Clinch

I worked with clinching equipment many years ago, ~2001 I think. But I was only bending the pins of through-hole components ~90° below the surface of the PCB.

The equipment I used was from CHAD Industries. They used x & y axis servo motors so I was able to program to clinch in any direction. I don't know is this helps you at all, but it's at least a US company you may be able to follow up with.

2001 was MANY years ago?!!!!?

That was yesterday to me.

Well, many years ago in a short career . I have done quite a bit of different things since that time...

A process can be protected, but there are so many restrictions that it seems unlikely they were granted protection. First the process must be so unique that it would not be independently thought up by another in the business, for one example.

I suggest you ask the competitor for the Patent number they were granted, note I said granted, not just applied for. if in fact they do provide a granted number, go pull the patent and read it. They may be taking some liberties on what was granted.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out

Laby

3M has made a cable piercing electrical attachment system for several decades. If you looked up their patents, I suspect that you would find earlier patents for systems of piercing insulation to make a connection. If you can find an out-of-date patent that describes what you do, then you will have saved yourself a lot of legal fees -- you'd have clear proof that the idea is in the public domain.

If the other company has patented the idea for specifically your application -- mounting any component to electrical cord by piercing and then crimping, then you are on not such sound footing. But even then, if you find an earlier patent, you are home free: patents are fairly often issued (when they should not be) when there is prior art that the patent examiner's search did not turn up: perhaps he searched for piercing and stabbing but not for dislocating, or dislodging.

Have you asked your competitor to produce the patent number, so you can look at the patent?

About the only thing he could patent would be a new tool for crimping the leads. It would have to be new and innovating as there are are clench tools of all types and various degrees of bents. Fight this guy to the end, Start by having your lawyer requesting the patent numbers he claims to have.

By the way, are you soldering the leads to the cable or just depending on contact for conductivity?

Imagine if this guy won...

Would his next step be traveling to China and getting them on the same infringement for all those Christmas light decorations?

As said before, Clinching leads onto wires is not new, also called "IDC" Insulation Displacement Connector.

Clinching component legs on a PCB is to stop the components from moving while the PCB travels down the line to the wave soldering station, the alternative on PCB's for non-soldered connections is a "press-fit" type interference terminal.

Do you seal the connection once its made? like using epoxy as part of your process?

are the LED's for clenching available off the shelf?

the tools are available off the shelf? if so, what law have you broken?

if you developed the tools yourself, and they do exactly the same function as his, and he has them "patented" then you could have a problem, if he hasn't, then go and get it Pantented and see what happens (this gets done often)