ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 7 -- United States Patent no. 12,674,522, issued on July 7, was assigned to Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG (Asslar, Germany).
"Vacuum valve" was invented by Jeff Hadley (Glendale, Ore.), Angel Huerta (Yreka, Calif.), David Crone (Mountain View, Calif.), Randy Regennitter (Yreka, Calif.) and Kinte Allen (Yreka, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A vacuum valve for a medium-, high- and/or ultra-high vacuum system comprises a valve housing defining a passage connecting a first opening and a second opening of the valve housing, a valve body and a complementary seat, the valve body comprising a valve shaft extending in an axial direction and being actuable to move the valve...