ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,397,849, issued on Aug. 26, was assigned to HITACHI ASTEMO LTD. (Ibaraki, Japan).
"Steering operation input apparatus" was invented by Koji Numakura (Hitachinaka, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A steering operation input apparatus is for allowing a predetermined neutral position to be acquired regardless of a direction in which a nut is mounted. In a mechanical stopper mechanism, a central position of the nut in an axial direction aligns with a central position of a crest and a central position of a root of an externally threaded portion with a steering wheel in a neutral state. A first imaginary line extends in a direction perpend...