ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,358,407, issued on July 15, was assigned to TOYOTA BOSHOKU K.K. (Aichi, Japan).
"Seatback" was invented by Yoshihiro Murase (Aichi, Japan) and Motohide Oyama (Aichi, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A seatback with a built-in retractor for a seat belt includes a first bracket configured to receive a tension acting on the retractor via the seat belt, and a second bracket provided on a belt discharge port side of the retractor and configured to hold a posture of the retractor. A portion of the second bracket having the smallest separation distance from the seat belt is constituted with a curved surface."
The patent was filed on April ...