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I recently heard Seinfield make a joke about women having trouble finding keys in their purse, even though they can get their checkbooks in and out of it rapidly. Jokes like this have to be based on something. So, I thought for a minute about women I know. Many of them attach large stuffed animals,
canisters of pepper spray, etc. to the keychain. Why? Presumably so the keys are easier to find.
What's really the problem? Is it purse design? Surely with women's fashion changing every five minutes, they must have tried every possible solution to the problem, and yet keys continue to be harder to find than checkbooks. No, the design must clearly be caused by the keys.
I propose that the problem is that keys are made of metal. This material is known to be significantly denser than most other materials, especially checkbooks, which are made of a lightweight material known as paper.
Could it not be that as the material in the purse are jostled about, they behave as if liquefied. If this is the case, then the keys are harder to find in that their density causes them to sink down the purse-matter column, and get lost, whereas the checkbook material, being made of wood compound tends to float above the purse-matter column.
Thusly, I propose that the solution to purse key-loss is to create keys made of a lighter material. We will need to assure ourselves that the key material can be sturdy enough to withstand multiple instances of torsion, flexion, and purse-jangling. Also, as current key technology involves making key blanks, and then cutting them, the new key material will need to be able to hold a cut edge nicely.
Aluminum and titanium would still hold up to the rigors, but are likely too dense, due to the fact that they are still metal. Carbon nanofiber, and fiberglass both would likely suffer from the key cutting process, even if they could withstand the turning. Wood, and various resins would probably be of a sufficient lightness, although their durability could be an issue. Thus, I suspect that polycarbonate would be the best overall fit for this purpose.
Flip purse
Flip_20purse
My take. [phoenix, Mar 30 2009]
Credit Card Keys
http://www.creditcardkeys.com/ekey.htm
These use Delrin [csea, Mar 30 2009]
Delrin
http://en.wikipedia...g/wiki/Acetal_resin
Trade name for Polyoxymethylene. Suitable for keys. [csea, Mar 30 2009]
Two additional dimensions
http://en.wikipedia...imensional_SDS-PAGE
[loonquawl, Mar 31 2009]
[link]
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I'm confused. Have you found a substance to make
the keys outta yet or are you still fishing around
for one? |
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ye_river, it's kinda your job as the idea poster to find a suitable material. Carbon-fiber may work, but I don't think polycarbonate or wood would last nearly long enough. Your best (unfortunately expensive) bet would be titanium or magnesium. Magnesium shavings, however, are highly flammable, so titanium is probably the safer route. Still, I find that when my fiance clips her keys to the purse strap using a carabiner, this problem you seem to have is neutralized. |
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I've got keys made out of aluminium. |
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Density comparison:
iron is 7.8g/cm^3
polycarbonate is 1.2 g/cm^3
aluminium is 2.7g/cm^3 |
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Spare keys in the form factor of credit cards have been around for a while. AAA used to offer these, don't know if they still do. See [link] for one source. These are apparently made of Delrin, a very tough machineable plastic. (Density 1.4 - 1.5 g/cm3). |
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Polycarbonate (Lexan) is tough, but more difficult to machine or cut. |
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21, are you calling me a woman again? |
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Are you saying that as the poster, I cannot offer multiple solutions? |
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I love the reasoning. Possibly it might be beneficial to make the keys even smaller and denser, and install some kind of trough in the bottom of the purse, into which the key will then sink. In this way, the keys would be at a definite position (lowest), and the checkbook too (highest). Sadly the only realizeable vector in the purse is gravity, otherwise, with 3 orthogonal vectors( eg. gravity, magnetism and an electric field) it would be possible to separate 26 different items (one for every corner, face, and edge of a cube) |
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//Magnesium shavings, however, are highly flammable, so titanium is probably the safer route//
Titanium powder has a comparable auto-ignition temperature to magnesium |
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I've worked with polycarbonate and I find it very easy to machine. I don't think it would work as a key material though. Although it's very tough, it's also quite soft and I think it would wear down quickly as the key is used. |
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Perhaps you could do some very fine machining or etching on a metal key to reduce its weight. |
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I wasn't calling you a woman. I just find it amusing when a guy posts an idea for a problem he's heard that women have. One problem with making keys lighter, however, is that dropping them would be less noticeable, thus losing them would be easier. I like my keys heavy because I always know if they're still in my pocket. |
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Well, it impacts us too. My mother takes about 15 minutes to find her keys, and, interestingly enough, she's usually 15 minutes late. |
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Loon, it should be perfectly possible to induce electric and magnetic vectors in a purse with a power source, shouldn't it? Sounds like a great halfbakery idea you might care to post. |
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