40 inventive principles / #18
#18 Mechanical vibration
What it says
- Make an object vibrate or oscillate.
- Raise the frequency, up to ultrasonic.
- Use resonance or replace mechanical vibration with electric or piezo vibration.
Examples
- Software
- Jitter on retries so clients do not hit the server at once.
- Business
- Short regular pulses of marketing instead of one big push.
- Engineering
- Vibrating concrete to remove air bubbles.
- Everyday life
- Shake a jar to settle its contents.
Where the matrix suggests it
The classic contradiction matrix suggests Mechanical vibration in 163 of its 1,248 filled cells. Most often for these conflicts:
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Use of energy by stationary object
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Loss of energy
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Measurement accuracy
- Improving Force worsens Weight of stationary object
- Improving Force worsens Stress or pressure
- Improving Stability of the object's composition worsens Manufacturing precision
- Improving Strength worsens External harm affects the object
- Improving Loss of time worsens Difficulty of detecting and measuring