ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,345,308, issued on July 1, was assigned to The Boeing Co. (Arlington, Va.).

"Methods, systems, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to damp catapult loads on an aircraft" was invented by Darin P. Haudrich (Des Peres, Mo.) and Zachary S. Lively (Saint Peters, Mo.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Methods, systems, apparatus, and articles of manufacture to damp catapult loads on an aircraft are disclosed. An example apparatus disclosed herein includes a launch bar including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion to be releasably coupled to an aircraft catapult, the second portion to be releasably coupled to an aircraft catap...