Maybe I am just not seeing the advantage of this. The picture isn't showing the difference.
First to answer the patent question. I build many items for our theatre, that are new and possibly unusual. I am a retired engineer from the CIA. I love being a part of the theatre. I don't perform, but enjoy seeing the audience pleased with some effect or device that I have built for our theatre. I serve as the Master Electrician and special effects person at the theatre. I am paid a small stipend for each show that I ME. Having a decent retirement, and not wanting to deal with self employment taxes, I use all of the monies, and more to buy equipment for the theatre. I ususally purchase used equipment off of ebay and rebuild it. I prefer stuff that needs some TLC. Hanging lights and focusing is not my thrill in life, but the challenge of bringing a lighting instrument, scroller or dimmer back to life after it has been discarded, and supplying a community theatre with items that it could never afford, now that gives me a rush. Also, I hate to fish and golf, and I would rather use my retirement time to give back to the community. I don't say this in anyway to request praise or applause. After a little exposure, I am now helping two local colleges, two community theatres and two high schools. Now having said that, I don't want to have to deal with any business procedures. I therefore don't sell or patent or market anything that I build for the theatre. If anything, I will only accept reimburement for materials spent. In many cases, I give it to the theatre that I am helping, if they can't afford it. A good example, would be last week when I fixed a hazer for a church that needed it for their Christmas program. They paid me with 12 gelstrings for Wybron coloram scrollers, that they had no need for. Just weeks before, I purchased 15 colorams and a power supply that were not working. I fixed 14 of the scrollers and the supply and they have been used for the last three days, for two Christmas concerts at the main theatre I volunteer at.
As for the adavantages of using a "Trixfer", or as mine are called at our theatre "the Johnson 2fer", When there is a instrument hanging directly below a drop connection on a batten and there is another instrument that is located some 20 feet away, and is to be 2fered to the first instrument, You plug the Trixfer into the batten connector, the first instrument into the back of that connector, and run the cable coming out of the trixfer to the second instrument. In this way, you are using one less set of male and female connectors and much less mess of coiled cable. When either of the instruments are not near the chosen circuit, I still use the standard 2fer and cables.
I have my trixfer style cables in many various lengths and try to use the shortest possible cable to keep the mess off of the batten. I really made most of my pieces when we did "Cats", because we need 72each, 2fers and didn't have the money for all of the connectors for the 2fers and the cables running from the 2fers to the instruments. Also during that that show, I installed quite a few permanent drops on the battens that were 2fered to existing connections at other locations on the batten.
Sorry for the long disertation. This is one of the reasons that I don't post much on CB, as I tend to get carried away in my explanations. My close friends say that if you ask me the time, that I will tell you how to build a clock.
Tom Johnson
Florida's Most Honored Community Theatre