ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,534,918, issued on Jan. 27, was assigned to Avon Plastics Inc. (Paynesville, Minn.).
"Splash block" was invented by Nicholas Demuth II (St. Cloud, Minn.), Nicholas J. Demuth (Cold Spring, Minn.), Mark T. Reum (Avon, Minn.) and Brian M. Kimble (Zionsville, Ind.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A splash block can include a base surface and a raised sidewall surrounding the base surface except for an outlet side of the base surface. The raised sidewall defines an inlet sidewall located opposite the outlet side of the base and a pair of longitudinal sidewalls spanning from the inlet sidewall towards the outlet side of the base. A tab is provid...