ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,560,262, issued on Feb. 24, was assigned to Mueller International LLC (Atlanta).
"Fitting" was invented by Timothy Wayne Stern (Hixon, Tenn.), David Latimore Hughes Jr. (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and Ryan Fairchild Larson (Decatur, Ill.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A gripping assembly for a pipe fitting includes a substantially annular ramp defining a ramp void therethrough, the substantially annular ramp further defining an angled ramp surface angled radially inward relative to the ramp void; and a annular grip ring defining a ring void therethrough, the substantially annular grip ring further defining an inward gripper surface and an a...