ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,227,916, issued on Feb. 18, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).
"Quick coupler automatic locking mechanism and method" was invented by Mark W. Thompson (Manhattan, Kan.) and Trent R. Stefek (Wamego, Kan.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A quick coupler and methods of coupling and decoupling a quick coupler and work tool are disclosed. The quick coupler includes a frame, cylinder, primary blocking member, secondary blocking member, biasing member, and controller. The method of coupling includes activating an AUTOMATIC LOCKING state, automatically locking a second tool pin within a hook, a first tool pin entering a notch, and ac...