Patents by Inventor Hirokazu Hirose

Hirokazu Hirose 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).

  • Publication number: 20100242818
    Abstract: A sewing machine that is capable of sewing an embroidery pattern on a work cloth held by an embroidery frame includes a display device that is capable of displaying at least one of an image and embroidery information, a detection device that detects an occurrence of a thread break, an image capture device that is capable of capturing an image of at least an area including a needle drop point, a display control device that displays an image captured by the image capture device and an operation key on the display device in a case where the detection device has detected the occurrence of the thread break, the operation key being to be used to transfer the embroidery frame by at least one stitch, and a sewing control device that causes the embroidery frame to be transferred based on a number of stitches specified by operation of the operation key.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2010
    Publication date: September 30, 2010
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20100031860
    Abstract: A sewing machine including a needle bar; a sewing needle attached to the lower end of the needle bar; a needle bar drive mechanism vertically driving the needle bar; a presser foot capable of applying releasable pressure on a workpiece cloth and that releases the pressure to allow manual movement and sewing of the workpiece cloth; a regulatory needle including a tip and being capable of assuming a pierced state where the tip is pierced through the workpiece cloth and a non-pierced state, wherein the regulatory needle is moved along with the workpiece cloth while retaining the pierced state of the tip; a regulatory needle drive unit vertically driving the regulatory needle between the pierced state and the non-pierced state in coordination with vertical movement of the sewing needle; and a regulatory needle regulator limiting horizontal movement of the regulatory needle so as not to exceed a predetermined stitch pitch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2009
    Publication date: February 11, 2010
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akie Shimizu, Hirokazu Hirose, Yuki Ihira, Yoshio Nishimura, Yoshinori Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20090312861
    Abstract: A sewing machine that includes an image capturing device and a sewing device. The image capturing device captures an image, and the sewing device sews a buttonhole having a length in accordance with a shape of the button, based on an image of a button captured by the image capturing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2009
    Publication date: December 17, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Yuki Ihira
  • Publication number: 20090296547
    Abstract: The present invention provides an information recording apparatus capable of reproducing recorded recording information without giving strange feeling even in the case where it is necessary to switch a recording layer among multiple recording layers, and an information recording program for executing the information recording process. An information recording apparatus R for recording “recording information Sr” to an optical disk DK having a plurality of recording layers L0 and L1 has a CPU 4 for detecting the content of the recording information Sr during recording of the recording information Sr to the recording layer L0, on the basis of the detected content, switching the recording layer L0 to which the recording information Sr is switched to the recording layer L1, and continuing recording of the recording information Sr.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2006
    Publication date: December 3, 2009
    Inventor: Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20090205549
    Abstract: A sewing machine capable of sewing a manually moved workpiece cloth in free motion includes a carrier that carries the workpiece cloth and being manually moved to move the workpiece cloth; a support element that movably supports the carrier; a movement amount detector that detects an amount of carrier movement; a specifier that specifies a stitch pitch; a comparator that produces a comparison of the amount of carrier movement with the stitch pitch; a regulator provided at the support element and that regulates carrier movement; and a controller that controls the regulator such that the amount of carrier movement does not exceed the stitch pitch based on the comparison produced by the comparator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2009
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Akie Ukai, Yoshio Nishimura, Yoshinori Nakamura, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
  • Publication number: 20090128350
    Abstract: A sewing machine including a maintenance information storage that stores maintenance information; an alert element that communicates maintenance information; a cumulative data storage that stores cumulative data of at least either of a sew time or a stitch count; a determiner that determines whether or not a predetermined timing for communicating the maintenance information has been reached based on the cumulative data; an alert count storage that stores an alert count of the maintenance information communicated; and an alert controller that, when determined by the determiner to have reached the predetermined timing for communicating the maintenance information, controls the alert element to communicate the maintenance information for a predetermined number of times based on the alert count.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2008
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tsuneo Okuyama, Motoshi Kishi, Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20090107374
    Abstract: A sewing machine capable of mode switching between a normal sewing mode and a free motion sewing mode including a feed dog switcher that switches a feed dog between an active state in which the feed dog is moved above and below a needle plate and an inactive state in which the feed dog is lowered below the needle plate, a first instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at a beginning of pattern sewing sequence, a second instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at an end of pattern sewing sequence, and a controller that, when in the free motion sewing mode, activates the feed dog by the feed dog switcher in response to an incoming instruction signal from the first or the second instruction issuer to execute fastening stitching through control of feed dog based on fastening stitching data to longitudinally feed a workpiece cloth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2008
    Publication date: April 30, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Yoshio Nishimura, Satoru Makino, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20090101053
    Abstract: A sewing machine including a main shaft; a motor driving the main shaft; a needle bar; a sewing needle attached to a lower end of the needle bar; a needle-bar drive mechanism driven by the main shaft and vertically moving the needle bar; a speed setter setting a rotational speed of the main shaft; a needle-position detector detecting a vertical position of the sewing needle or the needle bar; a main shaft speed detector; a motor controller; and a needle plate; wherein the motor controller executes at least either of a first control decelerating the main shaft below the set rotational speed when the lower end of the sewing needle is above the needle plate, or a second control accelerating the main shaft above the set speed when the lower end of the sewing needle is positioned below the needle plate based on detected results provided by the detectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2008
    Publication date: April 23, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshio Nishimura, Hirokazu Hirose, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Masaki Shimizu, Satoru Makino, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20090007829
    Abstract: A sewing machine includes a sewing machine motor that vertically drives a sewing needle via a main shaft; a sewing speed commander that produces a command sewing speed determined by rotational speed of the sewing machine motor; a stitch-pitch specifier that specifies a stitch pitch to be applied to manually fed sewing operation; a consumed thread amount detector that detects a consumed needle-thread amount in each ongoing sewing cycle; a sewing speed controller that controls sewing speed at the command sewing speed when the command sewing speed is equal to or less than a predetermined reference sewing speed, and that controls sewing speed at a target sewing speed calculated based on the consumed needle-thread amount and the stitch pitch when the command sewing speed is greater than the reference sewing speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2008
    Publication date: January 8, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaki Shimizu, Hiroshi Yamasaki, Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20080229992
    Abstract: A sewing machine that enables a user to perform sewing while moving a piece of work cloth, the sewing machine including: a main shaft that drives a needle bar equipped with a sewing needle, a sewing machine motor that rotary-drives the main shaft, a detection device that detects an actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth, a target pitch storage device that stores a predetermined length as a target pitch, which is a target value of stitch pitches of the piece of work cloth, an agreement degree calculation device that calculates an agreement degree between the target pitch and a stitch pitch in actual sewing that is to be determined based on the actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth which is detected by the detection device; and a notification device that notifies of the agreement degree calculated by the agreement degree calculation device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2008
    Publication date: September 25, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshinori Nakamura, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Akie Ukai, Satoru Makino, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20080229991
    Abstract: A sewing machine for a user to perform sewing while moving a work cloth includes: a detecting device that detects the work cloth; a movement calculating device that calculates, by two-dimensional coordinate data, a movement direction and a movement quantity of the work cloth between previous detection and current detection of the work cloth when the work cloth is detected; a movement data storage device that stores movement data serving as two-dimensional coordinate data indicative of the movement direction and the movement quantity; a movement data creating device that detects the work cloth on a one by one needle basis of sewing, calculates the movement data, and stores the calculated data in the movement data storage device; a cloth feed mechanism that moves the work cloth; and a reproduction sewing control device that performs sewing while moving the work cloth based on the movement data stored in the movement data storage device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2008
    Publication date: September 25, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20080210147
    Abstract: A sewing machine that sews a work cloth being moved by a user includes a detection device that detects the work cloth, a movement calculation device that calculates movement data of the work cloth, a movement data storage device that stores the movement data, a movement data creation device that causes the detection device and the movement calculation device to respectively detect the work cloth and calculate the movement data for each stitch, and that stores the movement data into the movement data storage device, a line segment specification device that specifies a line segment based on the movement data, a determination device that determines whether a stitch to be formed next will overlap with an already formed stitch corresponding to the specified line segment, and an error control device that performs an error correction operation based on a determination result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Publication date: September 4, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Yoshio Nishimura, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
  • Publication number: 20080196646
    Abstract: A sewing machine includes a needle bar that is equipped with a sewing needle at a lower end of the needle bar, a presser bar that is equipped with a presser foot at a lower end of the presser bar, which holds down a work cloth, a sewing machine motor which is a driving source that drives the needle bar in an up and down direction, and a switching device that switches between a normal mode in which the needle bar is driven in the up and down direction to form stitches and a practice mode in which the sewing machine is operated in a condition where at least the needle bar is not driven.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Publication date: August 21, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20080047689
    Abstract: A heat exchanger comprising: a core portion including a plurality of tubes; a pair of header tanks communicating with the tubes; and a pair of inserts arranged substantially parallel to the length of the tubes, and in such a manner as to contact the core portion at the ends of the core portion to transfer the heat from the core portion, and having the ends thereof supported on the header tanks; wherein a stress absorber to absorb the stress generated along the length of each insert is formed in the insert; wherein the stress absorber is formed over each insert from the upstream side to the downstream side in the air flow; and wherein the stress absorber is arranged in such a manner that the most upstream end and the most downstream end thereof in the air flow are not superposed, one on the other, along the direction of air flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2007
    Publication date: February 28, 2008
    Applicant: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshihiko Kamiya, Toshihide Ninagawa, Hiroyuki Osakabe, Hajime Sugito, Michiyasu Yamamoto, Takahiro Uno
  • Publication number: 20080000626
    Abstract: A heat exchanger includes tubes and a tank. The tubes extend in a first direction, and are stacked in a second direction. The tank has a tube insertion plate part, and is arranged at an end portion of the tubes. The tube insertion plate part has tube holes in which the tubes are inserted, and ribs extending in a third direction that is approximately perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction. The tube hole has end portions in the third direction. The rib are arranged to overlap with the end portion of the tube hole in the second direction, and to provide a deformable part to be deformable in the first direction. The deformable part is located in the tube insertion plate part outside of the ribs in the third direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2007
    Publication date: January 3, 2008
    Applicant: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Hajime Sugito, Hiroyuki Osakabe, Hirokazu Hirose, Takahiro Uno
  • Publication number: 20070289514
    Abstract: A sewing machine and a method for managing manufacture of the sewing machine that effectively utilize production information in a manufacture process or a repair process of the sewing machine. The sewing machine may include a stitch formation device that forms stitches in work cloth by relatively moving the work cloth with respect to a vertically moving needle; a display device that displays a record of performing an operational test, in which operations of the sewing machine are adjusted or confirmed, the operational test including test items; and a performance record storage device that stores the performance record, the performance record being correlated with the test items of the operational test.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2007
    Publication date: December 20, 2007
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20070279524
    Abstract: An information multiplexing device (100) includes: (i) extraction means (105, etc.) for extracting a closed caption (CC) signal superimposed for holding character information during a vertical retrace erase period; (ii) measurement means (113) for measuring actual data amount of character information (CC) from the extracted CC signal according to a predetermined cycle unit (GOP); (iii) superposition means (113, etc.) for superposing additional information (CGMS/A); (iv) judgment means (113) for judging whether it is possible to superimpose additional information, according to the allowed data amount of character information which can be held in the GOP and the actual data amount measured; and (v) control means for controlling the superposition means so as to superpose the additional information if the judgment results in that the additional information can be superposed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2005
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventor: Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20070227419
    Abstract: A sewing machine including an input unit that inputs a thread cut instruction; a thread cutting mechanism that cuts a needle thread and a bobbin thread based on the thread cut instruction; a feed dog vertically moving mechanism that vertically drives a feed dog for feeding a workpiece cloth; a feed dog activating switch unit that switches the feed dog between an active state in which the feed dog is vertically driven by the feed dog vertically moving mechanism and an inactive state in which an upper surface of the feed dog is positioned in a lowered position below an upper surface of a needle plate provided in a sewing machine bed; and a control unit that drives the thread cutting mechanism based on the thread cut instruction inputted from the input unit and that controls the feed dog activating switch unit to switch the feed dog to the inactive state in which the feed dog is positioned in the lowered position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2007
    Publication date: October 4, 2007
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20070012424
    Abstract: A heat exchanger comprises a core portion including a plurality of tubes with a heat medium flowing therein and fins coupled to the outer surface of the tubes for promoting heat exchange with the heat medium, a pair of header tanks extending in a direction perpendicular to the length or the tubes at the longitudinal ends of the tubes and communicating with the tubes, and a pair of inserts arranged substantially parallel to the length of the tubes at the ends of the core portion to receive the heat transmitted from the core portion and having the ends thereof supported on the header tanks, each header tank includes a core plate with the tubes fixed thereon and a tank body providing the internal space of the tank with the core plate, and the ends of each insert are arranged outside the internal space of the tank and the insert is movably fitted in the header tank and along the length thereof and is immovable in a direction perpendicular to the length thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2006
    Publication date: January 18, 2007
    Applicant: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Kamiya, Toshihide Ninagawa, Hirokazu Hirose, Hiroyuki Osakabe, Hajime Sugito
  • Patent number: 7162965
    Abstract: The sewing machine includes a presser foot that is lowered to press a workpiece cloth; a presser foot lifting lever operating the presser foot; a thread tension mechanism including a thread tension regulator capable of adjusting the thread tension of a needle thread and opening the thread tension regulator based on the lifting operation of the presser foot lifting lever; and a thread guide groove guiding the needle thread at least to the thread tension mechanism, upon carrying out the thread hooking work. The sewing machine further includes a detector detecting a lifting operation of the presser foot lifting lever; a covering member which is movable between a closed position where the covering member covers at least a part of the thread guide groove and an opened position where the covering member opens the thread guide groove. The covering member is moved to the closed position when the presser foot is in a lowered state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Terao, Yoko Nakagawa, Hirokazu Hirose