Lets talk Differential Covers!

[ShadowsPapa]

Employers or even former employers can still have an employee or former employee’s issued patent reassigned to the company if they can prove the employee had at one time garnered the knowledge base for the invention while in the company’s employ.

Seen it before years back at my employer in Aviation Manufacturing. Worked with woman who worked the development test lab for aircraft avionics system. She left the company and within a year, had filed and had a patent issued to her as the inventor for a component diagnostic system that was basically what she was doing when employed by my current employer. The company filed a lawsuit against her and won judgement that assigned the patent to the company as the “assignee” but the former employee still retained the listing as inventor. She could no longer capitalize on her invention.

Before I left Compressor Controls Corp., there was a great "firing" and over a dozen employees, including engineers, where let go over the phone. Don't bother coming in tomorrow, including the CFO. I saw a lot of what happened in the aftermath, including seizing of works in progress and so on. The guy who had been one of the company's genius was left with no rights.
It was a cut-throat business anyway. All of the work I put into the Series IV pc interfaces was company property. My test sequences for severe environmental testing all owned by CCC because they paid me to developed it all. However, the experiences I gained there, and knowledge, are priceless so I don't care.

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[Wheelin98TJ]

I am adding this as a part of doing the work in general. Also, my worry is or fear is scraping that cover on a rock, my typically four wheeling is in Moab or dry, rocky stuff, not necessarily destroying the cover, but damaging enough so it leaks. So that’s my fear even if all I do is add a cool, looking thingy and solve an irrational fear probably a win in my book. One thing I have read about/talk to guys about is a stronger cover act as a second-half to the pumpkin from a strength standpoint versus the thin metal of the factory how much that really adds I don’t think I can qualify that.

There are instances of people damaging housings because they tagged a rock too hard with their heavy duty diff cover. I've never seen it happen, but I've seen pics on forums.

 

[Jaxmax]

What, they hit a rock with a heavy cast cover and damaged the housing. Ok, so what would the outcome have been with factory covers, I can’t picture it being any better. I am not sure the axle housing needs the added strength of the cast cover , but damn, it can’t hurt. I dented my factory diff cover on a prior vehicle, and like the piece of mind a cast cover gives……Jack

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

What, they hit a rock with a heavy cast cover and damaged the housing. Ok, so what would the outcome have been with factory covers, I can’t picture it being any better. I am not sure the axle housing needs the added strength of the cast cover , but damn, it can’t hurt. I dented my factory diff cover on a prior vehicle, and like the piece of mind a cast cover gives……Jack

With a factory cover, you'd replace the cover and you wouldn't damage the housing.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

An option to consider if towing and heat are a concern:

Review: Purple Cranium Spider differential guards

Damn.
I bet you could hang the truck by that thing.

 

[Hootbro]

With a factory cover, you'd replace the cover and you wouldn't damage the housing.

I would think the law of averages would still favor a heavier cover. Given enough chances, weakness would be found with either.

 

[DanW]

Has anyone had a problem with the durability of the stock covers? I had a 2019 JL sport and those diffs help up amazing even after years of abuse. Curious to understand the advantages?

I've never had an issue. I look at these as insurance only because I watched a JK bash a stock front cover on a rock in Kentucky causing it to puke it's fluid out. That's when I equipped my aJK and JL with protection. But I've never bumped one hard enough to cause that kind of damage.

 

[MojaveLawyer]

 

[DanW]

Couple of places that I worked at. When I was hired. One of the pieces of paperwork I signed stated that anything that I invented on company time belonged to the company. The one company gave me a $20,000 spot bonus for one idea that I came up with.

If the company is belly up, that won't matter unless someone claims the intellectual property. Lots of these off-road accessory companies are small and when they fold, it just goes to vapor with nobody hanging onto rights or such. My guess is someone could take that design and run with it, if it wasn't patented.

But there are lots of designs out there that get the job done, so it just might not have been able to compete.

 

[Josh00333]

I ordered up the AEV set. Thanks guys!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So let me clear in my statement again, a patent cannot be published to someone or buisness if it has not been filed. Your response was "thats not true". Please expand, this group is brutal.

This is what you said - quote -

But at the end of the day neither employee or employer will have rights to the design unless they filed for a patent.

Yes, an employer can, and often does, have rights to a design, or process or papers, without a patent if the employer paid the employee.
I said your statement as quoted above is not correct.
You can have rights without a patent. i even quoted a legal site.

We had an employee make a sample of a quilt/wall hanging for us. We told her it was hers after we had displayed it in our store for xx number of weeks.
In between, she had a lot of personal issues and turned into a jerk and we ended up firing her.
We still had pictures of it on the internet. She got pissed.......
She came back at us saying since SHE made that sample, we had no rights to display it and post pictures of it on the internet.
Our attorney said that since she was under our employ when she made it, and it was one of her assignments, we had every right to use the images for as long as we wanted.
There was no patent involved.
The guy at CCC who lost his job - the company ended up patenting some of the things he had been working on - he had no rights to them since he was being paid for the creations.

 

[MattK]

I ordered up the AEV set. Thanks guys!

Nice. Don't forget to follow-up with us on their performance some time!

 

[ATL_Rubi]

If you 4 wheel. Stay away from aluminum. I've seen them fail. Banks did a video series on diff covers. A lot of good info on what goes in to designing them.

Wish banks made diff covers for our axles… the diesel HD guys get all the goodies.

 

[mx5red]

Wish banks made diff covers for our axles… the diesel HD guys get all the goodies.

Not Banks, but there are these now if looking for aluminum.

https://afepower.com/46-71000a-street-series-rear-differential-cover-raw-w-machined-fins

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Wrong shape for me. I want to maintain the ring gear slinging up and forward effect, not a deeper cover.

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