ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,553,643, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to A. O. Smith Corp. (Milwaukee).
"Water heater dip tube" was invented by Mark Allan Murphy (Nashville, Tenn.), Cui Yang (Nanjing, China), Kaiju Chen (Nanjing, China) and Michael Styer (Burns, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A water heater dip tube includes an elongated body having an inlet end and an outlet end. An inner volume is arranged within the elongated body. An anti-siphon orifice is arranged along the elongated body proximate the inlet end. The anti-siphon orifice extends through a wall of the elongated body. The dip tube further includes an elastomeric membrane secured to the elong...