ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,698,711, issued on Aug. 4, was assigned to ABB Schweiz AG (Baden, Switzerland).
"Method of operating a mining hoist" was invented by Tim Gartner (Dollard des Ormeaux, Canada) and Jerzy Katolik (Saint-Lazare, Canada).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An underground mine hoist and method of operating the mine hoist is provided. Unlike conventional underground mine hoists, the hoist may be operated at a production rate less than the designed maximum production rate at least part of the time to improve the life of the hoist and efficiency of operation. In order to vary the hoist production rate, an input rate and/or output rate of mined material ...