They say that the mother of invention is necessity. I've found that to be true over my 40 years or so of being an inventor. Another way of putting it is; find a need and fill it. So the best time to think of an invention might be that moment when you are thinking to yourself "I wish there was an easier way to do this." At that moment stop and think of all the possible ways the task could be made easier or eliminated.
One thing I like to do when I discover a task that I find tiresome or boring or difficult, is to imagine the wackiest crazy ways of solving the problem. This often leads to interesting ways of doing things. It never hurts to use your imagination. Imagination is like a muscle, the more you use it the easier it gets. Imagination is tied to creativity. If youcan't imagine something then I can guarantee you that you won't create it. First you have to imagine it, and then you can bring it to reality.
I've compiled a list of interesting invention ideas... maybe something on the list will spark you imagination and lead to that one-in-a-million idea that becomes a real invention.
Christmas Gifts For College Students
New kind of toothbrush Example of wild idea: Develop an ultrasonic transducer to clean your teeth like those ultrasonic cleaners used by jewelers. Pop it in your mouth with some water and hold for 30 seconds.
Stay-Open-Freezer Bags Put wires in the plastic bag about where the zip lock thingy is so you could bend the wires to hold the bag open while filling with soup or whatever.
Build audio Audio circuitry into Sneakers kids shoes sowhen you take a step the shoe makes a sound such as Clip-Klop, or squish squish, and make a few selectable sounds.
Alert: Make diaper Diaper change color when they get wet, so you don't have to poke your finger in to see if it is wet and needs changing.
Iphone amplifier: Create a case for the iphone that has an amplifier so you can easily hear your Iphone without having to hold it up to your ear.
Selective Vegetable Harvester: There are no vegetable harvesting machines that harvest only the ripe vegetables. Tomato harvesters rip up the whole plant. Machines are needed for just about any fruit too. Harvesting machines are needed for apples, oranges, peaches, pears, broccoli, eggplant, cauliflower, etc.
Teflon Tape Dispenser: A cooler that would make it easy tofind the end of the tape and to cut it off where you want it. Teflon tape used in plumbing is a real pain to use.
Once you've had that brilliant idea, then what to do?
Well there are several things that need to be done but in what order is difficult to determine ahead of time. In some cases your first step would be to build a prototype. This would tell you if it could be made economically and how well it works. For other inventions you might want to check first to see if it is already patented. I recommend using Google's patent search service.
With some ideas you would want to find out first if there was even a market ... if no one wants it then why bother?
Invention Ideas For Students, and How to Come Up With Great New Products