Novice needs help with crazy project

[James Sweet]

Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week25/OG/html/1307-3/US07062796-20060620.html

The thing is, as far as I can tell it's never been built, and I need
your help to build it.

I took apart a digital camera and was able to power it up and get an
image on the LCD, but the LCD is connected to the camera by what looks
like a proprietary 24 wire ribbon cable and connector that I would
need to build an extension to. Any ideas if that is possible? It
would need to be about 15"-20" long to go from the back of my head to
the front of my goggles. The ribbon is about 1" now. Do you think
the picture quality would get much worse at 15"?

Another issue is that the camera has a lot of extra stuff on it that I
don't need. Do you think there is a way to trim it down to just the
ccd, lcd, a battery and a switch? Do you think a phone would be a
better starting point? I took apart a broken camera phone and I was
able to separate the pieces - but it has the same issue - a very thin
proprietary ribbon cable.

Any other ideas? Am I crazy?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jerry <[email protected]>

p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group.

How about using a CCD security camera and an NTSC LCD display? I have a
small panel I found surplus that accepts standard video, the optics
could get clunky though.

 

[krw]

Not without permission dumbass.

You wouldn't know a patent if it got up and spanked you like you
mommy does, Dimbulb.

 

[James Sweet]

You must have a pretty big head if it takes 15" to get from to the back to
one eye.
But seriously I think that you could make the thing work without lengthening
the cable.
You don't really need to mount it on the back of your head because you don't
need to see ahead all of the time, just once in a while. The real issue is
that you need the camera to point up instead of forward like your eyes.

As much as I like fancy gadgets, it occurred to me that perhaps this is
the wrong approach. How about a simple periscope type device? No
electronics to get wet, no batteries to go dead, no wiring or connectors
to worry about, nice and simple.

 

[John Fields]

Building one for education (to learn the art being taught in the
patent) is fine. Building one to avoid paying for a widget? Very
doubtful, but who is going to come after you?

---
Whether someone is going to come after you or not is beside the
point. The law states that the inventor is entitled to benefit from
his effort in inventing and then disclosing the invention for the
benefit of mankind and, without his permission, copies of the
invention for practical use may not be made during the lifetime of
the patent.

Since the OP knows that the device has been patented, if he copies
it without the permission of the inventor then he's infringed the
patent and denied the inventor income which should have accrued to
him.

There really is no problem here, and if the OP wants to copy the
invention and avoid any heartburn at all, all he has to do is get
permission from the owner of the patent.

 

[John Fields]

Not true. It can legally be built to learn what is being taught in
the patent and even extend the patent.

---
True. Good catch.
---

Check out the "education" exemption.

---
Agreed.

My point, though, was that if the OP copies the patent for practical
use he'll be infringing the patent unless he gets permission to copy
it from the owner of the patent.

 

[Howard Eisenhauer]

Certainly possible with good waterproofing, but-

Even just walking around upright our eyes are bouncing up & down but
we don't usually notice it. Ever played DOOM? They replicate the
up-down motion on the screen. My eyes see movement but my inner ear
doesn't feel it. They ask for a tie breaker vote from my stumoch who
gets all confused, & we all know what happens when stumochs get
confused . After about 15 minutes of play I have to either quit or
throwup -

You're going to be in the position of a camera showing movement that
doesn't gibe with what your inner ear says. NASA does this sort of
thing in induce astronauts to throw up during training,, no real
reason for it other than the humour aspect & something to bet on for
the office pool

O.K. motion sickness aside, the picture is gonna be jumping all over
the place as your head moves which means you'll cave to break
concentration on maintianing your stroke as your mind tries to
interpret the display to pull out the info you want, i.e. Wheres the
&^$%(# Buoy?

Additionally, you'll need to source a supplier for teensie-tiny
windshield wipers.

Probably a few other things to consider like drag & sore necks from
swinging the extra mass back & forth

Not saying this is a bad idea or that it can't be done but I think
you'll need some developement & a lot of practice with it before its
going to be of benefit to you.

H.

 

[Jim Land]

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Cool idea, but.... realistically.... wearing this while you swim will
slow you down...

First of all the drag with the water flowing around it (instead of your
smooth head). Second, the mass will make it more difficult to swing your
head over to take a breath. Third, trying to make sense of that jiggly
image your display is showing you will break your concentration.

Better way: Train a fish to swim the course and just follow it. (Or
build an artificial fish with an internal GPS that you program with the
course.) Or a GPS mounted on your back that steers you by giving you
electrical shocks in the ribs if you get off course.

Alternatively, a monitor with a bird's-eye view of you and the course
markers (aloft on a big balloon or model airplane) would remove the
optics and electronics from your body. Just build a receiver that straps
on your back and gives you electrical shocks to the ribs when you're
getting off course.

Say, can't you just follow the competitor in front of you? Aren't you
all swimming exactly the same course?

 

[Robert Baer]

Absolutely *NOT* true.
It is OK for one to build a device for one's own use; what is
protected is *selling* the devices without a licence from the patent owner.

 

[Robert Baer]

Illegal to sell it, or to profit by using it. But building one for fun?
Don't think so.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs

You are correct (as usual).

 

[CJT]

Absolutely *NOT* true.
It is OK for one to build a device for one's own use; what is
protected is *selling* the devices without a licence from the patent owner.

I think you should check your facts.

 

[YD]

Late at night, by candle light, John Fields

A one-off for personal use is allowed.

- YD.

 

[YD]

Gurus,

I need your help...

I am an amateur triathlete and I'm getting ready for the start of the
triathlon season and I had this problem last year that I'm trying to
solve.

The problem is that during an open-water triathlon swim I need to skip
a stroke every so often to lift my head out of the water and site the
next turn buoy. I usually find myself off course by a few yards and
need to make corrections. This costs me time from being off course
and from skipping a stroke. So, I had this idea to take apart an old
digital camera or picture phone and mount the camera part to the back
of my head and attach the LCD part in front of my goggles.

Sound crazy? I did a Google search and found that someone has
patented the same idea...

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week25/OG/html/1307-3/US07062796-20060620.html

The thing is, as far as I can tell it's never been built, and I need
your help to build it.

I took apart a digital camera and was able to power it up and get an
image on the LCD, but the LCD is connected to the camera by what looks
like a proprietary 24 wire ribbon cable and connector that I would
need to build an extension to. Any ideas if that is possible? It
would need to be about 15"-20" long to go from the back of my head to
the front of my goggles. The ribbon is about 1" now. Do you think
the picture quality would get much worse at 15"?

Another issue is that the camera has a lot of extra stuff on it that I
don't need. Do you think there is a way to trim it down to just the
ccd, lcd, a battery and a switch? Do you think a phone would be a
better starting point? I took apart a broken camera phone and I was
able to separate the pieces - but it has the same issue - a very thin
proprietary ribbon cable.

Any other ideas? Am I crazy?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jerry <[email protected]>

p.s. please respond to my e-mail and the group.

Optical periscope. A tube with some lenses and mirrors.

- YD.

 

[MassiveProng]

Late at night, by candle light, John Fields


A one-off for personal use is allowed.

One used to be able to make a "cable box" for "experimental
purposes".

They still may, but using it on the cable line is where the felony
theft of service comes in. Doesn't do much just sitting there without
a cable hooked to it.

If I EVER made a "one off" of someone else's patented product or
process, I would certainly be in correspondence with that person.

It is just plain good civil practice, and if you claim to be a
member of civil society, you should have enough presence of mind to
know the difference between an experiment and a rip off or avoidance
of paying one's dues.

 

[jerry]

As much as I like fancy gadgets, it occurred to me that perhaps this is
the wrong approach. How about a simple periscope type device? No
electronics to get wet, no batteries to go dead, no wiring or connectors
to worry about, nice and simple.

I tried using a mirror, but because of the angle I needed it produced
way to much drag. I thought a small LCD could be mounted flater and
produce less drag. A periscope would produce even more drag. But
mayby some type of medical scope/device could be used? Anyway, thanks
for the ideas.

 

[MassiveProng]

i thought it was his sister?

You are both quite lucky that we do not live in Old West Rules
society any more.

Otherwise, you'd both be perched on an NYPD broomstick handle, in
public, feeding the rats... The cannibals that they are...

 

[John Fields]

John Fields wrote: Absolutely *NOT* true.
It is OK for one to build a device for one's own use; what is
protected is *selling* the devices without a licence from the patent owner.

---
Absolutely, totally, incontrovertibly wrong.

I posted these links before:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/infringe.htm

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxl_35_U_S_C_271.htm

Didn't you bother to read them?

This subject has come up in these newsgroups before, and the last
time it did I called the USPTO and talked to one of the people there
about infringement and whether it was legal to copy a patent for
one's own use and the answer was a resounding NO!

Makes sense if you think about it. What if you were an inventor and
everyone made a copy of your invention for their own use. Where
would that leave you?

 

[John Fields]

Late at night, by candle light, John Fields

A one-off for personal use is allowed.

 

[Jamie]

You wouldn't know a patent if it got up and spanked you like you
mommy does, Dimbulb.

i thought it was his sister?

 

[krw]

Late at night, by candle light, John Fields


A one-off for personal use is allowed.

No, it is not.

 

[krw]

i thought it was his sister?

Same person.