ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,297,682, issued on May 13.
"Utility gate hardware devices and methods" was invented by William Talton McMahan (Pleasant View, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A gate apparatus includes a structure such as a post and a gate hinge bolt disposed on the structure. The gate hinge bolt includes a threaded shaft inserted into the structure and a mounting boss extending perpendicularly from the threaded shaft, wherein the mounting boss is spaced away from the structure by a mounting boss distance. A gate having a gate hinge barrel is positioned on the mounting boss, and an exposed portion of the mounting boss protrudes from the gate hinge ba...