Patents by Inventor Tetsuro Okazono
Tetsuro Okazono 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: 11118551Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a pump unit, a lid unit and a strut linking unit. The pump unit is located on a bottom of a fuel tank for discharging fuel from the fuel tank to an outside thereof. The lid unit is attached to an upper wall of the fuel tank to close an opening formed in the upper wall. The lid unit has a fuel discharge port. The strut linking unit connects the lid unit to the pump unit. The strut linking unit includes an upper-side strut member, which is formed as an independent component from the lid unit. The strut linking unit includes a lower-side strut member, which is movably connected to the upper-side strut member in a vertical direction. The upper-side strut member is connected to the lid unit by a snap-fit connection. A connecting portion between the upper-side strut member and the lid unit has a stress concentration portion, which is preferentially damaged when an external force is applied to the strut linking unit.Type: GrantFiled: October 21, 2020Date of Patent: September 14, 2021Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventors: Norihiro Hayashi, Tetsuro Okazono, Teppei Matsumoto, Yoshihisa Sanami, Kazuaki Ae
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Patent number: 11007864Abstract: A vehicle structure includes a fuel tank configured to store a fuel supplied to an internal-combustion engine of a vehicle and a battery configured to store an electric power supplied to an electric motor of the vehicle to drive the vehicle. A gravity center of the battery is lower than a gravity center of the fuel tank, and at least a part of the fuel tank overlaps with the battery in a top plan view of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: October 4, 2019Date of Patent: May 18, 2021Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventors: Norihiro Hayashi, Tetsuro Okazono
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Publication number: 20210033053Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a pump unit, a lid unit and a strut linking unit. The pump unit is located on a bottom of a fuel tank for discharging fuel from the fuel tank to an outside thereof. The lid unit is attached to an upper wall of the fuel tank to close an opening formed in the upper wall. The lid unit has a fuel discharge port. The strut linking unit connects the lid unit to the pump unit. The strut linking unit includes an upper-side strut member, which is formed as an independent component from the lid unit. The strut linking unit includes a lower-side strut member, which is movably connected to the upper-side strut member in a vertical direction. The upper-side strut member is connected to the lid unit by a snap-fit connection. A connecting portion between the upper-side strut member and the lid unit has a stress concentration portion, which is preferentially damaged when an external force is applied to the strut linking unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 21, 2020Publication date: February 4, 2021Inventors: Norihiro HAYASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Teppei MATSUMOTO, Yoshihisa SANAMI, Kazuaki AE
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Patent number: 10801451Abstract: A housing has an inner passage to communicate with both a fuel passage, which is to conduct fuel from a fuel pump, and a return passage, which is to return fuel a fuel tank. A valve body is movable in the housing to change a minimum flow passage cross-sectional area of the inner passage. A spring is connected to the valve body and changes its biasing load in correspondence with a fuel temperature to move the valve body. The spring moves the valve body such that the minimum flow passage cross-sectional area, when the fuel temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined vapor generation temperature, is larger than the minimum flow passage cross-sectional area when the fuel temperature is lower than the vapor generation temperature.Type: GrantFiled: September 24, 2019Date of Patent: October 13, 2020Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventors: Takemasa Fujiseki, Tetsuro Okazono, Shinji Noda, Norihiro Hayashi, Hajime Danjo, Shinichi Morita
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Patent number: 10794342Abstract: A pump unit includes an insertion guide member that extends in a longitudinal direction of the pump unit and is used to guide the pump unit at a time of inserting the pump unit into an opening portion of a fuel tank. The insertion guide member includes a stopper portion and a guide portion that are arranged along an edge part of the insertion guide member. When the pump unit is projected in the longitudinal direction onto a plane of projection, the stopper portion protrudes outward from an imaginary circle, which has a fitting portion's diameter, on the plane of projection. The guide portion guides the pump unit in a rotational direction relative to a stay. A cross section of the pump unit taken along a guide portion orthogonal plane is set to be within the imaginary circle, which has the fitting portion's diameter.Type: GrantFiled: June 9, 2017Date of Patent: October 6, 2020Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Koji Maruyama, Shingo Fukuoka, Rui Adachi, Tetsuro Okazono, Norihiro Hayashi, Atsushi Kamiyama, Junichi Takatsuji
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Patent number: 10669976Abstract: A fuel supply device includes: a cover attached to an upper wall of a fuel tank; a pump unit disposed on a bottom wall of the fuel tank; and a connecting strut that connects the cover and the pump unit with each other. The pump unit includes: a unit body supported by the connecting strut in a radial direction and a thrust direction, and a fuel pump arranged on the unit body to pump fuel drawn from the fuel tank toward an internal-combustion engine. The fuel pump is located offset toward the connecting strut from a width center of a width from a thrust support part where the unit body is supported by the connecting strut to an end part of the unit body opposite from the connecting strut in a specific transverse direction.Type: GrantFiled: February 24, 2017Date of Patent: June 2, 2020Assignee: DENSO CORPORATIONInventors: Shingo Fukuoka, Norihiro Hayashi, Tetsuro Okazono
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Publication number: 20200114750Abstract: A vehicle structure includes a fuel tank configured to store a fuel supplied to an internal-combustion engine of a vehicle and a battery configured to store an electric power supplied to an electric motor of the vehicle to drive the vehicle. A gravity center of the battery is lower than a gravity center of the fuel tank, and at least a part of the fuel tank overlaps with the battery in a top plan view of the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 4, 2019Publication date: April 16, 2020Inventors: Norihiro HAYASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO
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Publication number: 20200095963Abstract: A housing has an inner passage to communicate with both a fuel passage, which is to conduct fuel from a fuel pump, and a return passage, which is to return fuel a fuel tank. A valve body is movable in the housing to change a minimum flow passage cross-sectional area of the inner passage. A spring is connected to the valve body and changes its biasing load in correspondence with a fuel temperature to move the valve body. The spring moves the valve body such that the minimum flow passage cross-sectional area, when the fuel temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined vapor generation temperature, is larger than the minimum flow passage cross-sectional area when the fuel temperature is lower than the vapor generation temperature.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 24, 2019Publication date: March 26, 2020Inventors: Takemasa FUJISEKI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Shinji NODA, Norihiro HAYASHI, Hajime DANJO, Shinichi MORITA
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Publication number: 20190178211Abstract: A pump unit includes an insertion guide member that extends in a longitudinal direction of the pump unit and is used to guide the pump unit at a time of inserting the pump unit into an opening portion of a fuel tank. The insertion guide member includes a stopper portion and a guide portion that are arranged along an edge part of the insertion guide member. When the pump unit is projected in the longitudinal direction onto a plane of projection, the stopper portion protrudes outward from an imaginary circle, which has a fitting portion's diameter, on the plane of projection. The guide portion guides the pump unit in a rotational direction relative to a stay. A cross section of the pump unit taken along a guide portion orthogonal plane is set to be within the imaginary circle, which has the fitting portion's diameter.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 9, 2017Publication date: June 13, 2019Inventors: Koji MARUYAMA, Shingo FUKUOKA, Rui ADACHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Norihiro HAYASHI, Atsushi KAMIYAMA, Junichi TAKATSUJI
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Publication number: 20190032614Abstract: A fuel supply device includes: a cover attached to an upper wall of a fuel tank; a pump unit disposed on a bottom wall of the fuel tank; and a connecting strut that connects the cover and the pump unit with each other. The pump unit includes: a unit body supported by the connecting strut in a radial direction and a thrust direction, and a fuel pump arranged on the unit body to pump fuel drawn from the fuel tank toward an internal-combustion engine. The fuel pump is located offset toward the connecting strut from a width center of a width from a thrust support part where the unit body is supported by the connecting strut to an end part of the unit body opposite from the connecting strut in a specific transverse direction.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 24, 2017Publication date: January 31, 2019Inventors: Shingo FUKUOKA, Norihiro HAYASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO
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Patent number: 10145342Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a fuel pump, a filter case, a fuel passage, a discharge passage, and a residual pressure holding valve. A communication port opens at a shifted position of the fuel passage that is positionally shifted from the residual pressure holding valve toward the discharge passage. The fuel passage includes an outside passage part through which fuel flows from the communication port toward the discharge passage, and an inside passage part that throttles a flow of fuel flowing from the communication port toward the residual pressure holding valve more than the outside passage part. When a passage cross-sectional area of the inside passage part is converted into a passage cross-sectional area of a circular pipe, D which is a passage diameter of the circular pipe, and L which is a length of the inside passage part satisfy a relational expression of L/D?3.Type: GrantFiled: August 26, 2015Date of Patent: December 4, 2018Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, KYOSAN DENKI CO., LTD.Inventors: Hideto Takahashi, Masaharu Oohashi, Tetsuro Okazono, Hironobu Oki
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Publication number: 20180257006Abstract: A suction filter which filters fuel inside a fuel tank of a vehicle to let a fuel pump draw filtered fuel into an inlet port includes a filter element disposed inside the fuel tank and filtering stored fuel stored in the fuel tank by allowing the stored fuel to pass through to an inner space, and a partition wall element disposed in a posture with which to divide the inner space to a first space where filtered fuel filtered at the filter element flows in and a second space where the inlet port into which the filtered fuel is drawn opens, and allowing the filtered fuel in the first space to pass through to the second space. The partition wall element is provided in a form of a partition film dividing the inner space to the first space on an upper side and the second space on a lower side.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 13, 2016Publication date: September 13, 2018Inventors: Norihiro HAYASHI, Shinobu OIKAWA, Kiyoshi NAGATA, Tetsuro OKAZONO
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Patent number: 10054089Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a sub-tank, a pump unit, a jet pump, and a connection structure connected with the pump unit and the jet pump. The connection structure has a guide part that is provided to the pump unit and guides the pressurized fuel toward the bottom in an axial direction, a pressurizing part that is provided to the jet pump and is fitted to the guide part from a side of the bottom in an axially slidable manner, to which the pressurized fuel is guided from the guide part, a shock-absorbing member that has a low spring constant that is predetermined and mitigates an axial impact between the guide part and the pressurizing part, and a sealing member that has a high spring constant higher than the low spring constant of the shock-absorbing member and radially seals a space between the guide part and the pressurizing part.Type: GrantFiled: November 2, 2015Date of Patent: August 21, 2018Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, KYOSAN DENKI CO., LTD.Inventors: Hideto Takahashi, Masaharu Oohashi, Tetsuro Okazono, Hironobu Oki
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Patent number: 10054088Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a fuel pump, a filter case that houses a fuel filter, and a port member joined to the filter case, a fuel pumped by the fuel pump from inside a fuel tank is filtered by the fuel filter and supplied from inside the filter case toward an internal combustion engine, and the port member integrally includes a plurality of fuel ports that communicate from inside of the filter case to outside of the filter case.Type: GrantFiled: November 3, 2014Date of Patent: August 21, 2018Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, KYOSAN DENKI CO., LTD.Inventors: Yutaka Niwa, Hideto Takahashi, Tetsuro Okazono, Hironobu Oki, Akihiro Ishitoya, Akinari Sugiyama
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Patent number: 10024282Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a fuel pump and a filter case that houses a fuel filter, a fuel pumped by the fuel pump from inside a fuel tank is filtered by the fuel filter and supplied from inside the filter case toward an internal combustion engine, and the filter case includes a case body having a closed bottom shape that forms a housing chamber of the fuel filter, a case cap that covers an aperture of the case body by being joined to the case body, and a residual pressure retention valve that, when the fuel pump is stopped, retains a pressure of the fuel supplied from inside the filter case toward the internal combustion engine, the residual pressure retention valve being disposed at a joint boundary of the case body and the case cap.Type: GrantFiled: November 3, 2014Date of Patent: July 17, 2018Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, KYOSAN DENKI CO., LTD.Inventors: Yutaka Niwa, Hideto Takahashi, Tetsuro Okazono, Hironobu Oki, Akinari Sugiyama, Akihiro Ishitoya
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Publication number: 20170314522Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a sub-tank, a pump unit, a jet pump, and a connection structure connected with the pump unit and the jet pump. The connection structure has a guide part that is provided to the pump unit and guides the pressurized fuel toward the bottom in an axial direction, a pressurizing part that is provided to the jet pump and is fitted to the guide part from a side of the bottom in an axially slidable manner, to which the pressurized fuel is guided from the guide part, a shock-absorbing member that has a low spring constant that is predetermined and mitigates an axial impact between the guide part and the pressurizing part, and a sealing member that has a high spring constant higher than the low spring constant of the shock-absorbing member and radially seals a space between the guide part and the pressurizing part.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 2, 2015Publication date: November 2, 2017Inventors: Hideto TAKAHASHI, Masaharu OOHASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Hironobu OKI
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Publication number: 20170254302Abstract: A communication port opens at a shifted position of a fuel passage that is positionally shifted from an inside residual pressure holding valve toward an outside residual pressure holding valve. The fuel passage includes an outside passage part through which the fuel to be discharged into an internal-combustion engine flows from the communication port toward the outside residual pressure holding valve, and an inside passage part that throttles a flow of fuel flowing from the communication port toward the inside residual pressure holding valve more than the outside passage part. When a passage cross-sectional area of the inside passage part is converted into a passage cross-sectional area of a circular pipe, D which is a passage diameter of the circular pipe, and L which is a length of the inside passage part satisfy a relational expression of L/D?3.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 26, 2015Publication date: September 7, 2017Inventors: Hideto TAKAHASHI, Masaharu OOHASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Hironobu OKI
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Publication number: 20170254303Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a fuel pump, a filter case, a fuel passage, a discharge passage, and a residual pressure holding valve. A communication port opens at a shifted position of the fuel passage that is positionally shifted from the residual pressure holding valve toward the discharge passage. The fuel passage includes an outside passage part through which fuel flows from the communication port toward the discharge passage, and an inside passage part that throttles a flow of fuel flowing from the communication port toward the residual pressure holding valve more than the outside passage part. When a passage cross-sectional area of the inside passage part is converted into a passage cross-sectional area of a circular pipe, D which is a passage diameter of the circular pipe, and L which is a length of the inside passage part satisfy a relational expression of L/D?3.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 26, 2015Publication date: September 7, 2017Inventors: Hideto TAKAHASHI, Masaharu OOHASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Hironobu OKI
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Publication number: 20160265494Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a fuel pump and a filter case that houses a fuel filter, a fuel pumped by the fuel pump from inside a fuel tank is filtered by the fuel filter and supplied from inside the filter case toward an internal combustion engine, and the filter case integrally includes, offset to a specific location of a circumferential direction, a fuel passage that allows fuel to flow downstream from the fuel filter, a discharge passage that discharges flowing fuel in the fuel passage toward the internal combustion engine, and a plurality of opening and closing valves that open and close the fuel passage.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 3, 2014Publication date: September 15, 2016Applicant: DENSO CORPORATIONInventors: Yutaka NIWA, Hideto TAKAHASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Hironobu OKI, Akinari SUGIYAMA, Akihiro ISHITOYA
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Publication number: 20160252060Abstract: A fuel supply device includes a fuel pump, a filter case that houses a fuel filter, and a port member joined to the filter case, a fuel pumped by the fuel pump from inside a fuel tank is filtered by the fuel filter and supplied from inside the filter case toward an internal combustion engine, and the port member integrally includes a plurality of fuel ports that communicate from inside of the filter case to outside of the filter case.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 3, 2014Publication date: September 1, 2016Applicants: DENSO CORPORATION, KYOSAN DENKI COL, LTD.Inventors: Yutaka NIWA, Hideto TAKAHASHI, Tetsuro OKAZONO, Hironobu OKI, Akihiro ISHITOYA, Akinari SUGIYAMA