ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,700,523, issued on Aug. 4, was assigned to Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.).
"Self-centering voltage standoff" was invented by Adam M. McLaughlin (Merrimac, Mass.) and Craig R. Chaney (Gloucester, Mass.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An insulator that may be self-centering is disclosed. The insulator includes an alignment feature that allows it to self-center during installation. In some embodiments, the insulator is created with a captive fastener with a specific alignment feature. The internal cavity of the insulator is formed so as to have a corresponding alignment feature. When tightened, the captive fastener is pressed in...