US Patent Issued to TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, TOYOTA JIDOSHA on Dec. 23 for "Active aerodynamics for foot step" (Michigan Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,503,054, issued on Dec. 23, was assigned to TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA INC. (Plano, Texas) and TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Japan).

"Active aerodynamics for foot step" was invented by Daniel J.F. Cressman (Ypsilanti, Mich.), Ulan M. Thompson (Saline, Mich.) and Ryan C. Harris (Saline, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Methods, systems, and apparatus for a vehicle aerodynamic system include an air dam adapted to be mounted adjacent a front bumper of a vehicle. The air dam can be moveable between a stowed position (e.g., when the vehicle is operating at higher speeds) and a deployed position (e.g., when the vehicle i...