Rodne, be sure to claim your patent for that
Rodne, be sure to claim your patent for that
_______________________________
LaserPro Spirit 40 W
OKI ES9431
Who wants to hear the bells must pull the rope
Wer die Glocken hören will muss am Seil ziehen
A lot of patents are over broad and full of holes. And any inventor is allowed to reverse engineer a process.
I very much doubt that any person doing their own home brew version of marking using glazes is going to be sued or harassed.
Patents protect the commercial application of a specific application, not the idea. You cannot patent or protect the IDEA of using glazes to act as an agent to mark substrates using the laser. You an patent CERTAIN chemical compounds and thus prevent others from selling those compounds of using them in the course of producing goods for sale.
We have faced this sort of thing in the past on two separate occasions and both time we got the company making infringement claims to back down after we shot their patent full of holes.
Being granted a patent does not automatically make the patent valid in all claims. Patent examiners aren't running out to find out the state of the art in the industry and checking the claims. All they can really do is a cursory examination of prior patents and art and make sure there are no glaring conflicts.
So don't be afraid to share your techniques that you developed on your own.
Don't forget that the only reason Cermark and Thermark got together was to resolve the patent issue between them.
Epilog Mini 24 - 45 Watt, Corel Draw X5, Wacom Intuos Tablet, Unengraved HP Laptop, with many more toys to come.....
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have one idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas... George B. Shaw
You have no idea how true this is... I was discussing this exact topic with my SO last night over dinner as I've been contemplating becoming a patent examiner (not as exciting as my engineering work, but it would allow me to work from home and claim government bennies and retirement). I could write several pages on what's wrong with the system, and it wouldn't be just my opinion, it would be cold, hard fact as expressed by senior patent examiners, the head of the USPTO, and President Obama himself (though the President talks in the same way Reagan used to about patent office reform, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed).
As the system stands now, not only has "non-obviousness" been obfuscated as a requirement for a patent being granted, the junior examiners have found it's easier to deny every application that comes across their desk. If they grant one, the senior reviewer can turn around and deny it (and these "senior" guys are rarely even working in their own field of art, mind you)... if you get 10% of your grants overturned by "quality review", you get a permanent written ding in your record, which leads to lack of promotion. The examiners have found it's better (and more lucrative) to deny everything and fly under the radar, waiting for their year-end bonus and (hopefully) pay-scale increase. But not too, high... it turns out once you get beyond a certain pay grade, the bonus money drops significantly for each patent granted, so they're gaming the system by getting juuuust enough of a grade increase, but not go beyond a certain level (I believe making it to a grade 14 was a shot in the foot). Sad, but true.
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
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Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
Here is the result of my next test on beige coilstock: you can control the color changes to a certain extent by adjusting the power on the fly. It would be easy to make the colors appear if you pre-set the laser for each color and printed on thing at a time. But I didn't
The 600 dpi seems to give the best color results, the 300 dpi the worst.
I doubt if this procedure will be useful to anyone unless they were making an art piece where the muted colors are wanted. Maybe a nice foggy landscape? Or a beach theme, shells and what-not. Might make a nice background for a sign or plaque in combination with vinyl lettering.
It is scrub-proof, I rubbed the heck out of it under water with a green scrubber and dish soap... nothing came off.
cheers, dee
- still want to see the ceramic glaze results from Tim -
Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure
Red Coin Mah Jong
Sometimes "failed" experiments, or those that use incorrect initial assumptions, lead to some very happy results. True, the colors are muted, but it's a very unique effect, and certainly different than I would have expected. I'm curious to see what kind of result you'll get when you switch to using a piece of porcelain tile... I expect the color to remain a little more true (and vivid).
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
For those who like to read this stuff, here's a link to the USPTO. There is also an image. I always go directly to the source and avoid all the watered down pay-for patent sites. They get their info from here anyways.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...y=PN%2F6238847
I design, engineer and program all sorts of things.
Oh, and I use Adobe Illustrator with an Epilog Mini.
Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure
Red Coin Mah Jong
It was good. We now (as a board) own a faint red.. Now we just have to find vibrant cyan, magenta, yellow and black and we're a multinational corporation.
Last edited by Darren Null; 09-26-2009 at 9:03 AM.
Dee, meant to ask and it's not readily apparent from your posts... was the glaze just a clear overcoat, or was it a solid color, like black? Was it a low fire or very low fire?
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
Tim,
Are you actually lasering the tiles are making the mask and the firing them?
Thanks,
Marty
Martin Boekers
1 - Epilog Radius 25watt laser 1998
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2005
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2007
1 - Epilog Fusion M2 32 120watt laser with camera 2015
2 - Geo Knight K20S 16x20 Heat Press
Geo Knight K Mug Press,
Ricoh GX-7000 Dye Sub Printer
Zerox Phaser 6360 Laser Printer
numerous other tools and implements
of distruction/distraction!
Glazed Black fine font on beige Porcelain
12x12 Ceramic tile with black glazed elk silhouette
12x12 white marble tile with permanent black guiness logo
Beige porcelain with green tree silhouettes
12x12 biege marble tile with black bear
Okay, I have a few glazes on order to try out next weekend. Me and my machine already have a date with some bottles this weekend (and I'm not saying if I plan on personally emptying them before engraving ). I will get to the bottom of this, one way or the other... it has sufficiently raised my engineering hackles.
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
You have indeed put your money where your mouth is. I salute your impeccable dress an can I have a recipe please?