ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,270,496, issued on April 8, was assigned to SPM Oil & Gas Inc. (Fort Worth, Texas).
"Hinged quick-release connector" was invented by Chandu Kumar (Fort Worth, Texas) and Joe Allen Sutton (Weatherford, Texas).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A quick-connector assembly for joining abutting flanged ends of two tubular members includes first and second connector portions joined by a rotatable hinge having a hinge pin coupling the first connector portion and the second connector portion so that the first and second connector portions encircle about abutting flanged ends of the tubular members when the first and second connector portions are in a...