Innovation Notebook Latest

8/13/2019 Innovation Notebook Latest

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Prepared by:

Harry T. RomanEducational Consultant, Teacher and Inventor

Charles Edison Fund, 2009

Presented by:

Charles Edison Fund

Edison Innovation Foundation


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Chairmans Letter...........................................................................................................................3

Part I--About the Invention/Disclosure Notebook.....................................................................4-7

Background............................................................................................................4

What is an Invention Disclosure/Notebook?................................................................5

Why is an Invention Disclosure/Notebook Important?................................................6

What This Invention Notebook Will do for Your Students..................................7

Part II--Learning More..............................................................................................................7-9

Patents and What They Are...........................................................................................7

Commercializing Your Patents.......................................................................................8

Learn More About Thomas Edison.............................................................................................10

Part III--The Invention Notebook..........................................................................................11-12

Some Tips to Using the Invention Notebook................................................................11

Some Invention Challenges to Get Student Creativity Rolling!.................................12

Getting Started........................................................................................................................13-55

1) Understanding and Dening the Problem................................................................13

2) Solving the Problem..................................................................................................15

About the Author / EIF..................................................................................................................56


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Invention drives our economic engine as entrepreneurs convert their raw ideas into useful

and practical new products. Over 60% of the annual growth of the U.S. economy is directly

attributable to advances in science and technology. This invention notebook will help students

understand how inventors studiously develop their ideas. The booklet is designed for classroom

use by teachers, as well as individual student and home school learning and experimentation.

If Thomas Edison were alive today, he would be an ardent enthusiast of teaching the invention

process to young folks. He was the worlds greatest inventor. His name is synonymous with

creativity and innovation. Thomas Edison not only recognized opportunity, he created it. As

the man responsible for the invention of the motion picture, recorded sound, power generation

and the light bulb, and the creation of the rst extensive R&D facility, he has arguably created

more value than any other single human in history. It has been said that Edison is responsible

for anywhere from 3% to 5% of the worlds GNP, over $500 billion for the U.S. alone. Two

scientic discoveries in his laboratories later led directly to radio and modern electronics,

paving the way for todays telecommunications boom.

So join us in this spirit of Thomas Edison. Students can now plan and organize their thoughts

into tomorrows practical products. Have fun and learn!

The Charles Edison Fund (CEF), incorporated in 1948 by Charles Edison was, and continues

to be, an endowed philanthropic institution dedicated to the support of worthwhile endeavors

generally within the areas of medical research, science education and historic preservation.

It both operates programs and makes grants to support these endeavors. Since its inception

CEF has served as an extension of the benefactions and aspirations of its Founder, a man of

discerning foresight, rare achievement and background. The undersigned, as Chairman and

President of CEF, committed the funding to create and print this booklet.

The Edison Innovation Foundation (EIF), a sister organization to CEF, is a not-for-prot

organization that supports the Edison legacy and encourages students to embrace careers in

science and technology.

You can learn more about Thomas Edison and how to support our non-prot efforts through our

website at www.charlesedisonfund.org and www.thomasedison.org.

John Keegan

Chairman & President, Charles Edison Fund Chairman & President, Edison Innovation Foundation


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Throughout his phenomenally productive and creative life, Thomas Edison followed four basic principles,

enumerated by his mother and home educator:

Read across the entire panorama of literature, not just technical things;

Learn from life as well as books;

Always keep trying in spite of failures-learn from failure; and,

Never stop learning-keep improving yourself.

Many photos show Edison at various stages of his life busily recording his

experiments and ideas in his laboratory notebooks. In fact, Edison lled about

4,000 laboratory notebooks, the legacy of which is now being analyzed by

scholars and technology historians. This was in addition to many other written

documents, the combined total of which produced a written legacy in excess

of 5 million written documents.

Thomas Edisons rich and productive life, 1847-1931, marks the emergence

of the U.S. from an agricultural society to an industrialized world power. The

great inventor helped position our country for an innovation lled future.

His 1093 inventions paved the way for recorded sound, the electric light

bulb and utility industry, motion pictures, and so important of all.a process

of industrial research and development that are literally the blueprints for

perpetuating the industrial revolution, right to this day. Today, his past accomplishments are responsible for

contributing over $500 billion to our GNP.

Anticipating an information rich world like we have today, a full century before its coming, the great inventor

had a profound understanding of the importance of information in technological innovation and marketing. So

visceral was this appreciation of information, that Edison placed his ofce right in his spacious library in his

legendary West Orange labs, in West Orange, NJ. Experts believe this may have been the birth of the corporate

research library. The library in combination with a vast array of skilled human talent gave Edison an incredible

advantage in the business world. He knew that:

The laboratory notebooks of Edison were the basic repository of his raw ideas and organized knowledge in the

form of experiments and analysis.


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His staff would add the know-how and marketing thrust to bring his visions to light. It was a potent combination

that brought the Edison name worldwide recognition.

As the newly renovated West Orange Laboratories are set to re-open in the Spring of 2009, we are reminded

how this site is the mother-ship of American technological prowess. All this sprang from the careful writings

and notebooks of an unusual mid-western farm boy, whose rst loves were chemistry and telegraphy. How

fortunate we are to have his quintessential labs so carefully preserved for viewing by the public. There are

enduring lessons to be learned here, among the very artifacts he touched and created.

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Simply stated, an invention notebook is a chronologically kept diaryof the inventors ideas, experiments, analyses, and ruminations of the

development of an invention. There is no limit as to the size or number

of volumes comprising a specic invention. It may be a single page, a

single book, or a body of many volumes. When Edison developed his

nickel-iron storage battery, it required 10,000 experiments, so we can

imagine how many notebook volumes were involved. Some inventions

can be discussed and clearly explained on as little as the back of a

napkin.

Think of it this way, an invention disclosure is the central kernel ofa new invention.. sort of like a super abstract, written clearly and

concisely, or perhaps portrayed in a denitive diagram, schematic, or

illustration. It captures the uniqueness and non-obvious nature of the

invention. It may require some additional documentation to fully esh

it out so a patent application may be written.

For a complex invention, invention notebooks are often used,

especially if a period of experimentation and laboratory work is

necessitated to initially formulate the invention disclosure. Invention

notebooks are usually chronologically assembled with all pages intact. This notebook articulates the idea orcreation and reduces it to practice.

When people discuss a reduction to practice it means that all the technical details of how to make the invention

are described. A patent is essentially a full disclosure document describing how others may replicate the

invention. It is formalized know-how, a blueprint that others may follow to do what the creative individual has

done. In exchange for this public disclosure, the creator is given, through the granting of a patent, a monopoly

on producing and commercializing their creation for a designated period of time, typically 20 years from the

time the patent has been applied for through the U.S. Patent Ofce.


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Within an invention notebook, pages may be crossed out or sections of them crossed out, but the chronological

trail of documentation traces the thinking of the inventor, the evolution of the invention, establishing that

inventors own unique trail of development of an idea into an invention, its reduction to practice.

Ideally, each page of an invention disclosure or notebook should be counter-signed and dated by colleagues

and co-workers to validate the time-stamp of the authors work; and to provide legal witnesses to the work.

Witnesses to important events and document signings is a long-accepted standard for such things as notarized

forms, contracts, marriages, and wills. By counter-signing an invention disclosure or notebook, witnesses attest

to the validity of the work, their understanding of it, and its proper place in the timeline of invention.

Integral to an invention notebook are diagrams, sketches, schematics, line drawings, and other graphic materials

that embellish and augment the invention and its development. Laboratory data, experiment descriptions,

analysis of the results, and discussions and conclusions should also be included. Actually, the more relevant

information that can be included the better, as it strengthens the case supporting the inventors work.

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An invention disclosure or notebook establishes the priority of the work of an inventor, documenting that

inventor as the bona de creator of that work. An invention disclosure or notebook is a legal document and

as such has standing in a court of law in the event other inventors challenge an inventors priority in a eld

of invention. Patent attorneys refer to the information contained in an invention notebook or disclosure as

intellectual property. The inventor adds value to a raw idea by bringing her creativity, knowledge, insight and

understanding of the problem to be solved..as well as the potential markets to be served by the invention.

An invention notebook or disclosure formalizes and organizes an inventors work. As such, it is the primary

document used in a patent argument to settle which inventor did indeed embody the main principles of the

invention, when they did accomplish this work, and how they reduced the invention to practice. Any inventor

who has been in the position of defending her patent in a lawsuit knows how valuable a well-kept invention

notebook or a patent disclosure can be. Patent lawsuit challenges can easily run into the millions of dollars just

for the attorneys involved and court-related costs.

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With so much emphasis on integrating the curriculum, teachers are always striving to teach students how to

integrate their learning. The invention process is an ideal way to accomplish this. Inventors must think across

the fabric of society when transforming raw ideas into new products. They must confront how their creationsmight impact the environment, the economy, society, the safety of the user, and global cultures. Inventing

is a multi-disciplinary, multi-dimensional problem solving activity. Invention notebooks capture the data,

knowledge, and information that will be needed to address the invention problem solving activity. It is very

similar to how scientists keep notebooks of their experiments, with the added dimension of the marketing

implementation of the new product.

Teaching your students how to keep an invention notebook will:

Foster better communication skills as they strive to make their writing clear and concise;

Build organization and planning skills as they think and logically plan their work and activities;

Give them a rsthand appreciation of the discipline and process behind invention and

organized creativity;

Motivate them to learn more about inventions and inventors; and,

Infuse a disciplined approach to thinking and reasoning.

Use this invention notebook as a means to foster better understanding of patents and how they have changed our

world and continue to do so. Encourage students to investigate such things as.

How did the U.S. Patent Ofce start, and why?

Why do inventors seek to gain patents?

How does having a patent increase the inventors ability to sell his ideas, and products?

How long does a patent stay in force?

How long does it take to receive a patent?

How many patents have been given?

Who can obtain a patent?

Who are some of our greatest living inventors?

Are there inventors in your neighborhood that you can invite to come to class and talk

about their inventions? How and why did they create their inventions?

What are utility patents, design patents, and plant patents?

How are they similar and different?


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Encourage students to research patents to learn how they are constructed and written; and were inuenced by

earlier patents. This can be done easily at http://www.uspto.gov and http://patft.uspto.gov/.

Here students can search patents about everyday common products, or even complex technological systems.

Have them take a look at patented items like:

Jeans

Electric guitars

iPod devices

Computers

Hybrid vehicles

Solar collectors

GPS navigation systems

all the things they see everyday in their world.

Once they become accustomed to learning about patents and reading their technical jargon and appreciating

their format and layout style, then students may research other types of patents like design patents and plant

patents.

Here are some websites that can help promote an understanding of patents.

http://www.google.com/patents

http://www.njinvent.org/

http://nationalinventors.com/

http://www.nmoe.org/gallery/index.htm

http://www.invent.org/

http://inventors.about.com/od/competitionsprize/Student_Programs_for_Invention_Funding.htm

http://www.eduplace.com/science/invention/resources/real_inventions.html

http://www.ih.k12.oh.us/MSHERRMANN/Invent2.htm

http://www.noogenesis.com/inventing/kids/kids_page.htmlhttp://inventors.about.com/od/kidinventions/Inventions_Made_By_Kids.htm

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In many ways, once a patent is obtained, the very real work of convincing the marketplace that your product is

worthwhile far overshadows the work to obtain the patent. In fact, seasoned entrepreneurs and business peopleestimate that 90% of the cost of new product development is attributable to getting the product to market.

This means the inventor must know the uphill ght associated with making the market want the product. Only

about 2-3% of all the patents issued ever really become a big success in the marketplace. Experiencing success

requires lots of hard work and money. This is where the investors in your invention efforts come into play.


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Think about some of the costs associated with commercializing a new product:

Marketing studies and economic analyses

Consultant costs

Advertising

Appearances at trade shows, expositions, conferences ... etc.

Travel costs to visit potential customers and investors

Manpower costs for sales agents and reps

Packaging and branding for the new product

Safety and environmental testing by certied agencies if necessary

Compliance with state and federal standards and regulatory requirements

Start-up costs for a new organization to manage the sales and production

Protecting and defending patents against infringers.

These are just some of the costs facing the inventor with a dream of large scale commercialization. It is

something an inventor does not enter into blindly. Much thought and planning goes into transforming an

invention into an innovation. Ideally, early market assessment work should be performed during the conception

and design of the original invention, to determine rst and foremost if there is a real need for the product being

envisioned.

It can be disastrous to invent something without any understanding of the marketplace, in the vain hope that

people automatically will want it. This often is a major reason why inventions fail. Successful inventors do

not invent because they can, but because there is a strong economic incentive to do so. They take the time to

understand the market and what it needs. Their invention fullls that market need.

Here are some websites that can help with understanding how to commercialize patents

http://edisonnation.com/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/inventing/inventionscolumnisttamaramon osoff/

article179084.html

http://www.rqriley.com/new-prod.htmhttp://www.masshightech.com/stories/2009/05/25/focus1-Rapid-market-adoption-for-new-product-

development.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_107742_market-invention.html

http://www.business.com/directory/advice/startup/getting-started-basics/getting-your-invention-to-

market/

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-article-a-41032-m-4-sc-25-should_you_license_or_manufacture_

your_invention-i

http://www.inc.com/guides/solo_business/invention-to-market.html


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Here is a fun list of great reads about the famous inventor, spanning the ages from adults to young readers.

Many of the earlier published works noted here have been updated and re-printed in paperback form as well.

Check with your local bookseller or the Internet for updates, and even more reads about the great man. Better

yet, visit the famous West Orange Laboratories in New Jersey and see the worlds greatest intact collection of

Edison artifacts; and learn how he put them to use creating our modern world. See the website about the West

Orange laboratories at the end of this section, and view information for visiting or contacting the site. Schooland group visits can be accommodated.

Baldwin, Neil; Edison, Inventing the Century; Hyperion, 1995.

Conot, Robert; Thomas A. Edison-A Streak of Luck, Da Capo Press, Inc., 1979.

Cook, James G.; Edison-the man who turned darkness into light; Thomas Alva Edison Foundation,

1978.

Freidel, Robert and Israel, Paul; Edisons Electric Light: Biography of an Invention; Rutgers

University Press, 1986.Josephson, Mathew; Edison; McGraw-Hill, 1959

McCormick, Blaine; At Work with Thomas Edison; Entrepreneur Press,

2001.

Millard, Andre; Edison and the Business of Innovation; John Hopkins University Press, 1993.

Melosi, Martin; T. A. Edison and the Modernization of America; Scott Foresman & Co., 1990.

Musser, Charles; Thomas A. Edison and His Kinetographic Motion Pictures, Rutgers University Press,

1995.

Pretzer, William: Working at Inventing: Thomas A. Edison and the Menlo Park Experience; John

Hopkins University Press, 2002.Stross, Randall E.; The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World

Three Rivers Press, 2008.

Adair, Gene; Thomas Alva Edison-Inventing the Electric Age, Oxford University Press, 1996.

Burgan, Michael; Thomas Alva Edison-Great American Inventor, Compass Point Books, 2007.

Dooling, Michael; Young Thomas Edison, Holiday House, 2005.

Lewis, Floyd A.; The Incandescent Light, Shorewood Publications, Inc., 1961

Palmer, Arthur J.; Edison-Inspiration to Youth; Thomas A. Edison, Inc., West Orange, NJ, 1954.Probst, George F. (Editor); The Indispensable Man, Shorewood Publications, Inc., 1962.

http://www.nps.gov/edis/home.htm (Edison National Historic Site - in West Orange, New Jersey)

http://www.charlesedisonfund.org/ (The Charles Edison Fund)

http://www.thomasedison.org/ (The Edison Innovation Foundation)


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The pages that follow contain a format for an invention notebook that each student will use to document their

creativity and idea generation. Students should pay strict attention to neatness and careful description of theiridea(s). They should make every effort to make contributions to this notebook daily and may also record their

ideas even when home in the evening.

Students should become disciplined to take their notebook with them after school in case an idea comes at

a relaxed moment..as it may often do. Creativity is not on a time clock, and it can be promoted by certain

actions. There are ways to relax the mind to make it more receptive to the introduction of new ideas and

concepts. Different folks nd different ways to make their minds more open. Here are a few suggestions.

Take a long walk.

Play some sports and then shower and rest.

Listen to music.

Do some chores.

Make the creative problem into a humorous situation.

Make paper models of the problem/challenge to be solved.

Make a poem about the problem/challenge or a short story.

Toss the problem/challenge around with friends or classmates.

Watch a movie or play.

Many inventors and designers have their own tricks when they encounter a mental roadblock. Perhaps your

students might enjoy researching how creativity and invention can be promoted?

Students should remember that when keeping this notebook:

They must sign it every time they make an entry or add to it.

All work should be neat, as others are going to have to read their work and countersign

and date it.

Entries must be chronological.

No pages are to be torn out or thrown away.

If mistakes are made, do not erase, but rather run a line through all parts that are not

relevant or cross out a diagram.

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Students enjoy a project challenge where they can let their imaginations soar and are free to be creative.

Challenge them to develop ideas and inventions that solve everyday problems, and which people will want

and use in their lives. Here is a starter list to get your thinking going. There is nothing wrong with polling yourstudents to see what they would like to try and design. Have fun! Let students work in teams if they so desire.

Remember, teams can be 10-12 times more creative than individuals.

Create a wheelchair that a disabled person can sit in that will automatically move them around a house

taking them where they want to go without having to drive or steer.

How can police stop a stolen vehicle without having to dangerously chase the occupants along city

streets?

What uses can your students conceive for recycling old plastic soda bottles?

Design a lightweight backpack that can be used by students to carry their schoolbooks.

Select a real problem that exists in your local community, and unleash your students to try and

creatively solve it.

Design a medical emergency kit that can be easily carried in a hiking backpack.

How can we recycle the massive amounts of old tires that clog our dumps and junkyards?

What technologies can we use to bring health-giving electricity to isolated and rural communities in developing nations?

Why not develop a paint that can be applied to a home to let the house generate electricity when the

sun shines on it?

Once a student or team of students decide on a project challenge they will work on, they should ll out pages 13

and 14 to begin organizing their thoughts.

Page 15 begins the notebook and all pages after that are duplicates of page 15, so students can keep a running

hand written/printed log or invention diary of their work. Any drawings or diagrams they make can be done

directly onto the pages or done separately and pasted into the notebook. Dont forget to have the student(s) sign

their daily entry!

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1) Understanding and Dening the Problem

a) What is the Problem I am Trying to Solve?

b) What do I Know About This Problem?

c) What Dont I Know About This Problem?

d) Where Can I go to Get More Information About the Problem?


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e) Has Anyone Tried to Solve This Problem Before and What Was Learned?

f) Are There Any Design or Other Limitations I Must be Careful of When Developing My Own Solution

to This Problem?

g) Other Thoughts?


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Here are my thoughts, ideas, and sketches shown below...

Signed and Dated by the Inventor ________________________________________________________


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2) Solving the Problem




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Harry T. Roman is a retired engineer, teacher, and inventor. He holds 10 U.S. Patents and has written and published over

475 papers, articles, and scientic essays, including 34 books and teacher resource/experiment booklets. His feature

educational articles for teachers and students appear in Highlights for Children, The Technology Teacher, Techdirections,

TIES, and Interface. His books have been published by Kelvin Publishing, Hearlihy/PITSCO, Nasco, PublishAmerica,

Professional Publications, Inc., Gifted Education Press, and the Charles Edison Fund. Harry now serves as an educational

consultant to the Edison Innovation Foundation. For the Foundation he has recently authored a seven volume resource

book series for teachers about the application of alternate energy technologies. He is also a literary writer with over 800poems, short stories, and 7 books published; and also recently published 4 new educational math games.

The Edison Innovation Foundation (EIF) was founded in 1996 as a non-prot operating foundation to preserve

and promote the legacy of Thomas Edison, especially his historic laboratories at West Orange, NJ. The mission

of EIF has evolved to include educational outreach programs tailored to inspire teachers, students, women, and

minorities to pursue or continue careers in science, engineering, and technology.

Charles Edison Fund

Riverfront Plaza

1037 Raymond Blvd.

STE # 340

Newark, NJ 07102

www.thomasedison.org

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