ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 18 -- United States Patent no. 12,326,299, issued on June 10, was assigned to Hydro-Thermal Corp. (Waukesha, Wis.).
"Sanitary direct contact steam injection heater" was invented by James C. Zaiser (Elm Grove, Wis.), Robert Bourdo II (Pewaukee, Wis.) and Justin Widiker (Burlington, Wis.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A direct contact steam injection heater that allows shear to be adjusted by modifying a lateral position of a movable combining tube. The movable combining tube includes a rack on an outer surface of the combining tube that engages a movable lever arm of an adjustment mechanism. The pivoting movement of the lever arm moves the combining tube in a lateral dire...