Patents by Inventor Kenji HATAMA

Kenji HATAMA 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: 11927004
    Abstract: The present invention provides a flush water tank device (4) that supplies flush water to an upper and lower spout port of a flush toilet (2) including; a flush water tank (10); a discharge valve (12); a first on-off valve (19) that performs switching between ejection and stopping of the flush water from the upper spout port; a first on-off valve driving mechanism (16) that is moved from a stopped position to an ejection position based on an user operation; a biasing mechanism (17) that causes the first on-off valve driving mechanism to move to the stopped position; a holding mechanism (20) that holds, at the ejection position, the first on-off valve driving mechanism at the ejection position against the bias force; and a releasing mechanism (21) that releases the holding of the first on-off valve driving mechanism, using the flush water flowing out from the first on-off valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki Tanimoto, Koki Shinohara, Kenji Hatama, Makoto Abe, Seika Tatsuoka
  • Publication number: 20230313512
    Abstract: The present invention is a flush water tank device including a flush water tank main body, a water supply valve, and a discharge valve, in which during a flush of the flush toilet, the discharge valve is opened until a water level in the flush water tank main body is lowered from a predetermined full water level to a predetermined dead water level, a lowering speed of the water level in the flush water tank main body changes at a predetermined inflection water level between the full water level and the dead water level, and the lowering speed of the water level between the inflection water level and the dead water level is faster than the lowering speed of the water level between the full water level and the inflection water level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Inventors: Yuta KONDO, Koichiro Hiwa, Yuki SHIMOKAWA, Kenji HATAMA, Haruki MATSUDA
  • Publication number: 20230069634
    Abstract: The present invention provides a flush water tank device (4) that supplies flush water to an upper and lower spout port of a flush toilet (2) including; a flush water tank (10); a discharge valve (12); a first on-off valve (19) that performs switching between ejection and stopping of the flush water from the upper spout port; a first on-off valve driving mechanism (16) that is moved from a stopped position to an ejection position based on an user operation; a biasing mechanism (17) that causes the first on-off valve driving mechanism to move to the stopped position; a holding mechanism (20) that holds, at the ejection position, the first on-off valve driving mechanism at the ejection position against the bias force; and a releasing mechanism (21) that releases the holding of the first on-off valve driving mechanism, using the flush water flowing out from the first on-off valve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki TANIMOTO, Koki SHINOHARA, Kenji HATAMA, Makoto ABE, Seika TATSUOKA
  • Publication number: 20230065471
    Abstract: The present invention provides a flush water tank device (4), including: a flush water tank (10); a discharge valve (12) that causes the lower spout port to eject the flush water by switching between discharge and stopping of the flush water; a water pressure driving mechanism (14) that drives the discharge valve with a water supply pressure; a first on-off valve (19) that switches between water ejection and stopping of the flush water; a second on-off valve (18) that switches between water supply and stopping of the flush water to the water pressure driving mechanism; and a delay valve opening mechanism (21) that causes the second on-off valve to open with a delay of predetermined time after water ejection from the upper spout port is started, using a part of the flush water introduced via the first on-off valve, to supply the flush water to the water pressure driving mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki TANIMOTO, Koki SHINOHARA, Kenji HATAMA, Seika TATSUOKA
  • Patent number: 11421409
    Abstract: Provided are a flush water tank apparatus capable of restraining instability of an operation of a piston and restraining fluctuations in a water pressure of flush water discharged from a first discharge part provided separately from an inlet, and a flush toilet apparatus including the flush water tank apparatus. A discharge valve hydraulic drive portion of a flush water tank apparatus of the present invention includes a cylinder, a piston, and a rod extending from the piston through a through-hole portion formed in the cylinder, the cylinder including an inlet into which flush water flows, a first discharge part that is provided separately from the inlet to drain the flush water, and a second discharge part that is provided separately from the first discharge part and is formed between the rod and the through-hole portion and between the piston and the through-hole portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Hayashi, Hidekazu Kitaura, Akihiro Shimuta, Masahiro Kuroishi, Hiroshi Hashimoto, Koki Shinohara, Kenji Hatama, Takashi Yoshioka
  • Patent number: 11421410
    Abstract: There are provided a flush water tank apparatus capable of reducing a pressure of flush water in a pressure chamber easily, and a flush toilet apparatus provided with the same. A discharge valve hydraulic drive portion of a flush water tank apparatus includes a cylinder in which supplied the flush water flows, a piston that is slidably disposed in the cylinder, partitions inside of the cylinder into a pressure chamber and a back pressure chamber, and further is moved from a first position to a second position by a pressure of the flush water that has flowed into the pressure chamber, an outflow portion from which the flush water in the cylinder flows out, and a communication mechanism that establishes communication between the pressure chamber and the outflow portion after the clutch mechanism is disengaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hidekazu Kitaura, Nobuhiro Hayashi, Akihiro Shimuta, Masahiro Kuroishi, Hiroshi Hashimoto, Koki Shinohara, Kenji Hatama
  • Publication number: 20220074181
    Abstract: There is provided a flush water tank apparatus capable of returning to a state where next toilet flush operation can be started in a short time while opening a discharge valve using a water supply pressure. A flush water tank apparatus (4) includes a reservoir tank (10), a discharge valve (12), a discharge valve hydraulic drive portion (14) configured to drive the discharge valve using a water supply pressure, and a discharge/vacuum break valve device (30) provided on an upstream side of the discharge valve hydraulic drive portion and configured to supply the water supplied from the upstream side to the discharge valve hydraulic drive portion on a downstream side. The discharge valve hydraulic drive portion includes a cylinder (14a) into which the water from the discharge/vacuum break valve device flows, and a piston (14b) configured to be moved by a pressure of the water flowing into the cylinder to move the discharge valve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Akihiro SHIMUTA, Hidekazu KITAURA, Nobuhiro HAYASHI, Masahiro KUROISHI, Hiroshi HASHIMOTO, Koki SHINOHARA, Kenji HATAMA, Takashi YOSHIOKA
  • Publication number: 20220074180
    Abstract: There are provided a flush water tank apparatus capable of reducing a pressure of flush water in a pressure chamber easily, and a flush toilet apparatus provided with the same. A discharge valve hydraulic drive portion of a flush water tank apparatus includes a cylinder in which supplied the flush water flows, a piston that is slidably disposed in the cylinder, partitions inside of the cylinder into a pressure chamber and a back pressure chamber, and further is moved from a first position to a second position by a pressure of the flush water that has flowed into the pressure chamber, an outflow portion from which the flush water in the cylinder flows out, and a communication mechanism that establishes communication between the pressure chamber and the outflow portion after the clutch mechanism is disengaged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hidekazu KITAURA, Nobuhiro HAYASHI, Akihiro SHIMUTA, Masahiro KUROISHI, Hiroshi HASHIMOTO, Koki SHINOHARA, Kenji HATAMA
  • Publication number: 20210381214
    Abstract: Provided are a flush water tank apparatus capable of restraining instability of an operation of a piston and restraining fluctuations in a water pressure of flush water discharged from a first discharge part provided separately from an inlet, and a flush toilet apparatus including the flush water tank apparatus. A discharge valve hydraulic drive portion of a flush water tank apparatus of the present invention includes a cylinder, a piston, and a rod extending from the piston through a through-hole portion formed in the cylinder, the cylinder including an inlet into which flush water flows, a first discharge part that is provided separately from the inlet to drain the flush water, and a second discharge part that is provided separately from the first discharge part and is formed between the rod and the through-hole portion and between the piston and the through-hole portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2021
    Publication date: December 9, 2021
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Nobuhiro HAYASHI, Hidekazu KITAURA, Akihiro SHIMUTA, Masahiro KUROISHI, Hiroshi HASHIMOTO, Koki SHINOHARA, Kenji HATAMA, Takashi YOSHIOKA
  • Patent number: 10480167
    Abstract: A float-position adjusting member is circumferentially rotatable around an axis thereof so that a relative position between an arm and a float is adjustable. A small-tank-position adjusting member is also circumferentially rotatable around an axis thereof so that a vertical position to which a small tank is supported is adjustable. These adjusting members are coaxially arranged. When the float-position adjusting member is rotated in one direction, a first contact part of the float-position adjusting member comes in contact with a first contact part of the small-tank-position adjusting member for their corotation. When the small-tank-position adjusting member is rotated in the other direction, second contact parts of the adjusting members come in contact with each other for their corotation. There is no corotation between the contact state of the first contact parts and the contact state of the second contact parts, whose rotational angle is 10 degrees or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki Tanimoto, Kenji Hatama
  • Patent number: 10184237
    Abstract: In a discharge valve device, a protuberance penetrates a vertical channel with a raised portion engaging a channel. Thus when an attempt is made to rotate a cylindrical body in the circumferential direction with a raised portion engaging a channel, contact between the protuberance right side surface and the vertical channel restricts rotational movement of the cylindrical body in the circumferential direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki Tanimoto, Kenji Hatama
  • Publication number: 20180340322
    Abstract: A float-position adjusting member is circumferentially rotatable around an axis thereof so that a relative position between an arm and a float is adjustable. A small-tank-position adjusting member is also circumferentially rotatable around an axis thereof so that a vertical position to which a small tank is supported is adjustable. These adjusting members are coaxially arranged. When the float-position adjusting member is rotated in one direction, a first contact part of the float-position adjusting member comes in contact with a first contact part of the small-tank-position adjusting member for their corotation. When the small-tank-position adjusting member is rotated in the other direction, second contact parts of the adjusting members come in contact with each other for their corotation. There is no corotation between the contact state of the first contact parts and the contact state of the second contact parts, whose rotational angle is 10 degrees or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Publication date: November 29, 2018
    Inventors: Hideki TANIMOTO, Kenji HATAMA
  • Patent number: 10119260
    Abstract: A discharge valve apparatus attached to a reservoir tank in a reservoir tank apparatus for storing flush water. The discharge valve apparatus includes a valve body, attached to the top of a discharge opening provided in the bottom surface of a reservoir tank, for opening and closing the discharge opening by up and down movement thereof, a float, attached to the valve body, which drops in tandem with the drop in water level inside the flush water tank; and a variable drop start timing mechanism to make a drop start timing of the valve body variable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Koki Shinohara, Hideki Tanimoto, Yukinori Kubozono, Kenji Hatama, Hisashi Koga
  • Patent number: 9926694
    Abstract: An operating device for a flush water tank assembly includes: a rotary shaft, an operating handle, an operating wire, and a drive unit, wherein the drive unit includes: a rotary member, a rotary winding member, a locking unit for mutually locking the rotary member and the rotary winding member when the rotary winding member rotates in a forward rotational direction from operating position P1 and reaches operating position P3, and a lock release portion for releasing the lock between the rotary member and the rotary winding member when the rotary member and the rotary winding member rotate in a forward rotational direction from operating position P1 and reach operating position P3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Koki Shinohara, Hideki Tanimoto, Kenji Hatama, Makoto Abe
  • Patent number: 9890527
    Abstract: An operating device includes a rotary shaft, an operating handle, an operating wire, and a drive unit; wherein this drive unit includes: a rotary member, a rotary windup member, a locking device for mutually locking the rotary member and the rotary windup member until the rotary windup member rotates in the forward rotational direction from a first operating position and reaches a second operating position, a lock release device for releasing the lock between the rotary member and the rotary windup member so the rotary windup member rotates in the reverse rotational direction and moves to the first operating position regardless of any operation of the operating handle when the rotary member and the rotary windup member reach the second operating position, and a biasing device for restoring the rotary member to an initial position at which a toilet flush operation can be started from the operating position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Koki Shinohara, Hideki Tanimoto, Kenji Hatama, Makoto Abe
  • Patent number: 9783971
    Abstract: A discharge valve apparatus of the present invention includes: a discharge portion main body member attached to discharge opening, forming the inside of discharge flow path for guiding flush water from an inflow opening formed at one end thereof to an outflow opening formed at the other end thereof; a valve body for opening and closing the inflow opening of the discharge portion main body member; and an affixing portion, formed to project into the discharge flow path of a discharge portion main body member, for affixing the discharge portion main body member to a reservoir tank; wherein the inside surface of side wall portion in the discharge portion main body member at the same height as this affixing portion forms a curved portion, which curves outward so as to expand the cross-sectional area of the flow path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Koki Shinohara, Atsuko Yamasaki, Yukinori Kubozono, Hideki Tanimoto, Kenji Hatama
  • Publication number: 20170260726
    Abstract: An operating device includes a rotary shaft, an operating handle, an operating wire, and a drive unit; wherein this drive unit includes: a rotary member, a rotary windup member, a locking device for mutually locking the rotary member and the rotary windup member until the rotary windup member rotates in the forward rotational direction from a first operating position and reaches a second operating position, a lock release device for releasing the lock between the rotary member and the rotary windup member so the rotary windup member rotates in the reverse rotational direction and moves to the first operating position regardless of any operation of the operating handle when the rotary member and the rotary windup member reach the second operating position, and a biasing device for restoring the rotary member to an initial position at which a toilet flush operation can be started from the operating position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2017
    Publication date: September 14, 2017
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Koki SHINOHARA, Hideki TANIMOTO, Kenji HATAMA, Makoto ABE
  • Publication number: 20170167125
    Abstract: In a discharge valve device, a protuberance penetrates a vertical channel with a raised portion engaging a channel. Thus when an attempt is made to rotate a cylindrical body in the circumferential direction with a raised portion engaging a channel, contact between the protuberance right side surface and the vertical channel restricts rotational movement of the cylindrical body in the circumferential direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Publication date: June 15, 2017
    Inventors: Hideki TANIMOTO, Kenji HATAMA
  • Publication number: 20170051485
    Abstract: An operating device for a flush water tank assembly includes: a rotary shaft, an operating handle, an operating wire, and a drive unit, wherein the drive unit includes: a rotary member, a rotary winding member, a locking unit for mutually locking the rotary member and the rotary winding member when the rotary winding member rotates in a forward rotational direction from operating position P1 and reaches operating position P3, and a lock release portion for releasing the lock between the rotary member and the rotary winding member when the rotary member and the rotary winding member rotate in a forward rotational direction from operating position P1 and reach operating position P3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2016
    Publication date: February 23, 2017
    Inventors: Koki SHINOHARA, Hideki TANIMOTO, Kenji HATAMA, Makoto ABE
  • Patent number: 9340962
    Abstract: An operating device of the present invention includes: an operating member configured to be rotationally moved according to a rotational operation performed by a user; a rotary shaft; and a drive unit disposed above a level of flush water within a flush water tank, and configured to displace a coupling member according to a rotational movement of the rotary shaft, the coupling member coupling the drive unit and a water discharge valve together, and capable of opening and closing the water discharge valve by means of its own displacement, wherein the drive unit comprises a rotation mechanism configured to be rotated at a radius of rotation greater than that of the rotary shaft, the drive unit being operable to roll up the coupling member along its own rotational direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki Tanimoto, Koki Shinohara, Kenji Hatama