ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,292,142, issued on May 6, was assigned to Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (Munich).

"Line coupling assembly" was invented by Rolf Kiesewetter-Michler (Eching, Germany).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A line coupling assembly for a motor vehicle includes a line coupling, a first line, and a second line which can be coupled to the first line via the line coupling, wherein at their coupling-side ends, which are supposed to be connected, the lines each have a coupling component which, when the lines are completely coupled, interact such that the lines are tightly coupled together. When the lines are not completely coupled, the coupling components ...