A Dunedin man believes a simple device he dreamed up in his garden shed has the potential to dramatically reduce death and injury from children playing with matches.
Stan Walters said a senior firefighter told him he was a crackpot when he set about developing a childproof matchbox holder that he says is impossible for young children to operate.
However, the firefighter quickly changed his mind when several colleagues could not open the matchbox without being told how it worked.
Mr Walters, aged 52, has applied for a worldwide patent for his invention, called Matchguard, and hopes to sell the boxes for less than $4 in supermarkets.
He said that after someone asked him to invent a device to make matchboxes safe, he thought about it for a year before he was struck by a flash of inspiration.
He went to his shed and a couple of minutes later had a block of wood the size and shape of a matchbox and some plastic - the basics of the safety device.
Matchboxes are inserted into the Matchguard, which requires a coordinated pressure to open. A second squeezing action exposes the striking plate.
Mr Walters has had 50,000 covers made in China and the springs made in New Zealand.
He said the device and a child-resistant cigarette lighter, which had not been marketed, cost $250,000 to develop but the investment should be recovered from sales of the Matchguard.
- NZPA
Quick hunch hatches childproof matchbox
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