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Patents grant property rights on new and useful inventions, allowing the patent holder to prevent others from using, making, or selling that invention without permission for a limited time. U.S. patents are permitted by the U.S. Constitution and are designed to promote scientific progress and invention. By allowing inventors to profit from licensing or selling their patent rights, inventors can recoup their research and development costs and benefit financially from their inventing efforts. There are three main types of patents utility, plant, and design. Utility and plant patents can last up to 20 years, while design patents can last up to 14 years. When a patent expires, the patented material enters the public domain, making it free to use by anyone without a license. U.S. patents are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

U.S. Patent No. 11,214,447 entitled “Conveyor Belt Arrangement of a Material Processing Device” issued January 4, 2022 to Kleemann GmbH of Goppingen, Germany. Invented by Frank Lebender of Gruibingen, Germany; Tobias Geywitz of Rechtberghausen, Germany; and Reiner Kopf of Gingen an der Fils, Germany. Abstract: The invention relates to a conveyor belt arrangement of a material processing device having a conveyor belt (20) and a receiving and adjustment mechanism for adjusting the conveyor belt between a transport position and a working position. To this end, the conveyor belt is mounted on bearing elements (40, 60), which are rotatably connected to receiving elements (30, 50) of the receiving and adjusting mechanism. According to the invention, the receiving elements are each coupled to a pivot bearing each having a pivot axis (30.1, 50.1) for the pivotable attachment to the material processing device, and at least one bearing element is connected to the conveyor belt in a linearly adjustable manner, and/or between the conveyor belt and the pivot bearing of at least one receiving element, a compensating mechanism is provided, by means of which a spacing change between the bearing elements can be compensated for. The conveyor belt arrangement allows the simple adjustment of the conveyor belt of a material processing device between a working position and a transport position.