Inventions by John Rocheleau

In 1996, John took a leap of faith with tool and component design ideas for the trade, and embarked on a 2-year invention development odyssey that culminated in over 50 designs, and 2 license agreements with a prominent manufacturer in the HVAC industry - Taco, Inc. . (See flanges and valves below.) The theme of this website consists of actual patent drawings of John’s inventions.

John has appeared as an expert on independent inventing on numerous radio talk shows including: “The Exchange,” on WEVO 89.1 FM - an NPR member station, WSMN (in Nashua, NH) with host, Deborah “Arnie” Arnesen (former 2-time New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate), and WKXL 102.3 FM, in Concord, NH.

John has been the Guest Speaker at numerous lectures on the subject of inventing, judge at invention competitions, and is a former president of the New Hampshire Inventors Association, where he designed an educational curriculum for novice inventors, then merged the Association with the New Hampshire High Technology Council.

John continues to invent, and has been granted 6 patents. Other patents remain pending, or have been abandoned. Any issued patents can be viewed at www.uspto.gov. A little bit of searching, using “John W. Rocheleau” as inventor, will reveal all of his patents. Remember, the first to invent, not necessarily patent, will be the rightful owner of an invention, as long as documentation protocol has been followed. Accordingly, John’s current and ongoing inventions remain in his certified logbook until the appropriate time when they will be revealed.

The inventions below were all invented in the 1990s, the valve and flange designs having become industry standards. Numerous companies are now making the valves and flanges, having tweaked the designs some, or not at all, and include:

  • Taco, Inc. - “The Freedom Flange”
  • Webstone Valves - “The Isolator”
  • Watts Regulator - “Shut-off Flange”
  • Grundfos Pumps Corp. - “Sweat Flange”
  • Raven Products - “Sweat Flange & Threaded Flange”
  • F.W. Webb - PurePro - “Shut-off Flange”
  • Bell & Gossett - an ITT company
  • Other too numerous to mention

Every supplier in the Northeast is a purveyor of John’s designs.

Inventions Image Gallery

Aspects of John’s invention development, including new flange and valve standards presently on the market.