ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,280,618, issued on April 22, was assigned to Hendrickson USA LLC (Schaumburg, Ill.).
"Rotary union with energy harvesting structure" was invented by Francisco Arevalo (Joliet, Ill.) and Jeff R. Zawacki (Channahon, Ill.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A rotary union for a tire inflation system of a heavy-duty vehicle that includes energy harvesting structure for generating electricity to power electronic components of the heavy-duty vehicle. The energy harvesting structure is integrated with and protected by the rotary union. The energy harvesting structure includes components that are attached to respective static and rotatable components ...