US Patent Issued to Caterpillar on Sept. 23 for "House swing sensor follower pinion" (North Carolina Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,421,692, issued on Sept. 23, was assigned to Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, Ill.).

"House swing sensor follower pinion" was invented by Vincent A. Armstrong (Mooresboro, N.C.), Joshua David Callaway (Cary, N.C.), Christopher E. Bright (Raleigh, N.C.) and Benjamin J. Terry (Wilson, N.C.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A follower pinion apparatus can include a swing gear system comprised of a swing gear and a swing motor pinion. The follower pinion apparatus can also include a nonmetallic follower pinion positioned to mesh with the swing gear and a sensor configured to sense a position of the follower pinion."

The patent was filed on May 11, 2...