Patents Represented by Attorney Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
  • Patent number: 7056029
    Abstract: The bearing device contains two rolling bearings installed on a shaft 9 and a preload is applied to the inner ring of the rolling bearings. The respective dimension for the two rolling bearing inner rings is shortened on both sides in the orientation of the width dimensions of the inner ring, centered on the grooves for the inner ring, with each being set smaller than the dimension of the outer rings. The difference in dimensions is double the difference in the dimensions capable of eliminating rattling of the rolling bearings, when a preload is applied to the outer edge of the inner ring. The outer rings and races are respectively formed to be in a position at half the width dimension of the inner ring from the outer edges of the two outer rings for the two rolling bearings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Mori, Toshisada Koyama
  • Patent number: 7046821
    Abstract: An image detection processor of the present invention enhances the processing speed of the calculation of the center of gravity or the like of a target with a simple constitution. The image detection processor arranges a plurality of image detection processing elements 1-1 to 1-64 on a plane. Each image detection processing element includes an adder circuit 15 which converts an output of a photoelectric conversion part 5 into digital signals and can receive the digital signals as an input in a matrix form. Cumulative adders are constituted by connecting the adder circuits 15 for respective rows. Series adders 2-1 to 2-8 which are connected in series respectively receive outputs of final stages of cumulative adders of respective rows as inputs and can cumulatively add these outputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2006
    Assignees: Nippon Precision Circuits, Inc.
    Inventors: Masatoshi Ishikawa, Idaku Ishii, Takashi Komuro, Yoshihiro Nakabo, Atsushi Yoshida
  • Patent number: 7044645
    Abstract: A retainer having an annular body with a plurality of pockets. Each pocket has a pair of corner portions that form an opening. The pockets have a spherical inside surface and a pair of tapered surfaces. Alternatively, the pockets can have a spherical inside surface and at least two pairs of tapered surfaces. The geometry of the pockets including the corner portions has rotational symmetry. The retainer improves lubricant retention, and reduces vibration, noise and non-repeating run out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co. Ltd.
    Inventor: Takuya Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 7040862
    Abstract: A fan wherein an airflow adjustment device is used to make fine adjustments to the air discharged by the blower and a method of adjusting a fan's airflow by attaching a flow adjustment device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co. Ltd.
    Inventor: Shuichi Otsuka
  • Patent number: 7030330
    Abstract: This keyboard spill-proofing mechanism reduces and prevents damage to the electronic circuitry in keyboard that would normally occur due to inadvertent spillages of liquids, such as water, coffee or soda, onto the keyboard. This keyboard spill-proofing mechanism features a membrane sheet positioned below the top case. The membrane sheet includes multiple layers that have electrical circuits. The electrical circuits detect the off/on state of the key caps when they are pressed. The keyboard design features a waterproof base sheet made of an adhesive material that is positioned between the top case and the membrane sheet. The waterproof base sheet is designed such that a plurality of rubber springs connected thereon transmit the off/on state of the key caps to the electrical circuits in the membrane sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kazutoshi Suda
  • Patent number: 7019767
    Abstract: When intending gradational representation of each of the dots composing the image by changing the amount of light emission of each of the dots composing an image by changing the amount of light emission of said light emitting diode, the magnitude of each of the dots becomes reduced resulting in unstable reproducibility of dot. This causes damage in the regularity of the distribution of image density and the graininess of the printed image increases. The invention aims to provide an image forming apparatus which can decrease granularity (graininess) by simple and inexpensive construction by defocusing on the photo conductor the light ray passing through the lens array of the exposing device in the image forming apparatus in accordance with the percentage of the luminous dots changed in the amount of light emission among the dots composing the image. This prevents the occurrence of irregular density distribution in the latent image on the photo conductor drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
    Inventors: Tadashi Ohba, Jun Nakai
  • Patent number: 7016146
    Abstract: A spindle motor for use in a disk drive including a shaft and a bearing sleeve. The shaft has a larger diameter section and a smaller diameter section with a step formed therebetween. The bearing sleeve has a central cylindrical opening, the shaft being inserted into the central cylindrical opening. A bearing gap is formed between the shaft and the bearing sleeve, the bearing gap being filled with lubricating fluid. A first hydrodynamic thrust bearing is formed in the area of the step. A hydrodynamic radial bearing is formed in the area of the larger diameter section of said shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Andreas Kull
  • Patent number: 7008110
    Abstract: The present invention provides a bearing comprised of a hydrodynamic bearing and a pivot bearing, which can be used with a spindle motor. It also provides a spindle motor utilizing a hydrodynamic bearing and a pivot bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Andreas Kull, Olaf Winterhalter, Joerg Hoffmann, Martin Hafen
  • Patent number: 7008196
    Abstract: The electrically motorized pump has a low energy loss because it uses of the shaft and the sleeve made from synthetic resin composition obtained by uniformly dispersing fine powder of RBC or CRBC in a resin. The typical process for the production of a synthetic resin composition for making the sleeve bearing for the pump for use in water includes kneading with a resin the fine powder of RBC or CRBC at a temperature in the neighborhood of the melting point of the resin, and thereby uniformly dispersing the fine powder of RBC or CRBC in the resin. Fibers, such as glass fibers, may be blended with the fine powder of RBC or CRBC and the resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Hokkirigawa, Motoharu Akiyama, Morinobu Kawamura
  • Patent number: 7005771
    Abstract: A variable reluctance resolver is provided with an output winding having a reduced effect from externally introduced leakage magnetic flux. A variable reluctance resolver is provided with a resolver excitation winding and a resolver output winding wrapped around multiple stator magnetic poles which respectively output rotary angle X and Y components as a rotor turns. Windings are wound such that the polarities of output voltages on output windings wound around a row of three or more stator magnetic poles will be the same; all of the output windings are divided into an even number, two or greater, of groups, and output windings are serially connected in such a way that adjacent group output voltage polarities mutually differ.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masahiro Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7002275
    Abstract: An electric motor, particularly an electronically commutated direct current motor, has a stator and a rotor. The stator and the rotor are arranged coaxially to a longitudinal axis of the electric motor. The stator features a plurality of electrical stator poles and a plurality of phase windings. The rotor features a permanent magnet with a least one magnetic pole pair which is dedicated to the phase windings. The phase windings and/or the permanent magnet are divided into several axial sections in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the electric motor and these sections are staggered around the longitudinal axis of the electric motor with respect to each other. Angular positions of the individual phases are offset with respect to each other is in such a way that torque ripple can be reduced and torque gaps can be prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Helmut Hans
  • Patent number: 7001073
    Abstract: Hydrodynamic bearing for use in a spindle motor includes a shaft, a bearing sleeve encompassing the shaft with a small radial clearance, a plurality of hydrodynamic pressure generating grooves formed on at least one of an outer surface of the shaft and an inner surface of the bearing sleeve, and a base-plate, flange or another frame element of the motor. The bearing sleeve is constructed as a single component with the frame element of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Joerg Hoffmann, Olaf Winterhalter, Martin Hafen
  • Patent number: 7000320
    Abstract: A process for manufacturing miniature ball bearings that reduces material loss to improve manufacturing efficiency. The process consists of obtaining an inner and outer ring blank by cutting a first blank, forging the first blank to obtain a final blank, and separating the final blank to form an outer ring blank and an inner ring blank. The outer ring blank has an outer diameter of at most 13 mm. Cutting the first blank is performed by mechanically cutting and machining.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Rikuro Obara
  • Patent number: 6990738
    Abstract: A process for manufacturing miniature ball bearings that reduces material loss to improve manufacturing efficiency. The process consists of obtaining an inner and outer ring blank by cutting a first blank, forging the first blank to obtain a final blank, and separating the final blank to form an outer ring blank and an inner ring blank. The outer ring blank has an outer diameter of at most 13 mm. Cutting the first blank is performed by press cutting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2006
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Rikuro Obara
  • Patent number: 6988208
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for verifying the integrity of devices on a target network. The apparatus has security subsystems and a master security system hierarchically connected to the security subsystems via a secure link. The target network includes various intrusion detection devices, which may be part of the security subsystem. Each intrusion detection device generates a plurality of event messages when an attack on the network is detected. The security subsystem collects these event messages, correlates, and analyzes them, and performs network scanning processes. If certain events warrant additional scrutiny, they are uploaded to the master security system for review.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2006
    Assignee: Solutionary, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Hrabik, Jeffrey Guilfoyle, Edward Mac Beaver
  • Patent number: 6984069
    Abstract: A hydrodynamic thrust bearing forming a part of a bearing system for a rotary bearing of spindle motors utilized to power hard disk drives. The thrust bearing includes at least one annular thrust plate and a counter bearing corresponding to the thrust plate. The thrust plate is firmly connected to a shaft rotatably supported by a radial bearing system. The shaft features an axial bore in the area of the thrust bearing, into which a fixing element is inserted. The fixing element is at least partially provided with a spherical surface. The element is inserted in such a way that the surface of the sphere projects slightly from the end of the shaft and rests on the counter bearing, at least when the motor is at a standstill. Therefore, when the motor is standing still or particularly during its start-up or shut-down phase, the spherical element (and not the bearing surface of the thrust plate) rests on the bearing surface of the cover plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2006
    Assignee: Mineabea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Joerg Hoffman, Olaf Winterhalter
  • Patent number: 6962442
    Abstract: A hydrodynamic bearing system for use in spindle motors having a shaft and a bearing sleeve. At least one bearing member is mounted an outer surface of the shaft. A fluid trap member is further provided in the bearing system, the fluid trap member being integrated into the bearing member. A fluid trapping cavity is formed between the fluid trap member and a surface of the bearing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2005
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Dieter Braun
  • Patent number: 6961989
    Abstract: A stator device which prevents the formation of varnish accumulations on jumper wires, thereby preventing jumper wire breakage due to temperature variations. A gap is created between the jumper wire and the stud located on the stator body. When varnish is applied to the stud and the jumper wires, excess varnish flows through the gap and pools underneath. Moreover, when there is a significant accumulation of varnish in the gap, the varnish will flow off from the edge of the stator body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2005
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Taiichi Miya, Naohiko Aoyama
  • Patent number: 6951422
    Abstract: A spindle motor for use in a disk drive, the spindle motor including a shaft having a larger diameter section and a smaller diameter section with a step formed therebetween. The spindle motor also includes a bearing sleeve having a central cylindrical opening, the shaft is inserted into the central cylindrical opening. A bearing gap is formed between the shaft and the bearing sleeve, the bearing gap being filled with lubricating fluid. A thrust plate is fixedly mounted on the shaft in the area of the step such that an upper side of the thrust plate is placed adjacently to the larger diameter section and a lower side of the thrust plate is placed adjacently to the smaller diameter section of the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2005
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Andreas Kull
  • Patent number: 6949850
    Abstract: A rear casing (inner casing) 50 that fits into a front casing (outer casing) 40, where a stator 20 is held between these casings 40 and 50. The front casing 40 and the casing [SIC] 50 are rigidly adhered to each other through caulking, adhesives, or welding. Furthermore, the elastic parts 46 that provide an elastic force on the stator 20 towards the rear casing 50 at the step part 43 of the front casing 40, where the stator 20 is press fitted, and the restorative force of the elastic pieces 46 strongly holds the stator 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Inc.
    Inventor: Akira Dairi