ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,496,874, issued on Dec. 16, was assigned to HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY (Seoul, South Korea) and KIA Corp. (Seoul, South Korea).

"Heat pump system for vehicle" was invented by Yong Woong Cha (Yongin-si, South Korea), Wan Je Cho (Hwaseong-si, South Korea), Jungha Park (Gunpo-si, South Korea), Eon Soo Yun (Hwaseong-si, South Korea), ByeongGu Kang (Hwaseong-si, South Korea), Seongjae Lee (Suncheon-si, South Korea), Jong Il Park (Hwaseong-si, South Korea), Jai Young An (Suwon-si, South Korea) and Seong-Bin Jeong (Hwaseong-si, South Korea).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An embodiment heat pump system of a vehicle includes a valve controlling a flow ...