Beer Gear, From Can to Refrigerator Robot

-style pub game, a contestant could "ring-in" the answer by shaking the coaster vigorously. Sounds embarrassing, but it could work. The only setback we can think of is that it's too probably too heavy to be flipped through the air like a Frisbee after a long night of revelry.

In Tokyo bars, malls and heavily trafficked areas, these machines come packed with motion-activated ads, interactive touchscreens and plenty of beer options. Often, the bar establishment provides a clean glass that a customer places on the machine's slot, and the machine takes it from there with style. A hooking mechanism secures the glass with a giant claw and tilts it 45 degrees for the optimal amount of foam. Using motion sensors, the machine can tell when the glass is full, and releases it softly on the beer mat.

Why didn't he just move his refrigerator closer to his La-Z-Boy?

The materials, sizes and shapes of coasters have changed over the years. Versions of cork, plastic, paper and even leather have been used. Shortly after World War II, coasters measured 4 inches square, but by the 1980s, most were merely 3 inches square, and thinner.

In response to the safety problems, Daniel F. Cudzik invented the Stay Tab can in 1975, and Louisville's Falls City Brewing Company was the first brewery to feature them. The stay tab worked by forcing the pull tab into a "scored" area in the lid that leveraged the pulling force of the user, but without completely separating the tab from the can. By the mid-1980s almost all cans had a stay tab.