Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Daniel J F Cressman

Matthew K Killeen

Systems, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to a vehicle tire guard that retracts in response to a force. In one embodiment, the vehicle tire guard device includes a tire guard extending downward from a vehicle frame and a retraction system attached to the vehicle frame. The retraction system includes a spring-loaded wheel with circumferential interface elements to engage with and retract the tire guard responsive to a vertical force applied to the tire guard, a curved cam affixed to a planar surface of the spring-loaded wheel, and a spring-loaded rod biased against the planar surface. The spring-loaded rod and cam interact to prevent rotation of the spring-loaded wheel to retract the tire guard until the vertical force exceeds a threshold.

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Ypsilanti, MI, United States of America

Daniel J F Cressman