ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,460,728, issued on Nov. 4.
"Expandable seal for passenger loading bridges" was invented by Bret Pica (Denver).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The telescoping joints (110,114) of an articulating aircraft passenger boarding bridge are sealed airtight by an expandable seal (202) in the overlapping and concentric portion between the outer circumference of an internal structure (106) and the interior circumference of an external structure (108). The preferred embodiment is an inflatable bladder (202) with an air outlet (412) and an air inlet (406) to accept compressed air. The bladder (202) expands to seal the gap between the concentric structur...