4 ms·

It's a saw guard... Personally, I don't think they should really have to pay anything to an 'inventor' of a saw guard. Link to the patent: http://www.google.co

by axod 16y ago

It's a saw guard... Personally, I don't think they should really have to pay anything to an 'inventor' of a saw guard. Link to the patent: http://www.google.co.uk/patents?id=PhR3AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false http://www.google.co.uk/patents?id=PhR3AAAAEBAJ&printsec... It's trivial and should never have had a patent granted IMHO. Comprises of a couple of spring loaded clamps to hold the wood, and a cover which hides the blade and collects the dust. wow must have taken a whole afternoon to think up.

jemfinch 16y ago
> wow must have taken a whole afternoon to think up. A whole afternoon in 2006, approximately 6,000 years after the birth of civilization and before anyone else had thought of it.
- axod 16y ago
  How can you be in any way even remotely sure that no one else had ever thought of it. That seems extremely unlikely. I'd bet there are countless examples of spring loaded clamps holding wood in cutters, and countless examples of blade hiding/dust removal boxes. This isn't rocket science. I think you mean "... and before anyone else bothered to patent it and try and get people to pay royalties".
noonespecial 16y ago
He did more than "think it up in an afternoon". Its a specific type of saw the guard is for. He measured it all out, built one, tested it, built 8 more, and loaned them all to the Home Depot (probably for free) to show them that it would reduce injuries. It did so magnificently, so they stole it like rotten little children. I'm all in against "thought patents" like software and "business methods" where the inventor does nothing but think of a way to phrase a generic activity that many people already do, but the physical device patent is still a useful thing. In general it still works like the founders intended more often than it doesn't. Its friggin hard to build real things. This guy spent real time and effort perfecting this device that really does help people. He deserved better.
- axod 16y ago
  They didn't "steal it". They made their own.

by axod 16y ago

jemfinch 16y ago

> wow must have taken a whole afternoon to think up. A whole afternoon in 2006, approximately 6,000 years after the birth of civilization and before anyone else had thought of it.

axod 16y ago
How can you be in any way even remotely sure that no one else had ever thought of it. That seems extremely unlikely. I'd bet there are countless examples of spring loaded clamps holding wood in cutters, and countless examples of blade hiding/dust removal boxes. This isn't rocket science. I think you mean "... and before anyone else bothered to patent it and try and get people to pay royalties".

noonespecial 16y ago

He did more than "think it up in an afternoon". Its a specific type of saw the guard is for. He measured it all out, built one, tested it, built 8 more, and loaned them all to the Home Depot (probably for free) to show them that it would reduce injuries. It did so magnificently, so they stole it like rotten little children. I'm all in against "thought patents" like software and "business methods" where the inventor does nothing but think of a way to phrase a generic activity that many people already do, but the physical device patent is still a useful thing. In general it still works like the founders intended more often than it doesn't. Its friggin hard to build real things. This guy spent real time and effort perfecting this device that really does help people. He deserved better.

axod 16y ago
They didn't "steal it". They made their own.