Patents by Inventor Katsutoshi Shinohara

Katsutoshi Shinohara 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: 8713960
    Abstract: An ice supplying apparatus, being provided in a refrigerator, includes an ice maker unit, which is configured to supply ice pieces produced therein to an outside of a freezer room door; an ice storage unit, which is configured to store the ice pieces produced by the ice maker unit; an ice discharger unit, which is provided within the ice storage unit to discharge the ice pieces below; and a shrinking portion, which is provided in the ice storage unit and defines an interior space thereof as small as it goes down, through building up a lower surface, among interior surfaces defining that interior space of the ice storage unit, for supporting the ice pieces stored therein from a lower portion thereof, by a surface inclining to a horizontal direction, wherein the ice discharger unit is disposed in a lower portion of the shrinking portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Appliances, Inc.
    Inventors: Katsutoshi Shinohara, Kenji Shiono, Shintaro Yamawaki, Taichiro Yamashita, Yasuo Kurihara
  • Publication number: 20130031927
    Abstract: An ice supplying apparatus, being provided in a refrigerator, includes an ice maker unit, which is configured to supply ice pieces produced therein to an outside of a freezer room door; an ice storage unit, which is configured to store the ice pieces produced by the ice maker unit; an ice discharger unit, which is provided within the ice storage unit to discharge the ice pieces below; and a shrinking portion, which is provided in the ice storage unit and defines an interior space thereof as small as it goes down, through building up a lower surface, among interior surfaces defining that interior space of the ice storage unit, for supporting the ice pieces stored therein from a lower potion thereof, by a surface inclining to a horizontal direction, wherein the ice discharger unit is disposed in a lower portion of the shrinking portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2012
    Publication date: February 7, 2013
    Inventors: Katsutoshi SHINOHARA, Kenji SHIONO, Shintaro YAMAWAKI, Taichiro YAMASHITA, Yasuo KURIHARA
  • Patent number: 8261570
    Abstract: An ice supplying apparatus 100, being provided in a refrigerator 1, comprises: an ice maker unit 22, which is configured to supply ice pieces produced therein to an outside of a freezer room door; an ice storage unit 110, which is configured to store the ice pieces produced by the ice maker unit; an ice discharger unit 112, which is provided within the ice storage unit to discharge the ice pieces below; and a shrinking portion 111, which is provided in the ice storage unit and defines an interior space thereof as small as it goes down, through building up a lower surface 113, among interior surfaces defining that interior space 301 of the ice storage unit 110, for supporting the ice pieces stored therein from a lower potion thereof, by a surface inclining to a horizontal direction, wherein the ice discharger unit 112 is disposed in a lower portion of the shrinking portion 111.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Appliances, Inc.
    Inventors: Katsutoshi Shinohara, Kenji Shiono, Shintaro Yamawaki, Taichiro Yamashita, Yasuo Kurihara
  • Publication number: 20090293529
    Abstract: An ice supplying apparatus 100, being provided in a refrigerator 1, comprises: an ice maker unit 22, which is configured to supply ice pieces produced therein to an outside of a freezer room door; an ice storage unit 110, which is configured to store the ice pieces produced by the ice maker unit; an ice discharger unit 112, which is provided within the ice storage unit to discharge the ice pieces below; and a shrinking portion 111, which is provided in the ice storage unit and defines an interior space thereof as small as it goes down, through building up a lower surface 113, among interior surfaces defining that interior space 301 of the ice storage unit 110, for supporting the ice pieces stored therein from a lower potion thereof, by a surface inclining to a horizontal direction, wherein the ice discharger unit 112 is disposed in a lower portion of the shrinking portion 111.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2009
    Publication date: December 3, 2009
    Inventors: Katsutoshi Shinohara, Kenji Shiono, Shintaro Yamawaki, Taichiro Yamashita, Yasuo Kurihara
  • Patent number: 5540061
    Abstract: A refrigerator comprises a compressor for compressing and discharging a coolant, a first heat exchanger which performs heat exchange between the compressed coolant from the compressor and the atmosphere to cool the compressed coolant, an adiabatic expansion orifice where the compressed and cooled coolant after passing the first heat exchanger is adiabatically expanded, and a second heat exchanger which performs heat exchange between the adiabatically expanded coolant and the air in refrigerating chambers so as to cool the air in the refrigerating chambers by the coolant and to heat the coolant by the air in the refrigerating chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 1993
    Date of Patent: July 30, 1996
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiko Gommori, Katsutoshi Shinohara, Takahiro Kaneko, Hiroaki Hata, Akihiko Ishiyama