ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,359,739, issued on July 15, was assigned to Humphrey Products Co. (Kalamazoo, Mich.).
"Expandable sealing sleeve with rigid support" was invented by Mark Friedman (Portage, Mich.) and Matthew Welker (Kalamazoo, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An expandable seal for adjoiningly sealing components together includes an elongate body having opposed open ends defining a passage through the body and a flexible outer cover, with the seal being configured for insertion into cavities of adjoined components to seal there between. The body comprises a rigid support configured as a separate component from the flexible cover with the support inc...