A pair of Saskatchewan inventors are hoping they’ll never see another extension cord dragging down Canada’s snowy streets again.
Arash Janfada and Will Topping’s MagnoPlug invention stops motorists from driving away with an extension cord still plugged into the front of the car.
The device replaces the old method of plugging in a blocker heater — shoving a three-pronged plug into an extension cord — using plugs that easily snap together and apart with magnets.
“I have seen my sister drive away and get her cable wrapped into the tire,” Topping said. “Then she’s wondering why she’s drifting around the corners.”
Topping was a fourth-year engineering student two years ago when Janfada, also an engineer, asked him to help reinvent the block heater plug.
Janfada said he damaged his car more than a few times driving away without unplugging his block heater, but when he looked in stores and online for a product that could fix his problem, he couldn’t find one. He decided to invent his own.
“I actually wanted to purchase it,” he said. “I realized, you know what, there’s some potential here, so I started to peruse it.”
The invention is still in its prototype stage and not available to the public, but Janfada and Topping have started a Kickstarter campaign with hopes of raising $100,000 to push MagnoPlug into production and get it CSA approved.
They’d like to see their product available to the public in six to eight months.
A future version of MagnoPlug would feature smaller connections made out of a stronger, nylon-based material, the inventors said.
