Patents by Inventor Nobuaki Kiya

Nobuaki Kiya 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: 10286775
    Abstract: [PROBLEM] A collision of a blower motor with an electric storage unit is prevented. [SOLVING MEANS] The present invention provides a vehicle including an electric storage unit having a plurality of electric storage elements and outputting an energy for use in running of the vehicle, a blower disposed closer to the exterior of the body of the vehicle than the electric storage unit and supplying the electric storage unit with air for adjusting the temperature of the electric storage element, and a duct disposed between the electric storage unit and the blower and connected to the electric storage unit or the blower. The duct has a collision avoiding portion guiding a blower motor of the blower in an up-down direction or a side direction of the electric storage unit when the blower motor is moved toward the electric storage unit upon application of an external force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Nobuaki Kiya
  • Publication number: 20150133041
    Abstract: [PROBLEM] A collision of a blower motor with an electric storage unit is prevented. [SOLVING MEANS] The present invention provides a vehicle including an electric storage unit having a plurality of electric storage elements and outputting an energy for use in running of the vehicle, a blower disposed closer to the exterior of the body of the vehicle than the electric storage unit and supplying the electric storage unit with air for adjusting the temperature of the electric storage element, and a duct disposed between the electric storage unit and the blower and connected to the electric storage unit or the blower. The duct has a collision avoiding portion guiding a blower motor of the blower in an up-down direction or a side direction of the electric storage unit when the blower motor is moved toward the electric storage unit upon application of an external force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 17, 2012
    Publication date: May 14, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Nobuaki Kiya
  • Patent number: 8051934
    Abstract: There are included a side member formed to support a battery pack, and a rear bracket securing the battery pack to the side member. The rear bracket has one side pivotably coupled to the battery pack, and the other side pivotably coupled to the side member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuaki Kiya, Bunji Nomura
  • Patent number: 8037960
    Abstract: A structure for mounting a battery pack on a vehicle includes a mount for supporting the battery pack. The battery pack is fixed to an upper side of the mount by bolts. The battery pack is disposed on a rear side of a rear seat. The battery pack includes screw holes through which the bolts are inserted. The screw holes have closed shapes. The screw holes are long in a front-rear direction and formed so that the battery pack moves when an impact is applied on it. A fixed state of the battery pack by the bolts is canceled after movement of the battery pack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Nobuaki Kiya
  • Patent number: 7771864
    Abstract: A cooling fan of a secondary battery and a cooling fan of a DC/DC converter are arranged in parallel to share the same air discharge path. A temperature sensor on an air intake side and a temperature sensor on an air discharge side are attached to the secondary battery. When the cooling fan is in failure, a temperature deviation between the air intake side and the air discharge side in the secondary battery increases because a backflow component of a discharge air is generated through the discharge path as the cooling fan operates. Based on this phenomenon, when operation commands for both of the cooling fans are issued, the control circuit senses a failure in the cooling fan by monitoring the temperature difference between temperatures detected by the temperature sensors. Failure detection is thereby possible without providing a sensor at each of the cooling fans.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuaki Kiya, Junta Katayama
  • Publication number: 20090226806
    Abstract: A structure for mounting a battery pack on a vehicle includes a mount for supporting the battery pack. The battery pack is fixed to an upper side of the mount by bolts. The battery pack is disposed on a rear side of a rear seat. The battery pack includes screw holes through which the bolts are inserted. The screw holes have closed shapes. The screw holes are long in a front-rear direction and formed so that the battery pack moves when an impact is applied on it. A fixed state of the battery pack by the bolts is canceled after movement of the battery pack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2007
    Publication date: September 10, 2009
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Nobuaki Kiya
  • Publication number: 20090166116
    Abstract: There are included a side member formed to support a battery pack, and a rear bracket securing the battery pack to the side member. The rear bracket has one side pivotably coupled to the battery pack, and the other side pivotably coupled to the side member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2007
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuaki Kiya, Bunji Nomura
  • Publication number: 20070178346
    Abstract: A cooling fan of a secondary battery and a cooling fan of a DC/DC converter are arranged in parallel to share the same air discharge path. A temperature sensor on an air intake side and a temperature sensor on an air discharge side are attached to the secondary battery. When the cooling fan is in failure, a temperature deviation between the air intake side and the air discharge side in the secondary battery increases because a backflow component of a discharge air is generated through the discharge path as the cooling fan operates. Based on this phenomenon, when operation commands for both of the cooling fans are issued, the control circuit senses a failure in the cooling fan by monitoring the temperature difference between temperatures detected by the temperature sensors. Failure detection is thereby possible without providing a sensor at each of the cooling fans.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2005
    Publication date: August 2, 2007
    Inventors: Nobuaki Kiya, Junta Katayama
  • Patent number: 6761992
    Abstract: The battery pack is constituted by arranging a plurality of prismatic battery modules adjacently in a condition with coolant passages formed between battery modules and with their side faces of large area being arranged in superimposed manner, and are integrated by tying end plates, arranged at both ends in the direction of arrangement of battery modules tightly together by restraining straps. A plurality of restraining straps are arranged at suitable intervals on the long side face of a battery pack and the restraining straps are constituted of at least one strip of rectangular cross-sectional shape or by round rods or pipe members of circular cross-sectional shape whose dimension in the direction perpendicular to the long side face of battery pack is larger than the dimension in the parallel direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2004
    Assignees: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shuhei Marukawa, Ko Watanabe, Toyohiko Eto, Shogo Yoneda, Nobuaki Kiya