Patents by Inventor Kazuaki Mizukami

Kazuaki Mizukami 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: 8826688
    Abstract: To provide a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a supercooled beverage. According to the present invention, there is disclosed a beverage dispenser including a beverage supply circuit 7 which supplies a carbonated beverage to the outside a primary cooling device 13, a secondary cooling device 30, and a heat exchanger 16 for supercooling which allows these components to cool the carbonated beverage flowing through the beverage supply circuit 7 into a supercooled state at a temperature of a solidifying point or less. The heat exchanger 16 supplies the carbonated beverage in the supercooled state to release the supercooled state in the outside, and the carbonated beverage on standby for serving in a portion of the beverage supply circuit 7 cooled by at least the heat exchanger 16 for supercooling is maintained in an unsaturated state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8485394
    Abstract: To provide a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a carbonated beverage as a supercooled beverage. According to the present invention, there is disclosed a beverage dispenser including a carbonator 51 for manufacturing carbonated water; a beverage supply circuit 7 for supplying a carbonated beverage manufactured by the carbonator 51 to the outside; a heat exchanger 16 for supercooling; and a primary cooling device 13, the carbonator 51 mixes a carbonic acid gas supplied from a gas regulator 54 which supplies a pressurized carbonic acid gas, syrup and diluting water to manufacture the carbonated beverage, and the heat exchanger 16 for supercooling cools the carbonated beverage flowing through the beverage supply circuit 7 into a supercooled state at a temperature of a solidifying point or less to release the supercooled state in the outside.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8479534
    Abstract: To provide a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a supercooled beverage. [Solving Means] The present invention provides a beverage dispenser 1 which supplies a beverage brought into a supercooled state at a solidifying point or less and which releases the supercooled state in the outside, and the beverage dispenser includes a primary cooling device 13 which cools the beverage to an ice point or so, a beverage supply circuit 7 which supplies the beverage cooled by the primary cooling device 13 to the outside, a brine circuit 31 through which an antifreezing liquid cooled to the solidifying point or less of the beverage is circulated, and a heat exchanger 16 for supercooling the beverage, which performs heat exchange between the beverage flowing through the beverage supply circuit 7 and the antifreezing liquid flowing through the brine circuit 31.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2013
    Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Takeshi Ishii, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8479953
    Abstract: A beverage dispenser capable of supplying a supercooled beverage without being influenced by a type of raw water. In various embodiments, the beverage dispenser includes a raw water treatment device that deaerates or filters raw water, a primary cooling device that cools the raw water to an ice point or so, and a secondary cooling device that cools the raw water into a supercooled state. In certain embodiments, the beverage dispenser further includes an anti-freezing liquid tank, a refrigerant circuit that cools the anti-freezing liquid to a supercooling temperature, and a brine circuit that circulates the anti-freezing liquid. According to certain aspects of the embodiments, a supercooled beverage can be quickly and reliably phase-changed to a different state when discharged to the outside.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2013
    Assignee: The Coca-Cola Company
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Takeshi Ishii, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8220289
    Abstract: Disclosed is a refrigeration apparatus capable of minimizing the pressure loss of a refrigerant circulated through an internal heat exchanger and capable of improving a cooling capability. A refrigeration apparatus in which a compressor, a radiator, an electronic expansion valve and an evaporator are successively annularly connected to one another to constitute a refrigerant circuit includes a refrigerator unit provided with the compressor and the radiator, and a cooling unit provided with the electronic expansion valve and the evaporator, the refrigerator unit is connected to one or a plurality of cooling units via a communication pipe to constitute the refrigerant cycle, an internal heat exchanger which performs heat exchange between a refrigerant discharged from the radiator and a refrigerant discharged from the evaporator is constituted of a double tube, and the internal heat exchanger is provided in the cooling unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2012
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Yanagi, Kazuaki Mizukami, Setsu Hasegawa, Takashi Inoue
  • Publication number: 20110041543
    Abstract: To provide a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a supercooled beverage. According to the present invention, there is disclosed a beverage dispenser including a beverage supply circuit 7 which supplies a carbonated beverage to the outside a primary cooling device 13, a secondary cooling device 30, and a heat exchanger 16 for supercooling which allows these components to cool the carbonated beverage flowing through the beverage supply circuit 7 into a supercooled state at a temperature of a solidifying point or less. The heat exchanger 16 supplies the carbonated beverage in the supercooled state to release the supercooled state in the outside, and the carbonated beverage on standby for serving in a portion of the beverage supply circuit 7 cooled by at least the heat exchanger 16 for supercooling is maintained in an unsaturated state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2009
    Publication date: February 24, 2011
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20110042414
    Abstract: To provide a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a carbonated beverage as a supercooled beverage. According to the present invention, there is disclosed a beverage dispenser including a carbonator 51 for manufacturing carbonated water; a beverage supply circuit 7 for supplying a carbonated beverage manufactured by the carbonator 51 to the outside; a heat exchanger 16 for supercooling; and a primary cooling device 13, the carbonator 51 mixes a carbonic acid gas supplied from a gas regulator 54 which supplies a pressurized carbonic acid gas, syrup and diluting water to manufacture the carbonated beverage, and the heat exchanger 16 for supercooling cools the carbonated beverage flowing through the beverage supply circuit 7 into a supercooled state at a temperature of a solidifying point or less to release the supercooled state in the outside.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2009
    Publication date: February 24, 2011
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20100276451
    Abstract: There is disclosed a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a supercooled beverage without being influenced by a type of raw water. The present invention is a beverage dispenser 1 comprising: a raw water treatment device 63 which deaerates raw water and/or filters the raw water through a reverse osmosis film; a primary cooling device 13 which cools said raw water to an ice point or so; a raw water supply circuit 59 which supplies the raw water cooled by the primary cooling device 13 to the outside; a secondary cooling device 30 which cools the raw water flowing through the raw water supply circuit 59 into the supercooled state at the solidifying point or less; and a syrup circuit 53 which supplies a syrup to the raw water supplied to the outside through a heat exchanger 61 for supercooling the raw water of the secondary cooling device 30.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2008
    Publication date: November 4, 2010
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Takeshi Ishii, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20100263400
    Abstract: To provide a beverage dispenser capable of appropriately and smoothly supplying a supercooled beverage. [Solving Means] The present invention provides a beverage dispenser 1 which supplies a beverage brought into a supercooled state at a solidifying point or less and which releases the supercooled state in the outside, and the beverage dispenser includes a primary cooling device 13 which cools the beverage to an ice point or so, a beverage supply circuit 7 which supplies the beverage cooled by the primary cooling device 13 to the outside, a brine circuit 31 through which an antifreezing liquid cooled to the solidifying point or less of the beverage is circulated, and a heat exchanger 16 for supercooling the beverage, which performs heat exchange between the beverage flowing through the beverage supply circuit 7 and the antifreezing liquid flowing through the brine circuit 31.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2008
    Publication date: October 21, 2010
    Inventors: Yoshihisa Tachibana, Takashi Nishiyama, Kazuhide Saito, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Hashimoto, Takeshi Ishii, Hiroshi Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20090139253
    Abstract: Disclosed is a refrigeration apparatus capable of minimizing the pressure loss of a refrigerant circulated through an internal heat exchanger and capable of improving a cooling capability. A refrigeration apparatus in which a compressor, a radiator, an electronic expansion valve and an evaporator are successively annularly connected to one another to constitute a refrigerant circuit includes a refrigerator unit provided with the compressor and the radiator, and a cooling unit provided with the electronic expansion valve and the evaporator, the refrigerator unit is connected to one or a plurality of cooling units via a communication pipe to constitute the refrigerant cycle, an internal heat exchanger which performs heat exchange between a refrigerant discharged from the radiator and a refrigerant discharged from the evaporator is constituted of a double tube, and the internal heat exchanger is provided in the cooling unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2008
    Publication date: June 4, 2009
    Applicant: SANYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Yanagi, Kazuaki Mizukami, Setsu Hasegawa, Takashi Inoue
  • Patent number: 7293428
    Abstract: A refrigerating machine comprising a compressor, a radiator, a pressure-reducing device, a gas-liquid separator, plural heat absorbers functioning selectively in different temperature zones, a unit for allowing introduction of gas refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator into an intermediate pressure portion of the compressor, and a low pressure side circuit in which liquid refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator is circulated, wherein the low pressure side circuit is provided with at least a heat absorber functioning in a low temperature zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2007
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Itsuki, Akira Sugawara, Hiroshi Mukaiyama, Etsushi Nagae, Satoshi Imai, Kazuaki Mizukami, Ichiro Kamimura
  • Publication number: 20060218952
    Abstract: There are provided a refrigerating device capable of efficiently performing a refrigerant recovering operation even in a case where there are disposed a plurality of heat absorbing units functioning in different temperature zones, and a refrigerator including this refrigerating device. A refrigerating device 30 includes a compressor 1, a radiator 2, an expansion valve 3, a gas-liquid separator 4, a first heat absorbing unit 10 through which a liquid refrigerant from this gas-liquid separator 4 flows, and a second heat absorbing unit 11, and the refrigerating device performs a refrigerant recovering operation of stopping circulation of the refrigerant into the second heat absorbing unit 11, operating the compressor 1, recovering the refrigerant stored in a heat sink 58, and sending the refrigerant to the gas-liquid separator 4 to store the refrigerant in a state in which circulation of the refrigerant into the first heat absorbing unit 10 is stopped after ending a freezing operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2006
    Publication date: October 5, 2006
    Inventors: Etsushi Nagae, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Itsuki, Hiroshi Mukaiyama
  • Patent number: 7066245
    Abstract: An on-vehicle air-conditioner for air-conditioning has a refrigeration circuit provided with a refrigerant car exterior heat exchanger installed for exchanging heat with the car exterior air that can be used for cooling and for heating, and at least one opening and closing duct for air inflow rate regulation installed in front of and/or behind the refrigerant car exterior heat exchanger. By controlling the opening/closing of the duct according to the situation, the arrangement can solve problems of the prior art, and can efficiently and sufficiently perform cooling, heating, defrosting or the like. The arrangement is useful even when using, for example, CO2 as a refrigerant, in vehicles such as hybrid cars using electricity and gasoline as their energy source, idle stop coping cars or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2006
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Ebara, Hirokazu Izaki, Tetsuya Masuda, Kazuaki Mizukami
  • Publication number: 20050204773
    Abstract: A refrigerating machine is equipped with a compressor 1, a radiator 2, a pressure-reducing device 3, a gas-liquid separator 4, a unit for introducing the gas refrigerant separated in gas-liquid separator 4 into an intermediate pressure portion of the compressor, and a low pressure side circuit 9 in which liquid refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator is circulated. The low pressure side circuit 9 is provided with a heat absorbing unit 10 which selectively functions in different temperature zones. When the heat absorbing unit 10 is made to function in a high temperature zone, the gas refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator 4 is inhibited from being introduced into the intermediate pressure portion of the compressor 1 is inhibited, or allowed to be introduced into another intermediate pressure portion which is lower in pressure than the intermediate pressure portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2005
    Publication date: September 22, 2005
    Inventors: Satoshi Imai, Akira Sugawara, Hiroshi Mukaiyama, Etsushi Nagae, Hiroyuki Itsuki, Kazuaki Mizukami, Ichiro Kamimura
  • Publication number: 20050198996
    Abstract: A refrigerating machine comprising a compressor, a radiator, a pressure-reducing device, a gas-liquid separator, plural heat absorbers functioning selectively in different temperature zones, a unit for allowing introduction of gas refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator into an intermediate pressure portion of the compressor, and a low pressure side circuit in which liquid refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator is circulated, wherein the low pressure side circuit is provided with at least a heat absorber functioning in a low temperature zone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2005
    Publication date: September 15, 2005
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Itsuki, Akira Sugawara, Hiroshi Mukaiyama, Etsushi Nagae, Satoshi Imai, Kazuaki Mizukami, Ichiro Kamimura
  • Publication number: 20050198978
    Abstract: A refrigerating machine having a compressor, a radiator, a pressure-reducing device, a gas-liquid separator, a unit for selectively introducing gas refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator into an intermediate pressure portion of the compressor, and a low pressure side circuit in which liquid refrigerant separated in the gas-liquid separator is circulated. The low pressure side circuit is provided with a heat absorbing unit functioning selectively in one of different temperature zones, and refrigerant passing through the selected heat absorbing unit is returned to a suction portion of the compressor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2005
    Publication date: September 15, 2005
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Itsuki, Akira Sugawara, Hiroshi Mukaiyama, Etsushi Nagae, Satoshi Imai, Kazuaki Mizukami, Ichiro Kamimura
  • Publication number: 20040069481
    Abstract: An on-vehicle air conditioner for air conditioning, comprising a refrigerating circuit having a refrigerant outside heat exchanger installed so as to perform a heat exchange with outside air and usable for both cooling and heating, a coolant circuit having a coolant outside heat exchanger installed so as to perform a heat exchange with the outside air and allowing the coolant of an engine to circulate therein, and at least one opening/closing duct for inflow air regulation installed on the forward outside and/or rearward inside of the refrigerant outside heat exchanger, wherein the opening and closing of the duct can be controlled properly according to the situations, whereby cabin cooling, cabin heating, and defrosting can be performed efficiently and sufficiently even if, for example, CO2 refrigerant is used in the cars such as hybrid cars using electricity and gasoline as energy sources and idle stop-capable cars.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2002
    Publication date: April 15, 2004
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Ebara, Hirokazu Izaki, Tetsuya Masuda, Kazuaki Mizukami
  • Patent number: 5705750
    Abstract: An ultrasonic sensor detects the time of rise of the first of transmitted waves and also detects peak points Po appearing in the waveform of received waves to detect a waveform reference point where the time-base coordinate of a phantom envelope connecting these peak points Po is a minimum. The time T2 of rise of the first of the received waves is calculated by adding a predetermined period of offset time To to the time t2 of the waveform reference point of the received waves to calculate the elapsed time .DELTA.T from the time of rise of the first transmitted wave to the time of rise of the first received wave. The distance L to an object of measurement is calculated based on the result of calculation. The distance L to the object can be calculated alternatively based on the elapsed time .DELTA.T' from a waveform reference point of the transmitted waves to the waveform reference point of the received waves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 6, 1998
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuaki Mizukami, Masashi Yasuda, Hiroaki Arakawa, Mikio Hojo, Toshihiko Matsuhashi, Yoshio Ozawa, Atsushi Ogawa
  • Patent number: 5623426
    Abstract: A failure diagnosing system for an absorption chiller including an evaporator, absorber, etc. comprises a plurality of sensors for measuring at least one representative temperatures of each of two fluids participating in heat exchange in a specified heat exchange unit, and an arithmetic unit for receiving measurement data from the sensors. The arithmetic unit comprises a circuit for calculating an actual temperature difference using a simple calculation equation defined by a linear expression, a circuit for calculating the amount of heat exchange by the absorber, and a circuit for calculating the degree of abnormality of the absorber by comparing the actual temperature difference with an ideal temperature difference for the same amount of heat exchange as the calculated amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 22, 1997
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshio Ozawa, Masashi Yasuda, Yasuharu Kurogi, Kazuaki Mizukami, Hiroyuki Suzuki, Masahiro Furukawa, Yasushi Kamada
  • Patent number: 5557939
    Abstract: A control system for absorption chillers which comprises a device for measuring operating state data concerning components of the main assembly of the chiller and including the liquid level of a high temperature generator and the degree of opening of a gas valve, and a fuzzy control circuit for calculating the deviation of the liquid level from a target value based on the measured operating state data, predicting a variation in the liquid level from the deviation and another item of the operating state data and calculating a control input as to the inverter frequency of an absorbent pump based on the result of prediction, whereby even when a great disturbance occurs, the liquid level of the generator can be controlled with high responsiveness to minimize the variation of the liquid level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 24, 1996
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuaki Mizukami, Atsushi Ogawa, Masashi Yasuda, Masahiro Furukawa, Hidetoshi Arima, Yoshio Ozawa