Humidifall Makes Its Debut

The spirit of invention lives on the east shore of Mecox Bay in a neo-Mission style hacienda with baby blue stucco walls and teal roof tiles.

In a borrowed garage at the Kelman compound, which sits nestled in the beach grass like a clutch of Easter eggs, Russell Wilson is adjusting the finer details of two inventions he has developed, each from a wisp of an idea to a functioning appliance.

Mr. Wilson, a builder who speaks with the soft drawl of a Colorado cowboy, said he is inspired by the owner of the estate, Dr. Charles Kelman, best known for developing the technology and instruments used in ultrasound surgery - on cataracts, for example.

Working In The Garage

Dr. Kelman, who likes golf, turned half of his oversized garage into a virtual golf course. There is a mural of an imagined fairway on the wall, an Astroturf tee where he practices his swing, and camera mounts to the rear that project a holographic image of the arcing ball onto a wall-sized screen.

Mr. Wilson, who helped build the estate for Dr. Kelman, uses the other half of the garage to tinker with his own inventions, a humidifier in the form of a decorative waterfall, named the "Humidifall," and his "home recycling center," which saves space in the kitchen by crushing plastic, metal, and glass containers.

Recycling Complexities

He said he sees possibilities for new inventions all around him but through his job is especially attuned to the sort of appliances that would make a house more comfortable. He is a partner in L.S.M. Development, a Riverhead-based builder of high-end houses and commercial buildings, and his partners and subcontractors have helped him obtain materials, design parts, and work out glitches.

The idea for the recycling machine came to him shortly after he moved to Water Mill from Colorado five years ago. He was quickly acquainted with the local rules for recycling and just as quickly saw why everyone complained that separating and storing the various, mandated types of recyclables takes up too much room.

Why Not A Waterfall?

He figured those plastic soda and milk jugs take up the most room and crushing them flat would save space. He started sketching, and is now marketing a machine the size of a kitchen cabinet - it can be custom-made in any style of cabinet, he said - that uses a V-shaped series of metal rods to flatten plastic and metal, and crush glass.

One drops a recyclable container in the top, presses a button and, whammo, the crushed container falls through a diverter into one of three compartments.

On Labor Day weekend, when Mr. Wilson went home to visit Colorado, he saw a waterfall in an office building. It brought to mind the two-story waterfall in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, and he thought, "Hey, why not do that in a house?"

The Humidifall

That whimsy became the Humidifall, small enough to fit in the corner of the living room. It can be made in a variety of cabinet styles, in cherry, maple, or mahogany wood, and can be further customized with marble, ceramic tile, or artwork to fit the decor.

For a romantic effect, it is backlit, and at the push of a button you can turn on the soothing sound of a babbling brook, he said.

And, to broaden the marketing possibilities, Mr. Wilson designed it to be used either with a refillable tank or a hook-up to a permanent water source. A sample is going on display this month at Suffolk Lighting in Southampton, where he bought the fixture for backlighting it.

Common Sense

A patent for the Humidifall is pending. The New York Testing Laboratories determined it can raise the humidity in an average-sized bedroom from 35 to 70 percent and maintain it there, a positive preliminary finding, said Mr. Wilson.

Mr. Wilson's brother, Jim, has begun marketing the device through his office in St. Louis. The recycling center is patented for home use, and New York Testing is now troubleshooting that as well.

Mr. Wilson said the process for turning an idea into a machine involves a series of hit-or-miss decisions. But, given a choice between state-of-the-art mechanics and what he calls "farmboy technology," he prefers the latter, meaning simple common sense.

Solving Problems

For example, he discovered an early version of the recycling machine required too much torque to crush glass bottles. The machine already weighed about 200 pounds and was the size of a compact dishwasher, nearing impracticality for a home kitchen, so the option of "a huge gear box and a bigger motor" became a deal-breaker.

Instead, he solved the torque problem by screwing horseshoe studs into the tines of the rollers. That concentrated the torque in the center of the rollers yet didn't reduce their effectiveness on plastic and metal, he said.

"We haven't thrown in anything that can stop it yet," laughed Mr. Wilson. He swiftly grew serious at the suggestion, though, that some youngster may want to experiment with the family cat.

Taking It Further

Safety was a constant priority during the development process and an important part of the ongoing testing, he said. As a result, there is a safety switch in the lid; the rollers don't start to turn until it is shut, and they stop when it is lifted, he said.

Mr. Wilson has relied on East End cabinetmakers, machinists, and other specialists to help make the various components of his machines but is now in search of manufacturers who would take on the entire process, start to finish. And, even as he continues to fine-tune, he and his brother are finding commercial possibilities for both devices.

They displayed the prototypes three months ago, at the U.S. Department of Energy's Yankee Invention Exposition, in Connecticut.

Commercial Uses

Restaurant and bar owners who watched demonstrations of the recycling machine said they pay for garbage disposal by the pick-up and could save a lot of money if their garbage went into the Dumpster compacted, said Mr. Wilson.

"We also thought this could be mounted on a garbage truck, and the driver could make fewer trips to the transfer station each day if he could crush the containers as they went in," he said, adding he envisioned apartment buildings and condominium complexes would be interested in communal machines.

While invention may require imagination and the ability to turn a concept into a physical object, it need not cost a lot, he said. The prototype of the recycling machine cost about $900 to build and the Humidifall about $3,000 to develop, not counting patent fees.

You Just Need Nerve

"We all have ideas and a few years later see it on the market and think 'Oh, I should have done that when I had the chance.' You just have to have the nerve to go through with it," he said, adding that he has had some help.

Dr. Kelman has provided inspiration and moral support, he said, and his partners and subcontractors have advised him along the way.

"It's just like working on the farm. Everybody contributes," he said.