ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 29 -- United States Patent no. 12,208,953, issued on Jan. 28, was assigned to Sonoco Development Inc. (Hartsville, S.C.).
"Tub support" was invented by Clifton T. Moore (Nashville, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A washing machine tub lock device is provided that prevents the wash tub from impacting the washing machine cabinet during shipping and handling. The tub lock device is formed by cutting and folding a corrugated blank into an inverted truncated rectangular cone that can be wedged inside the top portion of the washing machine tub. The tub lock device includes hanging tabs which prevent the tub lock device from falling into the wash tub during shipping and ha...