Tinkering and inventing conundrum

**mowgli** · 25th June 2009, 16:10

What if you think of something then find that someone else thought of it first?

Okay, so as winter has gotten colder I've had more trouble with my visor fogging. The problem peaked last week when I ran out of contacts and went back to wearing glasses. Visor open = freezing face. Anything less and my glasses would start to fog up. BTW I've tried sunlight liquid to no avail.

Anyway I'd been pondering a kind of snorkel (crowd laughs) to vent moist breath away from my helmet for a while. This week I built a prototype from PVC tubing. It looks a bit ridiculous but works really well.

Today I asked Google and found that someone else came up with almost the same thing (same idea anyway) back in 2005 (http://www.google.com/patents). So what does this mean?

**2_SL0** · 25th June 2009, 19:39

Originally Posted by mowgli

What if you think of something then find that someone else thought of it first?

Okay, so as winter has gotten colder I've had more trouble with my visor fogging. The problem peaked last week when I ran out of contacts and went back to wearing glasses. Visor open = freezing face. Anything less and my glasses would start to fog up. BTW I've tried sunlight liquid to no avail.

Anyway I'd been pondering a kind of snorkel (crowd laughs) to vent moist breath away from my helmet for a while. This week I built a prototype from PVC tubing. It looks a bit ridiculous but works really well.

Today I asked Google and found that someone else came up with almost the same thing (same idea anyway) back in 2005 (http://www.google.com/patents). So what does this mean?

I think what it means,

You have way to much time on your hands.

**CookMySock** · 25th June 2009, 20:17

My last helmet fogged like a bastard, current one (LS2) doesn't fog at all, probably because it has a lot more space for air to circulate in the mouth/nose area.

Cool gadget btw. Dunno the answer to your question.

Steve

**ManDownUnder** · 26th June 2009, 08:29

It means you don't give up.

Sadly it also means your intellectual property in now in the public domain making it public knowledge meaning anyone is allowed to make it... you just gave that one away.

Think of something - keep it totally secret, prototype it or whatever.. etc

I have some good contacts if you're serious about inventing the next thing - PM me if needed

**mowgli** · 28th June 2009, 20:52

Originally Posted by ManDownUnder

Sadly it also means your intellectual property in now in the public domain making it public knowledge meaning anyone is allowed to make it... you just gave that one away.

Haha, yes indeed. I'm not really concerned about that. In fact I'd be stoked if others copied it and found it useful. Particularly as it might improve safety. I was more interested in whether or not you're allowed build something that is covered by patent, without consent, even if you didn't know it was covered by patent. The suggestions I've heard are that you can make whatever you like in your back yard so long as you don't do so commercially.

Oh and thanks for the offer. I'll be in touch if I ever come up with my 'you can retire now' invention

**Max Preload** · 28th June 2009, 23:51

So... you're a... ummmm... mouth breather. Shouldn't you be somewhere drooling over a parked hayabusa?

**howdamnhard** · 29th June 2009, 00:23

Yours looks more elegant Mowgli but you will need to have it supported by your helmet. If you want to have it supported/held by your mouth/teeth you will need a SCUBA reg style mouthpiece. I just breathe out downwards through my mouth when stopped(visor awkward to flip up with winter gloves on),once I'm going airflow eliminates my fogging problem.

**p.dath** · 29th June 2009, 08:57

Originally Posted by mowgli

What if you think of something then find that someone else thought of it first?

Okay, so as winter has gotten colder I've had more trouble with my visor fogging. The problem peaked last week when I ran out of contacts and went back to wearing glasses. Visor open = freezing face. Anything less and my glasses would start to fog up. BTW I've tried sunlight liquid to no avail.

Anyway I'd been pondering a kind of snorkel (crowd laughs) to vent moist breath away from my helmet for a while. This week I built a prototype from PVC tubing. It looks a bit ridiculous but works really well.

Today I asked Google and found that someone else came up with almost the same thing (same idea anyway) back in 2005 (http://www.google.com/patents). So what does this mean?

It means be careful, as you may be about to infringe on any trademark, copyright or design mark they may hold.

**mowgli** · 29th June 2009, 10:10

Originally Posted by howdamnhard

Yours looks more elegant Mowgli but you will need to have it supported by your helmet. If you want to have it supported/held by your mouth/teeth you will need a SCUBA reg style mouthpiece. I just breathe out downwards through my mouth when stopped(visor awkward to flip up with winter gloves on),once I'm going airflow eliminates my fogging problem.

Breathing down wouldn't work in my case. I have a rolled, woollen neck warmer to prevent cold air around my neck and I have a hush kit to eliminate wind noise on the Raid II. The breath would circulate within my helmet.

I considered a scuba style mouthpiece but then I wouldn't be able to insert/remove it without removing my helmet. The 90 degree turn on top rests in my lips so the whole thing can't slip down unless I withdraw my lips. The flat, vertical tube fits neatly between my chin and the front of my helmet. I guess I could attach it to the chin guard with velcro for a semi permanent fit but for now that seems unnecessary.

One thing I have noticed is that sometimes the inlet/outlet tube gets into the rolls of my neck warmer and this makes breathing a little harder. There's no risk of asphyxia because I can easily breath around the mouthpiece. I'm going to add a few holes along the bottom of the cross tube to increase flow. I'm stuck in the mountains on exercise at the moment so this will have to wait.

**McWild** · 29th June 2009, 20:05

If you're not planning on making money from it, I could not reasonably foresee any problems arising from it. Just use it and carry on.
Or have I missed something?

**howdamnhard** · 29th June 2009, 21:27

Originally Posted by mowgli

Breathing down wouldn't work in my case. I have a rolled, woollen neck warmer to prevent cold air around my neck and I have a hush kit to eliminate wind noise on the Raid II. The breath would circulate within my helmet.

I considered a scuba style mouthpiece but then I wouldn't be able to insert/remove it without removing my helmet. The 90 degree turn on top rests in my lips so the whole thing can't slip down unless I withdraw my lips. The flat, vertical tube fits neatly between my chin and the front of my helmet. I guess I could attach it to the chin guard with velcro for a semi permanent fit but for now that seems unnecessary.

One thing I have noticed is that sometimes the inlet/outlet tube gets into the rolls of my neck warmer and this makes breathing a little harder. There's no risk of asphyxia because I can easily breath around the mouthpiece. I'm going to add a few holes along the bottom of the cross tube to increase flow. I'm stuck in the mountains on exercise at the moment so this will have to wait.

Yes some more holes in the lower cross tube would help,might even have a ram air effect if you go fast enough(ha,ha).

**Usarka** · 30th June 2009, 07:59

It means you should search google before spending time trying to work something out for yourself.

That's they way of life these days, especially for gen y'ers and all that follow them......

**mowgli** · 30th June 2009, 11:12

Originally Posted by Usarka

It means you should search google before spending time trying to work something out for yourself.

Hmmm, yes I agree. I did consult Google but was looking for things available to buy, not designs to build. I already had the rough design in my head. Google's so big these days you almost need another search engine to search the search engine, sheesh!

**bogan** · 30th June 2009, 12:10

Originally Posted by mowgli

What if you think of something then find that someone else thought of it first?

Change the idea just enough so that you can claim it is your own, if they have vents pointing out sideways, have yours pointing straight down, if thiers clips onto the helmet, velcro yours to your neckwarmer.