The first microphone was invented for use in telephones.
Emile Berliner invented the loose contact telephone transmitter in 1877. He sold his patent to the Bell Telephone Company for $50,000 in 1895. Berliner's design differed from existing designs sufficiently because it used a disc to record sound rather than a cylinder. This made sound recording inexpensive. Berliner's innovation set the standard for early microphones. Since then, many new types of microphone have been invented, including the condenser microphone and the omni-directional microphone. While you can't reinvent as broad a concept such as the microphone, you can patent a microphone design that is unique and novel.
Instructions
1. Unscrew the grille to inspect the diaphragm.
Examine existing microphones. Take apart any microphones you own and study how they function. A microphone typically has three main components: A diaphragm, coil and power supply. The diaphragm picks up the sound while the power supply feeds electricity into the coil. The coil transforms the vibrations of the diaphragm into electrical energy.
2. Solve a problem. Devise a way to improve on the microphone design or to solve an existing problem that you and others experience. For example, the electrelet microphone was invented by Bell Labs in 1962 as an improvement on the standard condenser microphone. It's design mitigated the need for external bias, which made it suitable for a wider range of applications.
3. Create a unique design. For it to be considered an invention, your design must be novel. Your design must demonstrate that your idea is unique and new. Consult a patent lawyer for help in determining exactly which part of your design is patentable.
4. Patent your design. In order for you to benefit from your design, it's imperative that you patent it. Send your design to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, with supporting documentation explaining why your design is novel. Designs that are not protected by patents can be copied by competitors. Patent law is in place to protect and foster innovation; without it designers and problem solvers would have little incentive to invent new products if they could be copied with impunity. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office suggests that most designs fall under the category of "Utility Patent", which covers machines, useful processes and articles of manufacture.
5. Make a prototype. Once you've protected your idea, you can begin to exploit it commercially. To do this you need to physically demonstrate that your idea works and is useful. Do this with a prototype. You can either build your own prototype or hire a specialist to produce it for you.
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