A license plate locking system is provided that will prevent theft of a license plate. The license plate locking system of the present invention comprises a hollow body, wherein said hollow body comprises an opening, a locking mechanism and a protrusion. The opening in the hollow body provides access to a plate holder device, such as a screw, wherein said plate holder device is positioned inside said hollow body and covered by non-removable cover with resilient properties rendering the screws inaccessible. This prevents the removal of the registration tags or license plate by unauthorized persons.

A technique is provided for facilitating access into a truck bed. The technique utilizes a step assembly which is foldable between an operational configuration and a folded, transport configuration. The foldable step assembly may comprise a support structure having an attachment end which may be sized for receipt in a hitch receiver of a vehicle, e.g. a truck. The foldable step assembly also may comprise an upper step structure having an upper step mounted to an upper step frame pivotably coupled with the support structure for pivoting movement between a lateral position and an upright transport position. Additionally, a handrail may be pivotably coupled with the upper step structure for pivoting movement between an upright use position and a folded transport position. Furthermore, the step assembly may comprise a lower step structure having a lower step and a lower step frame constructed for pivoting movement between a lower lateral position and a position folded over the upper step.

Systems and methods for IR readable transmissive and reflective displays are disclosed that do not suffer from a mirror-like appearance or undesirable dimming of the display due to sequential stacks of polarizers. The disclosed systems and methods use available IR LEDs in addition to, or in place of, visible light LEDs. An illuminator or integrator, which is a lightguide, is designed to maintain the polarization state of the light. The display can use a regular visible light, front polarizer and hence does not suffer from brightness reduction caused by an IR capable polarizer.

Systems and methods for IR readable transmissive and reflective displays are disclosed that do not suffer from a mirror-like appearance or undesirable dimming of the display due to sequential stacks of polarizers. The disclosed systems and methods use available IR LEDs in addition to, or in place of, visible light LEDs. An illuminator or integrator, which is a lightguide, is designed to maintain the polarization state of the light. The display can use a regular visible light, front polarizer and hence does not suffer from brightness reduction caused by an IR capable polarizer.

A rear module for a vehicle includes a crossmember that extends along a transverse direction and is connected to the vehicle body and a bumper connected to the crossmember. The bumper includes an aperture. The rear module further includes a reversing camera that protrudes through the bumper, and a first impact element and a second impact element arranged on the bumper to a respective first side and a respective second side of the reversing camera and at a lateral spacing, in the transverse direction, from the reversing camera. The first impact element and the second impact element protrude, in the longitudinal direction, beyond the reversing camera and/or the bumper.

An apparatus, according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a vehicle body member and at least one badge that identifies at least one service provider. The badge comprises an applique that is mounted to the vehicle body member. A control activates and deactivates illumination of the badge based on at least one of a driver or user input. A method according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, mounting at least one badge to a vehicle body member, the badge comprising an applique that includes one or more identification logos, and illuminating at least one identification logo based on at least one of a driver or user input.

An apparatus, according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a vehicle body member and at least one badge that identifies at least one service provider. The badge comprises an applique that is mounted to the vehicle body member. A control activates and deactivates illumination of the badge based on at least one of a driver or user input. A method according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, mounting at least one badge to a vehicle body member, the badge comprising an applique that includes one or more identification logos, and illuminating at least one identification logo based on at least one of a driver or user input.

A method for performing automatic license plate recognition includes: performing character detection on a to-be-processed image; when a number of character objects constituting characters of a license plate are detected, obtaining a representative point for each character object; calculating a pattern line with respect to the character objects; calculating a skew angle defined by the pattern line and a preset reference line; rotating each character object based on the skew angle to obtain an adjusted image; and performing character recognition on the adjusted image to obtain a recognized character for each character object.

A method for performing automatic license plate recognition includes: performing character detection on a to-be-processed image; when a number of character objects constituting characters of a license plate are detected, obtaining a representative point for each character object; calculating a pattern line with respect to the character objects; calculating a skew angle defined by the pattern line and a preset reference line; rotating each character object based on the skew angle to obtain an adjusted image; and performing character recognition on the adjusted image to obtain a recognized character for each character object.

A device for securing a display to a vehicle grill is disclosed, where the device includes a display holder that can hold license plates. The device includes a holder frame having a first end, a first side panel, and a second side panel, where the first end is configured to hold a display. A first hook and second hook are configured to engage a first portion of a front grill of a vehicle. Levers are connected to sliders and a handle bar connects the first lever to the second lever. The hook of the first slider and the hook of the second slider are configured to engage a second portion of the front grill of the vehicle. Together, the lower hooks and upper hooks lock onto the vehicle grill to secure the device with four points of contact in multiple locations.