ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 2 -- United States Patent no. 12,486,921, issued on Dec. 2, was assigned to PYTHEAS TECHNOLOGY (La Ciotat, France).

"Valve comprising a piezoelectric actuator" was invented by Frederic Mosca (La Ciotat, France), Gilles Grosso (La Ciotat, France), Simon Clement (La Ciotat, France) and Alice Aubry (La Ciotat, France).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A valve including a pressurised fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, and including a fixed plate with first channels, a flap with second channels, the flap movable between: an opening position where the flap is spaced apart from the plate, the first channels and the second channels being in fluidic communication and allowing the flow o...