Hang printer patented !

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Vishal Pai

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Jun 6, 2022, 12:26:46 PM6/6/22
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Patent scalpers attempt to grab the open source design of hang printer 
More info and donations here:

Sam Matthews

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Jun 6, 2022, 5:24:30 PM6/6/22
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It's not entirely clear to me that someone actually patented the prior art printer, or whether they patented a specific narrow improvement thereof.  Ludvigsen's post makes it clear that he doesn't fully grasp how patents work, since he's focused on the figures, rather on the claims. As a quick primer: the only* thing that determines the scope of a patent's zone of exclusivity is what it actually says in the claims. You can put anything you want in the specification and figures, so including a figure of  Ludvigsen's design (if that's what it is) doesn't mean that's what the patent actually covers. In this case, the broadest claim of the patent includes the following limitations (which you can think of as a checklist: if someone else doesn't check every box, they're not infringing):

1. A cable-driven additive manufacturing system comprising:

  • an end effector configured for linear translation within a three-dimensional workspace along an x-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis;
  • an aerial hoist suspending the end effector within the three-dimensional workspace by at least one suspension cable, the aerial hoist having a static position within the three-dimensional workspace whereby the aerial hoist is not translated along the x-axis with the end effector and the aerial hoist is not translated along the y-axis with the end effector;
  • an aerial cable winder configured to control linear translation of the end effector along the z-axis;
  • a plurality of motion-control base stations disposed below the aerial hoist and configured to control linear translation of the end effector in an x-y plane defined by the x-axis and the y-axis, each motion-control base station comprising a base station cable winder;
  • a plurality of motion-control cables, at least one of the plurality of motion-control cables running from each of the base station cable winders to the end effector;
  • at least one tension-control base station; and
  • at least one tension-control cable running from the tension-control base station to the end effector.
Not being an engineer, I have no idea whether all of those elements, in combination as described, were part of Ludvigsen's hang printer. If they were, then that's relevant for the patent office to know about. However, I suspect that somewhere in those claims is a combination of elements that hadn't existed before, and that the patent office deemed to be inventive, in which case the patent was merely covering an improvement on an existing design, which is totally legit. 

If someone happens to know more about the tech or the legal situation, I'd be interested to hear it.

*NOTE: there is some wiggle room about how the scope of the claims themselves can be informed by the specification, but that's usually only in the case of ambiguous terminology, so not likely applicable here

Kurt at VRFX

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Jun 9, 2022, 2:09:02 PM6/9/22
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Wow - I was just looking at the campaign again - about to shut down the browser tab, when I saw this:

I was a bit surprised, but not shocked - and good on Josef for doing this!

-K

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Gary Tolley - Grogyan

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Jun 9, 2022, 4:07:18 PM6/9/22
to Kurt at VRFX, 3D Printing Tips and Tricks
Yes, because Josef himself has had to deal with patent trolls. 

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TobyCWood

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Jun 9, 2022, 5:33:49 PM6/9/22
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I expect that it was The Original!

Kurt at VRFX

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Jun 9, 2022, 6:07:17 PM6/9/22
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You mean - like the "OG"?

:-)

But, yeah - I got it - 1st donation! Although, I don't think so - I thought when I 1st went to the funding page - I thought it was like 7K, not 20K - but, I could be wrong - that happens occasionally...

-K

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