Uses: Separating seeds from stalks, sorting recyclables, doing laundry, or anything else that requires shaking lots of mass and would require a lot of energy consumption.
Put everything into a box. The box goes on a truck and is brought to the Wave Thresher station, conveniently located on top of a cliff by the ocean.
Your box gets loaded onto a pulley system, and as your box lowers, a previously dropped box rises. If you match the weights well, you could do it by hand.
Your box hangs on a chain, with the bottom half underwater, rocking in the waves for as many days as you specify.
When you come to pickup a box of "done" product, you naturally drop off a new box.
You could customize the inside of your box to your heart's content, adding baffles, spiked balls, perforated platforms, whatever helps. The Wave Thresher operation never opens your box anyway.-- sophocles, May 24 2005 Thresher shark http://www.worldsha...mages/thresher1.jpgHarmless, it uses that tail on sardines. [normzone, May 24 2005] This is funny, if you're talking about laundry. But, I fear this idea may work somehow.
"Well, son, they used to be giant mineral sifts, but became useless once fusion power allowed elemental engineering. Now, they sell 'em out for rent. And we're not living here for long! Just until your mother gets outta prison..."-- daseva, May 24 2005 If only the bulk of grain grown in the US weren't so damn far from the ocean...-- justaguy, May 24 2005 //If only the bulk of grain grown in the US weren't so damn far from the ocean...//
And didn't react so damn poorly to saltwater...
For uses other than grain, this sounds like a good idea.
However, this could be used on any of the Great Lakes.-- shapu, May 24 2005 As for laundry, maybe it would make sense only on ships or off-shore oil platforms.
As for saltwater, the boxes would be sealed. And, any leaks could be repaired by trained seals.-- sophocles, May 24 2005 "It looks like you've blown a seal."-- baconbrain, May 25 2005 "It's just some mayo from lunch." (+)-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, May 26 2005 random, halfbakery