ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,422,000, issued on Sept. 23, was assigned to Ford Global Technologies LLC (Dearborn, Mich.).
"Rigid-elastic boot for shaft joint" was invented by Edgar Isaias Martinez Flores (Xochimilco, Mexico) and Rodrigo Alvarez Eldin (Cuautitlan Izcalli, Mexico).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A boot for a shaft joint includes a plurality of rigid rings and a plurality of flexible rings. Each rigid ring has an annular shape disposed about a central axis of the boot. The rigid rings are arranged sequentially along the central axis. Each rigid ring is connected to an adjacent rigid ring by a corresponding one of the flexible rings."
The patent was fil...