ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,623,697, issued on May 12, was assigned to Miner Enterprises Inc. (Geneva, Ill.).
"Railcar coupler key retainer apparatus" was invented by Erich A. Schoedl (Sugar Grove, Ill.), Donald E. Wilt (Batavia, Ill.) and Bradley J. Haymond (North Aurora, Ill.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An apparatus for maintaining a railcar coupler key in position to releasably secure a railcar coupler shank to a yoke accommodated in a sill of a railcar. The railcar coupler key retainer apparatus includes an elongated key stop adapted to be releasably secured against an interior surface of a sill side wall defining an elongated slot. The key stop is configured...