ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,741,492, issued on Sept. 22, was assigned to MAGNA STEYR Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH & Co KG (Graz, Austria).
"Tow hook device" was invented by Alexander Rabofsky (Graz, Austria), Ales Horvat (Ptuj, Slovenia), Hans-Peter Kuttner (Lieboch, Austria) and Silke Ortner (Gratwein-Strassengel, Austria).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tow hook device for a motor vehicle, that includes a base plate, a hook, and a buckling bracket. The hook has a free end and a fastening end opposing the free end. The hook is fastened to the base plate at the fastening end such that, in an installation position, it orients the hook obliquely to the base plate in a verti...