The Inventors Association of Australia (Victoria) 30 Reids Lane Warranwood Vic 3134 HOTLINE: Ph 0421 767 790 . Web: www.inventorvic.com.au Email: mandrgroup@optusnet.com.au

Wed 1st December 6.30 pm

47Miller Crescent Mount Waverley

December 2010 Meeting Christmas Celebration dinner to be held at 47 Miller Cres. Mt Waverley.

6.30pm starting with drinks and nibbles, then a 2 course meal with drinks provided.

James May’s DVD will be

Playing during nibbles

Message from The President

Debbie Dash

From the President

Thank Goodness Ron is recovering! During the meeting, Ron Porteous, our Treasurer became unwell. We ush-ered him into the feasibility room for some peace and quiet to assess the situation. It became apparent that he was deteriorating quite rapidly. Ray phoned for his daughter to collect him as he was not in a fit state to drive. As the minutes ticked on, Ron was not looking too good and Isabelle was encouraging him to ‘breathe deeply’. (She was practising being a Doctor) Ron was carted away in the ambulance that Ray had decided he needed quick smart, with his daughter in tow chasing the ambulance. Ron was admitted to Maroondah Hospital that evening and was released on Monday 8th November. I think Ron enjoyed the few days in hospital and does find chatting to patients quite an interest-ing pastime. He has to take the week off and take life easy, so no gadding about with Ray on their Wednesday lunchtime antics this week! (They did go to lunch and they visited me first for a pre-lunch coffee!) Now that Ron is recovering almost a week later, we can see the funny side of this event. Thank goodness Ron is recovering well!

Patent Attorney Belinda Wadeson BA BEng (Hons) MIP Law MIEAust FIPTA This month we had Belinda Wadeson from Wadeson as our guest patent attorney and hasn’t previously met us prior to the November meeting. Belinda helped one member particularly with much needed advice over an important issue. Belinda Wadeson gained extensive experience in a variety of engineer-ing industries prior to commencing her career as a patent and trade marks attorney. She has worked in the public and private sectors; in the water, power generation, bulk material handling and construction in-dustries. As a Director of the Monash University Commercialisation and Intellectual Property Advisory Committee Belinda also has experience in the academic sector and is a regular guest lecturer presenting on intellectual property. Belinda delivers a powerful combination of real world engineering experience with expert patent, design and trademarks skills. Using her ability to see the commercial big picture, Belinda adds value by providing practical commercially focused advice in support of all levels of business operations – from a high level strategic review of an organisation's practices, to the tactical business level, through to the fine legal detail of specific cases. Belinda builds strong relationships with her clients to understand what drives their business, and what really mat-ters to them. This has led to her strong track record of high quality, practical and commercially relevant advice. Belinda’s clients are from a wide range of industries and operate in export markets all over the world. Belinda is experienced in filing and prosecution strategies across many countries. Belinda practised for many years with a national firm of patent and trade marks attorneys prior to founding Wadeson. Patrick Yii, (Vice President) thanked Belinda for stepping in for Amy Hunter (Amy had been advertised in the previous newsletter) and Debbie, (President) handed her a bottle of wine with our special IAA Vic ribbon around the neck as our thankyou on behalf of the committee and our members. Thank you Belinda for an informative and enjoyable presentation.

Guest Speaker Laurie Smale

Panic Free, Fearless Public Speaking Overcome & Eliminate Presentation Skills Fear in Any Situation Guaranteed! Laurie Smale was our guest speaker this month. Ray and our past Sec-retary Leigh Hepburn had visited one of Laurie’s presentations years ago. The IAA Vic purchased Laurie’s CD’s at the time. Because they are still in use and currently on loan to one of our members from the library, we thought to give Laurie a call and invite him to one of our meetings. We were very pleased when he accepted our invitation. Debbie introduced Laurie to our members and they welcomed him warmly. Laurie began his presentation explaining that years ago, he was unable to speak confidently like so many other ‘speakers’ that he had personally seen in the past. Laurie thought that they must have some sort of special ‘gift’. He has since discovered that this is a skill that can be learnt. “Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have the 'gift of the gab' and feel comfortable speak-ing to people in any situation - whether they're speaking with one person or presenting in front of a 1000? Well, for decades I used to wonder about this too, for I've also suffered the fear, panic, sweaty palms, knocking knees and debilitating effects of a humiliating public speaking disaster. But no more! As one who can now confidently public speaks professionally, I can show you just how easy it can be, by sharing my hard-earned secrets. And we're talking about all types of public speaking situations here, such as giving a business presenta-tion, speaking at a conference, wedding or funeral, addressing members of a club, union, church, parent's association or similar body, making a presentation to a retiring workmate or simply injecting life into an otherwise boring sales spiel. Here's how to make it happen.” A Simple Three-Step Process 1. Getting you right first! In order to communicate with confidence, you've got to first believe that you can. Therefore, we identify the faulty thinking and negative conditionings that have been holding you back and supplant them with entirely new patterns of speaking success to inspire your ongoing personal growth. With your new belief system and right to speak now firmly in place, you're ready for step two. The magic of being you! When it comes to 'Being Yourself' while speaking before groups it's easy enough to say - but not so easy to do! Here we don't simply rehash a lot of empty words and outdated ideas. In an interactive, non-threatening way, we show you precisely where to find the real you and be in control of your own person. Utilising your 'newly discovered' speaking talents you'll now enjoy a freedom of expression few people get to experience. And because you now recognise your strengths and know how to make the most of who you are, each person in your audience will feel you're talking to them personally. You are now ready for step three where you'll learn the simple secrets of creating and delivering a suc-cessful talk or presentation. 3. Discovering the skills and know how to do the job. With the barriers of ‘why you can't' gone for-ever, your mind is now free to understand the simplicity of my hard-earned public speaking secrets - the practical things I personally do to ensure a successful presentation. Here you'll discover just how easy it is to make speaking confidently before groups, whatever the situation, an enjoyable and permanent part of your world. By way of mind-opening ideas and practical insights you can relate to, you'll not only gain, but consolidate your new found confidence, knowledge, know-how and self-belief to create and deliver your own effective presentations from this point onwards. Guaranteed! Training and coaching sessions for overcoming public speaking panic, fear and nervousness can be over-come by Laurie’s one stop tried-and-proven resource to banish the self-doubt and fear forever. The proof is in the speaking says Laurie. “Some time back I ran one of my exciting sessions for two senior manage-ment staff at one of Melbourne’s leading golf clubs. My brief was to give them the confidence and know-how to effectively MC a very important function at which many notable people would be in attendance. Their concerns were very real and quite challenging so our session had to work as there was no room for failure. By the end of this life-changing experience, both of these people were able to proclaim that the

Before I had left them that day, they shared something very interesting with me. I learnt that after enquiring about my services, they had made further enquiries with other extended public speaking courses. “Boy did they tear shreds off you!” one of these ladies confided in me. She told me that one guy told her that it sim-ply can’t be done in one session… You need a longer course in which to practise. He went on to say that he’d been in the business for 20 years and it would be an absolute waste of time and money to even con-sider it. But your sheer conviction and passion swayed us to believe you could deliver what you promise in one interactive session and that’s just what you’ve done. It goes without saying the evening was an out-standing success and both of these people have since gone on from there. This choice is also yours. Laurie has available through his website, inspirational 4 hour, one-to-one coaching session delivered by Laurie personally where your ‘fear of speaking’ before groups will be supplanted with public speaking con-fidence in a permanent way, guaranteed! “My role is straightforward and simple: To lead you to being the confident speaker you never thought you could be.” says Laurie. Laurie now speaks professionally and is a much sought after speaker and is a very lay back casual sort of guy and easily ‘connected’ with our mem-bers. I had quite a few members relating to me afterwards that he had imparted some key ‘confidence gain-ing pointers’ to them. It was great to hear that Laurie’s suggestions had been taken on board so quickly. Laurie offered our members a fantastic deal on his books and CD’s on the night. The IAA Vic bought a set for the library and was very quickly borrowed! Thank you Laurie for an interesting and informative pres-entation. Venue: Laurie will come to you anywhere in Australia, or, you may visit his Box Hill studio. Alternatively, downloadable the self-paced Public Speaking Program which will reveal the simple secrets to help you make it happen yourself. To find out how to make it happen, contact Laurie directly: Email: laurie@panicfreepublicspeaking.com.au

Reminder from last month Home of Inventions “That’s Smart Think-ing” Andre’ Nathan M: 0437 194 060 E: giant@tpg.com.au P.O. Box 15 Fawkner Vic 3060 Andre’ has been coming to the Inventors As-sociation for many years and has seen many inventors and innovators bring their products to show the members. Inventors usually spend not only heaps of time and effort on their pro-jects but also spend a lot of money developing their products to find they don’t sell for one reason or another says Andre’. Andre’ is experienced in selling his own com-ponents on eBay. Andre’ business is growing and now he doesn’t use eBay anymore and now has his own website. Andre’ needs products, and yours will do! Andre’ invites anyone who has any type of product for sale to give him a call and he will try and sell it for you. No sale, no cost to you, the client. This is a win / win potential sale for both the inventor and for Andre’. If any member has a product/s that you would like Andre’ to sell on your behalf on his web-site, please phone Andre’.

This is a great opportunity, too good to miss!

DVD Library We have James May Inventions DVD in our library. There is a charge of $3 per borrow. Books & DVD’s can be borrowed from Ray at his factory or ordered through him. The borrowed items are to be returned to Ray at his factory or be returned at the next meet-ing. For any more information please con-tact Ray on 0402 849 982 or Office:

Special Thanks to the IAA Vic helpers! The Committee appreciates any help we get in either setting up the main meeting hall, packing up the chairs, help-ing in the kitchen or even wiping the tables at the end of the eve-ning. A big thank you!

Problem Corner Buzz Cousins, once again was in fine form this month and guess what? We didn’t have enough time to really give this session justice, but hey, we gave it a go anyway! Buzz is a great sport; he never stresses and takes it all in his stride! Thanks Buzz.

Chook Raffle This was the quickest Chook Raffle we have ever had. We have quite a bit of fun holding this session. Peter McDonald was on the whiteboard texta, while Buzz was calling the num-bers. Frank always chooses a great prize. This month we had a portable gas BBQ to give away. I 42 was the lucky number and John was the lucky

Brainstorming Session John Mallzahn has been working on his prototype for 8 hard years and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on it. Talk about not giving up! John has a fine looking baby holding shopping trolley or pram prototype that just lacks a name that befits. Patrick was able to ‘rev’ the members up for a ‘brainstorming session’ for John’s ‘pram’ (for want of a permanent name) and

was madly writing names on the whiteboard. Names such as ‘baby carriage, tot truck, utility, carry all, made to go, pram wagon, stroller shopper, picnic, baby stroller, shopping cart, pram a lot, moon stroller, pram a lot, Pelican, load and go’, just to mention a few. Patrick felt that if you called something a cart or wagon, it was quite an old fash-ioned word and not really appropriate. Pram is a utility type of thing and is a ‘pram’. Probably better to call it a stroller was called out. Peter O’Shannessy thought that ‘BBB’ was a good no-name for this product. Beach Baby Buggy or BBB. Maybe just catchy name would do. For example ‘Fisher Price” what does that actually tell you about the product? It’s a company or a trade-mark. Maybe John needs to think of a trademark or a logo. John thanked everyone for helping him. The list certainly gave John quite a selection to choose from. Patrick invited John to come back to us at a later stage with the name he finally chosen.

IAA Vic Regional Officer (Bendigo Ideas Club) Len Williams was introduced by Ray and was asked to give a short account of how the Bendigo Ideas Club started. Len is our Bendigo representative on the IAA Vic committee. Len explained that the Club started with himself and another guy who is the President and Len is the Treasurer. “This fellow has a great prod-uct is the ‘world’s best hoof oil’.” said Len. The guys thought there was a need for a group to share inventive ideas so when they started the group; they did a little bit of local advertising. About 2 months after they started their meetings, the Bendigo City Council contacted them when they saw the advertising. They didn’t know anything about each other. They got together with Peter Jeffrey from Bendigo City Council and decided on the competition that has been recently held a couple of months ago. The Bendigo Ideas Club has 20 paid members to date. The meetings are run on a similar format to the IAA Vic. Len invited any of our members to their meetings and to join in on next year’s competition. Len will attend as many meetings as he is able and we look forward to any up to date information that the Bendigo Ideas Club has to share with us. Thanks Len for the update of the Bendigo Ideas Club.

Visitors

We had 7 visitors to the November meeting. Debbie was able to catch up with a few of the visitors at the networking and supper time and they all enjoyed the evening.

KNOW THESE STRANGE INVENTIONS?

Visiting family and friends here in Germany over the last year, I ran across 2 practical inventions, which struck me as quite odd. As I’ve never seen any of them before in Australia, I naturally assumed that some crazy German came up with the idea. After all, can you imagine a true-blue American or Australian BBQ Fanatic inventing something to simplify their favourite past-time – the BBQ experience? BBQ is a science in itself. But there is always room for improvement. Check out those pictures: — The first invention is – you probably guessed it – a disposable BBQ grill. What a neat gadget! No need to carry a huge steel grill or kettle, bring a sack of charcoal or a bottle of gas, or any other BBQ ac-cessories.

You don’t need to clean the grill after the successful BBQ, simply roll it together and throw it in the trash. To lighten the charcoal, you won’t need spirit or other igniting liquids. Simply light the paper over the charcoals. It is soaked with some burning agent and will melt into the char-coal below, helping to get a slow-glowing set of coals. Also no dirty hands during the whole process! The whole gadget is built from a stronger silver foil, filled with charcoal and topped with a small grate.

It is called “Picknick Grill” here in Germany and costs anything between 0.99 Euro and 2.99 Euro, although my friends mentioned that not all brands are the same quality. I can assure anyone who is sceptical, that this thing really works! In case this is old news for you and you used a BBQ grill like that already, bear with me – I’m simply excited learning about a new and easy way to BBQ.

The second invention is something completely different and not related to food at all. Actually it is about the complete opposite. So stop continue reading, if you still have a watering mouth – imagining some barbecued meat balls, a delicious steak and especially tasty sausages. Driving with a bicycle around the small town here, I noticed a pink installation.

Check out this picture to the left. What can that be? Oh no! It’s called a ‘Dog Toilet’. Although it’s nothing where our 4-legged friends can go to do their small or big business, it’s more an inven-tion for the dog’s owner. You can pull out small plastic bags here to pick up your dog’s fallout. Here in Germany there are serious fines, if you walk your dog through town and leave its droppings lying around. So not everyone is carrying a disposable bag and a shovel to big up those dog sausages. With the ‘Dog Toi-let’ you have no excuse anymore. Simply get a plastic bag there, use it like a glove to pick up your dog’s business and dispose of the plastic bag in said pink installation. Easy, isn’t it? The positive effect is that you don’t see many dog droppings lying around town. So all in all it seems the ‘Dog Toilet’ has its uses and most dog owners behave as advertised. Maybe some business idea to use in Australia also? In most countries here (maybe with the exception of Sin-gapore) you have plenty of dog poo lying around, unfortunately mainly from stray dogs. So I’m not so sure at all, if there would be any change at all. Maybe you have to combine the system with organized dog catchers, to reduce the numbers of strays and fine all dog owners, if they let their pets litter the streets with their waste. Sounds complicated. Oh my! What kind of problems!

PET PEEK

Toaster teapot Twist and spout kitchen

The lull lamp Printer for laptop

USB hotplate

Scientists Invent 30 Year Continuous Power Laptop Battery Your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years. Although betavoltaic batteries sound Nuclear they’re not, they neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so (do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste). Betavoltaics generate power when an electron strikes a particular interface between two layers of ma-terial. The Process uses beta electron emissions that occur when a neutron decays into a proton which causes a forward bias in the semiconductor. This makes the betavoltaic cell a forward bias diode of sorts, similar in some respects to a photovoltaic (solar) cell. Electrons scatter out of their normal orbits in the semiconductor and into the circuit creating a usable electric current. The profile of the batteries can be quite small and thin, a porous silicon material is used to collect the hydro-gen isotope tritium which is generated in the process. The reaction is non-thermal which means laptops and other small devices like mobile phones will run much cooler than with traditional lithium-ion power batter-ies. The reason the battery lasts so long is that neutron beta-decay into protons is the world's most concen-trated source of electricity, truly demonstrating Einstein’s theory E=MC2. The best part about these cells are when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If all goes well plans are for these cells to reach store shelves in about 2 to 3 years.

Germans invent portable lady toilet Are you sick of hearing your girlfriend whinge that she needs to pee every five minutes of a road trip? Have you had it with waiting endlessly while she queues for the toilet at concerts and festivals? The Germans have got your back, bro. They’ve invented a portable toilet for women called the Ladybag, which consists of a plastic bag containing absorbent polymers that turn urine into a gel. The gel can absorb 475ml of lady pee, but the bag can contain up to a litre if she really needs to go. "It can be used in cars or to avoid dirty toilets or at open-air festivals when you don't want to queue,” said Ladybag inventor Eva Tinter. "The gel prevents un-pleasant smells and the bag can be disposed of in rubbish bins. It is not harmful to the environment.” The Ladybag comes in packs of three for about AUS$20. The perfect gift for your girl!

The diet jar Not eating sweets and chocolates when you’ve got a craving takes a lot of willpower—unless you own a diet jar. This storage device for candy—or anything else you want to put in it—is programmable to stay closed for a length of time of your choice. And don’t even think about trying to open it before you’re sup-posed to; it’ll give you an electrical jolt if you try to tamper with it!  $42 USD at bimbambanana.com

Thursday, 11 November 2010

CROC HUNTER MISHAP LEADS TO PATENT PROTECTION A close encounter with a crocodile inspired an Indigenous elder to develop and protect his community’s intellectual property with a patent after he used a traditional pain-numbing medicine to heal the croc-inflicted wound. This is just one of a number of Indigenous IP success stories contained in a new information kit that encourages Indigenous business owners to protect their valuable IP. Launching the Dream Shield project today, Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Carr said the Indigenous IP information kit complemented the Gillard Labor Government’s leading role in keeping international negotiations on Indigenous IP matters alive. “International discussions on traditional knowledge, genetic resources and folklore are important and the Australian Government is shaping the debate for Australia,” Senator Carr said. “We take these negotiations seriously and, given the complexity and contestability, of the economic, legal and cultural issues involved, so we should. “IP Australia is consulting broadly on these issues and is seeking your views.” IP Australia’s contact details are available at www.ipaustralia.gov.au. The Dream Shield information kit was developed following concerns that the importance of IP was not widely understood in the Indigenous business sector. It combines the legal expertise of IP Australia with the real-life experience of Indigenous entrepreneurs. “I remind all Australians that whether you are a restaurateur or you run a consultancy, you will own some IP. Make sure you protect it because it may be your most valuable asset.” Alison Page, Dream Shield spokesperson and Indigenous designer said “The key message is breathtakingly simple, but profoundly important. Look at what will make your business special – like a brand, design or invention – and make an informed decision about how you can protect it.” For more information on Dream Shield, visit www.ipaustralia.gov.au. For more information on the range of services provided by the Government’s Innovation, Industry, Science and Research portfolio, visit www.innovation.gov.au. A copy of the Minister’s speech is attached.

Media contacts: Sheena Ireland, Minister's Office, 0427 092 100 Peter Willimott, IP Australia, 0410 698 391

What is this? Powerless LCD

This electronic display shows your message without the need for an electrical connection. It can be reprogrammed and, if pow-ered, can display several screens that alternate like a neon sign switching between two or more messages. These new displays are known as Choleristic LCDs (CH-LCDs). They don’t work the same way as the LCDs found in wristwatches, cellphones and cal-culators, which require an electric current to keep their displays “on.” When power is applied to an LCD, the crystals distort, or “twist,” to let light pass through and reveal the background color in spots. Turn off the current, and the crystals relax (untwist) and the display ceases.

This Choleristic LCD (CH-LCD) works differently. It has flat crystals with one side that blocks light while the other side reflects light. When electrical power is applied, instead of twisting, the crystal flips over 16 times; when it stops flipping it reflects light. At this point, unlike an LCD, the crystal isn’t being distorted. No additional electrical power is needed to keep the crystal in the reflecting position. When electrical power is reapplied, the crystal flips over another 16 times, coming to rest in the original light-blocking state. Because no additional electrical power is required to keep the crystal in this state, batteries in a product where this display was used would last longer.

What colors are possible? Standard monochrome colors are: yellow/black, green/black, white/blue and yellow-green/black. Other custom colors are possible such as blue/black, red/yellow and purple/black

What is the more popular nomenclature for your product? Choleristic LCD or CH-LCD?

The company representative had no preference and used both terms during his telephone conversation. Since most advertising carries terms like TN and STN when talking about LCDs, Inventables will use CH-LCD.

What does a user need to program/reprogram the display in non e-book reader applications, such as signage?

Programming normally uses a standard SPI interface. (SPI stands for Serial Peripheral Interface.) SPI is primarily used for a syn-chronous serial communication between host processor and peripherals.

Can the display be divided into segments, each with its own image/text? Yes. This is a common application.

In 'Normal' LCD displays, the crystals twist with the application of current and relax when the current is removed. How do you achieve maintaining the crystal's positions in the power-off mode?

In a Twisted Nematic (TN) display, the crystal twists 55 degrees when power is applied. When the power is removed the crystal relaxes. In a Super TN (STN) the crystal twists 270 degrees. The CH-LCD “spins” 16X (instead of twisting) and will remain in that position until another application of electrical current. The ’normal (TN and STN)’ LCD operates on block light, pass light principles. CH-LCD operates on reflect light, block light principle.

What is the refresh rate?

The refresh rate is 5 milliseconds per row at room temperature. As an example, the 1/8 VGA display is 240 × 160 rows with a full screen update rate of 0.8 seconds. However, partial screen up-dates are possible, meaning that if only 50 rows of information are updated it will take 0.25 seconds.

What sort of resolution can CH-LCD achieve? 200 dpi is not uncommon.

Please describe the innovation in this technology.

Choleristic LCDs are bistable meaning that “No Power” is required to maintain an image. Power is required at the time of update only. Image retention without power is indefinite without ghosting or image burn-in.

Superior optical properties: highly reflective for unsurpassed performance in direct sunlight with the viewing angle of paper.

Note pad application. A device that normally has power to it but in the event of a power failure diagnostic information is writ-ten to the display so that even without power the service tech has failure mode information without the need to troubleshoot the device.

Displays for use in credit cards.

Battery-powered informational signs.

Office doors signage.

Electronic inventory control tag.

Help Required ‐ I have a US patent pending. I plan in the next few months to approach US companies to hopefully licence the pat‐ent and know‐how. I have a draft licence agreement but I defi‐nitely need a licensing professional. If anyone has any experience in using a US based licensing professional or a local one for li‐censing to a US company I'd very much appreciate hearing of your experience and/or any advice you can give. Many thanks in advance. Alan Ball email dnaball@ieee.org BH 03 9669 4617 AH. 03 98764057  MOB. 0425 855 035 

IAA (Vic) Inc accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information, the editorial comment or the advertising in this newsletter. Members and others should seek advice before acting on any matter herein.

One-Way Bolt

What is this?

This ordinary-looking bolt can be tightened but not backed off. The two-piece mechanism allows you to turn the bolt freely to the right, but only a half turn to the left. To investigate the sample mechanism, turn the bottom half of the bolt until the head comes out of the nut. Tamper-proof bolts are used in applica-tions like bathroom stalls, street signs, prisons, subway cars and art museums. They often require special-ized drivers and heads that limit how small they can be; attaching any standard head and driver will make this one-way bolt mechanism easy to install with normal tools. This mechanism works because of the unique wedge design between the two pieces. When tightened both pieces move smoothly. However, when you attempt to loosen the bolt the wedge design forces the two pieces off center, causing the threads to bind. This design makes the bolt impossible to unscrew without stripping the thread.