ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,250,999, issued on March 18, was assigned to YKK Corp. (Tokyo).
"Slide fastener elements, fastener stringers, and fastener chain" was invented by Haruaki Il (Milan) and Tsutomu Saito (Milan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A fastener element for a slide fastener includes: a coupling portion; and one single root portion either including, or being plastically bendable to include, a bent portion and a distal end portion which extends from the bent portion towards a side of the coupling portion which is closer to the fastener tape. Each face of the coupling portion includes an engaging protrusion protruding in a lengthwise direction, and an e...