It's that time of year again. Love is in the air as people gather with their loved ones to celebrate Saint Valentine's Day. Nice dinners, flowers, chocolate, and…romantic coupling?!

Coupling is defined as the pairing of two or more items. In the case of romantic coupling, this is the romantic pairing between two or more people. However, there is more than one way to pair things.

That's right! Everything eventually comes back to intellectual property, and this time around, we are going through how patent practitioners and per se inventors alike may become their own lexicographers to create terms of art to describe their inventions. Because of this, there are infinite possibilities for how you can describe a type of coupling in a patent application – but in this article, we will be going through my ten personal favorite coupling descriptors.

1. Mechanically Coupling

Also known as “physically coupling.”

Perhaps one of the most well-known types of coupling, mechanically coupling two items together sees the items being connected in such a way that they become a single structure. This may be accomplished through many means, including screws, nuts and bolts, friction fits, etc.

Mechanically coupling can be construed so broadly that if you are wearing shoes as you are reading this, congratulations! You are mechanically coupled to your shoes.

Many of the types of couplings detailed below are forms of mechanical coupling but with refined descriptors to further detail how the items are coupled together.

2. Detachably Coupling

Also known as “releasably coupling” or “removably coupling.”

Take two items and connect them to one another – perhaps through the use of nuts and bolts. As just mentioned above, you have mechanically coupled these two items together. However, these two parts can be separated (or detached) through the removal of the nuts and bolts. This means the two items were detachably coupled all along.

3. Rotatably Coupling

Also known as “pivotably coupling.”

Rotatably coupling two things together permits them to do just what you think they would do – rotate with respect to one another. And this is a part of the beauty of being your own lexicographer. By adding adjectives to the beginning of a coupling phrase, it can immediately convey the intent or purpose of the coupling, answering not just the “why” are you coupling the two items together, but also the “how.”

4. Hingedly Coupling

Any two items separated by a hinge, such as a door and a doorframe, or the lid and body of a jewelry box can be said to be hingedly coupled to one another.

Get it? “Hinge”dly coupling?

5. Electrically Coupling

This is the act of permitting electrical transfer from one item to another. When you charge your phone, your phone is electrically coupled to the outlet, which in turn is electrically coupled to the utility company providing the electricity. Any coupling can employ the transitive property in many forms, electrical coupling being one of them – meaning your phone is electrically coupled to the utility company as well.

With advances in modern technology, electrical coupling is not necessarily mechanical coupling – such as would be the case when using a wire to couple your devices to a wall outlet or USB hub. Induction charging is rapidly growing, to the extent that your phone may soon be electrically coupled to the utility company while it's touching your hand and nothing else.

6. Magnetically Coupling

The use of bipolar magnets can draw two items together until they make contact and become mechanically coupled.

As they say, opposites attract!

7. Thermally Coupling

Thermal couplings permit the transfer of heat from one place to another. Almost everything in our natural world is thermally coupled, as most reactions are endothermic (absorbs heat), exothermic (releases heat), or isothermic (items are in thermal equilibrium).

Outside of a vacuum, heat is exchanged, and entropy increases. This is a part of the technology used in insulated water bottles. Two walls are employed next to each other with a small gap of vacuum separating them. The inner wall is in contact with the fluid inside the water bottle, while the outer wall is in contact with your hand while you hold it.

Big water bottle is trying to keep you thermally uncoupled from your liquids!

8. Fluidly Coupling

Note that I did not say “liquidly” coupling. Fluid couplings allow anything that can flow from one place to another, to do so. A syringe injecting a drug into a patient fluidly couples the interior of the syringe to the interior of the patient. The pipes in your home for both gas and plumbing fluidly couple those things from a utility company all the way to you.

Perhaps this means Mario is a fluid?

9. Optically Coupling

The transmission of light from one place to another. The lens on a camera permitting the refracted light from your surroundings onto a light-sensitive surface (for traditional cameras) or data-collecting image sensor (for digital cameras). A fiber optic cable redirecting a laser. Your eyes receiving and translating the words on your screen as you read this sentence. These are all forms of optical coupling.

10. Communicatively Coupling

Cell phones. Walkie-talkies. Computers. All of these things have the common denominator of being able to communicate with one another, meaning they are all communicatively coupled with each other.

You and I are communicatively coupled. These words I have written down convey information and by you reading these words, we have communicated. IP lingo can be beautiful like that.

How Gallium Law Can Help

We here at Gallium Law are skillful in the craft of weaving words together, and would be happy to act as your lexicographer on your next patent application. If you would like to schedule a consultation, please fill out this online form or call us at 651-256-9480.

*The information in this article is not legal advice and should not be relied on. The content of this article is for informational purposes only and is meant as a starting point in your search for answers to your legal questions.