ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,616,283, issued on May 5, was assigned to Hopturns Inc. (San Francisco).
"Magnetic modular ski poles" was invented by Kelly B. McGee (San Francisco) and Cristina C. Ashbaugh (San Francisco).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A variety of ski and hiking poles are described. In one aspect, magnets are provided on the pole handles and baskets to facilitate magnetic coupling a pair of poles together in a state suitable for carrying. In some embodiments, a pair of magnets are provided on each side of the handle. In some embodiments, a basket alignment piece is attached to the pole shaft. The alignment piece helps facilitate attachment of the basket ...