Trilogy Patent Document

[Siege]

I came across the patent documents for the Trilogy supercharger kit and found the description and images pretty interesting.

http://i.imgur.com/cfJHqam.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/Z3VutHE.jpg?2
http://i.imgur.com/ecbsa27.jpg?2
http://i.imgur.com/3taZVcJ.jpg?2
http://i.imgur.com/eZ9gArS.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/vq3l5gq.jpg?2
http://i.imgur.com/EvMmcRU.jpg?2
http://i.imgur.com/rmXmUm7.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/31CR8ns.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/5CBiCsc.jpg?1

[Siege]

http://i.imgur.com/FRJK1ul.jpg?1

[bugsyc]

Now if some enterprising person woulds see this and decide to manufacture them,that would be great...

[MM2004]

That is cool.

Nice find!

;)

Mike.

[SC Cheesehead]

Now if some enterprising person woulds see this and decide to manufacture them,that would be great...

Would prolly have to buy the mfg. rights from Trilogy to do so, and even if someone could do that, doubt they'd be able to produce the kit any cheaper than Jerry did.

[WhatsUpDOHC]

Agreed - Nice find!

[fastblackmerc]

Would prolly have to buy the mfg. rights from Trilogy to do so, and even if someone could do that, doubt they'd be able to produce the kit any cheaper than Jerry did.

To make a profit after you buy the manufacturing rights, you'll have to charge more.

[tallpaul]

Only one thing missing, my car. I wonder what patent #1 was for.

[tallpaul]

Nevermind, I found it. A primitive traction control system.

Patent 1, the first patent issued under the new numbering system, went to Senator John Ruggles (http://www.nara.gov/publications/prologue/railrd2.html) of Thomaston, Maine. His invention, patented July 13, 1836, was a cog mechanism for locomotive wheels. It was designed to give "multiplied tractive power to the locomotive and to prevent the evil of the sliding of the wheels..."

[Curless]

Now if some enterprising person woulds see this and decide to manufacture them,that would be great...


I'm not saying who, but trust me....I know how much it would cost to build this EXACT kit again...just sayin.:bigcry:

[SC Cheesehead]

I'm not saying who, but trust me....I know how much it would cost to build this EXACT kit again...just sayin.:bigcry:

If all new parts, it would not be cheap.

An OEM M112 is prolly going to run $1,900 - $2,000. Intercooler and lower intake manifold (if you can even find new OEMs) are going to be in the neighborhood of $700 - $800 each, add in the other stuff and I'm guessing a $6,000 bill wouldn't even touch it.

Eaton swap with used stuff is most likely the only economical way to go Roots-style S/C.


Sad, but true...:(

[MOTOWN]

Jerry Barnes has a bunch of new OEM lower intake manifolds he was selling them for $600 each when i bought my Trilogy kit.

[Curless]

If all new parts, it would not be cheap.

An OEM M112 is prolly going to run $1,900 - $2,000. Intercooler and lower intake manifold (if you can even find new OEMs) are going to be in the neighborhood of $700 - $800 each, add in the other stuff and I'm guessing a $6,000 bill wouldn't even touch it.

Eaton swap with used stuff is most likely the only economical way to go Roots-style S/C.


Sad, but true...:(


You're very right, 6K is not even close...If we had to we can make all of it...someone made it the first time, someone can make it again...if you are wiling to pay for it!:depress:

[Green96]

The heart of a patent is the claims. All the rest is fluff to make it sound good. If you do not infringe on the claims you are good. In this patent there are 2 main claims #1 and #10. All of the other claims refer back to them. Everything in this patent existed before the marauder was ever thought of. With a little creativity you could create a very similar setup that would not violate the patent.

[Curless]

The heart of a patent is the claims. All the rest is fluff to make it sound good. If you do not infringe on the claims you are good. In this patent there are 2 main claims #1 and #10. All of the other claims refer back to them. Everything in this patent existed before the marauder was ever thought of. With a little creativity you could create a very similar setup that would not violate the patent.


The patent does not bother me, its the shear $$$ to create such a well orchestrated "kit" and the lack of ability to recoup the $$$ it takes to get it going. At minimum you would need to know that 50 to 100 could be sold and that would have to be a guaranteed sale.

[MOTOWN]

The patent does not bother me, its the shear $$$ to create such a well orchestrated "kit" and the lack of ability to recoup the $$$ it takes to get it going. At minimum you would need to know that 50 to 100 could be sold and that would have to be a guaranteed sale.

Exactly! hence why there are no "off the shelf S/C marauder kits" theres no real market for them!:depress:

[Green96]

I have not looked closely enough at the original kits. How many parts do you think are critical custom parts? The intake duct, is there a pulley bracket/pulley? It might not be too bad if you could license just a handful of parts and use off the shelf stuff for the rest. Is the blower itself custom, or somebody's standard? It would probably still cost more than the original, but you might be able to make it work with fewer kits.

Could a custom intake duct allow a standard Eaton swap to accept drivers side intake?

[Curless]

I have not looked closely enough at the original kits. How many parts do you think are critical custom parts? The intake duct, is there a pulley bracket/pulley? It might not be too bad if you could license just a handful of parts and use off the shelf stuff for the rest. Is the blower itself custom, or somebody's standard? It would probably still cost more than the original, but you might be able to make it work with fewer kits.

Could a custom intake duct allow a standard Eaton swap to accept drivers side intake?


The blower has a specific snout, the elbow, alot Ford oem parts, vac lines etc...but the price of the blowers has gone up about 35% since the originals were made. At MVX Jerry and Steve, myself and my wife spent quite a bit of time discussing this. I have A TON of friends here in Michigan that can cast, machine, design and build whatever I need...its very expensive to make it worth while though.

I could build one out of all billet parts for myself, I can make it reasonable too. If you have friends and are talented it can be done on a small scale by calling in favors and working at night. To do it for the masses and try to make a profit...well its going to take $$$ to do that, and a lot of it.

Trust me, this is something that I would love to do. Its not something that I have just tinkered with the thought of. There have been many e-mails and phone calls on this subject coming in and going out of my shop...just sayin!

[DEFYANT]

All for a car that is quickly depreciating to the point of what the kit cost.... Back when this was new, it was the bees knees! 390 - 500 hp was rare in a street car. Now, you can get that in any number of cars.

[Curless]

All for a car that is quickly depreciating to the point of what the kit cost.... Back when this was new, it was the bees knees! 390 - 500 hp was rare in a street car. Now, you can get that in any number of cars.


Exactly, I am really surprised at how cheap they are getting. The Impala even to this day has not dropped off like the MM's have. Really does not make any sense to me, they both have their good and bad points, they are both cool limited production cars (especially the Marauder)...I don't know...

[SC Cheesehead]

I have not looked closely enough at the original kits. How many parts do you think are critical custom parts? The intake duct, is there a pulley bracket/pulley? It might not be too bad if you could license just a handful of parts and use off the shelf stuff for the rest. Is the blower itself custom, or somebody's standard? It would probably still cost more than the original, but you might be able to make it work with fewer kits.

Could a custom intake duct allow a standard Eaton swap to accept drivers side intake?

Zack looked into this when he did his Eaton swap, wanted to stay with the OEM look. Ended up dropping the idea due to the fabrication cost involved and just modified the car to go with PS intake.


The blower has a specific snout, the elbow, alot Ford oem parts, vac lines etc...but the price of the blowers has gone up about 35% since the originals were made. At MVX Jerry and Steve, myself and my wife spent quite a bit of time discussing this. I have A TON of friends here in Michigan that can cast, machine, design and build whatever I need...its very expensive to make it worth while though.

I could build one out of all billet parts for myself, I can make it reasonable too. If you have friends and are talented it can be done on a small scale by calling in favors and working at night. To do it for the masses and try to make a profit...well its going to take $$$ to do that, and a lot of it.

Trust me, this is something that I would love to do. Its not something that I have just tinkered with the thought of. There have been many e-mails and phone calls on this subject coming in and going out of my shop...just sayin!

Yup. Tooling for sand casting (pattern and corebox) will run anywhere from $5,500 to over $10,000, and the same for die casting is prolly 3X that.

Machining from billet stock is going to take a bunch of hours, also not cheap.

Would love to see another "Trilogy-type" kit offered, but sadly, I think that's not to be. The big issue (as always) comes down to $$.

[guspech750]

I think Jerry Barns should just offer up the blower and lower intake along with a parts list for people to source out the remaining parts as they seem fit and as money allows. It would be cheaper for customers to just buy the heart of a Trilogy and as funds permit. They can go buy the remaining parts else where.


Everything else is readily available, even the lower Trilogy spec'd hub/pulley is available from Metco if I recall.