US Patent Issued to TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, TOYOTA JIDOSHA on Jan. 13 for "Pivoting tow hook assemblies and vehicles including same" (Michigan Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,522,033, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA INC. (Plano, Texas) and TOYOTA JIDOSHA K.K. (Toyota, Japan).

"Pivoting tow hook assemblies and vehicles including same" was invented by Paxton S. Williams (Milan, Mich.) and Adam D. Holmstrom (Pinckney, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tow hook assembly coupled to the cross member of a vehicle. The tow hook assembly includes a housing, a tow hook, and a biasing member. The tow hook is pivotally coupled to the housing and positionable between an extended position and a retracted position. The biasing member is coupled to the tow hook a...