NEVADA INVENTORS ASSOCIATION

"Education, Assistance, and

Networking for the Inventor"

The Nevada INVENTOR

Official newsletter of and by the Nevada Inventor's Association

Volume: XV No. 12 -Education, Assistance, and Networking for the Inventor- Dec. 2003

Next Meeting: December 27, 2003 9:00 AM Washoe Medical Center Room cr101

Our web site is 'www.nevadainventors.org' Founded in 1988

We are a 501(c)6 group under IRS rules.

The purpose of NIA is to educate inventors and potential inventors through whatever means available, including regular meeting, classes, seminars, workshops, and evaluations, within NIA or in cooperation with other persons or organizations. The education of inventors, or potential inventors, may also include the publishing of written materials, such as a regularly published newsletter, flyers, notices, or letters.

Additional goals of NIA are to inform its members of private, civic, governmental, and public resources which may be of assistance to inventors; to promote a positive public image of inventors; to provide for its members a referral/resource directory; and to furnish assistance to its members, whenever possible, by directing their efforts toward the successful development of their inventions.

is a Shareholder and Patent Attorney with Sierra Patent Group. Mr. Brisson received his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and his Juris Doctor, with Distinction, from McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific. Following graduation from engineering school, he joined Music Interface Technologies, a major manufacturer of High End audio equipment, where he practiced as an electrical engineer. Mr. Brisson was active in many areas of the company, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and he traveled extensively to conduct training and attend trade shows.

Mr. Brisson is named as an inventor on several patents and patents pending, and is responsible for managing the company's intellectual property portfolio, which includes a sizeable inventory of U.S. and foreign patents and trademarks.

Mr. Brisson's practice area is primarily patent acquisition and prosecution. Mr. Brisson has practiced in a wide variety of technology areas, including computer hardware and software, Internet related technologies, semiconductor manufacturing technologies, consumer electronics, and mechanical and electromechanical technologies. Mr. Brisson also has experience in handling trademark, copyright, entertainment, and Internet domain matters.

Mr. Brisson also served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force as an electronic technician.

Mr. Brisson is a member of the American Bar Association Intellectual Property division, the I.E.E.E. Consumer Electronics section, the Order of the Engineer, and is a Life Member of the Electrical Engineering honor society Eta Kappa Nu. Mr. Brisson is also active in a variety of pro bono matters.

Mr. Brisson is licensed to practice in Nevada, California, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

IF YOU PLAN TO MAKE your own prototype, chances are that at least some of it should be held together with an adhesive other than Elmer's glue. The trouble is that today there are hundreds of adhesives, and several ways to apply them. Fortunately, unless we are into industrial production we can narrow down our choices to something effective and manageable.

The first consideration is that of bond strength, which is a measure of well an adhesive holds. And that depends, not only on the adhesive, hut also on the items to he joined. Even the best adhesives don't stick worth a darn to polyethylene, for example, and the perfect glue for intimate contact won't work if your parts fit with a Significant gap.

So, what are the practical choices, and how are these used? First, let's look at the three basic ways that adhesives set - that is, achieve their final state of maximum holding. We have:

Evaporative

Chemical setting;

Moisture absorption setting;

Hot melts;

Squeezed tight; and

Double-sided sticky tapes.

Evaporative adhesives are generally the most familiar. We lick a stamp, or we fix the leg on a chair with that yellow stuff (Elmer's etc.), and when these adhesives dry, they are expected to hold. Simple. But there are limits. Elmer's doesn't do well at all on metals or plastics, and it isn't waterproof. It will do an excellent job of gluing the wooden prototype of the new CD rack you invented, however.

So-called airplane glue is a plastic dissolved in a fast-evaporating solvent. It works well as a hobby cement and for non-critical joining. But the evaporation of the solvent leaves a spongc-like medium that is not nearly as strong as an epoxy, for example, which is 100 percent solids. A variation of airplane glue is the cement that is used to coment PVC (poly-vinyl-chloride) pipe rod and sheet materials together. This

cement can be used to hold certain other plastics, and the advantage over airplane glue is that solvent for thinning and cleanup is readily available. Again, use this cement only if the joint filling cements aren't as good. It's great on pipes; onlu fair to good on PVC sheet material.

On of the best of the drying cements I have found - I use it for many, many applications - Goop Well named, Goop is about as viscous as warm asphalt. It takes a gorilla grip to squeeze it out of the tube. But it fills gaps reasonably well, and it sticks to materials that many other cements won't. Goop is available in good hardware stores, some builder supply stores

Lander on Protyping

Jack Lander is a mechanical engineer with several patents and more than 28 years experience in hands-on prototyping. He is no longer taking on new clients, but offers consulting on prototyping by phone, mail, or e-msil. ContsctJack at 203-264-1 130 up until 9:00 D.m. East Coast time.

and some automotive parts stores. It Comes in two basic varieties: regular and marine. I buy the marine variety because it is waterproof, and it does everything the regular version does. Keep a tube of Goop around the house for general repairs, and you'll become a fan.

Contact cements are generally applied to both Surfaces to be adhered, and, after a suitable drying time to get rid of most of the solvent, the two pieces are pressed together with lots of force. Contact cements, sold in half-pints and larger, are very useful for large surface areas. However, Pli-O-Bond cement, that comes in a small brush-in-bottle or tube, and other brands in a tube, can be used for small jobs. The products are available as solvent type or water based. The waterhased brands allow for brush clean up and have very low odor and toxicity.

Chemical setting adhesives consist of two components commonly known as part A and part B. Epoxy cements that are available in all kinds of Stores, especially hardware and automobile parts stores, require equal size blobs of parts A and B. Two-part urethanes, harder to find, set like epoxy but are flexible like rubber. And two-part acrylics, also harder to find, work like epoxy but have better adhesion than epoxy for some materials and are more flexible. Whether epoxy, urethane or acrylic, the two parts get mixed thoroughly, and a chemical reaction takes place that causes the mix to set. Moisture setting adhesives are the ubiquitous and faddish Silicones. After using silicones for years, I have developed a prejudice against them because they are difficult to apply and to clean up after. Also, they are limited in strength. They stick to a wide range of materials but work best when a gap permits penetration of moisture (as against two components that are squeezed tightly together).

Their main value is being inert to most solvents and other chemicals. For outdoor items I much prefer the more recent urethanes which come in caulking tubes the same size as those of silicone. Hot melt adhesives are thermoplastics that flow from a glue gun when heated and become solid again when Cooled to room temperature. Hot melts are great for filling space and for adhering porous materials, but are not for dimensionally fussy adhering or where high bond strength is demanded. Definitely second rate when compared to epoxy, urethane or acrylic.

Squeezed adhesives (cyanoacrylates) are the So-called Super glues, Krazy glues, etc. They come in tubes the size of a large paper clip and can be found everywhere. Their main advantage is convenience - no mixing, as with epoxies, etc. Althottgh the hardware store variety isn't advised for porous surfaces or filling gaps thicker than a thin business card, special compositions are available that claim to solve these two problems. They aren't perfect. Cyanoacrylates have poor resistancc to impact, temperature extremes, moisture and solvents. For most prototyping applications, use them in critical applications only as a last resort.

Sticky tapes are not cements in the usual sence, but are adhesives that are packaged on a release paper in roll or sheet form. The roll form has release paper on one Side only. As you unroll it, the adhesive is exposed and applier directly to one of the components to be joined. The release paper is then stripped off, and the other assembly component is applied under temporary pressure. Thec main advantage is convenience. Strength is acceptable for many applications but is risky if one Component is rigid and the other is flexible. This enables the flexible component to peel if even a light, but sustained tension, is applied. Doublesticky tapes are sometimes found in stationery Stores but tend to be wimpy compared with the more aggressive types sold industrially.

For applications where the two surfaces to be joined are Somewhat rough or irregular, double-sided sticky foam tapes are availabe.

Application

Information about which adhesive to use where could fill a thick book, and I have provided a mere check list. But if you are eager to get Started with any of the above adhesive types, the general rule is test, test and test. I have bought some very expensive cements and applied them precisely as the manufacturer reconnends, only to find that they did not live up to their advertised expectations. For example, I was trying to glue a short metal cylinder in the end of a polyvarbonate tube. I tried two very expensive cements that were recommended for polycarbonate-to-meatal and was amazed at how poorly they held. In desperation, I tried a two-part urethane casting compound that wasn't even made for adhering. (I had a clue, though, when I tried to separate the cured compound from a piece of metal for another application.) It worked perfectly. I suspect that the grip between the urethane and the plastic is mainly a frictional grip rather than a chemical bond. Rut I don't really care. It's the result that counts. My point: experiment and test.

Conclusion

When gluing prototype parts together, consider the following five main elements

1) The configuration of the parts (smooth/rough? rigid/fexible? conforming/irregular? Porous/nonporous?)

2) Ambient conditions after glued (hot/cold? dry/moist? stable/variable?)

3) Kind of materials (wood, metal, plastic, glass, rubber, cloth etc.?)

4) Kind of glue (air-dry, chemical setting, moisture absorption, hot melts, squeezed tight, sticky tapes and foams?)

5) Convenience (Needs special equipment? Hard to find?)

Patent #222,390 "carbon Telephone" by Thomas A. Edison, Menlo Park, NJ 1879
Improvement in telephone Mic.

Patent #1,251,210 "Electrical water heater" by Ida R. Forbes, Los Angeles, Calif. 1917

Patent #1,449 "Improvement in the Mode of Constructing Umbrella and Parasols" by Elisha Hale 1839

> body = AS a long time member of NIA I must say that your news letters have become a non informational pile of paper that only reflects what the inventors digest prints!!!!!!!!! May i ask what went on at the last meeting???????? Was there anything that might interest NEVADA inventors or to intice them to come to the next meeting?
> Not that I could see even though there were several intereswting speakers including ME and problems and solutions discussed. Come on Vince I sent you my most recent Patent for publishing in September but it hasn't made the newsletter yet and I gave a talk last month but no mention of it in the newsletter I know this sounds egotisticial but inventors need to know that success is attainable at the local level, and people they can meet at the local meeting will talk to them otherwise why not just subscribe to Inventors Digest? Our most important asset is LOCAL PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT. Not published authors that we are reprinting.
> Let's see if this letter is in the next Newsletter I sure hope so.
> Tony Patti

AND MY ANSWER.

Here is the answer I will put in the newsletter for Dec. thanks

HI Tony Patti

As a long time member (7 years) and Editor of this Newsletter, I have inserted your Patent (you have included no explanation, useful information or problems and answers to help our inventors) The members present at a meeting, decided to drop the inclusion of meeting notes from the newsletters due to the lack of interest of non member's (who we are trying to get).

As for those that have 'been there and done that', None of our members have submitted any articles to be published in this newsletter (including you) ,

therefore what due you want me to publish?

Let see if any articles come in!

vince (Editor)

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