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Have no idea what I'm doing, but want to learn!
- Thread starter Scootered
- Start date
Hey Scootered! How are you doing? Won t be long and you ll be out of school. Don t look forward to work. Make the most. I know you ve heard that before so it must be true!
Been awhile and thought Id rattle your chain a bit. Now your not going to make us a believer out of bhigdog's words are you? Would really like to see what that big secret is. How about showing us what you ve managed.
Been awhile and thought Id rattle your chain a bit. Now your not going to make us a believer out of bhigdog's words are you? Would really like to see what that big secret is. How about showing us what you ve managed.
Sorry gang, I've been up to my eyebrows in AP exam study. Did I mention I hate trig?
I discovered that I can get cheap tools at Harbor Freight (can't remember who it was here who suggested it, but thanks!) and I bought some things that made the working easier. They actually have little 4" grinding wheels! Bought a pack, which was much easier than a file.
I finished the first set of revisions to the "parts" and tested it out for it's intended purpose, and man, did it work exactly like I thought it would!
I was so excited about it that I forgot to take pictures and video for you guys.
So, tomorrow, while I have some time, and after I finish cutting the lawn, I'll take some pics and vid of the "thing" doing what I designed it to do, and show you guys what the big secret was! My neighbor said I ought to file a patent on it, and that it worked so well, and was so simple, he's surprised he's never seen it in a store. I might just look into that patent thing.
Sorry I haven't been around. I'm almost done with it for this year, and I'll have plenty of time to do other things!
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2018
- Messages
- 880
Congrats!
Trigonometry is one of those things that they teach when they shouldn't. It is very useful in many trades (machining, engineering, digital signal processing, to some extent data analysis) but at the high school level you haven't encountered the sort of complex problems to which it should be applied. Don't get me started on the shortcomings of the education system, I'll be going on all day
Speaking as someone who has (co-)filed patents, they ain't what they used to be. The idea is that the inventor is granted the right to produce their invention without competition; the reality is that it is an expensive process (hundreds of dollars to apply, thousands of dollars to maintain and that's without the use of a patent lawyer to draft the patent) which gives you the right to sue somebody (an even more expensive process, as the lawyers are not optional in this one) if they implement your idea - and that right ends at the border. Simply put, a patent is only worth filing if there is a market for selling the patent itself, or as part of the intellectual property armory of a large organization. I'm sure there are plenty of people who disagree with me - just ask the vendors at any county fair!
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 944
One valuable thing about the patent process in my mind is the patent search to see what someone else has already done. You may be surprised of what others have already thought of. uspto.gov is a good place to start a preliminary search. ThinWoodsman mentioned some of the perils and benefits of a patent. One other benefit is some thin protection from patent trolls/patent mills. A strongly written patent can sometimes ward them off with just a letter and reference to your patent. I've had personal experience with this. They tend to like soft targets and often ask for just enough $ to make it tough to decide what to do about them. And yes, for small businesses it could cost too much to go to court. Say you have a modest sales of $200K / year on a product. You think it might take off in future years but you're not sure. It wouldn't take much court time to wipe out all of the profit on that with a risk that you will lose anyway. Another benefit is in marketing. Sometimes customers will value "patented technology". It can add some level of gravitas. Sometimes customers strictly don't want patented technology so they can shop around... No easy answers on patents.
Good luck with your project. There are many relative newbies on this forum (like me for example) and for the most part it is a very friendly place to learn. I do think that texts, forums and emails tend to roughen up a message and can sometimes make a well meaning message sound mean spirited when it wasn't meant to be. I try to take things as meant in the most positive way and to not be too thin skinned. Here anyway, it is usually the case that people are genuinely trying to help.
Good luck with your project. There are many relative newbies on this forum (like me for example) and for the most part it is a very friendly place to learn. I do think that texts, forums and emails tend to roughen up a message and can sometimes make a well meaning message sound mean spirited when it wasn't meant to be. I try to take things as meant in the most positive way and to not be too thin skinned. Here anyway, it is usually the case that people are genuinely trying to help.
I won t go off and try and teach a lesson here but back in the day first apprentiship year at college a wise teacher said to us to make a rhyme with trig and it will stay with you all your life. Did not remember or know a thing from school.
His rhyme was Oakville hippies are high on acid. Yes it is actually what he said and you know what. I look at a triangle today and that rhyme goes off in my head.
Opposite/Hypotenuse (sine) Adjacent/Hypotenuse(cosine) Opposite/Adjacent(tangent)
Then just remember SCT for Sine, Cosine, Tangent. I
His rhyme was Oakville hippies are high on acid. Yes it is actually what he said and you know what. I look at a triangle today and that rhyme goes off in my head.
Opposite/Hypotenuse (sine) Adjacent/Hypotenuse(cosine) Opposite/Adjacent(tangent)
Then just remember SCT for Sine, Cosine, Tangent. I
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- Joined
- Dec 7, 2018
- Messages
- 653
Having been responsible for engineering teams that have come up with products that are patented you need to be aware of a few things...
1. Defending or prosecuting a patent if it goes to court can go over a million dollars especially when one of the litigants feel they are absolutely right even in the face of evidence that suggests otherwise. A patent is only good if you are willing to defend it.
2. This is a huge issue, often engineers or others become enthralled with their design and they patent that, but what they miss are the alternative ways of accomplishing the same outcome but in ways that get around the claims. The claims are all that matters in a patent when it comes to defending or getting around. What if one claim was avoided but it was a dependent claim, then they got around your patent. I would often bring together the entire engineering group to find a way around the claims. This often gave us a much stronger patent.
3. Obtaining a patent we would use a budget between $30-$50k with outside counsel. They are not cheap as you want the best you can get. Inside counsel was “free”.
4. Sometimes you end up narrowing up the claims to get your patent to issue. Too narrow and you really just have a piece of paper that doesn’t protect you fully or as broadly as you would like.
5. Hopefully as you have moved forward with your thoughts and ideas you have taken lots of notes that are dated and signed.
6. If you want to get a patent you will not want to offer it for sale until you have filed. Realize that the laws in the USA are slightly different from the European Union and filing is required wherever you want protection. We would often just file in key markets and in the home country of a competitor that might want to copy it.
Lots of things to think about.....
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
- Messages
- 1,238
I read through this from the start not knowing the thread ended. Maybe not ended yet though?
My thought is the project looks like a set of vise jaws with one side having the radius cut out for a pipe on one side. I would suggest searching eBay for vise jaws, picking something that is close to your dimensions and just cutting out the radius on the back side on the ones you need. That way the grooved side is done, parts almost ready to go.
One way to get the radius cut is to buy a carbide round cutter for a wood router. It would hold up for a couple parts at least with making several passes slowly increasing depth. Cutter same size as the pipe to clamp.
Open up the holes on the vise jaws or adjust the rest of the plans to use same holes especially if using an off the shelf set of jaws with standard size and placement holes would allow multiple parts made quickly.
My thought is the project looks like a set of vise jaws with one side having the radius cut out for a pipe on one side. I would suggest searching eBay for vise jaws, picking something that is close to your dimensions and just cutting out the radius on the back side on the ones you need. That way the grooved side is done, parts almost ready to go.
One way to get the radius cut is to buy a carbide round cutter for a wood router. It would hold up for a couple parts at least with making several passes slowly increasing depth. Cutter same size as the pipe to clamp.
Open up the holes on the vise jaws or adjust the rest of the plans to use same holes especially if using an off the shelf set of jaws with standard size and placement holes would allow multiple parts made quickly.