Patents by Inventor Masanobu Ichikawa
Masanobu Ichikawa 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).
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Patent number: 10133294Abstract: A bearing member includes: a large-diameter tubular portion having an external diameter larger than a diameter of a mounting hole formed in a pedal arm and having a cylindrical inner peripheral face; a small-diameter tubular portion formed continuously with the large-diameter tubular portion, having a cylindrical outer peripheral face with a diameter smaller than that of the mounting hole, and having the cylindrical inner peripheral face; and a thin-wall tubular portion formed continuously with the small-diameter tubular portion, having an inner diameter larger than a diameter of the cylindrical inner peripheral face, and having the cylindrical outer peripheral face, and in a condition that the bearing member is inserted into the mounting hole such that the thin-wall tubular portion is protected, and the thin-wall tubular portion is swaged, the mounting hole is held between a swaged portion bulged radially outward and the large-diameter tubular portion.Type: GrantFiled: October 7, 2011Date of Patent: November 20, 2018Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.Inventors: Nobuyuki Kawahara, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Patent number: 9958896Abstract: A bearing member for a pedal arm, which is a tubular bearing member which is disposed so as to connect a first mounting hole and a second mounting hole formed respectively in a pair of plate members constituting right and left side walls of the pedal arm and through which a connecting shaft is passed so as to be rotatable relative to the bearing member, the bearing member includes: a large-diameter tubular portion configured to have an external diameter larger than a diameter of the first mounting hole and to be located between the pair of plate members; a first connecting portion configured to have an external diameter smaller than the diameter of the first mounting hole, to be formed so as to project from one end face of the large-diameter tubular portion coaxially with the large-diameter tubular portion, to be passed through the first mounting hole, and to be fixedly fitted to the first mounting hole by being compressed in an axial direction to be swaged so that a peripheral portion of the first mounting hType: GrantFiled: October 7, 2011Date of Patent: May 1, 2018Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.Inventors: Nobuyuki Kawahara, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Patent number: 9718113Abstract: A press-formed product includes a body having a transverse cross section including a bottom portion and a shoulder portion contiguous to the bottom portion through an R end. In the transverse cross section, a first region from the R end to a position a distance away in a bottom portion extending direction, and a second region which is part of the bottom portion and is contiguous to the first region have a work-hardening distribution introduced by press-forming. The work-hardening distribution has an average hardness Hv1 of an area of the first region from a steel sheet surface to a depth obtained by multiplying a steel sheet thickness by 0.2 and an average hardness Hv2 of an area of the second region from the steel sheet surface to a position obtained by multiplying the steel sheet thickness by 0.2 to satisfy a relationship of Hv1>1.05×Hv2.Type: GrantFiled: December 20, 2012Date of Patent: August 1, 2017Assignees: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION, TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD.Inventors: Masahiro Nakata, Toshiya Suzuki, Tomokichi Tokuda, Masanobu Ichikawa, Nobuyuki Ichimaru
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Publication number: 20140356643Abstract: A press-formed product includes a body having a transverse cross section including a bottom portion and a shoulder portion contiguous to the bottom portion through an R end. In the transverse cross section, a first region from the R end to a position a distance away in a bottom portion extending direction, and a second region which is part of the bottom portion and is contiguous to the first region have a work-hardening distribution introduced by press-forming. The work-hardening distribution has an average hardness Hv1 of an area of the first region from a steel sheet surface to a depth obtained by multiplying a steel sheet thickness by 0.2 and an average hardness Hv2 of an area of the second region from the steel sheet surface to a position obtained by multiplying the steel sheet thickness by 0.2 to satisfy a relationship of Hv1>1.05×Hv2.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 20, 2012Publication date: December 4, 2014Inventors: Masahiro Nakata, Toshiya Suzuki, Tomokichi Tokuda, Masanobu Ichikawa, Nobuyuki Ichimaru
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Patent number: 8741075Abstract: A method of producing a hot press-formed member having good corrosion resistance comprises subjecting a zinc-based plated steel sheet to heat treatment by heating to a temperature region of 600-750° C. at a rate of temperature increase up to 600° C. of at most 50° C. per second followed by cooling to 550° C. or below to form a steel blank which has a zinc oxide layer in its uppermost surface portion and below it a zinc-iron alloy phase having an Fe content of at least 25 mass %. This steel blank is heated to a temperature of at least its Ac3 point, then press formed immediately at a temperature of at least its Ac3 point, and then rapidly cooled. The hot press-formed member has a surface region with zinc oxide and iron-zinc solid solution phases and not containing an intermetallic compound phase or a pure zinc phase.Type: GrantFiled: June 26, 2012Date of Patent: June 3, 2014Assignees: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.Inventors: Kazuhito Imai, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20140123801Abstract: A bearing member for a pedal arm, which is a tubular bearing member which is disposed so as to connect a first mounting hole and a second mounting hole formed respectively in a pair of plate members constituting right and left side walls of the pedal arm and through which a connecting shaft is passed so as to be rotatable relative to the bearing member, the bearing member includes: a large-diameter tubular portion configured to have an external diameter larger than a diameter of the first mounting hole and to be located between the pair of plate members; a first connecting portion configured to have an external diameter smaller than the diameter of the first mounting hole, to be formed so as to project from one end face of the large-diameter tubular portion coaxially with the large-diameter tubular portion, to be passed through the first mounting hole, and to be fixedly fitted to the first mounting hole by being compressed in an axial direction to be swaged so that a peripheral portion of the first mounting hType: ApplicationFiled: October 7, 2011Publication date: May 8, 2014Inventors: Nobuyuki Kawahara, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20130298723Abstract: A bearing member for a pedal arm, which is a tubular bearing member which is disposed in a circular mounting hole formed in a plate member that constitutes the pedal arm and through which a connecting shaft having a cylindrical outer peripheral face is passed so as to be rotatable relative to the bearing member, the bearing member includes: a large-diameter tubular portion having an external diameter larger than a diameter of the mounting hole and having a cylindrical inner peripheral face along which the connecting shaft is extended so as to be rotatable relative to the cylindrical inner peripheral face; a small-diameter tubular portion that is formed continuously and integrally with the large-diameter tubular portion in an axial direction of the large-diameter tubular portion, that has a cylindrical outer peripheral face with a diameter smaller than that of the mounting hole, and that has the cylindrical inner peripheral face formed continuously from the large-diameter tubular portion along an overall lengtType: ApplicationFiled: October 7, 2011Publication date: November 14, 2013Inventors: Nobuyuki Kawahara, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20120325377Abstract: A method of producing a hot press-formed member having good corrosion resistance comprises subjecting a zinc-based plated steel sheet to heat treatment by heating to a temperature region of 600-750° C. at a rate of temperature increase up to 600° C. of at most 50° C. per second followed by cooling to 550° C. or below to form a steel blank which has a zinc oxide layer in its uppermost surface portion and below it a zinc-iron alloy phase having an Fe content of at least 25 mass %. This steel blank is heated to a temperature of at least its Ac3 point, then press formed immediately at a temperature of at least its Ac3 point, and then rapidly cooled. The hot press-formed member has a surface region with zinc oxide and iron-zinc solid solution phases and not containing an intermetallic compound phase or a pure zinc phase.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 26, 2012Publication date: December 27, 2012Applicants: TOYODA IRON WORKS CO., LTD., SUMITOMO METAL INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Kazuhito IMAI, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20110303330Abstract: It is provided a steel sheet heating device that heats a flat steel sheet, including: a hot plate having a flat heating surface brought into close contact with the steel sheet; and a plurality of heating equipment able to heat a plurality of heating regions, formed by dividing the heating surface of the hot plate into a plurality of sections, to different heating temperatures at the same time, wherein the steel sheet is heated to different temperatures at various portions based on the heating temperatures of the plurality of heating regions of the heating surface, at the same time through a single heating treatment.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 9, 2011Publication date: December 15, 2011Inventor: Masanobu Ichikawa
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Patent number: 7757536Abstract: The present invention provides a plate-shaped workpiece positioning structure for hot press forming that, upon executing a hot press forming of a heated plate-shaped workpiece (16), positions the plate-shaped workpiece relative to a pair of press dies (10, 12, 14). The positioning structure includes (a) a first positioning opening (20b) and (b) a second positioning openings (22a, 22c). The first positioning opening is arranged in a center part of the plate-shaped workpiece, and engages with a first positioning pin (22b) provided on one (12) of the pair of press dies to position the plate-shaped workpiece. The second positioning openings are arranged between the first positioning opening and a predetermined outer peripheral parts (16a, 16b) of the plate-shaped workpiece, and are formed in an elongate shape that extends along a line connecting the first positioning opening and the predetermined outer peripheral part of the plate-shaped workpiece.Type: GrantFiled: October 30, 2007Date of Patent: July 20, 2010Assignee: Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.Inventors: Masanobu Ichikawa, Tatsuya Ito
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Patent number: 7559998Abstract: A hot press-formed member having stable strength and toughness is manufactured from a high strength steel sheet by hot press forming. In the cooling stage during hot press forming, the cooling rate is at least the critical cooling rate until the Ms point is reached and it is then in the range of 25-150° C./s in the temperature range from the Ms point to 200° C. The Vickers hardness of the hot pressed member is less than the value of (maximum quenching hardness—10) and at least the value of (maximum quenching hardness—100).Type: GrantFiled: November 28, 2005Date of Patent: July 14, 2009Assignees: Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toshinobu Nishibata, Masahiro Nakata, Shuntaro Sudo, Akira Obayashi, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20080223105Abstract: The present invention provides a plate-shaped workpiece positioning structure for hot press forming that, upon executing a hot press forming of a heated plate-shaped workpiece (16), positions the plate-shaped workpiece relative to a pair of press dies (10, 12, 14). The positioning structure includes (a) a first positioning opening (20b) and (b) a second positioning openings (22a, 22c). The first positioning opening is arranged in a center part of the plate-shaped workpiece, and engages with a first positioning pin (22b) provided on one (12) of the pair of press dies to position the plate-shaped workpiece. The second positioning openings are arranged between the first positioning opening and a predetermined outer peripheral parts (16a, 16b) of the plate-shaped workpiece, and are formed in an elongate shape that extends along a line connecting the first positioning opening and the predetermined outer peripheral part of the plate-shaped workpiece.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 30, 2007Publication date: September 18, 2008Inventors: Masanobu Ichikawa, Tatsuya Ito
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Patent number: 7399535Abstract: A hot press-formed article having improved corrosion resistance and coating adhesion when coated is obtained by hot press forming of a zinc-based plated steel material. It has a zinc-based plating layer comprising an iron-zinc solid solution phase and atop it a zinc oxide layer. The average thickness of the zinc oxide layer which is the outermost layer is at most 2 ?m. A hot press-formed article having a good appearance and excellent corrosion resistance, coating adhesion, post-coating corrosion resistance, and weldability has a layer (2) consisting essentially of an iron-zinc solid solution phase atop a base material steel sheet (1). It also has a zinc oxide layer (3) with an average thickness of at most 5 ?m as an uppermost layer, but it does not have a substantial amount of an iron-zinc intermetallic compound phase. The total amount of Al contained in the iron-zinc solid solution layer (2) and the zinc oxide layer (3) is at most 0.Type: GrantFiled: October 21, 2005Date of Patent: July 15, 2008Assignees: Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd., Toyota Jodosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyoda Iron Works Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yukihiro Yoshikawa, Kazuhito Imai, Kunihiro Fukui, Tamotsu Toki, Shuntaro Sudo, Akira Obayashi, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20060185774Abstract: A hot press-formed member having stable strength and toughness is manufactured from a high strength steel sheet by hot press forming. In the cooling stage during hot press forming, the cooling rate is at least the critical cooling rate until the Ms point is reached and it is then in the range of 25-150° C./s in the temperature range from the Ms point to 200° C. The Vickers hardness of the hot pressed member is less than the value of (maximum quenching hardness ?10) and at east the value of (maximum quenching hardness ?100).Type: ApplicationFiled: November 28, 2005Publication date: August 24, 2006Inventors: Toshinobu Nishibata, Masahiro Nakata, Shuntaro Suda, Akira Obayashi, Masanobu Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20060121305Abstract: A hot press-formed article having improved corrosion resistance and coating adhesion when coated is obtained by hot press forming of a zinc-based plated steel material. It has a zinc-based plating layer comprising an iron-zinc solid solution phase and atop it a zinc oxide layer. The average thickness of the zinc oxide layer which is the outermost layer is at most 2 ?m. A hot press-formed article having a good appearance and excellent corrosion resistance, coating adhesion, post-coating corrosion resistance, and weldability has a layer (2) consisting essentially of an iron-zinc solid solution phase atop a base material steel sheet (1). It also has a zinc oxide layer (3) with an average thickness of at most 5 ?m as an uppermost layer, but it does not have a substantial amount of an iron-zinc intermetallic compound phase. The total amount of Al contained in the iron-zinc solid solution layer (2) and the zinc oxide layer (3) is at most 0.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 21, 2005Publication date: June 8, 2006Inventors: Yukihiro Yoshikawa, Kazuhito Imai, Kunihiro Fukui, Tamotsu Toki, Shuntaro Sudo, Akira Obayashi, Masanobu Ichikawa