Brexit, for once some facts.

[Zlatan]

Oh Dear it looks like I'm in Trouble this American patent of mine is electricackle


What does that make me?
Be polite now!
I know I'm an UNCivil Engineer! walks away cackling to himself... if they only knew...

I, d be rather more careful with your details OG. Doubt anybody in here will be likely to be nasty but it is an open forum. If your memory is as good as claimed you will remember there were threats against a poster in early days of this thread and I think you, ll find a couple of original forum members have retired from site for that very reason. I,d delete it if I were you. Its why my profile page is nonsense.
I have a design patented for a windsurfing item. (a type of fin/foil)
It makes me about £400 a year!!! Thought I, d get rich with it. Still waiting..

 

[oldgroaner]

I, d be rather more careful with your details OG. Doubt anybody in here will be likely to be nasty but it is an open forum. If your memory is as good as claimed you will remember there were threats against a poster in early days if this thread and I think you, ll find a couple of original forum members have retired from site for that very reason. I,d delete it if I were you. Its why my profile page is nonsense.

Thank you for that, they have achieved the purpose of proving the point and I have deleted them. I was surprised in fact to still find I had them among an amazing number of document to do with the patent counter claims
From my point of view on balance the patent wasn't worth the trouble!

 

[flecc]

You get crapped on from a great height Fingers, that's why Engineers can seem a bit jaded at times

And I'm sure that the other engineers on here have had this sort of thing done to them.

Indeed, but in Britain where there seems to be a sort of mechanic/grease monkey image of engineers.

In Germany and Japan engineers get plenty of respect, probably quite a few other countries too.
.

 

[Zlatan]

Thank you for that, they have achieved the purpose of proving the point and I have deleted them. I was surprised in fact to still find I had them among an amazing number of document to do with the patent counter claims
From my point of view on balance the patent wasn't worth the trouble!

You were obviously gifted and knowledgeable. Well done. Even if no profit came from it, its an achievement.

 

[Woosh]

Fortunately as Woosh, Flecc, 50Hertz and all the other engineers who come on know Engineers are cursed with a sense of humour and will press on rewardless

as a side observation, back in the 80s, I filed a couple of preliminary applications, just to protect my products against claims.
I found that patents are expensive to register, so unless you have a deal lined up, it's just not worth the expense. My friend who filed a patent for his fish bite indicator, a very simple circuit that rang a bell when the line runs, managed to get an exclusive deal making 20,000 of the blighters every year for nearly 40 years.

 

[Zlatan]

Indeed, but in Britain where there seems to be a sort of mechanic/grease monkey image of engineers.

In Germany and Japan engineers get plenty of respect, probably quite a few other countries too.
.

Used to annoy me that folk selling cars made loads more money than those building or designing them and its not unusual in all industries.
Our perception of engineers is probably why we are where we are now.

 

[oldgroaner]

Indeed, but in Britain where there seems to be a sort of mechanic/grease monkey image of engineers.

In Germany and Japan engineers get plenty of respect, probably quite a few other countries too.
.

At one low point I took to wearing a T shirt that read "A necessary Evil" around the Thermal laboratory till I was "encouraged" not to, and for some reason there was an objection raised when in a moment of madness I was buried head down in among the pipework and wiring looms of a Nereus super shower and a person who I didn't see come up behind me asked "What is our Function here?" snd I automatically responded "I clean fans" only to hear what was obviously the MD's voice say "We only put up with him out of a sense of charity"

But perhaps my greatest Boris moment was when I had insisted on a high temperature high pressure test of one of these units and the pipes had swollen and about to burst and the plant manager said "The MD will sack you if this blows"
And I retorted "He wouldn't sack me, he is isn't that kind!" and damn it all the man was right behind me and he steped closer and said quietly "I see you have understood your situation perfectly" and walked off laughing

Alas he died of cancer some years ago and the company went the way of the world too.

 

[oldgroaner]

Used to annoy me that folk selling cars made loads more money than those building or designing them and its not unusual in all industries.
Our perception of engineers is probably why we are where we are now.

This is very true!

 

[oldgroaner]

as a side observation, back in the 80s, I filed a couple of preliminary applications, just to protect my products against claims.
I found that patents are expensive to register, so unless you have a deal lined up, it's just not worth the expense. My friend who filed a patent for his fish bite indicator, a very simple circuit that rang a bell when the line runs, managed to get an exclusive deal making 20,000 of the blighters every year for nearly 40 years.

it's dealing counter claims that wastes the most time, especially in America. it took three years in the case of the control system

 

[50Hertz]

I don't think people realise what being an Engineer is ofter like.

Much of what Engineers do ends up being credited to someone else, for my MD asked me one day to make a floppy styrene bath panel stiffer as he wanted to sell it at a premium price.
As I had no budget it was very much a DIY project
I conned our Joinery department to make me up a mould from an old flush door, which fitted the aperture on the moulding machine after trimmimg, with pine 4 inch tapered pyramids screwed on, spaced to form an egg box faced stiffener, then had to drill 1.5mm vacuum holes through wood up to 4 inches thick , not having a suitable drill, I did it with piano wire held in a drill with masking tape and cut with a tang on the end, it worked perfectly
I kept the component price down using recyled styrene sheet made of the scrap trimmed off the panels in manufacture, sent back to the sheet supplier and they melted and remixed all different coloured scrap creating an oddly coloured but cheap similar performance sheet..
Various adhesive systems came and went and it became obvious that any rigid adhesive was no use,as it was not only expensive, by any impact caused unsightly stress lines on the front of the panel
I needed a hot melt glue that would not transmit the stress, but if separated, would "grab" again on contact
Just one fly in the ointment, it's melting point was higher than that of the styrene sheet .
I was well and truly stuck till I took my youngest daughter to hull fair and saw a man selling candy floss... molten sugar,, when spun cool enough to put his finger in it..

Visiting a fair in Cologne I found a company demonstrating a system for spraying hot melt adhesive as a matrix.. how hot is that on contact? I asked, he sprayed some on my hand, it was just warm.... and best of all could be sprayed along the lines of the blocks of the panel reinforcing sheet for 4.5 pence per unit!
When I had produced the first panel by bullying the bath plant manager to spare me time on one of the moulding machines, I showed it to the directors and got the Md to walk along the panel with it on the floor. it was solid as a rock and unmarked afterwards.

And here is the moral of the tale. the Marketing director brought in an "Internationally famous Designer" whose input consisted of adding a stripe along the from of the panel, and it was sold as his concept and design.
We sold literally thousands of these for years with an additional £40 profit on each one and a very minimal warranty cost.

Fingers asked this
"
Maybe. I have won a BAFTA though.

What's the equivalent in the toilet world and did you get one? .

You get crapped on from a great height Fingers, that's why Engineers can seem a bit jaded at times

And I'm sure that the other engineers on here have had this sort of thing done to them.

I too have several patents to my name, the most prestigious of which are:

Apparatus for the assistance of child birth by centrifugal force. This is basically a centrifuge, onto which the expectant mother is mounted and rotated at 2.7 radians / second.

A Ballistic Table Cloth.

So far, uptake has been disappointingly slow for both of these inventions.

 

[oldgroaner]

I actually found that interesting. It’s easy to overlook the everyday things which surround us and dismiss them as being trivial. Thanks for posting.

Thank you for your response!

 

[Woosh]

Used to annoy me that folk selling cars made loads more money than those building or designing them and its not unusual in all industries.
Our perception of engineers is probably why we are where we are now.

same with e-bikes I suppose. No wonder all of you don't fancy making e-bikes.

 

[oldgroaner]

I too have several patents to my name, the most prestigious of which are:

Apparatus for the assistance of child birth by centrifugal force. This is basically a centrifuge, onto which the expectant mother is mounted and rotated at 2.7 radians / second.

A Ballistic Table Cloth.

So far, uptake has so far been disappointingly slow for both of these inventions.

I think you might get a favourable response from the Magic circle with that table cloth and the old pull it and leave the pots in place trick.
Is the onboard guidance good enough to reverse the trick and insert the cloth safely back under the in situ pots? and does this require the Galileo advanced Satellite system of will Tom Tom suffice?

And if it's not too indelicate a question to ask, with reference to the centrifuge how are the expectant mothers "mounted"?

 

[oldgroaner]

same with e-bikes I suppose. No wonder not many of you don't fancy making e-bikes.

Would you like me to accompany you on the violin? I can play "Times are getting hard boy, Money's getting scarce" soulfully
Just kidding!

 

[Zlatan]

I think you might get a favourable response from the Magic circle with that table cloth and the old pull it and leave the pots in place trick.
Is the onboard guidance good enough to reverse the trick and insert the cloth safely back under the in situ pots? and does this require the Galileo advanced Satellite system of will Tom Tom suffice?

And if it's not too indelicate a question to ask, with reference to the centrifuge how are the expectant mothers "mounted"?

Successfully, quite a while earlier.

 

[50Hertz]

Thank you for your response!

You are welcome. I was being serious, I thought it was interesting.

 

[oldgroaner]

You were obviously gifted and knowledgeable. Well done. Even if no profit came from it, its an achievement.

Thank you for that compliment!
I have an uncanny record of achieving remarkable things that turn out to be of no use to me and result in no worthwhile reward.
It's more in the nature of a liability than a gift

 

[wheeler]

Indeed, but in Britain where there seems to be a sort of mechanic/grease monkey image of engineers.

In Germany and Japan engineers get plenty of respect, probably quite a few other countries too.
.

So very true, in the UK every spanner waving, screwdriver weilding oik is described as an engineer.
The UK seems to respect professions that wear suits, work 9-5, and make money by shuffling paper.
People who design things, build or make things or maintain things are seen as having a lower status.
I phoned BT about a broadband problem and was told they would send an engineer.
I said that there was no need for that, one of your operatives will do.
Meant nothing to the BT person but made me feel better.

 

[Fingers]

Mental game of cricket atm.

So very true, in the UK every spanner waving, screwdriver weilding oik is described as an engineer.
The UK seems to respect professions that wear suits, work 9-5, and make money by shuffling paper.
People who design things, build or make things or maintain things are seen as having a lower status.
I phoned BT about a broadband problem and was told they would send an engineer.
I said that there was no need for that, one of your operatives will do.
Meant nothing to the BT person but made me feel better.

I think the world has moved on a bit.

I’m glad you are happy though.

But I will say this. Our engineers are still the most sought after in the world. In certain circumstances.

For instance, setting up tv companies, legal stuff, domain allowance, game properties, stuff you can’t imagine,

We are great.

For instance I could tell you of world wide news channels that are setting up here. You may claim, nay scream propaganda but our laws, not EU laws, give them credence.

I could tell you more. Ask me questions.

 

[oldgroaner]

So very true, in the UK every spanner waving, screwdriver weilding oik is described as an engineer.
The UK seems to respect professions that wear suits, work 9-5, and make money by shuffling paper.
People who design things, build or make things or maintain things are seen as having a lower status.
I phoned BT about a broadband problem and was told they would send an engineer.
I said that there was no need for that, one of your operatives will do.
Meant nothing to the BT person but made me feel better.

It was worth a try, even a futile gesture is better than nothing!