Wanted: Proof Of Concept/Product Development ME

What part of America(?) are you in?

See #2.

I'm in Las Vegas, NV until July at which time I will return to Texas. However, I have two arm-chair ME's that work for me, one out of Virginia and my lead engineer in Kansas so geographical location is typically not a big deal, unless geographical location is outside of USA then my attorney's have to approve to ensure our NDA is applicable to the laws of the governing country.

Is there a Yellow Pages telephone directory in your area, Mildred? I suggest you open it, and start searching.

Original_Macgyver is in Vegas.

@lyn: Thank you for that lead. I will follow up accordingly.

Best,

John

Not yet.

That's just a shot of the two little boys standing in front of one of the cars at Phoenix Int. Raceway.

These avatars are so small, details are hard to recognize.

That's a car hauler.

I always thought tow trucks were car haulers too? You going to be there for tomorrow's race?

Tow trucks are just trucks. The English even call them lorries. Lorry? Would you want your race car towed by a lorry?

Car haulers are cool.

Tomorrow? No. I just came across that picture. That was not this year.

I just had my forehead excavated to remove a skin cancer on Thursday. My eyes are almost swollen shut. Was going to wait till April, but my wife "convinced" me to do it now. She has no sense of adventure.

I'll be watching and streaming it from home.

Maybe you can save a step. There are machine lube/cooling systems of snap-together plastic parts that seal each to the next without gaskets. (Sort of like pop beads.)

@Tornado: Thanks for your suggestion but such won't work for my application. The two snap-lock parts hold the rubber gasket in place and the gasket extends out past said two parts which serves as another gasket for another purpose other than the required water tight seal between said two parts.

Best,

John

If you have this designed in Solidworks you can export the parts as STL files which any print bureau could produce for you.

@Nigh: Yes it's designed in SW and we have the files to export. However, there are only two rapid prototyping facilities that offer support engineering to my knowledge, Solid Concepts and InterPro, and both have said...since this particular part is out of their range of specialty and it has two different interface materials that it would take several attempts on their end to get it correct. Also, I would need to change the rubber cast mold each time to correspond with the changes in the ABS which leaves me dealing with two different companies at quite an expense before I get parts that actually work as designed.

Both of the aforementioned companies said what would be ideal is for me to hire an ME (with his own shop) who has knowledge of both 3D printed parts and Rubber Molding. And, after spending two weeks with my engineers trying to determine the best protocol it was agreed that this would probably be the best course of action which is why I'm here.

Thank you for your interest in helping me,

John R. Taylor

This guy just joined. american precision

Looks like he may have something for you.

I don't know anything about the company, but at least they have a web site.

@lyn: Yes, I've heard of them. However, with all due respect to American Precision, what I've learned over the years is to not deal with rapid prototyping facilities that don't get involved in the design process via support engineering and they are on my very long not-to-go-to list.

In the old days, support engineering from suppliers was a major part of the prototyping process and now that 3D printing has come on like gang busters in recent years you have a bunch of companies that ran out and bought a lot of equipment and for the most part techs are running those printers and there's not an engineer to be found in the house. So in essence, they are trying to change the way business has been done throughout the years and take away the most critical component which is customer support. Hence, they want their cake and to eat it too and there's a flawed business reason behind their motives...They don't have to fork over the dough to hire an engineer, and they get more work from the customer because the customer is left to fend for himself which typically translates into more prototypes to get a satisfactory part.

I had my secretary call all significant rapid prototyping companies and there were only two that would commit to suggesting design changes, to the customer's original design, before the part was printed and that's Solid Concepts and InterPro which I have found to be the two best. And, what's interesting more than once my secretary had cut through the typical salesman BS lies and ask for the Engineering department to finally determine that they don't offer such support engineering services even though the salesman initially said they did.

So my protocol is simple when weeding out the best rapid prototyping companies..1) They must have an engineering department or at least a degreed engineer on staff; 2) A degreed engineer must review my part and make suggested changes, if any, before printing my part. If they don't offer these two services, then they are off my go-to list.

However, in the case of my most recent part, because of the complexity of using two different interface materials, one of which they have little experience with, Solid Concepts and InterPro, were understandably reluctant to render advice in this particular case of which I understand.

It may interest you in knowing that your MacGyver rec started out making rubber molds so he has experience in both arenas and I should be talking to him soon:)

Thank you for your continued interest in helping me,

John R. Taylor

Good that you know what you want in a supplier/partner and are willing to pay for it.

Your accomplishments are impressive. Patent #5890977 is especially interesting.

Was it ever brought to reality?

@lyn: Thank you for your kind remarks. From a low-income, broken, home with a sixth-grade education and in and out of juvenile homes most of my young life I was very blessed to learn early on not to let my unfortunate circumstances dictate my future. We all have that inner-strength to overcome adversity and we all dictate our own destiny, and more of us would better understand this if not for the constant barrage of negativity, and dependency on others, within our society. I was practicing Quantum Physics before I knew what it was. For those that don't like to read, my two favorite vids on this subject are: "What the Bleep Do We Know?" and "The Secret".

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse..." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oh...the golf putter, it brings back many fond memories of working countless hours in the shop with my now deceased father and lessons learned about the HUGE difference between potential and reality. When I first invented that golf putter I was thinking how great it would be to have a putter head to align perpendicular to the body with a simple means of sighting the shaft. I was able to accomplish same with this invention so it initially seemed it had great potential. However, the two most important aspects of putting which are keeping the putter head perpendicular to the body "during the swing" and aligning one's feet/body in the correct trajectory to the hole were not addressed so the reality was, after countless puts and free prototypes to golfers, that it made no discernable improvement in one's putting game. So a business decision was made not to pay the ridiculous maintenance fees to keep the patent in force and the patent lapsed, meaning that it is forever in the public domain for anyone to use at any given time and no one can ever file for patents on such an invention again. To be frank, I'm surprised that golf club manufacturers didn't pick up on my invention because if for no other reason it's a good marketing tool. And going back to one of the most important aspects of putting, keeping the putter head perpendicular to the body "during the swing" the anchored putter invention addressed this aspect of putting effectively which is why they have since banned it (rule 14-1b ban goes into effect Jan 1st, 2016). So even if my putter invention would have worked it probably would not have withstood the test of time because the governing bodies are hell bent on keeping old-school golf here to stay instead of embracing new technology which is what they should be doing.

Of all my inventions, you might be surprised to know that the most successful is also the simplest, Floor Grid System Patent #4999964. This particular invention is used in the majority of glass floors in the world, and there are many, including the one on "The Voice" TV show and the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Game Works in Las Vegas.

The company I founded off of my floor grid invention and my other building product inventions, Innovative Building Products, was eventually acquired by Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett) subsidiary, Acme Brick Company. You can see many of my building product inventions here:

www.ibpglassblock.com

The Floor Grid Invention is another story for another day and one I'm sure you would be interested in because it shows how a non-engineer can engineer if he sets his mind to it. Hence, "where there's a will, there's a way".

Always nice chatting with you and the others. This wanna-be engineer seems to have made a few friends here and I couldn't be more happy to have found this great forum where like-minded individuals can share ideas and help each other out along the way. And, when you get right down to it...that's what it's all about!

Thanks again,

John

WARNING!

This site can become addictive.

Many here, including yours truly, don't have degrees.

I've had "engineer" in my title since 1972 as well as manager and director of.

I don't claim to have accomplished the things you have, but I spent 25 very interesting years in the aerospace industry, then moved into active noise cancellation.

Yes, putting is 70% between the ears and 30% training yourself to do the same thing time after time. I refuse to EVER use an anchored putter. That isn't golf.

During my 30 years of playing I finally came to understand that the "latest and greatest" equipment won't make you a better golfer. I have hundreds of clubs of all technologies but have finally settled on a set of comfortable, modern clubs and a conventional putter.

Member Ky Wilms is also an inventor and entrepreneur. There are others, I'm sure.

The glass floor is interesting and I'm sure took some time to perfect. I looked at some pictures on-line.

Good luck with your work.

Hang around, you fit in nicely and will have much to contribute.

Cheers,

Lyn

A bit of names dropping lyn? Only by unbelievable chance did I find this post. Being a Sunday morning here has helped.

tayglo

Not in a long time have I read such eloquent and down to earth writing. I used to be a frequent commentator in this conference room (CR4) but am too busy with different projects and all at the same time. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Sorry I can't be of assistance regarding your project. Maybe I could but I'm fully booked. I am aware of the difficulties you are experiencing though. The misrepresentation of qualifications by others is a big show stopper and people should stop wasting our time. It's a bit like navigating a mine field.

I live on the other side of the planet which makes dealing with patents internationally very challenging and expensive. The time I have spent on protection is debilitating to say the least, not to mention the cost.

I could go on for much longer but I'll leave it at that. Good luck with finding that elusive engineer.

Lyn, I had planned getting in touch with you since a few days now. I need some advice regarding ...... you'll see, I'll PM you later.

Not long now, Ky.

@ky: Thank you for your more than kind words and my apologies for the late response. We must have been typing a response to lyn at the same time which is why I missed your post.

It's always a pleasure meeting fellow inventors because we tend to think alike. We should stay in touch if for no other reason than you live in one of the best countries in the world and I'm envious, although I will eventually retire on a beach bordered by mountains in Vietnam and/or Portugal.

Yes, we could share some war stories I'm sure. My last big court battle was against Corning one of the largest companies in the world. I walked into Home Depot one day and there was my invention that I had disclosed to them on the shelf with their name on it. That was back in the day before the government decided to screw us small guys and side with the large corporations by implementing the "first-to-file" law in place of "first-to-invent". Anyway, to make a long story short, after four years of dragging it out with about six different mega-law firms, their attorneys, which filled up about two benches in the courtroom, finally had to meet my two bulldogs in a Texas courtroom for a little Texas justice. After my attorneys made their opening statements the jury was in tears and Corning asked the judge for permission to mediate that night which resulting in a multi-million $$ settlement at about 1AM the following morning.

This huge victory turned out to be one of the best things on my resume as my attorneys constantly remind the corporations that are considering my inventions that no one is too big to fail as far as we're concerned and if you screw me, I'm coming after you. The only problem I've had since then was with a former patent attorney who tried to steal some of my inventions and his firm was wise enough to strike a deal with me before litigation prevailed. Yes, you heard me correct, we have approached the days where you should have your patent attorney sign an NDA and it better be a good one. I have the best 7-page NDA on planet earth, written by three different attorneys, if you ever need one.

"I live on the other side of the planet which makes dealing with patents internationally very challenging and expensive. The time I have spent on protection is debilitating to say the least, not to mention the cost."

I don't think that's exclusive to you. Patent and litigation costs have almost reached the point of pricing the small inventor out of existence no matter where you live, although the 12-month retroactive (to priority filing date) rule regarding the PCT application here in the USA may give us an advantage because we can test the waters and acquire some VC before forking out the HUGE dough to pay for the individual foreign patent applications subsequent to the PCT.

Lessons learned from my Corning and former patent counsel battles now have me using two different law firms on every invention and not only patenting my original idea, but now the engineering team is also responsible for coming up with every conceivable alternative design so that I can essentially patent around myself to try and prevent infringers and future litigation. For example, on my next invention due out later this year which has projected sales of $100MM annually we haven't even completed PD yet and we have already filed eight patents with well over 1000 pages and by the time PD is completed I expect that we will breach ten patents and 2000 pages. I'll let you imagine what the associated costs are.

Thanks again for your kind remarks.

And, lets be sure to stay in touch!

John R. Taylor

tayglo@hotmail.com

Must have something to do with the law of attraction tayglo

Just to make it clear, I am not a certified engineer but more of an artist in various fields. Nearly all of my inventions have come to me in dreams for no reason at all, or so I think. I then follow up and work out their practicality and then try and find out if someone else has had the same thought. In most cases it turns out that someone has had the same idea, concept.

With other ideas there is a huge amount of work to be done to get it to a working prototype stage but I don't see that as work but more like enjoyment, very similar to keeping up with writing and practicing music. All about dicipline from some stage on. There need not be a monetary reward, it just has to be done. Repetitive Compulsive Disorder some would call it.

I am about to withdraw a patent application because chasing funds is taking up too much of my precious time. Nothing to do with laziness but with self preservation. I still have a few weeks up my sleeve and hope that things will fall into place before that dreaded priority date. Having organized setting up a company and the manufacture in the US from here was not an easy feat but with some great support and a lot of mines to be had, we have a product to sell. Patent or not, we will take some cream off the top, at least for a while.

I will be in touch once I have a bit more time. Thanks for your email address, I'll use it in the future. BTW, CR4 admin doesn't like it when we publish our email contact here.

Enjoy what's left of your Sunday. We might meet here one day, Ky.

@lyn: I typically don't have time for such addictions, but thanks for the "Warning". My current bout with the Flu has given me unexpected additional time for a change, so not all bad because I am enjoying the good conversation.

I've always been interested in "noise cancellation" and have a patent-pending headphone invention. Now I know who to call if I decide to pursue same:)

"During my 30 years of playing I finally came to understand that the "latest and greatest" equipment won't make you a better golfer." But it did/can, so we can agree to disagree on the anchored putter invention. I think it is revolutionary, as evidenced by its success, and should have been kept legal because it was available to all. Hence, as long as all golfers have access to the same new technology it should be allowed and golfer's should adapt accordingly. It's not like it is an automatic hole-in, as it still takes an extreme amount of talent to aim and calculate the numerous turf topographies and distance to hole of each green and that aspect can never be taken out of the game regardless of new technology. It's like going from the wooden wheel to the rubber tire. It's a natural evolution as long as a driver's (golfer's) talent can still make the difference, which it can with an anchored putter. So they take a few strokes off the game over the long haul and make the game more competitive, it's an evolution that would have helped the suffering sport in the long-run, IMHO.

Thanks for the well-wishes and back at you! I'll hang around as long as time permits and hope my efforts here are rewarded with the ever-elusive, scrappy, shop-oriented, ME and EE of which I seek for my latest endeavor.

Best,

John

Call me a hypocrite if you must.

Oh, I've got a set of the first (almost) non blade clubs that were drilled and weighted, but still looked like a true blade. If you're curious I'll dig one out and tell you what brand they were.

Cavity backs all the way from Calloway S2H2 on through the progression. Shafts? Steel? Sure. Carbon? Yep. Hybrids? Got 'em. Putters? Not so many.Just one Ping that I don't use.

But, I just never could embrace the croquet putt, any more than I can the anchored putt. Nope, just won't do it.

Noise cancellation has matured with advancing processor speeds and technology in general.

Good luck.

@lyn: Thanks for the offer, it sounds like you know your golf game. Well I don't, so you're talking over my head, which is why I was trying to find an advantage over other golfer's with my putter invention that eventually went South. Such an attitude is characteristic of an inventor always trying to find an easier way which hopefully requires less effort in the long run.

The only set of clubs I ever owned was a set of Taylor Made clubs with a Ping putter of which were given to me by a good friend who wanted to entice me onto the course. However, I never went to the driving range for practice because I was always too busy and it wasn't a priority which resulted in me hooking and slicing so much that my friend gave me $500 for the clubs that he gave to me as long as I promised not to play again. Now I just drive the cart and have an occasional drink as I watch him and some others play and have just as much fun visiting without the effort and in the process made $500:) I razz him about it to this day.

Best wishes on that skin cancer. Glad you're taking care of it early as they can turn into a nightmare if you let it go. My now deceased father was one of the few survivors of stage IV Melanoma. They gave him 3 months to live and he lived another 10 years, and ironically was killed by the wrong operation after falling and breaking a rib. So in the end, he survived one of the worst skin cancers but couldn't survive the docs.

Best,

John

I'm going to ask admin to delete my two threads, here and under electrical engineering, and I hope they will oblige because they have become counterproductive.

Some of the responses on the EE thread are a disgrace to the engineering profession and the professional code of conduct therefrom. I've never seen such immature, disrespectful, behavior out of so-called professionals.

My participation here will come to an end as soon as I post this on the EE forum as well.

Thank all of you for your help.

lyn, you're a good guy, and ky keep up the good work!

Sorry your experience here has not been a good one. It is a bit 'hit & miss' in CR4 but usually, if you can ignore the dross, there are some good comments. Best of luck with your work.