ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,466,036, issued on Nov. 11, was assigned to MILWAUKEE ELECTRIC TOOL Corp. (Brookfield, Wis.).
"Tool bit" was invented by James J. Van Essen (Hales Corners, Wis.) and Michael J. Zimmermann (New Berlin, Wis.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tool bit includes a drive portion configured to be engaged by a tool, a shank extending from the drive portion, and a tip coupled to an end of the shank opposite from the drive portion. The tip has a compressive residual stress layer formed by laser ablating the tip with a laser beam to increase a wear resistance of the tip relative to the shank."
The patent was filed on Jan. 16, 2024, under Applicatio...