Stories From Inventors
Stories From Inventors
Stories Needed
If you are an inventor and have a story to tell, (either success or failure) pleasecontribute an article to this page. Contact our webmaster at:
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| Most patented
inventions do not come from large companies, scientist or engineers.
Good ideas come from people just like you. People, who have seen a
need, had an idea on how how to do things better and the courage to
follow through. Below is an example: A nurse in Florida with over thirty years in nursing saw a need for a better bedpan for females, had an idea how to make one better and followed through; |
Evelyn korjack, Homosassa Florida "Over those years, I have seen countless "doo-dads" introduced to the cath lab. (Just how many non-reimbursable closure devices do we need, anyway?) The companies and their vendors spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours convincing us why we need their new doo-dad. But we cath lab nurses are still subjecting our female patients to pans designed 30 years ago that cause urine to run up their backs. Or, worse yet, we insert urinary catheters for convenience. (Admit it, we are all guilty.) It is definitely time for a bedpan upgrade for female urination. It is time to stop wasting time and energy lifting and turning and changing the linens. After being politely (and sometimes impolitely) rejected by bedpan manufacturers and other companies who make health care products, I became quite passionate about getting someone to make us a product that works. I was unsuccessful. They told me, "There is nothing wrong with the fracture pan, we sell millions of them," or, "No one's ever complained before," and my favorite, "The profit isn't worth the research and development." R&D for a bedpan? When they did the original R&D, did they somehow miss the fact that the pans spill every time? (The fracture pan only holds 250 mls on a tilt.) The bedpan has been in use for bed patients for over 100 years. It is not even considered a medical device. It doesn't require FDA approval. R&D for a bedpan? No wonder our health care dollars are in jeopardy! This "who cares" attitude exhibited by company naysayers just spurred me on. I freaked out my husband by designing and manufacturing my own bedpan. The design got a patent, my husband got a garage full of bedpans, and my co-workers and I don't have to use fracture pans anymore. In fact, we haven't used fracture pans for two years now." |
| Evelyn had
the courage to find funding, select a manufactuer, start a company and
market her invention herself though her web site. |
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| The Both Sides Electric Fence Wire Insulators was invented by the owners of the T and S Goat Farm in Albany, GA. This is their story. |
Years ago when we started a goat farm in Albany, Ga, As time went by we found that we needed to re-fence the whole farm with electric fencing. We had to purchased many fence wire insulators and discovered that we needed to buy two different insulator, one for each side of a t-posts. We would always have too many of one and not enough of the other. My husband thought that there must a better solution, an insulator that would fit both sides of a T-Post. He searched around and found there were none available, so he came up with his own design. An insulator fits on both sides of the T-post. We knew there was a market for this device but did not know where to begin. We searched the internet and found Peliton Plastics, an injection molder in Valdosta Georgia, about 75 miles from our home. The people there were very helpful and advised us to first obtain an attorney. We found a patent attorney and began the process of applying for patent. This application process took about a month to complete. Once we were sure that our idea was protected we returned to Peliton and they began manfacturing our product. Our new insulator is now available in stores and on the internet at Fence Wire Insulator dot com. Our advice to new inventors is, to go for it. Protect your idea through an attorney and only deal with companies you can trust. Susan M. |
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