The Sun Times, Owen Sound
BY BILL WALKER
Friday, January 16, 1998
Lino Di Iorio has only been a curler for a little more than three years, but he's already looking to revolutionize the game.
As the inventor of the BalancePlus system, the Richmond Hill patio door manufacturer has invented a machine that takes the guess work out of balancing curling rocks.
"When curlers throw rocks, they want them to be balanced as closely as possible," DiIorio said Thursday during a break at the 1998 AT&T Canadian Mixed Curling Championship at Owen Sound's Harry Lumley-Bayshore Community Centre.
"Usually that's done by feel ... by throwing rocks and getting a sense that they curl the same way. But this isn't very accurate because it doesn't account for how they're thrown or if the stones are all thrown with the same weight. And as soon as you throw one stone on a line, it's different for the next stone."
DiIorio's machine - which can shoot up to eight rocks at a time - sends each stone down the sheet at exactly the same speed, with exactly the same turn, on exactly the same line.
Original 2 Rock Throwing Machine
The system also has an electronic eye which can take split times to measure the speed from the back line to the hog line. This ensures each rock has been thrown by the device at the same speed.
"What you want to do is throw all eight stones on each of the eight lines so that you can do a comparative analysis of how they curl," said DiIorio, who used some of the technology from his patio-door manufacturing in the machine.
By comparing how each rock curls on each line, it's possible to match stones as closely as possible - not only for each team but so one side doesn't have an unfair advantage over another.
"The goal, of course, is to have it so that all of the stones at an event are matched as closely as possible so one team doesn't have an unfair advantage by playing on a certain sheet with a certain set of stones," said DiIorio, who used his machine at the BlueWater Curling Club Thursday because it doesn't have sheet dividers and can handle eight stones at once.
"That's why it's so important to get people like Shorty (Jenkins) and the other top ice makers to agree that this can be a useful tool. We've matched these stones and the response from the curlers has all been positive."
Jenkins, the Mixed's chief ice maker, is on board. He used DiIorio's machine to match the rocks that are being used at the event. The stones will also be used at the Scott Tournament of Hearts, the world juniors, and the world championships this spring.
"You can have the best ice in the world but if the stones aren't matched, it won't be worth a darn," Jenkins said.
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