Patents by Inventor Kei Nagai

Kei Nagai 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: 8256161
    Abstract: An automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle including a detected subject and a detection sensor for detecting rotation of an output shaft is downsized. A worm gear mechanism decelerating a rotation speed of an electric motor to output it from the output shaft is accommodated in a gear case, and a drum is fixed to a tip portion of the output shaft projecting from the gear case to the outside, whereby motive power of the output shaft is transmitted from this drum to a sliding door. A concave portion centering at an axial center and recessed in an axial direction is formed in a worm wheel constituting the worm gear mechanism, a magnet unit constituting a rotation sensor is disposed inside the concave portion of the worm wheel, and a magnetic sensor for detecting rotation of the magnet unit is fixed to an inner surface of the gear case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsuba Corporation
    Inventors: Kei Nagai, Hiroki Kuroiwa, Takahisa Miura, Wataru Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Maruyama, Akihiro Kaihatsu
  • Patent number: 7575270
    Abstract: An opening/closing apparatus for a vehicle, which has a door-lock mechanism, is provided. An output of a motor unit is transmitted to a drum having a planetary gear mechanism, and the slide door of the vehicle is driven by an open-side cable and a close-side cable wound around the drum. A closer cable of the door-lock mechanism is coupled to a carrier of the planetary gear mechanism, and coupled to a latch of the door-lock mechanism via a coupling link. The coupling link is constituted as a toggle mechanism so as to regulate the rotation of the latch by the traction force of the closer cable until the latch is rotated toward a full latch direction from an unlatch position. When the regulation of the latch by the toggle mechanism is released, the latch is rotationally driven toward the full latch direction due to the rotation of the carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2009
    Assignee: Mitsuba Corporation
    Inventors: Kei Nagai, Mitsuhiro Okada
  • Publication number: 20090107048
    Abstract: An opening/closing apparatus for a vehicle, which has a door-lock mechanism, is provided. An output of a motor unit is transmitted to a drum having a planetary gear mechanism, and the slide door of the vehicle is driven by an open-side cable and a close-side cable wound around the drum. A closer cable of the door-lock mechanism is coupled to a carrier of the planetary gear mechanism, and coupled to a latch of the door-lock mechanism via a coupling link. The coupling link is constituted as a toggle mechanism so as to regulate the rotation of the latch by the traction force of the closer cable until the latch is rotated toward a full latch direction from an unlatch position. When the regulation of the latch by the toggle mechanism is released, the latch is rotationally driven toward the full latch direction due to the rotation of the carrier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2008
    Publication date: April 30, 2009
    Applicant: Mitsuba Corporation
    Inventors: Kei Nagai, Mitsuhiro Okada
  • Publication number: 20080000161
    Abstract: An automatic opening/closing apparatus for vehicle including a detected subject and a detection sensor for detecting rotation of an output shaft is downsized. A worm gear mechanism decelerating a rotation speed of an electric motor to output it from the output shaft is accommodated in a gear case, and a drum is fixed to a tip portion of the output shaft projecting from the gear case to the outside, whereby motive power of the output shaft is transmitted from this drum to a sliding door. A concave portion centering at an axial center and recessed in an axial direction is formed in a worm wheel constituting the worm gear mechanism, a magnet unit constituting a rotation sensor is disposed inside the concave portion of the worm wheel, and a magnetic sensor for detecting rotation of the magnet unit is fixed to an inner surface of the gear case.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2007
    Publication date: January 3, 2008
    Applicant: Mitsuba Corporation
    Inventors: Kei Nagai, Hiroki Kuroiwa, Takahisa Miura, Wataru Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Maruyama, Akihiro Kaihatsu