Patents by Inventor Ikuo Horibe

Ikuo Horibe has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20130236686
    Abstract: The structural warp knit sheet provided by this invention is a warp knit sheet for spars or stringers which comprises: a warp knit structure constituted of chain-stitch structures configured of ground knitting yarns; longitudinal insertion yarns that have been inserted in the longitudinal direction into the warp knit structure, the longitudinal insertion yarns being continuous carbon fiber yarns; and transverse insertion yarns that have been inserted in directions along which the transverse insertion yarns shuttle between the adjacent chain-stitch structures, the chain-stitch structures having been united by means of the transverse insertion yarns. The longitudinal insertion yarns are carbon fiber yarns which each is composed of 12,000-50,000 filaments and has a tensile strength of 4 GPa or higher, a tensile modulus of 220-450 GPa, and a drape value of 4-22.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2011
    Publication date: September 12, 2013
    Applicant: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Ikuo Horibe, Eisuke Wadahara, Masahiro Yamanouchi, Tomoyuki Shinoda
  • Patent number: 7857013
    Abstract: The present invention has an object of providing a method for producing a carbon fiber woven fabric in which the length of each warp yarn made of a carbon fiber strand is uniform, weft yarns are straightly arranged without waviness, and that is excellent in quality can be obtained with high productivity (production speed), and is characterized that a method for producing a carbon fiber woven fabric using an air jet loom in which heald in a shedding motion has an angle of repose in a range of 0 to 50° when weaving a uni-directional carbon fiber woven fabric woven with a carbon fiber strand having a fineness of 400 to 6,000 tex as the warp yarn and an auxiliary fiber having a fineness of ? or less of the carbon fiber strand as the weft yarn.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2010
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Eisuke Wadahara, Ikuo Horibe, Shigeru Miyamoto, Kyoko Miyamoto, legal representative, Kenichi Takezawa, Kuniyoshi Kurihara, Kazuhiro Ohno
  • Patent number: 7779870
    Abstract: A method for producing a reinforcing fiber woven fabric of the invention is a method for producing a reinforcing fiber 1 for weaving the reinforcing fiber as at least a warp 2. The yarn width of at least the warp 2 constituting the woven fabric is widened in the direction of the weft 3 by reciprocating cylindrical bodies 4 in the direction of the warp 2 of the woven fabric while rolling the cylindrical bodies 4 in a pressurization state to the woven fabric 1 A apparatus for producing a reinforcing fiber woven fabric of the invention comprising: a guide roller 5 which comes into contact with the surface of a reinforcing woven fabric continuously passing through at a predetermined winding angle and rotates; a plurality of cylindrical bodies 4 rotatably supported on the woven fabric which comes into contact with the surface of the guide roller 5; and driving parts 6 to 10 for reciprocating the cylindrical bodies in the direction of the warp 2 of the woven fabric.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Homma, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe, Eisuke Wadahara
  • Publication number: 20100032049
    Abstract: The present invention has an object of providing a method for producing a carbon fiber woven fabric in which the length of each warp yarn made of a carbon fiber strand is uniform, weft yarns are straightly arranged without waviness, and that is excellent in quality can be obtained with high productivity (production speed), and is characterized that a method for producing a carbon fiber woven fabric using an air jet loom in which heald in a shedding motion has an angle of repose in a range of 0 to 50° when weaving a uni-directional carbon fiber woven fabric woven with a carbon fiber strand having a fineness of 400 to 6,000 tex as the warp yarn and an auxiliary fiber having a fineness of ? or less of the carbon fiber strand as the weft yarn.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2007
    Publication date: February 11, 2010
    Applicant: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Eisuke Wadahara, Ikuo Horibe, Shigeru Miyamoto, Kenichi Takezawa, Kuniyoshi Kurihara, Kazuhiro Ohno
  • Patent number: 7220453
    Abstract: A wet process for manufacturing a cloth prepreg with a uniform fiber distribution and large cover factor comprises impregnating a woven fabric with a diluted resin and drying, which fabric has a number of crossing points of warp and weft in the range of 2,000 to 70,000/m2, which process further comprises at least one of the steps (A) and (B), namely (A) a step of distributing a line-shaped binder on the fabric to fix the yarn flatness prior to impregnating the fabric with a resin diluted with a solvent, at least 80% of which solvent is a nonsolvent of the binder and, (B) a step of calendering the woven fabric after drying.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2007
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Akira Nishimura, Kiyoshi Homma, Ikuo Horibe
  • Publication number: 20070023099
    Abstract: A method for producing a reinforcing fiber woven fabric of the invention is a method for producing a reinforcing fiber 1 for weaving the reinforcing fiber as at least a warp 2. The yarn width of at least the warp 2 constituting the woven fabric is widened in the direction of the weft 3 by reciprocating cylindrical bodies 4 in the direction of the warp 2 of the woven fabric while rolling the cylindrical bodies 4 in a pressurization state to the woven fabric 1 A apparatus for producing a reinforcing fiber woven fabric of the invention comprising: a guide roller 5 which comes into contact with the surface of a reinforcing woven fabric continuously passing through at a predetermined winding angle and rotates; a plurality of cylindrical bodies 4 rotatably supported on the woven fabric which comes into contact with the surface of the guide roller 5; and driving parts 6 to 10 for reciprocating the cylindrical bodies in the direction of the warp 2 of the woven fabric.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2003
    Publication date: February 1, 2007
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Homma, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe, Eisuke Wadahara
  • Patent number: 7138345
    Abstract: A carbon fiber reinforced substrate comprising a fabric composed of carbon fiber bundles and a first resin adhering to the fabric. Each of the carbon fiber bundles comprises numerous continuous carbon filaments, has the tensile modulus of 210 GPa or more, and has the fracture strain energy of 40 MJ/m3 or more. The amount of the first resin adhering to the fabric is in a range from 1 to 20 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of said fabric. A preform comprising a laminate composed of plural layers of the carbon fiber reinforced substrate, wherein the layers are integrated by means of the first resin. A composite comprising the preform impregnated with a matrix resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2006
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Eisuke Wadahara, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe
  • Patent number: 7134458
    Abstract: A method of producing a reinforcing fiber woven fabric, for producing on a weaving machine a reinforcing fiber woven fabric from wefts of reinforcing fiber yarns and warps of reinforcing fiber yarns, the method comprising providing, on a weft supply passage for supplying a weft from a weft bobbin to the weaving machine, a weft unwinding means for laterally unwinding weft from the weft bobbin, and a weft storing cylinder body for sucking along with air, part of weft thus unwound and directed toward the weaving machine and temporarily storing it therein, contactingly supporting weft, minimized in generation of twist by means of lateral unwinding, by a weft contacting means provided in the weft storing cylinder body while being stored in the weft storing cylinder, and preventing the generation of twist of weft being stored by the supporting; a production device therefore, and a reinforcing fiber woven fabric produced therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Ikuo Horibe, Kiyoshi Momma, Akira Nishimura
  • Patent number: 6995099
    Abstract: The present invention is aimed at providing FRP formed by integrating a fiber reinforcing material and a non-woven fabric, and having excellent shaping ability, impact resistance after molding, and excellent reliability and low cost. The aim of the present invention is achieved by a complex fiber reinforcing material including a sheet-shaped fiber reinforcing material composed of reinforcing fibers, and a non-woven fabric laminated on at least one side of the fiber reinforcing material, wherein the fibers constituting the non-woven fabric pass through the fiber reinforcing material to integrate the non-woven fabric with the fiber reinforcing material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2006
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Akira Nishimura, Kiyoshi Homma, Ikuo Horibe, Takehiko Hirabara
  • Publication number: 20040241415
    Abstract: A reinforcing fiber substrate formed by at least a reinforcing fiber yarn group arranged with reinforcing fiber yarns in parallel to each other in one direction, wherein a resin material whose main constituent is a thermoplastic resin is provided at 2 to 15% by weight at least on one surface of the reinforcing fiber substrate, and the reinforcing fiber volume fraction Vpf of the reinforcing fiber substrate is in a range of 40 to 60%, and a composite material made therefrom. A substrate excellent in handling property and a composite material excellent in mechanical properties can be obtained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2003
    Publication date: December 2, 2004
    Applicant: Toray Industries, Inc., a corporation of Japan
    Inventors: Eisuke Wadahara, Kiyoshi Honma, Ikuo Horibe, Akira Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20040224093
    Abstract: A wet process for manufacturing a cloth prepreg with a uniform fibre distribution and large cover factor comprises impregnating a woven fabric with a diluted resin and drying, which fabric has a number of crossing points of warp and weft in the range of 2,000 to 70,000/m2, which process further comprises at least one of the steps (A) and (B), namely
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2004
    Publication date: November 11, 2004
    Applicant: Toray Intellectual Property Center Ltd.
    Inventors: Akira Nishimura, Kiyoshi Homma, Ikuo Horibe
  • Publication number: 20040221909
    Abstract: A method of producing a reinforcing fiber woven fabric, for producing on a weaving machine a reinforcing fiber woven fabric from wefts of reinforcing fiber yarns and warps of reinforcing fiber yarns, the method comprising providing, on a weft supply passage for supplying a weft from a weft bobbin to the weaving machine, a weft unwinding means for laterally unwinding weft from the weft bobbin, and a weft storing cylinder body for sucking along with air, part of weft thus unwound and directed toward the weaving machine and temporarily storing it therein, contactingly supporting weft, minimized in generation of twist by means of lateral unwinding, by a weft contacting means provided in the weft storing cylinder body while being stored in the weft storing cylinder, and preventing the generation of twist of weft being stored by the supporting; a production device therefore, and a reinforcing fiber woven fabric produced therefrom.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2004
    Publication date: November 11, 2004
    Inventors: Ikuo Horibe, Kiyoshi Momma, Akira Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20040170554
    Abstract: A carbon fiber reinforced substrate comprising a fabric composed of carbon fiber bundles and a first resin adhering to the fabric. Each of the carbon fiber bundles comprises numerous continuous carbon filaments, has the tensile modulus of 210 GPa or more, and has the fracture strain energy of 40 MJ/m3 or more. The amount of the first resin adhering to the fabric is in a range from 1 to 20 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of said fabric. A preform comprising a laminate composed of plural layers of the carbon fiber reinforced substrate, wherein the layers are integrated by means of the first resin. A composite comprising the preform impregnated with a matrix resin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2003
    Publication date: September 2, 2004
    Inventors: Eisuke Wadahara, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe
  • Patent number: 6277771
    Abstract: A sheet-shaped carbon fiber base material is made up from reinforcing carbon fiber and metal wire integrally formed into a carbon fiber base material which may be a a woven fabric, a tow sheet and a prepreg. The volume fraction of metal in the sheet-shaped reinforcing carbon fiber base material is no more than 4% of the carbon fiber. A laminate may also be formed from the sheet-shaped carbon fiber material, where the reinforcing carbon fiber and the metal wire are laid-up in such a way that the metal wire insertion positions are mutually different. Also disclosed is a method of detecting the number of plies in a laminate that includes non-destructively sensing with a detector the presence of metal wire in a laminate of plies of a sheet-shaped carbon fiber base material made up of reinforcing carbon fiber and metal wire integrally formed to make the sheet-shaped carbon fiber laminate material and determining the number of the plies in the laminate based on the metal wires detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2001
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Akira Nishimura, Takashi Kobayashi, Ikuo Horibe, Kiyoshi Homma
  • Patent number: 5783278
    Abstract: This invention provides a reinforcing woven fabric using as weaving threads flat and substantially nontwisted multifilaments of reinforcing fiber having less than 0.5 wt. % of sizing agent provided thereto and a binding property of 400-800 mm in hook drop value, and a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a reinforcing woven fabric by weaving the multifilaments of reinforcing fiber as warps and wefts. A reinforcing woven fabric having a small thickness and an extremely high covering factor and capable of indicating a high strength can be obtained at a low cost as a substrate for reinforcing composite materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 21, 1998
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Akira Nishimura, Kiyoshi Homma, Ikuo Horibe
  • Patent number: 5662146
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for supplying twist free flat warp containing a plurality of carbon fibers to a plurality of wefts in a weaving loom, wherein the warp is transversely removed from a plurality of bobbins and twisted along a longitudinal travelling direction of the warps so that flat surfaces of individual flat warps are oriented at a right angle to an arranged direction. The plurality of flat warps are reeded to a desired density in relation to the arranged direction. The warps are then twisted along the longitudinal travelling direction so that the flat surfaces of the individual flat warps are oriented to the arranged direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1997
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Homma, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe
  • Patent number: 5538049
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for supplying twist free flat weft containing a plurality of carbon fibers to a plurality of warps in a rapier weaving loom wherein the weft is transversely removed from a bobbin by draw-off rollers and intermittently supplied to the rapier. An elastic force is applied to the length of weft accumulated between the rapier and the bobbin to take up any slack and obviate its twisting. By this technique a carbon fiber fabric is woven with flat wefts which ensure a high fabric strength since crimped yarns with non uniform densities are avoided as well as a non uniform fabric thickness caused by irregular yarn thicknesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 23, 1996
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Homma, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe
  • Patent number: 5455107
    Abstract: A carbon fiber woven fabric which uses a flat carbon fiber yarn consisting of many carbon fibers as at least its warp or weft, its weaving method and weaving apparatus. The flat carbon fiber yarn is twist-free, the number of its carbon fibers being 6,000 to 36,000, the yarn size being 3,000 to 30,000 deniers, the yarn width being 4 to 16 mm, the yarn thickness being 0.07 to 0.6 mm, and the ratio of yarn width to yarn thickness being 20 to 150. In the carbon fiber woven fabric, the flat carbon fiber yarn has a yarn width of 4 to 16 mm, a yarn thickness of 0.07 to 0.6 mm, a ratio of yarn width to yarn thickness of 20 to 150, and a ratio of weaving yarn pitch to yarn width of 1.0 to 1.2, the thickness of the woven fabric being 0.1 to 0.6 mm, the weight of woven fabric being 90 to 500 g/m.sup.2, and the fiber density of woven fabric being 0.8 to 1.2 g/cm.sup.3. The woven fabric is woven by a weaving apparatus provided with at least a weft supply device or a warp supply device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 3, 1995
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Homma, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe
  • Patent number: 5396932
    Abstract: A carbon fiber woven fabric which uses a flat carbon fiber yarn consisting of many carbon fibers as at least its warp or weft, its weaving method and weaving apparatus. The flat carbon fiber yarn is twist-free, the number of its carbon fibers being 6,000 to 36,000, the yarn size being 3,000 to 30,000 deniers, the yarn width being 4 to 16 mm, the yarn thickness being 0.07 to 0.6 mm, and the ratio of yarn width to yarn thickness being 20 to 150. In the carbon fiber woven fabric, the flat carbon fiber yarn has a yarn width of 4 to 16 mm, a yarn thickness of 0.07 to 0.6 mm, a ratio of yarn width to yarn thickness of 20 to 150, and a ratio of weaving yarn pitch to yarn width of 1.0 to 1.2, the thickness of the woven fabric being 0.1 to 0.6 mm, the weight of woven fabric being 90 to 500 g/m.sup.2 and the fiber density of woven fabric being 0.8 to 1.2 g/cm.sup.3. The woven fabric is woven by a weaving apparatus provided with at least a weft supply device or a warp supply device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1993
    Date of Patent: March 14, 1995
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Homma, Akira Nishimura, Ikuo Horibe