Patents by Inventor Mineki Tanaka

Mineki Tanaka 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: 6557919
    Abstract: With respect to a rotating seat for a vehicle, for example, for the elderly or the handicapped, the known art requires two operations of moving a seat body forward and rotating it to a door opening, and is thus poor in usability. Further, if the seat is positioned to the front such that the seat can be rotated at that position, the space close to occupant's feet is sacrificed. It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a rotating vehicle seat having excellent usability without sacrificing the space close to occupant's feet. A rotating vehicle seat of the present invention includes a rotating support base 10 for rotatably supporting a seat body 2, a longitudinal support base for supporting and moving the rotating support base in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle, and a coupling arrangement means 6, 38 disposed between the seat body 2 and the longitudinal support base for coupling the rotational movement and the longitudinal movement of the seat body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Toyota Shatai Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuo Suga, Masamitsu Iwatani, Takafumi Hijikata, Tadashi Takenoshita, Yoshiyuki Miura, Mineki Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20010038223
    Abstract: With respect to a rotating seat for a vehicle, for example, for the elderly or the handicapped, the known art requires two operations of moving a seat body forward and rotating it to a door opening, and is thus poor in usability. Further, if the seat is positioned to the front such that the seat can be rotated at that position, the space close to occupant's feet is sacrificed. It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a rotating vehicle seat having excellent usability without sacrificing the space close to occupant's feet. A rotating vehicle seat of the present invention includes a rotating support base 10 for rotatably supporting a seat body 2, a longitudinal support base for supporting and moving the rotating support base in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle, and coupling means 6, 38 disposed between the seat body 2 and the longitudinal support base for coupling the rotational movement and the longitudinal movement of the seat body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2001
    Publication date: November 8, 2001
    Applicant: Toyota Shatai Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuo Suga, Masamitsu Iwatani, Takafumi Hijikata, Tadashi Takenoshita, Yoshiyuki Miura, Mineki Tanaka