Posted by Tina
Every difficult problem is just another opportunity for discovery or invention and the oil leak in the Gulf is no exception. Kevin Kostner’s seperation machine is one example of American ingenuity. Here’s another one. The following story is about a guy and his son who claim the pipe must be plugged from the inside. They built their model in the garage at home…naturally:
I was prepared to shoo away Herman Minton, a retired welder and fabricator from Anthony who looked more the part of retiree than welder in his shorts and yellow Guy Harvey T-shirt, with the same I’m-really-not-qualified speech I’d delivered a half dozen times before. ** Except that Minton had a model to show me, and I’m a sucker for show-and-tell. ** There, in a corner of the parking lot, was a massive steel spike awaiting my inspection on the back of a trailer. ** The mechanics behind Minton’s gizmo are really simple, brilliantly so. The spike is lowered to the floor of the Gulf and steered into the pipe. ** Two spring-loaded steel plates midway up the spike swing open once it’s in the pipe shaft. And here’s what makes this idea really clever: The force of the oil gushing up the pipe shaft forces the plates wide open, sealing off the flow of oil beneath. Steel cleats jutting from the top half of the spike like barbs on a war club dig into the walls of the pipe in every direction, keeping the contraption from rocketing back out of the shaft. ** In effect, Minton’s contraption uses the hydraulic force of the oil to operate the sealing mechanism and to wrench the spike permanently into place. ** Minton, who worked for the E-One fire truck manufacturer for 10 years and owned his own welding/fabricating business after that, built the untitled invention with his son, Jeff, in their garage using $5,000 of their own money.
This guy represents the essence of American entrepreneurial genius. Ufortunately, he can’t get anyone in authority to take a serious look at his invention but if he’s smart, and he seems to be, he’ll get a patent and who knows, maybe the next leak will be a lot less dramatic for all of us and a lot less damaging to the environment.
Traditionally, this is how Americans “never let a crisis go to waste”.