ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,286,000, issued on April 29, was assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Toyota Aichi-ken, Japan).
"Tarpaulin housing structure for vehicle" was invented by Shigenobu Miyachi (Nisshin, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A joint groove is defined in a joint section of a roof structure and a side body structure of a vehicle. A roof rail having a hollow structure is fixed to the vehicle so as to extend along the joint groove. A housing space for housing a tarpaulin is cooperatively defined by both the roof rail and the joint groove. Greater housing space can be more easily secured as compared to a case in which the housing space is defined solely...