ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,313,192, issued on May 27, was assigned to VICTAULIC COMPANY (Easton, Pa.).
"Sprung coupling" was invented by Matthew A. Bowman (Palmer, Pa.), Philip Wayne Bancroft (Belvidere, N.J.), Scott D. Madara (Nazareth, Pa.), Kathryn E. Yovanovich (Easton, Pa.) and Thomas C. Savage (Doylestown, Pa.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A coupling has first and second segments attached to one another end to end surrounding a central space for receiving pipe elements. A spring assembly attaches the segments at one end and an adjustable attachment assembly attaches the segments at the opposite end. The spring assembly biases the segments away from one anot...