Patents by Inventor Kazunari Azuchi

Kazunari Azuchi 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: 7261307
    Abstract: A suspension arm made of an aluminum alloy extruded profile having a portion forming a bottom portion, portions forming at least two vertical walls, and a horizontal rib which connects the two vertical walls, wherein a suspension part lower end support portion is formed between the two vertical walls or at the bottom portion by removing a part of the horizontal rib. It is preferable to gradually change the interval between the two vertical walls in the portion in which the horizontal rib is removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2007
    Assignees: Aisin Keikinzoku Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushikikaisya
    Inventors: Kazunobu Nuno, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyohito Gyobu, Hitoshi Sakuma
  • Patent number: 7207590
    Abstract: A towing hook mounting structure for a vehicle comprises a bumper reinforcement extending in a width direction of the vehicle and including a front surface, a back surface, a top surface and an under surface, a hook mounting member to which a towing hook is fixed, a mechanical fastening means for fastening the bumper reinforcement and the hook mounting member on at least one of the top surface or the under surface of the bumper reinforcement a bumper engaging portion formed on the bumper reinforcement so as to protrude toward the back surface of the bumper reinforcement, a hook engaging portion formed on the hook mounting member protruding toward a front surface of the hook mounting member so as to be engaged with the bumper engaging portion, and a contacting portion formed on the hook mounting member so as to make contact with the back surface of the bumper reinforcement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignees: Aisin Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinichi Haneda, Kazunari Azuchi, Taku Matsutani, Jun Shobo
  • Patent number: 7201414
    Abstract: A shock absorbing structure for a vehicle comprises a bumper reinforcement extending in a vehicle width direction, a pair of side members extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, a pair of crash boxes provided between the pair of side members and the bumper reinforcement, and the crash box including a crash box body being hollowed in a vertical direction so as to have a first opening, a second opening and side walls, wherein the bumper reinforcement is attached to one end of the crash box body, and a side member attachment flange is integrally formed at the other end of the crash box body, and a load adjusting plate fixed to the crash box body so as to cover at least one of the first opening and the second opening of the crash box body and to sandwich the side walls of the crash box body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2007
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masakazu Iketo, Kazunari Azuchi, Tadashi Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 7137658
    Abstract: A bumper reinforcement for a vehicle includes a front wall portion, a rear wall portion, a pair of vertically spaced connecting walls interposed between the front wall portion and the rear wall portion for establishing rigid connections therebetween, and a tow hook attachment member including a hollow body and at least one flange, the hollow body being penetrated through the front and rear wall portions, and the at least one flange being formed integrally with the hollow body to extend along an external surface of the rear wall portion, and secured to the external surface of the rear wall portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2006
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinichi Haneda, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyoichi Kita
  • Publication number: 20060175788
    Abstract: A suspension arm made of an aluminum alloy extruded profile having a portion forming a bottom portion, portions forming at least two vertical walls, and a horizontal rib which connects the two vertical walls, wherein a suspension part lower end support portion is formed between the two vertical walls or at the bottom portion by removing a part of the horizontal rib. It is preferable to gradually change the interval between the two vertical walls in the portion in which the horizontal rib is removed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2006
    Publication date: August 10, 2006
    Inventors: Kazunobu Nuno, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyohito Gyobu, Hitoshi Sakuma
  • Publication number: 20060043744
    Abstract: A shock absorbing structure for a vehicle comprises a bumper reinforcement extending in a vehicle width direction, a pair of side members extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, a pair of crash boxes provided between the pair of side members and the bumper reinforcement, and the crash box including a crash box body being hollowed in a vertical direction so as to have a first opening, a second opening and side walls, wherein the bumper reinforcement is attached to one end of the crash box body, and a side member attachment flange is integrally formed at the other end of the crash box body, and a load adjusting plate fixed to the crash box body so as to cover at least one of the first opening and the second opening of the crash box body and to sandwich the side walls of the crash box body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2005
    Publication date: March 2, 2006
    Inventors: Masakazu Iketo, Kazunari Azuchi, Tadashi Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 7000975
    Abstract: A bumper device, wherein the front wall part (5) and the rear wall part (6) of a bumper stay (4) disposed between a bumper reinforcement (2) and a side member (3) and connected to each other through a plurality of ribs (7, 8, 9,10), the inner and outer ribs (7, 8) diverge forward, a projected part (11) extending inward is provided on the inner rib (7), and the width dimension (11) of the front wall part (5) is formed larger than the width dimension (12) of the rear wall part (6), whereby the inner rib (7) of the plurality of ribs (side walls) disposed between the bumper reinforcement and the side member of a vehicle body to connect the front and rear walls of the bumper stay to each other can be prevented from being bent inward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2006
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinichi Haneda, Kiyoichi Kita, Kazunari Azuchi
  • Patent number: 6971694
    Abstract: A bumper apparatus for a vehicle includes a bumper reinforcement extending in a vehicle width direction and a bumper stay fastened to one side of the bumper reinforcement and including a body extending in a front-rear direction of a vehicle and a first plate fastened to one end of the body. The first plate includes a contacting surface portion provided along the bumper reinforcement, a slanting surface portion branching from the bumper reinforcement, a first flange portion extending outside the body of the bumper stay, and second flange portions provided at both side ends of the first plate contacting with side surfaces of the body of the bumper stay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2005
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsuzi Sakuma, Shinichi Haneda, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyoichi Kita, Gen Nishida
  • Publication number: 20050236809
    Abstract: A towing hook mounting structure for a vehicle comprises a bumper reinforcement extending in a width direction of the vehicle and including a front surface, a back surface, a top surface and an under surface, a hook mounting member to which a towing hook is fixed, a mechanical fastening means for fastening the bumper reinforcement and the hook mounting member on at least one of the top surface or the under surface of the bumper reinforcement a bumper engaging portion formed on the bumper reinforcement so as to protrude toward the back surface of the bumper reinforcement, a hook engaging portion formed on the hook mounting member protruding toward a front surface of the hook mounting member so as to be engaged with the bumper engaging portion, and a contacting portion formed on the hook mounting member so as to make contact with the back surface of the bumper reinforcement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Publication date: October 27, 2005
    Inventors: Shinichi Haneda, Kazunari Azuchi, Taku Matsutani, Jun Shobo
  • Publication number: 20050212311
    Abstract: A bumper reinforcement for a vehicle includes a front wall portion, a rear wall portion, a pair of vertically spaced connecting walls interposed between the front wall portion and the rear wall portion for establishing rigid connections therebetween, and a tow hook attachment member including a hollow body and at least one flange, the hollow body being penetrated through the front and rear wall portions, and the at least one flange being formed integrally with the hollow body to extend along an external surface of the rear wall portion, and secured to the external surface of the rear wall portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2005
    Publication date: September 29, 2005
    Inventors: Shinichi Haneda, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyoichi Kita
  • Publication number: 20050212312
    Abstract: A bumper apparatus for a vehicle includes a bumper reinforcement extending in a vehicle width direction and a bumper stay fastened to one side of the bumper reinforcement and including a body extending in a front-rear direction of a vehicle and a first plate fastened to one end of the body. The first plate includes a contacting surface portion provided along the bumper reinforcement, a slanting surface portion branching from the bumper reinforcement, a first flange portion extending outside the body of the bumper stay, and second flange portions provided at both side ends of the first plate contacting with side surfaces of the body of the bumper stay.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2005
    Publication date: September 29, 2005
    Inventors: Katsuzi Sakuma, Shinichi Haneda, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyoichi Kita, Gen Nishida
  • Publication number: 20050104393
    Abstract: A bumper device, wherein the front wall part (5) and the rear wall part (6) of a bumper stay (4) disposed between a bumper reinforcement (2) and a side member (3) and connected to cach other through a plurality of ribs (7, 8, 9, 10), the inner and outer ribs (7, 8) diverge forward, a projected part (11) extending inward is provided on the inner rib (7), and the width dimension (11) of the front wall part (5) is formed larger than the width dimension (12) of the rear wall part (6), whereby the inner rib (7) of the plurality of ribs (side walls) disposed between the bumper reinforcement and the side member of a vehicle body to connect the front and rear walls of the bumper stay to each other can be prevented from being bent inward.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2003
    Publication date: May 19, 2005
    Applicant: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinishi Haneda, Kiyoichi Kita, Kazunari Azuchi
  • Patent number: 6808215
    Abstract: According to the current invention, a bumper apparatus for vehicle comprises a bumper reinforcement made of an extruded aluminum base alloy material being formed in cross-section having two separated vertical portions, an upper horizontal rib, an intermediate horizontal rib, and a lower horizontal rib provided therebetween, each end of the upper, intermediate and lower horizontal ribs are connected to upper portions, middle portions and lower portions of the vertical portions respectively. In this configuration, the thickness of the intermediate rib is thicker than the thicknesses of the upper rib and the lower rib to make the upper rib and the lower rib be buckled to deform earlier than the intermediate rib when load is applied to the bumper apparatus, and the thickness of the intermediate rib is not more than to make a strength of the bumper apparatus be over a vehicle body tolerable force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsuji Sakuma, Shinichi Haneda, Kiyoichi Kita, Kazunari Azuchi, Taku Matsutani
  • Publication number: 20040135382
    Abstract: According to the current invention, a bumper apparatus for vehicle comprises a bumper reinforcement made of an extruded aluminum base alloy material being formed in cross-section having two separated vertical portions, an upper horizontal rib, an intermediate horizontal rib, and a lower horizontal rib provided therebetween, each end of the upper, intermediate and lower horizontal ribs are connected to upper portions, middle portions and lower portions of the vertical portions respectively. In this configuration, the thickness of the intermediate rib is thicker than the thicknesses of the upper rib and the lower rib to make the upper rib and the lower rib be buckled to deform earlier than the intermediate rib when load is applied to the bumper apparatus, and the thickness of the intermediate rib is not more than to make a strength of the bumper apparatus be over a vehicle body tolerable force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2003
    Publication date: July 15, 2004
    Applicants: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA, AISIN KEIKINZOKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Katsuji Sakuma, Shinichi Haneda, Kiyoichi Kita, Kazunari Azuchi, Taku Matsutani
  • Patent number: 6712411
    Abstract: A bumper device can reduce a weight of a reinforcement member more than a weight of a conventional reinforcement member while sufficiently absorbing a given impact energy. A size “b” between both side mounting portions where the reinforcement member is mounted on a stay is set greater than a size “a” between both side longitudinal wall portions of a side frame, both outer longitudinal walls of the stay are inclined such that both outer longitudinal walls are opened toward the reinforcement member, and the distance between the inner longitudinal walls is set substantially equal to the distance between the both side longitudinal wall portions of the side frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2004
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Terutsugu Gotanda, Shinichi Haneda, Kazuo Mori, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyoichi Kita, Kazunobu Nuno
  • Patent number: 6705653
    Abstract: A shock absorbing member for a vehicle is designed to absorb the impact energy in a plastic deformation manner to absorb the axial compressive load. The shock absorbing member includes a hollow member whose cross-section is roughly constant and whose axis is adapted to extend forward and rearward of the vehicle. A flange is formed on the hollow member roughly along the axis of the hollow member and projects by an amount increasing gradually from one side toward the other side of the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2004
    Inventors: Terutsugu Gotanda, Shinichi Haneda, Kazuo Mori, Daichi Kunishi, Kazunobu Nuno, Kazunari Azuchi
  • Patent number: 6698968
    Abstract: A first frame section is hollow and has a substantially uniform polygonal cross-sectional shape. An axial load is applied to the first frame section. A second frame section is hollow and has a substantially uniform polygonal cross-sectional shape. The axial load is transmitted from the first frame section to the second frame section. A transmitting portion is provided in at least one of the first and second frame sections. The transmitting portion receives the axial load that acts on each edge of the first frame section and transmits the axial load to each edge of the second frame section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2004
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazutomo Kajiwara, Yuzo Konishi, Kiyohito Morimoto, Seiji Sakai, Terutsugu Gotanda, Shinichi Haneda, Kazuo Mori, Kazunari Azuchi, Kazunobu Nuno
  • Patent number: 6540276
    Abstract: A bumper reinforcement structure includes a bumper reinforcement element placed at least at the front end or rear end of a vehicle body and fixed to a side member of the vehicle body. The bumper reinforcement element has a closed hollow side cross-section, extends in the vehicle lateral direction and is formed of any one of a light alloy and a steel. A concave or convex portion is formed on at least one surface of the bumper reinforcement element so as to change the shape of the cross-section of the bumper reinforcement along the vehicle lateral direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Keikinzoku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunari Azuchi, Kazunobu Nuno
  • Publication number: 20030034661
    Abstract: A bumper device can reduce a weight of a reinforcement member more than a weight of a conventional reinforcement member while sufficiently absorbing a given impact energy. A size “b” between both side mounting portions where the reinforcement member is mounted on a stay is set greater than a size “a” between both side longitudinal wall portions of a side frame, both outer longitudinal walls of the stay are inclined such that both outer longitudinal walls are opened toward the reinforcement member, and the distance between the inner longitudinal walls is set substantially equal to the distance between the both side longitudinal wall portions of the side frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2002
    Publication date: February 20, 2003
    Inventors: Terutsugu Gotanda, Shinichi Haneda, Kazuo Mori, Kazunari Azuchi, Kiyoichi Kita, Kazunobu Nuno
  • Patent number: 6502874
    Abstract: Load is applied to a bumper reinforce. Two hollow crash boxes are coupled to the bumper reinforce. Each crash box has a substantially constant cross section, an axis and an open end. When load is applied to the bumper reinforce, each crash box is plastically deformed in the axial direction for absorbing the load. The bumper reinforce includes projections. Each projection corresponds to one of the crash boxes and faces part of the open end of the corresponding crash box. The projections reduce the load at the beginning of plastic deformation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2003
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazutomo Kajiwara, Yuzo Konishi, Kiyohito Morimoto, Seiji Sakai, Terutsugu Gotanda, Shinichi Haneda, Kazuo Mori, Kazunari Azuchi, Kazunobu Nuno