ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,310,907, issued on May 27, was assigned to TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Toyota, Japan).
"Motion assistance apparatus" was invented by Tadashi Odashima (Toyota, Japan) and Seiichi Tanabe (Toyota, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A motion assistance apparatus includes a first link, a second link coupled to the first link via a rotary shaft so as to rotate, a duct fixed to the first link, an electromagnet disposed so as to cover at least part of the duct, a first movable portion connected to a first end of the duct, a second movable portion connected to a second end of the duct, magnetic fluid filled in a hermetically sealed space defined by th...