ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,434,817, issued on Oct. 7, was assigned to TEXTRON INNOVATIONS INC. (Providence, R.I.).
"Winglet trailing edge venting" was invented by Bryan C. Hinson (Wichita, Kan.), Corey W. Hagemeister (Wichita, Kan.), Robert G Wiegers (Wichita, Kan.) and Kelly R Laflin (Wichita, Kan.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Airfoil venting systems are provided which include an airfoil (e.g., a winglet or an aircraft wing) having leading and trailing edges and an internal channel adapted to being fluid-connected to an on-board aircraft system which in use requires air to be exhausted. A series of venting apertures are positioned on at least a portion of the tr...