TUALATIN, OR - A patent for a woodworking cutting machine safety device that would disable the protective mechanism when the blade is not moving has been awarded to a team that includes SawStop co-founders Stephen Gass and David Fulmer.

The latest of many of SawStop's saw safety patents, it's for a woodworking cutting machine safety device that can detect whether a person is in the path of a cutting tool - and keeps the saw blade brake from triggering when the saw isn't in use. Applied for in Nov. 2011, U.S. Patent number 8,371,196 was awarded to a team of five inventors: Stephen F. Gass of Wilsonville, OR; Robert L. Chamberlain of Raleigh, NC; David J. Fulmer of Tualatin, OR; Joel F. Jensen of Redwood City, CA; and Benjamin B. Schramm of Los Gatos, CA.

The patent abstract describes "a method of controlling a woodworking machine having a movable cutting tool. The method monitors a signal for a change indicative of a dangerous condition between the cutting tool and a person, senses movement of the cutting tool, and performs an action to mitigate the dangerous condition when the signal change and movement of the cutting tool are both detected.

"A woodworking machine including a detection system adapted to detect a dangerous condition between a person and a working portion of the machine and then to perform some action to mitigate the dangerous condition is also disclosed. A motion detection system is adapted to detect motion of the working portion and to disable the reaction system when the working portion is not moving."