Why Isn't This Invented?

[Daryl Upole]

I thought it would be interesting to see those things in wood working we all wondered, why isn't this out there? Some of you may even have an idea as to why it is not. I'm sure many times it is just that the market may be too small to waste time on.

OK, I'll start. I do a fair amount of wiring on rehabs, etc. This involves much overhead drilling in joists. The Hole Hawg is huge and heavy, but goes through like butter. Any regular drill uses a lot of muscle to get it through. Plus, you always run into those small clearances with sometimes only 6" of space. Why not some type of geared, mechanical device that clamps onto the joist and you run a light-duty 3/8" drill to drive it at a 90 degree angle. The device would hold a 6" bit that gears would drive easily and effortlessly into the joist (with 6" you could go through 3 joists). And, with a backing the bit would cut a nice clean hole with no tear out. And, it could funnel the chips & shavings into a shop vac port. The other nice thing is that it could index the hole from the edge to have a nice consistent pattern. And, if you just run a laser line, the jig could just be lined up on that line and the wire run would be a work of art!

If I was a mechanical engineer & had access to a machine shop, I'd have built this and at least saved my own back!!

[Bruce Wrenn]

I find your post interesting. When I took mechanical drafting (1966), for a project, I designed a ratcheting wrench to work in space. Got a "B" on the project. A couple years back in either Popular Science, or Popular Mechanics was a release from NASA for a ratcheting wrench for use in space. Looked strangely familiar. Once I spent several weeks perfecting a "new jig." After burning a lot of brain cells, jig was finished. A couple months afterward, I was looking at some old WW magazines- There was my jig, published five years earlier.

[Wade Lippman]

Once I spent several weeks perfecting a "new jig." After burning a lot of brain cells, jig was finished. A couple months afterward, I was looking at some old WW magazines- There was my jig, published five years earlier.

I used to work for a hardware manufacturing company. An "inventor" sent me a patent and asked if I wanted to license it. A bit odd because the exact item had been in our line for 80 years. Then I saw a 400 year old house in Mexico that had one on the front door. Yet the patent office thought it was novel.

[Brodie Brickey]

The patent process is getting so lengthy that the only people left to file them are large corporations.

I think in many ways its killing the American ingenuity.

...Sorry don't mean to be so down. A lot of the neat things just don't get to market. They stay in somebody's shop.

[Ryan Myers]

I too am an electrician. I like your idea. However I once worked for a company that had an attachment made by Milwaukee Electric Tool company that you put on your right angle drill (remove 90 degree gear box) and it extended so you could drill your holes from the floor. It also allowed you to get into tighter spots. This was a very nice accessory to have.

Not sure if you seen this or not, but you could easily rig a shop vac hose to it to catch the chips. And it saves you from running up and down the ladder.

I agree on the patent process. It is very lengthy and expensive. My father had come up with a drill accessory for electricians. It was going to cost him $20,000 to get the patent.

[Daryl Upole]

I went to a seminar where an attorney talked about patents, trade marks, etc. Basically, he said it is not worth it in many cases. You don't need a patent - it just keeps someone else from copying your idea for 21 years. I can't remember all the details, but a huge portion of the patents never even get used. So, a lot of the business side just gets down to marketing, customer service, quality, & price. Look at software copyrights, for example. There are many programs available for free (without copyrights and legal to copy and distribute) to meet many users' needs - but most people that could use it end up buying some Microsoft product. Same with generic stuff - look how many people still buy the brand names.

That just made me think of something simple I posted on awhile ago - straight edges. Until I started looking, I could not imagine that a 36" piece of steel with a straight edge on it would cost over $100!! There's a case of an item without a patent that someone's making money on. I know almost nothing about machine shop stuff - but I thought that sounded like something a machine shop could crank out pretty easily. But, I've been wrong before!:eek:

Ryan, I had not heard of that attachment. I will see if I can find it.

[George Bregar]

I used to work for a hardware manufacturing company. An "inventor" sent me a patent and asked if I wanted to license it. A bit odd because the exact item had been in our line for 80 years. Then I saw a 400 year old house in Mexico that had one on the front door. Yet the patent office thought it was novel. It is novel to the patent office if no existing patent exists...that said, any patent granted would be unenforcable, since there was "prior art". Also, it was stated that a patent just keeps people from copying your design for 21 years. Actually, it just allows you to suit anyone who does.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
A recent post here asked the best way to drill dog holes in a workbench.
I got to thinking about what type of jig would work to keep a handheld electric drill nice and square to the surface.
The simplest thing I could think of was/is a three sided box type thing that holds the drill.
That got me thinking about the actual shape of an electric drill body.
If they were square on three sides instead of round,,,,

As luck would have it, I have a 3/8" B&D cordless that I can "experiment" on w/some epoxy ;)

[Bill Antonacchio]

Hi Rick,

I watched Glen Huey make precisly spaced, perfectly plumb dog holes in a Popular Woodworking video http://www.popularwoodworking.com/video/

The workshop section there has the video. He used a spiral upcut bit in a plunge router with a template that places the router exactly where you want the hole.

Regards,
Bill

[Daryl Upole]

Another one I've thought of is good plywood with no voids that is primed white throughout (as much as possible). I use this frequently in the field for blocking, mounting, etc. that is visible and it would make things look more professional than just an unfinished piece of plywood. I use it, for example, on my shop drywall for mounting. Another application is on block walls for mounting electrical boxes, clamps,etc. It's so much easier just to nail the wood into the block wall rather than drag the hammer drill in & put in anchors, etc. for every mounting. I could imagine many applications. It would save a lot of aggravation.

[Randal Stevenson]

I went to a seminar where an attorney talked about patents, trade marks, etc. Basically, he said it is not worth it in many cases. You don't need a patent - it just keeps someone else from copying your idea for 21 years. I can't remember all the details, but a huge portion of the patents never even get used. So, a lot of the business side just gets down to marketing, customer service, quality, & price. Look at software copyrights, for example. There are many programs available for free (without copyrights and legal to copy and distribute) to meet many users' needs - but most people that could use it end up buying some Microsoft product. Same with generic stuff - look how many people still buy the brand names.


I am not sure what software you are refering to, but you need to be very careful there. Things that are licensed under the GPL, LGPL, etc, DO have copyright protection. This has been proven in court, otherwise, companies like Microsoft, Linksys, Tivo, etc. could copyright it themselves and (they have the $$$ and lawyers) sue the maker out of existance.


It is novel to the patent office if no existing patent exists...that said, any patent granted would be unenforcable, since there was "prior art". Also, it was stated that a patent just keeps people from copying your design for 21 years. Actually, it just allows you to suit anyone who does.

Very true. This is why China copies a lot of our products, some get produced there, and then the factory will take that design and produce the same for someone else. But when it hits our shores (example, the Makita clone scms from a few years ago), the seller will get sued, not the maker (hard to sue China).

[Greg Just]

The patent process today is really a joke. It makes it even easier for the Chinese to steal our ideas.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I am not sure what software you are refering to, but you need to be very careful there. Things that are licensed under the GPL, LGPL, etc, DO have copyright protection. This has been proven in court, otherwise, companies like Microsoft, Linksys, Tivo, etc. could copyright it themselves and (they have the $$$ and lawyers) sue the maker out of existance.



Very true. This is why China copies a lot of our products, some get produced there, and then the factory will take that design and produce the same for someone else. But when it hits our shores (example, the Makita clone scms from a few years ago), the seller will get sued, not the maker (hard to sue China).Not just China. Look at Jet Tools. Most of their early tools were a clone of Delta products. Look at how Harley Davidson fought off it's competition. They copyrighted the sound that their motorcycles make- potato, potato.

[Pat Germain]

The way I see it, there really isn't any money in just inventing something and patenting it. The real money comes from manufacturing and selling numerous copies of whatever you invented. Or, if you can license a technology and get paid every time someone uses it, that can be profitable.

Those TV ads for patent assistance aren't much help. Even if they do eventually get your invention patented, it won't make you any money. It's very unlikely someone will beat a path to your door willing to write you a check.

Consider Edison wasn't just a great inventor, but also a ruthless business man. Tesla was probably even more brilliant, but a lousy business man.

Oh, and it seems these days the best way to sell numerous copies of anything is to claim it "purges the body of harmful toxins".

[John Karas]

It is novel to the patent office if no existing patent exists...that said, any patent granted would be unenforcable, since there was "prior art". Also, it was stated that a patent just keeps people from copying your design for 21 years. Actually, it just allows you to suit anyone who does.



Just a correction here .

The patent has nothing to do with a design Patent is only how things works not looks Design registration is protecting design.

John

[Dan Barr]

it all goes back to the old adage, 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. who cares who invents it. who's the guy who put all the work into PRODUCING the thing, marketing it, taking losses, dealing with customers, etc.

so what, you came up with an idea! aint no money in ideas. money is only in selling the product for a profit.

i think its fair to patent and to give "rights" to the one who invents. but, look at all the people out there who try to patent something and never try to produce it. they just sit there and hope someone buys the rights to their patent so they can make a quick buck. So then the party interested in producing this thing has to go and research, invent, develop, and test a new variation, patent it, advertise it, market it, and on and on.

The fact that if something out there gets patented and there is "prior art" almost grants you a free patent without the paperwork. as long as you have pictures and design drawings of something and they pre-date any other copy, you can rest assured that you can continue to sell your widget regardless of any other patent or attempt to patent.

just my .02

dan

[Chuck Lenz]

The patent process is getting so lengthy that the only people left to file them are large corporations.

I think in many ways its killing the American ingenuity.

...Sorry don't mean to be so down. A lot of the neat things just don't get to market. They stay in somebody's shop.
I agree totally, plus theres the manufactureing process, your almost forced to have it made out of this country to compete in price.

[Chuck Lenz]

it was stated that a patent just keeps people from copying your design for 21 years. Actually, it just allows you to suit anyone who does.
Also in those 21 years you have to pay two more fees to keep the patent working. Almost all the manufactures won't even consider your idea unless it's patented. If you decide to go it alone and manufacture the item yourself you will have product liability insurance to deal with, and thats not cheap either.