ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,359,461, issued on July 15, was assigned to United States Postal Service (Washington).
"Key capture lock" was invented by Donald Eugene Irwin (Fredericksburg, Va.) and William Albert Tartal (Baltimore).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A lock assembly includes a bolt movable between a first position and a second position, a rotating body rotatable between a first position and a second position, and a pawl member rotatable between a first position and a second position. Rotation of the rotating body from the first position to the second position is configured to cause the bolt to move from the first position to the second position. The pawl m...