You will find the money spent on engineering your invention well spent, as very often large sums of money would be saved in making models and experimenting, and litigation would often be avoided if the inventor would have the practical "horse sense" to go to a competent engineer when in need of engineering skill.
In designing and inventing a machine for doing certain work on a certain article which is otherwise done by hand, it does not necessarily follow that the machine must imitate in its actions the method employed by hand in accomplishing the same ends. That is very often not the only or the best method of doing it. While it is desirable for the machine to accomplish as good, or better, results than is accomplished by hand process, it may be far from desirable for the machine to imitate in its action the HAND PROCESS in doing it. That may be a very roundabout way of doing it, and may not lend itself to simple and desirable mechanical manipulation. For that reason the inventor of a labor-saving machine may often have to first invent a new process for bringing about certain results on the substances on which his machine is to operate, that may be radically different from the method employed by hand.
AN INTELLIGENT AND PRUDENT INVENTOR WILL CAREFULLY NOTE HIS OWN CAPACITY.
It is therefore obvious that, to invent a labor-saving machine successfully, it is first necessary to determine the executive method of operation, and often to invent a more suitable and adaptable one before inventing the means for accomplishing the same, as the executive part of his contemplated machine is his problem, and the ease or difficulty of its solution depends upon its simplicity. The intelligent and prudent inventor will carefully note his own special capacity, aptitude, taste, education, training, experience, and opportunity in certain directions. He will carefully weigh and measure so far as possible in advance his proposed undertaking, and when finally decided upon, he will set himself to work enthusiastically on the lines laid down in this article, and with all the devotion and tenacity that is in him, knowing no defeat, learning and finding new means to solve the problem from every set-back and apparent failure, until he will bring it to a successful accomplishment, and actually tear Victory from the Jaws of Defeat.
[ CHAPTER 16
Pert Pointers for Prospective Inventors That Will Be Found Helpful]
While it is impossible to lay down fixed rules for the would-be successful inventor to follow, the following will be found useful:
Observe everything carefully. Try to remember everything you see. Acquire the habit of concentration. Reason logically. Do not overlook details. Be a hard worker. Keep your mouth shut. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Don't get inflated with your superiority, neglecting to avail yourself of the accumulated knowledge and experience of others. Don't imagine yourself a Solomon. Don't bite off more than you can swallow. (Read Æsop's fable about the "Eagle and the Jackdaw.") Don't set yourself a Quixotic task, and, on the other hand, don't think it is impossible for you to succeed where others have failed.