ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 2 -- United States Patent no. 12,486,020, issued on Dec. 2, was assigned to THE BOEING COMPANY (Arlington, Va.).
"Leading-edge droop actuation system" was invented by Kyle Steven Wydock (Everett, Wash.), Ramon Burin (Lake Stevens, Wash.), John A. Standley (Seattle), Mark Steven Good (Seattle) and Samuel Block (Bothell, Wash.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An aircraft includes a wing and a leading-edge aerodynamic surface coupled to the wing. An actuator is disposed within the wing and coupled to the leading-edge aerodynamic surface via a linkage system. Two or more hinge systems are coupled to the leading-edge aerodynamic surface and configured to rotate about a fixed ax...