ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,491,575, issued on Dec. 9, was assigned to Illinois Tool Works Inc. (Glenview, Ill.).
"Rotating power connector for welding torch cables" was invented by Tiejun Ma (Tecumseh, Canada), Romeo Cossette (Amherstburg, Canada) and Craig Matthew Bondy (Windsor, Canada).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A rotating power connection for connecting an electrical supply power cable to an electric welding torch body is provided. In the rotating power connection, the mechanical load is carried by steel bearings, and the electric load is carried by multi-contact, spring loaded fins made out of highly conductive materials or coatings. In some examples, a rot...