MIT researchers solve the ketchup problem

[Hum]

No more violent shaking. No more tapping the ?57? logo. And certainly no more ketchup left to waste at the bottom of the bottle -- all thanks to Ph.D. candidate Dave Smith and his team of MIT researchers.

Smith's team, consisting of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists, over the past several months has created ?LiquiGlide,? a non-toxic coating so slippery that when you tilt the bottle, the ketchup just flows. Every last drop.

"It just floats right onto the sandwich," Smith told Fast Company.

The technology isn?t limited to just ketchup, Smith says. The coating can be applied to a variety of surfaces, glass or plastic, and could conceivably work with all kinds of thick sauces. And for Smith, the benefits are obvious.

According to Smith, their coating is especially unique because of its special properties: It?s "kind of a structured liquid -- it?s rigid like a solid, but it?s lubricated like a liquid."

The concept is already gaining traction. The team recently placed second in MIT?s $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, taking home the fan favorite award. Smith, though, is already looking to the future.

"It?s funny: Everyone is always like, 'Why bottles? What?s the big deal?' But then you tell them the market for bottles -- just the sauces alone is a $17 billion market," Smith told Fast Company.

"And if all those bottles had our coating, we estimate that we could save about 1 million tons of food from being thrown out every year."

source & video

[Solid Knight]

Now they can do research to solve the accidental overpouring problem.

[Detection]

^^ Thats just with the old glass bottles, they cured that with the plastic squeezy ones :p

---

Or you can store the ketchup bottle upside down ...

[Noir Angel]

This kind of technology would be so helpful in so many different applications. One thing that annoys me about condiment bottles, ice cream sauces, liquid laundry detergent, and so on is that you almost always end up with some wastage because you're unable to get all of the liquid out of the bottle. Cutting down on waste would be good for the environment, and it would save people money. I hope they turn this into a marketable idea.

[Hum]

Now watch -- the LiquiGlide will turn out to cause cancer. :shifty:

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

@Hum^ That was my thought exactly, lol!

[Buttus]

they need to make something like this for engines, get rid of motor oil!

(and then it wouldn't matter if it caused cancer! lol)

[redfish]

This is cool, although I figured out the secret to getting stuck ketchup out of glass bottles a long time ago. If you need to in order to get the ketchup to the top, pound the bottom several times when its upside down. Then, while its upside down, put in a knife, and the ketchup flows out with the knife.

[cacoe]

Tighten up the lid really well. Swing the bottle upside down with a lot of force in the shape of a semi circle as long as your arm can reach.

There you go, all your ketchup is now accessible :)

[Glassed Silver]

Tighten up the lid really well. Swing the bottle upside down with a lot of force in the shape of a semi circle as long as your arm can reach.

There you go, all your ketchup is now accessible :)

Been doing this for years, discovered it myself and boy is it effective.

Everyone should do it! (Y)

As for the researchers: Great invention, because even the swing shaker can't pull out a perfect 100/100! :)

Glassed Silver:mac

[Original Poster]

i found that spinning the bottles upside down at a fast speed (between my hands like a bad erm...ye..) does the job... got the idea from working in vet.... looking at the machines seperate the different things which make the blood :3

[-T- Member]

Lack of info about the costings to coat every bottle with this stuff. I can't see it happening any time soon. Kudos though

[mokthraka]

I want this where I work... no more spending hours trying to empty containers :D!

[ArialBlue]

I envision a different use for this technology (aside from causing cancer) :woot: :rofl: :blush:

[Glassed Silver]

I envision a different use for this technology (aside from causing cancer) :woot: :rofl: :blush:

Try silicone lube, it's awesome! (Y) :p

Glassed Silver:mac

[Hum]

^ I suspect the LiquiGlide is just that -- silicone lube.

[rfirth]

Now watch -- the LiquiGlide will turn out to cause cancer. :shifty:

The inventor wrote somewhere that the coating is made of a material that we ingest more of with other products than would ever be transferred from the coating to the food. Apparently it's a material that we already eat, but he won't say what it's made from. Not sure why, since he already has it patented. Patents are public knowledge, not trade secrets.

This is cool, although I figured out the secret to getting stuck ketchup out of glass bottles a long time ago. If you need to in order to get the ketchup to the top, pound the bottom several times when its upside down. Then, while its upside down, put in a knife, and the ketchup flows out with the knife.

That works to start the flow, but not to get the last bit out. To do that, you have to do the centrifuge move.

Tighten up the lid really well. Swing the bottle upside down with a lot of force in the shape of a semi circle as long as your arm can reach.

There you go, all your ketchup is now accessible :)

That works, but you risk accidentally throwing the bottle if you swing too vigorously. It happens.

[Astra.Xtreme]

This will be a hard sell to companies because it will add cost to their overhead. Though in the end, it will probably just equate to an increase in the price for the product.

The company will have the cost of this coating and the indirect cost of people buying less of the product since it will take longer to consume the 100% as opposed to the 90% w/ 10% (estimate) that goes to waste.

Companies are always looking to cut costs and keep revenue gains increasing each year, so this added cost will be a tough one to justify even though it has really really good environmental benefits.

[Glassed Silver]

[...]

That works, but you risk accidentally throwing the bottle if you swing too vigorously. It happens.

Not with me, you must be "holding it wrong" :laugh: :rofl:

Glassed Silver:mac

[Hum]

I took a look here,

http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html

but didn't find the alleged patent. :turned:

[The Laughing Man]

So what you're saying is I'm gonna need diapers now....

[rfirth]

I took a look here,

http://patft.uspto.g...earch-bool.html

but didn't find the alleged patent. :turned:

Takes FOREVER for the patent office to process applications. Maybe that's why.

So what you're saying is I'm gonna need diapers now....

Yes, but you won't need toilet paper anymore either.

[threetonesun]

I always wondered why restaurants don't get some sort of refillable caulk-gun type ketchup dispensers. I suppose it's cause the kids would squirt it all over.

[Rohdekill]

This is cool, although I figured out the secret to getting stuck ketchup out of glass bottles a long time ago. If you need to in order to get the ketchup to the top, pound the bottom several times when its upside down. Then, while its upside down, put in a knife, and the ketchup flows out with the knife.

Just the knife alone is enough. With full jar, upright, just slide knife down on an angle, rubbing the inside of the jar. Extract the knife and pour.

[Solid Knight]

Actually, the best 100/100 is to break the bottle then use a centrifuge to get all the glass out.