ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 14 -- United States Patent no. 12,680,349, issued on July 14, was assigned to Kiekert AG (Heiligenhaus, Germany).
"Motor vehicle lock device" was invented by Jan Zejda (Chrudim, Czech Republic).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A motor vehicle locking device and, in particular, a motor vehicle door lock and preferably a motor vehicle tailgate lock, which is equipped with a locking mechanism consisting substantially of a rotary latch and a pawl. Furthermore, a locking bolt interacting with the locking mechanism is realized. In addition, a damping element for the locking mechanism and/or the locking bolt. According to the invention, the damping element has at least three stop ...