ULS patent on Class I/Class IV option

[Richard Rumancik]

I just saw this announcement in an A&E bulletin I received:

http://a-e-mag.com/news/universal-la...through-option

Seems ULS has obtained a patent (7723638) for some type of "conversion module" to allow a laser system to be converted from a Class I to Class IV laser system (Class I being enclosed and Class IV having a potentially exposed beam.)

I can't quite make out what the patent is actually claiming. Pass-through itself has been around a long time. It seems the gist of the patent is to make a "legitimate" Class I/Class IV laser system, whereas with my LaserPro, for example, I need to defeat the interlocks myself. (It is understood by GCC LaserPro that I need to do this, but the laser was not marketed as a Class IV unit.)

But to make a legitimate Class IV system the user needs to use safety glasses and I don't think any number of switches, sensors, or interlocks will detect that the user is wearing laser glasses. So I don't really understand what they have done that makes the system safer than what people are doing now. The main difference, I believe, is that they have "officially" made a CDRH compliant unit. In the past I think the manufacturers were reluctant to follow that route because it was easier to market a unit as a Class I than a Class IV. The user could use the system as a Class IV, but the manufacturer could potentially claim that it was sold as Class I.

I noticed this line from the patent itself - not sure if the wording was intentional or if the patent lawyer just has a sense of humor:

"Although many manufacturers of class I laser systems that include high-power lasers make reasonable efforts to prevent interlocks on the system's housing from being compromised and/or defeated, a significant number of conventional laser systems include safety features that are relatively easy to defeat and, furthermore, many manufacturers turn a blind eye to such issues."

The "conversion module" just seems to be a module that detects if doors or open and (perhaps) sets an indicator to say which mode you are in (Class I or Class IV). If you set the module to Class IV it probably just overrides the door switches allowing the laser to run. But the onus of course is still on the operator to wear the glasses.

I think it is good that ULS has "come clean" marketing the unit as a true Class I/Class IV but I am not so sure that it warranted a patent.

[Lee DeRaud]

...but I am not so sure that it warranted a patent.

There's a lot of that going around these days.

[Mike Null]

I'm not sure I want hear your opinion on a patent for lasering bricks or jeans then.

[Dan Hintz]

There's a lot of that going around these days.

Amen! I'm currently working on writing up one patent for a laser leveling system... the stuff that has actually received a nod from the patent office is disgusting, to say the least

[Robert Walters]

I'm not sure I want hear your opinion on a patent for lasering bricks or jeans then.

Mike,

You REALLY don't want to hear what I think of DIETY DAM PIECE OF POO POO DNA PATENTS.

http://dnapatents.georgetown.edu/

One research facility patented a guy's dna because he was immune to HIV,
so now he can't give his blood to other researchers to help others and is under court order not to do so.


BTW...
Do you have the patent number for the denim lasering?
I heard about it, just never could find it.

[Dan Hintz]

You REALLY don't want to hear what I think of DIETY DAM PIECE OF POO POO DNA PATENTS.

http://dnapatents.georgetown.edu/

One research facility patented a guy's dna because he was immune to HIV,
so now he can't give his blood to other researchers to help others and is under court order not to do so.

I thought that was a myth? The only possible manner I can see that happening is if you patent your own DNA, and even then, what's the point? It's yours, so you have control over who can use it for research.

[Mike Null]

Robert

I am not one who worries about silly patents which have no merit. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever been sued for infringement on those two.

[James E Baker]

When I was at the Canadian ULS distributors, they explained the process of the Class I/Class IV conversion. It's basically an external box that bypasses the door interlocks and has connections to gate switches on the doors to the room the LASER is in. Essentially the whole room becomes a Class I LASER cabinet. There's also some legal requirement for protective clothing and safety glasses that the operator in the room must wear for it to be legal.

Of course, I've just got a couple of rare-earth magnets that I attach to the door interlock reed switches when I need the front cover open to work on an oversized piece.

[Richard Rumancik]

. . . It's basically an external box that bypasses the door interlocks and has connections to gate switches on the doors to the room the LASER is in. . . .

Do the doors to the room get electric locks, or does it just detect that someone has come in? What happens to the laser if someone enters - does it turn off (or pause) the laser to protect the person who does not have glasses?

[Robert Walters]

I thought that was a myth? The only possible manner I can see that happening is if you patent your own DNA, and even then, what's the point? It's yours, so you have control over who can use it for research.

Not a myth (scatty huh?)

Correction, it was a breast cancer gene, not HIV gene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9sMtOjeHqM

http://www.genomeweb.com/dxpgx/feder...d-dna-unpatent

[Dan Hintz]

Ah, okay, so the courts did knock it down... that's better.

[James E Baker]

Do the doors to the room get electric locks, or does it just detect that someone has come in? What happens to the laser if someone enters - does it turn off (or pause) the laser to protect the person who does not have glasses?

From what I understood, switches were fitted to the room doors, so the moment a door was opened in Class I mode, the LASER would react just as if someone had opened the cover to the cabinet in Class IV mode. The safety glasses and protective clothing were just required to be worn to make the open Class I mode legal.

[Dan Hintz]

the moment a door was opened in Class I mode, the LASER would react just as if someone had opened the cover to the cabinet in Class IV mode.

That would stink... 95% through a job and someone opens a door. Game over. Good luck aligning that raster job again

[Rodne Gold]

I wonder if its a tactic to prevent other mnfgrs offering a pass thru without getting "class iv certification"?

[Robert Walters]

I am not one who worries about silly patents which have no merit. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever been sued for infringement on those two.

It be my luck to setup a kiosk somewhere and the patent owner walks by! LOL

At least they were kind enough to have a laser settings chart for denim on page 14:
http://www.google.com/patents?id=lVc...page&q&f=false