Patterns of Invention (Operators)

The analysis of high-level inventions showed that the same fundamental problem (contradiction) had been addressed by multiple inventions throughout different areas of technology. Moreover, the same fundamental solutions had been used over and over again, often separated by many years. The principles embodied in these solutions are called operators in I-TRIZ. The screening of more than two million patents has yielded 440 operators.

Example of an operator: Concentrate and release energy.

To split apart a product containing pores or cracks: Place the product in a hermetic chamber. Slowly increase the pressure inside the chamber, then reduce it abruptly. The drop in pressure creates a momentary pressure difference inside and outside the product, which causes it to "explode."

The inventions shown here were made in different areas of technology at different times. The problems addressed by these inventions are similar; the solutions represent the same principle:

invention 1

Before sweet peppers can be canned, the stalk and seeds must be separated from the pod. This was done manually in the past – automation was difficult to implement because the pods are non-uniform in shape and size.

In a modern canning method, the peppers are placed in an air-tight container, in which pressure is gradually increased to 8 atm; the pods shrink, resulting in fracturing at the weakest point, where the pod bottom joins the stalk. Compressed air penetrates the peppers at the fractures, and the pressure inside and outside the peppers equalizes. The pressure in the container is then quickly reduced; the pod bursts at its weakest point (which has been further weakened by fractures) and the pod bottom is ejected, taking the seeds with it.

invention 2

A filter used to treat fine-grained sand consists of a tube whose walls are coated with a porous, felt-like material. When air passes through the tube, the sand particles are trapped in the pores. Cleaning such a filter is difficult, however.

The filter can be cleaned by disconnecting it from the system, sealing it, exposing it to a pressure of 5 to 10 atm, and then quickly reducing the pressure to normal. The sudden change in pressure forces air out of the pores, along with the sand. The sand particles are carried to the surface, where they are easily removed.

invention 3

One method of husking sunflower seeds is to load them into a bunker, increase the pressure inside the bunker, and then decrease the pressure sharply. The air that penetrates the husks under high pressure expands as the pressure drops, thereby splitting the husks.

To process seeds continually, rather than in batches, a high pressure is maintained inside the bunker. Air is then used to pass the seeds through a Laval nozzle (which has a narrow cross-section in the middle, and becomes abruptly wider at the end), where a sharp pressure drop takes place. The husks break inside the nozzle, after which the husks and the cleaned seeds are propelled in different trajectories according to their weights. Thus, husking is accompanied by separation.

invention 4

When manufacturing tools made of artificial diamonds, crystals containing fractures cannot be used. Splitting the crystals at the fracture yields useable diamonds, but efforts to do so often produce new fractures.

As an alternative, the crystals can be placed in a thick-walled, air- tight vessel. The pressure in the vessel is increased to several thousand atmospheres, and then quickly returned to normal. This sudden change in pressure causes the air in the fractures to break the crystals.

A similar technique, employed at a much lower pressure, is used to break sugar crystals into powder.

invention 5

To shell cedar nuts, they are placed underwater in a sealed bunker.  Heat is applied until the pressure in the bunker reaches several atmospheres.  The pressure is then sharply decreased to its previous level.  When the overheated water penetrates the nuts, the resulting strain breaks and casts off the shells.

A similar procedure is used for shelling krill -- a small ocean crustacean.