Swiss inventions: the good, the bad and the ugly

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The Stewi clothes dryer, a Swiss version of the rotary clothes hoist which became a suburban must-have in the post-war years, was commercialised by Walter Steiner in 1947. Keystone

Invented by Fritz Schori in 1934, the Kaba key and its cylindrical lock are a symbol of Swiss security. Ex-press

Already in 1968, there was an American prototype for the computer mouse. But it was Logitech, based in canton Vaud, which was the first company to mass-market the mouse. Keystone

With the founding of Swatch in 1983, Nicolas Hayek revitalised the Swiss watch industry in the face of competition from Asian watchmakers. Keystone

Since 1966, Menzi Muck has been producing all-purpose excavators that can handle all kinds of terrain. menzimuck

This photo shows the battle against beetles in canton Valais in 1950. Chemist Paul Hermann Müller discovered the insecticidal properties of DDT in 1939 and received the 1948 Nobel Prize for Medicine. DDT has since been banned worldwide for agricultural use under the Stockholm Convention because of its adverse health effects. RDB

In 2012, the Swiss Space Center at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne introduced its CleanSpace One, a robot designed to rid the universe of waste. EPFL/Swiss Space Center

Nestlé patented its Nespresso coffee capsule system in 1976. When the capsules went on the market ten years later, they were a commercial flop. Only years later did they become a hit; 4.8 billion capsules were sold in 2010. Keystone

OilGuard, a nanotech product, was developed to fight oil spills in the ocean. The fleece is impregnated with a chemical to separate water from oil. oilguard.org

In 1924, Alusuisse was the first company to produce aluminium foil to be used in food packaging. imagepoint

For economical peeling, this gadget was designed to prevent the blade from penetrating too far into the vegetable. After the Second World War, inventor Alfred Neweczeral founded Zena AG, which still manufactures and sells the peeler. Keystone

Helvetica – created by Max Miedinger in 1956 – is considered an icon of modern typography and is one of the most popular fonts worldwide. Keystone

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From a potato peeler to a clothes drying rack, many everyday objects are from Switzerland. Some have become hugely successful, like coffee capsules and the computer mouse.

Here is a shortlist of some famous Swiss products which have enjoyed global success. (Images: Keystone, menzimuck.com, RDB, EPFL, oilguard.org, imagepoint)