ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,336,688, issued on June 24, was assigned to KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG (Tuttlingen, Germany).
"Outer shaft for an endoscope and endoscope system" was invented by Lars Hedemann (Tuttlingen, Germany) and Andreas Heni (Tuttlingen, Germany).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An outer shaft for receiving a shaft of an endoscope comprises a proximal end region for receiving a proximal end region of the shaft of the endoscope, a sealing surface for resting on a corresponding sealing surface of the endoscope for locally fluid-tight sealing of an intermediate space between outer shaft and shaft of the endoscope and a radially inwardly protruding cleat in ...