Jerkstopper

[Headjerk]

Or if you want to just rig something: Adhesive backed velcro

The adhesive on the back of this stuff is very strong and the velcro is very heavy duty. I have used it where wires dangle under desks (from keyboards) and your legs can snag them. Stick the hook part to where ever you need it, wrap the loop part around the wire (the adhesive sticks to itself exceptionally well so get it right the first time). You deal with the unsightliness of it and it is limited to places you where you will be allowed to apply it. My guess is the power cord is coming out of the wall before the velcro lets loose. You could also coil up your power cord and wrap it with a strip of hook material for tidy transport.

@Headjerk- I really do hope you make a ton of money. Sell, sell, sell, sell. Saturate the market before you get someone knocking your product off. Patenting your idea is a nice idea but from what I have read, it isn't worth much more than something to be proud of. I had read on a site (I can't find it now) by a patent lawyer that for a product to be worth patenting, it would need to generate $20 million dollars in revenue. A good portion of that money would be used for fighting patent infringement. Someone can come along, change one little thing on your idea and you have lost it. If someone can show that the idea isn't new or that it would be invented anyway, you've lost it. There was a lot more but my memory fails me. So sell, sell, sell, sell.

Edit: When searching for the patent lawyers site I came across these amusements:

http://www.patentoftheweek.com/

http://www.patentlysilly.com/

enjoy.

DL that's funny because velcro is where this started. . . .I use velcro for everything I can. . . .Plane, boat, cars, bikes, etc. Way back I mounted a set of airhorns on my motorcycle with some "Industrial strength" velcro. Three years (and 30+k miles) later they are still mounted and functioning. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. My original prototypes were er aah how should I put it. . . "Butt Ugly" but they worked. Just not sale-able. Patents only worth something (beyond looking at it hanging on the wall) if you've got sales for the product (and thus the company) and enough resources to go after infringer's. Some patents are so poorly written that they are in fact "toilet paper". . . Others, if written properly are comparatively easy to enforce. In my case, time will tell.

Sales are brisk so far. . . .but I haven't seen your order come thru yet?

[puntoMX]

Sales are brisk so far. . . .But I haven't seen your order come thru yet?

What I’m missing here is a real photo of the Jerkstopper, can you post one? That 3D CAD picture looks okay but wondering how it really looks, in and outside the laptop .

[Headjerk]

They actually look exactly like the CAD drawing except they are (so far) being produced in black. I'll shoot some photos (as requested) today and post them later on.

[Headjerk]

As promised. . . .

My Fujitsu "hanging in there"

And a closer look

Back view

Normal installation

[Zxian]

Those pictures look interesting and all... but why use a USB port? Why not make use of the security port that almost all laptops have nowadays, since it's designed to withstand stresses and strains like the one the JerkStopper undergoes? You are pulling 6lbs worth of laptop through a USB port that's designed to withstand maybe... 2 lbs or shear?

[Headjerk]

Actually the unit in the picture is a RJ45 JerkStopper. The security port is a possibility, (my patent covers using it) but in researching usage I found that lots and lots of people already use that port and almost everyone has an available USB or RJ port. Go Figure. . . If I'd started with the security port I'd probably have people asking why I didn't use the (never used) modem port.

Edited January 23, 2008 by Headjerk

[mark]

but I haven't seen your order come thru yet?

At the moment, all I have are desktops. I wouldn't mind having a laptop (I would actually find it quite useful) but for the moment, it's a no go.

I am not criticizing your invention but when I see someone's doodad, doohickey(this word is in the spell check list !!!!!!!) or thingamabob that they are selling and it sells, "Dang, I need to think of something like that" goes through my mind. You never know what people will buy. A while back, I saw a web page that a woman out in the Midwest (US) had put together for her own benefit to see if she could make a web page. On her trial web page, she sold tumbleweeds. Small, medium and large tumbleweeds. We are talking about weeds here. Weeds. Plants that grow where you don't want them. She has a thriving business selling WEEDS!! Ya never know.

So in the mean time, SELL SELL SELL.

DL

Edited January 24, 2008 by DL

[Headjerk]

You can use it on your desktop systems. . . . Since I have nothing plugged into the RJ11 port on the back of my desktop I use one as a cable guide...Problem is I need about 4 more RJ 11 jacks to route all the cables.

And btw I appreciate all the comments. . . I keep on learning! Today I had a forum member from a motorcycle forum I frequent suggest another possible application for the basic design that isn't really computer oriented. So I've been tinkering with some prototypes today and maybe have some other possible applications in the near future.

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Anything to get people to part with their money (and many will at the most laughable of things). I'm reminded of all the accessories people make for USB now-a-days in that respect.

The latest example

Sightly off topic but hey here goes.

THOSE ARE SWEET!!! I want four quick...

Let me reverse the link a bit and see just how much they are.

[Glenn9999]

Sightly off topic but hey here goes.

THOSE ARE SWEET!!! I want four quick...

Let me reverse the link a bit and see just how much they are.

The thing about 'em. I'd worry about the weight on the USB plug, the potential of the battery part of blowing up or leaking (the usual rechargable thing). If I did go with a USB charger, I'd prefer something more like this

[mark]

Found that link on patents: Stuff ya might wanna know bout patents.

DL

[Headjerk]

Found that link on patents: Stuff ya might wanna know bout patents.

DL

Interesting stuff. . . .Some of which I have seen before. A few years back I almost bought a motorcycle clothing manufacturer that held a patent that had (and still is) been infringed on by Harley, Honda and a bunch of "big names". In talking to my attorney it turns out that since the owner of the patent hadn't raised a stink from day one he (or me if I bought the company) was basically SOL. In the opinion(s) of some litigation specialists I have talked to it boils down to how and when you go after infringer's. Also. . . .in litigating something like this the "device" is fairly unique and my documentation from day one has been pretty accurate. The bottom line (imho) is still "it costs money to fight scum".

[Tarun]

What are all of the options? I've seen RJ45, RJ11 and USB.

[jcarle]

I would never buy this product because I value the integrity of my data ports over the integrity of the power supply/connection anyday. IMHO, the USB/RJ11/RJ45 versions are junk. No matter how well it works, fact and case remains, they are in fact data ports and should be reserved for their originally intended purpose.

However, if a version based on the security attachment location found on all modern laptops ever was released, THAT I would buy.

[Headjerk]

The "average" user is always gonna have an available port to be used. In an informal poll amongst 100+ laptop users I couldn't find anyone that even remembered the last time they used the RJ11 port and more than half (because of wireless) never use the the RJ 45 port. Different Strokes for Different Folks.