ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 29 -- United States Patent no. 12,209,609, issued on Jan. 28, was assigned to TENNANT COMPANY (Eden Prairie, Minn.).
"Torque transmitting ball joint" was invented by Eric Sam Nortrup (Golden Valley, Minn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A torque transmitting ball joint can include a spherical ball, a stem extending from the spherical ball, one or more pins coupled to the spherical ball, and a socket. The socket can define an opening sized to contain the spherical ball within the socket and one or more slots sized to accommodate a pin of the one or more pins. The one or more pins can be contained by the one or more slots and can translate within the slot as the spherical b...