US Patent Issued to FCA US on July 15 for "Stowable vehicle ladder" (Michigan Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,358,431, issued on July 15, was assigned to FCA US LLC (Auburn Hills, Mich.).

"Stowable vehicle ladder" was invented by Travis D Bechtel (Goodrich, Mich.), Richard T Stuedemann (Ortonville, Mich.) and Stacey L Berger (Lapeer, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A stowable ladder for a vehicle includes a base, a support, at least one step and a retainer. The base may be rotatably coupled to the vehicle, the support is coupled to the base at a first pivot, and at least one step is coupled to the support. The support is movable about the first pivot so that the ladder can be arranged in a folded position and an unfolded position. The retai...