Patents by Inventor Itaru Amano

Itaru Amano 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).

  • Patent number: 5773042
    Abstract: An injection molding process for forming high strength, long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin, and for holding damage to the pellet-shaped thermoplastic resin to a minimum even when being plasticized, and maintaining the fiber length of pellet-shaped fiber bundles while unwinding the fibers and melting the resin. After the long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin has been heated and melted, pressure is applied to unwind the long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin while melted, and injection molding then performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1998
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Tatsuya Tanaka, Koji Kuroda, Hiroaki Kondo, Tsutomu Nagaoka, Seiji Yasui, Hiromi Kihara
  • Patent number: 5746964
    Abstract: It is the object of the present invention to firstly provide a loading system and loading method of high working efficiency, and secondly, to provide a loading system and method in which a high precision of loading onto a center mold can be regularly assured without the need for repeated correction checks. The loading system includes a transport car 2 movable along a plurality of tire vulcanizing presses 1 arranged in a line; a robot arm 3 mounted on said transport car 2 for movement in three XYZ dimensions to a prescribed position in a desired stance; and a green tire chuck 6 fixed to the end of said robot arm 3. A load method essentially comprises the steps of picking-up, transportation, loading and chucking during shaping, of a green tire largely through movement of the robot arm of said system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 5, 1998
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Kashiro Ureshino, Itaru Amano, Masaki Naoi, Kou Takakura, Takumi Mizokawa, Katsumi Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 5741528
    Abstract: A tire vulcanizing system capable of performing high accuracy transportation of a green tire by a loader and of performing high accuracy transportation of a vulcanized tire by an unloader including a group of tire vulcanizing presses having many tire vulcanizing presses 1 arranged in a row and manipulators 2 arranged along the group of the tire vulcanizing presses in such a way that they may freely run. The tire vulcanizing presses 1 are constructed such that the upper and lower molds 80, 81 are stored between the engaging or disengaging upper and lower press members in such a manner that they may be fastened with the green tire mounting table 7 and the post-cure inflator 8 arranged around them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1998
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Kashiro Ureshino, Katsumi Ichikawa, Takumi Mizokawa, Ko Takakura, Masaki Naoi, Yasuo Morita
  • Patent number: 4927344
    Abstract: A steam done type vertical tire press includes an upper dome for holding an upper mold through an upper mold mounting member and a lower dome for holding a lower mold through a lower mold mounting member. The upper dome and the lower dome are abutted at respective connection edges. A dome ring is engagable with the connection edges of the upper and lower domes. A central mechanism is vertically movably located at a central position of the lower mold mounting member. A mold clamping cylinder has a pressure rod connected to the lower mold mounting member. A cylinder support extends downwardly from the lower dome through a press base for supporting the mold clamping cylinder. A mold height adjusting device is provided outside a dome space defined by the upper and lower domes for adjusting a height between the upper and lower molds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1989
    Date of Patent: May 22, 1990
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Fujieda, Katumi Ichikawa, Seisuke Fukumura
  • Patent number: 4874303
    Abstract: Disclosed is a tire vulcanising press wherein a plurality of sectors provided for gripping the upper bead of a green tire loaded in position between a pair of upper and lower die elements to carry the green tire in a suspended condition will not form an obstruction to an elastic forming member for shaping. The tire vulcanizing press includes an inner cylinder mounted for up and down movement on the upper die element and having at a lower end portion thereof a bead ring which is capable of forming part of the upper die element, and a sector housing mounted for up and down movement in the inner cylinder and carrying thereon the sectors for movement between an open position and a closed position. The upper bead of the green tire can be gripped between the bead ring and sectoral portions of the sectors, and the sectoral portions of the sectors are accommodated in the lower end portion of the inner cylinder when the sectors are in the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 17, 1989
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Katumi Ichikawa, Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Hujieda, Shikao Misumi, Seisuke Hukumura, Hideo Miyauchi
  • Patent number: 4822266
    Abstract: A slide falling prevention device in a tire vulcanizer including a vulcanizer frame, a fixed lower die fixedly located on the vulcanizer frame, a slide adapted to be lifted and lowered along the frame, a movable upper die retained to the slide and adapted to be vertically opened and closed relative to the lower die, a vertically moving member provided at a central position of the slide for opening and closing the upper die, a hollow pressure member provided at the central position of the slide for applying pressure to the upper die, said hollow pressure member being located diametrically outside the vertically moving member in such a manner as to be concentrical to and separate from the vertically moving member, a pressure device mounted to the vulcanizer frame in such a manner as to surround the hollow pressure member, an upper die height adjusting mechanism for connecting the slide with the hollow pressure member; and a movable pressure member provided in the pressure device and a locking member disengageab
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1988
    Date of Patent: April 18, 1989
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Fujieda, Kashiro Ureshino
  • Patent number: 4799871
    Abstract: An unloader machanism for removing a cured tire from a lower mold of a vulcanizing machine and which includes a horizontally movable frame body, a fluid cylinder fixedly mounted on the frame body and a grappling unit being vertically movable by the fluid cylinder coaxially of the lower mold of the machine. The grappling unit includes a plurality of angularly uniformly spaced fingers being movable into an opening defined by an upper bead portion of the tire for engaging the upper bead portion. Under the application of a lifting force of the fluid cylinder, the fingers strip the tire directly from the lower mold and an upper ring of a bag well unit disposed centrally of the lower mold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 1987
    Date of Patent: January 24, 1989
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Fujieda, Itaru Amano, Masahide Kanzawa
  • Patent number: 4695234
    Abstract: A central mechanism in a tire vulcanizing press including a shaping bladder, a hot pressure supply source, an upper bladder clamp supporting center post, a lower bladder clamp supporting post through which is inserted the center post vertically movably, a mechanism for vertically independently moving both posts, and a latch mechanism for preventing the descent of the support post during vulcanizing press for a tire, the latch mechanism being driven selectively in opening and closing directions relative to the support post by means of a latch opening/closing device, the latch opening/closing device including a drive mechanism capable of moving vertically along a vertical axis, member for converting a vertical linear motion of the drive, a mechanism into a rotational motion around the vertical axis and means for transmitting the thus -obtained rotational motion to the latch mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1986
    Date of Patent: September 22, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Fujieda, Katsumi Ichikawa, Masahide Kanzawa, Toshio Yanagihara, Shikao Misumi
  • Patent number: 4686129
    Abstract: A mold clamp mechanism for a tire curing press, including a press base, a lower mold cavity provided on the press base, an upper mold cavity mounted opposingly to the lower mold cavity and vertically movable toward and away from the lower mold cavity, center mechanisms provided at the center of said upper and lower mold cavities, respectively, a lock means for releasably locking the upper and lower mold cavities to each other, and a mold pressing means located beneath the lower mold cavity for directly pressing same, the mold clamp mechanism comprising: means for resiliently supporting the lower mold cavity on the press base; means for fixing a lower mold in the lower mold cavity to the press base; and mold pressing means interposed between the lower mold cavity and the lower mold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 1985
    Date of Patent: August 11, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Kageki Yokoyama, Itaru Amano
  • Patent number: 4670209
    Abstract: A green tire vulcanizing press including a lower die having a heat source, an upper die capable of being opened and closed relative to the lower die and having a heat source, a shaping bladder received in a bladder well disposed in a central part of the lower die, and a hot pressure medium supplied into the bladder, the bladder well is made movable vertically and an upper clamp ring for the shaping bladder is held stationary while a lower clamp ring is provided vertically movably, whereby the shaping for a green tire as well as the separation of the bladder from the tire and removal of the tire after the vulcanizing press work are performed through vertical movements of the lower clamp ring and the bladder well under a fixed state of the upper clamp ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 1986
    Date of Patent: June 2, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Nakagawa, Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Fujieda
  • Patent number: 4669964
    Abstract: A tire vulcanizer which includes a lower mold assembly secured to a press base, an upper mold assembly held movably up and down on a press side frame and provided to be opened and closed with respect to the lower mold assembly, a molding bladder expansible with respect to a center mechanism of the lower mold assembly and pressurized heating medium supplying means, wherein for maintaining a parallelism of the upper and lower mold assemblies, a torsion shaft for maintaining the parallelism which is movable up and down and rotatable about an axis in synchronism with the upper mold assembly is mounted at a position parallel to the press base, at a right angle to the side frame and not interfering with the upper and lower mold assemblies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1986
    Date of Patent: June 2, 1987
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Fujieda, Katsumi Ichikawa, Masahide Kanzawa, Toshio Yanagihara, Shikao Misumi
  • Patent number: 4601648
    Abstract: A mold clamp mechanism for a tire press with upper and lower molds, the clamp mechanism including a plurality of rod locking holes formed around the press center of the upper and/or lower mold; a corresponding plurality of clamp rods vertically received in rod receptacle holes in a fixed mold support structure, each clamp rod having a T-shaped head portion protrudable into a locking hole in the mold and lockable therein when the clamp rod is turned a 90 degree angle; a drive cylinder having rod operating arms connected to the piston rod thereof for movements toward and away from the clamp rod; rod rotating members mounted on the clamp rod and on one of the rod operating arms and engageable with each other when the piston rod is advanced toward the clamp rod to turn the same a 90 degree angle; and rod pull members mounted on the clamp rod and the rod operating arms and engageable with each other when the piston rod is further advanced toward the clamp rod after a 90 degree angle of rotation so as to clamp the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1985
    Date of Patent: July 22, 1986
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Masanobu Kurumaji, Shikao Misumi, Yasuhiko Fujieda, Masahide Kanzawa
  • Patent number: 4573859
    Abstract: An apparatus for unloading a cured tire from a tire vulcanizing press, said apparatus including a tire support member tiltably mounted on a liftable support member; a mechanism for moving the tire support member horizontally toward and away from the center forming mechanism of the tire curing press for receiving and unloading a cured tire; a mechanism for tilting the tire support member toward a tire discharging side of the press at a lifted position over the center forming mechanism thereof; and a guide cam member fixedly located in association with the lifted tilting position of the tire support member for guiding the same toward a lower tire discharge point in a predetermined tilted posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 1983
    Date of Patent: March 4, 1986
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Yoshimata Maikuma, Keiji Ozaki, Hisaaki Ohnishi
  • Patent number: 4563139
    Abstract: A mold clamping mechanism for a tire curing press, including a press base, a lower mold cavity provided on the press base, an upper mold cavity opposingly mounted to the lower mold cavity and vertically movable toward and away from the lower mold cavity, center mechanisms provided at the center of said upper and lower mold cavities, respectively, a lock mechanism for releasably locking the upper and lower mold cavities to each other, and a mold pressing mechanism located beneath the lower mold cavity for directly pressing same, the mold clamp mechanism a mechanism for resiliently supporting the lower mold cavity on the press base; mechanism for fixing a lower mold in the lower mold cavity to the press base; and a mold pressing mechanism interposed between the lower mold cavity and the lower mold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1984
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1986
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Kageki Yokoyama, Itaru Amano
  • Patent number: 4548564
    Abstract: A tire press has a feature decoupling the mold closing force torque from the platens 3 and 22 supporting the press mold halves 4 and 11 using a spherical seat located between the platens 3 and 22 and the press member supplying the closing force to provide self-alignment of the mold halves 4 and 11 upon closing of the press.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1985
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Bryan E. Nixon, Larry E. Steidl, Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Fujieda, Hisaaki Onishi, Hideo Miyauchi
  • Patent number: 4533304
    Abstract: A tire vulcanizer wherein a movable upper mold is vertically moved and opened and closed relative to a fixed mold, and a ball-screw shaft construction is used as a vertically moving and opening and closing mechanism. Resilient buffer devices such as belleville springs or the like are resiliently supported on both upper and lower ends of the screw shaft. An improved slide guide construction for moving the upper mold up and down is also disclosed. A slide support is provided on an engaging end with respect to the guide of the slide, and the slide support is brought into engagement with the guide in such a way that a clearance therebetween may be adjusted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1984
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1985
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Seisuke Fukumura
  • Patent number: 4401422
    Abstract: A chuck assembly for use in a loader of a tire vulcanizer including a ring-shaped chuck main casing having an inner cylinder of a bore long enough to allow entry of a press center mechanism including a center post, a bladder and so forth, an outer cylinder concentrically surrounding the periphery of the inner cylinder and an upper cover connecting the inner and outer cylinders, rails radially aligned between the inner and outer cylinders in the main casing, a plurality of chucking paddles held by sliders slidably extending on a respective one of the rails for movement along the rails, and a ring-shaped chuck cam rotatably disposed about a rotational axis of the inner cylinder in the chuck main casing, wherein slider shafts of one of the respective paddles are slidably engaged with working cam grooves radially aligned in the chuck cam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1980
    Date of Patent: August 30, 1983
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Itaru Amano, Yasuhiko Fujieda
  • Patent number: 4391769
    Abstract: An apparatus for loading unvulcanized tires on a tire vulcanizing machine of the sort which has a vertically movable loader arm with a contractibly expansible paddle at the fore end thereof, an oscillating cylinder cooperative with a movable arm for oscillating the loader arm in a horizontal plane, and a stand-by station for temporarily holding unvulcanized tires to be loaded on the vulcanizing machine, the loader arm being adapted to load the unvulcanized tires one after another in a mold on the machine by lifting, oscillating and paddle-expanding operations. The loading apparatus is characterized by the provision of a plural number of stand-by stations on a locus of oscillatory movement of one loader arm, and a plural number of oscillating cylinders cooperative with a corresponding number of movable arms for oscillating the loader arm between the center of the mold and a selected one of the stand-by stations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1981
    Date of Patent: July 5, 1983
    Assignees: Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd., Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Katsumi Ichikawa, Itaru Amano, Keiji Ozaki, Seiichi Suzuki
  • Patent number: 4368015
    Abstract: The specification describes a tire vulcanizer adapted for use in performing the shaping and curing operation of a green tire efficiently and safely. The vulcanizer is characterized by means for lifting or lowering an upper ring, which includes a rotary means consisting of a ball screw shaft and nut cylinder, and a mechanism adapted to render said ball screw shaft rotate freely upon receiving a signal which is generated upon the completion of the shaping and curing operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 11, 1983
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Masakatsu Kawahara, Itaru Amano, Kazuhiko Nakagawa, Yasuhiko Fujieda, Kashiro Ureshino, Mitsunori Asada