US Patent Issued to Caterpillar on Feb. 4 for "Cylinder head configured for improved cooling performance and manufacturability" (Indiana Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,215,651, issued on Feb. 4, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).

"Cylinder head configured for improved cooling performance and manufacturability" was invented by Viorel Petrariu (Lafayette, Ind.), Jonathan R. Chittenden (West Lafayette, Ind.) and Michael D. Gough (Lafayette, Ind.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A cylinder head includes a cylinder head casting having a top deck and a bottom deck, and a coolant cavity. The cylinder head also includes an igniter column including an upper section, and a necked-down lower section extending upwardly from the bottom deck. The igniter column includes an inner surface forming an igniter...