42943407
submission
dcblogs writes:
U.S tech companies lead all other industries in patent production, and Silicon Valley has the highest patent-producing population, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution. The rate of patenting by U.S. inventors "is at its highest point since the Industrial Revolution." The leading year for patent production was 1916, when 410 patents were awarded for every one million people. Other big inventive years are, in order, 1915, 1885, 1932, but next on the Brooking's list is 2010 and 2011. In 2011, there were about 387 patents awarded per million people. The Brookings report argues that, based on R&D spending, the patenting rate reflects a real increase in the number of valuable inventions and not the actions of companies simply to trying to patent more things. When patent activity is measured on a per capita basis globally, the U.S. ranks ninth behind Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Israel, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Japan.
40905735
submission
dcblogs writes:
Apple's planned investment of $100 million next year in a U.S. manufacturing facility is relatively small, but still important. A 2009 Apple video of its unibody manufacturing process has glimpses of highly automated robotic systems shaping the metal. In it, Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of design, described it. "Machining enables a level of precision that is just completely unheard of in this industry," he said. Apple has had three years to improve its manufacturing technology, and will likely rely heavily on automation to hold down labor costs, say analysts and manufacturers. Larry Sweet, the CTO of Symbotic, which makes autonomous mobile robots for use in warehouse distribution, described a possible scenario for Apple’s U.S. factory. First, a robot loads the aluminum block into the robo-machine that has a range of tools for cutting and drilling shapes to produce the complex chassis as a single precision part. A robot then unloads the chassis and sends it down a production line where a series of small, high-precision, high-speed robots insert parts, secured either with snap fit, adhesive bonds, solder, and a few fasteners, such as screws. At the end, layers, such as the display and glass, are added on top and sealed in another automated operation. Finally, the product is packaged and packed into cases for shipping, again with robots. "One of the potentially significant things about the Apple announcement is it could send a message to American companies — you can do this — you can make this work here," said Robert Atkinson, president of The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.
