ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,522,078, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).
"Deployable power rail connector for electric machine and method" was invented by Kurt L. Winckler (Tucson, Ariz.) and Igor Strashny (Tucson, Ariz.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A power rail connector for an electric power system in an electric machine includes a linkage having a lower link and an upper link, and a rail contactor coupled to the lower link and including electrical contacts positioned to electrically connect to a power rail. The linkage includes a fold joint, a lift joint, and a pivot, and is adjustable from an extended, current-collecting config...