ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,434,786, issued on Oct. 7, was assigned to MAVIC GROUP (Chavanod, France).
"Electric assist device for a bicycle" was invented by Jean-Pierre Mercat (Chavanod, France).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An electric assist device for a bicycle comprising a shaft coupled in rotation with a pair of cranks and being able to be rotated in a positive direction by an electric motor, a connection mechanism being placed between the motor and the shaft, which connection mechanism has at least three distinct states. The states includes State 1, termed assist state, in which the motor transmits a torque to the shaft via a drive part which rotates at the s...