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In this instructable, I pull the piezo sparker module out of a barbecue lighter, and transplant it into the body of what used to be a clicky-type retractable ballpoint pen.
Providing pulsed power when you press the plunger, this pocket-sized plaything is sure to be a pleasing plus to the plurality of pens and pencils presently populating your pocket protector.
;-)
In other words it's a little toy that looks like a ballpoint pen, but shoots tiny lightning bolts out of its tip. This toy can be used anywhere where a short duration multi-kilovolt pulse is required. It can be used for making tiny lightning bolts, briefly illuminating certain gas filled tubes, triggering a camera flash, starting stubborn fluorescent lights, and certainly other applications as well.
You can also use it to light your stove or gas grill.
The basic trick is just pulling a piezo module out of lighter, and then transplanting it into a ballpoint pen body.
Beyond that basic idea, this instructable goes into excessive and excruciating detail, as to one particular way to do this.
One of my goals was to make it look nice. Another goal was to make the finished product look as much like a stock ballpoint pen as possible.
If you dispense with those goals (pretty, and pen-shaped), you can probably cobble together something that works, i.e. something that will make an electric pulse, when you push down on the little spring-loaded hammer. For example the barbecue lighter I use comes in a nice red, plastic case, with a trigger and everything. So if you just run the wires outside the case to where you want them, that just might be what you want...
However, it would not resemble a ballpoint pen. And that's what I want, is something that looks like a pen. That's what my internal voice of ineffable desire says that it wants. The voices say making it look like a pen would be sexy.
Electrically the Piezo Pen is a two terminal device. One of those terminals is the plunger at the top of the pen, which is connected to the user's thumb. The other terminal is writing tip/stylus, at the bottom of the pen. When activated, i.e when the spring-loaded hammer hits the magic crystal, a high voltage pulse appears across these two terminals.
Note: the user of this Piezo Pen is necessarily part of the circuit, and he or she is connected to the Piezo Pen via his or her thumb on the plunger. Usually the object being zapped, e.g. fluorescent tube, gas stove, etc., is held in the user's other hand, and the path for the electric current is through his or her body.
Or through its body, in the case of a non-gendered robot using the Piezo Pen.
The reason I put those words in bold is because depending on what you're sensitive to, electric shocks, even mild ones, might be harmful. This is especially true if you're a robot, or if you are a human with implanted electronic devices, e.g. a pacemaker, or an insulin pump, or a I-know-not-what.
I just wanted to mention the Piezo Pen described in this instructable does connect electrically to the body of the user, and if that's going to be problematic for you, then you shouldn't play with it. Sorry.
Providing pulsed power when you press the plunger, this pocket-sized plaything is sure to be a pleasing plus to the plurality of pens and pencils presently populating your pocket protector.
;-)
In other words it's a little toy that looks like a ballpoint pen, but shoots tiny lightning bolts out of its tip. This toy can be used anywhere where a short duration multi-kilovolt pulse is required. It can be used for making tiny lightning bolts, briefly illuminating certain gas filled tubes, triggering a camera flash, starting stubborn fluorescent lights, and certainly other applications as well.
You can also use it to light your stove or gas grill.
The basic trick is just pulling a piezo module out of lighter, and then transplanting it into a ballpoint pen body.
Beyond that basic idea, this instructable goes into excessive and excruciating detail, as to one particular way to do this.
One of my goals was to make it look nice. Another goal was to make the finished product look as much like a stock ballpoint pen as possible.
If you dispense with those goals (pretty, and pen-shaped), you can probably cobble together something that works, i.e. something that will make an electric pulse, when you push down on the little spring-loaded hammer. For example the barbecue lighter I use comes in a nice red, plastic case, with a trigger and everything. So if you just run the wires outside the case to where you want them, that just might be what you want...
However, it would not resemble a ballpoint pen. And that's what I want, is something that looks like a pen. That's what my internal voice of ineffable desire says that it wants. The voices say making it look like a pen would be sexy.
Electrically the Piezo Pen is a two terminal device. One of those terminals is the plunger at the top of the pen, which is connected to the user's thumb. The other terminal is writing tip/stylus, at the bottom of the pen. When activated, i.e when the spring-loaded hammer hits the magic crystal, a high voltage pulse appears across these two terminals.
Note: the user of this Piezo Pen is necessarily part of the circuit, and he or she is connected to the Piezo Pen via his or her thumb on the plunger. Usually the object being zapped, e.g. fluorescent tube, gas stove, etc., is held in the user's other hand, and the path for the electric current is through his or her body.
Or through its body, in the case of a non-gendered robot using the Piezo Pen.
The reason I put those words in bold is because depending on what you're sensitive to, electric shocks, even mild ones, might be harmful. This is especially true if you're a robot, or if you are a human with implanted electronic devices, e.g. a pacemaker, or an insulin pump, or a I-know-not-what.
I just wanted to mention the Piezo Pen described in this instructable does connect electrically to the body of the user, and if that's going to be problematic for you, then you shouldn't play with it. Sorry.
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Signing UpStep 1Prior Art - Grill Lighters and Qi Stimulators
In the prior art, these little piezo thumper modules are used to provide a small electric spark for the purposes of igniting a gas-air flame, as in a barbecue lighter, or candle lighter, or even in some small cigarette lighters, and/or small butane powered torches.
That's what they're usually used for.
Also worth mentioning are some gizmos sold under the aegis of alternative medicine. Words typically found in advertisement/documentation for these devices include: acupuncture, acupressure, stimulation, qi?
Some links:
http://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/stimul.htm
http://www.magnetictherapysales.com/ProdDisplay.asp?ID=563
http://www.qi-journal.com/store.asp?-token.S=All&-KeyValue=2732
I dunno, I guess shocking yourself with a piezo module can be theraputic. Erm... Maybe... If you do it right.... Actually I'm not qualified to say what the health effects are, if any, and whether or not it's good for you.
However, if you want to give it a try, and you want a cheaper alternative to their magic stimulator wand, sold for 30 USD, or 60 USD (priced at the time of this writing) , I think the Piezo Pen described in this 'ible gives you basically the same thing. Like the gizmos sold at the links above, my Piezo Pen has one of its terminals on the top, where the thumb pushes the plunger, and the other terminal at the bottom. And I am guessing it works the same way.
I am sure if you actually asked any of the sellers of the above linked piezo "stimulation" devices, that they'd assure you their device is superior to anything you or I could build at home from a hacked butane lighter. I mean it would kind of have to be better in some way, in order to justify the price they're asking for it. Right?
;-)
That's what they're usually used for.
Also worth mentioning are some gizmos sold under the aegis of alternative medicine. Words typically found in advertisement/documentation for these devices include: acupuncture, acupressure, stimulation, qi?
Some links:
http://www.museumofquackery.com/devices/stimul.htm
http://www.magnetictherapysales.com/ProdDisplay.asp?ID=563
http://www.qi-journal.com/store.asp?-token.S=All&-KeyValue=2732
I dunno, I guess shocking yourself with a piezo module can be theraputic. Erm... Maybe... If you do it right.... Actually I'm not qualified to say what the health effects are, if any, and whether or not it's good for you.
However, if you want to give it a try, and you want a cheaper alternative to their magic stimulator wand, sold for 30 USD, or 60 USD (priced at the time of this writing) , I think the Piezo Pen described in this 'ible gives you basically the same thing. Like the gizmos sold at the links above, my Piezo Pen has one of its terminals on the top, where the thumb pushes the plunger, and the other terminal at the bottom. And I am guessing it works the same way.
I am sure if you actually asked any of the sellers of the above linked piezo "stimulation" devices, that they'd assure you their device is superior to anything you or I could build at home from a hacked butane lighter. I mean it would kind of have to be better in some way, in order to justify the price they're asking for it. Right?
;-)
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btw, that Evil Knievel stimulator hoopjack thingy really did work to alleviate pain.
I am also going to guess the answer to this question is "Yes", and this hypothetical airline traveler, he or she, could be arrested and charged with some kind of heinous crime, and disappeared into a Kafkaesque secret prison system, never to be seen or heard from again.
At least that's the way they do things in my home country, the Former United States. As a general rule for commercial air travel in the FUS, you should not bring with you any item which you prefer not to be: stolen, broken, soiled, irradiated, or touched inappropriately.
Because I consider my body to be on that list, I haven't taken a trip by plane in years.
BTW, there was a movie released a few years ago titled,
"Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481536/
which explores this topic (of bringing one's homemade invention on an airplane trip) in greater detail.