Inventive Tricks

1. Segmentation

• Divide the object into independent part
• Make an object sectional
• Increase a degree of an object's segmentation

Examples:

1. Folding wooden ruler
2. Garden hoses can be joined together to form any length needed

2. Extraction

• Extract (remove or separate) a "disturbing" part or property from an object, or
• Extract the only necessary part or property 

Courtesy of Abram Teplitskiy

Example:

1. To scare birds away from an airport, reproduce the sound known to scare birds using a tape recorder (property "sound" was "separated" form object "bird")

3. Local Quality

• Place each part of the object under conditions most favorable for its operation

Example:

1. Before water filters are positioned in soil, they are frozen, so when the filter is advanced through the soil, the ice will protect the openings in the filter from accumulation of mud. After the filter is inserted in its proper place, the ice will melt allowing the filter to function. 

4. Asymmetry

• Replace a symmetrical form with an asymmetrical form of the object
• If an object is already asymmetrical, increase the degree of asymmetry

Courtesy of Ideation International, Inc.

Examples:

1. The side of the tire facing outward is stronger to withstand impact with curbs
2. While discharging wet sand through a symmetrical funnel, the sand forms an arch above the opening, causing irregular flow. A funnel of asymmetrical shape completely eliminates the arching effect.

5. Combining

• Combine in space homogeneous objects or objects destined for contiguous operations
• Combine in time homogeneous or contiguous operations

Example:

1. The working element of a rotary excavator has special steam nozzles to defrost and soften the frozen ground for excavation

6. Universality

• Have the object perform multiple functions, thereby eliminating the need for some other objects

Example:

1. Sofa which converts from a sofa in the daytime to a bed at night

7. Nesting

• Contain the object inside another which in turn is placed inside a third object.
• An object pass through a cavity of another object

Examples:

1. Telescoping antenna
2. Stacking chairs

8. Counterweight

• Compensate for the object's weight by joining with another object that has lifting force, or
• Interaction with an environment providing aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces

Examples:

1. Boat with hydrofoils
2. Rear wings in racing cars increase the pressure from the car to the ground

9. Principle of the "beforehand-placed pillow"

• If it is necessary to carry out some action, consider performing it in advance

Example:

1. Farmers often face a problem with gathering their developed potato crop. The process is very time-consuming, because the farmers are able to gather only one or two potatoes at a time. A junior high school student found a clever solution. While visiting his grandmother's farm, he observed the planting of potatoes. Then he placed one potato seed in an old stocking. Once it was time for harvest, the young inventor noticed that the potatoes grew just as well as others, however, to gather the crop, he had to only pull the stocking. This system was then developed into planting potatoes in nets, which are connected together with a rope, and a bypassing truck would pull the rope and the whole potato crop would end up in the bed of the truck.

10. Prior counter-action

• If by the problem statement an object has to have tension, provide anti-tension in advance

Example:

1. Reinforced shaft - in order to make a shaft stronger, the shaft is made out of several pipes that have been previously bent to a calculated angle.

11. Cushion in advance

• Compensate for the relatively low reliability of an object by countermeasures taken in advance

Example:

1. To prevent shoplifting, special magnetized tags are attached to the merchandise. These tags are demagnetized by the cashier

12. Equipotentiality

• Change the condition of work so that an object need not be raised or lowered

13. Inversion

• Make a moving part of the object or the outside environment immovable and the non-moving part movable.
• Turn the object upside down

Example:

1. Assemble individual pipe sections prior to lowering them into the trench. Using bentonite clay slurry, lower the completed pipeline.  

14. Spheroidality

• Replace linear parts or flat surfaces with curved ones, cubical shapes with spherical shapes
• Avoid thinking of rollers, balls, spirals
• Replace a linear motion with rotating movement, utilize a centrifugal force

Example:

1. Computer mouse utilizes ball construction to transfer linear, two-axis motion into vectors

15. Dynamicity

• Make characteristics of an object, or outside environment, automatically adjust for optimal performance at each stage or operation.
• Separate an object into elements able to change position relative to each other

Example:

1. During lengthy transportation, crucians (type of fish)  progressively stops swimming and "rests" which harms its health and value. For this purpose, a pike is placed in the tank. Thereby, crucians are forced to swim away for survival and hence, their quality remains high. Surprisingly, this principle is not new at all; an old saying can be found in Russia stating: That's why the pike is in the river, so the crucian won't sleep.
   

16. Partial or overdone action

• If it is difficult to obtain 100% of a desired effect, achieve somewhat more or less to greatly simplify and accelerate the problem 

Example:

1. A cylinder is painted by dipping into paint, but contains more paint than desired. Excess of paint is removed by rapidly rotating the cylinder.

17. Moving to a new dimension

• Remove problems in moving an object in a line by two-dimensional movement (along a plane) 
• Use a multi-layer assembly of objects instead of a single layer
• Incline the object 
• Project images onto neighboring areas or onto the reverse side of the object

Example:

1. Using the Mobius strip to lengthen contacting surface allowing for increased durability. 

18. Mechanical vibration

• Set an object into oscillation
• If oscillation exists, increase its frequency, even as far as ultrasonic 
• Use the frequency of resonance
• Instead of mechanical vibrations, use piezovibrators
• Use ultrasonic vibrations in conjunction with an electromagnetic field

Example:

1. To remove a cast from the body without skin injury, a conventional hand saw was replaced with a vibrating knife.

19. Periodic action

• Replace a continuous action with a periodic one, or impulse
• If an action already periodic, change its frequency 
• Use pauses between impulses to provide additional action

Example:

1. A warning lamp flashes so that it is even more noticeable than if it was continuously lit (this prolongs the life of the lamp and also saves energy)

20. Continuity of useful action

• Carry out an action without a break-all parts of an object should be constantly operating at full capacity
• Remove an idle and intermediate motions
• Replace a linear motion with rotating movement, utilize a centrifugal force

21. Rushing through

• Perform harmful or hazardous operations at very high speed

22. Turn harm into benefit

• Utilize harmful factors or harmful effects of an environment to obtain a positive effect

Courtesy of Abram Teplitskiy

1. Fire tubes in factories can have cone-shaped assemblies at their tops to shape the smoke into rings. Smoke rings ascend higher into the air, without polluting the lower air levels we breathe, and disintegrate at a high altitude. 

23. Feedback

• Introduce feedback 

Example:

1. Noise canceling devices sample noise signals, phase shift them and feed them back to cancel the effect of the noise source

24. Mediator

• Use an intermediary object to transfer or carry out an action

Courtesy of Abram Teplitskiy

Examples:

1. Use of porous materials as an intermediate step to selectively filter oil pollution from water.
2. To extract weeds from grains of wheat, iron filings are added to the initial mixture. Due to the irregular shape of weeds, iron filings stick to their surface and a magnet at the end of the conveyor line extracts the filing together with weeds.

25. Self-service

• Make the object service itself and carry out supplementary and repair operations
• Make use out of waste of material and energy

Example:

1. To quickly test mass-produced balls for bearings for quality, they are dropped onto a rigid pad and based on the height of their rebound, they are placed in the respective windows.

Courtesy of Abram Teplitskiy

26. Copying

• Use simple and inexpensive copy instead of an object which is complex, expensive, fragile or inconvenient to operate
• Replace an object or a system of objects by their optical copy, optical image

Example:

1. Before selling a house, insurance companies need to determine the condition of the house, so when a claim is filed, the company can evaluate the damage and estimate its amount. For this purpose, two photographs are taken of the house before the purchase. With the help of a variety of formulas, statistics such as the position and angle of the house on the ground and other needed factors can be obtained. When a flood catches the house and these factors change, the amount of damage can be easily estimated.

27. Inexpensive short-life in turn for expensive longevity

• Replace an expensive object by a collection of inexpensive ones, compromising other properties (longevity, for instance)  

Example:

1. A one-time-use mousetrap consisting of a plastic tube with bait inside. A mouse enters the tube through a cone-shaped opening; the walls of the opening are angled and do not allow the mouse to get out.

28. Replacement of a mechanical system

• Replace a mechanical system by an optical, acoustical or other system  
• Use an electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic field for interaction with the object

Example:

1. Usage of electromagnetic field in place of mechanical contact sensor for measurements of mutual displacement of objects.

29. Use a pneumatic or hydraulic construction

• Replace solid parts of an object with gas or liquid (tip: such a construction can compensate weight)

Example:

1. For shipping fragile products, air bubble envelops are often used.

30. Flexible film or thin membranes

• Isolate an object from outside environment with thin film or find membranes.  

31. Use of porous material

• Make an object porous or use additional porous elements (inserts, covers etc.)

Example:

1. Usage of a porous cube located in soil as a sensor for moisture content measurements 

32. Changing the color

• Change the color of an object or its surroundings
• Change the degree of translucency of an object or surroundings
• Use colored additives to observe objects or processes whicha re difficult to see

Example:

1. A transparent bandage enabling the cut to be inspected without the removal of the bandage.

33. Homogeneity

• Make objects interacting with a primary object out of the same material or material close to it in behavior

  Courtesy of Abram Teplitskiy

Example:

1. The free surface of water is homogeneously flat. In ancient Egypt, this concept was used to level the bases of Pyramids.

34. Rejecting and regenerating parts

• After it has completed its function or become useless, reject or modify (e.g., discard, dissolve or evaporate) an element of an object

Example:

1. Rocket boosters separate after serving their function.

35. Transformation of physical and chemical states of an object

• Change the state of an object 

Example:

1. Usage of bentonite clay slurry, which exhibits solid - liquid state transformation 

36. Phase transition

• Implement an effect developed during the phase transition of a substance. For instance, during the change of volume, liberation or absorption of heat

37. Thermal expansion

• Use expansion or contraction of material by heat
• Use various materials with different coefficients of heat expansion

Example:

1. To control the opening of roof windows in a greenhouse, bimetallic plates are connected to the windows. With a change of temperature, the plates bend and open or close the windows.

38. Use strong oxidizers

• Replace normal air with enriched air
• Use ionized oxygen

Examples:

1. Automobile superchargers feed large amounts of compressed air into the engine for superior combustion
2. Usage of ozone for drinking and waste water purification

39. Inert environment

• Alter the environment to an inert version
• Carry out the process in vacuum  

Example:

1. To prevent cotton from catching fire in a warehouse, it is treated with inert gas during transport to the storage area

40. Composite materials

• Replace a homogeneous material with a combination of materials

Examples:

1. Using magnetic tape along the top of an underground pipe as an indicator for detecting the position the position of the pipe
2. Producing the polymer pipes from a composite material - mixture of polymer powder and iron filings for the purpose mentioned above

Most materials in this section were taken from the book "TRIZ: Through the Eyes of an American TRIZ Specialist" by the courtesy of the author Mr. Dana W. Clarke, Sr. (Ideation International, Inc.).

The following examples to tricks were introduced by Team C006094 (First number = Trick. Second number = example):
3.1, 9.1, 13.1, 22.1, 24.1, 24.2, 25.1, 26.1, 33.1, 35.1, 40.1, 40.2

Mr. Dana W. Clarke, Sr. and Ideation International, Inc. can be reached at the following:

If you have questions concerning the tricks or examples mentioned above or applying these principles in practice, we recommend to contact Ideation International, Inc. or feel free to contact us.

Become An Inventor Copyright © Team C006094