SW 2007 vs 2010 for patent drawings

[astra4]

I use CAD to make patent drawings, i.e. figures to illustrate inventions in patent applications.

For this I need basic drawing functions, no data management and no integration with maufacturing (CAM) etc.

I want to switch to a 3D CAD and decided to go with Solidworks.

I could buy a used Solidworks 2007 with dongle and I wonder if that would be perfect for my needs or if there is a real benefit in buying a new SW 2010. Have there been significant improvements to Solidworks which would make SW 2007 look really outdated, regarding the drawing features and functionality?

For what I've seen, a new Solidworks license costs about USD 5500.-. If I could get the 2007 version for half of that, I'd save the other half

And since CAD drawing is something I only do every once in a while, I think it's worth giving this a thought...

Thanks.

 

[MadMango]

This topic comes up from time to time here, try searching for previous topics.

thread559-272133
thread559-269014
thread559-223843
thread559-211972
thread559-269014

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

There is very little that SW2010 can do that SW2007 can't. There have been many 'enhancements' affecting the UI, sketch tools and other areas, and while some of these help boost productivity, they don't really affect capability.

The "What's New" guides for most versions can be downloaded from

http://www.rickyjordan.com/whats-new-guides

for your own research.

Be careful of the situation you are considering. If the source of the SW2007 has upgraded to, and is currently using a newer version, the license for the version being sold could be considered illegal.

 

[rfus]

2007 is my favorite of all SolidWorks in some respects. It is definitely more than enough tool for this. Double check on CBL's point so you can legally make the pics for these legal documents.

 

[ctopher]

For me, I think '07 was the one of the most stable.

Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP5.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[Theophilus]

The one thing that this question hinges upon most is probably whether v2007 can accept saved views in perspective within drawings. I believe it can, but no longer have it installed to try out.

But even in v2010, you cannot maintain perspective in your view once you move from your main view to a detail view, for instance. It returns to isometric (or whatever--no perspective).

Other than this, I've created viable drawings for patents going all the way back to v1997 of SolidWorks.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

 

[macduff]

PhotoView 360 is very cool in SW 2010, and not available in SW 2007. It let's you create very realistic renderings that would be prefect for patents. See attached.

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2009 SP 4.1
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
3D Connexion-SpaceExplorer

 

[Theophilus]

Colin, last I knew, only line drawings were acceptable formats for patents (even the shading--if any--must be with lines). Only the best of the 19th century for our patent office!

Nice rendering, though.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

 

[Updraft]

There are good books available that detail patent drawing requirements so getting the information is easy, while achieving them can sometimes be involved. Hand drawings and sketches are acceptable. Some of my patents have used views printed from SWX that we then added the numbers and squiggly leaders by hand. The line shading can be also done this way, but obviously you would want to make sure the figures are in their final form before doing this.

Jeff, for what it's worth the USPTO does accept photographs for figures. I once wrote a long memo to our patent attorney to "teach" him about our invention and included color photos (worth 1k words). I was surprised to see these same photos end up in the patent, but in black and white.

- - -Updraft

 

[macduff]

Jeff, too funny, and you're right with your statement. I was thinking about investors in how they like shiney cool images and renderings.

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2009 SP 4.1
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
3D Connexion-SpaceExplorer

 

[fcsuper]

If you computer is older and uses 32-bit OS, you'll want SW2007. If you have Win7 or other 64-bit system, you prolly want SW2010, in my opinion. The reason is the SW2010 takes up so much resources that it is very constrained by the 2GB limit in the 32-bit systems.

Matt Lorono
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources & SolidWorks Legion

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solidworks & http://twitter.com/fcsuper

 

[rollupswx]

For what I've seen, a new Solidworks license costs about USD 5500.

You might also check out Inventor

http://store.autodesk.com/store/adsk/DisplaySubCategoryProductListPage/categoryID.10032800

Inventor does an Illustration Render that is close to typical patent drawings.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You could also check out Google SketchUp. It's free and has many 'Edge' styles for illustration purposes.

 

[astra4]

Thanks a lot for all the very helpful hints and thoughts.

I'll check the validity of the SW 2007 license, and will also have a look at the mentioned alternatives.

 

[Theophilus]

I think you'll want to have access to the latest service packs with v2007. There were some killer bugs I experienced at SP 0. If you've done the research, you know that SolidWorks won't support your software in any way unless you're perhaps obtaining this seat of SolidWorks as part of a purchase of another company, right?

Good luck. I like CorBlimeyLimey's suggestion if your requirements are as narrow as patent drawings.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

 

[fcsuper]

Yeah, that's a good point. You need to be able to access at least SP3.0, and SP4.0 is preferred. SP5.0 is actually less stable and SP4.0

Matt Lorono
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources & SolidWorks Legion

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solidworks & http://twitter.com/fcsuper