US Patent Issued to TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, TOYOTA JIDOSHA on Nov. 18 for "Collapsing tow hook assemblies and vehicles including same" (Michigan Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 18 -- United States Patent no. 12,472,785, issued on Nov. 18, was assigned to TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA INC. (Plano, Texas) and TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Toyota, Japan).

"Collapsing tow hook assemblies and vehicles including same" was invented by Jeremiah T. Hammer (Ann Arbor, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tow hook assembly including a housing, a receiving member, and a pin. The housing includes a side wall defining an asymmetric opening having a cam surface and an end wall. The pin rotatably couples the receiving member to the housing between an extended position and a rotated position. The pin includes an extended portion received withi...