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Tuesday, 20 March 2007 15:59 |
| John North
Editor & Publisher |
Iíve always been interested in new contraptions, so when I recently read about a beer can-tossing refrigerator, I was intrigued.
I first learned of it when I read an Associated Press article, headlined ìDuke graduate reclaims college life with beer-tossing fridge,î which appeared in the March 8 edition of The (Hendersonville) Times-News.
Adding to the excitement, only one such machine reportedly exists in the universe ó and itís not too far away. Itís in nearby Atlanta, as a matter of fact.
The
modified refrigerator was assembled by John Cornwall, a recent graduate
of Duke University who is working as a software engineer in Atlanta.
The 22-year-old
said he has looked into marketing the machine and has talked to a
brewing company. However, Cornwall added that he is keeping his options
open on the possibility of cranking them out himself.
Cornwall said he
built the contraption because he wanted to reconnect with college life
and felt that a beer can-tossing fridge ìembodies the college spirit
that I didnít want to let go of.î He claimed to have conceived of the
idea almost immediately after his graduation from Duke in May 2006.
In brief, he
modified a dorm-size refrigerator by placing a small elevator within it
and attached a catapult arm externally. He wired it so that the
contraption can be triggered to lift a beer can through a hole and load
it into the catapult arm.
Reportedly, the
machine can fire a beer can up to 20 feet via a remote control, which
Cornwall fashioned by modifying a carís keyless entry device. The first
click of a remote lifts the can onto the catapult arm and a second
click fires the can across a room.
In the
experimental phase, Cornwall said he dinged a few walls and almost
threw a can through his television. He claimed to have spent $400 in
parts and 150 hours of labor on the project, not including his cost of
purchasing the dorm-size refrigerator.
After much
experimentation, Cornwall fine-tuned his invention, positioning his
couch at a right angle, so that he can catch a beer from his machine
from 20 feet away. The contraption can launch 10 cans of beer from its
magazine before needing a reload.
Regarding
concerns about a possible foam explosion upon opening a beer can tossed
20 feet, Cornwall said that he has resolved the problem by using ìsoft
handsî to catch the flying object.
He now is
considering modifying the machine so that it can throw beer bottles.
However, as Cornwall admitted, that can be problematic, especially
liability-wise.
Cornwall credited his friends for holding him to make good on his bold boasts of being able to create such a machine.
He has earned
more than $3,000 from a Web site, metacafe.com, on which a video
featuring the device has proven to be a hit, drawing more than 600,000
people.
While I admire
Cornwallís ingenuity, I will not be among those in line to buy his
beer-tossing fridge because I worry that this is yet another misstep in
the direction of a lazy, decadent, sedentary society that increasingly
is overweight and in poor health because of lack of exercise and
unbalanced diets.
If anything, we
Americans probably need to move our refrigerators even further away ó
perhaps around the block ó to get much-needed exercise. In my view,
almost anything that could get us off the couch and away from the
television set ó and that results in vigorous movement ó would be an
improvement.
As far as
Cornwallís ìlonging to recapture the college spirit,î it concerns me to
think that this recent gradís peak experiences in higher education
revolved around getting drunk. Still, even I canít suppress a laugh at
the thought of a fridge that does everything for you but swallow the
beer.
ï
John North, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, may be contacted at publisher-at-ashevilledailyplanet.com.
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