Yes ... they are different from the commercial ones ... we've bought those too, thinking it was a great idea, and we've got pieces scattered all over the farm. That was one of the major comments at the show, in fact ... I think everyone has tried them.
The one DH designed solves the two biggest problems ... first, it is a one-piece system ... no parts to lose (well, I suppose someone could drop the bolt or nut but it's a standard size) ... and second, it's made from a reasonably heavy steel, not aluminum.
We have applied for the patent. That was one of the first things we did ... and another fortunate thing ... one of DHs sons studied some patent law when he was in college so he's helping DH walk it through the process.
I'll post a photo of the "show display"... we used the upper half of bent T posts, fastened them to heavy plywood and attached short T-post sections for the braces. It doesn't show as much detail (even in the closeup) as we'd like and we haven't gotten the closeup photos and detail drawings done yet, which we're going to do for the website that will go up.
It seems like quite a few people are in our position ... find T posts easier to use and have tried the available system, which doesn't work, so are looking for an alternative that does work. The big advantage for us is that we use them ourselves ... if they don't sell we still use them ... if they do sell, it pays for the ones we use for our own farm.
And DH ... having been an engineer all his life ... really enjoys the whole process, designing/developing something that works well and then explaining how it works to people! He hasn't had this much fun for years.
Basically ... no matter how it turns out ... there is no "downside" to it.
