Table Of ContentArt
The
andSelenee
of
Intjentlng
The Art
andSctenee
of
In~enting
Second Edition
Gilbert Kivenson
~
VAN NOSTRAND REINHOLD COMPANY
Copyright: © 1982 by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc.
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 2nd edition 1982
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 81-21799
ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-6631-7 e-1SBN-13: 978-1-4684-6629-4
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-6629-4
All rights reserved. Certain portions of this work copyright © 1977 by Van
Nostrand Reinhold Company. No part of this work covered by the copyright
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kivenson, Gilbert.
The art and science of inventing.
Includes index.
1. Inventions. I. Title.
T212.KS8 1982 600 81-21799
AACR2
Preface to
First Edition
Much of the material in this book is drawn from lecture notes used in
a course on inventions and inventing. The course was presented at
the Experimental College of the University of California at Los Angeles
in the fall semester of 1974. The notes themselves were based on
20 years of industrial research experience and involvement in more
than 50 developmental projects.
The backgrounds of students in the course were quite varied.
Some were skilled industrial technicians. A few had relatively little
knowledge of basic engineering principles, while others were doctoral
candidates in the physical sciences. The reader will therefore find a
somewhat wider than usual fluctuation in technical level to allow for
as wide a range of previous study as possible.
The author would like to acknowledge the aid of Mr. R.F. Stengel,
regional editor of Design News magazine, who read the manuscript
and made helpful comments; Mr. Robert W. Kastenmeier of the
U.S. House of Representatives, who supplied copies of pending
patent legislation; and Assemblyman Terry Goggin of the California
Legislature, who furnished a copy of his bill on inventor's rights.
Reproductions of patents, indices, and other material were made
from official documents of the United States Patent Office.
Canoga Park GILBERT KIVENSON
v
Preface to
Second Edition
In the four years since the publication of the first edition of The Art
and Science of Inventing, the author has taught several courses in
inventing technique at the adult-education level and one for an un
dergraduate engineering group. From questions and comments by
the students, it appeared that the book could profitably be expanded,
particularly with respect to practical examples and illustrations.
This edition contains two new chapters. The first is a study of
current inventions in terms of their underlying principles. The sec
ond presents specific cases of profitable commercialization of inven
tions by independent inventors.
In four years there have also been significant advances in patent law
and practice, e.g., the inventor's rights bills passed by Minnesota, Cali
fornia, Washington and North Carolina and the creation of the Euro
pean Patent Organization. This edition has been updated to include
some details of the important new legislation.
The author would like to acknowledge the aid of the following indi-
viduals and companies in providing material for this second edition:
David Benedict - Chatsworth, Ca.
Correlation Music Industries - La Canada, Ca.
Fusion Systems Corp. - Rockville, Md.
Gravity Dynamics Corp. - Los Angeles, Ca.
Joki Div., East Asiatic Co. - Greenboro, N.C.
Kobe, Inc. - Huntington Beach, Ca.
Polaroid Corp. - Cambridge, Mass.
Saray Engineering Co. - Wheaton, Ill.
Steven Titcomb - Stoneham, Mass.
G. K.
vii
Contents
Preface for the First Edition v
Preface for the Second Edition vii
mtroduction 1
The Independent Inventor 1
Can Inventing Be Taught? 3
1. Basic Ideas About Inventing 4
What Is Invention? 4
What Is Not an Invention? 9
The Areas of Invention l3
Kinds of Invention 14
2. Some Fundamental Principles of Technology 21
Energy and Its Forms 22
The Transfer of Energy and Material 27
The Storage of Energy 29
Order and Chaos 31
Some General Concepts 32
Associated Art Effect 41
3. The Anatomy of a Patent 42
The Patent 42
Structure of the Patent 43
Patents As Technical Literature 56
How To Conduct a Patent Search 63
ix
x CONTENTS
Libraries which Contain Complete Sets of Patents 67
Other Sources of Information 68
4. The Inventive Process 70
Preliminary Considerations 71
Problem Definition and Problem Assignment 73
The Enhancement of Creativity 75
Matrix Methods 78
Changing Viewpoints Method 80
Question Asking Methods 82
Updating and Adaptation 83
Biological Modeling 84
Analysis and Synthesis 87
Group Methods 93
Warm Up Methods 95
Pitfalls 97
5. Underlying Principles of Some Recent Developments 99
Motorized Drum - Combination of Two Functions 99
Plug-In Switch - Problem Analysis Followed by
Specific Solution 100
One Piece Racquet - List of Shortcomings of Present Art 102
Ultrasonic Ranging - Biological Modeling 105
Roto-Jet@ Pump - Function Reversal 107
Push Pedal Bicycle - Listing, Analysis, Association III
Holography and Human Memory - Adaptation and
Cross Fertilization 113
6. Planning the Experiment 115
General Principles of Experiment Planning 115
Steps in Experiment Layout 117
Simplification 124
Chemical Processes and Compositions of Matter 128
Overlooked Primary Factors 134
Summary 135
7. Apparatus Construction, Measurements and Data Handling 136
Introduction 136
Sketching and Drawing 137
Model Making 140
Measurement Taking 146
CONTENTS xi
Transduction 154
Measurement System Design 157
Data Handling 162
8. The Psychology of Invention 167
Introduction 167
Motivation 167
Inner Needs 169
Maturity 172
Thought Processes 172
9. Obtaining a Patent 175
Introduction 175
Patent Services 177
Costs 179
Working with an Attorney or Agent 181
The Patenting Procedure 182
10. Making Your Invention Pay 186
Basic Considerations 186
Exploring the Possibilities 187
The Patented Idea 189
Locating Buyers 193
Patent Development Companies and Brokers 195
Manufacturing the Invention 198
Miscellaneous Considerations 201
11. Invention Into Enterprise - Some Case Histories 205
Fusion Systems Corporation 205
Correlation Music Industries 209
Dave Benedict Crossbows 213
Gravity Dynamics Corporation 217
12. Legislative Changes and the Inventor 222
Shortcomings of the System 222
Proposed Legislative Changes 225
European Patent Organization 231
Recent Court Decisions 232
Index 235
Art
The
andScienee
of
Inljentlng
Introduction
The Independent Inventor
Most persons have at some time in their lives invented something -
perhaps a gadget for making some task easier or a method for increas
ing the economy of an everyday operation. Aside from a certain
degree of personal satisfaction, the great majority of these inven
tions have never yielded their creators any amount of real return.
In many instances, the fault has been with the inventor himself, who
made little or no effort beyond writing down the bright idea. In a
significant number of cases, however, the problem has arisen from a
general lack of knowledge of what to do about a promising idea. The
individual who works full time in a non-technical job usually has no
guidance for proceeding in a logical, professional way towards effec
tive development and utilization of his invention.
Several other factors are responsible for the considerable waste we
see in the handling of inventions. Perhaps the most significant of
these factors is an incomplete awareness of prior art. A stenographer
dreams up a device to facilitate the distribution of incoming mail.
She feels that the idea is so simple that others must have patented it
long ago and so she goes no further with the concept. At the other
extreme is the garage mechanic who invents a new type of wrench.
He pours hard-earned funds into a patent application, only to dis
cover that his ideas .vave indeed been anticipated by the patents of
