ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 7 -- United States Patent no. 12,595,703, issued on April 7, was assigned to Vermeer Manufacturing Co. (Pella, Iowa).
"Pullback system for drilling tool" was invented by Jacob Richard Smith (Altoona, Iowa), Michael David Langenfeld (Pella, Iowa) and Tyler J. Dorin (Pleasant Hill, Iowa).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A pullback device for connection with a rotary drill bit of a horizontal directional drill string. The pullback device includes an anchoring portion and a plurality of arms with ends configured to engage a plurality of corresponding engagement features of the rotary drill bit."
The patent was filed on June 12, 2025, under Application No. 19/236,587.
*For fu...