| As our supply of petroleum products becomes more | | | | Although woodworking has been around for |
| expensive, substitutes such as oil from grain and | | | | thousands of years there are still opportunities to |
| soybeans become more economically feasible. New | | | | improve on woodworking tools. |
| materials need to be developed to replace the | | | | The wheel has been around forever, but now check |
| plastics made from petroleum. | | | | out the Tweel. At |
| As streets become more congested, other means of | | | | Look around your kitchen. Why not put a digital |
| personal transportation become more desirable. More | | | | temperature readout on the handle of a frying pan? |
| efficient means of directing traffic are necessary. | | | | My wife can look at a pot of coffee and tell if it is |
| As the population ages, better wheelchairs, methods | | | | too strong. Why not an optical scanner to check the |
| of going from one floor to another in private homes, | | | | darkness and turn off the pot? |
| and kitchen utensils for hands crippled with arthritis | | | | There is always a better way to do anything. |
| will be more in demand. | | | | I guess you have the idea. As you move through this |
| Sports equipment is improved every year. | | | | life keep your creative mind in gear for ways to |
| As our standard of living improves we have both | | | | improve our well being. |
| more free time and more discretionary money. | | | | Keep notes and dates of all your thoughts. Make |
| These factors open up the opportunity for more | | | | sketches. Is It Novel? Is there anything like it on the |
| leisure time products. There is always a market for | | | | market? |
| new games. | | | | In order to obtain a patent your idea has to be |
| Many sports are dangerous. This opens up the | | | | useful, novel, and not obvious. You must also apply |
| opportunity for better safety equipment. | | | | for a patent within one year after the device has |
| As we search through the channels on satellite TV | | | | been offered on the market or described in a |
| we find more and more shows featuring do it | | | | publication. The invention must serve some useful |
| yourself home improvements. Keep your imagination | | | | function. You can't patent an idea. You must be able |
| in high gear anytime your doing a chore around the | | | | to describe it with words and sketches in such a |
| house. I have a fairly complete workshop, but I was | | | | manner that a person skilled in the technology can |
| amazed at the new tools in the 2006 Sears tool | | | | build or use it. Before you spend too much time and |
| catalog. A few years ago a box end wrench came | | | | money on your ideas see if you have any |
| onto the market with a geared end that acts like a | | | | competition. |
| ratchet. | | | | You think you have a novel idea for a gizmo that will |
| Now there has been a hinge added to the handle so | | | | save you one hundred hours of work a year. That |
| that the wrench handle does not have to be exactly | | | | should be worth something, but how do you know |
| in line with the bolt head or nut. I am working on an | | | | that it's original? |
| engine that was designed to pack the most H.P. in | | | | The best place to start is with a search engine on |
| the smallest possible space and found it almost | | | | the internet. Think of every way you can to describe |
| impossible to get at some fasteners without a hinged | | | | it. Use key words from your descriptions and search |
| gear end wrench that was not even available a few | | | | places like E-Bay, Yahoo, google, and AltaVista. If you |
| years ago. The end wrench went unchanged for | | | | need help with key words, you can take a free |
| generations until some creative mind added the hinge. | | | | course at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School. |
| There is a huge market for automotive mechanical | | | | By clicking on: |
| and body tools. | | | | This is also a great site to learn to do basic research. |
| Years ago I designed and built automated machinery | | | | When searching on E-Bay, search in "All Categories" |
| that, among other things, monitored the current | | | | because some sellers make a poor choice of |
| required by the motors and warned the operators | | | | categories when selling a product. Lets say you just |
| when the tools were getting dull. At the time only a | | | | invented the paint brush. Until now there is no such |
| large manufacturing company could afford this | | | | term as "paint brush". What would you call it? |
| technology, but with the present state of the art in | | | | Applicator? Applier? Spreader? Coverer? Brush? See |
| electronics, it should be practical to have a control | | | | what I mean? If you can't find anything like it on the |
| that could be preset for a given diameter of a drill bit | | | | market, then do your own preliminary patent search. |
| and the home drill press would turn the proper RPM | | | | You can do this free on the internet. I will cover this |
| and have the proper pressure on the bit. | | | | more in a later article. |