ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,404,640, issued on Sept. 2, was assigned to SUKUP MANUFACTURING Co. (Sheffield, Iowa).
"Catwalk floorbeam connection system" was invented by David Jay Brownmiller (Mason City, Iowa), Dustin Donahue Davis (Nora Springs, Iowa) and Andrew Gene Sorensen (Clear Lake, Iowa).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A catwalk system having a pair of side trusses formed of a top cord and bottom cord connected by a plurality of vertical posts and diagonal posts. The bottom cords have a plurality of joints formed of a bottom plate, opposing side plates and wing plates that form a pocket. These pockets receive an end of floorbeams which are bolted to the side ...