ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,296,945, issued on May 13, was assigned to AIRBUS OPERATIONS Ltd. (Bristol, Great Britain).
"Winglet and winglet cover assembly" was invented by Thomas Barnett (Bristol, Great Britain), Andrew Scaife (Bristol, Great Britain), Lee Proudler (Bristol, Great Britain) and Richard Hewson (Bristol, Great Britain).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A winglet is disclosed including first and second covers, a front spar, a rear spar, a rib, and a mid spar between the front spar and the rear spar. The rib and each spar are joined to the first cover and to the second cover. The mid spar has a length and the mid spar curves along all or part of its length...