ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,312,070, issued on May 27, was assigned to Textron Innovations Inc. (Providence, R.I.).

"Hydraulic energy retention" was invented by John Robert Wittmaak Jr. (Newark, Texas), Joseph Lee Spaeth (Fort Worth, Texas) and Marc Wayne Kinard (Corinth, Texas).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A hydraulic energy retention system includes a body with a piston separating a hydraulic fluid from a pressurized gas, a discharge port in fluid communication with the hydraulic fluid, and a stop operable to an engaged position to block movement of the piston past the stop and toward the discharge port. The hydraulic energy retention system may be implemented w...