ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 20 -- United States Patent no. 12,528,543, issued on Jan. 20, was assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Toyota, Japan).
"Protector structure for underfloor component" was invented by Katsuya Watanabe (Toyota, Japan), Junichi Abe (Nagoya, Japan) and Masaki Maeda (Toyota, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A protector structure for an underfloor component includes an underfloor component that is a high-voltage component or a fuel tank disposed under a floor of a vehicle, a boarding and alighting step disposed further laterally outward with respect to the underfloor component, and a protection member disposed between the underfloor component and the boarding and alighting step...