ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 24 -- United States Patent no. 12,559,180, issued on Feb. 24, was assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Aichi-Ken, Japan).
"Vehicle outer panel assembly" was invented by Takanori Hayashi (Toyota, Japan), Atsushi Iwasaki (Nagakute, Japan) and Yurika Sawada (Toyota, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Decrease in rigidity of an outer panel around its opening is suppressed. A vehicle outer panel assembly includes a fender panel lower part, which is an outer panel for a vehicle, and a bracket that reinforces the fender panel lower part. The fender panel lower part is perforated in a part thereof and thereby includes a frame part formed therein. The frame part includes a narrow r...