Patents by Inventor Kenji Sugaya

Kenji Sugaya 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: 10767914
    Abstract: An icemaker includes an ice-making tray in which ice is produced, an ice-discharging mechanism that removes the ice from the ice-making tray, a driver that drives the ice-discharging mechanism and that is attached to the ice-making tray on a front side in a front-rear direction, and a lighting unit that emits light. The lighting unit emits the light toward a rear side in the front-rear direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: NIDEC SERVO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Eiji Kuroda, Kenji Sugaya, Hironobu Yoshikawa, Hideaki Ito
  • Publication number: 20190145685
    Abstract: An icemaker includes an ice-making tray in which ice is produced, an ice-discharging mechanism that removes the ice from the ice-making tray, a driver that drives the ice-discharging mechanism and that is attached to the ice-making tray on a front side in a front-rear direction, and a lighting unit that emits light. The lighting unit emits the light toward a rear side in the front-rear direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2017
    Publication date: May 16, 2019
    Inventors: Eiji KURODA, Kenji SUGAYA, Hironobu YOSHIKAWA, Hideaki ITO
  • Patent number: 9151530
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker includes a swing arm, an actuator swinging the swing arm, and a transmission section transmitting movement of the actuator to the swing arm. The transmission section includes a cam rotated by the actuator, a pivotally movable lever including an abutting portion abutting the cam and pivotally moved by the rotation of the cam, and a joint member to transmit the movement of the pivotally movable lever to the swing arm. As the swing arm, one of the first, second, and third swing arms is selected and provided. As the joint member, one of the first, second, and third joint members which corresponds to the selected one of the first, second, and third swing arms is selected and provided. At different positions on a board which extends in a vertical direction, the first, second, and third supporting portions support the first, second, and third joint members, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Nidec Servo Corporation
    Inventors: Mariko Tanaka, Kenji Sugaya, Kazufumi Yamashita, Yoshitaka Yokoi, Saburo Niwa, Eiji Kuroda
  • Publication number: 20120297802
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker includes a swing arm, an actuator swinging the swing arm, and a transmission section transmitting movement of the actuator to the swing arm. The transmission section includes a cam rotated by the actuator, a pivotally movable lever including an abutting portion abutting the cam and pivotally moved by the rotation of the cam, and a joint member to transmit the movement of the pivotally movable lever to the swing arm. As the swing arm, one of the first, second, and third swing arms is selected and provided. As the joint member, one of the first, second, and third joint members which corresponds to the selected one of the first, second, and third swing arms is selected and provided. At different positions on a board which extends in a vertical direction, the first, second, and third supporting portions support the first, second, and third joint members, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Publication date: November 29, 2012
    Applicant: NIDEC SERVO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mariko Tanaka, Kenji Sugaya, Kazufumi Yamashita, Yoshitaka Yokoi, Saburo Niwa, Eiji Kuroda
  • Publication number: 20120285187
    Abstract: An automatic ice maker installed within a freezing compartment includes an ice tray arranged to hold water and make ice pieces; an ice ejecting mechanism arranged to eject the ice pieces made in the ice tray; an ice releasing heater arranged to melt surfaces of the ice pieces made in the ice tray; a thermostat arranged to detect a temperature of the ice tray and to operate at a specified temperature; and an ice storage amount detecting mechanism arranged to detect an amount of the ice pieces stored within an ice storage box. The automatic ice maker further includes a switch mechanism arranged to stop an operation of the ice releasing heater in conjunction with an operation of the ice ejecting mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: NIDEC SERVO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenji SUGAYA, Eiji KURODA, Mariko TANAKA, Yoshitaka YOKOI, Kazufumi YAMASHITA
  • Patent number: 8022648
    Abstract: A motor driving circuit for full-wave single-phase driving a motor includes a position detection unit, a turn-on signal generation unit, and switching devices that define an H-bridge circuit. The turn-on signal generation unit includes a differential amplifier arranged to produce a trapezoid wave signal, and a square wave generation circuit arranged to produce a square wave signal, wherein the trapezoid and the square wave signals are respectively supplied to control terminals of lower switching devices in the H-bridge circuit. Further, one of the lower switching devices is turned on and off according to a voltage level of the square wave signal, and the remaining lower switching device is turned on and off when a voltage of the trapezoid wave signal becomes higher than an operation voltage of the remaining lower switching device, wherein a non-conducting interval is provided for the motor coil according to the operation voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Nidec Servo Corporation
    Inventors: Hideaki Ito, Kenji Sugaya, Kazufumi Yamashita, Toshio Maehara, Shoji Oiwa
  • Publication number: 20110023502
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker according to the present invention is capable of being installed in a freezing compartment and automatically making and discharging ice cubes, the automatic ice-making comprising at least one ice-making tray having a plurality of small ice-making compartments, partitions disposed between respective adjacent small ice-making compartments, and groove-shaped water-passage channels formed in portions of the partitions which are offset from centers of the partitions, and a rotating device for rotating the ice-making tray, wherein water is supplied after the ice-making tray is inclined at a water supply angle less than a water filling angle in such a direction that the water passage channels face downward.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Publication date: February 3, 2011
    Inventors: Hideaki ITO, Naotaka Sasaki, Kenji Sugaya
  • Patent number: 7845180
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker of the present invention includes a control box, an ice-making tray supporting frame rotatably supported and rotated by the control box, at least one ice-making tray rotatably supported by the ice-making tray supporting frame, a rotation limiter fixed to the ice-making tray supporting frame and limiting the rotation of the ice-making tray, a stopper fixed to the control box, and a projection provided to the ice-making tray. Irregularities are provided to at least one of the contact surfaces of the stopper and projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2010
    Assignee: Japan Servo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenji Sugaya, Yoshihisa Kagawa, Hideaki Ito
  • Patent number: 7713036
    Abstract: A liquid pumping apparatus comprising a rotor housing, a rotor having at least one roller, to be rotated by a prime mover, an inner periphery wall of the rotor housing, a flexible tube to be inserted into a gap formed between the rotor and the inner periphery wall and squeezed when the rotor is rotated so as to transfer a liquid fed into the tube, and a deformable guide for guiding the flexible tube in a moving path of the roller. At least one portion of the inner periphery wall is movable so as to approach or separate from the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Japan Servo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiji Kojima, Kenji Sugaya
  • Patent number: 7665316
    Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic icemaker has a rotatably supported ice making portion having first and second ice making trays arranged in a back-to-back manner, a motor for rotating the ice making portion, a first and a second temperature detecting sensors for detecting the temperature of the first and second ice making tray or the temperature of ice within a compartment of the first and second ice making tray, and a signal processor for controlling the motor to turn over the ice making portion after the temperature of the first or second ice making tray, or the temperature of ice within a compartment of the first or second ice making tray, looking upward, detected by the first temperature detecting sensor or the second temperature detecting sensor has become stabilized in the vicinity of 0° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2010
    Assignee: Japan Servo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Ito, Naotaka Sasaki, Kenji Sugaya
  • Publication number: 20090134821
    Abstract: A motor driving circuit for full-wave single-phase driving a motor includes a position detection unit, a turn-on signal generation unit, and switching devices that define an H-bridge circuit. The turn-on signal generation unit includes a differential amplifier arranged to produce a trapezoid wave signal, and a square wave generation circuit arranged to produce a square wave signal, wherein the trapezoid and the square wave signals are respectively supplied to control terminals of lower switching devices in the H-bridge circuit. Further, one of the lower switching devices is turned on and off according to a voltage level of the square wave signal, and the remaining lower switching device is turned on and off when a voltage of the trapezoid wave signal becomes higher than an operation voltage of the remaining lower switching device, wherein a non-conducting interval is provided for the motor coil according to the operation voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2008
    Publication date: May 28, 2009
    Applicant: NIDEC SERVO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideaki ITO, Kenji SUGAYA, Kazufumi YAMASHITA, Toshio MAEHARA, Shoji OIWA
  • Publication number: 20090091122
    Abstract: The present invention provides a personal information protecting sheet in which personal information can be easily made illegible. The personal information protecting sheet includes a base material, a release layer formed on at least a part of the surface of the base material, and an image-receiving layer formed on the release layer. When a force having a directional component that is larger than a predetermined value and parallel to the surface of the base material is applied to the surface, a portion of the image-receiving layer to which the force is applied is peeled from the release layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2006
    Publication date: April 9, 2009
    Inventors: Toru Ogawa, Masayoshi Kajiyama, Toyonari Watanabe, Takuji Oikawa, Sakae Shirasawa, Ryuichi Iwaoka, Hiroyuki Yamaguchi, Sunao Tada, Yosuke Hirooka, Kakuei Hoshino, Akira Kayukawa, Masami Matsumoto, Satoru Terada, Hiroshige Mochida, Masamichi Onda, Atsushi Rakuyama, Kenji Sugaya, Kiyotaka Shingu, Koichi Kashiwabara, Ryuichi Oshio, Akira Kojima, Makoto Hoken, Yoshiyuki Kamata, Yukihiro Matoi, Masashi Miyabe
  • Patent number: 7487645
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker according to the invention can be disposed in one part of a freezer and automatically make ice pieces, and is provided with temperature distribution forming means which forms a temperature distribution in which freezing progresses from the open side of ice partitions of an ice-tray and is completed near the bottom side of the ice partitions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2009
    Assignee: Japan Servo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naotaka Sasaki, Kenji Sugaya, Hideaki Ito
  • Publication number: 20070227164
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker according to the present invention is capable of being installed in a freezing compartment and automatically making and discharging ice cubes, the automatic ice-making comprising at least one ice-making tray having a plurality of small ice-making compartments, partitions disposed between respective adjacent small ice-making compartments, and groove-shaped water-passage channels formed in portions of the partitions which are offset from centers of the partitions, and a rotating device for rotating the ice-making tray, wherein water is supplied after the ice-making tray is inclined at a water supply angle less than a water filling angle in such a direction that the water passage channels face downward.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2007
    Publication date: October 4, 2007
    Inventors: Hideaki Ito, Naotaka Sasaki, Kenji Sugaya
  • Publication number: 20070209381
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker of the present invention includes a control box, an ice-making tray supporting frame rotatably supported and rotated by the control box, at least one ice-making tray rotatably supported by the ice-making tray supporting frame, a rotation limiter fixed to the ice-making tray supporting frame and limiting the rotation of the ice-making tray, a stopper fixed to the control box, and a projection provided to the ice-making tray. Irregularities are provided to at least one of the contact surfaces of the stopper and projection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2007
    Publication date: September 13, 2007
    Inventors: Kenji Sugaya, Yoshihisa Kagawa, Hideaki Ito
  • Publication number: 20070089441
    Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic icemaker has a rotatably supported ice making portion having first and second ice making trays arranged in a back-to-back manner, a motor for rotating the ice making portion, a first and a second temperature detecting sensors for detecting the temperature of the first and second ice making tray or the temperature of ice within a compartment of the first and second ice making tray, and a signal processor for controlling the motor to turn over the ice making portion after the temperature of the first or second ice making tray, or the temperature of ice within a compartment of the first or second ice making tray, looking upward, detected by the first temperature detecting sensor or the second temperature detecting sensor has become stabilized in the vicinity of 0° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2006
    Publication date: April 26, 2007
    Inventors: Hideaki Ito, Naotaka Sasaki, Kenji Sugaya
  • Publication number: 20060242986
    Abstract: Disclosed is an automatic icemaker comprising a main body, an ice-making tray rotatably fitted to the main body, and a device for rotating the ice-making tray, wherein the ice-making tray is provided with a plurality of small chambers, the plurality of the small chambers are arranged in the direction of a rotation center line of the ice-making tray, and a water channel in a groove shape is provided at respective off-center portions of partition walls, each being provided between the small chambers adjacent to each other, or an upper surface of a partition wall provided between the respective small chambers adjacent to each other is positioned below an upper surface of the ice-making tray.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: November 2, 2006
    Inventors: Kenji Sugaya, Hideaki Ito
  • Publication number: 20060137382
    Abstract: An automatic icemaker according to the invention can be disposed in one part of a freezer and automatically make ice pieces, and is provided with temperature distribution forming means which forms a temperature distribution in which freezing progresses from the open side of ice partitions of an ice-tray and is completed near the bottom side of the ice partitions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2005
    Publication date: June 29, 2006
    Inventors: Naotaka Sasaki, Kenji Sugaya, Hideaki Ito
  • Patent number: 7066231
    Abstract: A wasteless type lamination system comprises a first transfer device for transferring along a first transfer path a continuous laminate film; a cutter for cutting the continuous laminate film in a predetermined length, provided beside the first transfer path at the downstream of the first transfer device; a second transfer device for transferring along the first transfer path a cut laminate film; a film detection sensor for detecting a leading edge of the continuous laminate film, provided beside the first transfer path at the downstream of the cutter; a card transfer device for transferring a card along a second transfer path; and a thermocompression bonding device for laminating the cut laminate film to the card. The continuous laminate film is moved backward from the cutter by a predetermined distance by the first transfer device before or after cutting action of the cutter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2006
    Assignee: Japan Servo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naotaka Sasaki, Shunichi Kawamata, Kenji Sugaya, Hideaki Ito
  • Publication number: 20060067845
    Abstract: A liquid pumping apparatus comprising a rotor housing, a rotor having at least one roller, to be rotated by a prime mover, an inner periphery wall of the rotor housing, a flexible tube to be inserted into a gap formed between the rotor and the inner periphery wall and squeezed when the rotor is rotated so as to transfer a liquid fed into the tube, and a deformable guide for guiding the flexible tube in a moving path of the roller. At least one portion of the inner periphery wall is movable so as to approach or separate from the rotor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2005
    Publication date: March 30, 2006
    Inventors: Seiji Kojima, Kenji Sugaya