ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,440,389, issued on Oct. 14, was assigned to CHRONOTECH (PTY) LTD (Stellenbosch, South Africa).
"Earplugs with cord" was invented by Nicolaas Hendrik Smit (Stellenbosch, South Africa).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The invention provides a moulded earplug set (300) which includes two earplugs (302, 304) each having a stem (332, 334) with a cord or lanyard (306) extending between the stems to connect the earplugs together. The cord may be integrally moulded with the earplugs and extend laterally from the stem of each. The sides of the cord may adjoin to form a generally planar cord body (72) and may be defined by sulcations in the cord body...