ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,589,470, issued on March 31, was assigned to IMPERIAL-Newton Corp (Centennial, Colo.).
"Socket systems and methods" was invented by Eric J. Franks (Centennial, Colo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tanker rail car socket tool includes a drive cylinder including a bore sized to receive at least a portion of a threaded bolt configured to secure a tanker car lid to a tanker rail car; a drive opening formed in a first end of the drive cylinder and sized to receive a portion of a tool configured to transmit torque to the drive cylinder when engaged with the drive opening; and a socket head coupled to a second end of the drive cylinder oppos...