It’s the oldest trick in the book, and one many teachers learned early to watch out for–the thumbtack on the chair. Then there’s the worry of stepping on one that you’ve dropped, or the desire to put a few in your pocket as you work on a bulletin board.
Photo by Alexander von Halem
Those days of thumbtack phobia may be over, thanks a recent bio-inspired redesign. Designer Toshi Fukaya was determined to make thumbtacks, also known as drawing pins, safer. He drew his inspiration from cats’ retractable claws. His design has the pin part covered by a hollow silicone sheath, so that the pin is not exposed until it’s pressed onto a hard surface like a board or a wall. For more photos of the design, see the article An Old Simple Gadget Made New By Biomimicry.
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