ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,508,972, issued on Dec. 30.
"Kayak rack" was invented by William Matthew Walker (Gallatin, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A rack suitable for loading a kayak or other small watercraft onto and off of the bed of a pickup truck, trailer or other vehicle, and into and out of a body of water. The rack has two ladder-like structures, each having two sides, two or more ribs connecting the two sides, and two pipes mounted on the ribs and running lengthwise. Two extension tubes are mountable parallel to each other to extend the two pipes away from the rack. Other features that may be part of a rack system include a winch, tie-downs, extens...