Flange Lessons In Invention Development

Haunted by the memory of all the rejections during the last year and a half, I strained to find meaning at the last tradeshow as I demonstrated the last flange tool design. I was asked the same question for the nth timeby the nth tradesman-"why do they make the flanges like that?" We agreed that the flange design was questionable, but I sensed that he didn't think my tool concepts were the solution to the problem.

Then I had a flash of insight, more importantly, a renewed perspective. My attention centered on the initial design options David and I had discussed at our first meeting. One design was of a flange with a hexagonal-shaped tightening surface. This was the turning point where I realized that I had veered down the wrong path by developing the flange tool of the same shape. A new flange design would offer the Reps and wholesalers a new utility that I was sure they could sell, as it would solve the installation problem for the tradesmen, and allow them to pass on the cost to their customer. My hope was rejuvenated.

I envisioned becoming successful with the first new circulator flange in as many as fifty years. Only now a shadow loomed over it, threatening it in its infancy. My investor surprised me by saying "No more, John!" She had often exclaimed, "Your inventions are all tinker toys!" To her I had also become the boy who cried wolf. I felt this time was different, just as in the tale of the boy and the wolf. Truthfully, I think she knew it, too. She was just being firm in her opposition to spend more money, merely out of principle.

Mary had considered using her 100-acre farm as collateral against a loan to my business early on. She had been ready to bet the farm-literally-but now was far from that liberal way of thinking. I felt hopeless, knowing she had already spent the money from the sale of her house where I had made the original service call roughly a year earlier. She had stayed with me for a year and 30 failed designs, I couldn't expect anything more. I could have begged her, but I had never asked her for money - she had just always known when to contribute in this way. And what if this idea failed too? Mary was 78 then, and her best friend since college had nicknamed her "CW", short for Crazy Woman, many years earlier. Exactly why I'm not certain, but it seems she took a risk in the past, and lost, with some sort of refrigeration business, and I didn't want to give her friend more fodder. Nevertheless, I persisted in explaining the significance of this latest discovery to her from as many angles as seemed relevant. I realized the simplest solutions often are the best ones. And I had to convince her that this flange was my best one. Thankfully, I found several people in the industry to corroborate my belief that I really had invented a "winner" this time around. It was then that I knew I was right. Finally, she believed the flange was a good idea and invested even more money.

I met with David once again and revisited the sketch of the tool/flange that we had made years earlier. We modified the design to include an octagon shaped nut that could be easily gripped by an ordinary wrench. The only significant difference between the flange tool and the new flange was that the tool had a hexagonal nut. It was so simple, like a Post It Noteò. The prior art suggested that nobody had done this with a circulator flange before, so I applied for as many design and utility patents as my lawyer and I could think of. At that time I conjured up nearly 70 ideas for a range of flange designs.

I completed development on four of the designs in a month. It took just a few phone calls, and in an instant I was back on track. Once again the president of the local supply house offered his advice: 'Call the executive vice president of marketing at a Rep firm, Emerson-Swan, Inc., in Massachusetts and ask him what he thinks about the flange.' This firm represented a Rhode Island company, Taco, Inc., a manufacturer of "hydronic" components including circulators and flanges. Taco was the market leader in the region and their products enjoyed high brand loyalty. What I soon learned would delight and amaze me.

I called the VP, and we met two days later in the waiting room of a Mercedes dealership while his car was being serviced. He seemed very impressed with the flanges I showed him, though I had the feeling there was something he wasn't telling me-he seemed too interested. These were such simple low-tech sand castings. I sort of accepted his energy, rationalizing that it was typical to see a person's enthusiasm when they saw my inventions for the first time. But I decided to do a little digging and I am glad I did. I learned that Taco was losing money on their flanges, and were factoring that loss into the sell-price of their circulators. The negative contribution to profit stemmed from increased competition, resulting in the loss of 30% of their market share for flanges. This explained the VP's immediate enthusiasm for a new flange design.

A week had passed, and he stayed true to his word that he would arrange a meeting with Taco. I met with Taco's VP of marketing and a handful of managers at their plant. As expected, their interest level was high, and negotiations began. I was now in for an education in the art of negotiating. The pursuit of success had created immense strife in my personal life, but the pursuit of "a deal" dwarfed my earlier trials.

Negotiations weren't going the way I had naively hoped, so I decided to shop the flange around, realizing that if Taco was interested in the flanges then their competitors might be, too. They were. I discovered that they all had problems with their flanges. This seemed incredulous. It wasn't long before I was on a plane to California to meet with executives from the largest pump manufacturer in the world, Grundfos-all expenses paid. But Taco sold the greatest number of this style of threaded circulator flange in the world, over a million a year. Knowing this helped me determine the total market size, and I seriously considered supplying the market with flanges myself. I made contacts with an array of other manufacturers, Reps and potential investors. I lined up production agreements in case negotiations with the two primary companies fell through. Nonetheless, I pursued them vigorously.

The last thing Taco needed was yet another company competing against them. Therefore, they had the most to lose without my design, and the most to gain with it. They were aware that if they could regain their lost market share with a patent pending flange, a "better mousetrap", then a deal with me made a lot of sense. The fact that they produced so many flanges ensured the possibility of significant royalties for my investor and me, and I was determined to pay her back. So six months later I signed a license agreement with Taco on two flange designs, but not before asking for help one last time from the supply house president, this time with negotiations; I needed a mediator. Taco and I had reached an impasse in negotiations, but once the president agreed to mediate it took just 3 weeks to settle the deal, and the first check, $35,000, was signed to my company.

Since closing the deal, Taco has replaced their old standard with my designs. The "freedom Flanges," as they've named them, are on the market, and the positive response has been nothing short of a consensus. It appears that a new standard has been created. The most often asked question is "Why didn't they do this years ago?" I wish I could collect royalties on my answer to that question. Whenever I hear that question I am reminded of an inspirational statement on a poster in my insurance agent's office: "What we can easily see is only a small percentage of what is possible. Imagination is having the vision to see what is just below the surface; to picture that which is essential, but invisible to the eye." This flange solution was a glaring example of a concept so simple that no one before me considered looking for it. The torturous route that I had taken may have been less grueling and more direct if I had given equal attention to the flange option right from the beginning. Hindsight is so clear. Is it not?

Eight months following completion of the first deal, Taco and I signed a second agreement on three valve inventions. Recently we began discussions on my latest invention ideas.

Seeking to create tools based on a flange design reminds me of the 3M Company's search for a new adhesive. When their engineer pasted a sticky substance on squares of paper, to keep his place in his church hymnal, he had created what would become the Post-It Noteò; as simple an idea as my flange. Another notable inventor, Norm Larson, created 39 chemical formulas to inhibit rust before his 40th proved successful: "Water displacement, 40th attempt" in other words, WD-40?. I became successful with my 30th attempt, though no comparison can be made to the 100 million dollar a year success that WD-40? has become. It seems solutions to certain problems are often discovered before they are recognized as solutions, and it can require carrying an idea through a process of elimination before the successful discovery is made. My plan wasn't to start a one-product company-one-product companies are rarely successful. Although, failing with the tools and succeeding with the flange made it apparent that the simplest designs can often be the most successful. Moreover, I knew little about the market for flanges in the beginning of my journey and didn't think I could compete with Taco's established North American distribution, even with a new flange design. Thankfully, I had come full circle with my journey and was a lot wiser for having taken the trip. With attainment of inventing wisdom my hair has begun to gray, but I no longer need that bath towel.

The invention development process doesn't have to be as difficult as it was for me. I should have done a lot more market research before spending so much money on patent applications, costly patterns and prototypes, production runs, and, generally, spinning my wheels on whimsical ideas. In a perfect world a $10,000 market analysis in the beginning may have helped me choose the path of profit much sooner. I would have discovered there was far greater market potential for flanges than for flange tools. I estimate I might have saved $145,000 if I had bypassed the tool approach and gone directly with the flanges and valves, my last five inventions.

Looking back at my experiences from my present perspective as president emeritus (2000) of New Hampshire Inventors Association, I've concluded that many other inventors are going through the same kind of educational process; I see mostly failure and small successes, as most inventors will have to learn by doing and aren't prepared for what it takes to succeed. Inventors need to have an awareness of the invention development process and its pitfalls. Also, they will need to possess passion and determination and, more importantly, a marketable idea. Moreover, I know the following declaration by Thomas Edison echoes in the minds of other inventors, as it has in mine: "Had I known in advance what I was in for I would not have started!" But I did start, and I finished successfully. I pushed forth with drive and creativity I didn't know I was capable of and beat the odds. 98% of inventors fail, many of them making the same predictable mistakes that I made.

It should be noted that my invention "boot camp," and my ultimate success, would not have been possible without the ongoing faith of my investor. In exchange for her risk-taking Mary will receive a ten percent return on her total investment, plus 40% of royalties from the second license agreement. Most inventors run out of money before they succeed; I would have too if not for Mary. She was not only my Angel, but my savior during my darkest hours of seemingly imminent failure. I'm very thankful that she will be repaid.

An intangible benefit to me is that I've learned more about my capabilities and limitations through this process than through any other personal challenge. In overcoming this challenge I have found the new career path I hoped to discover. I am presently in school completing a degree in business that I started in the 80s and will continue on in engineering-I'm reinvesting my royalties. Ironically, and with any luck, I've invented products for the trade that I may never need to return to and use.

John Rocheleau, known to many of his customers as "The HVAC Guru", has had a broad and diverse career in the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration industry (HVACR). He now consults on HVACR issues and serves as Expert Witness in civil Court matters, as well as offers HVAC design service and hands-on service and installations in the New England area.

John Rocheleau has over 50 invention designs, many industry standards. The Taco, Inc. "Freedom Flange" was John's first commercially successful invention and many more were knocked off by competitors such as, Webstone Valves and Watts Industries. John offers consulting on invention development to independent inventors and HVAC manufacturers.

The Important Of Flange In Our Life

Our garages have fast become one of the most important places in our homes. Just like the basement, the garage has gone from a place where we might store a few things, but otherwise neglect, to becoming a vitally important workshop, TV room, and laundry room.

Keeping our garage warm is much more important today than it used to be. If you are looking for ways to save on your energy bill, you may want to consider installing some weather stripping. It should only take you a few minutes and you won't need a hardware store full of tools, either.

First off, you will have to choose the right weather stripping for your particular garage door. The average hardware store has a stunning number of choices, but the two that you want to pick are the bottom door gasket and a flange style stripping that goes around the outside of the door. The flange style stripping is fairly easy to find. It often comes in two varieties one with dual flexible sides and one that has a hard side and a flexible side that looks a lot like wood moulding.

If your garage door has a bottom channel that allows for old weather stripping to be slid out and new weather stripping to be slid in, it only takes a second to replace the old with the new. If your door doesn't have such a channel, open your door to a comfortable working height and use a 2x4 to keep it open. If your door is made out of wood, you want to seal it, so consider adding a coat of sealant before you nail on the new stripping. Cut out the piece of stripping and be sure that you attach it with the thick side out. Use roofing nails to attach the stripping, or just use the nails that come with the kit you bought.

Before you attach the stripping to the sides, you need to be very careful and measure out how much space you have. The last thing you want is to nail in all of this weather stripping only to find out you can't even close your door any longer. Once you have everything measured out, use roofing nails or the nails that came with your kit to fit everything into place. Make sure you test the door several times during this process to ensure that you don't have to do everything over.

Here are some final tips before you finish up. Make a point of checking on your garage door weather stripping in a few days after installation. You want to make sure that nothing is getting in the way of the garage door opening or closing. It isn't that weather stripping is so expensive you can't just replace a piece if you have a problem, but you need to look out for the motor so that you aren't putting too much stress on it every time you leave your home. Done correctly, good garage door weather stripping can save you considerable cash on your next heating bill.

This article brought to you by Denver's Choice Overhead Door Co. Denver's Choice Overhead Garage Door Company has become the number one choice for Denver's garage door needs. We specialize in repairs of existing and sales of new garage doors and garage door openers!

How To Use Flange Effects In Adobe Audition 3.0

The word "flange" may have been invented by John Lennon, as he asked producer George Martin repeatedly to "add some flange" to certain tracks--and George Martin would oblige by simply pressing his finger to the rolling tape, creating the iconic effect.

Since those days, flange effects have become far more technical, and they're still just as cool and fun to use. Here's a quick guide to using flange effects in Adobe's Audition 3.0 software.

1. Adding Flange - Adding the flange effect is very easy. Open up the Mixer (Alt + 2) from the multitrack view and find the track that you want to add the flange effect to. You'll see a little area marked "FX", and some blank areas where you can add effects. Hit the arrow to the right and scroll to the effect menu marked "modulation." The flange effect is second on this menu, in between Chorus and Sweeping Phaser, two effects that are alter the sound of your recordings in a similar fashion.

2. Choosing a Preset - Once you select the flange effect, Adobe Audition will bring up the menu for that effect, and in the upper part of the screen is a drop down menu with a variety of presets. These are a great place for the beginner to start, as they're pre-arranged settings for the effect that will show you what the flange effect in Audition is capable of.

Try some of the subtler effects to add just a bit of life to your recordings, or the "Haight-Ashbury" and similar presets to really kick the flange into gear. These more extreme effects will often throw off the intonation of individual tracks, so experiment all you want but be careful not to overdo it.

3. Altering Settings - You can also alter the settings yourself, and as you get more experienced with the flange effect you'll be doing this more and more. The controls are simple to understand. You've got Initial and Final Delay time, which alter the delay that the flange effect adds in (set them to zero to avoid a delay, though most flange effects use at least a slight delay).

Stereo phasing moves the sound around the listener's head, and it's probably the most fun setting to switch to the extremes. Feedback is feedback, and the modulation rate speeds the flange up or slows it down. Experiment as much as you can to get a feel for the controls and to help you pick a flange effect that works with the song or sounds that you've recorded. Adobe Audition 3.0 may slow down a bit when flange effects are added, especially on slower computers, so you may want to stop playback by hitting the spacebar before changing the settings on the Flanger effect.

Line Six Liqua Flange Pedal For Guitar

Flange is a weird effect. It is not always fitting for a lot of music. I think a lot of guitar players have trouble trying to determine where the effects best fits in with their sound. Instead of the direct punch and obviousness of other effects, flange is an overlay that tampers with the frequencies surrounding your signal.

On really loud, humming amplifiers, you can actually hear the flange effect from a lot of pedals. It will waver up and down and up and down through the buzz that the amp is making. It is a very powerful effect. It may take some getting used to. If you have a good enough device and a decent understanding of how it can be used, I think it can be one of the best pedals out there. A few bands have actually mastered the art of using it constantly.

These bands generally sound dreamy and ambient all the time. The flange pedal, without being overbearing, really creates the dimension that makes a lot of these bands sound memorable. If you have ever heard of Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, or School of Seven Bells, you will hear (the slower songs especially) huge waves of flange over everything from guitar to bass to cymbals. You have to find the right device to have on board with you. Once you figure out the sound you are going for, you're golden.

The Line 6 Liqua Flange is one of the best units I have come across. It has controls for Speed, Depth, Feedback, Time and Mode Selector. The Mode actually lets you sift through 11 different wave formations to find which one suits you most perfectly. There is a Model switch that lets you choose either Digital, Liquid, or Analog.

With ease of use, affordability, and premium sound quality, it is a wonder to me that I do not see more of these on stages across America.

There is also another switch for polarity with negative and positive options. One cool thing about this Line 6 model that a lot of others do not include is tap temp. If you need the wavering of your flange to be in perfect time, fear not. You now have a classy, hands free way to keep it all in line.

Guide To Flange Effect And It's Parameters

Flange is commonly known as the ''jet plane effect'' to the masses, and it's sound has been a popular staple since the 60s. It can be used on any instrument imaginable, from vocals to guitar to drums. Flange at it's core is simply a delay effect with the delay parameter set at a very small amount. With today's technology, producing this sound manually is easy as pie.

The customization features on modern flanging units is unparalleled. Dialing in a signature flange style has never been so easy, but it's important to understand the functions of each parameter and why it works the way it does.

The common delay setting to achieve flange with a delay unit are 20 milliseconds and under. Instead of hearing the actual signal being delayed, they will blend together to make a ''jet plane effect'' sound. The reason this happens is when two identical signals overlap each other, some frequencies are ''canceled out''.

Let's go over the parameters that are usually on flanging units.

Parameter One - Delay : This parameter changes the time it takes for the second signal to play after the original. Most times the highest setting will not be more than 20 milliseconds, as mentioned above. In some cases, the delay setting can be to to a negative value to create interesting ambient effects as well.

Parameter Two - Depth : This parameter functions as the control for the ''warble'' of the flange effect. That is, the severity of the changes in pitch.

Parameter Three - Width : This parameter is somewhat similar to Depth, but has a noticeable difference to the ear. It controls the speed at which the peaks and valleys of the flange are reached.

Parameter Four - Rate : This parameter controls the rate at which the warbles repeat themselves. The faster the speed, the faster your audio signal will go through the complete flange process.

Parameter Five - LFO : This parameter isn't on older flange units but is found on more recent software flanges. They enable you to alter the output of the wave in accordance to the flange. The four possible settings are sine, square, saw, and triangle.

Parameter Six - Feedback : Now we're talking. Feedback loops the output signal back into the input, creating a possibly infinite amount of noise. This results in many strange effects, especially in higher settings. If you're using headphones, be sure to keep the volume low before you experiment with this parameter.

This concludes the guide to flange. As always, experiment and use your ear!