Description

Concept Design Matters
Concept Design Matters are a Professional Mechanical Engineer with business qualifications working in a stand alone capacity in the field of precision mechanism design and mechatronics


Companies We Work With
We work with companies designing high precision mechanical and electro-mechanical products for the vehicle, computer peripheral and banking industry sectors


Our Services
We offer the following specialities:
Technical product planning Innovation Product design Design reviews High speed mechanisms Metatronics Magnetics Drives Machine structure Vibration Design integrity DFMA Cost efficiency

Mechatronics
Mechatronics involves the combining of mechanical mechanisms with electro-mechanical devices and electronic sensors to achieve a desired function. Invariably there will be many choices of solution for a machine and sensible selection of components must be based on a wide understanding of the characteristics of various devices and the manner of controlling them.
There are a large number of factors to be taken into account including:
Product performance requirement definition
Mechanical mechanism ingenuity
Actuator selection e.g. electrical, pnuematic, mechanical
Control type e.g. two position, PID
Controller selection
I have had experience of applying a very wide range of transducers to specially designed mechanisms and can assist in the selection and application of most types of device.



Vibration and noise
As part of the design of review of products it is essential to be aware of vibration and noise for the following reasons:
To create cost efficient structrue
To ensure smooth (or otherwise) responses
To minimise cost
To maximise product quality
To meet environmental standards
Often the dynamic behaviour of a product is only considered once the design is complete. At this stage it is expensive in both time and cost to impliment changes.



Patent drafting
I have had considerable experience in drafting patents and can offer the following services which may be of value before engaging a patent lawyer.:
Assessment of invention and identification of likely inventive steps.
Initial search of patent data bases for prior art.
Preparation of preliminary description and claims.
Creation of images to support description.
Selection of patent lawyer.
As with all aspects of product design support confidentially is of paramount importance and is controlled by entering into a Non Disclosure Agreement before the passing of any information.
Note that it is extremely important to lodge an application for an invention before sharing the idea with any third party not covered by an agreement.




IP generation
Leading or setting up workshops to brainstorm product concepts to maximise potential value.
Some products may feature a new inventive step. Where this is the case professional services must be engaged without delay to protect the invention which may be result in valuable commercial opportunity.
More commonly a product may have invention by combining two or more already know concepts to achieve an as yet unexploited function. Again this could result in a significant and valuable patent.
Where neither of the two above routes to product protection are available it may be possible to generate detailled or micro-IP by exploiting shape function and method of production. This activity may be necessary to give a degree of protection which will deter predatory competitors from copying your product.
Where patent protection is not available other forms of protection may be appropriate.
Equally relevant to IP generation is to be aware of possible infringement of existing patents. It is important to identify possible infringement risks before commiting significant resources to a new product.