ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,744,302, issued on Sept. 22, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).
"Rock guard for GNSS signal avoidance" was invented by Daniel R. Hettinger (Monticello, Ill.) and Earl Richard Thompson (Oro Valley, Ariz.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A haul truck can include a frame, a traction system for moving the frame, an access platform coupled to the frame, a truck bed having a canopy extending over the access platform, an antenna support structure arranged on the access platform, the antenna support structure extending upward to support a GNSS receiver positioned proximate a front of the canopy, and a non-metallic protective barrier...