Community Forums

TheBeachHous · 01-12-2012, 02:49 PM

We were strolling through CW the other day, and they had a chair on display - it was the rEvolve chair.... For those of you who haven't seen one yet check it out...
Revolve Llc - rEvolve Chair - Outdoor Chairs - Camping World

This is something that i cam up with about 10 years ago when the folding camp chairs were getting more and more popular and more and more affordable...
Sitting around a camp fire one evening at the lake talking in a circle with friends, i thought, "wouldn't it be nice to be able to swivel back and forth and talk to my neighbor with ease?!?!" "It would be cool if this chair had a base that sput you around like a bar stool, yet still folded up..."
Then a friend of mine had neck surgery and was un-able to move her neck left and right for a very long time and the thought came back to me, "man a swivel chair would be cool" -
Then I saw it... Right there in the CW showroom - Complete with speakers in the headrest.. I was so angry at myself for not acting on my idea... and swore someone stole it from me from that night sitting at the campfire...

What have you "invented" that never made you your Millions becasuse someone else built it???

I know there are so many things that i think, "Man if I need something that does ________ so would others..." yet i don't do anything about it, and sure enough later on you see it in the store, and a story about a man who invented _________ and is living high on the hog

..

RV Wizard · 01-13-2012, 01:52 AM

I have invented several things others told me I should patent but I never had the cash to even get started in that direction. I did consult with an attorney client as to the starting cost and made the decision not to pursue the when China could almost copy it and leave me in the dry. Some of my thoughts and designs have come to fruition in some form or fashion; it was inevitable. There is still one tool I have designed that has not been produced to my knowledge.

Dunner · 01-13-2012, 05:10 AM

You know those wire frame outdoor Xmas figures. I had that idea years before they came out and even bought software to design them. Never pursued it.

A friend designed one of those tailgate nets that was two layer and expandable so you could put grocery bags between the layers. He got a patent and before he could finish the negotiations for his cut with Gartorback®, China had one on the market.

chasmatt · 01-13-2012, 01:32 PM

Back in the 70's when intermittent wiper controls were only on the newest cars, a friend of mine and I designed an add on circuit to allow this on any older car. We were very excited about our great idea until I received a JC Whitney catalog. It had the same device for 19.95. End of idea, except I never had to buy one. My prototype was installed on my car.

Pricejh · 01-13-2012, 01:42 PM

I designed a scaffold system that would allow framers to put up rood joists/trusses without having to walk the roof sills. Gave the idea to a scaffold maker just to get it out there. Didn't have the time or money to pursue the idea. Makes me happy that I see it in use every now and then.

Wayne M · 01-13-2012, 04:16 PM

In 1971 I was busting my knuckles using a wrench on a 1960 Corvair. I cussed and said out loud, "Why doesn't someone invent a box-end ratchet!" About 10 years later they were on the market. Now the are all over the place.

DGShaffer · 01-14-2012, 06:16 AM

I conceptualized the foot operated speed and steering control for electric fishing motors about a year or so before they came out.

I also came up with the idea for the squared off front chain ring for competition bicycles which pulls more chain at a point where your upper leg is at its strongest position about a year or so before it came to market as well