Patents by Inventor Mamoru Katano

Mamoru Katano 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: 20240261073
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush that detects plaque on the teeth, ensures accurate plaque detection, and performs cleaning of plaque. The electric toothbrush may include a drive module having a first drive for oscillating a brush unit in a first direction and a second drive for oscillating the brush unit in a second direction; a light emitting module; a reflected light detector; a plaque detector for detecting plaque based on reflected light detected by the reflected light detector; a liquid spray part for spraying liquid from the brush unit; and a liquid spray controller for controlling a spray timing of the liquid. The liquid spray controller may spray the liquid when the amount of plaque detected by the plaque detector exceeds a threshold. The drive module may stop the first drive and perform only the second drive while the liquid is being sprayed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2024
    Publication date: August 8, 2024
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshida, Mamoru KATANO, Masashi KITAMURA, Sakae MORIKAWA
  • Patent number: 11980517
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush that detects plaque on the teeth, ensures accurate plaque detection, and performs cleaning of plaque. The electric toothbrush may include a body having a gripping part and a stem with a brush unit detachably coupled to the body. The electric toothbrush may include a light emitting element for emitting light onto the tooth and a light receiving element for receiving light that reflects off of the tooth. A controller may be included to determine an amount of plaque on the tooth based on the amount of reflected light detected. The electric toothbrush may also include a fluid dispensing system that dispenses fluid based on the amount of reflected light detected. In some aspects, the electric toothbrush may operate in multiple oscillation modes, and it may only dispense fluid in some of the modes but not all of the modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignees: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshida, Mamoru Katano, Masashi Kitamura, Sakae Morikawa
  • Patent number: 11317711
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush includes a grip portion, a brush portion on which a replaceable toothbrush is mounted, and an illumination ring between the grip portion and the brush portion. The illumination ring is provided around the toothbrush as an annular structure so that a user can view the illumination ring no matter what angle he/she is holding the toothbrush.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignees: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mamoru Katano, Hiroshi Nakamori
  • Publication number: 20210068934
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush that detects plaque on the teeth, ensures accurate plaque detection, and performs cleaning of plaque. The electric toothbrush may include a body having a gripping part and a stem with a brush unit detachably coupled to the body. The electric toothbrush may include a light emitting element for emitting light onto the tooth and a light receiving element for receiving light that reflects off of the tooth. A controller may be included to determine an amount of plaque on the tooth based on the amount of reflected light detected. The electric toothbrush may also include a fluid dispensing system that dispenses fluid based on the amount of reflected light detected. In some aspects, the electric toothbrush may operate in multiple oscillation modes, and it may only dispense fluid in some of the modes but not all of the modes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2020
    Publication date: March 11, 2021
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshida, Mamoru KATANO, Masashi KITAMURA, Sakae MORIKAWA
  • Patent number: 10869741
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush that detects plaque on the teeth, ensures accurate plaque detection, and performs cleaning of plaque. The electric toothbrush may include a body having a gripping part and a stem with a brush unit detachably coupled to the body. The electric toothbrush may include a light emitting element for emitting light onto the tooth and a light receiving element for receiving light that reflects off of the tooth. A controller may be included to determine an amount of plaque on the tooth based on the amount of reflected light detected. The electric toothbrush may also include a fluid dispensing system that dispenses fluid based on the amount of reflected light detected. In some aspects, the electric toothbrush may operate in multiple oscillation modes, and it may only dispense fluid in some of the modes but not all of the modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignees: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshida, Mamoru Katano, Masashi Kitamura, Sakae Morikawa
  • Publication number: 20200359902
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention can be a brush unit detachable from a main body unit of an electric toothbrush. The brush unit includes: a light transmitting part included on a front surface of the brush unit, a plurality of tooth cleaning elements extending from the front surface of the brush unit in a pressing direction, wherein the light transmitting part directs more light in a first direction, which intersects the pressing direction, than in the pressing direction; and a light receiving part included on the front surface for receiving light; wherein the light transmitting part and the light receiving part are arranged on opposing sides of the plurality of tooth cleaning elements; and wherein the first direction lies within a plane including both the light transmitting part and the light receiving part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2020
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki YOSHIDA, Mamoru KATANO, Masashi KITAMURA, Toshifumi MATSUMOTO
  • Publication number: 20200329858
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush includes a grip portion, a brush portion on which a replaceable toothbrush is mounted, and an illumination ring between the grip portion and the brush portion. The illumination ring is provided around the toothbrush as an annular structure so that a user can view the illumination ring no matter what angle he/she is holding the toothbrush.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 6, 2020
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mamoru KATANO, Hiroshi NAKAMORI
  • Patent number: 10779924
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention can be an electric toothbrush. The electric toothbrush may include a driving module configured to oscillate a brush unit; an acceleration sensor configured to generate an output signal; a signal extraction module configured to extract from the output signal (a) a first signal having a frequency at a first threshold or higher and (b) a second signal having a frequency at a second threshold or lower; a brushing site estimation module configured to estimate a brushing site of the brush unit based on the output signal of the acceleration sensor; and a correction module configured to correct the brushing site estimated by the brushing site estimation module based on an amplitude of the first signal and an amplitude of the second signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignees: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshida, Mamoru Katano
  • Patent number: 10765323
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention can be an electric toothbrush including a trajectory detecting module configured to detect a trajectory of movement of a brush, the trajectory including a plurality of positions; an attitude detecting module configured to detect an attitude of the brush; a site estimating module configured to estimate a brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory, each estimated brushing site being based on the trajectory detected by the trajectory detecting module; and a back most tooth detecting module configured to detect a back most tooth based on a change of the attitude detected by the attitude detecting module; wherein the site estimating module is further configured to correct the estimated brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory based on the estimated site of the detected back most tooth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignees: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshida, Mamoru Katano, Masashi Kitamura
  • Patent number: 10758327
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush includes a grip portion, a brush portion, and a joint arrangement for connecting the two portions. The joint arrangement has an upper cylinder portion and a lower cylinder portion, with an axis of the upper cylinder portion being inclined a predetermined angle with respect to an axis of the lower cylinder portion. The grip portion is connected to the lower cylinder portion and the brush portion is connected to the upper cylinder portion, so that the grip portion and the brush portion are inclined by the predetermined angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignees: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mamoru Katano, Hiroshi Nakamori
  • Patent number: 10743650
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush includes a grip portion, a brush portion on which a replaceable toothbrush is mounted, and an illumination ring between the grip portion and the brush portion. The brush portion is inclined with respect to the grip portion. The illumination ring is provided around the toothbrush, so that a user can view the illumination ring no matter what angle he/she is holding the toothbrush.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignees: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mamoru Katano, Hiroshi Nakamori
  • Publication number: 20190216582
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention can be an electric toothbrush. The electric toothbrush may include a driving module configured to oscillate a brush unit; an acceleration sensor configured to generate an output signal; a signal extraction module configured to extract from the output signal (a) a first signal having a frequency at a first threshold or higher and (b) a second signal having a frequency at a second threshold or lower; a brushing site estimation module configured to estimate a brushing site of the brush unit based on the output signal of the acceleration sensor; and a correction module configured to correct the brushing site estimated by the brushing site estimation module based on an amplitude of the first signal and an amplitude of the second signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Publication date: July 18, 2019
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideaki YOSHIDA, Mamoru KATANO
  • Patent number: 10271933
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention can be an electric toothbrush including a trajectory detecting module configured to detect a trajectory of movement of a brush, the trajectory including a plurality of positions; an attitude detecting module configured to detect an attitude of the brush; a site estimating module configured to estimate a brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory, each estimated brushing site being based on the trajectory detected by the trajectory detecting module; and a back most tooth detecting module configured to detect a back most tooth based on a change of the attitude detected by the attitude detecting module; wherein the site estimating module is further configured to correct the estimated brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory based on the estimated site of the detected back most tooth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: Colgate-Palmolive Company
    Inventors: Hideaki Yoshida, Mamoru Katano
  • Publication number: 20190082819
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush includes a grip portion, a brush portion on which a replaceable toothbrush is mounted, and an illumination ring between the grip portion and the brush portion. The brush portion is inclined with respect to the grip portion. The illumination ring is provided around the toothbrush, so that a user can view the illumination ring no matter what angle he/she is holding the toothbrush.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Publication date: March 21, 2019
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mamoru KATANO, Hiroshi NAKAMORI
  • Publication number: 20190069978
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush includes a grip portion, a brush portion, and a joint arrangement for connecting the two portions. The joint arrangement has an upper cylinder portion and a lower cylinder portion, with an axis of the upper cylinder portion being inclined a predetermined angle with respect to an axis of the lower cylinder portion. The grip portion is connected to the lower cylinder portion and the brush portion is connected to the upper cylinder portion, so that the grip portion and the brush portion are inclined by the predetermined angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Publication date: March 7, 2019
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mamoru KATANO, Hiroshi NAKAMORI
  • Publication number: 20180199819
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention can be an electric toothbrush including a trajectory detecting module configured to detect a trajectory of movement of a brush, the trajectory including a plurality of positions; an attitude detecting module configured to detect an attitude of the brush; a site estimating module configured to estimate a brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory, each estimated brushing site being based on the trajectory detected by the trajectory detecting module; and a back most tooth detecting module configured to detect a back most tooth based on a change of the attitude detected by the attitude detecting module; wherein the site estimating module is further configured to correct the estimated brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory based on the estimated site of the detected back most tooth
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Publication date: July 19, 2018
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD
    Inventors: Hideaki YOSHIDA, Mamoru KATANO, Masashi KITAMURA, Toshifumi MATSUMOTO, Sakae MORIKAWA
  • Publication number: 20180193122
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention can be an electric toothbrush including a trajectory detecting module configured to detect a trajectory of movement of a brush, the trajectory including a plurality of positions; an attitude detecting module configured to detect an attitude of the brush; a site estimating module configured to estimate a brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory, each estimated brushing site being based on the trajectory detected by the trajectory detecting module; and a back most tooth detecting module configured to detect a back most tooth based on a change of the attitude detected by the attitude detecting module; wherein the site estimating module is further configured to correct the estimated brushing site for each of the plurality of positions of the trajectory based on the estimated site of the detected back most tooth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD
    Inventors: Hideaki YOSHIDA, Mamoru KATANO
  • Publication number: 20180177575
    Abstract: An electric toothbrush that detects plaque on the teeth, ensures accurate plaque detection, and performs cleaning of plaque. The electric toothbrush may include a body having a gripping part and a stem with a brush unit detachably coupled to the body. The electric toothbrush may include a light emitting element for emitting light onto the tooth and a light receiving element for receiving light that reflects off of the tooth. A controller may be included to determine an amount of plaque on the tooth based on the amount of reflected light detected. The electric toothbrush may also include a fluid dispensing system that dispenses fluid based on the amount of reflected light detected. In some aspects, the electric toothbrush may operate in multiple oscillation modes, and it may only dispense fluid in some of the modes but not all of the modes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Publication date: June 28, 2018
    Applicants: Colgate-Palmolive Company, OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD
    Inventors: Hideaki YOSHIDA, Mamoru KATANO, Masashi KITAMURA, Sakae MORIKAWA
  • Patent number: 9126088
    Abstract: An activity meter includes a body movement detecting unit, a display unit, a target activity amount acquiring unit, an accumulated activity amount calculation unit, an excess activity amount calculation unit, a converted value calculation unit that calculates a converted value representing an excess amount of activity by dividing burned calories corresponding to the excess amount of activity by a unit calorie count, where a standard calorie count of a predetermined food is the unit calorie count, and a display operation control unit that controls a display operation of the display unit such that the display unit displays a measurement result using the converted value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuji Asada, Naoki Takeishi, Motofumi Nakanishi, Yusuke Kawabe, Mamoru Katano, Yoko Shimose, Tamaki Ito
  • Publication number: 20140200857
    Abstract: An activity meter includes a body movement detecting unit, a display unit, a target activity amount acquiring unit, an accumulated activity amount calculation unit, an excess activity amount calculation unit, a converted value calculation unit that calculates a converted value representing an excess amount of activity by dividing burned calories corresponding to the excess amount of activity by a unit calorie count, where a standard calorie count of a predetermined food is the unit calorie count, and a display operation control unit that controls a display operation of the display unit such that the display unit displays a measurement result using the converted value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2012
    Publication date: July 17, 2014
    Applicant: OMRON HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuji Asada, Naoki Takeishi, Motofumi Nakanishi, Yusuke Kawabe, Mamoru Katano, Yoko Shimose, Tamaki Ito