Patents by Inventor Kazuhiko Minami

Kazuhiko Minami 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: 20060234082
    Abstract: A heat exchanger includes a brazing heat exchanging tube and a fin. The heat exchanging tube and the fin are brazed with each other via the brazing layer of the heat exchanging tube. The brazing layer is formed by spraying a brazing material consisting of Si: 6 to 15 mass %, Zn: 1 to 20 mass %, at least one of Cu: 0.3 to 0.6 mass % and Mn: 0.3 to 1.5 mass, and the balance being aluminum and inevitable impurities.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2003
    Publication date: October 19, 2006
    Applicant: SHOWA DENKO K.K.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Minami, Tomoaki Yamanoi, Hiroyuki Kawabata
  • Publication number: 20060045989
    Abstract: To provide an optical filter, which has good repeeling properties and does not generate thermally decomposed products from an adhesive layer adhered to a part decomposed products which hardly remain, even when the optical film is In an optical filter comprising an optical film and containing an adhesive for adhering said optical film to an said optical film or inside said optical film, the adhesive comprises a olefin polymer so that it has a repeeling property from the adherent surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2003
    Publication date: March 2, 2006
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Minami
  • Patent number: 6923626
    Abstract: A variable displacement compressor has a housing, a drive shaft, a rotor, a swash plate, a piston and a decelerating mechanism. The housing includes a cylinder bore and supports the drive shaft. The rotor is secured to the drive shaft. The swash plate is operatively connected to the rotor and the drive shaft so as to rotate therewith and varies its inclination angle relative to the drive shaft. The piston is connected to the swash plate so as to reciprocate in the cylinder bore with rotation of the swash plate. A stroke of the piston varies in accordance with the inclination angle of the swash plate. The deceleration mechanism between the rotor and the swash plate decelerates the inclination speed of the swash plate in a range from a near maximum inclination angle to the maximum inclination angle when the swash plate inclines to increase the stroke of the piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2005
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Masaki Ota, Tomohiro Wakita, Tomoji Tarutani, Hirotaka Kurakake, Yoshinobu Ishigaki, Kazuhiro Nomura, Yoshinori Inoue, Satoshi Umemura, Kazuhiko Minami
  • Patent number: 6893368
    Abstract: In this driving force transmission apparatus, with a simple constitution employing a one-way clutch 20 instead of an electromagnetic clutch, the driving force derived from the motor 33 can be transmitted to the rotating shaft 1 during engine stops, and the driving force of the engine can be transmitted to the rotating shaft 1 during engine operations. Also, the pulley 3 is held against the connecting portion 11 and the fixed-side member 26 by means of first and second two ball bearings 21, 30 disposed axially adjacent to first and second inner cylinder portions 6, 7, respectively, between which the opening portion 5 of the pulley 2 is interposed. This simple driving force transmission apparatus can switch between transmission and non-transmission of driving force from pulley to rotating shaft, and transmits the driving force of a motor directly to the rotating shaft in the non-transmission state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignees: Koyo Seiko Co., Ltd, Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Hideki Fujiwara, Taku Adaniya, Shigeo Fukushima, Masahiro Kawaguchi, Kazuhiko Minami, Akinobu Kanai, Tomoharu Arai
  • Patent number: 6821094
    Abstract: A compressor includes a housing, a rotary shaft, a pulley, an electric motor, a pulley one-way clutch, and a motor one-way clutch. The shaft is rotatably supported by the housing. The pulley is operably connected to the shaft and includes a power transmission portion. When power is transmitted from a vehicular engine to the power transmission portion, the pulley is rotated. The electric motor rotates the shaft and includes a rotor, which is operably connected to the shaft. At least part of the electric motor overlaps the power transmission portion in the axial direction of the shaft. The pulley one-way clutch is located between the pulley and the shaft and selectively permits and prevents power transmission between the pulley and the shaft. The motor one-way clutch is located between the rotor and the shaft and selectively permits and prevents power transmission between the rotor and the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2004
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Kazuo Murakami, Yasuharu Odachi, Taku Adaniya, Takeshi Kawata, Kazuhiko Minami, Akihito Yamanouchi, Masahiro Kawaguchi, Hirohito Hayashi, Jiro Iwasa
  • Publication number: 20040130788
    Abstract: An optical filter includes a louver film and an adhesive layer that is fixedly provided on the back surface of the louver film and used to adhere the louver film to a surface, which optical filter can be adhered to the surface of a touch panel without leaving any gap between the touch panel surface and the optical filter and thus causes no malfunction of the touch panel, even when the louver film is warped or curled, and which can be easily removed from the touch panel at any desired time and refixed. The adhesive layer of the optical filter has a peel strength of 0.1 to 3 N/25 mm which is measured against a surface of a polyethylene terephthalate film at a peeling rate of 90 inch (about 229 cm)/min. at a peeling angle of 90 degrees.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2003
    Publication date: July 8, 2004
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Minami
  • Patent number: 6739843
    Abstract: A control valve has a valve body for opening and closing a valve hole and a solenoid mechanism for urging the valve body by energizing a solenoid. The solenoid mechanism includes a yoke, a plunger housing, a fixed core and a plunger. The yoke accommodates the solenoid and forms a magnetic path. The plunger housing made of stainless steel connects with the yoke, and has a central axis. The fixed core connects with the yoke. The plunger is accommodated in the plunger housing and connects with the valve body. The plunger is attracted to the fixed core to move in the direction of the central axis by applying electromagnetic force from the solenoid. Black oxide treatment is performed to the yoke after the plunger housing is brazed to the yoke.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Satoshi Umemura, Kazuhiko Minami, Tatsuya Hirose, Masami Niwa, Yuji Hashimoto, Masaki Ota
  • Patent number: 6725681
    Abstract: An air conditioner for air conditioning the interior of a compartment includes a compressor and an electric motor. The compressor compresses refrigerant gas and changes the displacement. The electric motor drives the compressor. A motor controller rotates the motor at a constant reference speed. A detection device detects information related to the thermal load on the air conditioner. A current sensor detects the value of current supplied to the electric motor. A controller controls the compressor based on the detected thermal load information and the detected current value. The controller computes a target torque of the compressor based on the thermal load information. In accordance with the computed target torque, the controller computes a target current value to be supplied to the electric motor. The controller further controls the displacement of the compressor such that the detected current value matches the target current value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2004
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Taku Adaniya, Masahiro Kawaguchi, Shoichi Ieoka, Yasuharu Odachi, Kazuhiko Minami, Tomoharu Arai
  • Patent number: 6682314
    Abstract: A control valve has a valve housing and a valve chamber defined in the valve housing. A valve body is accommodated in the valve chamber for adjusting the opening degree of a supply passage. A pressure sensing chamber is defined in the valve housing. The pressure at a pressure monitoring point in a refrigerant circuit is applied to the pressure sensing chamber. A bellows is located in the pressure sensing chamber. The bellows has a movable end. A transmission rod is slidably supported by the valve housing. The transmission rod includes the valve body. A support spring is located between the inner wall of the pressure sensing chamber and the movable end of the bellows. The spring supports the movable end such that the movable end can be displaced. The movable end of the bellows includes a protrusion such that the spring and the movable end of the bellows are fitted to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2004
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Satoshi Umemura, Tatsuya Hirose, Taku Adaniya, Ken Suitou, Ryo Matsubara, Kazuhiko Minami
  • Patent number: 6637228
    Abstract: A control valve is used for a variable displacement compressor installed in a refrigerant circuit of an air conditioner. The compressor has a control chamber and a control passage, which connects the control chamber to a pressure zone in which the pressure is different from the pressure of the control chamber. The control valve has a valve body, which is accommodated in the valve chamber for adjusting the opening size of the control passage. A pressure sensing member moves in accordance with the pressure difference between two pressure monitoring points located in the refrigerant circuit. The pressure sensing member moves the valve body such that the displacement of the compressor is varied to counter changes of the pressure difference. The force applied by an actuator corresponds to a target value of the pressure difference. The pressure sensing member moves the valve body such that the pressure difference seeks the target value. An urging member is accommodated in the valve chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Satoshi Umemura, Tatsuya Hirose, Kazuhiko Minami, Yuji Hashimoto, Masami Niwa, Masaki Ota
  • Patent number: 6638026
    Abstract: A control valve has a valve housing. A valve chamber and a pressure sensing chamber are defined in the valve housing, respectively. A pressure sensing member is located in the pressure sensing chamber. A pressure sensing rod is slidably supported by the valve housing. A valve body is accommodated in the valve chamber. An end of the pressure sensing rod is connected to the pressure sensing member and the other end of the pressure sensing rod contacts the valve body. A solenoid chamber is defined in the valve housing. A stationary iron core is located between the valve chamber and the solenoid chamber. A solenoid rod extends through and is slidably supported by the stationary iron core. An urging force applied to the pressure sensing member by an actuator through the solenoid rod corresponds to a target value of the pressure difference. The pressure sensing member moves the valve body such that the pressure difference seeks the target value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Ken Suitou, Kazuya Kimura, Ryo Matsubara, Satoshi Umemura, Kazuhiko Minami, Masaki Ota
  • Patent number: 6617727
    Abstract: A housing of a compressor supports a rotary shaft. The rotary shaft is coupled to a pulley with a pulley one-way clutch and is coupled to a rotor of an electric motor with a motor one-way clutch. The pulley is supported by the housing with a pulley bearing. The electric motor overlaps a power transmission portion in the axial direction of the rotary shaft. At least two of the bearing, the pulley one-way clutch, the motor one-way clutch, and a brush device of the electric motor overlap each other in the axial direction of the rotary shaft. As a result, the size of the compressor is reduced in the axial direction of the rotary shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Jiro Iwasa, Taku Adaniya, Yasuharu Odachi, Takeshi Kawata, Kazuhiko Minami, Kazuo Murakami, Hirohito Hayashi
  • Publication number: 20030133207
    Abstract: An optical filter (1) includes: a film layer (3) formed of an optical film having a front surface (301) observed by an observer and a back surface opposing to the front surface (301), a releasable adhesive layer which is firmly placed on the back surface of the film layer and can be releasably adhered to the adhesion surface (40). The optical filter (1) further provides a flexible tab (10a, 10b) coupled integrally with the film layer (3).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2002
    Publication date: July 17, 2003
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Minami, Tokutaro Hara, Daisuke Suzuki
  • Publication number: 20030097853
    Abstract: An air conditioner for air conditioning the interior of a compartment includes a compressor and an electric motor. The compressor compresses refrigerant gas and changes the displacement. The electric motor drives the compressor. A motor controller rotates the motor at a constant reference speed. A detection device detects information related to the thermal load on the air conditioner. A current sensor detects the value of current supplied to the electric motor. A controller controls the compressor based on the detected thermal load information and the detected current value. The controller computes a target torque of the compressor based on the thermal load information. In accordance with the computed target torque, the controller computes a target current value to be supplied to the electric motor. The controller further controls the displacement of the compressor such that the detected current value matches the target current value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2002
    Publication date: May 29, 2003
    Inventors: Taku Adaniya, Masahiro Kawaguchi, Shoichi Ieoka, Yasuharu Odachi, Kazuhiko Minami, Tomoharu Arai
  • Publication number: 20030097851
    Abstract: An air conditioner for air conditioning the interior of a compartment having a compressor, an electric motor, a detection device, a rotation speed sensor, and a controller is provided. The compressor compresses refrigerant gas and changes the displacement. The electric motor drives the compressor, and is capable of rotating at a constant reference rotation speed. The detection device detects information related to the thermal load on the air conditioner. The rotation speed sensor detects the rotation speed of the motor. The controller computes a target torque of the compressor at the reference rotation speed of the motor based on the thermal load information detected by the detection device, and computes an input current value to be supplied to the motor. The input current value corresponds to the target torque.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2002
    Publication date: May 29, 2003
    Inventors: Taku Adaniya, Masahiro Kawaguchi, Akinobu Kanai, Kazuhiko Minami, Shigeo Fukushima, Tomoharu Arai
  • Publication number: 20030098624
    Abstract: A housing of a compressor supports a rotary shaft. The rotary shaft is coupled to a pulley with a pulley one-way clutch and is coupled to a rotor of an electric motor with a motor one-way clutch. The pulley is supported by the housing with a pulley bearing. The electric motor overlaps a power transmission portion in the axial direction of the rotary shaft. At least two of the bearing, the pulley one-way clutch, the motor one-way clutch, and a brush device of the electric motor overlap each other in the axial direction of the rotary shaft. As a result, the size of the compressor is reduced in the axial direction of the rotary shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 25, 2002
    Publication date: May 29, 2003
    Inventors: Jiro Iwasa, Taku Adaniya, Yasuharu Odachi, Takeshi Kawata, Kazuhiko Minami, Kazuo Murakami, Hirohito Hayashi
  • Publication number: 20030098186
    Abstract: A compressor includes a housing, a rotary shaft, a pulley, an electric motor, a pulley one-way clutch, and a motor one-way clutch. The shaft is rotatably supported by the housing. The pulley is operably connected to the shaft and includes a power transmission portion. When power is transmitted from a vehicular engine to the power transmission portion, the pulley is rotated. The electric motor rotates the shaft and includes a rotor, which is operably connected to the shaft. At least part of the electric motor overlaps the power transmission portion in the axial direction of the shaft. The pulley one-way clutch is located between the pulley and the shaft and selectively permits and prevents power transmission between the pulley and the shaft. The motor one-way clutch is located between the rotor and the shaft and selectively permits and prevents power transmission between the rotor and the shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 25, 2002
    Publication date: May 29, 2003
    Inventors: Kazuo Murakami, Yasuharu Odachi, Taku Adaniya, Takeshi Kawata, Kazuhiko Minami, Akihito Yamanouchi, Masahiro Kawaguchi, Hirohito Hayashi, Jiro Iwasa
  • Patent number: 6520749
    Abstract: A control valve is located in a variable displacement compressor, which is used in a refrigerant circuit. The control valve includes a pressure-sensing member. The pressure sensing member moves a valve body in accordance with the pressure difference between a first pressure monitoring point and a second pressure monitoring point, which are located in the refrigerant circuit. A first spring and a second spring urge the pressure-sensing member in one direction. The spring constant of the first spring is smaller than that of the second spring. A solenoid urges the pressure-sensing member by a force, the magnitude of which corresponds to an external command. The solenoid urges the pressure-sensing member in a direction opposite to the direction in which the springs urge the pressure-sensing member. The control valve quickly and accurately controls the displacement of the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Kazuya Kimura, Satoshi Umemura, Kazuhiko Minami, Tatsuya Hirose, Taku Adaniya, Atsuhiro Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6517324
    Abstract: A control valve is used for a variable displacement compressor. The compressor has a crank chamber and a supply passage. The control valve includes a valve housing. A valve chamber is defined in the valve housing. A valve body is accommodated in the valve chamber for adjusting the opening size of the supply passage. A pressure sensing chamber is defined in the valve housing. A pressure sensing member separates the pressure sensing chamber into a first pressure chamber and a second pressure chamber. The pressure at a first pressure monitoring point is applied to the first pressure chamber. The pressure at a second pressure monitoring point located is applied to the second pressure chamber. The pressure sensing member moves the valve body in accordance with the pressure difference between the first pressure chamber and the second pressure chamber. The pressure sensing member is a bellows or a diaphragm, an actuator applies force to the pressure sensing member in accordance with external commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki
    Inventors: Masaki Ota, Ken Suitou, Kazuya Kimura, Tatsuya Hirose, Satoshi Umemura, Yuji Hashimoto, Masami Niwa, Kazuhiko Minami
  • Patent number: 6517323
    Abstract: A displacement control mechanism used for compressor is installed in a refrigerant circuit. The compressor has a bleed passage and a supply passage. The displacement control mechanism includes a first control valve and a second control valve. The first control valve includes a first valve body and a pressure sensitive member. The first valve body adjusts the opening size of the supply passage. The pressure sensitive member moves in accordance with a pressure in the refrigerant circuit. A pressure detection region is located downstream of the first valve body. The second control valve includes a second valve body. The second valve body adjusts the opening size of the bleed passage. The second valve body moves in accordance with the pressure of the pressure detection region. When the pressure of the pressure detection region increases, the second control valve decreases the opening size of the bleed passage. This permits to start with rapid cooling performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Kazuya Kimura, Satoshi Umemura, Izuru Shimizu, Taku Adaniya, Kazuhiko Minami