ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,385,314, issued on Aug. 12, was assigned to Tarpstop LLC (Perrysburg, Ohio).
"Cover deployment system" was invented by Brent R. Cottingham (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Aaron Vail (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Justin Bjorum (Wyoming, Mich.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A cover deployment system includes a flexible cover configured to span an open top of a trailer, the trailer having a front end, a rear end, and longitudinally extending side walls extending therebetween, bow assemblies connected to the cover, and a cable system including a pair of cables, an electric actuator, a manual actuator, and a differential. The cables extend longitudinally ...