ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,371,094, issued on July 29, was assigned to ZF Automotive Germany GmbH (Alfdorf, Germany) and ZF Automotive UK Ltd. (Solihull, Great Britain).

"Steering column assembly for a vehicle" was invented by Russell Wilson-Jones (Stratford upon Avon, Great Britain), Mark Anthony Wilkes (Birmingham, Great Britain) and Lorenz Graeff (Cologne, Germany).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A steering column assembly for a vehicle comprises a steering column mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis and configured for attachment to a steering wheel at one end; a first gear connected to the steering column at a location spaced from the end where the s...