Category: Inventing

Articles relating to Inventing and the invention process.

How To Make An Invention
The Basic First Step after the Great Idea

You have the great idea. It may not change the entire world (although it might) but it will definitely change your world by bringing something into the world that wasn’t there before, or that truly is the better mousetrap.

Either way there is something that has to happen immediately after the great idea for most of us to do anything with it.

How To Make An Invention, otherwise known as prototyping, is about getting the idea out of your head onto a sketchbook and physical object.

How To Make An Invention Prototype

Once an individual comes up with the great idea, the next step is to make a working prototype. Often people have great ideas that might work or would sort of work but they do not turn them into anything concrete to make sure they do work. After you get something that works, then you can figure out if it is worth using. You can figure out the costs, the benefits, what types of materials could make it stronger, better, and more effective. You can streamline and improve upon something that works. Until you have something that works you cannot work with it.

Why do you have to have a prototype again?

The prototype is the first stage of invention design. In summary:
1. To show that your great idea works
2. To have something to protect, whether it is a design or a completely new invention
3. To have something to market and sell.
How To Get To A Prototype?

Once you have the great idea there are a lot of different ways to get the first run prototype.

Make An Invention Yourself

You can learn how to make an invention yourself both physically or digitally.

Build It Physically

A lot of people, including many who are not mechanically inclined, find a way to make their own prototype in their garage with some simple or not so simple tools. This is usually a more economical way to go about the invention design process.

Build It Digitally

Did you know that there is a lot of excellent inventor software available that allows you to digitally build and construct your prototype.

Leverage the Community

Local schools and businesses can be great sources for resources, information and skills that can enable you to build your invention design prototype, and some of these people the local community college may have some students looking to build something as a school project, or the local college with an advanced engineering program or art program may have some students too. For the computer savvy there are 3-D printing options that you can work with to develop highly precise parts. There are businesses that may let you leverage some of their staff like auto shops. Confidentiality agreements should be part of the process to protect your idea. This can also be very economical because you can leverage the experience of people who have knowledge you do not without paying them a lot.

Hire Professional Prototype Builders

This can be a lot more expensive than other routes. On the other hand if the idea is fully formed there can be benefits as well. Often these businesses have marketing and other types of business ties to plug into that you may not have yourself. And they may know more about getting a prototype made than you do. Just keep an eye on the costs.

Ultimately there are a variety of ways to get your invention design made. Just get it made so you can get onto the great part, which is selling your new invention.
January 18, 2013
What Inventor Assistance Is Available
There are a lot of websites out there offering basic inventor assistance regarding patenting and other types of advice regarding your inventions. Some are certainly helpful at getting started and perhaps providing some introductory information as to patentability and other alternatives an inventor might pursue to protect an invention.

Consult a professional about whether your invention may have commercial value, and get inventor assistance and help with whether or not to patent and how to patent your invention.

Non-Profits Companies Providing Inventor Assistance

Benefit: There are a few nonprofit organizations that can help an inventor determine if they should spend the money and energy developing an idea. One is the Inventor’s Assistance League, Inc. Such organizations have been generally found to be helpful and a key benefit to discussing an invention with them and other professionals who advise about the value of inventions is the focus on marketing and the business end, which many inventors do not have.

Possible Downsides: No interest in the commercial investment can limit interest in developing the product and not all of the contacts at organizations like these have a lot of business experience.

Professionals That Help Develop Inventions and Products

Benefit: There are businesses that specialize in product development and prototype development. Some of these provide helpful inventor assistance so long as you have a good contract in place to protect your invention when you deal with them. They are a business and they have commercial priorities, so if they think the product can sell they will often be willing to work with you.

Possible Downsides: These businesses have areas that they specialize in, and if your invention isn’t “their kind of thing” their interest and feedback may be of limited value.

Using The USPTO For Inventor Assistance

If you know you want to patent something up front, the USPTO provides some very general assistant to inventors. They have an inventors’ assistance section that is on the USPTO website. Keep in mind that the information they are willing to provide is very general and is targeted at the process of getting an invention, not an individual’s specific invention. The staff at the USPTO cannot give advice as to a specific invention and they cannot give legal advice.

Consulting Outside Sources Gives Additional Information and A Different Approach

Consulting with a professional, either from a non-profit of the private sector has value on at least two fronts:
1. The inventor gets feedback from a party that is not invested in the invention’s success.
2. The inventor gets feedback from a party that knows about the marketplace and what sells.
Keep In Mind: Professionals are not always right

No matter who you talk to, there are literally thousands of inventions and products that everyone thought would fail except the handful of people who got it on the market. While most inventions have no commercial value, some do. If you see it but others don’t you should not give up on your invention.
January 16, 2013
Inventor Software

We’ll talk here about the best inventor software on offer for use in different steps of the invention process.

Brainstorming Inventor Software

bubbl.us

bubbl.us is a free and very easy to use online mindmapping service. Within minutes you can have a nice looking and multi-leveled mindmap. You can also save, print, import and export your mindmaps for modification or future reference.

Microsoft Visio

We’ll speak about Microsoft Visio in more detail in the Patenting Software section below. Besides 2D design work, Visio can be used for mindmapping and brainstorming, and thus is great for the creation and ideas phase of the invention process. It allows you to build keyword hierarchies in an easy to use and organized manner, and moreover lets you order them and re-organize them if necessary. The advantage of using Visio as opposed to, say, just sketching a mindmap, is that you can always come back to your brainstorm and modify or re-engineer it at a later stage.

SmartDraw

SmartDraw is an excellent piece of software which we’ll talk more about below, and it works in similar fashion to Visio for brainstorming purposes. Check out some SmartDraw brainstorming examples to see how easy it is to brainstorm and mind-map with it.

Inventor Software For Sketching

In this section we’re going to look specifically at tablet apps. Tablets such as the iPad have become incredible tools for inventors, as they allow you to sketch ideas on the go using powerful sketching software.

Sketchbook Pro

Sketchbook Pro is one of the best iPad and Android apps out there for invention and idea sketching. It provides multiple types of digital pencils, brushes, markers so that you can freely sketch your ideas and innovations in a way that works for your needs.

Check out this video to give you a good overview of how Sketchbook Pro works:

Paper by FiftyThree

Paper is another amazing sketching app that focuses on simplicity and a provides a minimalist design interface. It allows you to organize your sketches into digital ‘books’ in a very cool and effective way. Use it if you like to make lots of quick sketches: it beats a physical sketchpad any day.

Invention Product Design Software

Google Sketchup

Google Sketchup is a simple yet powerful piece of 3D modeling inventor software, and the free version is a brilliant way for inventors to start modeling their designs into 3D objects. Some of its features include conversion of 2D designs into 3D, exact measurements for prototyping and production purposes, grouping and ‘clipping together’ of distinctly designed components, texture and color surfacing, animations and presentations of designs and even a feature to cut away and go inside a design.

Google Sketchup comes with lots of free training videos (as well as real-world training), and here’s an example of one to see how it works:

AutoDesk Inventor

Inventor software AutoDesk Inventor is a state-of-the-art 3D CAD design system that allows you to design, control and even simulate your inventions before building produce physical prototypes (sometimes even preventing the need to product a physical prototype). Its numerous features include converting 2D CADs into 3D, assembly design, motion simulation and mold design. It also comes with video tutorials that guide you through all features of the inventor software package.

AutoDesk Inventor software comes in different versions and different prices, and it’s one disadvantage is that it’s quite pricey (from $999 onwards). However if you use it to its full capabilities, and put in the time to learn how to use all its features, it’s worth the price. Take advantage of the free trial if you want to test it out.

Here’s a very long but very comprehensive demonstration of using the invention software to design an LED Lamp:

Patent Design Software

Microsoft Visio

If you have a PC with Windows installed, one of the best patenting design software you can get is Microsoft Visio (available in both standard and professional versions). Visio is a very powerful design tool, which is primarily used for 2D design work. As a result it allows you to draw up virtually anything that would be required for 2D patent document diagrams. This includes patent diagrams, flowcharts and scenario charts. Visio allows anyone to build professional looking designs using existing templates and pre-drawn shapes. For the most part you can do these designs without requiring the services of a professional draughtsman.

If you are wanting to get to grips with patent designing, particularly when using a design tool like Visio, it always helps to do a patent search.

Here’s a Visio demonstration video:

SmartDraw

SmartDraw is the non-Microsoft equivalent of Visio, and some people prefer it because it is an independent company and regularly updates its software (Visio has much longer product cycles). It can do virtually everything that Visio can do in terms of 2D design work, and includes hundreds of templates and pre-designed shapes. In other words its a great piece of inventor software, and allows you to come up with professional looking designs without having to be a professional designer.

Here’s a SmartDraw demonstration video that will give you more of an idea of its capabilities:

That’s it for now folks. Come back to see updates and new inventor software as it becomes available. Good luck!

January 11, 2013
What To Invent

In the inventing spirit, but not sure what to invent? Let’s get those inventive juices flowing, and spur you into the realms of innovation.

The ‘What To Invent’ Game

One of the best ways to invent is to see it as a game. That way you’ll be having fun, which increases your chances at being creative. You can play this game by yourself or with a group of people. If you’re playing with a bunch, you can either play individually or in small groups.

Step 1: Find A Theme That Interests You

One of the best ways of determining what to invent is to begin with a particular area, theme or topic in mind, and innovate from there. You are always going to invent better when you start with something that interests you. There’s no point in trying to come up with ideas for door knobs when you really don’t care too much about them.

For example, if you are a pet lover, pick the topic of pet inventions. If you like golf, think about golfing inventions.

Step 2: Write Down What You Know

Get hold of a pad of paper, do this on your computer, or record your voice, and start jotting down (or speaking out) every kind of product or device related to your theme that you know of. The trick is not to think too much about it, but just to write (or speak). Try do this as fast as possible, and write down up to 20 existing products. If you like, you could even sketch them (which is really good for the visual part of your brain).

Step 3: Write Down What You Don’t Know

This may have already cropped up in the previous step, namely that new ideas for what to invent could be coming to mind based on the products you have reviewed. This step is about recording them in the same manner as step 2, and also as rapidly as possible. The trick is not to censor yourself. Just write down, sketch or speak as fast as possible whatever comes to mind by way of improving on a product or invention that already exists. Even if it makes absolutely no sense, get it down. For instance if you wrote down ‘golf bag’ in Step 2, imagine the varieties of what to invent around this can come up for you in this step.

If nothing comes to mind, don’t get stressed or concerned. It’s probable that things are coming to mind but you are thinking ‘that’s not a good idea’ or ‘that doesn’t relate to the products at hand’. Close your eyes for a few moments, let go of all thoughts and feelings, and start step 3 again. I promise you that ideas will start springing to mind.

Keep going with this step for at least 20 minutes, and I remind you not to censor yourself and let the ideas flow freely.

Step 4: Review

Now go back and take a look at what you’ve written (or spoken). Take a look at the existing products, and take a look at the ideas of what to invent that you have written down. You may be amazed at what you see, even if you thought it didn’t make much sense at the time.

If you are playing this in a group, now’s a good time to share with the others what you’ve come up with.

Play it again, and again

Each time you play the what to invent game by yourself or with a group, you’ll get better at it. It can be really fun to play in a group as everyone encourages each other and it can be really fun.

January 9, 2013
How To Be An Inventor
It’s not a cliche, nor is it some kind of marketing gambit, to say that anyone can be an inventor. Learning how to be an inventor is a process just like learning how to ride a bicycle or learning how to draw. Some people say that you need some special kind of ‘talent’ to draw, that it is innate and that you can’t ‘learn’ it. Yet many books, courses and educators have proven that anyone can draw.

The exact same logic applies to inventing and the invention process. You can learn how to be an inventor using a combination of techniques, practice and persistance. But firstly you need to know what an inventor actually is.

What Is An Inventor?

An inventor is someone who improves upon the order of things. He or she helps people achieve their goals in a better, more efficient way. Sometimes he or she improves people’s lives by an order of magnitude.

Here is the mindset that an inventor (i.e. you) should have:
1. Something exists, or people do something in a particular way;
2. I can improve upon this thing or the way that people achieve a certain goal.
That’s it. That’s the essence of becoming an inventor. But to actually innovate requires a certain mindset, namely one of creativity and imagination.

Cultivate a Creativity Mindset

Our brains are incredibly complex and enormously powerful, and can be honed to become adept at virtually anything. Becoming an inventor requires what one might call having a creative mindset. It is about switching on creativity like you would switch on a tap. I’ll go through a few simple ways to do this below. These can all be used together, or used individually.

How to be an inventor with effective creativity techniques

The 24-hour Notepad

Creative people are constantly scribbling or doodling away on a notepad (or even on their phones or iPads). Sometimes it’s the scribbling that leads them to be creative, and not necessarily that being creative that causes them to scribble. Compulsive scribbling should become a habit of yours if you want to learn how to be an inventor.

Get a notepad that is small enough for you to carry it around with you day and night (keep it next to your bed if you wake up in the night with an invention idea), and write down ideas or thoughts as they come to you. If you wait and think you’ll write it down later, chances are you’ll forget (just like having a dream). Jotting down thoughts and ideas reinforces the neural networks in your brain responsible for innovation and originality. So the more you write, the more creative you can become.

Bear in mind that you must refrain (as much as you can) from censoring anything that pops into your head. Censoring is like a killer to ideas. If you stroll past a washing line and suddenly have a brainspark for an automated line that covers itself when it rains, don’t think ‘Oh that’s a dumb idea, no-one will ever go for it’. Just write it down, and in doing so send a message to your brain that it has the right to be inventive and must continue being so.

Think Visually By Doodling

This leads on from the notepad. It is important for you to doodle in learning how to be an inventor. Doodling does incredible things for the imagination. I’m not talking about becoming the next Rembrandt, I’m just saying you should cultivate a habit of thinking visually and thereby developing your imagination. So doodle, sketch, copy out the neighbor’s lemon-tree, and develop a visual understanding of the world. A secret in the art of how to be an inventor is that inventors keep their eyes wide open (in their mind’s eye and through their real eyes). They look at the world, they see how things can be improved, and they draw a heck of a lot. Often the difference between an old and a new invention is a very minor improvement or difference between two things, and that difference sometimes comes about by sketching the first invention (say a pen) and then adding something extra to it (say an eraser on the pen or a way to clip the pen onto a sleeve). Doodling is a simple but effective trick in discovering how to be an inventor.

Do Puzzles

Puzzles you say? Puzzles help you to stop thinking in words (you can’t talk your way through a puzzle can you?) and to think in terms of abstractions. What’s one of the best ways to fall asleep at night if you have thoughts racing through your head? That’s right, a puzzle. It immediately causes you to switch off the words and switch on the imagination. How to be an inventor is a bit like solving a puzzle isn’t it? The puzzle of how to do something better or in an original manner.

Improve Upon the Order of Things

Now that you can start becoming more creative, it’s time to also apply some logical process to the inventing process. And that is thinking deeply about how things can be improved upon.

Read up and study existing patents

There’s a whole section on this site dedicated to patents and patenting. And why am I daft in suggesting that patents will teach you how to be an inventor (aren’t patents boring legal documents and not creative exciting processes of imagination?). Well the simple answer is that you learn a lot from experts. And inventors who have patented inventions (often tens or hundreds of times), are experts. See how they make a case for the uniqueness of their inventions, see how they explain how things are currently done and how their invention has improved upon the order of things. Once you read a lot of patent documents, you begin to see how inventors’ minds work (see the definition above to see how it links to this mindset).

Pick something, and see how it can be improved

Anything can be improved. Learning how to be an inventor requires the ability to see something, identify problems with it, and think of ways to improve upon it.
January 8, 2013