Patents Represented by Law Firm Hazel & Thomas, P.C.
  • Patent number: 5960756
    Abstract: A valve control device for an internal combustion engine includes a rotational cam shaft disposed on a cylinder head, a first cam provided on the cam shaft, a second cam provided on the cam shaft and having a larger nose portion than that of the first cam, a first rocker arm supported on a first fulcrum so as to be able to oscillate and thereby open or close an intake or exhaust valve by the first cam in response to the rotation of the cam shaft, a second rocker arm supported on a second fulcrum so as to be able to oscillate and thereby open or close an intake or exhaust valve by the second cam in response to the rotation of the cam shaft, and a moving mechanism for selectively moving the second fulcrum so as to control the opening and closing operation of the intake or exhaust valve by the second rocker arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Eiji Miyachi, Hisashi Kodama, Yosuke Tateishi
  • Patent number: 5951756
    Abstract: A method of forming GaAs/AlGaAs hetero-structure. The method includes the steps of preparing a GaAs substrate having a (411)A-oriented surface and setting the GaAs substrate inside a growth container with the (411)A surface being disposed as a surface to be deposited. The pressure inside the growth chamber is reduced and the GaAs substrate is heated up to a predetermined temperature to cause epitaxial growth of Ga, Al, As on the (411)A substrate and forming a GaAs/AlGaAs hetero-structure on the (411)A-oriented GaAs substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1999
    Assignee: Kubota Corporation
    Inventors: Satoshi Hiyamizu, Satoshi Shimomura, Yasunori Okamoto
  • Patent number: 5950577
    Abstract: A water pump is provided with pressure-feed means whereby coolant that has leaked into the space between a bearing and a seal member in a pump housing is forcibly fed into an radiator reservoir tank in order to be recovered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Norio Sasaki, Mitsutoshi Hagiwara, Yasuo Ozawa, Itsuro Hashiguchi
  • Patent number: 5950431
    Abstract: A tandem pump apparatus having a first hydraulic pump for supplying operating fluid to a first actuator and a second hydraulic pump for supplying operating fluid to a second actuator in cooperation with each other is disclosed. Each hydraulic pump is provided with a flow rate control valve for refluxing a surplus of flow discharged from the pump to a suction side of the pump through a relief passage. A connecting passage connects the first relief passage downstream from the first flow rate control valve and the second relief passage downstream from the second flow rate control valve. A check valve is provided in the connecting passage for allowing operating fluid to flow from one of the relief passages that has a relatively great reflux flow rate to the other relief passage having a relatively small reflux flow rate, thereby ensuring sufficient supercharge into the two pump to achieve sufficient restraint of cavitation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoki Oogushi
  • Patent number: 5943989
    Abstract: A valve timing control device for controlling the opening/closing timing of the intake valve or exhaust valve of an internal combustion engine is disclosed, comprising a valve opening/closing rotary shaft rotatably assembled with the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine; a rotation transmitting member mounted around the rotary shaft so as to rotate relative thereto within a predetermined range for transmitting a rotating power from a crank pulley; vanes provided on the rotary shaft are the rotation transmitting member; a fluid chamber formed between the rotary shaft and the rotation transmitting member and halved into advancing chambers and delaying chambers by the vanes; first fluid passages for feeding and discharging a fluid to and from the advancing chambers; second fluid passages for feeding and discharging the fluid to and from the delaying chambers; a refuge hole formed in the rotation transmitting member or the rotary shaft and accommodating therein a lock pin spring-biased toward the rotar
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoki Kira
  • Patent number: 5943747
    Abstract: An apparatus for continuous drying and shrinking of textile knitted or woven good incorporates at least one drying station that includes several oppositely disposed and oppositely hot-air nozzles which are offset relative to each other and directed into a through-channel defined thereby. At least upper and lower endless rotating, porous guide belts limit the channel above and below.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Inventor: Kurt Muller
  • Patent number: 5945761
    Abstract: The clearance between the stator pole portions and the rotor pole portions at the axial central portion is larger than the clearance therebetween at the axial end portions. According to these characteristics, the magnetic attracting force causing objectionable acoustic noise is increased at the axial end portions of the housing and the stator in which stiffness against the magnetic attracting force is high and decreased at the axial central portion in which their stiffness against the magnetic attracting force is low. Thereby, the objectionable acoustic noise is reduced without changing the motoring torque and increasing the weight of the switched reluctance motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masafumi Sakuma
  • Patent number: 5941203
    Abstract: A valve timing control device for controlling the opening/closing timing of the intake valve or exhaust valve of an internal combustion engine comprises: a valve opening/closing rotary shaft rotatably assembled with the cylinder head of the internal combustion engine; a rotor integrally provided on the rotary shaft; a rotation transmitting member including a first mounting portion which is mounted around the peripheral surface of the rotor and a second mounting portion which is mounted around the peripheral surface of the rotary shaft, so as to rotate relative thereto within a predetermined range for transmitting a rotating power from a crank pulley; a plurality of vanes provided on the rotor or the rotation transmitting member; a fluid chamber formed between the rotor and the rotation transmitting member and separated into advancing chambers and delaying chambers by the vanes; first fluid passages for feeding and discharging a fluid to and from the advancing chambers; and second fluid passages for feeding an
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Atsushi Sato
  • Patent number: 5942702
    Abstract: An upright piano includes a fall-board hinged to a upper sill and connected through a pair of flexible coupling to side arms, and each of the flexible couplings has a rotary damper embedded in the side arm and an Oldham's coupling connected between the fall-board and the rotary damper so that the Oldham's couplings take up misalignment between the rotational axis of the fall-board and the rotational axes of the rotary dampers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Satoshi Inoue
  • Patent number: 5943437
    Abstract: A surface image of a semiconductor wafer having a defect is picked up as a inspection image while a surface image of a semiconductor wafer having no defect is stored in an image memory as a reference image. A density difference image between the inspection image and the reference image. By extracting the defect in wiring and non-wiring regions from the density difference image, extract images are obtained. Two luminance information for wiring and non-wiring regions are obtained from extract images. Based on the luminance information, the type of the defect is determined and a production process where the defect has occurred is detect.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho, Texas Instruments Japan Limited, KTI Semiconductor Ltd.
    Inventors: Shingo Sumie, Tsutomu Morimoto, Yuichiro Gotoh, Eiji Takahashi, Shouji Kanbe, Akira Okamoto
  • Patent number: 5941296
    Abstract: A space defined by inside surfaces of a main molding flask and lower auxiliary flask and the upper surface of a pattern plate where the upper surface of the pattern plate is retained at a predetermined level along the inside surfaces of the main molding flask and lower auxiliary flask is filled with an amount of molding sand. The molding sand is then squeezed in the space with upper and lower press heads in at least one of upward and downward directions to form at least one of first and second halves of a sand mold such that a lower surface of the first or second half of the sand mold is formed at a desired level along the inside surfaces of the main molding flask and lower auxiliary flask irrespective of edges of the main molding and lower auxiliary flasks. The desired level is determined by the level of the upper surface of the pattern plate at the time when the squeezing step has finished.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignee: Metal Engineering Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuso Kanehira
  • Patent number: 5937810
    Abstract: A valve timing control device includes a rotor fixed on a cam shaft, a housing member rotatably mounted on the cam shaft so as to surround the rotor, a chamber defined between the housing member and the rotor and having a pair of circumferentially opposed walls, a vane mounted on the rotor and extended outwardly therefrom in the radial direction into the chambers so as to divide each of chambers into a first pressure chamber and a second pressure chamber, a fluid supplying device for supplying fluid under pressure to at least a selected one of the first pressure chamber and the second pressure chamber, and a concave portion formed on the radially outer ends of the opposed walls of the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Sato, Kongo Aoki, Naoki Kira, Kenji Fujiwaki
  • Patent number: 5937403
    Abstract: Integer permutation is performed while a data sequence is transferred between buffers 1 and 2 alternately. Each data piece is divided into four elements and integer permutation is executed with the elements as keys from low-order to high-order elements. In the integer permutation, the data pieces are stored in the storage areas in the buffers in pack relation. To enable this, for each value of each element, a dividing analysis section 10 preliminarily surveys the number of data pieces having the element of such a value, and initializes pointers for specifying areas into which data pieces having the elements of each value are to be written. A digit place setting section 21, a digit place sort section 22, a switch circuit 30, and switches SW1 and SW2 determine the value of the corresponding element of data read from the buffer and guide the pointer required for data write to an address terminal of the buffer from the dividing analysis section 10.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1999
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Akitoshi Saito
  • Patent number: 5934983
    Abstract: The present invention provides a double-side grinder capable of grinding double-sides of an aluminum disk highly efficiently and affording a ground aluminum disk free of end-face flaw and superior in both surface accuracy and dimensional accuracy while obviating the occurrence of grinding marks extending in different directions. A rough grinding mechanism having rough grinding wheels disposed opposedly to each other is mounted, a finish grinding mechanism having finish grinding wheels disposed opposedly to each other is mounted just after the rough grinding mechanism, and a belt-like carrier having a large number of pockets formed longitudinally of the carrier with aluminum disks engaged therein is passed between the rough grinding wheels and the finish grinding wheels, thereby allowing double-sides of each aluminum disk to be subjected to rough grinding and finish grinding in a continuous manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1999
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Yoshiki Wada, Yoshihiro Hara, Norihide Tokunaga, Gisaburo Kondoh
  • Patent number: 5931126
    Abstract: A valve timing control device includes a rotor fixed on a cam shaft rotatably supported on a cylinder head of an engine so as to be accommodated in the cylinder head, a housing member rotatably mounted on the cam shaft so as to surround the rotor, plural chambers defined between the housing member and the rotor each of which having a pair of circumferentially opposed walls, plural vanes mounted on the rotor and extended outwardly therefrom in the radial direction into the chambers so as to divide each of chamber into a first pressure chamber and a second pressure chamber and a fluid supplying device for supplying fluid under pressure to at least a selected one of the first pressure chamber and the second pressure chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Eguchi, Atsushi Sato
  • Patent number: 5929711
    Abstract: A PLL circuit includes a phase comparator that compares an external synchronizing signal and an internal synchronizing signal to detect a phase difference therebetween, and a voltage-controlled oscillator that generates the internal synchronizing signal by oscillation thereof. The frequency of the voltage-controlled oscillator is controlled depending upon the phase difference, so that the internal synchronizing signal becomes in phase with the external synchronizing signal. A limiting device is provided, which limits the phase of the external synchronizing signal supplied to the phase comparator to be within a predetermined window period that includes the timing of generation of the internal synchronizing signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1999
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Shuhei Ito
  • Patent number: 5921231
    Abstract: A handheld soldering tool has a fuel reservoir or tank (10), a tip (1) heated in use by a catalyst assembly (2), a valve assembly (9) for controlling flow of gaseous fuel from the reservoir (10) to the catalyst assembly (2), and a piezo-electric ignition device (7) for igniting gas released from tank (10) for combustion during an initial warm-up period to bring the catalyst to its operating temperature. A spring member (19) mounted on a rocker member (17) serving to transmit an actuating force from a switch member (18) to the piezo device (7) is arranged to momentarily interrupt the flow of gas from valve assembly (9) through Venturi (16) to combustion region (15), to terminate the initial combustion period, during reverse movement of the rocker member (17) from an ignition disposition to a non-active or gas-flow disposition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 13, 1999
    Assignee: BS Technology Limited
    Inventor: Derek Butler
  • Patent number: 5917919
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a system and method for feed-forward active control of noise and vibration. In operation, at least one of noise and vibration from potential noise and vibration sources are detected, and noise reference data based on the detection of noise and vibration from the potential noise and vibration sources is generated. Further, at least one of noise and vibration at a selected environment in which noise and vibration are to be minimized are also detected, whereby error data based on the detection of noise and vibrations at the selected environment is generated. Filter constants are generated based on the noise reference data and the error data, wherein the generating of the filter constants includes the elimination of redundancies in the noise reference data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 29, 1999
    Inventor: Felix Rosenthal
  • Patent number: 5912516
    Abstract: Eddy current loss is a significant problem in high speed permanent magnet alternator/motors. Leakage flux from the rotor magnets 32, which flows through any stationary electrically conductive material such as a bearing housing 12 will result in eddy current loss. The invention uses a magnetic flux barrier means 29,36 to prevent magnetic flux leakage from the magnets 32 to the stationary electrically conductive material 12. The flux barrier means may comprise a diverter disk 29 made from a magnetically permeable material which is located on the shaft 18 next to the rotor 26 and rotates integrally with the rotor. Alternatively it may comprise a barrier ring 36 made from an electrically conductive material which is stationary on the end of the stator 27 and extends across the air gap 38 between the rotor 26 and the stator 27.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1999
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Michael John Atkinson, Anthony David Wearing, Andrew Hamilton Harson
  • Patent number: D411063
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 15, 1999
    Assignee: Global Upholstery Company
    Inventor: Jonathan Ginat