Bosch blade brake

[BigguyZ]

Well I for one think that ANY additional players in the cut minimizing saw market is a good thing!

There's no doubt that Gass is readying the crew to sue, but just knowing that there are companies out there working on alternatives means that we'll have better and better saws available to use and the market in general. How that's anything but positive, I don't know!

One thing that DOES bother me about the marketing of this system: they push how youi can reset the saw in only 60 seconds. Sure, that's nice.... but that race team mindset of rush rush rush to get it done is the reason most of these accidents happen! When I nearly cut off my finger on my router table, it was because I was trying to whip out a bunch of pieces as fast as I could. I think that woodworkers and construction builders alike need to have a paced, calm mentality when working in situations where severe injury is a possibility (table saws being high on that list).

Also, that 60 seconds doesn't count changing your underwear after you crap your pants.

[LinuxRandal]

I think some of his patents will be found not to apply, but I don't know if we have seen all the Bosch setup yet or not. How do you know if the wood is too wet for this system? I see that as possibly the biggest contention point as well as the reason for a 60 second flip (in case their method is find out the hard/expensive way).
I was looking at the portable SS as a replacement for the BT (even though the BT works fine). As I stated before, I have some nieces and nephews who are showing some occasional interest, and I don't like the risk there. Right now a tracksaw is what they can use and what I use most, but I can see putting aside fun money to buy this, since this would save the blades.

[Stytooner]

Wouldn't it be funny if by the time the table saw industry finally, widely adopted these safety features, someone perfects and markets a laser wood saw?

Sure, the laser would necessarily burn the cut edges, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees an easy way to deal with that in the saw immediately after the laser has cut it. Heck, somebody has probably already patented THAT, too; I haven't checked.

They have lasers that cuts wood now. What it will be in the future that they actually have some of now I think is a fully CNC operated saw. Humans don't get near the blades. You can bet that whatever the direction goes, it will be computer controlled.


Don't think for a minute that a company as big as Bosch hasn't researched the patents. They have patents attorneys too.

[jussi]

How long do patents last and when did gass apply for the SS patent?

[jussi]

Don't think for a minute that a company as big as Bosch hasn't researched the patents. They have patents attorneys too.

And much deeper pockets. This will be interesting.

[jussi]

He may or may not be willing to "sell out" at this point; I'm sure we'll find out soon.

If I remember correctly he had initially planned on licensing it to TS manufacturers but they couldn't come to an agreement and hence SS was created. So he's definitely considered it in the past. I guess he just has to do the math on what will make him more money. Getting additional income from the license but not longer the only braking system in the game. Personally I think he would be much better off licensing the tech to a company like bosch who doesn't cabinet saws.

[Slik Geek]

How long do patents last and when did gass apply for the SS patent?

Here[/URL] are Gass' SS related patents. The oldest was filed Dec. 31, 2004.

Incidentally, you may find some of his show filing dates way back to 2001 or so. The 2004 date I spec'd earlier are for those on the USPTO page I linked (some are "continuations" from earlier art).

The earliest patent on the SS technology that I found was US 6,857,345, which I cited in an earlier post. This patent is the earliest cited in the SS manual that I consulted:

Patent No.: 6,857,345 Brake positioning system
Abstract
A saw is disclosed having a detection system adapted to detect a dangerous condition between a person and a saw blade, and a brake adapted to stop the saw blade in response to detection of the dangerous condition. The saw further includes a brake positioning system that allows the brake to be positioned in at least two different operable positions to accommodate at least two different blade diameters. The saw may include a system to detect brake-to-blade spacing.

This patent was filed August 13, 2001 and took 3-1/2 years to be issued. The patent claims priority to a number of provisional patent applications, however, which were filed Aug. 14, 2000. The provisional application, I believe, starts the clock on the 20 year term. Note, however, that this patent was granted an extension of 462 days (because of appeals and how long it took to be granted).

If my calculations are correct, this patent is in force through Friday, November 19, 2021.

[Slik Geek]

Note, however, that this patent was granted an extension of 462 days (because of appeals and how long it took to be granted).

I should clarify that the extensions are granted for various reasons, which may include appeals (when a patent or portions of a patent are rejected by the patent office). In this particular patent, Gass apparently did a good job in his application because the granting of the patent was very smooth - no apparent rejections or appeals. The patent term was extended apparently because the patent office was very slow in starting and completing the patent prosecution process.

The non-provisional application was filed 08-13-2001, but the patent office didn't show any real activity until 09-16-2002. The patent office accepted that they delayed delayed the issuing of the patent 517 days, but the applicant contributed 55 days of delay, so they granted 517-55=462 days of extension.

[vaking]

I am not specialist in patents. All I know is that technology related to detecting contact with the human body is not specific to table saws or woodworking machinery. For instance - Otis elevators started using touch -sensitive buttons based on electronic tubes back in 1948. These buttons did not have any mechanical contacts or moving parts, they were responding to a direct contact of a metal part with the body. Direct contact of a metal part with human body is exactly what Saw Stop needs - metal part being the blade. Many of those patents long expired. I think that if Gas has any patents related to "detecting contact with human flesh" - those patents would not be hard to circumvent. Patents that will probably be harder to deal with are the patents related to blade retracting mechanisms.