ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,459,642, issued on Nov. 4.
"Aerial container valve with tubular diaphragm" was invented by Travis G. Storro (Sagle, Idaho), Victor D. Trotter (Fort Worth, Texas), Richard J. Wilcox (Sagle, Idaho) and Lee N. Skidmore (Sandpoint, Idaho).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An aerial valve for a liquid container (e.g., a bag or a tank) suspended or otherwise carried by a firefighting aircraft includes an axially compressible tubular diaphragm. To open and close the valve, a motorized leadscrew raises and lowers a flow stopper relative to a discharge opening. The tubular diaphragm creates an air chamber above the flow stopper, so the full weight of ...