Read the fine print. they don't need to be approved. The application for patent just needs to be accepted. You know..."Patent Pending." If Richard sells his Supercharger before he applies for a Patent on it then it becomes public domain and anyone can reverse engineer it and rip him off without any compensation for Richard. Which means he most likely would run out of money and we would never see more wonderful designs from him.

Good luck Richard...we're all pulling for you and can't wait!

 

I dont know if this would help...but in the realm of tuning and engine manglement...Protech here in austin has had pretty good success with the HKS system and is working on a turbo kit which would incorporate it. Perhaps contact them?

Link to orig story re:turbo kit...

http://www.caranddriver.com/specialt...x-8-turbo.html

I am antsy in the pantsey obviously...

 

Thank you Richard

 

NM I found the answer as to WHY an aftermarket engine manglement unit is not being used...I just had to read thru 200+ pages...

In retrospect...making the kit cheaper by not forcing ppl to use an aftermarket EMU is bloody brilliant...you'll sell a gajillion units due to ease of install and price...

The antsies keep crawling up the pantsies...

 

Richard, your contact page on your web site fails. Anyway when you get close and need some consumer test cars feel free to drop me a line. I do the web site for one of the major clubs in the midwest and can maybe get you some exposure as well.

 

Which club?

 

I did read the fine print. My question was, what if his patent is not accepted, I thought that was a valid question. Just because you file and get a provisional patent number does not mean that your patent will be accepted.

RP, so am I to assume that you have filed the applications for patents but have not received provisional patent numbers yet? When did you file the applications? At this point, what do you think is a reasonable date for release? I know that if you give a date, it can and probably will change, but even if you say six months, that would at least give people something to look forward to.

 

He filed for a patent. If he releases a product before it has been accepted or in other words before he can legally say "patent pending", anyone can come along and copy it and start selling it right away. It won't take long for someone somewhere to get a hold of one and take it apart in an attempt to copy it. If his patent has been accepted and he can say "patent pending", even before a patent is granted it still stops anyone from legally selling a copy and he has grounds to take legal action. If his patent is approved and is granted then he definitely has legal ground for the length of the patent to stop anyone from selling another one. He also needs to be concerned with US vs international patents as well not to mention the fact that patents expire after so many years. He can worry about that later though. It's a while. If he isn't granted a patent, at the very least he bought himself some time for a while before anyone can legally copy it. Knowing what is out there it's hard to imagine a patent not being granted on this. It's easier to try to fight someone with a copy product if you already have legal grounds to do so than it is to have a patent granted after they have been selling one and then try to go back and have their sales discontinued. He's making a good sound business decision.

 

Richard: thanks for the update on the AFSC. Good luck with the patent and with getting the reflash taken care of. I imagine that must be the most frustrating part, but I'm sure it will still be worth the wait.

Let me know when you're free: maybe I can stop by again and take some more pictures of the unit for you. (I can post them after patent application is approved if you wish)

 

I guess I’m not making myself clear. I understand the legal aspects of a patent, the protections granted when you have one and risks you take if you do not.

What I am really interested in is what Richard will do if:
1) His patent application is not accepted. Will he modify the design and re-file and therefore not release product until he as a provincial patent.
2) If his patent is not granted. Will he continue with R&D until he can get a patent or will the project be scraped?

I do want to say great work Richard it’s an awesome design . I monitor the other turbo and supercharger projects and this is the only one I am interested in. My 8 will not have boost until I can have an AxialFlow supercharger. I just wish I knew when I was going to be able to get one.

 

I believe the only reason to not accept the application is because it is not specific enough, or its filled out or filed incorrectly. There is no reason to think the application would be denied.

And I think it would depend on what grounds it was denied for.

But considering how much he has already put into it, I doubt he would scrap it. But you never know.

Considering there are few turbo kits, let alone super kits, let alone axial flow, I really doubt there is another patent covering this. If there was, we would see it on the market.

 

Filing a provisional patent is easy and fast. If you file one, it takes less than a month to receive the receipt with the provisional number and obtain the legal rights and put patent pending on your product. You can get all the forms here: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/provapp.htm
Just add your patent description, the forms (I believe there are 2 pages), a $100 check and a stamped postcard, such that they can send you the filing number. (You can also call them and they are actually pretty helpful - no lawyer needed.)
The advantage is it won't even be made public (as opposed to the non-provisional) and you still have one year to file the non-provisional patent (which can be the same as the provisional).

 

The patent officers don't even read the provisional patent, they just send you the number and off you go.

Btw, here's the original axial flow supercharger patent: http://www.google.com/patents?vid=US...l+supercharger

Actually 99% of all the patents are not on the market because there is no market:
Since this thread covers centrifugal force, here's one interesting patent that apparently didn't quite make it (well at least not where I come from anyway):
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=US...achine#PPP1,M1

However, I think that Richards axial flow supercharger is great and I admire his persistence. But it is a niche market and therefore most probably not particularly interesting for potential competitors. (A product that is expensive to produce and requires a lot of adaptation and development for each engine won't get a lot of attention from people that try to make a profit).

 

There are a lot of patents that I have seen that make me wonder why anyone would waste threir time and money to develop the idea much less get a patent on it. That was one of them.

Here is a list of stupid patents.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/crazy.html

 

Thank you Globi for the link to the Latham patent. That is some interesting reading.

 

Hi Guys,


I'd like to try the AF blower with my 2.3-liter 4-cylinder. The boost might arrive at high rpms. But intercoolers aren't necessary. If you were to rebuild the engine, what can you do to boost low-end power and torque ? The host engine is an ecotec 2.3-liter.


Eric

 

From my understainding is that this S/C is very motor specific. Are you looking for originality or just added hp? Is it a cobalt, sunfire, G5?

 

As Dave mentioned, this blower is not a "one size fits all" piece of machinery. It is specifically designed for each application and isn't interchangable with other vehicles. If you want one for the Ecotec 2.3L, RP would have to design a new blower specifcally for that application.

 

thanks, guys !

 

I am not an expert on this or nothing, but I would think its all about flow right?

I mean technically with a centrifugal you should find the right turbo for the motor, but usually it seems people find something thats close enough.

I wonder which motors this SC would work sufficiently with.

Our motor is labelled as a 1.3L, but it flows more like a? 3.9L? I dont know for certain.

 

Not exactly that simple. Richard designed and redesigned the blower for the RX-8, changing the number of stages and blade design in order to have the blower flow properly for the characteristics of the 13B-MSP. Like I said... it's not a plug and play blower.

 

IMO, more like a 2.6 liter.

 

It just consumes gas like 3.9.

 

richard owns the rights to the original latham. he got them from mr latham

 

What rights would that be? The original Latham design would be public domain now.