ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,280,519, issued on April 22.
"Log-splitting machine" was invented by Thomas Philip Smith (Michigan City, Ind.) and Richard Martin Kessler (Peoria, Ariz.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A log splitter includes a chassis having a support table configured to support a log to be split, a splitter screw having a generally conical shape and mounted to a rotatable screw shaft that is supported by the chassis, and a drive assembly configured to rotate the shaft to impart rotational movement to the splitter screw about a screw axis. The drive assembly includes a motor coupled to the screw shaft via a constant velocity transmission (CVT) (also known...