ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,494,735, issued on Dec. 9, was assigned to Xplore Inc. (Mercer Island, Wash.).
"Hinge-locking mechanism for deployable solar array" was invented by Brian Riskas (Fort Worth, Texas) and Brandon Van (Redmond, Wash.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Artificial satellites are dependent on solar arrays to produce the power needed to support the functional components of the satellite. The present invention is directed to a hinge-locking mechanism designed to maximize the photovoltaic real estate of a solar array of an artificial satellite. The hinge-locking mechanism facilitates the deployment of the solar array upon the artificial satellite enter...