Patents by Inventor Isao Toda

Isao Toda 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: 11364783
    Abstract: A hybrid driving apparatus includes an internal combustion engine, a motive power transmission mechanism transmitting a driving force to main driving wheels, a main driving electric motor generating a driving force of the main driving wheels, an accumulator, sub-driving electric motors generating driving forces of sub-driving wheels, and a control apparatus executing an electric motor traveling mode and an internal combustion engine traveling mode. The sub-driving electric motor is provided to each of the sub-driving wheels, the control apparatus causes only the main driving electric motor to generate the driving force in the electric motor traveling mode and causes the main driving electric motor and the sub-driving electric motors to generate the driving forces in acceleration of the vehicle at a predetermined vehicle speed or higher, and although the engine generates the driving force, it does not cause the motors to generate driving forces in the traveling mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao Toda, Seiyo Hirano, Hideki Sanai
  • Publication number: 20210379979
    Abstract: A vehicle driving apparatus is provided that includes a drive motor, an internal combustion engine, and an electrical generator and can inhibit a weight balance and motion performance of a vehicle from being deteriorated and lowered. A vehicle driving apparatus driving a vehicle by motive power of a motor, the vehicle driving apparatus including a drive motor that is driven by electric power, an internal combustion engine that produces motive power by fuel, and an electrical generator that is driven by the internal combustion engine, the vehicle driving apparatus being characterized in that the drive motor, the internal combustion engine, and the electrical generator are arranged in a vehicle width direction of the vehicle in order of the drive motor, the internal combustion engine, and the electrical generator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Publication date: December 9, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI, Satoshi MARUYAMA, Shinji FUJIHIRA, Wataru KUWAHARA, Tomoya KAKITE, Yoshiaki NOGUCHI, Ryuichiro AMANO, Mitsuhiro HIROTA
  • Publication number: 20210370906
    Abstract: To provide a vehicle drive device capable of efficiently driving a vehicle by using a motor without falling into the vicious cycle between enhancement of driving via the motor and an increase in vehicle weight. The present invention is a vehicle drive device (10) having a motor for driving the wheels of a vehicle and includes a front wheel motor (20) for driving front wheels (2b) of a vehicle (1) and a battery (18) and a capacitor (22) that supply electric power for driving the front wheel motor (20), in which the voltage of the battery (18) and the capacitor (22) connected in series is applied to the front wheel motor (20) and the capacitor (22) is disposed between the left and right front wheels (2b) of the vehicle (1).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI, Hideki SANAI
  • Publication number: 20210300322
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system uses the in-wheel motor for driving the vehicle and has: an in-wheel motor that is provided in a wheel of a vehicle and drives the wheel; an internal combustion engine that is provided in a vehicle body of the vehicle and drives the wheel; and control equipment that controls the in-wheel motor and the internal combustion engine on the basis of requested output by a driver. The control equipment is configured to cause the internal combustion engine to generate drive power and cause the in-wheel motor not to generate the drive power when the requested output by the driver is lower than specified output. The control equipment is further configured to cause the internal combustion engine and the in-wheel motor to generate the drive power when the requested output by the driver is equal to or higher than the specified output.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI
  • Publication number: 20210300321
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system uses an in-wheel motor and has: a vehicle speed sensor; an in-wheel motor that is provided to a wheel of the vehicle and drives the wheel; an internal combustion engine that is provided in a vehicle body of the vehicle and drives the wheel; and control equipment that controls the in-wheel motor and the internal combustion engine. The control equipment causes the internal combustion engine to generate drive power and causes the in-wheel motor not to generate the drive power when the travel speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor is lower than a specified vehicle speed that is higher than zero. The internal combustion engine and the in-wheel motor generate the drive power in the case where the travel speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor is equal to or higher than the specified vehicle speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI
  • Publication number: 20210282988
    Abstract: The wheelchair includes a pair of body frames and, wheels, cross bars, and a seating portion. The wheels are supported rotatably with respect to the pair of body frames by the pair of body frames. The cross bars are provided so as to extend in the Y-direction across the pair of body frames. The seating portion is attached to the pair of body frames and is the portion on which the wheelchair user sits. In the wheelchair, the body frame and the body frame are movable in the longitudinal direction of the cross bars, respectively. The distance between the body frame and the body frame can be changed by moving the body frames in the longitudinal direction of the cross bars.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi IWASE, Isao TODA
  • Publication number: 20210282992
    Abstract: A wheelchair includes a seating portion on which a wheelchair user sits, a body frame that supports the seating portion, a pair of rear wheels and a pair of front wheels rotatably supported by the body frame, and a seat back portion capable of changing the inclination angle with respect to the seating portion. The wheelchair includes push-along handle portions as engaging portions capable of fixing the seat back portion to a side sill as a vehicle body member that forms a door opening of the vehicle when the seat back portion is tilted backward of the wheelchair.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2021
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi IWASE, Isao TODA
  • Publication number: 20210282989
    Abstract: The wheelchair includes a seating portion, body frames that support the seating portion, wheels that are rotatably supported by the body frames, an engaging portion, a left brake that brakes a left rear wheel, and a coupling portion that couples the engaging portion and the left brake to each other. The engaging portion is capable of switching between an engagement attitude for engaging a vehicle body member that forms an opening of a vehicle and a disengagement attitude for releasing the engagement with the vehicle body member. The coupling portion transmits the movement of the engaging portion to the left brake when the engaging portion makes an attitude change from the disengagement attitude to the engagement attitude. This operates the left brake when the attitude of the engaging portion switches from the disengagement attitude to the engagement attitude and brakes the left rear wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2021
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi IWASE, Isao TODA, Akira YASUTAKE, Tsuyoshi ARINAGA
  • Publication number: 20210039509
    Abstract: To provide a vehicle drive device capable of efficiently driving a vehicle by using in-wheel motors without falling into the vicious cycle between enhancement of driving via the motors and an increase in vehicle weight. The present invention is a vehicle drive device that uses in-wheel motors to drive a vehicle and includes in-wheel motors (20) that are provided in wheels (2b) of a vehicle (1) and drive wheels, in which the in-wheel motors generate the maximum output power in a high revolutions range equal to or more than a predetermined number of revolutions that is more than zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Publication date: February 11, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI, Hideki SANAI
  • Publication number: 20210023935
    Abstract: To provide a vehicle drive device capable of efficiently driving a vehicle by using in-wheel motors without falling into the vicious cycle between enhancement of driving via the motors and an increase in vehicle weight. The present invention is a vehicle drive device that uses in-wheel motors to drive a vehicle and includes a vehicle speed sensor that detects the travel speed of a vehicle, in-wheel motors that are provided in wheels of the vehicle and drive the wheels, and a controller that controls the in-wheel motors, in which the controller controls the in-wheel motors so as to generate driving forces when the travel speed of the vehicle detected by the vehicle speed sensor is equal to or more than a predetermined first vehicle speed that is more than zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Publication date: January 28, 2021
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI, Hideki SANAI
  • Publication number: 20210016765
    Abstract: A hybrid driving apparatus is provided which enables a driver to sufficiently enjoy a driving feeling of a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine. A hybrid driving apparatus includes an internal combustion engine that drive main driving wheels, a motive power transmission mechanism transmitting a driving force to the main driving wheels, a main driving electric motor driving the main driving wheels, an accumulator, sub-driving electric motors transmitting motive power to sub-driving wheels of the vehicle, and a control apparatus executing an electric motor traveling mode and an internal combustion engine traveling mode. The control apparatus causes the internal combustion engine to generate the driving force, the internal combustion engine is a flywheel-less engine, and the control apparatus causes the main driving electric motor to generate a torque for maintaining idling of the internal combustion engine in the internal combustion engine traveling mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2019
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Hideki SANAI
  • Publication number: 20210016782
    Abstract: A vehicle drive device uses in-wheel motors to drive a vehicle and includes in-wheel motors that are provided in wheels of a vehicle and drive the wheels, a body side motor that is provided in a body of the vehicle and drives the wheels, and a controller that controls the in-wheel motors and the body side motor based on requested output power of a driver, in which the controller causes the body side motor to generate a driving force and the in-wheel motors not to generate driving forces when the requested output power of the driver is less than predetermined output power and the controller causes the body side motor and the in-wheel motors to generate driving forces when the requested output power of the driver is equal to or more than the predetermined output power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI, Hideki SANAI
  • Publication number: 20210016653
    Abstract: To provide a vehicle drive device capable of effectively driving a vehicle by using in-wheel motors without falling into the vicious cycle between enhancement of driving via the motors and an increase in vehicle weight. The present invention is a vehicle drive device that uses in-wheel motors to drive a vehicle and includes in-wheel motors (20) that are provided in wheels (2b) of a vehicle (1) and drive the wheels, a body side motor (16) that is provided in a body of the vehicle and drives the wheels of the vehicle, and a battery (18) and a capacitor (22) that supply electric power for driving the in-wheel motors and/or the body side motor, in which a voltage of the battery is applied to the body side motor and a voltage of the battery and the capacitor connected in series is applied to the in-wheel motors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Kei YONEMORI, Hideki SANAI
  • Publication number: 20210008971
    Abstract: A hybrid driving apparatus includes an internal combustion engine, a motive power transmission mechanism transmitting a driving force to main driving wheels, a main driving electric motor generating a driving force of the main driving wheels, an accumulator, subdriving electric motors generating driving forces of sub-driving wheels, and a control apparatus executing an electric motor traveling mode and an internal combustion engine traveling mode. The sub-driving electric motor is provided to each of the sub-driving wheels, the control apparatus causes only the main driving electric motor to generate the driving force in the electric motor traveling mode and causes the main driving electric motor and the sub-driving electric motors to generate the driving forces in acceleration of the vehicle at a predetermined vehicle speed or higher, and although the engine generates the driving force, it does not cause the motors to generate driving forces in the traveling mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2019
    Publication date: January 14, 2021
    Applicant: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao TODA, Seiyo HIRANO, Hideki SANAI
  • Patent number: 10645489
    Abstract: A sound system for a vehicle including an engine and an audio device for an internal space of a cabin as sound sources disposed at given positions of the vehicle is provided which includes an engine sound localizer configured to localize a first sound generated by the engine to cause a vehicle driver inside the cabin to hear the first sound from a first position, and change the first position, and a traveling state detector configured to detect a traveling state of the vehicle. The engine sound localizer normally sets the first position at a default position and, when a given traveling state is detected by the traveling state detector, changes the first position to a specific position at which the vehicle driver is able to recognize the engine sound more clearly than at the default position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Toda, Kenji Asada, Katsumasa Sogame, Hironobu Hashiguchi
  • Patent number: 10583788
    Abstract: A sound system for a vehicle driven by an engine is provide, which includes an audio device for an internal space of a cabin of the vehicle, and a traveling state determiner configured to determine a traveling state of the vehicle. The audio device is configured to change a quality of a sound reproduced by a sound source and, when the traveling state determined by the traveling state determiner is a given traveling state, degrade the quality of the reproduced sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Toda, Hironobu Hashiguchi, Koji Wakamatsu
  • Patent number: 10425722
    Abstract: A sound system for a vehicle is provided, which includes an engine and an audio device for an internal space of a cabin, as sound sources disposed at given positions of the vehicle. The system includes an engine sound localizer configured to localize a first sound generated by the engine to cause a vehicle driver inside the cabin to hear the first sound from a first position, an audio sound localizer configured to localize a second sound generated by the audio device to cause the driver to hear the second sound from a second position, a traveling state detector configured to detect a traveling state of the vehicle, and a controller configured to cause the audio sound localizer to change, when a given traveling state is detected by the traveling state detector, the second position in a direction away from the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Toda, Kenji Asada, Katsumasa Sogame, Hironobu Hashiguchi
  • Patent number: 10359014
    Abstract: A sound system for a vehicle is provided, which includes as sound sources disposed at given positions of the vehicle, an engine and an audio device for an internal space of a cabin. The system includes an engine sound localizer configured to localize a first sound generated by the engine to cause a vehicle driver inside the cabin to hear the first sound from a first position, and an audio sound localizer configured to localize a second sound generated by the audio device to cause the driver to hear the second sound from a second position. The first and second positions are located forward of the driver in front-and-rear directions of the vehicle and separated from each other by a given distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Toda, Kenji Asada, Katsumasa Sogame, Hironobu Hashiguchi
  • Publication number: 20180376244
    Abstract: A sound system for a vehicle including an engine and an audio device for an internal space of a cabin as sound sources disposed at given positions of the vehicle is provided. The audio device is switchable between a first mode in which an audio sound including both an audible sound and an inaudible sound for a human is reproduced in the cabin and a second mode in which an audio sound including the audible sound but not including the inaudible sound is reproduced in the cabin. The sound system includes a traveling state detector configured to detect a traveling state of the vehicle, and a switch controlling module executable by a processor configured to reproduce the audio sound in the first mode under a condition that a given traveling state is detected by the traveling state detector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2018
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Inventors: Isao Toda, Katsumasa Sogame, Koji Wakamatsu, Hironobu Hashiguchi
  • Patent number: 10165354
    Abstract: A sound system for a vehicle including an engine and an audio device for an internal space of a cabin as sound sources disposed at given positions of the vehicle is provided. The audio device is switchable between a first mode in which an audio sound including both an audible sound and an inaudible sound for a human is reproduced in the cabin and a second mode in which an audio sound including the audible sound but not including the inaudible sound is reproduced in the cabin. The sound system includes a traveling state detector configured to detect a traveling state of the vehicle, and a switch controlling module executable by a processor configured to reproduce the audio sound in the first mode under a condition that a given traveling state is detected by the traveling state detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Toda, Katsumasa Sogame, Koji Wakamatsu, Hironobu Hashiguchi