serious question here: where do I start if, having an Idea for a new product to invent?

Question

It would belong in the personal/sensual category

Answer 1

Hi!
This is a common question and I have many answers I did not have before.

Even though I consider myself a inventor..I've never had the money to bring any of my ideas to market.

The first thing you are not going to do is to send those TV ad people a dime. It's a scam. The only people that make money with that are the program creators...and the promoters..not you.

I do not recommend buying a book on the subject either.
Sadly..like so many so-called success books...the only success these people have had is selling books..not starting a business.

Ok...now that we have cleared away the don't-dos..if you need money...stop what you are doing right now..and go to prosper.com and register for a account. It takes a bit of time to learn how the system works. Most people stop at the first proposal..and most first proposals get turned down anyway.

Participate in the forums..learn..listen..how the system works.
Look at other proposals that have been funded and see what they all have in common.

Now..before you even think about getting a real patent..think about your idea(s). How realistic are they? Is this something you might be able to make a few of yourself..without an expensive factory. Another idea is to approach a already exisitng company with ideas..if..in fact..you see this is not something you can produce yourself.

being a self-taught engineer..I know quite a bit about working with plastics, metals, woods and know quite a bit about the equipment it requires to mass produce. Plastic is an amazing thing to work with..each very different. See..it's one thing to look at...say...a bottle..a simple one..say..PET..and think..how hard could it be? Uhhhh...very hard. That $.45 bottle came off of a $167,000 blow molding machine.

And that's just one example. Wood is and always will be the easiest to work with. Some plastics can be machined like metals...on a milling machine. Nylon is an example..I have actually done this...on my custom-build milling machine downstairs (serious-no joke).

You need to start building a inventory of parts if you are going to be a inventor who builds things. Here's some links to start you off:

www.gates.com
www.harborfreight.com
www.smithy.com
www.grizzly.com
www.usplastics.com
www.grainger.com
www.surpluscenter.com

and if you like electronics like I do...
ti.com
luminarymicro.com
and many others.

I also have a habit of salvaging parts from broken washers, vcrs and other normal appliances that break. I get a lot of parts from surplus (motors, speed reducers, etc) and save quite a bit from those sources.

Some things you're going to have to buy from distribution. An example is gates power transmission parts.

They have quite a bit of free engineering software as well..to assit you in your work.


Go to emachineshop.com and download free CAD software.
This will also give you the ability to understand different price points of raw materials.

Answer 2

You've got to go through a company who will represent your product to prospective buyer-companies. It's NOT cheap. I'm talking along the lines of a few thousand dollars and you need to have a prototype developed to show. I've read (for what it's worth) that places you see on TV like Invention Submission Corporation are pretty much scams out to take your money. I'm not trying to talk you out of trying, but if I were looking to try this kind of thing again, I'd do an internet search in a big city like Atlanta or Dallas and call a patent attorney to get a start in a legitimate direction.

Answer 3

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