ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,276,140, issued on April 15, was assigned to Kiekert AG (Heiligenhaus, Germany).
"Lock with assisted closing device for a motor vehicle" was invented by Thorsten Bendel (Oberhausen, Germany).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A lock for a motor vehicle, comprising a locking mechanism composed of a rotary latch and at least one pawl, an assisted closing device, an electric drive, and a torque converter, wherein a variable torque is adjustable in the assisted closing device by means of the torque converter, and wherein the assisted closing is achieved at least in some regions by means of a frictional connection."
The patent was filed on Jan. 30...