ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,409,872, issued on Sept. 9, was assigned to Gunderson LLC (Lake Oswego, Ore.).
"Coupler cross keys" was invented by Jon B. Zaerr (Portland, Ore.) and Gregory J. Saxton (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "EOCC draft gear assemblies and cross keys for those assemblies are disclosed. In one embodiment, the cross key consists of a unitary generally T-shaped member having opposed lateral first and second end portions, a base portion formed with the first end portion, and a transition portion disposed between the base portion and the second end portion and formed with the base portion and the second end portion. The transition port...