This table saw miter was a low volume specialty product with realistic sales projects. CNC Machining all the way.
The manufacturer of the popular edging pad was contacted. He felt the idea was clever but more than needed. They were happy with their product the way it stood. Good try!
1 - How many consumers will purchase a new product concept and what will they pay for it? Yes! It’s paramount to know this before getting serious about any idea.
This toothbrush was easy to model and even raised some interest. Would the sales cover investments as well as margin? Few products! Lots of patents!
Note: All product ideas have a perceived value and that's what prospective customers will pay, and no more!
This viewing aid obviously stashes away with credit cards. It can be there when needed. Fresnel lenses are easy to mold and coat. No one invented the flat lens here. Can new uses be patented?
What's not to love about biscuit joinery. A great invention all around. Maybe for knock-down construction, something less permanent would suffice. One mold cavity for the pair.
2 - Design firms are structured to support retail businesses with their new product endeavors. New innovators usually can’t afford large conference room luxuries.
Note the relative size of the blades camparted to push tacks. They are small, delicate, and very hard. Maybe they can be honed, but never sharpened. The thought persisted through stuboness, not common sense.
When the ideas persist for new innovators, what to do with the ideas is challenging, and when not careful, very time consuming as well! Time is money. Well, sort of.
We've all heard about bees entering into open soda cans. Why not a sheet-plastic cover, with some congrats or similar printed on it?
What should it look like?
How much should it cost?
Who will purchase it?
How does it work?
Every home with a baby or two needs something like this. Where are they? Lots of patents but few, if any products.
3 - Common sense and hard work can circumvent high-risk financial obstacles when validating the product concept.
There may be one or two on the market today. It wasn't pursued because real carvers use very sharp tools. Maybe it would be useful for 'roughing-out' tasks. A housing and simple rotary-to-reciprocating convertor would be the main components.
All experienced innovators make time to 'belly-up' to the bench and get it done to the point where they can intelligently file a Provisional and openly get on with the exciting task!
Eight thousand were sold mostly to addresses in South America. The present popular drill grinder was priced at approximately $130 when this simple idea came about. Something 'less toyish' and more industrial should have been the charge.
What should it look like?
How much should it cost?
Who will purchase it?
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The Chestmate Dovetail Jig did better than just O.K. When all the flat, low-cost dovetail array templates came out after the patent expired, sales for this neat dovetailing and box joint Jig dried up. Such is business.
4 - Computers don't think. New and old innovators do. I believe we should utilize all the wonders of Computer Technology for the day we can direct it in a definitive and fruitful direction.
Any woodturner knows what this is. How original the fixturing was isn't confirmed. Turning should be relaxing. No true turner would buy a kit to make templates for speeding up the process. Some people get bored easily. A lot of good comments on youtube.
My version of a flip saw, table and chop, was "invented" when B&D was selling theirs in Europe. Stupid me worked on it for two weeks before calling them with their great idea. Yes, a good patent search would have clued me in.
Every home should have a Picture Hanging Tool. There may be more than one version out there already.
Guys don't care about broken finger nails. Girls do. Such an easy fix, especially if retooling.
Sketching and Innovating go hand and hand, at least for older innovators. Maybe didging and innovating now go hand and hand? Patent Attorneys may prefer sketches. It may be easier to identify parts free hand for Provisional and Utility Patents.
Note: We don't get headaches sketching.
Scoping out a system of many parts might suggest a more definitive system part identification (sketching) to assure compatibility before zeroing in on each part for comprehensive computer detail. A lot of parts to manage!
Illustrations establishing detail the Patent Attorney will need for for describing physical features and function for each invention part is still the preferred method of most Patent Attorneys.
Innovators maintain notebooks containing illustrations and descriptions of ideas that may or may not see the world of Computer Product Development. Digital notebooks are common as well.
What should it look like?
How much should it cost?
Who will purchase it?
How does it work?
5 - Hours of conceptual sketching and crumpled paper happened before I turned on the computer for a small engineering firm in Cambridge, Mass.
Unfortunately, computer renditions always convey an exaggerated sense of completion.
Shown conceptually are Laparoscopic Suturing Device and a Laparoscopic Grasper Device studies. Product Development is definitely diversified.
What should it look like?
How much should it cost?
Who will purchase it?
How does it work?
6 - Only once we know the destination of our product concepts and how they are intended to function, a Provisional Application for Patent is not difficult to prepare and submit to the U.S.P.T.O.
A pictorial and written description is necessary, enough for a skilled craftsman to fashion one, if asked to do so by a Patent Law Judge presiding over a dispute.
What should it look like?
How much should it cost?
Who will purchase it?
How does it work?
7 - A provisional, properly prepared, is the only way we can work openly on our product ideas before filing the very costly Utility Patent. They cannot be fast and careless if expected to protect our product ideas if ever scrutinized in a Court of Law.
What should it look like?
How much should it cost?
Who will purchase it?
How does it work?
8 - My limited service is realistic conceptualizing in illustrative form (Practical Innovation ) what your idea is, followed by a written description of your idea and how you desire it to function.
With that, after filing your application, you can share it comfortably while moving your product idea along.
Make it yours and go for it!
What should it look like?
How much should it cost?
Who will purchase it?
How does it work?
