Patents by Inventor Naruto Ito

Naruto Ito 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: 11148536
    Abstract: In a fuel cell system, when fully closing an upstream-side valve, a controller performs controlled fully-closed opening-degree control that adjusts the opening degree of the upstream-side valve to a controlled fully-closing opening degree greater than zero by means of a drive mechanism. Upon determining that, during the controlled fully-closed opening-degree control, there is a leakage of oxidant gas in the upstream-side valve, the controller corrects the controlled fully-closed opening degree to the valve-closing side until reaching a zero-position opening degree at which the amount of leakage of the oxidant gas in the upstream-side valve becomes zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru Yoshioka, Naruto Ito, Makoto Fukui
  • Patent number: 10982772
    Abstract: An eccentric valve has a drive mechanism, a drive force receiving part, a bearing for supporting a rotary shaft, and a return spring for generating a return spring force. During non-operation of the drive mechanism, the eccentric valve generates a separating-direction urging force to cause the rotary shaft to incline about the bearing serving as a fulcrum and urge the valve element in a direction away from the valve seat, the separating-direction urging force being a force caused by the return spring force. Either the valve element or the valve seat is provided with a sealing member to seal between the valve element and the valve seat during non-operation of the drive mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru Yoshioka, Kasumi Mishima, Naruto Ito, Makoto Fukui, Takashige Inagaki, Sunao Kitamura, Hiroshi Misumi
  • Patent number: 10862147
    Abstract: In a fuel cell system, each of an inlet sealing valve and an outlet integration valve is provided with a valve seat including a valve hole and a seat surface formed on a circumferential edge of the valve hole, a valve element formed, on its outer periphery, with a seal surface corresponding to the seat surface, and a motor to move the valve element away from the valve seat upon receipt of electric power supplied from outside. The valve seat is provided with a seal member to seal between the valve element and the valve seat during non-operation of the motor. In an inlet-side bypass passage connected to an air supply passage by detouring around the inlet sealing valve, there are arranged an inlet-side bypass passage and an inlet bypass valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru Yoshioka, Naruto Ito, Makoto Fukui
  • Patent number: 10690094
    Abstract: An intake apparatus includes an intake manifold, an EGR gas distributor, and an EGR cooler. The intake manifold includes a surge tank and branch pipes. The EGR gas distributor includes a gas inlet, a gas chamber, and gas distribution pipes connected to the branch pipes. The branch pipes are each formed with a connecting hole for the gas distribution pipes. The EGR cooler is provided adjacent to the gas chamber to warm the inside wall of the gas chamber and includes a hot water passage and a gas passage. The gas chamber and the hot water passage are arranged to traverse the branch pipes. The gas distribution pipes are connected to the corresponding connecting holes. The EGR gas distributor and the EGR cooler in an integrated form are attached to the intake manifold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naruto Ito, Mamoru Yoshioka, Akinari Yasue, Hironori Suzuki, Kaisho So
  • Patent number: 10655572
    Abstract: A valve housing that has a flow passage. Arranged in the flow passage are a valve seat that includes a valve hole, valve body that can be seated on the valve seat, and a section of a rotary shaft with the valve body fixed to the tip thereof. A ring-shaped seat surface is formed in the valve hole of the valve seat. A ring-shaped sealing surface corresponding to the seat surface is formed on the perimeter of the disc-shaped valve body. By rotating the rotary shaft, the valve body rotates open from a closed state in which the valve body is seated on the valve seat and the sealing surface is in contact with the seat surface. A tapered upstream-side flow regulating part is provided in the valve hole of the valve seat, so as to widen from the seat surface toward the upstream side of the EGR gas flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takashige Inagaki, Mamoru Yoshioka, Naruto Ito
  • Publication number: 20200099069
    Abstract: In a fuel cell system, when fully closing an upstream-side valve, a controller performs controlled fully-closed opening-degree control that adjusts the opening degree of the upstream-side valve to a controlled fully-closing opening degree greater than zero by means of a drive mechanism. Upon determining that, during the controlled fully-closed opening-degree control, there is a leakage of oxidant gas in the upstream-side valve, the controller corrects the controlled fully-closed opening degree to the valve-closing side until reaching a zero-position opening degree at which the amount of leakage of the oxidant gas in the upstream-side valve becomes zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2018
    Publication date: March 26, 2020
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Naruto ITO, Makoto FUKUI
  • Patent number: 10601058
    Abstract: In a fuel cell system, each of an inlet sealing valve and an outlet integration valve is provided with a valve seat including a valve hole and a seat surface formed on a circumferential edge of the valve hole, a valve element formed, on its outer periphery, with a seal surface corresponding to the seat surface, and a motor to move the valve element away from the valve seat upon receipt of electric power supplied from outside. The valve seat is provided with a seal member to seal between the valve element and the valve seat during non-operation of the motor. In an inlet-side bypass passage connected to an air supply passage by detouring around the inlet sealing valve, there are arranged an inlet-side bypass passage and an inlet bypass valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru Yoshioka, Naruto Ito, Makoto Fukui
  • Patent number: 10505210
    Abstract: A fuel cell system uses, as an inlet sealing valve, an eccentric valve having a rubber seat provided with a seal part having such a shape as to increase the surface pressure of a portion in contact with a seal surface of a valve element when pressure in an air supply passage rises. Each of an outlet integration valve and a bypass valve is constituted of an eccentric valve basically identical in structure to the inlet sealing valve. When supply of air to a fuel cell stack is to be stopped during deceleration of a vehicle, a controller closes the inlet sealing valve and opens the bypass valve and, after the inlet sealing valve is fully closed, closes the bypass valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru Yoshioka, Naruto Ito, Makoto Fukui, Hiroshi Sugiura, Toshiyuki Fujimura, Kasumi Mishima
  • Publication number: 20190372139
    Abstract: In a fuel cell system, each of an inlet sealing valve and an outlet integration valve is provided with a valve seat including a valve hole and a seat surface formed on a circumferential edge of the valve hole, a valve element formed, on its outer periphery, with a seal surface corresponding to the seat surface, and a motor to move the valve element away from the valve seat upon receipt of electric power supplied from outside. The valve seat is provided with a seal member to seal between the valve element and the valve seat during non-operation of the motor. In an inlet-side bypass passage connected to an air supply passage by detouring around the inlet sealing valve, there are arranged an inlet-side bypass passage and an inlet bypass valve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2019
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Naruto Ito, Makoto Fukui
  • Patent number: 10408170
    Abstract: In a casing, a cooler valve element is placed in a cooler flow passage, while a bypass valve element is placed in a bypass flow passage. The cooler valve element is adjacent and fixed to a first shaft end portion of a valve shaft. The bypass valve element is adjacent and fixed to a second shaft end portion of the valve shaft. A first bearing is provided between the casing and the first shaft end portion and a second bearing is provided between the casing and the second shaft end portion. A first seal member is placed, adjacent to the first bearing, and a second seal member is placed adjacent to a second bearing. A driven gear is fixed to a leading end of the first shaft end portion. The first bearing consists of a rolling bearing and the second bearing is formed of a slid bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masahiro Kobayashi, Mamoru Yoshioka, Mitsuru Takeuchi, Musashi Suzuki, Shinji Kawai, Naruto Ito
  • Patent number: 10408352
    Abstract: A flow control valve comprising a valve seat provided with a valve hole and a seat surface, a valve element formed with a sealing surface corresponding to the seat surface, and a rotary shaft to which the valve element is integrally provided, the central axis of the rotary shaft being arranged eccentrically toward the radial direction of the valve hole from the central axis of the valve hole, and the sealing surface being arranged eccentrically toward the direction in which the central axis of the valve element extends from the central axis of the rotary shaft. The flow control valve has a valve element movement direction restriction member for stopping rotation of the valve element, and thereafter moving the valve element toward the valve seat while also relatively rotating the valve element about the eccentric axis eccentric from the central axis of the rotary shaft, relative to the rotary shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Makoto Fukui, Mamoru Yoshioka, Naruto Ito, Takashige Inagaki, Kasumi Mishima
  • Publication number: 20190257430
    Abstract: An eccentric valve has a drive mechanism, a drive force receiving part, a bearing for supporting a rotary shaft, and a return spring for generating a return spring force. During non-operation of the drive mechanism, the eccentric valve generates a separating-direction urging force to cause the rotary shaft to incline about the bearing serving as a fulcrum and urge the valve element in a direction away from the valve seal, the separating-direction urging force being a force caused by the return spring force. Either the valve element or the valve seat is provided with a sealing member to seal between the valve element and the valve seat during non-operation of the drive mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2019
    Publication date: August 22, 2019
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Kasumi MISHIMA, Naruto ITO, Makoto FUKUI, Takashige INAGAKI, Sunao KITAMURA, Hiroshi MISUMI
  • Publication number: 20190203673
    Abstract: A valve housing that has a flow passage. Arranged in the flow passage are a valve seat that includes a valve hole, valve body that can be seated on the valve seat, and a section of a rotary shaft with the valve body fixed to the tip thereof. A ring-shaped seat surface is formed in the valve hole of the valve seat. A ring-shaped sealing surface corresponding to the seat surface is formed on the perimeter of the disc-shaped valve body. By rotating the rotary shaft, the valve body rotates open from a closed state in which the valve body is seated on the valve seat and the sealing surface is in contact with the seat surface. A tapered upstream-side flow regulating part is provided in the valve hole of the valve seat, so as to widen from the seat surface toward the upstream side of the EGR gas flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Publication date: July 4, 2019
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takashige INAGAKI, Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Naruto ITO
  • Patent number: 10337467
    Abstract: An EGR valve includes a valve seat in a flow passage of a housing, a valve element seatable on the valve seat, a rotary shaft to open or close the valve element, a motor and a speed reducing mechanism, a return spring urging the valve element in a valve closing direction, and an opening-degree sensor to detect an opening degree of the valve element. An electronic control unit (ECU) diagnoses abnormality due to lodging of foreign matter between the valve seat and the valve element during full close. When driving the motor to urge the valve element in the valve closing direction during full close of the valve element, the ECU determines the EGR valve to be abnormal because of lodging of foreign matter if a difference between a value detected by the opening-degree sensor and a predetermined reference value is larger than a first determination value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru Yoshioka, Takashige Inagaki, Naruto Ito, Toshiyuki Fujimura
  • Patent number: 10337622
    Abstract: An eccentric valve has a drive mechanism, a drive force receiving part, a bearing for supporting a rotary shaft, and a return spring for generating a return spring force. During non-operation of the drive mechanism, the eccentric valve generates a separating-direction urging force to cause the rotary shaft to incline about the bearing serving as a fulcrum and urge the valve element in a direction away from the valve seat, the separating-direction urging force being a force caused by the return spring force. Either the valve element or the valve seat is provided with a sealing member to seal between the valve element and the valve seat during non-operation of the drive mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru Yoshioka, Kasumi Mishima, Naruto Ito, Makoto Fukui, Takashige Inagaki, Sunao Kitamura, Hiroshi Misumi
  • Publication number: 20190136981
    Abstract: In an EGR valve including a double eccentric valve, a passage is divided into upstream and downstream passages with the valve seat as the boundary and the valve element is disposed in the upstream passage. The valve element includes a first side part and a second side part that have as a boundary a virtual surface extending from the axis of the rotary shaft parallel to the direction in which the axis of the valve element extends. When the valve element rotates in the valve-opening direction from the fully closed state, the first side part rotates into the downstream passage and the second side part rotates into the upstream passage. A valve closing stopper is provided to be engageable with the first side part. A return spring for rotationally biasing the valve element in the fully closed state in the direction of valve-closing is also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takashige INAGAKI, Sunao KITAMURA, Shinji KAWAI, Naruto ITO, Mamoru YOSHIOKA
  • Publication number: 20190063381
    Abstract: An intake apparatus includes an intake manifold, an EGR gas distributor, and an EGR cooler. The intake manifold includes a surge tank and branch pipes. The EGR gas distributor includes a gas inlet, a gas chamber, and gas distribution pipes connected to the branch pipes. The branch pipes are each formed with a connecting hole for the gas distribution pipes. The EGR cooler is provided adjacent to the gas chamber to warm the inside wall of the gas chamber and includes a hot water passage and a gas passage. The gas chamber and the hot water passage are arranged to traverse the branch pipes. The gas distribution pipes are connected to the corresponding connecting holes. The EGR gas distributor and the EGR cooler in an integrated form are attached to the intake manifold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2018
    Publication date: February 28, 2019
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naruto ITO, Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Akinari YASUE, Hironori SUZUKI, Kaisho SO
  • Publication number: 20190056032
    Abstract: An eccentric valve has a drive mechanism, a drive force receiving part, a bearing for supporting a rotary shaft, and a return spring for generating a return spring force. During non-operation of the drive mechanism, the eccentric valve generates a separating-direction urging force to cause the rotary shaft to incline about the bearing serving as a fulcrum and urge the valve element in a direction away from the valve seat, the separating-direction urging force being a force caused by the return spring force. Either the valve element or the valve seat is provided with a sealing member to seal between the valve element and the valve seat during non-operation of the drive mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2016
    Publication date: February 21, 2019
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Kasumi MISHIMA, Naruto ITO, Makoto FUKUI, Takashige INAGAKI, Sunao KITAMURA, Hiroshi MISUMI
  • Publication number: 20190003427
    Abstract: In a casing, a cooler valve element is placed in a cooler flow passage, while a bypass valve element is placed in a bypass flow passage. The cooler valve element is adjacent and fixed to a first shaft end portion of a valve shaft. The bypass valve element is adjacent and fixed to a second shaft end portion of the valve shaft. A first bearing is provided between the casing and the first shaft end portion and a second bearing is provided between the casing and the second shaft end portion. A first seal member is placed, adjacent to the first bearing, and a second seal member is placed adjacent to a second bearing. A driven gear is fixed to a leading end of the first shaft end portion. The first bearing consists of a rolling bearing and the second bearing is formed of a slid bearing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Publication date: January 3, 2019
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masahiro KOBAYASHI, Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Mitsuru TAKEUCHI, Musashi SUZUKI, Shinji KAWAI, Naruto ITO
  • Publication number: 20180320790
    Abstract: A flow control valve comprising a valve seat provided with a valve hole and a seat surface, a valve element formed with a sealing surface corresponding to the seat surface, and a rotary shaft to which the valve element is integrally provided, the central axis of the rotary shaft being arranged eccentrically toward the radial direction of the valve hole from the central axis of the valve hole, and the sealing surface being arranged eccentrically toward the direction in which the central axis of the valve element extends from the central axis of the rotary shaft. The flow control valve has a valve element movement direction restriction member for stopping rotation of the valve element, and thereafter moving the valve element toward the valve seat while also relatively rotating the valve element about the eccentric axis eccentric from the central axis of the rotary shaft, relative to the rotary shaft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Publication date: November 8, 2018
    Applicant: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Makoto FUKUI, Mamoru YOSHIOKA, Naruto ITO, Takashige INAGAKI, Kasumi MISHIMA