ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,686,977, issued on July 21, was assigned to Caterpillar Paving Products Inc. (Brooklyn Park, Minn.).
"Asphalt compactor creep mode" was invented by John L. Marsolek (Watertown, Minn.) and Nathaniel S. Doy (Maple Grove, Minn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method for operating a compactor on a compressible surface includes: moving the compactor on the compressible surface; receiving an operating speed of the compactor; determining whether an obstacle is present in a path of the compactor; and changing the operating speed to a creep speed if the obstacle is in the path of the compactor. The creep speed is sufficient to prevent the compac...