ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,753,003, issued on Oct. 6.
"Apparatus and method for stemming blast holes" was invented by James W. Millsaps (Englewood, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A funnel bucket apparatus is configured to be mountable to typical loader machinery for depositing flowable material at a deposit site. The apparatus includes a bucket and a funnel cover connected by hinges, a discharge chute attachment, a bucket vibrator, and a hydraulic actuator system. An operator controls the actuator system to move the bucket and funnel cover between open and closed positions such that the bucket retains typical loading functions while the apparatus is in the op...