ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,685,416, issued on July 21, was assigned to Techtronic Floor Care Technology Ltd. (Tortola, British Virgin Islands).
"Surface cleaner" was invented by Gregory Kowalski (Cornelius, N.C.) and John Morphey (Concord, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A surface cleaner includes a base including a suction inlet in fluid communication with a debris separator and a suction source. The base includes a housing having a channel extending around at least a portion of the suction inlet, the channel having a first sidewall offset from a second sidewall. The base further includes a soleplate configured to slide along the surface being cleaned, the so...