The jbGizmo Car Buoy

This is a great "fundraiser" and/or advertising tool. The car buoy can be made from everyday material for less than $0.50 each and sold for over a dollar. They can be customized with the school logo or a business advertisement using a PC and color printer.

Everybody, at one time or another, has probably used a "car buoy" to correctly position their car in the garage, not too close to the wall and far enough to clear the door. A variety of devices have been used. One of the most common has been the tennis-ball-hanging-on-a-string-from- the-ceiling buoy. In all cases the idea is the same, hang the buoy where it just touches the front windshield in front of the driver when the car is correctly parked. Then on subsequent parking when the driver steers to position the buoy on the same spot on the windshield, the car will be parked exactly as when the buoy was first positioned, i.e.. correctly. The jbGizmo Car Buoy works the same way but because it uses a flat buoy it is possible to easily attach customized graphic art to the buoy. Every time a person who is using the buoy parks their car they are looking at your logo/advertisement.

Parts list:

Thin brightly plated medal circle 2.5" dia. :
These very thin brightly plated pieces of metal are available from most lumber/building material retailers. They are used to nail Styrofoam sheeting on buildings.

String:
Braided nylon string works best. Get it from WalMart or Target or a building materials retailer.

Self adhesive picture hanger or screw hook:
Same place as the string.

Making the Artwork:

Your artwork can be made easily using a variety of computer software and hardware. The most widely available and easiest way to produce art work is to use Microsoft's Paint program which is included with Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. There are three basic ways to do this:

1. Draw your artwork directly into the "Paint" program
2. Copy artwork from other programs or off the Internet by using the "print screen" button on the keyboard and the "Paste" function in the "Paint" program.
3. Scan in the logo using a scanner, assuming you have a scanner.


Once the image is created in the "Paint" program you will need to size it to fit on the 2.5" metal circle. After this is done print the image, cut it out with a pair of scissors or sharp knife and glue it to the metal disk. "Glue stick" works well. Next drill a hole in the top of the disk, attach the string. Put the self adhesive hanger in a package with the disk and string, and you are ready to sell or distribute your customized Car Buoy.


e-mail if you have questions.
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Jerry Baumeister
E-Mail to:
jerry_baumeister@msn.com

Copyright ©1997, Jerry Baumeister
Revised - 12-27-97