Patents by Inventor Toru HIOKI

Toru HIOKI 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: 20180361507
    Abstract: While a laser-beam application position is moved along a locus which circularly or elliptically circles around a locus center so as to cross a weld line that is a boundary between a first metal plate and a second metal plate overlapped with each other, the locus center is moved in a direction parallel to a weld line. A moving direction of the laser-beam application position is set such that the laser beam is first applied to the first metal plate and then to the second metal plate when the laser beam passes through an unmelted zone of the first metal plate and the second metal plate. The unmelted zone is located downstream of a range through which the laser beam has already passed in the direction parallel to the weld line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toru HIOKI, Shuhei OGURA, Hiroki TORIYAMA, Ryosuke KAWAI, Shun KATO
  • Patent number: 10076807
    Abstract: A welding method according to the invention is a welding method in which welding is performed by emitting a high-energy beam onto a welding object that includes a plurality of overlapped metal sheets. This welding method includes forming a tack weld nugget at a welding point on the welding object, and forming a plurality of final weld nuggets along a virtual closed curve that encircles the tack weld nugget, while leaving the tack weld nugget, at the welding point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei Hisada, Toru Hioki, Kazuyuki Ogusu, Shuichi Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 9962789
    Abstract: A welding method according to the present invention is a welding method for irradiating an object to be welded including a plurality of metallic plates that are stacked on each other with a high energy beam and performing welding. The welding method includes: forming a plurality of tack weld nuggets along a virtual closed curve on a part to be welded of the object to be welded; and forming a plurality of main weld nuggets so that the main weld nuggets overlap the plurality of respective tack weld nuggets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei Hisada, Toru Hioki, Shuichi Matsumoto, Kazuyuki Ogusu
  • Publication number: 20180099357
    Abstract: Objects to be welded are joined together by laser welding to form adjacent nuggets. When a distance between central axes of the adjacent nuggets is p and a diameter of the adjacent nuggets in the objects to be welded is d, the adjacent nuggets are formed so as to satisfy an equation 1.0<p/d?1.6.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2017
    Publication date: April 12, 2018
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei HISADA, Toru HIOKI, Masaki MORINO
  • Patent number: 9636781
    Abstract: A laser welding method includes: projecting a laser beam onto irradiation regions on plural metallic workpieces such that a weld section is formed when the workpieces are joined by laser welding, the weld section being formed of plural nuggets, and each of the irradiation regions being formed with each of the nuggets. The nuggets are sequentially formed by sequentially projecting the laser beam onto the irradiation regions that respectively correspond to the nuggets. The laser beam is projected onto each of the irradiation regions such that an amount of input heat from the laser beam that is projected onto each of the irradiation regions to the workpiece is reduced as the nuggets are sequentially formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei Hisada, Toru Hioki, Junichiro Makino, Kazuyuki Ogusu, Masahiro Nakata
  • Publication number: 20160288262
    Abstract: A welding method according to the invention is a welding method in which welding is performed by emitting a high-energy beam onto a welding object that includes a plurality of overlapped metal sheets. This welding method includes forming a tack weld nugget at a welding point on the welding object, and forming a plurality of final weld nuggets along a virtual closed curve that encircles the tack weld nugget, while leaving the tack weld nugget, at the welding point.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2016
    Publication date: October 6, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei HISADA, Toru HIOKI, Kazuyuki OGUSU, Shuichi MATSUMOTO
  • Publication number: 20160288261
    Abstract: A welding method according to the present invention is a welding method for irradiating an object to be welded including a plurality of metallic plates that are stacked on each other with a high energy beam and performing welding. The welding method includes: forming a plurality of tack weld nuggets along a virtual closed curve on a part to be welded of the object to be welded; and forming a plurality of main weld nuggets so that the main weld nuggets overlap the plurality of respective tack weld nuggets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2016
    Publication date: October 6, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei HISADA, Toru HIOKI, Shuichi MATSUMOTO, Kazuyuki OGUSU
  • Publication number: 20160236297
    Abstract: A laser welding method for welding a plurality of objects to be welded by applying a laser beam scanned by a scanning unit to the plurality of objects to be welded while moving the scanning unit in a welding direction along a welding path, the laser welding method including the steps of: performing a step of preliminary-fixation-welding on a predetermined place in the welding direction of the objects to be welded, and a step of main-welding on a place corresponding to the preliminarily-fixed place of the object to be welded within a scanning range of the scanning unit while moving the scanning unit. Further, when the place corresponding to the preliminarily-fixed place of the object to be welded is main-welded, the place is main-welded in a state where both sides of the place to be main-welded are restrained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Publication date: August 18, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kohei HISADA, Toru HIOKI, Kazuyuki OGUSU
  • Publication number: 20150336212
    Abstract: A laser welding method includes: projecting a laser beam onto irradiation regions on plural metallic workpieces such that a weld section is formed when the workpieces are joined by laser welding, the weld section being formed of plural nuggets, and each of the irradiation regions being formed with each of the nuggets. The nuggets are sequentially formed by sequentially projecting the laser beam onto the irradiation regions that respectively correspond to the nuggets. The laser beam is projected onto each of the irradiation regions such that an amount of input heat from the laser beam that is projected onto each of the irradiation regions to the workpiece is reduced as the nuggets are sequentially formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2015
    Publication date: November 26, 2015
    Inventors: Kohei HISADA, Toru HIOKI, Junichiro MAKINO, Kazuyuki OGUSU, Masahiro NAKATA