ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,234,893, issued on Feb. 25, was assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Toyota, Japan).
"Extension-retraction device" was invented by Hirofumi Inoshita (Toyota, Japan) and Satoshi Kojima (Nisshin, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The extension-retraction device according to the present disclosure is an extension-retraction device in which a first belt and a second belt wound around the outside of the first belt are spirally wound around a tubular structure. The second belt includes an engaging pin having a fitting portion that fits into a hole of the first belt and an insertion portion that protrudes from the fitting portion and is inserted...