ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,510,343, issued on Dec. 30.
"Decimal measurement scale" was invented by James Wesley Way (Fairfax, Va.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The decimal scale for a linear or angular measuring instrument consists of a fine scale extending to the edge, and a simple scale parallel to the edge. The longest graduations span from the edge to the simple scale, and each midpoint between them is indicated by a mark on the simple scale line. The graduations of the fine scale have an alternating pattern, so that each graduation is adjacent to another of a different length. A series of numerals refer to the graduations at regular intervals. If these numer...