ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,381,447, issued on Aug. 5, was assigned to AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING INC. (Detroit).

"Electric drive module configured as a beam axle" was invented by Matthew A. Umerley (Shelby Township, Mich.), Frederick E. Zink (Capac, Mich.), Jonathan P. Prichard (Harrison Township, Mich.), James P. Downs (South Lyon, Mich.), Gregory A. Marsh (Waterford, Mich.), Matthew T. Blakeman (Newport, Mich.), Steven Grider (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.) and Paul J. Valente (Berkley, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An electrically-operated electric drive module for use in a vehicle framework that is configured for a powertrain that includes an internal com...