US Patent Issued to The Toro on April 8 for "Compact utility vehicle" (Minnesota, Iowa Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,269,542, issued on April 8, was assigned to The Toro Co. (Bloomington, Minn.).

"Compact utility vehicle" was invented by Patrick J. Clint (Minnetonka, Minn.), Jeremy A. Fohrenkamm (Hastings, Minn.) and Jeffrey L. Gardner (Hudson, Iowa).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A compact utility vehicle including a chassis supporting a prime mover, ground engaging wheels or tracks, an implement, and a rear standing platform operably coupled to the chassis. The vehicle can be equipped with a control console that is operably coupled to the chassis at an elevation above the rear standing platform. The console can have two manual input devices, including...