From military ingenuity to industrial creativity, engineering advancements have given rise to practical household essentials.
The tools and technologies in the everyday armory have surprising backstories rooted in complex engineering challenges. Here, create explores some of the quirkiest histories of our household necessities.
1. Duct tape’s military ties
Duct tape is the go-to solution for many everyday challenges – from packing boxes to patching holes to waterproof sealing.
But before this flexible, durable tape became a household staple, its origins can be traced back to the battlefields of World War II.
Designed by a group of Johnson & Johnson engineers, the tape was developed in response to the need for a strong sealant that could withstand rough handling and environments.
With concerns about moisture and dirt compromising the integrity of ammunition, the tape also needed to be waterproof, easy-to-use on the field and be able to strongly adhere to metal in various temperatures.
Along with fulfilling all these requirements, the tape needed to be mass produced under wartime constraints.
To address these challenges, the engineers selected a natural rubber-based adhesive for its initial tack and flexibility, enhancing it with resins and tackifiers to improve adhesion under varying temperatures.
2. Nike Air Space
Before giving globe-wide Nike wearers a spring in their step, the blow moulding technique that created the brand’s signature Air units was used in space applications.
It’s no surprise that the designer of this technology, Marion Frank Rudy, was an aerospace engineer who had previously worked at NASA before becoming an independent inventor holding 250 patents.
While the first patent for blow moulding was granted in 1938 to American inventors Enoch Ferngren and William Kopitke, who designed a machine that could blow mould thermoplastic materials, blow moulding was adopted by the aeronautical industry during the Apollo Program.
The process was used in the production of components for space helmets, enabling the creation of lightweight, durable and comfortable parts that could withstand space environments, and ensure safety and efficiency for astronauts during missions.
Several years later in 1977, Rudy first introduced the concept of airbag cushioning via blow rubber moulding to Nike, leading to the development of the Nike Air sole cushioning system.
The concept involved embedding small air pockets in the soles of shoes to absorb impact and enhance cushioning. After developing a prototype, the first shoe to feature Air cushioning was the Nike Tailwind runner, released in 1978.
Fasting forward to 1997, a further refined use of blow-moulded Air units was used in the Air Max 97 to achieve full-length visible Air cushioning, or the infamous Nike air bubble.
These days, Nike has left blow moulding behind, transitioning to vacuum-forming techniques. This process uses micro-layered sheets of thermoplastic polyurethane to produce the next generations of Air units for greater design flexibility and performance enhancements.
3. Napoleon, the father of canning
Ever wondered how the beer can came to be while sipping on a cold one? Designed to be lightweight, recyclable and efficient for storage and transport, its development can be traced back to early innovations in packaging design inspired by none other than Le Petit Caporal, as Napoleon was dubbed by his troops.
In 1809, Napoleon offered a prize of 12,000 francs to anyone who could devise a way to keep food edible for extended periods during his military campaigns.
In 1810, French confectioner Nicolas Appert won the prize by inventing a method of sealing food in airtight glass jars and boiling them, now known as appertisation. While this technique involved glass jars with wax-sealed corks, it was the precursor to modern canning.
That same year, British inventor Peter Durand expanded on Appert’s concept by obtaining a patent for using tin-plated iron cans to store food.
Durand’s metal cans, more durable than glass jars, became the basis for preserving food for the British Navy in the following decades.
Readily available during the Industrial Revolution, Durand chose tin-plated iron due to its corrosion resistance, ensuring safe food storage and malleability. He optimised the can design by experimenting with cylindrical shapes for strength and efficient packing, developing soldering techniques to create airtight seals without contaminating the food.
Over the following decades, advancements in canning technology and materials led to the application of metal cans for beverages – including beer in the 1930s.
These days, your beer cans are made by forming aluminum sheets into can shapes through drawing and ironing processes, applying protective coatings and printed designs, then sealing them with lids after filling. Cheers.
4. The accidental appliance
The microwave oven was invented serendipitously in the mid-1940s by American engineer Percy Spencer, who was working for the Raytheon Corporation at the time. While testing a magnetron – a device that generates microwaves for radar systems – Spencer noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Realising that microwaves caused this effect, he became curious about their potential for heating food.
Spencer’s first experiments included placing popcorn kernels near the magnetron, which promptly popped. But when he tried cooking an egg, it exploded in the face of a colleague observing the experiment – demonstrating that microwaves rapidly heat food from the inside, causing internal pressure to build up.
From there, Spencer endeavoured to contain the microwaves by building a metal box with an opening into which he fed microwave power. The microwaves reflected within the box, rapidly heating the food placed inside.
The mammoth first commercial microwave oven, the Radarange, was introduced in 1947 – measuring nearly six feet tall and weighing in at 340 kg. Costing around US$50,000 in today’s dollars, it wasn’t cheap either – leading to the Radarange’s initial use in commercial settings such as restaurants and ships.
But 20 years later, Raytheon subsidiary Amana, introduced the first popular countertop microwave oven for home use, with microwave ovens becoming common kitchen appliances in the 1970s – forever changing how people prepared and reheated food.
5. Hills hoist: the making of an Aussie icon
The Hills hoist is a symbol of Australian suburbia, with our warm breezy climate providing the perfect environment for air drying laundry.
Gilbert Toyne patented the rotary clothes hoist in Adelaide in 1926, but it was World War II vet Lance Hill’s twist on this theme – made of galvanized steel – which reached icon status.
After returning from war In 1945, Adelaide-based Hill took advantage of the post-war boom after Toyne’s patent lapsed. Using scrap metal and salvaged parts, he created a prototype of a rotary clothesline in his backyard, featuring a freely rotating mechanism that allows the wind to dry clothes more evenly and enables users to stand in one spot while hanging laundry.
He also incorporated a height-adjustable winding mechanism to make loading easier and to optimise exposure to breezes at higher elevations.
Hill then partnered with his brother-in-law to found Hills Hoists Ltd. so the clotheslines could be manufactured on a larger scale.
The Hills hoist quickly became an Australian backyard staple which remains in production today, with modern versions incorporating new materials such as cast aluminum, continuing its legacy as an eco-friendly alternative to electric dryers.
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