Patents Assigned to Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
  • Patent number: 9150094
    Abstract: A vehicle radiator core support, includes: a support main body including upper and lower support portions, and paired side support portions connecting right and left ends of the upper and lower support portions; and a center brace connecting intermediate parts of the upper and lower support portions. At least the lower support portion and the center brace are integrally formed. A lower-side connection portion is disposed where the lower support portion connects to the center brace, and a lower-side connection portion cross section has a U-shape opening toward a front or rear of the vehicle. A lower-side adjacent portion is disposed at a part of the lower support portion adjacent to the lower-side connection portion, such that a partition wall is between the lower-side connection and adjacent portions, and a lower-side adjacent portion cross section has a U-shape opening opposite to that of the lower-side connection portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Makoto Nakanishi
  • Publication number: 20150277472
    Abstract: A vehicle grip structure including a body member and a grip, in which the body member is covered by the grip made of a synthetic resin, the grip includes an insertion hole in which the body member is inserted and a space portion provided along the insertion hole, multiple elastic protrusions are formed integrally with the grip and dispersedly on one of an inner peripheral-side wall surface and an outer peripheral-side wall surface of the space portion so as to protrude toward the other wall surface, when the grip is held by a driver, the elastic protrusions are pressed against the other wall surface and elastically deformed, and the elastic protrusions are arranged in a grid pattern in which adjoining ones of multiple polygons of the same shape have a common side, and are positioned so as to form each side of the polygons.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2013
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideaki SAKAI, Osamu MIYASHITA, Hiroaki TSUZUKI, Tomonori YANAGIYA
  • Patent number: 9139146
    Abstract: A vehicular impact absorber including: a hollow tubular body having a plurality of flat plate-shaped side walls and having a polygonal section; and a vehicle body-side attachment plate that is fixed integrally with the tubular body via a bracket in a state where the vehicle body-side attachment plate is in contact with one end portion of the tubular body in an axial direction, the vehicular impact absorber being fixed at the vehicle body-side attachment plate to a vehicle body-side member, and the vehicular impact absorber absorbing impact energy as the tubular body is crushed in the axial direction when an impact load is applied to the tubular body through the other end portion of the tubular body in the axial direction, the vehicular impact absorber being configured such that the bracket has a fixed plate portion that has a prescribed length in the axial direction of the tubular body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Makoto Nakanishi
  • Patent number: 9134748
    Abstract: A pedal operation amount detection apparatus comprises: a transmitting member; a pivot lever provided on the transmitting member; and a deformable body, the pedal operation amount detection apparatus electrically detecting a pedal operation amount based on a deformation of the deformable body, the deformable body is fixed to the transmitting member, a sensor rod is fixedly fitted to the deformable body so as to extend upright relative to the deformable body, an elastic member is provided across the sensor rod and the pivot lever so as to be connected to each other, so that the pedal operating force or a reaction force corresponding to the pedal operating force is transmitted from the pivot lever to the sensor rod via the elastic member, and the sensor rod is passed, with a play, through the pivot lever so that the play allows the pivot lever to pivot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Noboru Fujiwara
  • Publication number: 20150241904
    Abstract: A vehicle pedal unit, in which a first pedal and a second pedal are provided apart from each other in a vehicle width direction and are arranged in a vehicle via a common base bracket, the second pedal is attached to the base bracket via a position adjustment bracket, and while the position adjustment bracket and the base bracket form an adjustment contact portion that is movable relative to each other and an attachment position of the position adjustment bracket with respect to the base bracket is adjustable via the adjustment contact portion, the first pedal is arranged in the base bracket not via the position adjustment bracket in which the second pedal is arranged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2012
    Publication date: August 27, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takashi Hayashihara, Nobuyuki Kawahara
  • Patent number: 9114768
    Abstract: A bumper reinforcement for a vehicle (also simply referred to as a bumper reinforcement, herein below) 10 in FIG. 1 (a)-(c) is arranged on a front side of a vehicle, and FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view, FIG. 1(b) is an enlarged view of a section taken along IB-IB in FIG. 1(a), and FIG. 1(c) is an enlarged view of a section taken along IC-IC in FIG. 1(a). FIG. 2 is a view that also shows the bumper reinforcement 10, and FIG. 2(a) is a plan view seen from above in a state where the bumper reinforcement 10 is arranged in the vehicle, and FIG. 2(b) is a front view seen from a front side of the vehicle. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a rectangular metal plate material 12, which is a material of the bumper reinforcement 10. In this example, a steel plate for hot press forming is used, which is bent into a given shape by hot press forming, and is given high strength up to tensile strength of 1400 MPa or higher through quench hardening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takeshi Taniguchi
  • Publication number: 20150198965
    Abstract: A vehicle pedal bracket includes a plate-like base plate portion fixed to a vehicle cabin side of a dash panel that separates an engine room and a vehicle cabin from each other, a support portion that is fixedly fitted to the base plate portion and by which a pedal arm is pivotably supported, and a plurality of tubular spacers fixedly fitted to the base plate portion, the vehicle pedal bracket is fixed to the dash panel with a plurality of screw members respectively inserted through the plurality of spacers, a plurality of tubular holding portions is disposed so as to project from a back side of the base plate portion, the back side is on the dash panel side, and so as to be in close contact with outer peripheral faces of the plurality of spacers, and a sound absorbing structural portion having a large number of bottomed holes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Publication date: July 16, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kazuaki Kitaguchi
  • Publication number: 20150158467
    Abstract: A connecting pin fitting assistive device that prevents erroneous fitting in which, instead of a proper connecting pin, another connecting pin that is larger in length than the proper connecting pin is erroneously fitted, at the time of connecting a prescribed connecting member to a pedal arm via a connecting pin by passing the connecting pin through a connection hole formed in the pedal arm and retaining the connecting pin with use of a retaining member, the connecting pin fitting assistive device having a contact face disposed in a vicinity of the connection hole of the pedal arm and located at a position apart from a side face of the pedal arm by a protrusion restriction dimension S, and the connecting pin fitting assistive device bringing a distal end of the connecting pin passed through the connection hole into contact with the contact face, so that a protruding dimension by which the connecting pin protrudes from the side face of the pedal arm is restricted to the protrusion restriction dimension S, and
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2012
    Publication date: June 11, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toshiro Takeshima, Yoshinobu Fukatsu
  • Publication number: 20150115118
    Abstract: A vehicle radiator core support, includes: a support main body including upper and lower support portions, and paired side support portions connecting right and left ends of the upper and lower support portions; and a center brace connecting intermediate parts of the upper and lower support portions. At least the lower support portion and the center brace are integrally formed. A lower-side connection portion is disposed where the lower support portion connects to the center brace, and a lower-side connection portion cross section has a U-shape opening toward a front or rear of the vehicle. A lower-side adjacent portion is disposed at a part of the lower support portion adjacent to the lower-side connection portion, such that a partition wall is between the lower-side connection and adjacent portions, and a lower-side adjacent portion cross section has a U-shape opening opposite to that of the lower-side connection portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Makoto NAKANISHI
  • Publication number: 20150108775
    Abstract: A crush box includes a tubular body having a polygonal section and disposed between an end portion of a bumper beam and a vehicle body in such a posture that an axial direction of the tubular body generally coincides with a longitudinal direction of a vehicle, in which the tubular body has an outer side wall and an inner side wall that is located inward of the outer side wall in a vehicle-width direction, and both the outer side wall and the inner side wall are inclined outward in the vehicle-width direction, in a direction from the vehicle body toward the bumper beam, and in which the tubular body is crushed into a bellows shape to absorb impact energy as a compressive load is applied to the tubular body from the bumper beam in the axial direction of the tubular body, wherein an angle of inclination of the outer side wall is greater than an angle of inclination of the inner side wall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2014
    Publication date: April 23, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Makoto NAKANISHI, Kazuaki KITAGUCHI
  • Patent number: 8978512
    Abstract: An operating pedal includes a joining portion at which a first member and a second member whose thickness is smaller than a thickness of the first member are overlapped with each other, and welded to each other along an end edge of the second member, a step portion being provided in the first member along the end edge of the second member by recessing a protruding portion that outwardly protrudes from the end edge so that the protruding portion is drawn back from the second member; and the first member and the second member being welded to each other at a portion extending from the end edge of the second member to the step portion of the first member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiro Himetani, Nobuyuki Kawahara
  • Patent number: 8979146
    Abstract: A vehicle bumper beam including: a resin beam having an elongate body extending along a vehicle-width direction, two tubular shock-absorbing portions disposed at the beam body's opposite longitudinal end portions extending in front-rear direction, the beam body and shock-absorbing portions being formed with each other; a metal beam disposed outside the resin beam in the front-rear direction, fixedly fitted to the resin beam. Further, flat attachment portions, formed with inner end portions of the shock-absorbing portions in front-rear direction; bent portions bent in a crank extending from attachment portions outward in front-rear direction, the beam body being to attachment portions via bent portions, the metal beam fixedly fitted to an outer surface of the beam body's intermediate portion; metal beam's opposite end portions extending beyond bent portions covering the right and left sides, fixedly fitted to distal end portions; each space defined by shock-absorbing portion, metal beam and bent portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsutoshi Kano, Yasuhiro Yoshimura
  • Publication number: 20150072105
    Abstract: A laminated composite interior component, including: a first member that has a predetermined mating surface; and a second member made of an elastically deformable resin material, the second member having a plate-like portion that is substantially parallel to the mating surface and that has multiple protrusions which are formed integrally with plate-like portion and which protrude toward the mating surface such that a space is formed between the mating surface and the plate-like portion, the second member being arranged so as to be laminated on the first member with the protrusions in contact with the mating surface, cushioning characteristics being imparted to the laminated composite interior component when distal ends of the protrusions are pressed against the mating surface and elastically deformed, the laminated composite interior component being configured such that the multiple protrusions have the same shape, the plate-like portion is dotted with the multiple protrusions, bending stiffness of each of th
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2012
    Publication date: March 12, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Osamu Miyashita, Hideaki Sakai
  • Publication number: 20150061307
    Abstract: A vehicular impact absorber including: a hollow tubular body having a plurality of flat plate-shaped side walls and having a polygonal section; and a vehicle body-side attachment plate that is fixed integrally with the tubular body via a bracket in a state where the vehicle body-side attachment plate is in contact with one end portion of the tubular body in an axial direction, the vehicular impact absorber being fixed at the vehicle body-side attachment plate to a vehicle body-side member, and the vehicular impact absorber absorbing impact energy as the tubular body is crushed in the axial direction when an impact load is applied to the tubular body through the other end portion of the tubular body in the axial direction, the vehicular impact absorber being configured such that the bracket has a fixed plate portion that has a prescribed length in the axial direction of the tubular body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2012
    Publication date: March 5, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Makoto Nakanishi
  • Publication number: 20150033902
    Abstract: A vehicle operation pedal apparatus includes an elongate hollow pedal arm provided with a pedal sheet, the vehicle operation pedal apparatus transmits a pedal operating force applied to the hollow pedal arm to an output member connected to the hollow pedal arm. The hollow pedal arm is formed of a pair of a front half and a rear half each having a U-shaped section and combined with each other; the vehicle operation pedal apparatus comprises a plate-shaped connection plate having a connecting portion connected to the output member so as to be pivotable relative to the output member and fixed integrally with the hollow pedal arm; in the front half and the rear half, slit-shaped through-holes are formed, respectively; and the connection plate is passed through the hollow pedal arm in a vehicle front-rear direction through the through-holes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2012
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tomohiro Tsuguma
  • Publication number: 20150020642
    Abstract: A pedal operation amount detection apparatus for an operation pedal apparatus that includes a transmitting member including a pedal arm of an operation pedal that is disposed to be pivotable about a support axis and subjected to a depressing operation, and an output member to which a depressing operation force is transmitted from the transmitting member and to which a reaction force corresponding to the depressing operation force is applied, the pedal operation amount detection apparatus includes a sensor member disposed on a load transmission path of the transmitting member and the reaction force and the pedal operation amount detection apparatus electrically detects deformation of the sensor member. The sensor member is an elongate member that is torsionally and elastically deformable about a torsion center line in a longitudinal direction and is disposed at a position offset from the transmitting member in a direction parallel to the support axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2012
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Applicants: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd., Minebea CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Noboru Fujiwara, Hirofumi Otsuka
  • Publication number: 20150020641
    Abstract: A parking brake apparatus that includes: a braking member that is moved in one direction to pull a brake cable, thereby actuating a parking brake; a ratchet that has a plurality of serrations along a moving direction of the braking member, and that is disposed on one of the braking member and a vehicle body-side member; a pawl that is rotatably disposed via a pawl pin on the other one of the braking member and the vehicle body-side member, and that is brought into contact with a locking surface side of the serration in accordance with a tensile force of the brake cable, thereby preventing the braking member from moving backward toward an original position in a direction opposite to the one direction; and a pawl-urging spring that urges the pawl in such a rotational direction that the pawl engages with the ratchet, at the start of braking, at which the braking member is moved in the one direction, every time the pawl relatively climbs over the serration, the pawl being brought into contact with a non-locking s
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2012
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Nagata
  • Publication number: 20150016810
    Abstract: Infrared heating apparatus irradiates a member to be heated with infrared rays from infrared source to heat the member, and sets heated region of the member to be heated with use of shielding member that restricts transmission of infrared rays. The infrared heating apparatus includes: a pair of holding members each having a plate shape that allow the infrared rays to be transmitted therethrough being disposed to intersect with an irradiation direction of the infrared rays between the infrared source and the member to be heated, and the shielding member being interposed and held between the holding members, and being a metal sheet, metal foil or a metal film, which has a prescribed shape that restricts transmission of the infrared rays, and the holding members being placed on each other to be in close contact with each other while the shielding member is interposed between the holding members.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Publication date: January 15, 2015
    Applicant: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Keitaro Mineoka
  • Patent number: 8931368
    Abstract: A clevis pin (connecting pin) (26) is inserted into a clearance hole (72), and is displaceable relative to an operating pedal (16). A pivotal moving link (68) is disposed between the clevis pin (26) and a sensor pin (64) of a load sensor (30). A reaction force applied from the clevis pin (26) to the load sensor (30) always acts in a substantially constant direction (substantially leftward in FIG. 1A) even if the operating pedal (16) and an operating rod (22) are pivoted relatively around the axis of the clevis pin (26) in accordance with the depressing operation of the operating pedal (16). Thus, the detecting accuracy of the load sensor (30) is heightened, and variation in detecting accuracy is prevented, rendering the high reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Noboru Fujiwara, Hiroyuki Amano
  • Patent number: 8931367
    Abstract: A connecting opening portion is provided at the portion that is an outer circumferential portion of a hollow-structured operating pedal and is connected to connecting links inside the connecting opening portion, a reinforcing member having a U-shaped section is integrally weld-joined so as to open outward. End portions of the connecting links are inserted inside the reinforcing member, and are relatively pivotablly connected by a first link pin. Accordingly, the rigidity of the operating pedal is improved, and at the same time, the stress concentration is relieved, whereby buckling and deformation are suppressed. As a result, the plate thickness of the hollow-structured operating pedal can be kept small to minimize the weight thereof, and also, the width dimension of the operating pedal in the vehicle fore and aft direction can be reduced to achieve a compact size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yoshiro Himetani