ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,378,999, issued on Aug. 5, was assigned to Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG (Herzogenaurach, Germany).
"Insulated bearing" was invented by Guihui Zhong (Charlotte, N.C.), John Tate (Cornelius, N.C.), Charles Schwab (Fort Mill, S.C.), Michael Heaton (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Venkata Kottapalli (Fort Mill, S.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An insulated bearing includes an outer ring, a plurality of rolling elements, a first aluminum insulating cap, and a second aluminum insulating cap. The outer ring has an inner rolling surface and an outer spiral groove, and the plurality of rolling elements are in rolling contact with the inner rolling ...