ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,553,264, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to MITSUI KINZOKU ACT Corp. (Yokohama, Japan).
"Vehicle door lock device" was invented by Yoshiaki Yokota (Yokohama, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A vehicle door operating device includes: a casing including a base; a latch supported on the base in a manner of being pivotally movable by a shaft oriented in up-down directions; a ratchet supported on the base in a manner of being pivotally movable by a shaft oriented upward and downward; a motor arranged in the casing such that a rotary shaft is oriented leftward and rightward; and a lead screw supported in the casing in a pivotally movable m...