ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,275,483, issued on April 15, was assigned to Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (Tokyo).

"Handlebar latching mechanism for personal transport device" was invented by Matthew B. Staal (Torrance, Calif.), Jackie P. Porchay (Torrance, Calif.), Michael Jin Kim (Long Beach, Calif.), Ming Hsein Lee (Taichung, Taiwan), Ding Jong Chou (Taichung, Taiwan) and Sheng Yu Huang (Taichung, Taiwan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A compact personal transport device convertible between a riding configuration and a stowed configuration is described. In one embodiment, a steering assembly for the compact personal transport device includes a telescopic steering shaft, a nec...