Manufacturing help

[Long Haul Trucker]

My muse is coming together in the form of a simple invention.

I would like to prototype it in order to document the process for the purposes of filing a provisional patent with the option of full patent filing in the future.

In your opinion, does the prototyping seem unnecessary?

If not, I need some specific parts of existing products. Would anyone know how to get the parts for just the tightening mechanism from a microphone stand? And to broaden the question so the answer can help people who have similar questions, how would one go about getting "parts of parts" for whatever they are trying to build?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[AlexMoen]

I believe prototyping gives you a much stronger hand at sales when you need it. You're going to have to sell this idea somewhere down the line (whether to a customer base, or a business that could use the invention), and having a working version that they can see and touch makes it more real to them.

As for the finding parts of parts, I can't help you there.

[Sven]

In the US you can patent just about anything, you just make claims about the product but they are not checked anywhere. No real need for a prototype there.

However, prototyping is hugely important!
So best start making them yourself. I say them, one prototype is not a prototype.

Make them quick and do it several times. It saves you time and gives better results as you learn a lot about your product.

Do not bother about "good" too much, that will slow you down, improve a little bit with every one.

[Long Haul Trucker]

Thank you both for the feedback.

@Sven - have you built a prototype object before?
If so, where did you find obscure parts?
Or where do you recommend looking?

Thank you.

[Sven]

I built ton's of them and still do, I'm an inventor.
For the more obscure parts and materials you need to be on a constant lookout. For me finding parts and materials has been part of my life since I was 10 so it comes quite natural to me to constantly think of alternatives. Alternatives can be different materials, different design, different place to look, different people to talk to.

It is a goog thing to go to many trade shows, even outside your own industry. Look at what's on display and look at the display itself.

Oh, one part of prototyping is easy to miss. When I say one prototype is not a prototype, making several in a row occupies your brain in a different, more relaxed way. It makes it easier for creative moments to strike.

[Domer88]

It is not necessary to build a prototype to file your patent. However, construction of a working prototype will help you decide if it is worth the expense of filing. To file you just need to be able to describe the invention in enough detail that someone "skilled in the art" could build one. In reality, few patents provide enough detail to actually do that, although you normally can see all the novelty in the plans presented in a patent.

As far as finding parts, there are catalog companies out there that sell individual quantities of parts that are normally bought by manufacturers in bulk. An examples is Digikey for electronics.

You can have a special part fabricated from a CAD drawing through a process called SLA, that builds up any 3D part out of plastic resin. They used to be expensive, but the machines are only $30K nowadays, so you probably can find a prototyping shop in your city that will do prototype parts (if you already have good drawings) for a few hundred dollars. THis would be suitable for a part that doesn't exist today. And if you don't have CAD drawings, something you will need eventually when you find a manufacturer to build for you, you can outsource CAD pretty easily, as long as you can sketch out what you need drawn, along with dimensions.