Expandable Foam Grows in Water

I just came across a new Urethane Foam technology that grows in water to 60% of its original size.  The cool part is that when the material grows in water, it expands equally and evenly to accurately show all detailed features.  This sounds like an awesome product for any artist that is wanting to create any form or statue type sculpture at a very low cost of reproduction.  Basically, you take the original model, mold it in silicone and then cast the expandable foam.  The foam comes in transparent blue and I believe it can be painted and sanded as well.  The only problem I see is that it can take up to 14 days for the full expansion to take place. 

 

 

 

What is Rapid Prototyping?

The art of Rapid Prototyping allows inventors, entrepreneurs and business the ability to hold their product in a matter of a few hours in most cases.  The majority of RP equipment use STL file formats, which are a version of your 3D CAD file.  The 3D STL file is electronically transmitted, basically like attaching a file to an e-mail and is uploaded into the RP machine. The RP machine then takes the CAD data and slices it into thousands of layers before the build process begins.  Once you start the machine, it works very similar to an inkjet printer, where the heads of most machines move around a flat platform to build the parts from scratch.  RP is one of the neatest and fastest ways of getting a form, fit and function model to verify the design before moving into full-scale production.  There are several companies who make a variety of different RP machines, and can be referred to as: SLA, SLS, FDM, 3D Printing, etc.  Each machine typically uses its own software and proprietary materials.  Some of the materials are more for aesthetics than function, and some materials such as ABS can be used in real product applications for functional testing.  Our Engineers can work with you on any prototype process or material you may need.  It’s also a very important note that just because a 3D CAD has been done on your product and the machine can build it, doesn’t necessarily mean that product will be 100% manufacturable.  We always recommend doing Concept Design Engineering by either a Plastic Part Design or Mechanical Engineer prior to building a functional prototype.  The RP world will continue to evolve with new technology and materials, and will always remain a critical tool in the product development process.

Are Car Tires Really Plastic

For those of you who are new to plastic, there has been some definite confusion about what actually falls under the category of plastic.  There are actually hundreds of products that can be classified as at least a form or version of plastic, or sometimes known as polymers.  The rubber on your car tires are a form of plastic, silicone caulking is a version of plastic, thin film products such as vinyl shower curtains, adhesives like super glue & duct tape also fall under the category.  Foam products such as open cell sponges, and closed cell foam products like croc shoes are also a version of plastic.  There are literally thousands of materials and products you use every day that classify as a plastic in some form, so remember, just because it’s not a hard plastic product like a Trash Can doesn’t mean that plastic isn’t used isn’t used in your product in some way!       

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing Your Invention

Our company recently did a survey of all of our past and current clients, as well as some general inquiries to try and find what services were most needed in the product development field. We were trying to identify what services clients may want that we could add as a value to our core Engineering and Development services. I was not surprised to find that the majority of the responses wanted us to add core marketing services to launch a product to market. I was a bit surprised that they also wanted us to provide Patent Services. There are several laws and issues involved with offering Patent Services that we will save for another day. For now though, I am pleased to say that we have decided that we need to offer some level of marketing services for placing new products on the market. We have several options on the table that are being considered now. Although we will never become an invention promotion firm, we are evaluating what options there are for offering some sort of marketing assistance in the very near future. Licensing is a very good way to take a product to market with minimal investment, although the royalties can be significantly lower than launching the product on your own and actually running the business to gain market share. Both are good options and I hope to be reporting back soon with an update on how our approach to marketing new products is progressing.

Tyler Harrell

President