US Patent Issued to Magna Exteriors on Sept. 8 for "Deployable running board with structural and step integration" (Michigan Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,728,797, issued on Sept. 8, was assigned to Magna Exteriors Inc. (Aurora, Canada).

"Deployable running board with structural and step integration" was invented by Anthony J. Povinelli (Romeo, Mich.), Jeffry J. Zielinski (Lake Orion, Mich.), Mark T. Pilette (Oxford, Mich.) and Jeffrey R. Johnson (White Lake, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A combination step and obstacle side guard for a vehicle has a first hollow housing portion including an outer robust housing which has a top surface step and bottom obstacle guard surface and a side surface. The side surface including outer edges and forming an inset cavity. An automated deployabl...