If they call it “The Heffner,” Scott Heffner could go down in history with a lot more identity and no more indignity than all the Johns of the world.

A retired broadcasting executive living in Vista, Heffner, 58, invented a device that very well could replace the plunger in every household on earth. He likens the potential to the Swiffer, which ramped up to a $1 billion annual product line for Procter & Gamble in just a few years. We’ve seen The Heffner in action, and believe Mr. Heffner may be understating its likely popularity.

On the mechanics, we’re sworn to secrecy for now. But when you first see it work, you’ll slap your head and wonder why someone hadn’t thought of that before.

“It’s replacing the plunger,” Heffner declares. “It’s a truly different way. There’s never been a method on the market that’s as fast as mine. And it’s not trying to use some alternative energy like pumping up pressure in the toilet, like a plunger. It’s direct and gets right to the problem. No chemicals. About as green as you can get.”

He came up with the idea in May 2006 and filed for a U.S. patent on Oct. 5, 2006, with the assistance of attorney Bernard Kleinke of Duckor Spradling Metzger & Wynne.

“I built the prototype,” says Heffner. “The first one took about 15 minutes. I ran into the garage, had an idea that I thought would work. It was either grab the old plunger or try my method and it was over before it started. It worked better than I ever thought.

“It took me about three days to redo it into something a little more presentable and it continued to work flawlessly. Then I bought some equipment and actually manufactured a really good prototype. The patent takes about three years. What I’m doing now is producing a bunch of prototypes with patent pending and I’m about to go find a major corporation that would like to take this and make and market it around the world. I have no interest in making it. I just want a royalty.”

Heffner is available at scottheff@sbcglobal.net. Remember, you read it here first.