US Patent Issued to The Yokohama Rubber on Jan. 27 for "Door opening/closing mechanism in lavatory unit for aircraft" (Japanese Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,534,204, issued on Jan. 27, was assigned to The Yokohama Rubber Co. LTD. (Tokyo).

"Door opening/closing mechanism in lavatory unit for aircraft" was invented by Mitsutaka Masuda (Kanagawa, Japan) and Mitsuaki Takeda (Kanagawa, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A powered door opening mechanism to move an aircraft lavatory door from the closed position to the open position is provided, which includes a non-contact sensor inside and outside the lavatory to detect part of a human body, an engaged member in the door and extending to an upper side of the door, an engaging member at a section on the upper side of the door inside the lavatory...