Elsie's drawing animated.
The Leaf Catcher in the exhibition
Elsie with her family who popped in to Dominic's INVENTORS! workshop while out for a walk.
Elsie Ronald with her idea.
Elsie's original drawing.
Leaf Catcher
An invention by Elsie Ronald, a great aunt to a young family. Elsie came to a INVENTORS! workshop with her family. Dominic asked if she would like to draw an invention idea. Elsie was a little reluctant. Five minutes later Dominic returned to find Elsie had drawn this Leaf Catcher device.
“Mother Nature is untidy. This invention is a leaf catcher to keep the streets tidy.” Elsie Ronald
A prototype of the idea was made by Roger O’Brian and AMAP.
“The team at AMAP loved the quirk idea that Mother Nature is untidy, and something to stop the problem of leaves ‘littering’ the world!
Elsie’s invention called for a ‘giant umbrella’, however we felt that we could interpret this a little broadly to make something in keeping with nature, yet fun and quirky, but at the same time eye catching and sculptural (art meeting engineering!). The idea therefore evolved that the panels of the catcher could be giant representations of leaves.
The design required AMAP to machine a split ring/collar that would hold the panels and allow it to fit and clamp around the tree trunk. This collar was machined on our 5 axis CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) machining centre, and links made to fasten the 2 halves together when in place. The idea is that adjustable clamping feet are on the inside of the collar that can be altered to clamp against the tree trunk and so not damage the tree. For
the display the panels are static at present, but the intention is to fit a pulley system to the panels to produce the umbrella effect so the catcher can fold away during spring and summer. The leaf panels themselves are secured into the clamping ring and collar.
The panels were sourced from a well-known Swedish furniture manufacturer (!?!?) and are actually children’s over bed canopies. AMAP modified these for the purposes of the leaf catcher, as this made producing the panels cost effective and speeded the build up. After the catcher was assembled then finally expanded mesh trays were produced to sit in the bottom of the catcher. These would prevent any leaves escaping through the collar area and at the same time allow water to drain out, and air to circulate, so dry leaves can be simply scooped out of the catcher. The leaf catcher invention is shown on a mock-up of a tree trunk as no trees were harmed in the making of this invention!” Roger O’Brian