ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,576,787, issued on March 17.

"Mechanical mounting system" was invented by Kevin Paul Means (Hereford, Ariz.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A mechanical mounting system (100) and method for mounting an object (104) to a vehicle exterior (102E) of a vehicle (102). The mounting system (100) includes a base assembly (106) and a mounting assembly (108). The base assembly (106) is fixedly mountable to the vehicle exterior (102E). The mounting assembly (108) is movably coupled to the base assembly (106). The mounting assembly (108) includes a mounting aperture (108A). The mounting assembly (108) is configured to receive the object (104) so tha...