisadielectric.
Thishapm nsvea oe n- xlveonexntm diY on anotherwillappear,andthen
athird.lt'sIikeanobstaclerace- onebanierafteranothen
Hereisthephysicaaleontradiction:Piecesofmet,almustbeaddedintothealumi-
num oxideinordertocreateeledromagneticindudion anditisforbiddentoaddit
intothealuminum oxideinordertokeepthissubstancepure.Theinventionthat
helpedovercomethiscxmtradietionwmssurprisinglysimple.Piecesofaluminum
wereaddedtothealumintunoxideleforetheftzsion.Alum inum isaverygcodcon-
ductorofelectricityDuringtheelectmmagneticindudion itwillgeneMteheatand
Avillmelttogetherwiththealuminum oxide.Afterawhileatahightemperature,the
aluminum willbeburned.turningintoaluminum oxide,andwillnotpollutethe
oxide.
 Trynow tosolveasimpleproblem.lnordertogettheansweryouhavetofollow
onlyhvosteps.
Stepone: ImaginetheIdealFlnalResult.Ad asifyouareamagicianand
objecksoYyyourcornmantls.
steptwo: Thinkofhow togettheIdealResultwithoutrecorustruction and
with theleastchanges.
Problem 33
The tank repoded politely
Today manypeopleusepropanegasfortheirhouseholdneeds.Thegasis
usuallystoredin metaltanks.W hen alittlefuelisleR in thetank theowner
shouldthinkaboutresllingit.'rhequestionis:How todeterminetheamountof
gmsleftinthef-qnk?
Engineersfrom alargegascompanyhavebeen tryingtosolvethiskindof
problem.Themethod should be simple.easy to use,and allow todetermine
whenthelastten percentofthepropanegmqisinthetank.
RM easurethepressureofthepropaner m nderedoneoftheengineers.uNo
thatisnogood.AslongmsonedropofpropaneisleA inthetank thepressure
willbethesame becausetheused-upgaswillbereplenishedfrom theliquid
propanebymeansofevaporationl
G'Whatifweweigh it'rmskedanotherengineen?No thisisnogoodeitherlt
isverydiëculttodisconnectandreconned thef..a11.1tforthatpulw seeverytime
youwanttoknow theamountthatisleAc
Andsuddenly theinventorappeared.
*'Ilmow theidealsolutionchesaid.'q'het-
qnkshouldreportaboutthebal-
ancebyitselfvenrpolitelymM dheexplainedhow toreachthatidealsolution.
W hatcanyouolrer?Keepinmindthattheuseofglasstubingisprohibited,
becauseitisdangerous.

R'n =
m-1.
T

73
Chapter 19
O rderin the ''Brain's Attic''
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NowLsthetimeforthereaderu beresentful.'f'histxx)kstartedwithacriticksm
ofthe% alandEnx)romethcdwhere,inordertosolveacomplicatedproblem,one
hastorandomlypickoutmanyvariants.Ittake.syears,andthereLsnoguarantee
thatonewillsndtherightsolution.
A theorywmsdeveloped:Laws,RulesFonnula.'lhketheformula andwithout
toomuchesbrtsolvetheproblem.vezyge !Suddenlyitwmsfoundthatwehaveto
know thelxaw of'lbchnicalEvolution,manymethtxtsandtrickslike*thesubstanœ
existsanditdœtsr1:2existn'theLawsofS-Fieldanalysis,etc.
Furtheqwehavetoknow physics.theinventivecharacterksticsofphysicalef-
fects,andotherphenomena.Wealsoluavetoknow mathematicsandchemistryW e
aresuretlmtwewillhaveto1e.,= biologylaterIn naturetllereareaIotofhidden
patentz.
M aybeitLseasiertocontinueinventingmqwedid5000yearsago?Yes,itis
simpler&)inventintheoldways.Itisemsiertodigapitwithashovel,thantorunan
excavatzmWalkingLsmucheasierthandrivingacarForsreed,Ixlweqandeiredive-
nerxsofanyadiononeshouldpaythepricebytzsingknawledge.Inventiveneasisno
longeran exception.Ifyouwanttosolveacomplicatedpmblem learnthetheory
œnquersnventivephysiœ'andthewholeofscience.
Bytheway,weareataveryinterestingpointhere.Tosolvean inventive
problem itisnotasimportanttohavesomuchknowledgeasitistoorganize
theknowledgethatonealreadyhas.
74
 Todaya studentin schoolknowsalot butthatinformationisnotorga-
nized.Theeffectivenesswithwhich hecanusethisknowledgeisverylow -
aslow asoneortwopercent.Iam talkingaboutschoolbecausethatiswhen
welearnalotandremembera lot butwedonotlearn touseitinpractice.
Ourknowledgeisorganizedlikeabadwarehouse- inbulkwithoutsorting.
Doyou remembertheproblem abouttheweevils?Afterthisproblem was
publishedinthePioneer'sTrl///lmagazinethereweremanylettersandmore
thanhalfhadthefollowinganswer:'trrakeacup,place200weevilsinit mea-
surethetem peraturew'itharegularthermometerandthendividetheresult
bythenumberofweevils.''
Thiswaswrittenbystudentsfrom thefifthandeighthgradeslIfonewould
askthem :
uW hatisthetem peratureofyourlistifthetemperatureofeachfingeris
36SC?Nobodywillsay180',Life'sexperiencecontradictsthis.Intheprocess
ofsolvinga problem similartothatofthe weevils thistypeofmistakeis
m adefrequently.Knowledgeaboutheatenergyandtemperatureisnotsuffi-
ciently understood and itlies
Iikeadead weightin theware- o .36o o I
houseofourmemory. 36 .%'
H ow can we revive this ----
t#6*1 -
knowledge?
C Ifwecan trustSir Arthur -
. jJ;.
) --'>.
stonanlDo
umb yle
eover,
tone
hato
pf
rt
oh
be
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mi
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tto
s 36o .
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t
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Hh
ole
mr
i
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sc
,ck Hno
rimi 1mpre
al s.lems
ob Bewe
fbr
re
e yt26c
'
solved by themethod of'drrrial -''*
and ErronoHolmesdeveloped a
system,and ot-course found it
necessarytohaveabigreserve
ofactiveknowledge.Thefollow-
ingwassaidbyHolmes!
Rlconsiderthataman'sbrain originallyislikea littleemptyattic.and
youhavetostock itwith such furnitureasyouchoose.A fooltakesin allthe
lumberofeverysortthathecomesacross sothattheknowledgewhichmight
beusefultohim getscrowdedoutoratbestisjulnbledupwithalotofother
things,sothathehasadim cultyinlayinghishandsuponit.Now,theskiliful
workman isverycarefulindeedastowhathe takesintohisbrain-attic.He
willhavenothingbutthetoolswhichmayhelphim indoinghiswork.butof
thesehehasalargeassortment.andallinthemostperfectorden''
Theselectionofknowledgemadebyaschoolprogram isdonewellintheory.
Eachpageofatextbookonphysicschem istry,mathematicsandbiologym ight
bethestrongesttoolintheproblem solvingprocess.Theideaistobringlife
intoknowledge,understanditandtogetasenseofitscreativepower.W hen
yousolvea technicalproblem with theuseofphysicalphenomena.itisas
thoughyouarelearningaboutitforthesrsttimeanddiscoveringsomething
new andinteresting.
Thiscouldberelatedeventoknowledgebeyondtheboundariesofaschool
program.rrhesefactscouldalsobeusedastoolsforcreativity- yetthisknowl-
edgeisdumpedintothebrain'satticabsolutelywithoutanyorder.
Letusnow lookintoas'evyinterestingtask.Kindergarten knowledgeis
enoughtosolvethisproblem ,ifthisknowledgeisstoredinanorderlyfashion.
Problem 34
W herethe wlnd blows from
Ononeofthefannsnew cowbarnswerebuilt.'l'heairinthebarnshadtobe
clean,andtheownerorthefarm invited som escientiststodetennineifthe
ventilationwassufficient.
RWehavetostudytheairmovementinthebarnsMsaid oneofthescien-
tists,tfW ewillmeasurethevelocityoftheairstreams.Thebarnsarebig,and
theceilingsarehigh.Theairvelocitydependsonthetem peratureofthewalls
and theroofItwilltakea lotofmeasurements anda coupleofmonthsof
work.'
Andsuddenly l/lcinventorappeared.
G'Whileyouwerehavingameeting,1gotthemeasurem entsfrom thetirst
barnphesaid i'Measurementsweremadefrom everypointevenunderthe
roofThisissosimple....''
How didtheinventorgethisresult?Letustr.ynottoguess.
W estartfrom theIFR.TheIdealSolutionis:itlnanyplaceinthebarn,by
ourwish arrowsappear,showingthe direction and velocity oftheain'How
doweachievethis?Supposewetakealightedcandle,andwatchtheposition
oftheflame.Itisokayifwehavetomakemeasurementsinten- orevena
hundred - places.The1FR said:4tlnanyplacel'Thereforethecandleisnot
efrectiveenough.TheflameisGtied''tothecandle.Itisimpossibletofillthe
barn with flames.M aybewecan 5llthe barn with smoke?Thisisnogood
either.Thesmokewouldbeeverywhere butsm okeisnottransparent.andwe
willnotbeabletoseeandtomeasureanything.' lbachieveIFR ittakessome-
thingthathascontradictorycharacteristics:Itshould beevezywhere inev-
er'yplace,and itshouldnotbeeverywherein ordertokeep theairclear so
thatwecanseethroughit.
Itisaver.yfam iliarsituation.ltrequiresustoaddsomethingtotheair
anditprohibitsusfrom addingsomethingtotheair.Theflameandthesmoke
arenogood,becausetheymeetonlythefirsthalfoftherequirement.W eare
goingtodoexactlyaswedidintheprevioustasks,Wewilladdbitsofother
airtothebarnairwithonlyaslnallchangetomakeitvisible.
How tocolorabitofair?rrhereareonlytw'omethodsofaddingcolortoair.
Wecan colorthewholepieceoritssurface- airsurroundedbyathin film .
76
Probably you have already found the solution.Weare talking aboutsoap
bubbles.Many soapbubbleswillmaketheairvisiblein thebarn.In places
with ahighervelocityofairthephotowillshow longIinesofbubbles.
Iam surethattheknowledgeaboutsoapbubblesandtheirprnpertieswas
in ourbrain'satticforalongtim e butitwaslyingtherelikeaudead'weight.
Now youknow thatsoapbubblesandsuds(asystem thatismadeoutofmany
bubbles)satisfy vel'ywellthecontradictorycharacteristic:There isa sub-
stanee andthereisno substance.
ThisieMethod #231Utilization ofsoap bubblesand fonm.
Thismeansthattheuseofsoapbubblesin difrerentproblem s asasolu-
tion,isaverystrongmethod.'l'hepreviousproblem allowsustogetthefeel-
ingoftheOeautyoofthatmethod.
Wehavedustedofrournew toolandplaced itwith othersin theproper
order.
Chapter20
Being an Inventoris a Profession of
the Future
f/ : :oo or.
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Theprofessionofulnventor''doesnotexistatthistime.An engineerper-
forminghisdutyincidentallycouldinvent.Ybucanargue:*WhataboutEdison?
Hereceived morethan athousand patentsloEdison wasworkingon hisin-
ventionsmainlybyusingthemethod ofTrialand Error.Todevelop anew
battery hedid 50000+experiments.Thisisnotpossibleforoneperson,and
Edisonwasnotworkingalone.Therewereaboutathousandpeopleworking
forhim inthelaboratory.Hislaborator.ycanbeconsideredanInventiveFirm.
Itwasexactlythat- afirm notjustoneperson.
W esayM orsewastheinventorofthetelegraph.Popovwastheinventorof
theradio.Fultonwasthe inventorofthesteamboat.Notoneofthem wasa
professionalinventonTheyworkedononeorseveralinventiveproblemsand
thentheyweretoobusytointroducetheproducttothemarket.JamesWatt
wasa professionalmechanic.He invented the steam engine patented his
invention solved acoupleofotherproblems andtotheendofhislifewasa
professionalbusinessmanwhothoughtaboutgettingprofitsoutofhisinven-
tions.
Theinventorwhowastryingtolivebysolvinginventiveproblemsusually
diedinpmrertyThisisnotasurprise.ThemethodofTrialand Errorwillnot
guaranteethatthetaskwillbesolvedinashorttime.Thepainterknowsthe
timeheneedstofinishhispainting.Thewriterknowshow manyyearshe
needstowriteanovel.TheinventorwhousesthemethodofTrialandError
78
cannotsay how soonhewillsolve aproblem .Maybethesolutionwillcome
todayormaybealifetimewillnotbeenough.
Canyouimagineaninventivedepartmentwithprofessionalswhoaresolv-
ingdxerentinventiveproblemsbytheUHaIand EZ-I'OF method?Peopleare
sittingandthinking randomlypickinguponevariantafteranothen
?Myfriend''theHeadofthedepartmentwouldsayWouhavebeenthinking
fortenyears,butwithnoresult.''
$%ltisaverydimcultproblemctheinventorwouldsayçslhavelookedthrough
sixthousandpossiblesolutionsl
*'IsuggestyoushouldtakeawalkonthestreetcthebosswouldsayGslaybe
youwillfindsomethingthatwillprom ptyoutothesolutionl
GIprefertotakeanapctheprofessionalwouldanswen.% new ideasome-
timesappearsin adream.Youknow similarcases...c
Thisisnoexaggeration.Recentlyin Psychology magazinean articlewas
publishedaboutanAmericanpsychologist,McKinnon whowastryingt,ofind
thesourceofenlightenmentandintuitionbystudyingthetransitionperiodbe-
tween deepsleepandawakening.A sim ilarstudyhasbeengoingonforabout
sixtyorseventyyears.'rhereisstillnoresult.
rrhemethodofurrrialand Error-hasexhausteditsm ssibilities.Therefore:
efrortstoimprovethismethodbringnoresult.
A diflbrentmethodisrequiredtoproduceinventions- amethodbasedon
theuseoflawsofevolutionoftechnicalsystems.
Duringthepastseveralyearsspecialgroupshaveappearedtosolveprob-
lemsby implementingthe Theory ofSolving hwentive Problem (TRIZ).
Soon thesegroupswillbecomecommon,in thesamewayasithappenedwith
theprofessionofGcomputerProgrammerlProbablytheexpertsinTRIZwillbe
calledEngineenlnventorkorn chnicalSystemsDevelopmentEngineen
Letusfantasizealittlebit.Wewilltrytolookintoaroom ofoneofthese
inventiveorganizationsthatdoesnotexistyet.
Problem 35 .
Invention by request < . :..
,
'
j'( 21,.
A factoryproducedamicrothinwire. 6
Pushabumm andaveryhigh-s;e dma- .
.E ;
:!
chinestaz'tst.omakeathinysilverweb- - .E:
l
ri
ek
ee
l.wi
reemwh
Th ai
cchnt
hi eh
e
isn
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dd
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cbig
on- )' / ''..
:'
trolofthediameterofthewirewasvex.y
primitive.The machine was usually
stopped,apieceofwirewascutofrandweighed.Byknowingthespecificgravity
efthewirethediameterofthewirewascalculated.Manymethodsweretriedto
measurethediameterduring theprocess.Nothingcameoutofiteitherthe
methodwastoocomplicatedornotaccurateenough.
79
 Thenew diagram willlooklikethis:

F$

S$

Fz
TheelectromagneticfieldF1affbctsthewireSI.Thewirewillinteractwith
thesecond substance S thatwillsendthesignal- someform offieldF -
thatcarriestheinformationaboutthediameterofthewire.W hatkindofsignal
doyouprefer' ?'
œA lightsignal''theengineersaid.''ltismorecon-
venient.' F
U hismeansthatF2isan opticalfield.' rhus,the EL
electronlagneticseld F*71. aflbctstheNvireS!.R7aeNvire
afrectssomesubstanceS2,andthatsubstancesendsa s2 s$
lightsignalF2aboutthediameterofthewire.rf'heprob-
lem issolved.Whatwehavetodonow istorecallthe
physicsofthetenthgrade.Plesuselook...J Fz
Hehandedtheengineeranopentextbook.
u'Ybuareprobablyright''theengineersaidthoughtfullyafterhehad read
thepageinthebook.'tltisaverygoodsolution!Strangethatwecouldnotguess
itourselvesl''
W ehavetomeasurethediameterofthemicro-wire.The''CoronaDischargeo
couldappearveo'easilyonthethinwires.Thedischargedependsonthediam-
eterofthewrire.Itisexactlywhatweneedtosolvetheproblem!Thebrightness
andtheshapeofthee'Crownnwillsignalusaboutthediameterofthewire,and
theshapeofitscross-section.Ifthe cross-section isan ovaltheucoronadis-
charge''isalsoanoval.
Thenextstoryisarealone.InoneoftheSchoolsoflbchnicalSciencelwhere
thismethodistaught)therewasastudent-m athem atician.Hegraduatedfrom
theUniversityandgotajobinanothertown.Verysoonhewrotealetterw'here
hedescribedthisvenrinterestingproblem.
Problem 36
An accuracywithin onedegree
Inthehallofascientiticcom panythedirectorstoppedanew youngmath-
ematician.
t*As1rememberkyougraduatedfrom oneof'theInventors-Schoolr hesaid.
uFrankly myopinion isthateverythingdependsonthenaturaltalentofthe
81
individualbut....Wearegoingtoform anothergroup.Thereisabigproject
ahead andtheproblem isverycomplicated,W edonotevenknow how tostart.
Thegroupconsistsoffilteen people.Iwas thinkingofbringingyou into that
grOuP.M
Themathematicianw'ascurious.Heasked uWhatkindofproblem isitr
Thedirectorexplained:upestgrubssometimesgetintothefoodgrain.Natu-
rallytheyshouldbedestroyedbeforethegrainispackaged.Thebestsolutionis
toheatthegrainto65t1C nohighecandnolowecothenviseeverythingisgoing
tobedam aged.Itisidealtocontroltheheatingprocesswithin onedegreeof
accuracy
Gllowever,theheatingofbigvolumesofgraincreatedoverheatinginsome
areas.Iftheprocessisdonewithsmallamountsofgrain productiondropstre-
mendouslyW etriedm anywaysofheating thegrain butnothingworked.We
would liketotz'y onemoremethod- blow heated airthroughthelayersof
grain,M aybewew-illbeIuckyenoughto5ndaworkingsolution.H
W oudonotneedtodothatr''themathematicianinterrupted.u'l'heproblem
shouldbesolvedlikethis....*
Andheexplainedthesolution.
Probablyyouhavealreadyfoundthesolution.Ferromagneticpowderwitha
Curiepointof650(2shouldbeaddedtothegrain.Whenelectromagneticinduc-
tion isapplied.thegrain would beheatedexactlyto650C.Afterthegrainis
prœ essedthemagneticpowderisremovedwithamagneticfilter.
n eIetterfrom themathematicianendedlikethis,uMyinterlocutorlooked
atmeforseveralminutescompletelyshocked.Ineverthoughtthatthesolution
totheproblem couldbringsuchareaction.Peoplewerewalkingalongthehall
saying*'Hi!Mtotheboss,buthedidnotreplykandcontinuedlookingatme....>

82
Chapter21
A Little BitofPractice
'

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Now wecanaddsomem oremethodsonourlist.

(12)S-n eldAnalysis.
(13)Self-serviee.
(14)Heatexpansion.
(15)Transition fw m macrostructuretom icrostructure.
(16)Coronadischarge.
(17)Curiepointofferromagneticmaterials.
(18)Combination ofvariouselects.
(19)Geom etricaleffectofM oebiusRibbon.
(20)GeometricaleFectofRotatgngHyperboloid.
(21)IdealFinalResultfIFR).
(22)Introductionofa secondsubstance.
(23)Utilization ofsoapbubblesand foam.

You alreadyknow thefirstthingyouneedtodo- oncetheproblem is

stated- isform ulatetheIdealFinalResult(IFR )andtrytoachieveit.
A good solution isalwaysclosetotheIFR.Let'spracticewiththis'ttool.-

83
Problem 37
Let'sthrow thescrew out
Someonelooldng1nt.0amicroscopeneedstomovetheglassplateandtheobject
onit,sometimesonlyahundredthorathousandthofamillimeter- almtxstthesize
ofahainTodothisonetusuallyusesascrew tym mecharism to movetheslide
holdingthisglaas.Itisaverycomplicatedandexw nsivepnxesstomanufactum
suchparts.
Theengineel'sgottogetherandmqked::fW hatcanwedotomakethemechanism
moreaccurate,morereliableandcostless'?O
Theystartedtothink.
>'ThereisatechnicalcontradidioncsaidoneengineerGscrewswithhighaccu-
racyareveryexpensiveandwearoutfast.Andacoarserthreadw111nothavethe
mquiredaccuraoc
AZW slzlderz/xthefnrenlorappearvd.
Rlet'sdumpthescrewl,hesaid.t'Whatmeansshouldwelzset,oachievehigher
accuracyinthemovementofaglarxsslider
YouwillsolveProblem #37forsure,evenwithoutreadingtheproblem tothe
end.lfyouhavereadthischaptercarefttllyyoucanoll'
erthreecorred answera
Problem 38
Somethlng simpler
Al1polymersgetold.n isprocessremindsusoftheoxidationofmetalbe-
causeoxygenistheGguiltyparty''Itbreaksdownthemoleculesofpolpners.To
protectpolpnersfrom oxygenitisnecessaz'ytoadd a5neiron powdertothe
Gboilingrpolymer.Theatom sofiron willtakein theoxygen andprotectthe
polymer.However,thefinerthepowderthefasteritwillinteractwithoxygen-
evenbeforetheIxsvderisadded intothepolpner.Theresultingiron oxidewill
loseitsprotectivecharacteristics.
tqvehavetouseaninertgasastheenvironmentforthatpurpose,''saidthe
chemistwhowasinvitedasaconsultant.
*Itisgoingtobeverycomplicatedandinconvenient>objectedtheengineers
from thefactoryuWeneedsom ethingsimplen'g
And on?theInventorappeared.
upleasel'hesaid.'Thereisaverysimplesolution.''
W hatdoyouthînktheInventorofrered?Youwillfindthesolutionveryeasy
Trytothinkofanideathatispractical.
Problem 39
Powderonthe conveyor
A conveyorlinefrom onebuildingtoanotherwasinstalledin am ine.A
ver.yfineoreistransportedfrom oneconveyortoanotheruntilitreachesthe
84
kilns.Workerscomplainedtotheengineerthattheorewaslikepowder,and
blewofftheconveyorwithjustalightbreeze.
uWhatcan wedor saidtheengineer.GWearewateringthatpowderwith
noresultbecausethewaterevaporatesveryfast.Toomuch waterisnogood
either.M aybewehavetocovertheconveyor? Thenyouwillhavemorework
todo:toopenandclosetheconveyon...r
Andsuddenlytheinventorappeared.
?Weshouldhaveacoverinordertopreventtheorefrom blowingawayche
said.çi
Andweshouldnothaveacoverinordertosimplifythework.Therefore,
itshouldbe....M
Whatdoyouthinkshouldbedone?Keepin mindthatwehavetoretain
theconveyor.Thetask istopreventdustdevelopment.

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The Artof
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Chapter22
The Roads W e Choose

Inventiveactivityhasmanysides.Itinvolvesfindingtheproblem solving
it.turninganew ideaintoaworkingmodelandbringingthedeviceormethod
tolifb.Ofcoursethemostim portantthingistofindthesolution.Som eofthe
stagesofthatprocesscouldbeturnedovertoprofessionalsinthatarea like
transferringtheidea intoamodel,and thendevelopingthemodelintothe
finalproduct.Ofcourseitisbetteriftheinventorhim selftakespartinall
thesestages.However,itisnecessary and sumcientfortheauthortotake
partonlyintheproblem solvingprocess,wherenobodycanreplacetheinven-
tor.Thesolutiontotheproblem istheessenceofinvention.
Inventorsofthe19th centuryweredlacksofa11trades.''Theybuiltnew
m achineswith theirhands andimproved them untiltheyworkedproperly
Thecontemporao inventorisfirstofalIathinker- anintellectualltisvery
goodiftheinventorisahandyman.Stillthem ostim portantattributethat
theinventorneedsistohaveaverypreciseintellectualprocessofthinking.
Beforeonestartstodraw-upanything.oneshoulddevelopanideaofthesolu-
tion.andthisisaverycomplicatedprocess.
In thebeginning.theinventorshould askthequestion:'Kshould ltackle
thistask orrejectitand replaceitwithanothertask thatwillachievethe
originalgoalr
lnreality,thequestioniswhethertheo1dsystem hasused up aIlitsre-
sourcesornot.Iftheresenresaregone thenitistimetodevelopanew sys-
88
tem.Letustake a Iook athow thisquestion appears,and how we should
answeritbyusing aspeciscexam ple.
Problem 40
Stop guessing
Duringthemeltingprocessoforeinblastfurnacesclinkerisproduced- a
mixture ofmagnesium and calcium oxide.Clinkerata temperatureofabout
10000Cisdumpedintobigbucketsanddeliveredbyrailroadtoplantsforrepro-
cessing.Meltedclinkerisavez.ygoodraw materialtomanufactureconstruction
materials.Although cooledclinkerisnolongeragood raw material itisnot
economicaltomeltitagain.Atthebeginningtheclinkerinthebucketisliquid.
However,dtuingtransportationacrustdevelops.Itt'akesaspecialIargemecha-
nism tobreakthecrust.Thecrust,evenwithaman-madeholewillkeepsome
oftheliquidclinkerinsidethebucket.zksaresult,only2/3oftheliquidclinkeris
usedatthereprocessingplant.'rherestofitisdumpedoutasjunk.Meanwhile
ittakesalotoflabortocleanthebucketofhardenedclinkerkandtoremovethe
wastefrom theplant'sgrounds.
FinallykaScientifk Committeewasformedtosolvethisproblem.
*'
A bucketwithverygoodinsulation shouldbedesignednofreredoneofthe
scientists.
*Wetriedthat- itdoesnotwork''objectedonememberoftheplantteam.
Glnsulation takesalotofspace,thebucketwillbeverywideandthatisnot
acceptable,accordingtorailroadregulations.p
u'
W hatabouta1idforthebucketr thescientistscnntinued.GW hycan'twe
makethe1idwith heavy insulation?Themain portion oftheheatlossgoes
through thetop,wherethehotclinkerhascontactwiththeainH
uWetriedthataswellcsighedtheplantmember.'
q'hebucketisthesizeof
aroom .Canyouim aginea1id ofthatsize?That1idwouldhavetobeputon
andtakenofrby acrane!Toomuchworkl'
*1thinkwehavetotackletheproblem difrerentlylsaidasecondscientist.
'tetusthinkaboutreconstructingthewholeprocessinsuchawaythatwedo
notneedtomovetheclinkersofarawayo
-1am notsum Iam notsurecobjectedanotherscientist.uIwouldoflbrtostnte
thepmblem ali/lebitdxerently:Let'ssndafasterwaytodeliverthedinker''
GWea1lhavetolook attherootoftheproblem,nsaidthefourthscientist.
Thetaskshouldbemuchwider- toproduceironwithoutgettingclinkerasa
by-productl
And suddenlyf/leinventorappeared.
qstopguessinglhesaid.t'
Theproblem shouldbeformulatedsothat....''
How doyou think theproblem shouldbeformulated?.
Inrealitywehaveapileoftasks- so-calledinventivesituations- andit
isreallydiEculttochoosetherightone,theonethatwillproducethebest
result.
89
Problem 41
Letusdiscussthe situation
In ordertomanufactureasheetofglass,aribbonofglassisheatedtoa
red colorand isfedontoa conveyor.Theribbon movesfrom onesupporting
rolltoanotheranditslowlycoolsoffl
Afterthat,theglasshastobepolishedforsometimebecausetheribbon
stillbeinghotandflexible,sagswhilegoingfrom rolltoroll,andthesurface
becomesuneven.Engineers,whofacedthisproblem forthefirsttimeofrered
tomakethediameterortherollsassmallaspossible.Thesm allertherolls
thelesssaggingoftheglasswilloccur.Thismeansthattheglasscancomeout
moreuniform .
A technicalcontradiction appearshere.The sm allertherolls the more
difficultitistomanufactureaconveyorofseveralmeterslong.Let'ssaythat
thediam eterofeachrollisequaltothesizeofamatch then everym eterof
theconveyorwillhave500rolls,andtheirinstallationwillrequiretheaccu-
racyofajeweler.Whatiftherollshadthediameterofathread?
E'There'snothingtofear'saidoneyoungengineendirfherearecraftypeople
around,whocan makeadrawing even on apoppy seed.Let'sdesign acon-
veyorwithver.vthin rolls.Wecanfindpeopletoassemblethistypeofcon-
''Listen,thinkaboutthecostorthatconveyorlsomeonecontradictedthe
youngfellow.Rltisbettertohavebigrolls.Whatwehavetodoistoimprove
theprocessofpolishing theglass.Wehavetostraightenouttheribsonthe
glassl
H1thinkthatwehavetothrow theconveyoroutoftheline,''offeredsome-
bodyelse.ultw'ouldbegoodtoreplaceitwithsomethingradicallynew.''
Andsuddenlythefnrcnlorappeared.
.êl-ret'slook intothissituation,'hesaid.tioutofa11thosetasksweshould
Choose ''
Andheexplainedwhattaskhewouldprefer.W hatdoyouthink?
ItisveryeasytotackleProblems#40and#41.
InProblem #40thereisasystem calledttrrransportationofclinkenfThis
system ispartofthehighersystem 'tlronProduction.'
W ehavenoprobiem withthehighersystem ,wedonotneedtochangeit.
Thesystem doesitsownwork:transportsclinker.Everythingisfineexcept
thatpartofthe clinkergetshard during transportation.Itdoesnotmake
sensetochangethewholesystem - andofcoursenotthehighersystem .Itis
foolishtorefusetohaveacarjustbecausethewindshieldgetsdirty.
lnsuchsituationstransitiontotheproblem ismadebyusingaver.ysim ple
rule:lEverythingisleftasitis exceptthattheshortcomingsshould disap-
peanmLet'stransporttheclinkeraswedid before in open bucketswithout
hardcrustdeveloping.
InProblem #41thepictureisdifferent.Thesystem couldnotperform its
90
basicdutyFirst theconveyorshould form a straightglassribbon.Second
theconveyorshouldmovetheribbon outofthekiln.Wehaveexhausted the
possibilitiesforfurtherdevelopmentoftherollers(notin generalbutinthe
processofglassproduction),anditneedsttlbereplacedbyanew system.
Perhaps,othercasesarepossibleamongthesetwom entioned.Ifyou are
notreallysurewhichwaytogo- whethertosavetheexistingsystem orlook
foranew one- then you havetoformulatetheproblem in suchawayasto
savetheoriginalsystem.
Noexactsciencecan excludeskill.Forexample differentresultscan be
obtainedbydifrerentpeopleusingthesametelescope.Theresultsdependon
theskilloftheuserandthegoal.
Supposethatthetaskistoreplaceaconventionalshipwith something
completelynew.Theshipisausystem'thatworks(m amacrolevel.Thebodx
theprop,theenginearevenrbig parts.Onedaythissystem willbe trans-
ferredtothem icrolevel,althoughitisdim culttoim aginehow thisshipwill
look atthemicrolevel.Whatcanthetheoryofsolvinginventiveproblemssay
aboutthis?
First,thetransition tothemicrolevelispossiblein generalterms.
Second,thesystem ushipmhasnotenteredintothethirdstageofitsdevel-
opmentwhen arigid solidstructureistransformed intoaflexibleandmove-
ableone.Theresourcesforthedevelopmentofthesystem arenotexhausted
yet.This means thatmany decadesmay passbeforethetransition to the
microleveltakesplace.That'sit!
Herethetheoryisended.Choosingthetask isup totheindividual.n e
individualhasto makea decision astowhich directiontotake.0nehasto
havea clearpicture.Ifone choosestodevelop a completelynew technical
system when the old one isnotexhausted in itsdevelopment,theroad to
successand acceptanceby society isvery harsh and long.A task thatisfar
aheadofitstimeisnoteasytosolve.And themostdimculttaskistoprove
thatanew system ispossibleand necessaly InthepreviouschapterImen-
tioned thevibrogyroscope.rrheauthorappliedforapatentin 1954- andgot
itin 1975 twenty-oneyearslater.Ittook twodecadestoproveitsusefulness
anditspossibilityofconstruction.
Imaginethattwohundredyearsagoaninventorcametotbeshipbuilders
and said:GWhydoyou botherwith sails? Throw them away and installa
steam enginethatpeopleusenow inmines.Lettheengineturn thepaddle
wheellikeawatermill.Thatwillbegreatl'
Idoubtthatanybody would havetaken this seriously - thatwewere
talkingaboutoneofthegreatinventionstheSteam boat.
A.G.Presniakovfrom theUSSR appliedforhispatentin1955,andgota
rejection.A11theexpertsrevolted.Itwasconsideredabsurdtothrowouten-
ginesandreplacethem withelectromagneticpumpsln einventorspentfoun
teenyearsarguingandprovinghism sition.Onlyin 1969didhegethispatent.
Ittookhim fourteenyearstoberecognizedbyscientificandtechnicalexperts.
91
Buttherewerem any otherstepstobetaken beforehisinventionwould see
theworld- designs,modelsexperimentsandsoon....
Boatswith thePresniakovenginedonotexistyet,although,with time,
theywillappear.
ThetransitionoftechnicalsystemsintomicrolevelisaIaw.ButtheLaw of
Evolutioninthedevelopmentoftechnicalsystemsstates:thesystem should
exhaustitsresourcesbeforeitmovestothemicrolevel.
AlexanderPresniakovhasnotreceivedhisrewardforhisinventionyet.
Hisboatisstillonlyonpaper.Butcreditforbeingthefirstpersontoinventa
boatwith am agnetohydrodynamicenginewillbelong toA.Presniakov.'rhe
joy andsatisfaction ofcreativity,thethoughtthatyouhavesolvedataskof
thefuture- thisisarealrewardforaninventor.Societyisawinneraswell.
W henthetimecomestochangethesystem eshipnintoamicroleveloneofthe
directionswillbeknown toscientists.lnventionsthatweremadeaheadof
theirtime in thefinalanalysis areverysubstantialandpractical.
Thereisanotherroad.Thesystem itship''hasnotagedyet.Onecandirect
effortsand energytoward solvingrelativelysm allproblemson macrolevels
byimprovingdifrerentpartsofthe ship.Inseveralyearsonecan getmany
patentsforimprovem ents introducethem tothemarket reapbenefits and
hearwordsofgratitudefrom peoplewhoseworkyouhavehelpedtoease.
Problem 42
Rain isnotahindrance
A shipwasbeingloadedatadock.A verypowerfulcranelowered skids
withsacksthroughanopeningdownonthedeck.Therewasaheavyrain and
waterwascomingintothestoragecompartment.
KdWhatkindofweatheristhisr rumbledoneloaderinsidetheship.ulam
com pletelysoaked.'
R'rhereisnothingyoucan doaboutit>answeredanother.GDuringloading
timeyoucannotclosethehatch orputaroofoverit.''
z1??t/suddeltlyt/kcInventorappeared.
g'
Ybu need averyspecialrooc hesaid.:A roofthatwillstoptherain and
allow thecargotogothrough.Takealook....''
W hatkindofroofdidheoffer?
Thousandsofshipsare anchored at
docks.Tensofthousandsofworkersare V z> z/''/','
,zj'' z'.z/'
, dz
working underthe sun snow orrain.A Z ' ,.vz.. ,..''
f
roofoverthestoragecompartmentisdefi- Xv. . ...y z'z
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z z
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y,
nitely needed.Itisnotsodim culttoin- yy'
z'zsy
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ventone.A similarproblem appeared a . ,z' ' ' sz ?'z
longtimeago.Topreventadraftin afac-
tory,doors should be closed.To allow a
fnrklifttogothroughthe door,itshould
92
beopen.Thecontradictionwaseliminatedveryeasily- thedoorwasmade
outofheavykflexible transparentstrips.'l'heforkliA couldgetthroughwhen
itneededto,andthedoorwasclosedal1thetime.Thesizeofthecompartment
hatchismuchlargerthana regulardoor,thereforearoofdoorcouldbemade
outofairsacksand placedoverthehatch likea two-sided roofThecargo
could push thosesacksaside.getthrough thehatch down tothe compart-
ment.A patentonthisideawasissuedveryquickly
Itisnecessarytosolvedifferentproblems:smallmiddlesized largeand
verylarge.Theshortcomingsofthet'TrialandErrornmethod becomesmore
obviousasthesizeoftheproblem increases.
Therefore,bigcompaniesworkontheimprovementsofexistinglargesys-
temsandveryseldom on thedevelopmentofcompletelynew ones.
Withthisnew theoryofsolvingtechnicalproblemsthewholesituationis
changing.Weare confidentthatin thenearfutureinnovation institutions
willbeorganized whosemain specialty willbethe search forsolutions to
tasksofthedistantfuture.
Themostadvantageoussituation iswhen asystem exhaustsitsgrowth
andneedstobereplacedtodaywith anew onebasedonotherprinciples.The
disadvantagesoftheo1d system areknown toeveryone and new ideasare
welcome.ThisissimilartoProblem #41.Itisnotbeneficialtobuildthinner
rolls.Theconveyorwith rollsshouldbereplacedwith somethingcompletely
difrerentin principle,

93
 Chapter23
Strange M irrors ofthe OperatorSTC
(Si
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OnceIxkopleaskedtheHodjaNasredintomakeaIniracle.coltayuhesaid,ulMII
makeamiracleononecondition.From now onnoneofyouwillfhinkaboutawhite
monkey'Nasredinthendescribedthatmonkeyinm atdetailandrepeated:+ ow
don'tthinkahmtthismorikeyanm orec
Naturallyonthecontrarynoixdycouldstopthinkingaboutthewhitemonkey
The inventive problem,like wily
Nasredin,impxqesonyouahvhitemonkeyn :..
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InPm blem #41wedecided,withoutwa- '!'r.*-7. l'
Ik!r'
Vering,togetridoftherollerconveyor.How- t 'r ' 1
tjI '''.
eveqthesham oftherollezsorbeltconveyor 1'. $j,-c-
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94
ferentscreeninggroups.Thescreerdng procerxswmsdoneVt.I4sound.Theworker
tmkaplate,hititverygentlywithase alhnmmeqandthendeterminedthe
degzw ofbakingbythetoneofthesound.Workem CaIIGIthkspnxx!rxsNingingthe
111.*Thtswasnoteasy work.M theshiftworkerswerebangingplatesorcups,
lkqteningtothesoundandscreeningthepnxlud.Finallysom einventozsdecidedto
developarolmtforthLstask.
Thiswasatypicalcasewherethesystem hadbecomeobsoleteandhad toix?
replacedwithsomethingreallynew
Theinventorsundersfm ithat,buttheycouldnotwalkawayfrom tbatNvhite
monkefimage.AmachinewithtwoWhandsDwmsbuilt.rfheflrsthandheldtheplate
whiletheselxmdhand hittheplateV t.IIahsmmerA micmphonepickedupthe
soundandanelectronicdeviceanalyzeditandcornmandedtheH handwhereto
placetheplate.
ThemachinewasinstalledatthefactoryAndverystxm itwasfoundthatthe
machineworked moreslowlyth% theN ple.Theinventorstriedtoincreasethe
srvoedofthenrmnbutthemachinestartedtobreaktheplates.Themachinewms
A enawayM dieworkemcnG ue o- nthepe ud% GeyM ddoneefom.
Atilrstglanœ thetaskwassimple- replacehumanhantiswithmechanical
onea'l'hehtunanarm,palm,andfmgel'saretcx)lsthathavethehigbestsensitivity
andGexibilitywiththesne-stadjustmentsandcontrol.'l'hemqnLscontznzedbythe
brain.'l'
hksLsauBrain.ztrmrsystem thattm kam illionyeam tom rfect.
In t- hnicalm useurnsthem aresewingmachinesbrickstxaclters,fnzitpickem
andsoon,allwithanns.M ofthem arenotgv lv ausetheyaretrpng ' toimitate
thehumanarm.lnordertomechanizetheworkthatthehumanannandfmgersare
doing.oneshouldfmdanotherwayChangetheprindpleofadionandfmdanew
method- onetlmtiseasytomechnnizoandtoautornate.
n en auof%l% MvenuveM bleM olemaveo se ze lforyourimagi-
re on:'l'hisisMethM e kOm ratorsIE (Size,Time,Cost1.
Thesearethequestionsthattheinventorshogldconsider:
Whatwillhappenifthesize ofanobjectisdecreased?
Or,onthecontraly increased?Whatwillhappen ifthetlme
foranactiontotake placedecreases?Or,increases?Whatwill
happenifnew requirementsareadded- thecostofamachine
equalszero?Or,onthecontrary,the costisunlimited?
How istheproblem goingtobesolvedundertheseconditions?Thesethree
questionsofOperatorSTC likecrookedmirrorsin aulaughingroom,'distort
theconditionsofthetask andforceourimaginationtowork andhelpgetrid
oftheobtrusiveimageoftheoldsystem .
Canyouimagineaplatethesizeofadime,thenanevensmallerone like
apieceofdust?Youcannotpickupsuch aplatewithyourfingers orstrikeit
withahammer.Foraplatelikethataweightlesshammerisneeded.Whatif
weincreasethespeedofthemachine?
95
 Let'ssay,thattheplateisofnormalsize.butwehaveonly 1secondfor
thetest- 1/1000ofasecond,1/1.000,000 ofa second?Duringthatshort
periodoftimesoundcannotgettotheearsoftheoperatorofthemicrophone.
Thism eansthatsomethingfasterthansoundisneeded.Onlylightisfaster
thansound.W hatiftheplateswerestruck bylight?Thisistheweightless
ham mer!Couldwecatchthereflected light,andGlistenntoit?
OperatorSTC isnotsupposedtogiveyou theanswertoyourproblem.
lt'staskisonlytobreakupourpsychologicalinertia,whichblocksourthink-
ingprocess.Thestrangem irrorsofOperatorSTC areonlytoolsforthefirst
steptoworkon solvingproblems.
It-you havehadexperiencewithsolderingyouknosvthatthefirststepis
tocleanthesurfacewithacids.A similarthinghappensinourproblem (and
in ourmindlwhenweuseOperatorSTC.Ithappensmanytimes thataAer
usingthatOperator.theproblem becomesclearandeasytosolve.
Take for exampletheproblem ofthe glazed pottery.OperatorSTC
prompted:itisgood to replacetheconventionalhamm erwith a Iight.For
screeningplates.thisisanew method.M aybethismethodhasalreadybeen
usedinotherapplieations?Maybepeoplehavealreadydevelopedinstruments
forthistest?Then wecantakethatdeviceandadaptitforourtest.
W hereisitrequiredtotestceram icparts?Intheproduction ofelectric
resistors.Everybodyknowsthat.Ofcoursetheseresistorshavetobetested.
Insizetheyarem uch sm allerthanplates.Resistorscannotbetestedwith
sound,so peopleuselightforthatpurpose.Theamountoflightreflected
l'rom resistorsdependsonthedegreeofbakinpr rhemachinesortsthousands
ofresistorsperhour.A sm allchangein thisdevicewillmakeitpossibleto
useitfortestingplates.andwillreleasethelaborersfrom monotonoushard
work.
LookattheOfficialGazettemagazineandyouwillseethatweareonthe
righttrack.Smallobjectsaretestednotwith sound,butwith light.Forin-
stance,agrainofrice,thatisRcookedMbythesuncouldbecontrolledbylight.
Thereisapatentonthatprocess.
Look atwhatishappening!Byutilizing Operator STC we aredeliber-
atelycomplicatingtheproblem andatthesametim ewearesearchingfora
simplifiedsolutionlThisishappeningbecauseOperatorSTChelpsusgetrid
ofourpsychologittalinertia andenablesustoIook attheproblem without
prejudice.
Problem 43
Investigation isdone by experts
'irrhis rifleshould beexaminedc said an investigatoras he placed the
rifleonthetablebeforetheexpert.''Ihavetoknow whetherornotthisrifle
firedabulletaweekago.M
Theexpertlooked carefully attherifleand nodded hishead d4ldon't
96
know how totacklethistask.Thebarrelhasbeen cleanedand thereareno
carbondeposits.'
And suddenly theinventorappeared.
GIknow h0w toexamineitNhesaid.ulaetususeOperatorSTC.'
Supposethatshotwasfiredadayago,onehourago,fiveminutesago.By
thespecificationsofthetask there isnocarbon depositinsidethebarrel.If
theshotwasmadetensecondsago,thenthebarrelshouldbewarm .Thenwe
couldsayevenwithclosedeyeswhetherornottheshotwasfired.Becausethe
temperaturememoryisveryshortwecannotrelyonitafterashortwhile.
Letusfind someotherRmem oryrthatmetalmay have.W hatproperties
changeduring thesring ofa rifle?Doyou rememberProblem #32 about
heatingthehigh voltagepowerlines?Steelisdem agnetized when thetem-
peratureisabovetheCuriepoint.It'smagneticcharacteristicsdisappearfrom
shockaswell.'rhegasfrom gunpowderhitsnotonlythebullet,buttheinside
surfaceofthebarrelaswell.Usuallythebarrelhassomemagneticproper-
ties.because ofthe magneticfield ofthe Earth.Attertheshotissred the
barrelisdemagnetized.During thenextthreeto fourweeksthebarrelre-
gainsitsmagneticcharacteristics.Themoretimepasses,theclosertonormal
them agneticpropertiesoftheriflewillbe.Itisenough tocomparethem ap
neticpropel-tiesoftwo rifles in orderto detennine which rifle wasused a
week ago.
In ourcase,OperatorSTC helpedtouncoveronlyhalfofthepath tothe
answer.Itremindedusaboututemperaturem emozy''Inordertoswitchtothe
umagneticmemoryooneshould recallsomephysics.Ithappensvery often:
OperatorSTCgivesyouahint aprompt,and thenyou shouldformulatethe
IdealFinalResult,findthephysicalcontradiction,usetherulesofS-Field
analysisand physics.
Let'stry touseOperatorSTC inProblem #41abouttherollerconveyor.
Thediameteroftherollswillbesmaller
- aboutahundred ore venathousa'nd
timessmallerthan thatofa human
hair.Tobuild thisconveyoris practi-
@O
0.
callyimpossible.Howeveqbecausewe
.. %D >
are doing a mentalexperiment W e
shouldnotbeafraidofattemptingit. .s
r
Let'smaketherollersasthin asmol- rz
ecules.W ewillstretchamolecule.'Phe
minimum thiclmessofamoleculeisan ;;t ;, ;..q-q
atom,aRerthatthemoleculewillbreak -
.
/$,. -' i
.,
r..
, '-' k.
-
.
--
---
. --
up.Them eltedglassribbonwillm ove
overalayerofball-atoms.Thiscould
6... .
;
-
r
jt
p)j
- -- .
..,
-

bethebestconveyor:ideallyflat. !/
.
/17
$ljf
?
$,.j(
'
$I2, ,
The promptisgiven.Let'suseit.
U nderthe glass ribbon we should
97
spreadball-atoms.Theseare notatomsofgas,becausethey canevaporate,
and theyarenotatom sofhardmatterbecausetheycannotm ove.Theonly
possibilityIeftistheatomsofaliquid.Glowingred,theglassribbonrollsover
aliquidsurface!Thisisanidealconveyor.
W hatkindofliquidcould bechosenforthisconveyor?
Let'snotguessaboutthat.SherlockHom es,whoperfectlyunderstoodthe
advantageoforganizedthinking,saidonce:Kdlneverguess.Thatisavel'ybad
habit,itkillsthelogicalthinkingprocessl
Letustakethisstatementintoconsideration,andlet'slook logicallyfor
theliquidthatweneed.
Firstofall,weneedaliquidthatmeltseasily.Second,thisliquidshould
have ahighboilingtem perature,otherwise when itboils theglasssurface
willbecomewavy.Thespecificgravityoftheliquidshould be much higher
thanthatofthegravityoftheglass(2.5gr/cm3)othenvise theglassribbon
willnotstayonthesurfaceoftheliquid.
Hence,theliquidwearelookingforshouldhavethefollowingproperties:
M elting Tem peraturenomorethan 20011-300t'C Boiling Tem pera-
turenolessthan 15000C SpecificGravitynolessthan5.0-6.0gr/cm3.
Onlymetalshavesuchproperties.Ifwerejecta11raremetalsforthispur-
pose,whatislehisbismuth leadandtin.Bismuthisexpensive.Thevaporof
leadispoisonous.Whatisleftistin Theconclusion:Insteadofaconveyorwe
willhavea longtrayw'ith meltedtin- atomsinsteadofthin rolls.Thesys-
tem hasmadeatransitiontoamicrolevelwhereanew developm entisavail-
able.ln reality,afterthepatentwasissued manypatentsonim provements
ofthatdesignwereissued.Forexam ple if'werananelectriccurrentthrough
m eltedtinwecouldchange,withtheuseofmagnets,theshapeofthesurface
thatwillafrectthesurfaceoftheglass.Morethanahundredinventionswere
m adeutilizingthisparticularidea.
Below isaproblem foryoutosolvewithOperatorSTC.
Problem 44
A fresh Idea is needed
A company hadavery unusualprojecttodevelepforan oi1pipeline.The
sam epipelineshouldbeabletepumpdifferentliquidproductsalternately.
Inordernottom ixthem theyhavetobeseparatedbyaspecialdevice.
Afteroneliquidispumped,abig ballusedasa piston isinserted.Then an-
otherliquidispumped.
'Thisdevice hasnoguaranteel said themanagerofthe project.W'Phe
pressurein thepipelineisgreat- tensofpounds.Liquidscan seepbythe
ballandm ixtogetherl
S'M aybeweshouldconsiderotherdevicestoseparatetheliquidsr asked
anengineerashepulled outacatalogwith disctypedividers.lnthecatalog
therewasapictureofadividermadeoutofthreerubberdiscs.
98
'
G'rhey getstuckvery oftenr''saidthemanager.lcTllemain problem isthat
erevery200km thereisapumping station.Wr hen thedividercomestothe
.umpingstationitshouldberemoved,becauseitcannotgetthroughthepump.
ereforedisksandballsarenogood.Weneed adividerthatcangothrough
''
epump with aguarantee thattheliquidswillnotmix.''
Ap.lsuddenly theinventorappeared.
*Wecan useOperatorSTC ''heoffered.' *W eneed afresh iâea, don'twer
' And afresh idea appeared.Whatkind ofidea wasit?
)'
'Apply thefirstquestion r
autofthe six- decreasethesizeofthe pipeline
yourmind.Keep in mind thatitisprohibitedtomakeaherizontalsepara-
n,Itisrequired thatvariousliquidswillflow through the pipeline alter-
'tely withoutbeing mixed.

. Ze
&(
J
#
/
Julc j a..N. =
à..
u=,. ..yy
.
Chapter24
A Crowd ofM iniature Dw ads

OperatorSTC isaveryIàowerfultool,butnottheonlyonethatcanhelpus
toovercomepsychologicalinertia.Psychologicalinertiacanbecarriedbywords,
especiallybytechnicalterms.n esetermsexistinordertoreflectveryprecisely
whatisknownalready.Butaninventorhastogetoutoftheknownlimitsand
break away from theexisting imagescreated bythosetenns.Therefere every
problem shouldberestatedbyusingusimplewords.''
In oneoftheseminarsonthetheory ofsolvinginventiveproblems,the
following happened.A sailorofferedthistasktebesolved:How toincrease
thespeedofanicebreakergoing through theArcticice?Thisproblem was
solved by an engineerwhohad nothingtodowith theconstruction ofice-
breakers,and hediditon theblackboard.Therewasthefollowingnoteon
theboard:UA thingshouldfreelypassthroughtheice asiftherewerenoice
ata1l.D
Iwassittingnexttothesailorandheardhisindignation:â<Heisahooliganc
hesaid.t'W hydoeshecalltheicebreakerathingr
Theengineerwascorrectin callingtheicebreakera Xhing''becausethe
wordaicebreaker*imposedonyouanotionthatashiphadtobreaktheice.W hat
ifwecanlearntogetthroughtheicewithoutbrenkingit?Thereforetheterm
Gthingnisveryappropriate.Itisthesameasthe' *X*'inm athem atics.
Bythewaythe-thingrinrealityiscompletelydifrerentfrom theicebreaken
Imagineabodyofashipthatisbuiltinsuch awaythatthemiddlepaztdisap-
100
' arswheretheicecontactstheship.Or,1etussay;thereisaten-storybuilding
' nutaseventhfloor.Thebodyofthebigicebreakerisliketheten storybuild-
.
lfonefloorisremoved,icewillpassthroughthatfloorfreelykandtheship
ultlmovewithoutbreakingtheice(seepictureabove).
Theidealsolution would be notto eonnecttlae upperand lowerparts ()f
'e ship'sbody Butthepracticalsolution shouldonlybeclosetotheidealone.
ehaveto step back a little from theidealsolution.We willeonnect btlth
l'tsofthebody with twoverythin,strong,and sharp support-blades.They
'llcutaverynarrow crackthroughtheice.Itismucheasierthiswaythanto
aaktheicethewhalewidtb oftheship.
Theproblem wassolved very artistically but the sailorwhooffered the
p blem wasnotsatisfied.Atthattime people madea l()tofexperimentsto
keakicebywatergunsandsoon.Thereweremanyinventionsonthesubject:
Qet'sbreaktheice.''zNnd ofcourse,thetithing''thatwentthrough icewitheut
keaking itdid notfitinto the overallpicture.Six yearslatera patentwas
issued on a halfsubmerged vessel.A new term had appeared.Then other
ptetltscame out.Therearenfaw G'rhroug' h-ice-shipr beingbuiltin ship-
prds.As you can see,ittakes a specialimagination and knmvledge ofthe
wnlution lawsoftechnicalsystemsinorderttlmakethecorrectevaluation of
pnidea.
Themethod for overcoming psychologicalinertia that is used by TRIZ
pemstobepurely psychologîcal.ln reality thepurposeofthatmethod isto
Fàow thedirection of'developmentoftechnicalsystems.
AboutthirtyyearsagoanArnericancngineeqW illiam Cwordon,offeredto
usean fdempathy''method duringthe processofsolving problems.Thetech-
njquewhich thatmethodemployedwastomakea person imagineMmselfas
amachinein thesystem,livingthelifeofthatmachine,tryingto f'inda solu-
tinn.Thisisapurelypsyehologicallnethod aimingtofindnew waysoflooking
atproblems.
Wedecidedtotestthismethod and wesetup many experiments.ltwas
ftlundthatdzempathyMhelpedsnmetimes,but
moreoften ledto adead end.When inven- .
torsimaginethemselvesasamachinethey.
ignore ideas related to the destructîon of
tkatmachine - separation ofits parts, '
shredding,freezing,meltzngandso ()n.F()r
alivaorganism,such actionsarenotaccept-
able.Theyareprohibited.Human beings, :l !1
'.
ofcourse,transferthosenotionstothema- 4t. .
- .i. -:ukjt:'
f
4 .
,,'
l-h
.:
:',:,f
.i
(
i..à
'
i l.'l
.
chine- althoughthemachineanditsparts T rJ
' t
u /s.r
-,
,/ /t.....:
.=wt
,.t'
x!)
' .
cnuldbefragmentedand crushed.
Take
rforexample,theproblemaboutthe l îr ?i/'ln!
l
rnllerconveyor.ln searching fora solution l/
3'? t
*A
.- -
we,inourmind,had todecreasethesizeof
101
 therollerstoatoms.Thebreakingupofpartsisthemaintrendinthedevelop-
mentoftheworking elementofamachine.W hen partsaresmaller,the con-
troliseasier and thepotentialfor machine improvementis greater.Takea
look atthe dtl-lfavercraft'vehicle.The wheels are reduced to the size ofgas
molecules,thevehicle hasbecome moremobile,and itcan goover different
terrains.
TRIZ usesminiature dwarfs instead oftdempathy'''
I'he method isvery
simple.Youshouldimagirtethatartobject(maehine,device)consistsofaerowd
ofminiaturedwarfs.Partiallythisremindsyouofs iempathy''xroucan look atthe
problem fkom theinside through theeyes ofthese dwarfs.This is Gempathy'
withoutuempathy''In ourmethod,ttempathy''hasnodefects.Ideasofreductitm
and breaking-up areaccepted very easily Thecrowd ofminiature dwarfscoulll
beseparatedandreorganized.
Once,asan experiment,a g'roup ofengineers wereasked towork on the
problem oftheicebreakerby usingtheRempathy''method.
Theengineersgladly offeredvariousideasabouthow tobreak theiceand
how to break theicebreakeritselfAlterthat,thesameproblem wasgiven to
anothergroup ofeagineersand they wereotlbred to useM odelwith Minia-
tureDwarfs ( ).ThisisMethod #25.
Severalengineersoffered similar ideas.Letthecrowd ofmen (body ofthe
ship)splitandpasstheice(obstacle)on twosides.Thegroupwasnew;andnone
ofthepeopletookthisidea seriously
ttsveare offerirtg thisidea asnonsertsey''said oneoftheengineersasartex-
cuse.
M MD requiresaverystrongimagination. Oneshouldimaginethattheob-
jectconsistsofmanylive,smallthinkingentities- notmoleculesoratoms.
Whatdotheyfeel?How dotheyact?How shouldtheyact?How shouldthecrowd
act?Itisavery usefulmodelforthirtking ifyou haveexperienceworkittgwith
thismodel.

Problem 45
A capriciousseesaw 0
A 1
waterbatchmeter was made like a seesaw.
(Pic.1.), There isa container forliquid on the left -L---
sideofthebatchmeter.Tbebatchmetertiltsassoon .c
-
asthecontainerisfilled with liquid.Then the liq-
uid poursoutofthe container.Then the lefkside
becomeslighterandtheseesawrreturnstobalance.
Unfortunately the batchmeterdoes notwork as
acctlratelyasnecessazyNota11theliquidpoursout P/C./
Ofthecontainer.
lvhathappensisthatassoon astheliquidstal-tstodischargefrom thecom
tainerithesystem startstoreturn totheemptybalanceposition (the container
102
startscomingup),andwewillthushaveaRshortage''ofpouredliquid.Brhatif
wemakethecontainerbiggeriand haveanexcessofliquid?Westillwillnot
reach therequiredaccuracyandhavethesameNhortage''a1lthetimebecause
ofmanyfactom thatwecannotcontrol.Theshortageshould beeliminatedby
someothermeans.
Let'stryt.ousemethodM MD.'Pherearegirlsandboysonaseesaw.Thegirls
aretheSsliquid''andtheboysarethe'icountenveightcTheloadofliquid isac-
cepted(Pic.2),andtheleftsideoftheseesaw
comesdown(Pic.3).Assoonasoneortwogirls
jumpofftheseesaw theleltsidestartstogo
up(Pic.41.svhatshouldbe donesothataIl
thegirlsgetofl-the seesaw?The answeris
thatwhilethegirls arecoming()frthesee-
Hc.2 saw,t.heboysshouldm oveclosertothecen-
teroltheboard(Pic.5).Alteral1thegirlshave
jumpedofrtheseesaw theboyscanreturnto
theiroriginalposition(Pic.6J.
Now wecangof' rom themodeltothereal
mechanism.A weightontherightsideofthe
I batcherhastoslideeasilyfrom lefttoright.
Itisclearthataweightintheform ol'aballis
8t:3 themostappropriateinourcase(Pic.7).

WC.4

WC.7
Theproblem issolved.%Yegottheanswer
byusing MethodM 51D.Itisnotdim cultto
noticethattbt!technicalcontradiction was
WC.5 discoveredandremoved.Themomentofthe
force actingon the rightsideoftheseesaw
shouldbesmall,sothattheliquidcouldpour
outofthecontainer,andshouldbebigenough
sothattheliquidcouldfillthecontainer.We
cansaythatthebatcherwhichdidnothave
modngpartshasnowbecomeudynamicln is
HC.6 meansthesystem hasenteredtheThirdPe-
Z-iO:Iofitsdevelopment.n erefore,eveorthing
103
wasdonecorrectly,andthesolutionisaverygoodone.
Problem 46
Contraa to physics
Ifonespinsacontainerfullofliquid thecentrifugalforcewillpressthe
liquidagainstthecontainer'swall.Thisphenomenon isused veryoften for
thetreatmentofdifrerentproductsunderpressure.Supposethattheitem is
placednoton the wallsofthecontainerbutin thecenterofthe container
(Pic.1).How inthiscasecanweforcetheliquidtopresstheobject?Thatgoes
againsttbe1aw ofphysics.
LetususemethodMMD.ThephysicalcontradictionhereisthattheRliq-
uid-mennshouldpresstheobject(Pic.2J,butbythelawsofphysicstheyhave
topressontotheoppositeside- thewall(Pic.3).Wearenow goingtowork
thisproblem outasTRIZ suggests.
W ewilltry to superimpose thatwhich isnotsuperimposable.Let'
s as-
sumethatwehavetwooppositeactionsatthesametime(Pic.4).

=U --.. -D
. . y
uu ..-.
Hc.r 8C4

8C2 8:5

l'
s
#,1gty
h j
,*
,:
1
,
4,
W.J HL6
104
 Unfortunately the fdsmallmen''press only againsttllewalls and donot
pressagainsttheobject.Thismeansthatthepressuretothewalishoul
d
reversed direction (Pic.5).How can wedo this? Ifwesend onerow oftdmen''
againstanotheq wecan neutralizethe action (Pic.6),thesameaswhen two
teamspuilaropeon oppositeendsartdtheforcesareeven.Howevernothing
preventsusfrom havingheavierandstrongerlfmen''in thebottom row (Pic.7).
Thisistheanswer.
Letushavetwoliquidsin a vessel,forinstance, oiland Mercury (Pic.8).
Duringthespin ofthevessel, the mercuryovercomesthepressureofthe oil
andtheoilwillpressagainsttheobject.Thisisawonderfulsolutionfora
problem thatseemedto beunsolvable.

'
T u
. .
-
u 'U- -= -'
j'l..=-
-
= k.=
j I
S
N.
)
Hc 7
p/c#

Now try to find a solution to Problem #44 aboutthe pipelineseparator.

Imagineyourselfasaseparator.A groupofK bluemen''separatestheflow ofdtred
men''intotwoparts.How sheuld the t tblues''actduring transportation inside
thepipeline?W hatcharacteristicsshouldtheKTblues'Fhaveinordertogetthrough
thepumps?How shouldtheffblues''behaveafterthetrip isoverandthey arein
thesametankwiththeêfredsl'''

105
Chapter25
The IdealMachine is No M achine

7 .' --
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-z
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yîv:jselp,;-;
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Heavy,rugged,inflexible systemsshould bereplaced by light Bairlike>

evenephemeralsystemsbuiltfrom smallparticlesm oleculesatoms ions or
electronscontrolled bydifferentfields.Anidealmachineshould nothavea
heavyweightoralargevolum e.TbeIdealMachineiswhenan action is
eompleted andthereisno machine.Therefore,thedeEnitionoftheIdeal
FinalResultisbasedontheutilizationofthemainlawsofthesystem'stech-
nicalevolution.Atthesametimeitisapsychologicalmethod.When oneis
orientedtoIFR oneisnotthinkingany moreabouttheoldshapeofthema-
chine.ThetransitiontoIFR isaverypowerfulprocedure thatallowsyouto
formulateIFR verypreciselyAtthispoint,letusnotgetintotoom uchdetail.
Themainthingistodemandthateverythingshouldbedonebyitselfljust
likeinafairytale.
Problem 47
Llke In afairytale
Therewasadiscussionaboutanew hothouseonacertainfarm .Goverall
itisnotbad nsaidthedirector.uButthereisnoautomation!Lookattheroofof
thehothouse.Itisalightm etalfram ewitha glass orfilm hinged on one
side.Ifthetemperatureinsidegoeshigherthen200C wewillhavetoliftthe
frame;ifitislessthan200C,wewillhavetoclosetherooflDuringtheday-
106
 '
tim ethetemperatureinthehot- - . ..=..' =-- - -. . .. - -
- A
*
housecouldchangetentimes.W e ..' u -x f; ,z
cannotopenandclosetheroofby A.
. .' - ,
handallthetime.''
''W hybyhand'?'said them e- '
A '' .
d.p
/'
',
X d' t
chanic.HWecan putin a special Iz v-.--.* .=.
x. w=sy
.-.s'' .z.mv
device,like atem perature relay .'. ': j, ..;
, A.
a. . .
W hen atemperaturechangeoc- ' f% v
-.--- - '. , .
curs,thatwillturnthem otoron. J A- ee -w
kt'
l
g.'
-i U.nr-*'' *'*,.4
W ewilldesign a specialgearto A
'. r
'
'
r; ;
-
y.::
.
.4 ,
- . r
.. ;

connectthemotorandtheframe.r az .. . H v./.a. .
''Thatisnotacceptable''reso-
lutelysaidtheaccountant.deW ehavehundredsofhothouses,andifevery one
willhavethismechanism itwillbever.ycomplicatedandcostlyl
GW ehaveatcchnicalcontradiction''summarized thedirector.nW egain in
autom ation butweloseincomplexityandcostofthehothouse.'
Andsuddenlytheïzlrlezp/orappeared.
Ri-et'sformulat.
eIFR,*hesaid.ultshouldbelikeinafairytztle.Agoodfonnulation
ofIFR pltuslmowledgeoftenthgradephysicsandtheproblem isipolvedl
How doweformulateIFR forthisparticularproblem?Whatdid thein-
ventorhaveinmind whenhem entionedtenth gradephysics?
Let'slookatthisproblem ttlgether.Firstofall,noticethatthisisnota
problem thisisasituationoutofwhichwehaveto' iextract'theproblem .
ThesystemulhothotuW 'isveryyoung,ithmsnotyetbecomea/dyriarrticar-flexible'
system.n erefom thetaskistopm-aethehotho- a.sl/fwsto gnotli= r it,
butelimilwte/rsshœlcomilkgs.'rheroofisnotmoveable andtheplantsareoven
heated.Wewillnotevenconsidermechanizingthehothouseat' a11becausetheelec-
tricmotorandgearsareacolnpletelynewsystem.IFRshouldl)elikethis:.q'helxmf
opensup byitselfmsthetemperaturerisesyand closesdown asthetem.
PeraturedroP&''
Aninexw riencedIxlrson:vil1say:Kiltisimpossiblel''Butweknow verywellthat
thistypeofWmiracle''ispossible.
In Problem #32 aboutthe protectionofthepowerlines theferrom ag-
neticringsobtainedand lostmagneticpropertiesbythemselves.W hycan't
wemakeaucontract*withourroof,sotheroofwillgoupanddown?Justas
thethennoseldcontrolsferromagneticrings,1etitcontrolourroofThismeans
thatwecanusethethermalexpansionofm aterial.Let'stakearodand....No
nothingwillcomeofitTherodwillexpandonlyonetenthofonepercenteven
ina hightemperature.Thatisexactlywhy weused thatcharacteristicfor
microm ovements.Inourcasewehavetocreateamovementof20-30cm.
Ifwelookintothephysicstextbookwewillfindachapteraboutbimetallic
plates.two metalstripsareconnected together- copperand iron,Copper
expandsmore rapidly thaniron when heated.Inthebimetallicplate those
stripsconnectedtogetherbendalotundertheapplicationofheat.Ahothouse
107
roofmadewiththesestripswillgoup whenthetemperatureincreasesand
downwhenthetemperaturedecreases.
Problem 48
Shipsofthe 21stCentul
lnaceltaindesignftnnateam ofengineerswasworkingonimprovingapower-
drivenbarge.Theworkwasreallybozing.n erewasnothingnew intheproject.A
bargeisabazge:addam orepowerfulenginegetmoreslxed- thatwasit.
t'Whycan'twetryto developa shipforthe21stCentury'?'theyoungest
engineersaid.tiEverythingwillbecompletelynew in it.*
ttEventhebodyr hisfriendasked.
çtEventhebodyl''answeredtheengineer.=f'
hebodyisthetirsttobechanged,
becauseithasnotbeenchangedforthousandsofyears.Itusedtobewooden
now itismadeofsteel.''
''Whatisthedifference?Itisstillaboxcsaidthethirdengineer.
çtl'hebody alwayswillbeaboxMsomebodyadded.
AndsuddenlytheJntperlforappeared.
.er-,onotarguelhesaid.R'I'hetheoryofsolvinginventiveproblemsshould
beused.Nowadays,thebody ofa ship hastheshape ofa streamlined box
madeoutofsteel.Thistechnicalsystem isin thesecondperiodofitsdevelop-
nzent.Thismeansthatitneedstomakeatransitiontoaflexiblebody.M aybe
itneedstomakeatransition from macroleveltomicrolevel- buildtheship
outofatomsandmoleculescontrolledbyafield.W ecansetamorecourageous
task forourselves.Theidealmachineiswhen thereisnom achine butthe
actionisdone.Thism eansthattheidealbodyiswhenthereisnobodybutthe
shipexists,worksm oves andsoon.Let'strytomakeamodeloutofm inus-
culedwarfsand OperatorSTC.O
Hence,imaginethewalloftheship.Thereisathicksteelplate.Now replace
itwithacrowdofminusculedwadkWhatshouldbedoneinordertokeepthose
dwarfstogetherundertheimpactofthewaves?How shouldthesedwarfsactin
ordertoincreasethespeedoftheship?'rheconventionalwallhasaloterfriction
withwaterandslowsdownthemovement.Butwhenyouhaveawallofdwarfs
youcancommandthem,andtheywilldoanythingyousay
Play with the dwarfs(try tobuild amentalmodelofa new wall).n en
turn back to realtechnology.How in therealworld can wedo whatthese
dwarfsaredoing?
W henyousolvethistask gotothenextone.How should theshiplook
havinganidealbody?HereyouhavetouseOperatorSTC.Supposethesizeof
theshipisequaltoamolecule In realitytheshipdoesnotexist.Thereisa
m olecule,thecargoisan atom .How willthismoleculetransportan atom?
Imaginethispicture andcarrythisconceptovertotherealship.Ithastobe
asthoughthereisabodyandthereisnobody...

108
 Part5
The A lgorithm
ofTalent

Kz' .jj >=

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11)=.z c
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Chapter26
The SuitforPortos

Whenyou seeatown forthefirsttimesomethingsstrikeyoureyesand

somethingsaremissed.'l'hesamethinghappenswithourexcursion iIIOTRIZ.
Afterreadingovereverythingwritten lfoundnothingsaidaboutseveralinter-
estingm ethods,Inordertogetabetterfeelingforthesemethods,wewillbegin
withaproblem.
Problem 49
Thetrain willIeave infive minutes
Bigwoodenlogsareloadedontoopenrailroadcars.Aninspectormeasures
thediameterofeach1oginordertocalculatethevolumeoftheload.Thiswork
progressesveryslowlyuWehavetoholdthetraincthechiefinspectorsaid.frW'
e
cannotIinishtoday''
Andsuddenlyofcourse,theïnrezl/orappeared.
Glhaveanidealoheexclaimed.tvl'hetraincanleaveiniiveminutes.Take...
''
Andheexplainedwhatshouldl:etaken,andwhatneededto1xdone.m mtc.an
yOuX erg
W hen thisproblem waspublishedin theyouthm agazine Pioneer Dwf/l
correctanswel'swerereceivedfrom thosechildrenwhorememberedthatatech-
nicalcontradiction shouldberemovedinordert.osolveatechnicalproblem.
Herearesomeoftheincorrectanswers:
110
 *Letthisworkbedonebyateam of300-500people.
*Detenninevisuallytheaveragediameterofone1ogandcounthow many
ofthem areonthecar.
*Cutcross-sectionsofa1lthelogs thenaccuratelymeasuretheirdiam-
etersafterthetrainhasleft.
Togaininaccuracy,oneneedstopaythepriceofcomplicatingthesystem.
Andviceversa- simplifyameasurementandyouloseaccuracy.Behindthis
technicalcontradiction thephysicaloneishidden - thetrain should leave
thestation,andthetrainshould notleavethestation.
Gsomething''hastobedonetoenablethetraintoleaveandstillremain.
Wecan formulatea new inventivemethod:Ifitisdimcultto measurethe
objectitselflacopyshouldbemade.andthenthatcopycanbemeasured.This
isM ethod #26:Makeacopy andworkwith it.
Inacoupleofminutesonecantakeaphotoofa1Ithelogsfrom thebackof
thecar.A measudng stick isattachedtothelogsasareferencescalebefore
thephotoistaken.Thenthetraincango.AlImeasurementscanbemadefrom
thephoto.
ItisinterestingthatthefirstpersontodescribethisideawasAlexander
Dumas,theauthoroflheTltreeMusketeers.Thereisachapterinhisbook,Ferl
KcrsLater,describinghow Portosordereda new suitfrom atailor.Portos
'
would notagreetoletthetailortouch him when takinghismeasurements.
TheplaywrightMoliere,whowasinthehallofthetailor'sshopatthattime,
foundawayoutofthissituation.M olierebroughtPortosuptothemirrorand
tookhismeasurementsfrom themirrorimage.
Therearemany clevermethodswecoulddiscussatlength.But beinga
visitorin townfortheGrsttime,itisenoughtoview sometypicalbuildings,
walk throughafew typicalstreets,andexamineamapofthetown.
Now you arefamiliarwith severalIawsofthedevelopm entoftechnical
systems,and know abouttwodozen methods.Ihopeyou evenknow how to
usesomeofthephysicalphenomena.Ofcoursethisisonlyonesectionofthe
towncalledTRIZ.butthisisatypicalone.Letusnow lookatam apofTRIZ
andseehow everythingappearsinacom plete,unifiedsystem .
Chapter27
Let's Build a M odelofa Problem

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ThefirstGAlgorithm''ofsolvinginventiveproblem s- ARIZ (theRus-

sianacronym )- wasdevelopedthirtyyearsago.ThewordGalgorithm''meansa
program ofsequentialactions.In math classesyouworkwithalgorithm svery
often.Algorithmscan lx!foundeverywhere.Let'staketheruleforcrossing a
highway.FirstyoulooktotheIeftand iftherearenocarsyougo.Afterreaching
themiddleofthehighway,youIooktotheright,thengo.
lnthefirstchapterofthisbook,Isaid youneeda bridgetogetfrom the
problem totheanswer.ARIZ isthatbridge.TherearesevenstepsinARIZ.
Everystepconsistsofseveralsub-steps.Thetotalnumberot -stepsisaboutfifty
withevery step containing severaldifrerentoperations.Therearerulesthat
helpavoidmistakeswhilegoingfrom steptostep.Theserulescanbecompared
tothehandrailsofabridge.Thereisalistcomprisingthem ainstepsandmeth-
ods.aswellastableson how t.ousephysicaleffects.Thisisacom plexsystem ,
notjustsimplyrulesforasking:'eWhatwillbappenirIdothis'
r
Part1ofARI'Zistheform ulation oftbetask.
Youalreadyknow somethingaboutthis.Wediscussedthequestionofwhen
should aproblem besolvedqmodernizefàeexistings>wlel?l),andwhenasystem
shouldbereplaced(#nJsomethingcomp/elcly??etïJ).TheoperatorSTC ispartof
thefirstchapterOf'ARIZ.W ehavenotyetdiscussedanotherim portantstep-
how touseStandards.
Togetherwith simplesteps there arealsocomplexmethodsconsistingof
112
severalsimplesteps.Simplestepsareuniversal;indeed they can beused to
solvealargevarietyofproblems.Themorecomplexthemethod themoreitis
connected with aspecificclassofproblems.Thereisgreatpowerin complex
methods,andthecombinationofmethodsbringsinterestingandunusualsolu-
tionsthatarevex'y closetothe IdealFinalResult.'l'hem ostpowerfulofthe
complexmethodsarecalledStandards.
Wearealreadyfam iliarwithoneoftheStandards.lnordertomove com-
press,stretch fragm ent- inotherwordscontrol- asubstance(andthatsub-
stancewillnotbedestroyedbytheintroductionofadditives)onecan addferro-
magneticparticlescontrolledbyamagneticlield,
ThefirstpartofztRlzsuggestsanalyzingtheproblem inordertodeterm ine
whetherornotitcan l)esolvedbyusingonet)ftheSt-andards.Ifaproblem is
typical,thereisnoneedtogothrougha1IthestepsofM tlz.Itismucheasierto
usetheappropriateStandard.Therearemorethan80Standards.
Thischapterhelpstoscreentypicalproblems andchangenon-typicalprob-
lems- orre-definethem.Thenumushyrorufogg/'situationsbecomeprecisly
statedproblems.
In thesecond partofARIZ thetransition ismade from theproblem toa
modeloftheproblem.
Therearemanyplayem (partsofthesystem)in aproblem.In themodelof
theproblem.thereareonlytwoplayers.Theconflictbetweenthem isatechnical
contradiction.Veryoftenthemodeloftheproblem consistsoftheobjectitself
andtheenvironmentsurroundingtheobject.YouprobablyrememberProblem
#40abouttheclinkenTheobjectishotclinkeqandtheenvironmentisthecool
aircontactingitssurface.
Inasituationorin atask wetalkabeutthewholetechnicalsystem - butin
amodelweconsideronlytwopartsofthesystem.Thereishotmeltedclinker
andacolumnofcoldairaboveit.Thatisthewholemodel!'l'heblmstfurnaces,
railroadstations andeventhecontninezs arenotincludedinthemodel.'rhere
areonlytwoconflictingpartsleft- andthatisasigniGcantstepfonvard.'l'he
discarded padsareworthlessvariantsthatwouldhavetootherwise beana-
lyzed.
Therearenzlesin ARIZ on how tobuild a modelofa problem.A model
alwaysshouldhaveaProductand aToollan instrumentthatworksonthe
productandchangesit).n isisMethod#27:Buildamodeloftheproblem
'rheconw tdetenninationoftheconflictingpairofelementsveryoftenbringsan
immediatesolutiontotheproblem.Ixt'sseehow itworksinasimpleproblem.
Problem 50
A pound ofgold
In asmallscientiticlaboratoc scientist'sstudy theeffectsofhotacid(m
variousalloys.In acontainerwiththick steelwalls,15-20cubesofdifrerent
alloysareplaced.Acid ispouredon them.Thecham beristhenclosed andan
113
electricoventurnedon.n istestlast,
sbetweenoneandtwoweeks.Thesamples
arethenremovedandtheirsurfacesstudiedunderamicroscope.
?Itisveorbad''saidthemanagerofthelaboratoryonedayGAcid hascor-
rodedthewallsofthecontainen''
<Weshouldputinsomekindofliningj''offeredoneoftheworkersinthelab.
uslaybeweshouid usegoldr
*Orplatinumlsaidanotherworker.
uItwillnotwork>themanagerresponded.''Wewillgain stabilityin the
cham berbutlosein cost.Ihavealreadycalculatedthatitwilltakeaboutone
poundofgold....>
Andsl/cllthrl/.ytheinventorappeared.
œWhydowehavetousegoldr hesaid.Rlaetuslookatamodeloftheproblem,
andautomaticallywewillgetanothersolutionl
How doyoubuildamodeloftheproblem?
First.letusexaminetheproblem.Thereisasystem here.Thesystem con-
sistsofthreeparts- thechamber,theacidandthealloycubes.Usuallypeople
thinkthattheproblem istopreventthechamberwallsfrom beingcorrodedby
theacid.Thismeansthatyou areforced toconsidertheconflictbetween the
cham berandtheacid sonaturallyeverytlnetriestoprotectthewallsfrom the
acid.Canyouimaginewhathappens'?A smalllaboratoorthatisstudyingalloys
shouldnowdropal1projectsandstarttosolveavez.ycomplexproblem that
thousandsorscientistshavehelplessly workedon in thepast:How toprotect
steelefrom corrosion.Supposethatthisproblem willGnallyl)esolved- itNvill
taketime maybeyears.Thealloytesthastobedonetoday nottomorrmv.
Let'susetherulesofmodelbuilding.D eproductisthecubesbeingtested.
'Pheacidactsonthecubes.That'sit- ourmodel()ftheproblem.Thechamber
doesnotfitinthemodel.Theonlyconflicttobeconsideredisthatbetweenthe
cubesandtheacid.
Hereiswherethemostinterestingthinghappens.Acidcorrodesthewallsof
thecham benWeunderstandtheconflictbetweenthechamberandtheacid.In
ourmodelweonly havecubesand acid.W hereistheconflictbetween them ?
W hereistheproblem now?Acidcorrodesthewallsofthecubes.Letitcorrode!
Thisisthegoalot-thetest.Thismeansthatthereisnoconflictingsituation.
Inordertounderstandtheessenceoftheconflictwehavetorem emberthat
wedidnotincludethechamberinourmodel.Theacidshouldstaynexttothe
cubeswithoutthecham ber.Theacidbyitselfcannotdothat.ltwillspreadall
overtheplace.
Thisistheconflictthatneedstoberemoved.Wehavereplacedthevery
complicatedtmskofpreventingcorrosionwiththevery
simpletaskofpreventingtheacidtouchingthecubes Fon
from spreadingorspilling.
Theanswerisclearwithoutfurtheranalysis.n e
cubeshouldbemadehollow asacupsandthenthe Sa s1
acidpouredinsidethecube.
114
 WecanarriveatthesameanswerbyusingS-Field analysis.Gravityfield
FgrchangestheshapeoftheacidS1(forcingittospread)anddoesnotchange
theshapeofthecubeS2.
ThereisnoS-Field Itlacksoneconnection onearrow.
Theremaybeonlytwovariants:
Fos FoR
and
sz ss s2 st
The firstvarinntiswhen theacidtransfersitsweightto thecubeand
pressesagainstit.Forthattheacidshouldbepouredintothecube.
Thesecondvarinntiswhentheacidandthecubehavethesameinfluence
on thegravityfield.Thereisafz.% falloftheacidandthecube.Undersuch
conditionstheacidwillnotseparatefrom thecube.Theoreticallythisisthe
carrectanswer.Yetpractically.forthepulw se ofourproblem,thisisa very
complicatedsystem.
Notethatguessinggaveyouoneanswerwhileanalysisucaught''two.
Yes,SherlockHolmesrejectedguessingwithgoodreason!
ThereisnoS-Field.ltlacksoneconnection onearrow.
Theremaybeonlytwovarian/:
Thefirstvarinntiswhentheacid transfersitsweighttothecubeand
pressesagainstit.Forthattheacidshouldbepouredintothecube.
Tbeseeondvariantiswhentheacidandthecubehavethesameinfluence
onthegravitylield.Thereisafree falloftheacidand thecube.Undersuch
conditionstheacidwillnotseparatefrom thecube.Theoretically thisisthe
correctanswer.Yetpractically forthepurposeofourproblem this isa vez'
y
complicatedsystem.
NotethatguessinggaveyouoneanswerwhileanalysisGcaughtMtwo.
Yes,SherlockHolmesrejectedguessingwith goodreason!
Chapter28
Fam iliarTrick:There is a Substance,
and There is No Substance

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'rhus,Pa.Z't1ofAltlzisdesignedtoformulatethegivenproblem.
Part2of ARIZ isdesignedtomakea transition from the problem toa
model.
lh rt3ofARIZ isdesignedtomakeananalysisofthatmodel.Firstdeter-
minewhichelem entoftheconflictingpairshouldbechanged.rrherearecertain
rulesforthis.TheuTool''shouldbechanged.Onlyifitisimpossibletochangethe
''T(x)l''bytheconditionsofthetaskshouldtheoutsideenvironmentbechanged.
n enextstepisthe formulationofthe1F11.(IdealFinalResult).Forex-
ample:RAcidstickstothecubebyit-selfnIftheanswertotheticubeproblem*was
notquiteclearbefore.itshouldbeclearnow.Thisisaver,ysimpletask.W eused
itonlyasanexam ple.Inmorecomplicatedproblemstheanalysism ustbemore
extensive.ltshouldl)e determined whatsection ofthemodelcannotcomply
withtherequirementsstatedintheIFR andthenwecanfbrmulatethephysi-
ca1contradiction.
l-ookwhatwillhappen:
FirstwehavetodealwithanInventiveSituationin whichseveraltechni-
ca1systemsareincluded.
'rhenwemovefrom thislnventiveSituationt.otheInventiveProblem choos-
ingonlyonetechnicalsystem.
W ethen build amodeloftheproblem,takingonly asectionofthesystem
ftwoelementsofit).
l16
 Finally,wechooseoneelementand itsoperating zonethatneedstobe
changed.
W itheachsteptheareaofsearchgetsnarrower.Diagnosisdeterminesthe
jickarea- Gthesurgeryshouldbedonehere.''
'TheGsickness''is diagnosed.In lnventive Situationswehaveonlyc()m-
moncomplaints:Thisisbad.inconvenienttooexpensive andsoon.From the
diagnosiswemakeatransitionfirsttotheTechnicalContradiction then
tothePbysiealContradiction.
Assoon aswedeterm ine the PhysicalContradiction and the ''sick''
area,theanalysisisconsidered cam plete.
Forexample,takeProblem 40abouttheclinker.W ealreadyknow how to
makethetransitionf' rom aSituationtoaProblem.Everythingwasleftwith-
outany changes.butthereisnolongeracold cruston theclinker.Welzave
alreadydiscussedthemodelofthatproblem:Hotmeltedclinkersurrounded
bycoldair.Now clinkerisaprtWl/cl.Thismeansthatwehavetoworkwith
thesurrounding air.TheIFR statesthatcold airshould preventtheclinker
from coolingof'flThisseems atfirstaprettywildthought.Thecoldairshould
protecttheclinkerfrom the- coldair'
Let>scontinue.W hatareaosaircannotcomplywiththi?IFR requirement?
Probablythatzonedirectlyincontactwiththesurfaceofthfahotclinker.Now
wecan seea PhysicalContradiction.Thatareaofcoldairdirectly above
theclinkershouldcontainsomethingtoholdtheheat,whileatthesam etim e
beemptyinordertoallow theclinkertobeloadedandunloaded.
Hence,a speciallayerofsom esubstanceshould bt*abovethesurfaceof
theclinker andatthe same timeitshould notbe there.bVehavealready
solvedsimilarproblems.
You mayremem beraspecialrule:In those cases wherew ecannot
addnnyforeign substance,wecnn adda modification ofan existing
oneasa third substance.
Inourcasewehaveonlytheclinkerandairthereforethereareonly'three
ansnrers:
1. Use m odified air.Heatthelayerof'airthathasimmediatecontact
withtheclinker.Thisisabadsolution.Itrequiresinstallingspecialburners
thatpollutetheatmosphere.
2.Use am odiled clinker.Coverthesurfaceoftheliquidclinkerwith
smallballsmadeoutoflight.hardclinker.Thiswillbegoodinsulation. 'how-
ever,itwillintroducemanyinconveniences.Theballsm ustbem anufactured
andsomethingmustholdthem insidethecontainerduringthedischargeof
meltedclinker.
3.Use am ixtureofclinkerand air.5Iixairandclinkertoobtain-
foam.Thisisanexcellentinsulator!Pourtheclinkerintothecontainerand
makealayeroffoam thatwillbeagreatinsulatorandagoodcover.Itwillbe
easytopouroutclinkerwithoutpayingattentiontothecover.Liquidclinker
willgetthroughthislideasily.ThereisalidandthereisnoIid.
117
 Theproblem issolvedinprinciple.Whatisleftisjustthetechnicalmatter
ofhow tomakethefoam.Thesimplestmethodistoaddalittlewaterduring
theprocessoffillingthecontainerwith clinker.Noticetheparadox:ln order
topreserveheat,theclinkerissprayedwithcold water.Thatwater,interacting
with hotclinker,willproducetheclinkerfoam.
Thisproblem wasfirstsolvedwithAltlzbytheinventorMichaelSharapov
ofMagnitogorsk USSR.Hisinventionwasimplementedatoncebym anymet-
allurgicalplants.
Theanswertotheproblem with theclinkerissurprisinglysimple.Ihave
nodoubtthatyoucanappreciatetheGbeautyMofit.
Logicalsteps.and directionsofthought are probablythe mostcompli-
cated things.Irecommend re-readingthesepages.Follow how we moved
from thesituation totheproblem ,and Enally tothemodel- how the IFR
and thephysicalcontradictionwereformulated- and h0w wesearched for
thesubstancethatbothexisted anddid notexistatthesametim e.Thisisa
smallfragmentofARIZ,butifyouunderstandstep bystep how thetask is
workedoutthenyouhavegottenthemeaningofARlz andthisbookhasnot
beenreadinvain.

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118
Chapter29
IfThe Problem is Stubborn

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In 800AD,theRomanPopehad ttlcrown CarltheGreat.Thiswasa seri-

ousproblem .Ononehand,itwasnecessaryforthePopettlplacethecrown on
Carl's head;however,in theeyesc,fsubordinates,this meantthatCarlbe-
came the lawfulEmperor with the Church's officialconsent.On the other
hand,thiscould notbepermitted becauseitwouldmeaa thatCarlwoutd get
hispowerfrom thePope- and the Popecould alsotakeitback.
The problem as you can see,isa typicalinventiveone- and Carlthe
Greatfound the correctsolution.Thecoronationsermon wasgoingsmoothly
WhenthePopeliftedthecrowntoplaceitonCarl'shead,Carltookthecrown
from the Pope's handsand placed iton his head himself So,halfway the
crownwasin thePope'shands,and theotherhalfitwasin Carl'shands.The
contradictory requirementswere separated in space andtime.Atthe begin-
ning,thecoronation was in thehandsofthe Pope.Atthe endsitwasin the
handsofCarl.
The fourth partofARIZ was designed precisely to remove thistype of
ctmtradiction.
M ethod28:Separation ofcontradictory requirementsin tim eand/
orin space.
The analysis ofproblems does not always lead to answers even when
ionepreciselyVeryoften ithappens thata contradiction isdetermined and
formulated,butthemeansofremoving itremainsunknown.In thefirstpart
l19
 OCARIZ.meanstocombatthecontradictionwerecollected.
Atfirst.simpletoolsareofrered- likethosethatseparatecontradictory
requirementsintimeandspace.Ifthecontradictioncannotbesolved then
morecomplextoolsshouldbeusedfrom thetableofS-Fieldtransformations.
By thattime,thekindsofsubstancesandfieldsthemodeloftheproblem is
builtwith should be known.Then itisnotso dim cultto draw an S-n eld
diagram,and thetableshowshow totransform thediagram togetouran-
swer.Iftheproblem stillcannotbesolved.thefburth partOI-ARIZ ofrersone
moretool:A TableofPhysicalEffectsandPhenomena.Italsorevealsin
whichcasesthetableshouldbeused.
SupposewehavedifricultyinsolvingProblem 37 - how toreplacethe
m icroscrewtIn theTablewelook in thesection'iMicromovements.''Therewe
f5ndthreephysicaleffects- thermalexpansion,oppositepiezoefrect.andmap
netostriction.W ecanthenopenareferencebook togetmpredetailsonthese
effbcts.
Whatifthe problem continuestobe stubborn?Thenthe lastreserve is
used:TheTableofTypicalM ethodsand Principles.
Inordertodevelopthistable,overfortythousandpatentswereanalyzed.
Onlyverystrong patentswereselected.Thetableshowswhatkindofmeth-
odscanbeusedtoremovetechnicalcontradictions.In essence,thistablere-
flectstheexperienceofseveralgenerationsofinventors.Itshowsyou how
inventorssolvedproblemsthatweresim ilartoyours.
Ifonefeelsthattheproblem isstillnotsolved,then somewherein the
beginningtherewasamistake.OneshouldgobacktoPart1OCARIZ.
Aftertheproblem issolved.theworkisstillnotsnished.A carefulstep-
by-stepanalysisofthesolutionisperform edinordertoyieldsolutionstonew
problems.ThisisPart5 ofARIZ.Thenthedevelopmentoffound solutions
bejprinsand isusedtowardsolvingotherproblems.ThisisPart6ofARIZ.
Forexample,theideaofaprotectivelayermadeoutoffoam intheclinker
problem canbeusedagaininProblem 39tthetransportationofcoalbycon-
vcyorbelt).Let'scovertheoreon theconveyorwithalayeroffoam toelimi-
natethedust.lt'seasy,and thefoam willalsonotinterferewithunloading
theconveyor- anexcellentsolution.
(PaH 7ofARlz isaselr-check.Hereonecomparestheactualprocedure
usedinsolvingtheproblem withthatofferedbyAlllz.Weretheredeviations?
W hy?DidARIZ haveflawsin itssteps?W hy?Can weaddtothelistofstan-
dardsthenew onefound?
lnschoolsandseminarsonARIZ,hundredsorwrittensolutionsareana-
lyzedeveryyear.Thesenotesalltnvustodeterm inewhatmistakesweremade
by the studentsand/orby ARIZ.Such mistakesare studjed carefully,and
correctionsareenteredintothesystem ofAltlz.AtthebeginningIcompared
ARIZ withatown.Now wecansaythatARIZ isatown wheretheconstruc-
tionofnew buildingsisacontinuousprocess.Smallnew blocksarebuiltold
blocksarerebuilt.and new roadsareconstructed.
120
Chapter30
How to Becom e a M aster

Very often Ihave had to answerthe question:i'How can Ibecome an

inventoo''Sometimes peoplesay:'4please look atmy projectand tellme
whetherornotIcanbeaninventon''Theprojectsal'eusuallyveryweak,but
thishasnobearingonan abilitytobecom eaninventtdr.
WhenIwasinthefourth gradeanideastruckme:''Whatwould happen
ifa blimp wasm ade with a vacuum inside? Afterall.thelighterthe gas
insidetheblimp.themoreforcetherewouldbetoIiftitupq''
A verybrilliantideacam eoutofthatconclusion:lfinside theblimp a
com pletevacuum could bedeveloped then theliftingforcewouldbegreat-
est.1neverrealizedthat,inthiscase,atmosphericpressurew'ouldcrushthe
blimp!
So.how tobecomeaninventor?
Thisisnotdifrerentfrom how tobecom eawriterasurgeon,apilot and
soon.
Anyonecan become a professionalin any type ()f'activity in general.
First,onehastogetaneducation then graduate f'rom college.Thereare
institutionsformostprofessions.Ifthisisanew proression onem ustedu-
cateoneself.H()w dida personbecom eamotionpicturecam eramanin,let
ussay.19109.Byindependentlylearningthisnew profession throughprac-
tice.How didaperson becomeaprofessionalin rockettechnologyin 1930?
Again,independentlystudyingthesubjectfrom books.andpracticingwith
121
othergroupsorinterestedpeople.Attheendof1950thescienceoftechnol-
ogyforecastingwasformed.Wheredidsuch professionalpeoplecomefrom?
Allofthem hadcomefrom otherprofessions- engineers economists his-
toriansandsoon.
1wanttoemphasizethatanyonecan becomeaprolbssional- youjust
havetolearn the subjectmatter.That'sit.Outofthethousandsofpeople
whograduatefrom highschoolprobablyal1canbecomeprofessionals.Inre-
ality,thisnottnle.And from athousandprofessionals onlyonehundredmay
becom eM asterortheirprofession.
Again,Imustem phasizethat ingeneraleveoronecanbecomeaM aster.
lnreality oneoutoftendosobecauseofthehighpriceitcostsinlabor.Profes-
sionalsstudyhardforfiveorsixyears- andsometimestenyears.A Master
learnsa1lhislife.A professionalworksseven oreighthoursaday- maybe
nineorten.A M asterworksallthetim e.Sometim espeoplesay.Kdlmokathim !
How talented beis!Eveorthinghedoesseemssoeasy''Thisisaridiculous
statementbecausetalentis99percenthard work.
W hatthen?
Then.outoftenMasters,onlyonewillbecomeaRGrandmastenrHere,not
everythingdependsontheperson.FirstofalldemandfortheuGrandmaster's''
productneedstoemergefrom society Someonefirstneedstoorderaunique
buildingfrom auMaster-Architect*providingthenecessarychallengeforthat
M astertostretch andgrow toRGrandmasten''Therearealsoatheroutside
factors.TheareaoftheMaster'sactivityshouldhavepotentialsfor develop-
m ent.Inthe19thCenturythereweremanygreatMasterswhodesignedand
builtsailingships.ButtheGrandmasterofshipbuildingsoonbecameawatch-
m akerandapainterwhentheinventorRobertFultonbuilttheunpretentious
steamboat.
W henoneaskshow tobecomean inventorwhatonereallyhasinmindis
how tobecomeaM aster- orevenGrandm aster.Now you know theanswer.
First,you havetobecomeaprofessional.Anyonecan accomplish that.Then
wewillsee....
Asyettherearenolearninginstitutionstoteach how tobecomeaninven-
tonBut,therearemanyseminarscoursesschoolsand publicinstitutionsin
RussiatodaythatteachinventivecreativityHowever,thisbookisenoughfor
youtogetstarted.
M uch usefulinrorm ation ispublishedin difrerentmagazinesin Russia.
Articleson diobrentphysicalchemical andgeometricaleffectscreatean
interestam ong readers.A specialpage in themagazine PioneerFrlz/à is
calledGToInvent?Itissodifricult!ItissosimplelMThisisveryuseful.The
meaningofthetitle isclear.ltisdifficulttoinventwithouthavingknowl-
edgeofinventivemethods.Itismuch easierwiththatknowledge.Thepur-
poseofPioneer Truth'spageisto createa competition and an interestin
creativethinkingamongreaders.Theycangeta11thehelptheywant.W in-
nersgetprizes,booksandothergifts.
122
 Below are sixproblemsfrom thatmagazine.Try yourability.lfyou can
solvefauroutofsix,you havea good chance ofwinning.
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stickslying on thefloor.Suddenly it . i . s. * jjj,, t ,
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startstodbark.''Itis notdifficultto understandhOw the toy moves on the
floflr.There isa battery,an electric motor,and w'heels.lt is also easy to
understand how itbarks.There îs a battery,a smallspeaker,and soon.
Thetrick istofind outhow the dog can fsnd one specificstick outt)fm any.
Arealdogdoesitbysniffingtheobject.Butthetoyshoulddoitdifferently.
Whatkind ofinvisiblemark can be placed on thatstick,and how can the
(logdetect it.lfyou find itdifficult togetthe answer,look at a seventh
jradephysicstextbook.
Problem 52
Dangerous planet
A veryunusualPlanetwasdescribed in a Gction story.Everythingon
thatplanetwas similartoourPlanetEarth exceptthatthebirds and in-
sectsflew atsupersonicspeeds.W e arenotgoing to clarify how they did
this.The essence nfthe story is that itwasvery dangerous to encounter
suchcreatures.They could killyou likea bullet.So,the airis filled with
Tyingbullets''andtçshells.Mrlawocasmonautsdisembarked from theirspace-
sàip and were nearly killed.Even an armored vehicle was destroyed by
tkesesupersonicdiflies.''Canyou imaginebeingamemberofan expedition
onthatplanet?
Offersafety measuresfbrthecosmonauts.
problem 53
Iciclesin roofguttersand downspouts
In spring a1otofsnow collectsin guttersand downspouts.During the
iay,itmeltspartiallyand atnightfreezesagain.Slowlybutsurely ahuge
iceplugisdeveloped inside thespout.Thelength ofthatplug sometimes
reachesseveralmeters.Thisplugisheld tightinsideby attachingitselfto
1tàeinnerwallofthe spout. On spring daysthe sun heatsthe spoutm elt-
lingthesurface()fthehuge icicle.Finally itfallsdown,breakingthe bend
123
inthespout.Splintersofthaticiclecan flyoutfrom the spoutand hurt
pedestrians,
You havetofind a way topreventdownspoutsfrom being damaged
andpedestriansfrom beinghurtwhen thespouticiclesfalldown.
Problem 54
A dropofpaintisthe main hero
Onceupon a tim e the inventor B.Travkin discovered thatwhen a
dropoftooth-cleaningliquidisputon thesurfaceofwateritdevelopsa
umovingflower''effect.Inordertobetterseethiseffect theinventoradded
black ink to the t00th cleaner.This is how the invention called Fokaj
started.FokajistheRussianabbreviationofuthepatternsdevelopedfrom
contactsbetweenactiveliquids.'
ItiseasytomakeamotionpicturebyusingFokaj.Forinstance athin
layerofyellow liquidispouredintoa glasspan.Thenonedropofa blue
liquid isadded.Ontheborderbetween blueandyellow a green ring ap-
pears.Thedropspreadsslowly,mixeswithmoreliquid.thecolorschange,
and a freakish play ofcolorsuddenlyappears.Theglasspan is lighted
and thecamerastarts.ltlookslike ascenef'rom anotherplanet lighted
by ae'bluesun.'Fokajisveryappealing,becauseordinary liquidscanbe
used:varnish glycerin,iiquidsoap.inkandglue.AtthesametimeFokaj
hasoneshortcoming.ltisimpossibletocontrolthem ovem entofthedrops
andtheplayofcolors.Thecameraoperatorhastointerruptshootingand
makecorrectionswitha brush and astick.Thisistoo cum bersom e.Our
goalistocontrolthedropmovementsfrom thebottom ofthepanduring
thephotographingofthescene.
Forinstance,thecameramarkhastom akeamoviedepivtingballlight-
ning.Thepanis5lledwithblueliquidtwo-to-threemillimetersdeep.This
willbethe sky.We addonedropoforangeliquid.Thedropfallsdownto
thebottom ofthe pan.Aroundthedropa colorcrown appears.Sofarev-
erything isfine.Wenow haveballlightning.Theproblem is how tocon-
trolthemovementorthatcrown.Theballlightningshouldspin andhave
a spiralmovement- ortakesomeotherpath.Balllightning sometimes
splits-up.How can wesplitourdrop?How canweshow theexplosion?
Youcanseenow how simpletheproblem is.How can wefind awayto
controlthe motionofthedropwithoutabrushorastick'?
Problem 55
W ecan manage the droplets
A testingdevicewasassembledin oneofthelaboratories.A ver.yimportant
testhadt.obeperformedwithpolm ers.Thisdevicehasaverticaltube,insideof
whichadropletofpolymerhastofall.'l'hedevicewasturnedonand....
124
 (trlaurn it off,''said the supervisor ofthe laboratory.Rlt's no good.We
needsmalldroplets,and whatwe havenow are only largedrops.''
aonlylarge dropletscouldbemade,''saidthe engineer.'srrhereisnoth-
ingwe can do.''
tdsvehavetobreakupthedropswhilethey arefalling,''objectedthe
supervisor.4t1donotknow how todothat....lnstallascreen?No,that'sno
gocpdeither.Thedropletsshouldn'thave any obstaclesin theirfa1l.''
And suddenly theinventorappeared.
'dllon'tworry,wecan m anage thedroplets''he said.ïtWehaveonesub-
stance.Let'sadd anothersubstanceand afield.ltisvery simple.The field
willacton tbe second substance tobreak down dropsinto dropletswhile
theyt13,.''
Problem 56
#and B were sitling on a pipe
Therearetwo devices- A and B - connectedby a steelpipe.Usually
(IeviceA hasahighertemperaturethen devicel.Thepipeisheated,andthe
heatradiatesthrough thewallsofthe pipefrom A toB (similartoheatfrom
h0ttearadiating through thecup into the handle).Sometimesthetempera-
turein deviceB sharply increases.Heatshould notmovefrom B toA.What
tanbedonewiththepipesothattheheatisconductedonlyinonedirection -
from A toB?

j#QLw
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125
 Pad 6
The Am azing
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Technicalproblemsmustbesolvedin a11areasofhumanactivity.Thefoun-
dationoftheseproblemsisa1 'waystheremovalofcontradictions.lntim eatheory
forsolvingproblemswillbedevelopedin science ar't and theadministrative
activitiesofsocietyIndividualtheorieswillslowlyblendintoaucommonTheory
ofcreativeThinkinpnrfhismayhappenin20to3oyears.rrodaywemustperfect
ourCreativeThinltingprocessbysolvinginventiveproblem s.
W ecanstartwithproblemsthatrequireonlyourm indsandsomethought.
Theseproblemsdonotrequireanyspecialized knowledgeofphysics.Theycan
besolvedbysixthgradestudentswhoneed onlythinkalittle.
Problem 57
The hunterand thedog
Oncetherewasanoldhunterwhobroughthisdoghuntingintheforest.
Thedogbarked when itfounditsprey,andthehunterwalked towardthe
sound.Butdisasterstruckwhenthehunterlosthishearing.Inordertofind
itsprey.thedogmustbefreeandnotkeptclosetothehunter.But.sincethe
huntercouldn'thearthedogbarking,thedogmuststaycloseenough tobe
withinthehunter'ssight.Thisisacontradiction!
AndsltddenlvtheJatlt?nlfpc...
No!In thisstorytheinventordidnotappear.Theo1dhunterstanred for
manydaystryingtothinkofwhattodo.Finallyhefoundthesolution.
Letustrytosolvethepmblem.Fimtwehavetodmw adiagram oftheamditions
oftheproblem:Y og''S!.tArrow 1)developsanacottsticallield- barks(Fzhkt.).
Field FA(,actsonRllunter'searsmS2(Arr0w 2).Thehunterwalkstoward
thedog- S1(Arrow 3).
Now wehavean S-Field,andeverythingisfine..
When thehunterlosthishearing,hecouldn'thearthedogbarking.The
field;Fae1stillexistsbutdoesnotactonthehunter(seethefarrightlineon
thedrawingbelow).
F #'F
2 4 Z 1
z
#
sa- - -a- + s4 sa sl
TheS-Fieldisnow destroyed:FacisnotactingonS2,andthereforeS2isnot
movingtowardsS1.W hatcanwedo?
(7l-cott- ,itisnotacceptabletokeepthedognexttothehuntzm Itisnotaccept-
ableeithertoofl' erahearingaid.Theoldhunterdcesnotlmvethatkindofhelp.
lnsolvingthisproblem avoidusingtheN'rialandErroremethod.Thisprob-
1em ishomework.YoucanfindtheanswerinthebookEvilSpiritofYamboohby
G.Fedoseyev.
Probsem 58
Therearealibis,but....
ThefollowingstoryappearedinanissueofthemagazineWorldo/-Atfwert-
turesïOnenighttwopeoplewerekilled.OnewasthegangsterMorgan,andthe
otherwas ascientist LeoLanser.In tbe srstmurdercase thesuspectwas
Morgan'scompetinggangster,Foytlnthesecondcasethesuspectwasprofessor
Graycher.However,eachsuspectsubmittedproofoftheiralibis.Intheendthe
prosecutorconvictedboth suspect's.Thequestion is:How couldtheybothhave
comm ittedcrimesandyetstillhaveprovenalibis?
Problem 59
The arrow ofRobin Hood
RobinHoodraisedhisbow andfired.Anarrow flew throughtheairtoward
thesherifsscout.
uHemissedagainlnexclaimedthefilm director.f''l'wometel-shigherthanthe
target!W ehaveachampionarcherasastuntm an andnothingisgoingright.''
Nl-et'smakeacompositescenecofl-
eredthecameraman.eWewilltakethree
dilrerentshots.Firstthebow andthentheflyingarrow.RobinHoodwillthen
 movewithinthreemetersofthescoutandlwillmakethefinalshot.lhopethat
from adistance ofthree metem hecan hitthe target.n en we willmakea
montageoftheclipsandbeEnishedc
uNeverl'theproducershouted.tq'heaudienceknowsthistricktoowell.The
sceneshouldbeshotcontinuously RobinHood releasesthearrow.n earrow
fliesandstrikesthescoutintheheart.EveryoneshouldseethatRobinHlxyd
madetheshotfrom adistance.Weneedreality'
Gn enyouwillhavetomakethemoviewithoutmecsaidtheactorplaying
theroleofthescoutandhepulledapieceofplm oodfrom hisjacketpocket.
ultobinHoodhimselfcouldneverhithistargetfrom thatdistance.Thisister-
rible!1mustconcentrateonacting,butinsteadIhavetothinkaboutwhathap-
pensifthearrowisofrjustalittlebit....''
ThestuntmanplayingRobinHoodwalkedoverandspreadhisarmswitha
guiltyface.t*IneverworriedduringtheOlm picgamesmsmuch asIdonow.l
raisethebow atthelastmomentbecauseI-m afraidIR1shoottheactoro
U omorrow theweatherwillnotberight*thecameramansaid.Glt'sbestto
finishthisscenetoday'
AndM4!lnventorappeured.
uWecandoittodayohesaid.t
% ejustneedalittletrick andthearrow will
hitthespotwiththewoodenplate.'
Inhalfan hourtheshootingcontinuedandthescenewassnishedwithout
complications.WhatdoyouthinktheInventorofrered?
Let'stryto clarify theconditionsofthe problem :Combined shotswere
notallowed.RobinHoodwasstandingfarfrom thescout,and theaudience
mustseethearrow flyandhitthescout.Inthejacketoftheactorplayingthe
scoutwasasm allwoodenboardthatthearrow musthit.Thetargetwasnot
onlysmallitwasmoveable.
RobinHoodseesthescoutcomingoutfrom behindatree,andtheshoot-
ingbegins.
Sofar,wehavehaddetectiveproblemsand problemsin cinematography
Now wewilloflbryouaproblem from thetheater.
Problem 60
The flag ofGascon
Oncetherewasa rehearsalofCyranodt'Scrgerac byRostand,Beautiful
decorationsweremade and theactoo playedtheirpartsverywell- yetthe
producerwmsnotsatistied.
Gl-lervGasam defie.stheenemychesaidtohismqskqtant.N' hefhgissetonatall
flagpoleovercxascon'spxsition.'nzisisthecenterofthebattle.Butwecannot/èc!itl
*rWhyisthatr askedtheassistant.lcyrannisEghtingundertheflag.r
'q'he(IM ishangingmotionless,MsaidtheproducerGItlœkslAeapieceofcloth.
rl'hellagshouldflyinthewindl'
el-low can wedothat?''theassistantsaidspreading outhishands.R' I'he
l30
stageisbig,and wewouldhavetoin- -
r.
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Problem 61 'w -''' .R
Iam going to the toy store-... C-'h - . . -'
)o.v
t
T uo ..- :
Abigapparatuswasdevelopedandas- '.
.
.)'t/ '-x ' = '
sembled inoneoftheCollegesofPhysics.
ltsmain partwasa hugemagnet50meterstall.Theapparatusrequiredgreat
accuracy sothemagnetwasperfectly straightand highly polished.
Andsuddenlytheworstthinghappened.A coupleofkilogramsofiron pow-
derwerefoundonthepolishedsurfaceof
. .. the magnet.Physicistswere very con-
cerned.How couldtheyclean thatpowder
ofrthemagnet? The magnetic field was
holdingeveryparticleofironsotightitwas
impossibletoblow orwashthepowderofll
ef '!'
''--
t
k
?
Ifascraperwasused,thepolishedmag-
.
''
''
. netsurface would bedestroyed.Dissolv-
J ingthepowderwith acidwasnogoodbe-
:;..
. j p;
causetheacid wouldcorrodethemagnet.
-r' Andtheinventorappeared,ofcourse.
i .Clam goingtothetoystorelhesaid.fêl
Z'V. willcleanthemagnetinhalfanhour,''
U a.--.
-..- .. - =. a c.w .. v
i-o'-
s
stances and theField.In orderto break
up thisS-lpield we have to introduce a
third substance.'Wrhatkindofsubstanceshould beintroduced?
Thepatentwasissued on thissolutiontothisproblem.Bytheway ftluz-th
gradestudentsalsosolvedthisproblem.
Froblem 62
Lazurite for liRtlnning on Waves''
In thestoz'y<dlkldnnl
'ng-on-svavesy''byAlexanderGreen,therewasa beautiful
memorialinGel-Guesquareofamysteriouswomarlnmningoverthesurfaceofthe
sea.One day a young sculptor appem-ed who wanted toerectexactly the same
13l
 memorialasinthatstoryltwaseasyto ... . .Jr.;. ... .''::.:..
makea statue ofthewoman - light, i c.i
n.J
r.''--' 'J
.
.'
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n'-
--'z''-'k'--
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rushing,mysteri ous.Underherfeetthe fx.;?-x acqjj' -
n-tx
qjr'k..,y. L-j,.t.2.:
.t:à
a wa%cj.égLVR
scttlptordecidedf.o place aflatplateof .krz
Q.jî
$
lxazurite,a'naturalbluish-white stone
thatLsremlniscentofafonming œean. K -
Filty largestoneblocksweredeliv-
ered to his shop.The most efficient ' * l
method wasemployed to form a cube
outofthestoneblocks.A torchwasused s. ''
'
tolevelthesurfaceofthestone.Sharp, TLr'*'
W-Y''
'
.
oruneven,edgeswere melted by the
flame.rl'hework,howeveqwentslowly
itwasnecessarytoremovethetorch and check each surfacepericdicallyThe
work was often interrupted out offearthat the overheated Lazurite might
crack.
rnw sculptorwasnenrous,Green'smemorialcelebration wasneam butdtRur1-
ni
né'
cotldnotbeerectedinthetownsqum'
e.Oncerthescul
ptor'
ssixth-gradedaughter
ofreredasimplemethodtoallow speedinpupthelevelingprocessbyafactoroften.
Thespeedofthewtlrkincreased withoutinterruption.Doyouhavearlideawhatthe
sculpfor'sdaughteroffered?
Problem 63
An idealsolution
Welding by friction isoneofthemostsimple methodsofconnectingtwo
metals.Onepiece ofmetalisplaced in a fixed position while the otheris
rotated againstit.Aslong asthereisagap between themetalpiecesnothing
happens.Assoon asthepartsare pressed togetherhigh heatdevelopsin the
area ofcontact,andthemetalstartstomelt.Ifweapplyhigh pressurethetw0
partswillweldtogether,
In afactory,a pipelinehasto be builtoutofcastiron pipes 10 meters
long.Thesepipesshould beconnected bywelding them with friction.In()r-
dertoturn thesepipes,ahugemachinemustbebuilt.Thepipelineshouldgcl
through severalshopsinthefactoryThechiefengineerdecidedtogetadvice
from hisengineers.
'%Vecmmotchangethemethodofwelding/hesaid.KWeldingbyfrictionmustbe
used.Theweldingmachinecannotfitintheshopsthepipelinehasttlgothrough.''
%tWecan stopproduction in thefirstshop,dismantletheequipment,install
thepipeline,and putthe equipmenttogetheragain.Then go on tothenext
shop,''saidone engineer.
ttrrhatwon'twork,''saidanotherengineerN'heshopw111losea1otoftime.Wecan
buildthepixlineoutofshoztpipesonly50centimetezslonpA smallermachinecan
turnthepipe.Wecouldinstallthepipelinewithoutclistlzrbingtheshop.''
I32
 txhatisnogoodeitherymrepliedthechiefengineenY ithpipesofthislength
wewillhavealotofseams,andthepipelinewouldbeunreliable.Besides,we
cazmetchangetheprojed.Itwœsdecided thepipesshouldbe10meterslong,
andthat'show longtheyshouldbe.''
Andsuddenlytheinventorappeared.
'*Ican ofreran idealsolutionl hesaid.d'
Thereisacontradiction here.The
pipeshould berotated inordertobewelded- andthepipeshouldnotbero-
tated inordertoavoid using abigmachine.Theidealsolutionis:'I'hepipeis
rotatedanditisnotrotated.Forthatwehave1....>Whatdoyouthink?
Problem 64
A device thatneverfails
In achemicalprocessing planta containerisfilledwithaverycorrosive
liquid.Theforeman complainedtohisboss:RIhavetoknow how muchliquid
flowsfrom thecontainerintothereactorWehavetried difrerentdevicesof
metaland glass buttheliquidsoon corrodestheml
ç'W enow havemetalcontainersthatresistcorrosion*thebossrepeated.
%'Wecan orderadevicemadeofthismetall
GItwilltaketoomuchtimelsaidtheforeman.
iWhatifwejustmeasuretheleveloftheliquid in thecontainerr asked
f
theboss.
uWewillnotgettherequiredaccuracyy''answeredtheforeman.urf'helevel
oftheliquidchangesverylittle.Justtrytoseeit.Besides,itisinconvenient
becausethecontainerisinstallednexttotheceiling.''
An#heretheinventorappeared.
uM ydevicewillworkforever,mhesaid.u'Trytom easurenotliquid but....''
TU tosolvethispreblem .

l33
Chapter32
Keys to Problem s

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in previouschapters.Thiswillmakeit
easierforyoutosolveotherproblem s. j I y,
.4....
Y+z .. ..
Wewi llstartwithProblem #11.
painting children's wooden furni-
'
'
1.
tf
ureaThesolutionistopaintthetreebe-
,1
.-x
orecuttingitdown.A paintsolution is j;
pnuredovertherootsofthetree.Theso- ,1 x. .
.-
%I
lution mixeswith thetree'ssapandspreadsthroughoutthetree.
Problem #13,m -indingglasssheets,isnotdim culttosolve.Tempo-
rarythinsheetsofglassarepackedinathickbundleandgroundtogether.
Problem #16isabouttbeairplanethatmade an emergency land-
ing in a leld.Weshould usea diri-
gible,andweshouldnotuseadirigible.
T 'rwobigelasticbagsareplacedunder
thewings and filled with air.These
. . ..',;
. , bagsgentlylifttheairplane.Bigplat-
formsonwheelsareplacedunderthese
bags.Now we can tow theairplane.
Thereïsadirigible,andthereisatadi-
rigible - the airplaneis sup-
portedbyairbags.
Problem #20isaboutthe
catam aran.Itisalsonotcom -
plicated.Ifyou remembertech-
nicalsysten:sduring the third
stageoftheirdeveloprnentbe-
conaenloredynnnnic nàore nex-
ible,andmoreorganized.
InventorE.Lapin received
Patent#524728 on thecatalna- -.
ran.Ithadtwobodiesconnected ' ..-
with expandable polesallowing '=
thebodiestobeclosetoeachothen
Thi . '
y x' .u
scatam aran could also go '-.-
throughshallowpartsoftheriver X- / -
withgreaterease. ?
Problem #24,aboutthe -a=
dredgingmaehine,hasasimi- ) .-
.j
J.7' ...s.z.
.' = '
larsolution.rrhepipelineshould
becomemore dyTlAmic- more ''
tlexibleandmoveable.Duringgoodweatherthepipelinestaysallovewater.Dun
ingastorm,itgoesunderneath thewater
I *ocw Pmblem #25 is about tbe pro-
a peller for Carlson.Italso can be
&'x
.; j yK -
c
.yr
>=
-
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,- solvedbytransformationofthetechni-
.
.. -- calsystem intoadynamicandchange-
ableone.' rhepropellershould bebig
<'
. duringflightandsmallontheground.
1 .
o . 'I' hebladesofthepropcanbemadeof
thin,llexible stripswhich are then
l wound-up likea toy Gtongue.''W hile
spinning,thebladesofthepropwillun-
windandbecomef'ullsizeblades.When
j thepropellerstalls,thebladeswillcurl
--%X--
N -.
'''' back.
. q.
Itisinterestingthatseveralinven-
-. . t.t)r.6wereimsuedpatentsonsimilarde-
V sigrzs.TosavedrowningIxwople,along
elasticpim iscurled1r1t0aroll.Assoon
4 . -
.
asairisforcedinsidethepipe,itNvilltm-
> 'o z' windandstretchfrom theboattowards
=ww-. >
thedrosvningperson.
Problem #23isaboutacontour
Iinem ovie and isdilcult.Butyou know the nzle:Ferromagneticpowder
introduced into asubstance can acttocontrolthesubstance'smovements
throughamagneticfield.lnsteadofacord.wecan takeaflexibletubeand511
itupwith ferromagneticpowder.Wecaneventakeathread soakitinglue
andcoveritwith powderThethreadisplacedon athin irksulatedplate,and
eontrolledbyastm ngmagneticfieldfrom underneaththeplate.
Problem #26isahmtthesettingofdiamond ' ,andismorecom-
plexthanthepreviotlsproblem.lronw wdermustbesprayedoverthediamontks
Withthecontmlofamagneticseld,alldiamondswillaligntopup.
TheseproblemsaresimilartoProblem #57 aboutthehunterand the
dog.In orderforafield toacton asubstance anothersubstanceshouldbe
addedwhichcanrespondtothatseld.Anotherxtsubstance'respondingtothe
soundfieldshouldbeaddedtothehunter.
i Problem #27isalmutpackap x..- -
'7qj.
nngzleapp
aboluetsb
.Herewehavet.ousethe
reaking-uptheS-Field
.
,z
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'''illlp.
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A third substance,also fruit-like, iI.I'
tI I
jr,.
r.
shouldbeplacedbetweentwocollid- :,
ingfruits.Letisplacetwodozenping- '''
Pongba1Isintoacartonofappl
es.'
rhe T-tV) . '17
ballswillsoftenthei mpactofthe ''-
z..-
'- ;
.. .w tr!.x yj
I
apples. Thecarton isplacedona .
' .. 'îz;v--,--
q;-ays
vibro-
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l table
T h
e bal
ls
,bei
ng ligh
ter
, .
. ....
.
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.
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W risetothetopofthefruitand ''-Z2'- = . 2---
taketheabuseawayfrom thefalling .' ''.'.'.''''' ' ' '' '.''. . . . .
apples.
'l''hequestionarises:''Whatshouldwedowiththeballsafterthecartonis
filledwithapplesr
ltisridiculoustopickthem outbyhandandputthem intoanothercarton.
'Pheproblem ofhowtomoveobjed,
sisalreadyknowntoyou.Asteelplateis
installedintothebodyoftheballs.Anelectromagnetisplacedabovethecar-
ton.Alterthecartonisfilled theelectrom agnetisturnedon,andalltheballs
jumpoutofthecarton.'rheconveyorremovesthefullcartonandpositionsan
emptyone.'rheelectromagnetisturnedoffandal1theballsfallintotheempty
carton- andthecyclestar'tsoveragain.
Problem #38isaboutiron powderm ixedw itb apolm er.Thisprob-
lem issimilartotheoneinthethirdchapteraboutoil./l'heansweristhesame.
Anironcompoundisusedthatbreaks-upin hotpolymer
Problem #44,aboutthe oilpipeline,ismorecomplicated.Thereare
liquidsinthepipelinenexttoeachotherandtheyareseparatedonlybyabig
rubberball.LretususeOperatorSTC.Inourmind,letusdecreasethesizeof
the ball.Instead ofonebigball.wewillusemany tennisballs,orfloating
pelletsqA patentonthistypeofplugwasissued.Thissolutionisvenrlogical-
arigidsystem becomesmoredynamic,Thiscorresmndswiththenaturalten-
dencyofthedevelopmentoftechnicalsystems.
Ifwecontinuetheexperimentwewillhavetomakeatransitionfrom pellets
toevensmallerparticles- molecules.A new jdeanow emerges:Makeaplug
outofliquidf)rgas.A gasuplug''cannotseparatetheoilbecauseoilcanpass
throughgas.ButaliquidRplugnispossible.Forexample oneoftheproductsis
kerosene,then aNvaterpluglandthentheotherpmdud isgasoline.
Thiswaterseparatorhasalotofadvantages.Itneversticltsinsidethepipe-
lineorthepum pingstation.Thereisadisadvantagetousingawaterseparator.
Thepetroleum productbeforeandaftertheuplu/'willimpregnatetheinsideof
theltplug''and slowlymixwithit.ltwillbe dimculttoseparatethepetroleum
from thewateratthefinalstation,andthismixediplugemustbethrownaway
LetustrytoformulatetheIFR.Theliquidsubstanceoftheseparatoratthe
finalstation hmsf.oseparatefrom thepetroleum by itselfln ereareonly two
possibilities.Eithertheliquidbecomessolidand settlesdown,oritbecomes
gaseousandevaporates.
RemembertheoId principle:Mattercan bedissolved only within similar
m attenPetroleum isan orgnnicsubstance.Weneeda separatorthatwillnot
dissolveinpetroleum.n ereforetheseparatorshouldbemadeofanon-organic
liquid.Itshouldbeinexpensive safe and inez.ttopetroleum.Havingsomany
precisecharacteristicswecaneasilyfindtheneededsubstanceinahandbook.A
Gseparatoe'madeoutofAquaAmm oniawillsecuretheseparationofpetr' o-
Ieum productsandgothroughthepipelinewithoutaproblem.Duringtranspor-
tation.thisseparatorwillpartiallymixwiththepetroleum.'rhisisnorealdan-
genAtthefinalstation,theam moniawillturnintoagasandevaporate,andthe
petroleum willstayinthereservoir.
Aftersolvingtheuplug''problem,wecan now attackProblem #48- the
lxydy oftbe sbip.Undertheconditionsofthisproblem thebodyoftheship
shouldl)eflexibleandmoveable.Well,letusimaginethatthebodyoftheshipis
madeofliquid.n isseemsacrazyidea.Butwealreadyhavesomeexpertisein
thetransform ation ofsolidmatter
into liquid.Atthesame time,the
modelmadeofminiaturedwames e- * N' ' '. Y.
can leadtothisidea. .............-.-- x..
So,instead ol'a steelsheet we . .....% .-
willuseaqiquir one.n efirstcon- .-.--.................w ..-.- -- '
cer.n isto protecttheliquid from
spilling.A flexiblelining hastobe
installed - maybe one made of '-- 'x
strong rubber- and mustcon- -Af -- v-
x
f
--*#---'--
nectedwithpaztitions.'lhiswaythe XXO
wallwilllook likehotwaterheat- ,h 4 ... -.- : .> *.
ingpads.Itisfunny butsomein- 1.ave;z3?q'w
b) ' ..
.
ç'z. ( .*. .
..'.... .
#?
.''
ventorsthink thattheskin ofdol- =..a-...---.. - .
- . - - - .s. .-'--
w -
phinslookslikethis. -'- =
 M odelsbuiltwiththisdesigncreatelessfrictionduringtowingbecausethey
havelessturbulence.Howeverktheseflexibleskinsarenotmsefricientasthatof
dolphins.Dolphinscanchangetheshapeoftheirskinbyadjustingtodiffbrent
environmenf-s.Theman-madeskin isGdeadOlackingmovement.Anotherprob-
1em now appems:How canwecontroleverypaltofthisflexibleskin?
Noticethat veryoften oneproblem createsanother.W em ustconstantly
movefomvard.
Theproblem aboutcreatingflexibleskincanbeeasilysolvedbecauseitis
a problem concerning'urelocation.MYouneedtocontrolthemovementofthe
liquidundertheskin.LetusbuildanS-inield:Ferromagneticparticlesadded
tothe liquid allow controlwith electromagnets.Thispatent,#457529 was
issuednottoshipbuilders,buttoscientists.
Onequestion remains:Can shipsexistwithouta body?Such shipsal-
readyexistand you know aboutthem - ralts.They havenobodybecause
woodenlogsarethecargo and duringtransittheybecomethebody.British
Patent#1403191describesashipwith alongsnakelikebody madeofsteel
boxesused ascontainers.ThesmalluheadMisthetugboattowing thelong
Gbodyrofcontainers.

e' >A M'*

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Chapter33
Sim ple Rules

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Perhapsthemain and mostannoy-

ing,mistake ofbeginning inventors is
theirdesiretoachieveresultswhileig-
noring losses.Take forexample Prob- -R t V>#
,
lem #33- thepropanetank.Itisnot
difficulttomeasuretheweightoftheleft-
.
g
s
y
.
jy
over liquid if from time to time,you
weigh thetank.Butitisa very heavy e
tank,sothisprocedureiscostlyandin-
convenient.A goodsolutionistohavethe
tanksignalwhenonlyalittlegasisleft.
Lookatthedrawing.Thebnttom of
the tank ismade with a slope,and a
weightisinstalled in it.Aslong asthe
tankhasenoughliquidgasinitthetank
willmaintain averticalposition.When
thegasreachesalowerleveltheweight
l
l /
willtiltthetankandthussignalthelow
levelufgas.
Notethatthisresultisachievedwith WEIW
practically no cost.Thereisnoneed to
139
changethegastank.Installawooden basewithanasymmetricalweight-
andtheregulartankwillbecomeaGtalkingtank.'
Frenchinventors,whofirstthoughtaboutthis.gotPatent#4564031nthe
SovietUnion.
Pr
oblem
How can65
we help the workers *)% 1-.-. g..
- *,
.ï
. #' .
yJ. .
Perhapsyouhaveseenworkersmove -
aheavy railroad rail.Severalpeopleset $ h7.
theircrowbarsunderneath therailand ..e
ata command,tlipitoverandoveruntil
itreachestherightposition.Thisishard
anddangerouswork.lfoneworkerdozes
therailcouldpullthebarfrom hishand
and....How canwehelpthew'orkers?
Letususesimpleruleswhileworking
withthisproblem : '
Rule #1:Before starting to solve '
the problem ,determ ine why the
problem occurs.
Indeed.whyisitdimculttom ovethese
rails?Becausetheyareheavy?However
apipeofthesameweightcouldrollovereasilywithIittleforceapplied.This
meansthattheraildoesnotuknow''how toroll.
Rule #2:Statethecontradiction.
Therailshouldberoundinordertorolleasilyanditshouldstayasarail
inordertobeusedasarailroadtrack.Herewehavetouseourimagination.
W eintroducecontradictoryrequirements- therailshouldstayarailandat
thesametimeshouldrolllikeapipe.
Rule#3:Im agine theIdealSolution (im agineyourselfasam agi-
cian).
Turnon a1lyourpowersofimaginationîThe idealsolutionwilllooklike
this.Therail,duringrelocation becomes- asin afairytale- rollable.
Ifoneeagerlytriestosolvethisproblem withoutconsiderationoflosses
theanswerissim ple- placetwowheelsontherail'sends.Howeverinorder
todothatyouhavetolifttherailandforthatyouneedaliftingmechanism .
Onceagain,only thosesolutionsaregood whichallow you toreacharesult
withoutcom plicatingthesystem,orwithoutaddingconsiderablecost.
EngineerB.BogaencoreceivedhisPatent#742514forasimplesolution.
Fourmagnetichalf-roundedinserts.twooneachsideoftherail.temporarily
maketherailround and help itroll.Theseinsertsare easytoinstalland
rem ove.
Now wearetlfferingtwomoreproblemsusingtheserules.
140
*
' '
't
'l
j
.'.y
,';
t
r$.
!
4k1,
1Jt1Rt
i
q%l4 j. Problem 66
,i' Microbehunters
:
.j
.I',' l
j
gj
11l ,
.
!i'.'I In aResearchLaboratory,wa-

I-?
/'
',
.-
'
; !
.i
j'
:'
t.'tê'--,-..-
i
. .j,. rajr'. .
-.
- '' metallic plate isused to collect
teristestedformicrobes.A porous
;
';
//
7,8/
t/ , j.
'
.,. :' samples.Theplateisdippedinwa-
, -. - terthenpulled out. Blottingpa-
';
,,
.. 'j
peristhen applied to one sideof
: - 7- the plate.This paper soaks the
waterfrom theplate.and themi-
crobesare lefton theothersido.
Themicrobescan notgetthrough
theporesoftheplate.Thissideof
theplateisthenplacedunderami-
croscope and the numberofmi-
crobescounted.
Onlytenanalysesperdaycan bedonethiswayinthelab.Thenoneday
theprogram waschangedandeverydaythelabwouldhavetotest500plates.
'
Rilach testtakesa Iotoftimes*said
themanagerofthelab.u'l'heplateshould
bedividedinto 100stripsandalIstrips '.'.''
shouldbecheckedoutthroughthemi- Z>d'
..
croscope.W ehavetofindawaytodothis ' z'/ .
withoutusingthemicroscopel'' z#z
z,
,
''
'y
y .

uW ithoutthemicroscope'?maskedan-
otherscientist..6Wecandothatonlyif g .Q' //
eachmicrobewasasbigasadime.'- t
Everybodylaughed. / '.'..V
A??#suddenlvthei'?1rtz?l?orclp.lat>cl'cd. '':
''Let'suseourrules'''hesaid. zz./
Rule#1:Find outwhytheprob- z.s.
:z
.>j
.
lem occurred.
W ehavealreadydeterminedthis.M i-
crobesareverysmallandthatiswhywehavetouseamicroscope- avery
slow process.
R ule#2:Statethecontradiction.
Fine!M icrobeshavetobesmall- by natureinvisible- and microbes
havetobebiginordertoseethem withhumaneyes.
R ule#3:Im agine the IdealSolution.
Hereitis:A microbeinwaterissmalland assoonasitcomesoutofthe
water.itincreasesinsize.
''Thankyou,''said them anager.'-pkrow.wecansolvetheproblem easily.''
W'hen w'orkingon thisproblem rememberthatopticaldevices projec-
141
tors,screens,andsoon- cannotgiveyouthenecessaryeffect.A verysimple
deviceisrequired.
Problem 67
Grease with a secret
Atapipe-rollingmilllo-meterpipesareproducedoutofred-hotsteelplates.
Fresh-madepipes,stillveryhotneedtobecoveredinsidewithalayerofgrease
severalm illimeters.How canwedothat?
Atfirstglancetheproblem seemsasimpleone.Itispossiblef.otuseaplat-
form onwheelsthatgoesthnmghthepipeandcoversthesurfacewithgrease.
Unfortunatelythissolution isfarfrom ideal.Thespeedoftheproductionpro-
cesswillslow downanditwilltakeacomplicatedmachinet.ogreasetheinner
surfaceofthepipe.
Severalengineersrecentlyreceived apatentonan inventionwhichallows
thisprocesstobedonefastandaccurately
Let'strytocompet,ewiththisteam!Thinkforamement:Whydidthisprob-
lem appear?
'rhereisnothingcomplicatedaboutcoveringflatsheetswithgrease.Buta
pipe- a veryhotpipe- isinconvenientforthistypeofwork.Here isthe
contradiction:Itiseasytogreaseaflatsheet;howeveqwehavetogreaseapipe
- andapi peisnotflatl'f'hesheetshouldbeflat,andthesheetshouldl)eapipe.
Theidealsolutionistogreasesomethingflat- notapipeandnotasteelsheet.
Thatsomethingshouldtransfergremseintothepipeand ...disappear.
Theserulesmintin thegeneraldirection ofthesolution.'l'herestisupto
yourlogic.Remembeqitrequiresasolution clasetothe idealone.Thewhole
trickisthatgreasespreadsoverdifrerentsudaces.Thepipeisstillin thepro-
duction stage,butthegrease isalready spread overanothersheet- forin-
stanceoverapaperrolllW hatisleftistotransfergreaserrom thissheetontothe
inside()fthepipe.Whenthisisdone,thesheetGcarrier*should(Iisappear-
burn- withoutarlyadditionalproblems:Patent#804038.(RememberProb-
lems#5and#151.

142
Chapter34
Cunning Plus a Little Physics

,' N > .
f . .A m' - ''''- .-f
,'-
x . , .-. = w xsx.w

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. ' g r
3 1
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y 1

Herearesomeproblemsasexercises.Rememberyoushouldtryto
find theanswersnotbyguessing,butbyusingtherulesandmethods
learnedso far.lfyouhavedimcultieswith thephysics.consultatext-
bookforreference.
Problem 68 .-. '<=>
The Treasure ofPirate Flint
)O e#JX?/ 'v
''e' -
Foralongtimeanexpeditionhadbeen N - .. .= e - = .
searchingforFlint'
streasure.Finallywit,h
anundenvatertelecamera thechestcon- U .
tniningthetreasum wmsfound.rfhisstmng
wooden chestwmslyingen thebottom of 500/r1 b- .- ..
theocean500metersdeep.Thechestwas
halfburied in sand.Afïerthe initialex-
citementworeofllmembersoftheexpedi-
tionbeganf,othinkabouthow tobringthe w r &
chestt,othesurface.Usuallylostcargowms
liftedwiththehelpofptmtoons.A pmtzmn
isaclosedmetalcontainerortnnkA pon- . 1.llk'
r ''
---- ---'-
x..s
toonslledwith waterisdroppedintothe . mx-x
143
ocean and connected tothe cargo.Then the waterisdisplaced with com-
pressedairandthepontoon risesliftingthecargo.
apiasters,piastersl'saidtheheadoftheexpedition gloomily iêButhow
can weliftthosepiasters?W ehavea pontoon,buthow canweconnectitto
thechest?Diverscan notgodownthatdeep,andwedonothaverobots.Al1
wehaveisanunderwatertelecameraandapontoon.r
Attd ?/lchtt'entorappearedofcourse.
GluetusformulatetheldealFinalResult,ohesaid.*'l'hepontoonislow-
eredontothetopofthechest.Thiswecandowithoutanyproblem because
wehaveatelecamera.OurIdealFinalResultis:Thetopofthechestand
thebottom ofthepontoon withnothingbetweenthem mustfasten toeach
other.Withoutanythîng- orwithwaterbecausethereisalotofwaten...
How shouldweconnectthepontoonandthechestwitlRwater?
'
Problem 69 1:-zz
v. - - NG --= = = z= = =
zr-. v
s- u. ' -u.as: --.
AibolitNeedsa > $ L.- ..s. ..,g-..
-.ù-=--.0====S-
.
..
k----
wz-. .s....s...--- - - --
Thermometer - x N '*-- -
- -..: 4.L.. U' 5Z'.X-
=
W .O
- .;
E .jjrZ;2:W
.k ..--
7IL'' c L
-
Tlleconventionalmedicalthermom- ..
s
zï. '---E--T-%- '.--- - .u.'..II'LoZ=''a
q.E
k.u =a'A.- -. - -.
eterwasinventedalongtimeago.Itcon- =. - -'..x.
.+.-==-..s:è *. .-. E.
.R- t 7
-::
.i
.
.F
. J)
.-
sistsofalongplatewithlinesandnum - vz---. ...=-. :.
... -u
: - . s'.L uu-é
... ' u
'(
'
rrE
(l'
-.. (
bersplaced inside a glasstesttube.A 2--,--ss ..--.::..
(
r;
(
-;
--
;j
r
j;
j
:
).
:..
::
..
..-
..7.
jw- x- -
i
. r .:
smallerglasstubewith mercury isat- u é- - . w =..-ug. .4u- sssu. sa
tachedtotheplate.svhenheatisapplied, - 'Q2.Z ' - L -.VC-- V.X
themprcuryeitherexpandsandgoesup - - -- '.-- - -' .- .- ..- .

orcontractsand goesdown inside the u- v' '==-

v .v-
-o'
. '--' -=
.. ''
smallertube,Asyou can see thether-
mometerhasaver.ysim pledesign andthisisitsadvantage.Theproblem is
thatitisdim culttoreadthepositionofthemercuryinsidethetube.
DoyourememberwhatDoctorAibolitdidinAfrica?
uTennightsAibolit
Didnttsleep,didn'tdrink,didn'teat,
Hetreatedandtreatedsickanimals
Andgavethem andgavethem
thermometers.e
Tolookatthermometersten nightsinarow isnotaneasytask.Itwould
benice,ifdoctorAibolithadathermometerthathadaneasy-to-seecolumnof
mercklry.
Youhaveprobablyalreadythoughtaboutmakingthetubebiggerindiam-
eter.Unfortunately.inawidertube.thecolumnofm ercurywillgodownby
itselfassoonasthetemperaturegoesdown.Thisisnotacceptableforamedi-
ca1therm ometer.
So,trytothinkofanew thermom eter.Thecharacteristicsoftheo1d one
shouldbepresez-ved butthecolumn ofm ercuryshouldstillbeseen easily.
144
'
Problem 70
Help the Sheriff =* ..
.. $tz .6(''> Nlz
Here isa fragmentfrom adetec- - *e
tivestory: t
7
/
4*+/,
&'- t --%
'
uWehavecaughtyoultheSheriff
saidtothecrim inals.dAndyou arein
thehandsoftheLaw.Youhopedtoget . * '
*. '$$
awaydidn'tyou?rfihelupïfcrdiamond .
'.
is a good catch.Wecaughtyouwith '''' ' .
theevidence.Eventhoughyouhave O ''
..
ch
tut
att
held
wi loi
amyon
nl ind
cri
en
at
so
esevuerra
yo glpli
ui te
cc
es. . .J
uDonotbeinahurl'ySherifusaid
oneoftheconvicts.ullidtheJupiterdiamonddisappear?Wecanonlyexpress
oursympathy becausewedon'thavethisdiamond.Whatwehave areonly
5vesm alldiam onds- an inheritancefrom ourgrandmal
u'rhatisexactlyright'grinnedanotherconvict.uluookatthismatterasa
scientist.Theweightisdifferent theshapeisdifrerent onlythecoloristhe
same.There area lotofwhite diamonds.Thechemicalcomposition is the
same.Evez'ydiamondconsistofcarbon.Itseemstomethatyouwillhaveto
1etusgo....*
PleasehelptheSherifftounm asktheconvicts.
Problem 71
yqt o . coffee In
O weightlessness
o
.- ' n
. x'-. z. e -
o * *o Inaspacestors anastro-
-o o 0 * nautdecided tomakecoffee.
o <h . @ o Heaskedhimselfhow he
*
o could doitin weightlessness.
r' ''Itisverysimple,''hethought.
4: '' idIwilltake some Iiquid and
W rr magnetizeit.Then Iwilltake
5 ..
.
K/z . e'
-.
'
-.w ame
-
talcupwi thalonghandle
and that'sit!Now we are
goingtodrinkTurkish coffee
from magneticcups.n
. Whatdoyouthink?Could
hemakecofreehiswayornot?
W hatdoyou suggest?How canyou makecoffeeinweightlessness?Keepin
mindthatitshouldbesafeandsimple- andofcoursethecofreeshouldtaste
likecofree.
145
 Problem 72
7.1
..
7 Building an S-Field

: D ($ Inacertainfactooiworkersdigging
l
,
c.tl
e
.
: à
Iinth
,
'I
e
ngw
ro
huan
tdir
fo
eu
ct
nid
on
ai
p
si
t
p
hell
ii
nqeu.idflow-
jyjgy.tjjesasked.
- - -- ZZ-'.W - .= -.-r. ---=J difrTheyknocked onthepipein many
- -
,7CL=
erentwaysandlistened.rpheycould
' 1' notdeterminethedirection oftheflow.
''Wewillhavetocutthepipey''saidtheengineer.a'lahereisnothingwecan do
aboutit''
AndtheInventorappeared,ofeourse.
'<Mrhyshouldyou cutthepiper hewondered.f'W hatwehavetodoisfinish
constructingtheS-iaield.Therearetwosubstances:Thepipe- Sl- and the
liquid- S2.Now,theEeldshouldbeadded.''
Thisisasimpleproblemsalthougha patentwasissuedonthesolution.
Problem 73
Let's callthe Firemen
,,,/*
The radio announced that Fall AITERTILW. * 4*c0
freezing temperature wascoming. FREELIRC x-.1.
''ltisadisaster,''saidthedirec- MMPMAVRE '
torofthefarm.tkw hatcan wedowith /St7W /YS/ - '
I,., s ()
our experim ental area? W e have ..e' :o '--&
plants that need a warm tem pera- - .-.
-.
ture.,, ' e kk)
t
G'I'heareaisbig,andwecan nei-
ther cover it with film nor heat it .-'--
...-.
(
I/
f
It
fl
p?
-
à
y
i)
?,
/,,,
r
?,a..ç!
k
,
upj''said the agriculturist. I o .a'
And theInventorappeared. . A =
t<Doyou needtopreserveheatin
abig area?''he asked.t<Cal1thefiremen,1havean idea.''
W hy doyou think hecalled forfiremen?
Problem 74
Itturns offby itself
An electric soldering gun was demonstrated at an exhibition.The gun
would turn offautomaticallyassoon asitwasoverheated.
d'How doesthisgun work?''asked oneofthevisitors.
ddrfrhereisprobablyatransducerthatmeasuresthetemperature,''suggested
anothervisitor.dtluring overheatingthetransducersendsasignalandaspe-
146
cialrelayturnsoffthegunc
And suddenly theInventorappeared.
u'rhere isnotransducer norrelay'hesaid.u'l'hegun turnsoffbyitself
Thetrick isthat....r
problem 75
Itis going to be inexpensive
In a tenth grade physics textbook differentelectricalcondensers are
drawn.Thesimplestismadeoftwo metalplateswith an insulator- for
instance,air.Thesmallerthegap,thegreaterthecapacityofthecondenser.
Schooldevicesweremadefordemonstrationpurposesusingacondenserwith
amoveableplate.Themovementwasachievedbyamicroscrew.
u'rhatisvery bad''saidthedirectorofthefactory.u' l'he platesareinex-
pensive.butthemicroscrew isveryexpensive.'
çeWhatcan wed()?'arguedthechiefengineer.RA.!Zexperimentrequiresa
veryprecisem ovementoftheplatel
And theInventorappeared.
u'rhecondenserwillbeinexpensive.Forthatwehavetotake....''
W hatdidtheInventoroffer?
Problem 76
''Isaw afunny picture...''
'
Inafttrfactorythetreatm entprocessoffurm ustbeimproved.Duringthe
processthefursltiniscleanedin aspecialliquidandrinsedinwatenThenitis
driedunderafanwithwarm air.Theproblem isthatthestream ofairdriesthe
topofthefurwhereahardcrus'tofsticltyhairdevelom.Underneaththecrustthere
isstillalotofwater.Engineel-schanged
thetemperatureandvelodtyoftheairibut
nothingimproved. - '<
AndtheInventorsuddenlyappeared. enij ..
&'lsaw ahm nypictureinamagazine''' -
l.c'!
.
Y '
' * .
hesaid.GA barbergavehisclientavery - 'uu -.
us'
= - - --n
-
;
cii p k!t
scarystorytoread.'l'hehairoftheclient . -=p
stood on end and the barberdid hisjob
withemse.'' j.vzsx'%'' ,.,..s.
<'-- yz-
',.'.
'fy
t..-
.
u'
Whatareyougoing toofrert,oour 6'4'xrï' ' . ..''-, '.v*.'' ,/7
fursr askedtheemployeeinwonder.&1Do i:
*, j ' . . ''
.> .' ', .xJy.z
y0u suggestthatourstaffshould read .. . V ..''q.
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bulenceinthewater.Theworkdid 1 J
notgo sm oothly becauseofdifti- .' .
1
cultyseeingcolorlessvorticesina
colorlessstream ofwater.Should
weadd someink tothewater?But darkvorticesin adarkstream willnot
makeanydifference.
Somebodyofferedtopaintthe modelwith athin layerofsolublepaint.
Theresultwassuccessfulonlyforawhile,Inthecolorlessstream.thenow
colorfulvorticesstood outwell.However afterten minutes thepaintdis-
solvedcompletelyfrom themodelandthetestwastemporarilystopped. W hen
engineerspainted themodelwith a thick Iayerofpainttheshapeofthe
modelwasdistortedandthetestlostitsmeaning.
â'The paintshould comefrom insidethe model.''saidoneengineer.L'rhe
parachuteshroudwires aretoothin.Icannotthinkhow tomake arkinner
channelsmallenoughfortheinktopassthrough.W eknow ofcraftsmenthat
can makea picture ona grain ofrice.M aybe we could find somebodylike
thatl
*canyouimaginehow muchtimeitwilltaketomakethismodelrlaughed
anotherengineer.
AndheretheInventorappeared.
uLet'strytofantasizealittlebitlhesaid.ullereisapieceofwireforour
model.lthasnopaint andtheshapeofthemodelisnotdistorted.Letusdip
thewireintothestream ofwater- and onthesurfaceofthewire likeina
fairy tale thereappearsatbinlayerofpaint.Thewaterwashesthislayer
away andanotherlayercomesout.Thisisan idealsolution.Onethinlayer
replacesanothen''
GItisimpossiblecsaid theengineers.lWherewillthepaintcomefrom?''
RFrom thewater'answered theInventor.Rlthasonly onesource.W hen
watermakescontactwith thewireitturnsintoapaint orasubstancethat
difrersl-rom waterincolor.Thisishalfofthesecret.Thesecondhalfishow to
accomplish this.''
148
 Trytosolvethisproblem yourself
Lastproblem
Problem 78
Petals executethecommand
A longtimeago,from dawn todusk beesandotherinsects- pollinators-
flew throughtheselds.TodayfertilizersareusedinIieldsandtheyscareaway
inseds.
Someonethoughtofawaytousestrongwindinsteadofbees.Letthewind
blow thepollenfrom ilowertoflower.Oneinstitutedevelopedahugefan that
wasbroughttoa5eldandturnedon.Now therewaswind butnopollen- the
petalsclosedfrom thewindandhidthepolleninside.
uItisunderstoodthat,duringmillionsofyean ofevolution,plantsdeveloped
areactioncausingthem toclosetheirpetalswhilethewindblowsDsaidascien-
tist.uourwind isasignalto the flowers thatbadweatheriscoming.Plants
cannotunderstandthatwearetryingtohelpthem.'
t'Whatcanwedor acolleagueasked.44' W'
ecannotbreednew plants.Itwill
takeyeaa l
AndheretheInventorappearedforf/?.
clasttime.
Miaetususeaphysicalefl'
ectthatyouknow verywellrhesaid.f''f'
hepetals
willstayopen al1thetimewhilethewindblowsl
Whatdoyouthink thelnventorhadinmind?

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149
 Chapter35
Learn to Invent

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Thehistoorofmankind beginswith invention:The srststone tools were

developed andHomoSapiens- thinltingman- appearedon theEarth.
ltisimpossibleto counthow many inventionshavebeen madesincethat
time.Everythingthatsurroundsuswasinvented.Forinstance wedonotlcnow
whoinventedthesail- themostsigniscantinvention ofthehumanrace.This
invention sumrived thousandsofyears and alwayswillbe with us.There are
projectswithspaceshipshavingsolarsails.
Can you imagine how thatimrentorfeltsetting up sailforthefirsttime?
Probably itwasasunnykwindydayThefirstpufrofwindfilledtheroughwoven
mat-sail,andtheraft,shuddering forthefirsttime,broke away from theland.
Thetirstmastin history started tobend and squeak. Sunlightdanced on the
waves,butthe sailor paid no attention.Hisheartbeatfuriously.He did not
know wheretheraftwouldland,and itwasfrighteningtolaok back.Butitdid
notmatter- herewasthe wonderfulinsanemomentofvictory!Forthesrst
timethewindworkedforhumanitykandtheraftmovedfozwardloudlycrashing
againstthewaves.
Thedevelopment,testing,ard implementationofinventionsalwaysinvolves
adventures.Victorjrovera technicalproblem takesflexibilityofthe brain and
bravery - no lessthen ittook D'Aztagnan to overcomethe machinationsof
CardinalRichelieu.Bytheway;atechnicalproblem cansometimesbe trickien
andmerepowerful,than allCardinals.
150
 Ifyouareloolungtodayforadventuresthatareusefulforthehumanrace,in-
venu
In'IVVIY C,AICreativityyouwillhavealotoffmscinatingadventures- enough
f0rtherestnfyourlife.Youhavetostaztpreparingyourselfforsuc,hadivityfrom an
earlyage.'lheearlierthebetu justasinsmzts.Sodonot1- anytime.
Iwish you success!

A notcthattouldnot/11inthemargins:
Invention,discovery
Aninventionhastopossessfourcharacteristics:Itshouldbeatechnical
solutionoftheproblem,itshouldbenew,itshouldbesubstantuallydistinct
from alreadyknownsolutions.anditshouldproduceausefuleffect.
Forexample,anew methodtotrainanimalsisnotaninventionbecause
thereisnotechnicalsolutiontotheproblem.A bicyclewîthfourorfiveseats
isnotan invention eitherbecausethesebikesweredeveloped in thelast
century.
Iwet'scombineapaintbrushwithashovel.Itappearstobesemething
new.ButboththebrushandshovelareusedthesamewayThisnew combi-
nationdoesnotproduceanynew qualityIftherearenonew significantor
distinctqualities.thereisnoinvention.
Youcanseenowthatbeforeanideaisacceptedasaninventionithasto
passfourseveretests,Patentapplicationsarecheckedbypatentexaminers.
Everyyear,theUSSR registersmorethan100000inventions.
Veryoften aninventionisconfusedwithadiscoveo'.Aninventioncan
onlybesomethingthatdoesnotexistyet.Forexampletheft'rstairplanewas
an invention.
Discovermeansto5nd somethingthatalreadyexistedin naturebut
wasnotyetknown.Gravityisnotinvented itisdiscovered.Newton'sLaw;
Ohm'sLaw thedecompositionof waterintohydrogenandoxygen.andso
on,arediscoveries,
From 1959.IntheSovietUnion discoverieshavebeenregistered.Dur-
ingthistime therehavebeenabout300discoveries.
Now,youcandeterminewhetherornotthefollowingitemsareinven-
tionsordiscoveries:
1. Lathemachine
2. Smeltingironfrom steel.
3. Bodyinertia.
4. Therelationshipbetweenapendulum'soscillationanditslength.
5. A clockpendulum.

151
Chapter36
Into the Inventor's Card Index

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Makeanindexcard!JulesVernedidnotpatenthisideas,hejustsimply
describedthem inhisnovels.In ordertodevelophistechnicaland scientific
knowledge,JulesVerne--starting in hisyouth and lastingthroughout his
life- collected new technicaland scientificinformation f'rom books,maga-
zinesand papers.Biographersstatethathiscardindexcontained morethan
20,000 entrieswîth information abouttechnologykgeographykphysics and
astronom y.
Todaymany inventorsmaintain theirownindexcards.Thesecardscon-
taininformation aboutphysical chemicaland geometricaleffects.Thereare
also descriptionsofsuccessfulmethodsand inventivetricks- information
aboutnew materials.ln otherwords everything thatcan contributetothe
solution ofa technicalproblem.
Index cards slowly accumulate and become very helpfulduring the
search fbr new ideas.Sometimes an old forgotten card imm ediately helps
solve acomplicated new problem.
There isa piece ofpaperamong my index cards with an extractfrom a
booktllatis100yearsold.ThebookiscalledMagicoftheWorld andwas
published in 1886.
Hereisan extractfrom thatbook:

152
 * .fnslanlblossomingofa#o- rundertheia/laeareofeleeêrirffy.
Themagfcfaz&takesafresh-eutbudofcayA tper(qmeewlthfAeeutend
offl&estem eoreredwitltuxz.vLs&,1)andshowsIêtotheaudfeacelnorderlo
p-vel&erei.
gnothingineidethe*Ud.Thenherep&opeetheum énsertslthin,
lonrwireineidetheflezm cndinstallsràestem in(x110/+.onflletable,cllthe
Ir/liledeseribing?xWG/heisdoingsothatereo' on.ecan,eethat1* Ilowerf,
unehanged-
A#erthatlesignalshist- fglaa',whoeonweef,abatterytothetrzm and
l#eeurtwntlm relathroughthestem fnlotheYlzd-Ayzë underlàegreolpolrer
ofeleelrlcfly.thebudopezl,uptleryfastin#.pa'of15+.eyesof'heamazed
audienee.
Onehundred yearsagoitwasalmosta supentrick buttoday in physics
classeswelearnthatidenticallychargedparticlesrepel.'I'hemagiciancharged
thepetalswith anidenticalcharge.That<sthewholetrick!
Thissim pletrick however,solvesProblem s#76& F78.Thehairofthefur
willstandon endifan identicalchargeisapplied(Patent#563437).And petals
withidenticalchargeswillstayopeninspiteofthewind(Patent#755247).111ey
aremoderninventionsmadewiththehelpofoldtricks.
The inventorIistensto the 4'pulse.''
How canwedetermineifthereisacrackinaballbearingwhileitiswork-
ing?Theuhealthymbearinghasonefrequencyofoscillation- itmay bemea-
suredbeforethetest.A crackedbearinghasadiflbrentfrequencybecausethe
bearingnow isactuallydividedinhalf
Inthepastfew yearsmanypatenf-swereissuedforsimilarinventions.The
m lishingprocessofmetalbeltshadtobeinterruptedinordertomeasuretheir
thickness.Now thethicknessismeasuredcontinuouslybymeasuringthevibra-
tion frequencyofthebeltwhileitisplaced insidetheacidsolutionforprocess-
ing.
Doctol-smeasurethepulseofthehumanbodytodetermineit-scondition.
Frequency ofvibration islikeapulse- ittellsaboutthehealth ofpart,sofa
.ma citine,orofthemachineingeneral.Whenthelength masspressure- and
soon- change,sodoesthefrequency.
ltisabaddoctorwhodoesnotknow anythingaboutapatient'spulse.
Now,asimpletask:A poleisdriveninto
t
fhe ground.How can we determinehow v..-*..
iM 1ythegroundisholdingit? l.s
trt
v3
'1.
Balls.waterand fantasy
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Inm anycountriespeoplehavethought a=.:.)
-z. :!:T=pJIE'
F.
f-.'l--
abouthow toreducethewasteofoilf
rom a -w w-.-x
-
largeopen resenroirs.Indeed inthesum-

153
mer;resew oirsareheatedbysunlightandalotofoilevaw rates.Itseem semsy
toprotecttheoi1withafloatingucovennrrhisufloatrwouldgodownasthelevelof
oi1goesdown.Buttheproblem isthatthewallsoftheresen'oirarenotstraight.
Thiscreatesgapsbet-weenthefloatandthewalls lettingoi1evaporate.People
havedesignedcoverswith flexiblesideswhichwerecomplicatedandexpen-
sive.Hereisatechnicalcontradiction:Reducingthewasteofoilcomplicates
theconstructionofthecovenA verysimplesolutionsuddenlyappeared.Cover
thesurfaceoftheoiIinthereservoirwithfloatingballssmallerthantennis
balls.Theballswillcovertheoi1verysecurelysandtheytakeon theshapeof
theresenroir.
Isn'tthisasmaz'tsolution?
Theingenuityoftheinventorappears when he solves acomplicated
problem with asim plesolution.
N om trytoim agineaplantthathasaprocessf0rcoveringm etalparts
withChromeorNickel.Instead ofmachinestherearebigtankswherethe
partsaredipped.Thereisasolutionefharmfulliquidsinside.Whatshould
wedo?Makecovers?Butthosepartsgoin andouta11thetime.Coverswould
beinterrupting theprocess.Hereisacontradictionagain.rrhisissimilarto
thepreviousone,and itshouldbesolvedthe sameway.You haveprobably
figured itout.Thetank shouldbecoveredwith alayerofballs.Thiscover
willsealthetankandpreventtheIiquidfrom splashing.
Recently,onesteelplanthad to lay outthick metalsheets.During this
processthesheetshadttlbemoved andturned.How isthatpossibleifthe
sheetweighs1.5tonsandis6meterslong?Onceagain,floatingballshelped
tosolvethisproblem becauseeveryballcan carrysomeweight.Therecould
bemanyballsand theirsizesmightvarysotheycancarryaheavierloads.
Thisishow theideaofthefloatingconveyorwasoriginated.Thesimplicityof
this conveyorsurprises us.Waterrunsdown through the trough and the
hollow metalballsfloatingon topofthewaterreceive theload.Theseballs
carrytheweight,that'sall.

A bag+air. > <

<e*
How canwetransportfragileglass
devicesbyrailroadcars?rpwentyyears
ago, inventors suggested the useof /kj
plastic bagsforthatpurpose.Airis
pumped intothebags,and theprod- .'
uctissecured verysafely fortrans- ..
portation.uilag+air'isaverysim ple
and handy mechanism.Itisnotsun
prisingthatinventorsstartedusingthismechanism tosolvedifrerentprab-
Iemswheretwoobjectsareheldagainsteachother.Forinstance itwasnec-
essarytoholdaverybrittleobjecttightlywhileitwassawed.Theairbagis
154
used-Patent#409875.Oneplateofapowerfulelectricswitchhastobepressed
againstanother:Theairbagisused-USA Patent#3305652.Eventheheavy
gypsum castappliedtobrokenboneshasbeenreplacedwithuairbags.''
N0w thequestion is:Can wemakeimprovementsonGairbagsH?
Youknow averypowerfulmethod:Ironpowderaddedtoasubstanceand
actedupon byamagnetorelectromagnet.
Recently anew invention appeared(Patent#5345511.Iron powderwas
placedinsideanairbagand anelectromagnetwasusedfrom theoutsideto
activatethepowder.Theairbagthusgotnew properties.ltwasnow possible
toadjustthepressureoftheairbagtoproperlyupresseanobject.Atfirstthe
new airbagwasusedonlytoholdpar'tsduringagrindingprocess.Itisnot
difficulttoimaginethatinventorswillalsomagnetizeothertypesofairbags.
lnvented by Nature
W hat should a machine that
m oves inside the earth look like?
Thisquestion waspublished inthe
m agazinePioneerTrlzt:.
Hereisa typicalanswer' .u'rake
atractorandinstallshovelsinfront
ofittocutthegroundl
Thismechanismhastoshovelalotofdirtjusttomoveacoupleofmeters.
A tractoristoobig andwasnotmadetomovein anarrow space.M achines
m adetodoonetypeofworkcannotbeusedinadilrerentenvironment.Other
peopleofferedundergroundvehicleswith wings.Why?
Inal1theprojectsonundergroundvehiclesthemachinemovesdirtfrom the
fronttoitsrear.Them ole- alivingundergroundmachine- worksdifrerently.
Them oleleavesan em ptytunnelbehindhim inordertoeasilygetback.About
20yearsago,engineerA.Trebelevconductedanexperimentwithmolesbefore
hedevelom danundergroundvehicle.Hefoundthatthemoleturnsitsheada11
thetimepressingthedirtintothewallofthetunnel.Severalyearsago,Soviet
engineel.sgottheirpatenton awmanm ademolecAtthefrontofthatmachine
they installedacuttingconethatnotonlybrealts-updirtbut likethemole's
head,compressestheparticlesintothewallofthetunnel.
Asyousee,inventorsshould notonlyknow technology butshould learn
aboutnatureaswell.
BypassArchimedes'principle
W henAlexZdun-pushkincametotheBakuInstituteofrfbchnicalCreativ-
ity;theAdmittingCom mitteewasconfused.Thequestionwaswhetherornotan
eighth-gradestudentcouldbeenrolledin aclasswithengineersandotherpro-
fessionals.
155
 Alexhadbeenstudyingmethodsoftechnicalcreativityfortwoyears.Hehad
solvedmanyproblems,andlearnedaboutpatentfunds.Soonhesentinapatent
applicationforanew solutiontoatechnicalproblem andwasawardedapatent
Thisishisinvention:Imagineafloatin atankwith water.Thefloatsup-
ports partofa machine.AccordingtoArchimedes'law,thesupporting force
isequaltotheweightofthewaterdisplacedbythefloat.Whatifweneedtfl
increasethesupporting ibrceby 10 times?rrhereisnoroom tomakethefloat
bigger,Can we replacethewaterwith aheavierliquid?Thatisvery expen-
sive,and thesupporting force willincreaseonly by twoor threetimes.The
Archimedesprinciple should bebypassed.But,how?
Theidea ofAlex'sinvention isthatifoneaddsaGnepowderofiron ttlthe
waterand startstotreatthiswaterwithamagnetict'ield,thespecitic gravity
ofthewaterwillincrease by 10 tfa12times.
Basedon thatinvention,he gothisdiploma attheInstituteofTechnical
Creativity.

#* Thesuncaressesthewings
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sTaleabout
ae ugpyduckling. vhey are aiso
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, : v kicked,laughed at,and pecked....
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eamboatthatcrossed
ean coveredmorethan
-
halfthedistanceundersail.Theboat
hadnopassengersnorcargt).Al1thespacewasfilledwith coal,andin spiteof
that,therewasnotenoughfueltocoverthewholedistance.Majornewspa-
perswrote:ddsteamboatscruising acrosstheocean arenonsense.Theships
can carryOnly theirown fuell''
Thejirstvacuum cleanerwasbuiltin 1901,and itcould barely fitintoa
horsecarriage.Thiscontraptionwouldcometoahousewhereworkerswould
unwind itshoseand stretch itoutinto a room As soon as they started the
engine and began cleaning,a laughing crowd would immediately gather
aroundthrowingstonesatthemachine....
The firstpocketwatch was so heavy thatitwas impossible to carry in
yourpocket.Ownersveryoften wouldhireabutlertocarrythewatch.This
provided al()toflaughs,
Theenergy ofthe firstsolar engine wasbarely enough to run a small
printingpress.Oncloudydaysthepapercouldnotbeprinted. Tlaiswascause
formanyjokes,caricaturesandlaughs,Wastheideatousesolarenerg.
va
mistake'?ln ourtime,solarelementswork on manyinstallations- includ-
ingspaceships.
New machinesshouldnotbejudgedby theirlooksbutbythepowerof'
theirideas.Dayswillpass,and theiâuglyduckling''willbecomea dbeautiful
15G
swan.Mztnd,asAndersen said,old swanswillbow theirheadsbeforehim and
thesun willcaresshiswings.
A ship in tiger's skin
..rc 7'Q
An inventoqG. Sutiagin,ogbred f.
o . .>.+c '. . Jrag
.:.-
covertheoutersidesofashipwithtiger -r> - o-.-. . .=rz- - .- .ax .- m .
,.
.., 1v
....-4.
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. ' > TVw
sldns,therebyreducingfrictionbetween 'W-' - .-... ....-
m---.w-
= -'
- .. 27!
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theship, waterktmd air.Imagineahar- -.. . - . w j ...-.
k- .. J
.

borwiththistypeofvessel'ocean liners -'- -= -S-- L

covered with leopard'sfars,légh-speed * ::t.* IJJ'I
,e*.e --
boatsctl
veredwithsymt hetictiger,sskin, n#x'.. ,..#P.J*r*.+ '.g..'X-.=
-.u.-''.'X....uxœ .
. ,u.. ..-.... . .
heavytankerswithbear'sfurs. ..
Yetitdoesmakesensetoconsiderthisideawhenmllkingsportsboatprottltypes.
Theocean hasto sVy clean.
#
Thor Heyerdahlwas sun
prisedtoseepollutionthrough- . 4146..
outthe AtlanticOcean during D Qv - .. - 7
hisvoyageon ItA-1 and ltA-2. >. -= .= v -- - v
0ilspîlls sometimes spread '-----r-' 1
from horizontohorizon.About - -. ' '
OIRil()0T'OOZi 0U Z11Oi1trans- . - --- -----' - -.-'-'w
- ''-- j
'
ported spills into the sea -
millionsofttlns.Inventorshave puta 1otol'efrortinto solving thesepollution
problems.Peopletrytoburnthespills,orcollecttheoi1withgiantplasticsponges.
One ofthe mostinteresting methods istocover theoi1spillswith magnetic
powder.This mixture,havingmagneticproperties,could becollected by large
m agnets.
Today the sizeofoi1tankersisincreasing.Recently a large,halve-million
ton,tankerlnad an accident.Foriunately itwasempty Whatwould havehap-
penedhaditbeenfull?How could wecfallectthisgiantoillake?Thereisstillno
satisfactory solution.lnventorscontinuetosearch.
Fairytales are nottrue,buttheydo conlain hints
Atfirstglance,the story told by Captain Vroongel(Liar)is absolutely
unreal,But,ifyousearchhard,youcanfindgrainsofinventiveideas,justas
inthestoriesofBaron Munchausen.Therearemanyinventiveideasinbooks
aboutGulliver,Alicein Wonderlandand the LittlePrince.
W ritersmake upvery unusualstories.Sometimesthey createhopeless
situationsfortheirheroest()somehow latert'
indaway out.Comicbookscan
notonlymakeuslaugh,theycan alsoteach ustothinkabouthow togetout
157
 - w' ' ofunpredictablesituations.
ul- -....- . v.v- , Perhaps you recajjtjje story of
'h -- ''
, . whathappened toCaptain Vroongei
8oj . -'A' in Callada.Flelllàd t()race t()Alaska
, . ..
..-- bx Sjf?(j.ujsjaoup sum tjjeshipMis.
.- fortuneboughthim adeerandadog
onlytosuddenlyrealizethattht'deer
was rcally a caw'and the dog actu-
ally a wolflVroongeldevised as'evy
.r.*
.+; '*N cleversolution.Heharnessed thewtl lf
r.p.. ,'. .- ' w. î''- behind the ctlw' ,the frightened cow
'''. ; . e'- - .. '-*t...k$..A pulled the sledmuch faster.
''
- A similar stoorhappened to Btm ln
'
.
.,F7')
.. .'. ,..... ,. .... '
,... ,
. .:'; Munchakusenwhen hewtu chasedby a
Eon,andfotmd:1 'einfhmttyfhim,
Munchatusen invented away tocombine twominusessothattheydestnlyed each
other.
Jn invcntivef..
heoa thismethodisstattx.dasfollows:

Harmfulfactors can be combined in sucha way asto

canceleacb otherout.
We can givean exampletosupp)rtthisrule:
Boctorstoing to Iind away ttlrenjove a red birtbznark on the skin,tried
severaldifrerentmethods.Nothing worked.Then they used theVroongeland
Munchausennzletosolvetheproblem.Theyinjectedgreencolorundertheskin.
Thegreencolorbyitwselfwouldstaygreen.but,inreaction with thered pigment
ofthebilthmark m en and redneutralized each other.

One does the work oftwo * 0 *

Q
A good inventorcan berecognized
by hisinventivetdhandwritingM- a
d'signature''uniquetohiscreations = '-A n o
an
dhiswayofcreatingthem. a:
a 0 % %
CaptainVroongelalsohashisown
'tsignature.' Mostofhisinventive o o .mm.uD o
tricksinvolvemakinganobject
perform a double task -oneof
whichisunusualforthatobject.So, MISFORV8C

158
alifesaverfrom the boatBEDA (Beda meansMisfortune)becomesayoke
whileitsindividualcopper letters,B-E-D-A,becomehorseshoes.Similarly,
afireextinguisher becomesa fwn tofightapython.And squirrelscaneven
repiace an engine....
Forcingoneobjecttodotheworkof
two- a powerfulinventiveprinciple
- i
sa very widely used method of
'-'
b ?' ' invention.Nearits tinalstageof
''' development,the Sovietspaceship
// tf
7.''
, Venice-lz requiredtheadditionof
1. ' ... . oneextradeviceweighing6 kg.
c
z,r
0 1L
.' $'X - Engineersdidnotwanttohear
aboutthisbecause everygram of
-

- ..- thevehîcle'sweighthad already

been carefully calculated and
accounted forin the design oftheship. Nevertheless,a solution t()the
problem wasfound utilizing aGrecipe''onceused by Captain Vroongel:
Empty cargflships arestabilized byloading them with sandorwateras
ballast.Vroongelused dirt.Hisballastalsobecamesoiltogrow apalm
treeused asthe ship'smast.Venice-l. ? alsoneededballast- aweightto
provide required orientation ofthe sphericalspaceshipwhilelanding.The
above-mentioned 6 kgdevicewasinsertedinstead - performing both its
own function aswellasthatofthe ship'sballast.

''Place head on fence.''

Doyoummemlx)rwhenAlicemetthe . . '
strangeKnightintheworldtlmatlgh the *
looltingglass? '
''linvented a new methtxlforgoing
overafence,''theKnightsaid.'V uuldyou .
liltemetotellitf.oyour
ççMeluqes''saidAliceyxllitely . >($. *
'çllere'
show lcame-upwiththeidea,'' , ' % .
.'
theKnightcontirmed.q thoughtthatthe .
main diëculty isin lifking-up one'slegs. *
Alterall,one,shead isalrexady overthe $. $ u , *
top.Ifwestandonthefencewiuaourhead. --)) ''... '
otzrlegswillnow lx?on top,corzvu?And
thenextthingyou know,you'reovertbe ''
je
'nCe....!p %

159
 Alicedid notbelievetheKnightbecausesheknew hewasfullofcracyideas.
Yet,thisstrangeway ofgoingoverafence isalsoa vel'y interesting invention.
SovietinventorsG.Katisand 1.Melnichenkobuiltan all-terrain vehiclethat
used thissameprinciple.'rhisvehicleconsisted oftwocartsconnectedwith a
frame.One cartrestsoverthe other.W hen thevehiclereachesan obstacleit
placesitsuppercal-ton it.AstheKnightmentioned,thisisnotdiëculttodo.
Thecargoisnow moved through theframefrom the lowercazi toupper cart.
Thelowercarttipstothetop oftheframe,and thevehicletravelsforward.
Does an inventorneed science fiction?
0nedaya lettercameto the pub-
* lisher ofthe maguzine PioneerTi-ul/è
I'#b -%*q
%%%- -.
'
. sayingthattherewasadebateinthe
'2is *6696'J.'?'
. classroom astowhetherornotstu-
N-&''
V - dentsshoul d readsciencefction sto-
-
ries.Manystudentssaiditwasawaste
lklqshhhhsix
'' oftime becausesuch storieswere not
. real.This opinion is veza-common -
v j '
@
' ' andisami
stake.Sciencefictionwrit-
'szf'
trt z.''
-'-
: ers are trying to see the future'even
, l
k'
. Vwî
t ' .-qyh
,. h when itissoremoteitisn0trealistic.
.'

f
'f
q Theyhavedescribedairplanes,subma-
t
lk
'é.
'%''
-
rines,television,andmorewhennoth-
ing like them had asyet existed on
û
earth.Writershave written stories
aboutjourneys114t,0solarsystems,about
robots,aboutthereconstruction ofthehuman body.Today,mmlyoftheseideas
havebecomereality.Sciencefictionisasearchlightintothefuture.Thosewhogo
toschooltodaywilllivein thatfuture. Thereistmrealfaritasyktoo,ofcourse.But
eventhatisveoeusefulbecauseithelpstodevelopimagination and teachesus
tothink freely.ltisimpossibletogotothe moon insidea gun shell.However,
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrotethatthe firstideasaboutrockets came to him
alerreadinganovelbyJulesVernecalledtdlprom CannontotheMoon.''Fantasy
isneededinordert()make realinventionsand discoveries.
The powerofmind
Fantasy ismobility ofthought.Thecontemporary inventorshould read sci-
ence fiction because it reduces psychologicalinertia while increasing the
strength ofimagination.Fantasy can even be extended using the methods
described in thisbook:OperatorSTC MMD and IFR.

160
 Welivein an REraofTechnicalRevolution.''Thepointofthisrevolutionis
nottheappearanceofnew machines- thathashappenedbefore.Thisrevo-
lutïon lies in the method for developing new machines.Organized waysof
thinking are replacing the old chaoticones.Every step in thethinking pro-
cessshould beasprcciseasthemovementsofapilotflying an airplane.

Atthedawn ofthehum an race mankind conquered

the illuminating poweroffire.
Now we are learning to conquer something much m ore
powerful,the power ofm ind,to penetrate
and illuminate an unknown future.

û=
.

'.
V
$.
X .
v
.r -
j

'PW ith thankstclZinovy Royzen

161
A ppendix 1
A nswers to Problem s
In the originalRussianpublication tbeauthordid notprovideanswer:to allproblems.
Answersto somtrprublemswerereferenced in di/erentRussian magazines.Itwasthe
Publisher'sdecision t.oofrerreader.
s1tsmany potentialantlwersaspossible

1.Tobreak ornottobreak? 10.Tom akewatersoften Addair

ApplyaCoronaDischargeeffectto intothewater-gassifywater.
measurethepressureofthegas
insidethelightbulb. 11.Everlastingpaint.W aterthe
plantwithdyeadditivesthatwill
2.TbereisaGtrick''involved... bringthecolorinsidetheplantcells.
Freezetheliquorsyrupanddipthe
syrupicicleintomeltedchocolate
12.Dm pletsontbescreen-Turn
thelightonandoffwiththefre-
3.Whatplacesllouldwechoose? quencyof24tim espersecond.
Useawaterlevelingdevice.
1.3.Thickand thinvTemporarily
4.*6.
A7andTTB''w eresittingon a glue anumberofglasssheetsto-
fence.Applyadifferentchargeto getherandgrindthem asastack.
dropletsA(+)andB(-)sotheycanbe
attractedmutually.
l4.How togetoutofdeadend.
5.Itcan disappearbyitself.Use Heatsheetsofmetalintheinduction
dryice.Afteritcleanstheparts, chamber.Innerlayerwillbehotter
thenitwillevaporate. thanthesurface.
6.Thereisapatent.Freezethe l5.Stubbornspring.Freezethe
rubber,thendrilltheholes. springindryice,placeitinthede-
vice,andIettheiceevaporate.
7.Whatklnd ofdetectivesare
they?Suspendabucketinsidethe l6.M teranem ergeneylantling.
tankbeforefillingthetankwithoil.
Installrubberbagsunderneaththe
8.VebicleforplanetM ar' s.Fill wingsandfillthem upwithlightgas.
thetireswithstonesorsteelballs.
17.A thermom eterforweevils.
9.Oneasgood asmany.Divide Placemanyweevilsinsidetheglass
the9ow into2streamsandchargeone andusearegularthermometer.
stream m sitivetheothermegative.
164
18.rrheotherwayaround-Makea
lassElteroutofthinglassrods.
g withemptiness.Fountainswith a
' itwithouttelem thy.
1:-Izetsdo
Dropasmallbuoyinsidethegastank.
z().rrhere isacatamaran;there
isno catamaran.Twofloatsofa
catamaran areconnected with ex-
pandablerods.
21.The1aw isthelaw.Itispos-
sibletocreatedifferentvariants.One
istehavetwopendulumsthatcould
generatecomplexoscillationsthat
arenotpredictable.
22.n etm iversalfield.Mix metal
powderwiththesoiland controlit
withamagneticfield.
23.Wait,Itabbit,Iwillg'etyou!
Useafbrromagnetîcpowderand
controlitwith amagnetic5e1d,
24.In spiteofa1lstovms.Lower
thepipelinesunderneaththewater
surface.
25.PropellerforCarlson.Make
thepropelleroutofthin,flexible
wound upstrips.
26.Ten thousandspyramids.
Useaferromagneticpowderand a
magneticfield.
27.% alm ostexcellentmacbine.
Placelightballswith internalmetal
plateintothecanon.
28.Thereisno fountain likethat.
Unification ofthesystem.Union
mistOrbubbles.W emustbeableto
controlthebubbledevelopment.
29.ltisgoingtowork forever!
Instan amagneton theoutsideofthe
elbow developaprotectivelayeroutof
steelballs.
30.Superprecision valve.Use
theheatexpansion effectforpreci-
sionflow control.
:.
31.Let'slook into thefuture.
1.Piezoeleet;2.M agnetostrictionietc.
c lceontheele cm wa M a plw
magneticringsoverthewirethatwill
developanelectromagneticinduction.
33.n etank reportedpolitely.
Placeapropanetankin tilecradle
with an offsetbalance.
34.Where thewind blowsfrom .
Usesoapbubbles.
J'W lnventionby Usethe
Coronadîschargeeff'
ecttocontrolthe
diameterandtheshapeofthewire.
36.An accuracywithin one
degreevMixthegrainwith magnetic
powderthathastl7eneededCuzie
pointof65F.
37.Let'sthrow thescrew out.
HeatExpansion,M agnetostriction.
38.Somethingsimpler.Mixiron
powderwithtllepolm er.
165
39.Powderon theconveyor. 49.Thetrain willleavein five
Useheavyoilorfoam. minutes.rlaakeaphotoofthelogs
from thebackofthecarandmeasure
40.Stop guessing.Usewaterover thediameterofthetimberaccording
thehotclinkertodevelop afbam toscale.
Cfnrer.
50.A poundofgold.Buildthe
41.Letusdiscussthesituation. testingsampleashollow cubesand
A traywithmeltedtin isusedto pourtheacidinsidethesample.
supporithehotglassribbon.
51.Thesecretofthesleuth dog.
42.llain isnotahindrance.Two Useamagnetinsideofoneofthe
airsacksareusedtocovertheopening sticks.
C)fthecompal-tment.
sz.làangerolzsplanet.Thez.eisno
43.lnvestigation isdonebyexperx defsnit. eanswerexcepttostudyhow the
Usethemagneticmemoryofsteel. exista'ngenvimrimentprotedsitxseltè
44.A fresh idea isneeded.A 53.Iciclesin aroofgutter.
petroleum liquidseparatorcan be TobuildupS-lpieldweneedatfrlaool':
Inadeoutofaquaammonia.Atthe stringinsidethespout.
reservoîrofthelaststation ammonia
willevaporatebyitself 54.The drop ofpaintisthe main
hero.Magneticliquid addedto
45.A capriciousseesaw.Makethe completeF-Field(ferromagnetic
batchermoredynamic,designa field).
moveablecounterbalancein theform
ofa steelball. 55.We can m anagethedrops.Add
magneticliquid and apply amag-
46.Contrary to physics. Usetwt) neticfield.
substances,onethatisheavierthan
theother. 56.N0answer.
47.Like in afaiovtale.Usea 57.Thehunterandthedog.
bimetallicspringtocontrolthe Hunterneedsthesecond dogthat
degreeoftheopeningoftheroof willpullhim towardsthesoundof
window thebarlkingdog.
48.ShipsoftheXVTCenturyk 58.Noanswer.
M akeaflexibleskin likeawaterbed
filledwitha magneticliquid and 59.The arrow ofRobin Hood.We
controlitwith amagneticfield. havetocompleteS-Field.Thearrow
ismadebollow insideforanylon

166
string,oneendofwhichisattachedto 69.No answer.
thewoodentargetonthestuntman
theotherend-tothebow string. 7t).Help theSheriff.Usean iron
knife.lfyouplacean ironknifeonthe
Cxl.'l'heftagofGasconGuantsmen. dïamondcrystal,theknifewillsink
Theflagm astishollow withholeson intothecrystalbecauseiron will
thesidefora smallfan toblow air absorbcarbonrnolecules.
throughthemastattheflag.
71.Noanswer.
61.Iam goingto thetoy store.
Usemodelingclay. 72.Finish constructingthe
S-Field.Heatthepipeand seethe
62.LazuriteforSsRunningon direction ofheattransfer.
WavesA'.Submergeeach stcmein
waterbeforeworkingwith atorch. 73.Let'scallthefirem en.Thefoam
isanidealblanket.
63.Anidealsolution.lnorderto
weldtwolongpipeswehavetotakea 74.Itturnsoffby itself.Use
shortpieceofpipeandinsertit ferromagneticmaterialwfththeCurie
betweentwolongones.Rotatethe pointasatemperaturecontrolswitch.
sht)rtpipewhilepressingallpipes
togetlleruntiltheyweld. 75.Itisgoingto be inexpencive.
insteadofmechanicalmovement,
Cel.A devicethatneverfails. usethermalexpantion ofmetalrod.
Memsttretheresonancefrequencyof
theairabovetheaeidlevelinthe 76.GIsaw a funny picture ...>
tank. Applyanelectrostaticchargetothe
furinordertoseparatebairsfor
65.How tohelp theworkers. dryingpurposes.
lnstallmagnetinserts.
77.The seeond halfofthe secret.
66.M icrobehunters.Theliquid Applyan electrolysisprocess.Oneof
shouldbeheatedtocreatebubbles theelectrodesistheparachute
thatwillworkasmagnifying model.Bubbleswillcomeoutofthe
glasses,thentakeapictureand mode'lshowingtheflow ofwater.
countthemicrobes.
78.Petalsexecute thecomm and.
67.Grease with a secret.Usea Thepetalsshouldhaveasimilar
paperrollcovered with grease. charge,likethatwhichcreatesthe
repulsiveforce.
68.The treasure ofpirate Flint.
Freezethecontxe
zctmg
' suzfacesbetween
thepontoonandthewoodenchest.

167
A ppendix 2
M ethods,Effects and Tricks

1.Doitinversely
2.Changethestateofthephysicalproperty.
3.Doitinadvance.
4.Doalittleless.
5.Matreshka.
6.Conflictingrequirementsareseparatedintimeorinspace.
7.A1lspecialtermsmustbereplacedwithsimplewords.
8.Incorporationofsimilarordifferentobjectsintoonesystem.
9.Fragmentation Consolidation.
10.Dynamization.
11.Addmagneticm wdertothesubstanceandapplyam agneticfield.
12.S-Fieldmodeling.
13.Self-service.
14.Heatexpansion.
15.Transition from macrostnlcturetomicrostructure.
16.EflbctnfthoCoronadischarge.
17.Curiemintofferromagneticmaterials.
18.Combinationofvariousefrecf-s.
19.CveometricalefrectoftheM oebiusRibbon.
zo.GeometricaleflbctoftheRotatingHyperboloid.
21.IdealFinalResult(1FR).
22.Introductionofasecondsubstance.
23.Utilizationofsoapbubblesandfoam.
24.OperatorSTC (Size,Time,Cost).
25.ModelwithMiniatureDwaz'fs(MMD).
26.Makeacopyandworkwithit.
27.Buildamodeloftheproblem .

168
 1:A n astonishing piece ofwork...
lnaword,TRIZ isatreasure.''
tr;rt?tzl'
Jlt,jsïf /5.1-!'?l(.'t?
(T-rJ-j(I)lt,'&l6ï?-t!/'é;).?1zrt.tiQ'
.f./??t'.
I
kiA landm ark text. thebestintroduction i
toTRIZ availableinEnglish-''
Izlrry#.Snïilh.
prf?1-(1?k1r:?lf??'t)'r)??lJ?tsl?)'
.

Thisl
egendazybook,AndSuddenlythe reemergedintheWest.Todaymayy
lnventorAppeared,wmsfirsttranslated Fortune 500companies aresucceds-
and publishedinEnglishin 1993.The fullyapplyingTRIZ.
translator,LevShulyak - an accom-
plished inventor,engineer,and TRIZ ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Genrit'h
expert- publishedthebookathksown Altshuller received his firstSovi'
et
expenseinordertobringitintoAmeri- patentattheageoffourteen.Whilein
can classrooms.Thisnew edition, hisearlytwentieshebegandevelopip'g
re-translated and extensively revised TRIZ.Stalin rewarded him with 25
byShulyakandStevenRodman,in- yearsimprisonmentinSiberia.l$e-
eludesmaterialnotfbundintheorigi- leased afterStalin'sdeatb,heled the
naltranslation. undergroundTRIZrevolution- aftm-
damentalshiftinthetechnicalcreativ-
ABOUT TRIZ:TheRussianacron)qn ityparadigm.Today heisPresidentof
for Theory of Inventive Problem theRussian TRIZM sociation.
Solving,TRIZ was developed by
GenrichAltshullerin 1946.Hediscov- ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:Lev
ered thatthe evolution ot-technical Shulyak aninventorforfourdecadvs.
systemsfollowspreclictable patterns. llrstencountered TRIZ in 1961 and
Indeed inventivenessand creativity subsequently earned twenty patents.
can be taught.TRIZ an algorithmic In 1974,he im migrated to Amerièa
methodology,hasvalidated itselfby wherehewastheIlrstpersontoteath
solving thousandsofdimculttechni- TRIZ totheWest.In1991,hef' ounded
calproblems.Itremainedunderground Technicallnnovation CenterkInc.,de-
in the USSR where itwasdeveleped voted to 'PRIZ problem solving and
insecretby an intellectualelite.With training.TheCenternow publishes
thefalloftheSovietUnion,TRIZ hms severalTRIZ books.

ICAL INNOVATION CENTER,IN(.

I
ssx:.964:74:.
2-: us $4c

www.triz.org l
9 80 9 6 40 '
è'4 0:2 :
)1 5 4 0 00
;