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BS2 Stars in Patent Drawings — Parallax Forums

BS2 Stars in Patent Drawings

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
edited 2010-10-24 22:20 in BASIC Stamp
I am an inventor/designer and I'm listed on many patents assigned to my employer. Imagine my surprise when I got my copy of a recent patent with my quickest, roughest, and ugliest BS2 prototype prominently featured in it. Long story short, I helped out a group at work for a couple of days. They just needed a starting point to try to measure (among other things) how high a kid could jump. I figured if I could time how long the kid was airborne, we could do a rough height calculation. In a couple hours, I slammed a BS2 onto a tiny PC board, made a belt clip, and a counterweighted pendulum switch that would make contact when the kid jumped and landed. Just like a pedometer. A fast software counter measured the relative air time, then afterward it flashed a green LED from 1-20 times to "display" the time. It served its intended purpose and got the project the green light (literally the green LED light), then the real EEs stepped in to make the next generation units, which were MUCH nicer. Well, for mysterious reasons, the patent lawyers only used my hideous prototype to make their patent drawings. They made numerous drawings and at least 11 of them show the BS2 prototype in various orientations.

Among other funny things, they meticulously depicted the Philips head screw and other random metal slugs I superglued onto the end of the countersprung pendulum just for weight.

I'm sure you could recognize our friend the BS2 in the drawing even without seeing the accompanying photo. C'est la vie! :)

Edit: another interesting fact, they illustrated the BS2 with 22 pins!
patentdwg.jpg
600 x 800 - 37K
photo.jpg
600 x 700 - 103K
patentdwg2.jpg
600 x 800 - 45K
patentdwg3.jpg
600 x 800 - 45K

Comments

  • FranklinFranklin Posts: 4,747
    edited 2010-10-24 17:37
    So, if I were to make one and use Torx screws I guess I would not be stepping on your patent?
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-10-24 17:48
    I guess slotted, Torx & allen screws are all up for grabs! :)
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2010-10-24 19:19
    ...man - being named on a patent? Too cool!

    You're envied Erco,

    DJ
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-10-24 20:09
    What tickles me are the drawings. Despite showing high-tech stuff from the 21st century, they look like they could have been produced in the 1700's. Erco, were these hand-drawn, or is it okay to use CAD for patent drawings now?

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2010-10-24 22:20
    @DJ: Thanks, but no big deal. I BETTER be coming up with good patentable stuff, that's my job. I've averaged about one each year in 27 years at the firm...

    @Phil: I'm pretty sure CAD drawings are fine, especially since the new generation of patent agents prefer to use electronic filing. But there are plenty of old-school PAs who prefer to mail hardcopies, hire pencil-pushing draftsmen (who did these) and use illustration fonts from the early 1900s. TRADITION!
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