ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,753,690, issued on Oct. 6, was assigned to Vermeer Manufacturing Co. (Pella, Iowa).
"Horizontal directional drilling system and method" was invented by Hans Frederick Kelpe (Pella, Iowa) and Alan Wilson-Langman (Pleasant Hill, Iowa).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A horizontal directional drilling method includes operation of a HDD machine to power a drill string terminating at a drill head to create an underground borehole extending at least partially horizontally between an entry point and an exit point. A utility line and a pair of insulated wires are attached to the drill string at the exit point. An observation device is also attached ...