ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,523,068, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to ABUS August Bremicker Sohne KG (Wetter-Volmarstein, Germany).
"Hoop lock" was invented by Manuel Banse (Herborn, Germany) and Christian Prellwitz (Burbach, Germany).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A hoop lock comprises a lock body and a hoop which is lockable to the lock body. The hoop comprises a metal tube having a cavity extending in a longitudinal direction of the tube. In the cavity is a reinforcing filling. At least one hoop end comprises a locking structure for a locking engagement with a locking device of the lock body. The locking structure is formed at an outer side of the tube without ...