Patents by Inventor Ryoichi Taniuchi

Ryoichi Taniuchi 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: 6646211
    Abstract: A switch having good maneuverability includes a switch case, a rocker-button unit having a hole therein and a rotating shaft located at a side of the rocker button unit and held at the switch case, and a push-button unit movably disposed in the hole. Further, the switch includes a slider whose upper surface comes in contact with a lower surface of the push-button unit, and the slider is movably accommodated in the switch case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryoichi Taniuchi, Takeshi Fujii, Toyoshi Fukumura
  • Publication number: 20030038020
    Abstract: A switch having good maneuverability is provided. The switch of this invention includes a switch case, a rocker-button unit having a perforation thereon and a rotating shaft, which is located at a side of the rocker button unit and held at the switch case, and a pushing-button unit inserted at the perforation movably and vertically. Besides, the switch includes a slider whose upper surface comes in contact with a lower surface of the pushing-button unit, and the slider is accommodated in the switch case movably and vertically.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2002
    Publication date: February 27, 2003
    Inventors: Ryoichi Taniuchi, Takeshi Fujii, Toyoshi Fukumura
  • Patent number: 6341969
    Abstract: A rotary connector, which is generally used for the steering device of an automobile, for establishing electrical connections via a flexible flat cable between an electric circuit fixed to the steering column and an electric circuit attached to the steering wheel. The rotary connector of the present invention has guiding means for the flat cable for smooth winding. Guide piece 13 is formed at recess 12C on inner cylinder 12B, with one end formed in one piece with the bottom surface of lid 12A of inner case 12. A proximity to the inside end of flat cable 5 is inserted into gap 14 between the inner wall of guide piece 13 and the periphery of recess 12C disposed on inner cylinder 12B of inner case 12. Flat cable 5 is then guided out from the edge surface of edge portion 13A formed so as to tilt the tip of guide piece 13 in the periphery direction. It is thus possible to provide an easy to assemble and economical rotary connector with the number of parts minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryoichi Taniuchi, Yoshiyuki Nakade, Takeo Nakamura, Ichiro Tateishi, Naoaki Matsui
  • Patent number: 6309233
    Abstract: A revolving connector includes an outer case having a housing section for accommodating a lower section of a fixed pin, an inner case having a holder for holding part of the fixed pin and being mounted to the outer case rotatably relative to the outer case, a stopper pin extending through the fixed pin and the housing section, and a flat cable coiled and housed in a space formed between the outer and inner cases, both the ends of the flat cable being fixed to the outer and inner cases, respectively. At its lower section, the fixed pin has an engaging hole through which the stopper pin extends and a slit communicating from the hole to an end face of the fixed pin, so that an elastic tip is formed at the lower section of the fixed pin. This structure allows the flat cable to maintain its neutral position not only at assembling but also at warehousing and transporting. This flexible flat cable is used in the revolving connector employed in a steering device of a car.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Nakade, Ryoichi Taniuchi, Ichiro Tateishi, Takeo Nakamura, Naoaki Matsui
  • Patent number: 6264487
    Abstract: A rotary connector, in which a guide ring is disposed in an annular space in such a manner that the guide ring elastically contacts with the lower side of the cover portion of an inner case, and the intermediate supporting portion of each of a plurality of cylindrical rollers is rotatably supported by the guide ring in the state that the rotation axis of each roller slants, also both end-sides of each roller contact with a flat cable, also the circumference-side of each roller contacts with the upper side of a lower-side-cover. The above structure realizes a highly reliable low cost rotary connector in which a noise caused by the each-other's bumps of the component parts of the rotary connector is suppressed and the stress applied to the flat cable is greatly decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryoichi Taniuchi, Toshio Ozawa
  • Patent number: 5949149
    Abstract: A multifunctional switching apparatus, preferably used as a steering switch, comprises a first switching section selecting a specific combination from a plurality of combinations resulting from any possible combination between operating functions of a second switching section and operating functions of a third switching section. The second and third switching sections are operable independent of each other in the specific combination selected by the first switching section. One operating key is provided to control a plurality of switching sections. A display of the operation key is provided to make the judgement of operational function of each switch section easy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hitokazu Shitanaka, Ryoichi Taniuchi, Katsuya Saitou
  • Patent number: 5901836
    Abstract: A lighting-knob-switch comprises a first light conductor shaped in a cylinder or an oval-top pillar. The first light conductor has a light interceptor (22B) having a concave slope on its rear end and has a lighting face (22A) on its front end. The lighting knob switch further comprises a knob which houses the first light conductor axially, an opening (21C) under the light interceptor (22B) of the first light conductor (22), and a first light emitter (35) under the light interceptor (22B). The light from the first light emitter (35) reflects on the light interceptor (22B) through the opening (21C) and arrives at the lighting face (22A). This construction allows the lighting face (22A) to receive even light at anytime, realizes an easy assembly work, and achieves an inexpensive cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 11, 1999
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ryoichi Taniuchi
  • Patent number: 5801346
    Abstract: A terminal plate 6 is formed into a circular cup shape having a bottom 6b and a cylindrical wall 6a. A plurality of terminals 14 are provided on bottom 6b of terminal plate 6. A rotor 1 is rotatably supported on terminal plate 6. A contact piece 5, resiliently engaged with rotor 1, is selectively brought into contact with terminals 14 to close a circuit. An undulated portion 10 is provided along the lower end cylindrical wall 1b of rotor 1. A ball 8, a spring 9 and undulated portion 10 cooperatively constitute an intermittent movement mechanism disposed between rotor 1 and terminal plate 6. Contact piece 5 intermittently rotates against a resilient force of spring 9 to change its rotational angle in accordance with a rotation of rotor 1. An elastically deformable portion 13 is formed on cylindrical wall 1b of rotor 1 while a rigid claw 12 is formed on the upper edge of cylindrical wall 6a of terminal plate 6, cooperatively constituting a snap-in mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 1, 1998
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ryoichi Taniuchi