Patents by Inventor Toru Odachi

Toru Odachi 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: 20110303239
    Abstract: A floor care apparatus includes a housing having a nozzle assembly and a canister assembly. Both a suction generator and a dirt collection vessel are carried on the housing. An agitator cavity is provided on the nozzle assembly. A rotary agitator is provided in the agitator cavity. The rotary agitator includes an internal space. An agitator drive system is provided in the internal space of the rotary agitator. The agitator drive system includes first and second drive motors that simultaneously drive the agitator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2010
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Inventors: Gerald M. Harrison, Michael L. Fry, Toru Odachi, Tatsuo Kikkawa
  • Publication number: 20100107357
    Abstract: Provided are rotary brush unit which is disposed inside suction port portion and in which two rotary shaft bodies each having brush are disposed in series and driving motor which separately rotates each of the rotary shaft bodies. With such a configuration, since it is possible to change a self-propelling direction of the suction port portion to the left and right direction in addition to the forward direction, it is possible to remarkably reduce the effort involved in an operation of changing the direction of the suction port portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2009
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Inventors: Toru Odachi, Tatsuo Kikkawa
  • Patent number: 7383608
    Abstract: A vacuum-cleaner suction tool includes a sucking portion for sucking up dust on a surface to be cleaned, a joint portion having one end connected to the upper side of the sucking portion and the other end provided with a connection pipe, and an agitator disposed within the sucking portion for scraping dust off the surface. The opening, the joint portion, and the connection pipe each have a channel portion allowing sucked-up dust to pass therethrough. The joint portion is configured to be turnable, relative to the sucking portion, in a horizontal direction substantially parallel to the surface to be cleaned to such an extent that the longitudinal central axis of the sucking portion becomes substantially parallel to the longitudinal central axis of the connection pipe, whereby the forward end of the sucking portion, from left to right, can be brought into close contact with wall surfaces so that dust liable to collect in corners can be fully sucked up.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Odachi, Hideo Okubo, Saburo Kajikawa, Tetsuo Imai
  • Patent number: 7311742
    Abstract: An electric vacuum cleaner includes an inlet port through which a suctioned air stream including dirt particles pass and a centrifugal separation member having a substantially circular space therein. The centrifugal separation member has a swirl portion to swirl the dust-laden suction air stream along an inner surface of the centrifugal separation member. By forming swirl passageway between the swirl portion and the inner surface of the centrifugal separation member, the high velocity swirling air stream can be made and consequently an efficiency of separating the dirt particles from the suction air and collecting the dirt particles can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mori, Toru Odachi, Kenichiro Sunaba, Tetsuo Imai
  • Patent number: 7306640
    Abstract: A vacuum cleaner includes a first dirt separation unit and a second dirt separation unit. The first dirt separation unit has a first inlet port through which a suction air stream including dirt particles is introduced thereinto, and the second dirt separation unit has a second inlet port through which the air stream introduced into the first dirt separation unit is introduced into the second dirt separation. The first and the second inlet port are disposed such that they are not registered with each other. Accordingly, the dirt particles suctioned are separated in two stages, thereby decreasing the possibility of occlusion of a filter and rapid deterioration of a suction force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiki Kuroki, Seiji Yamaguchi, Tomonori Kato, Masashi Okushima, Yuichi Shimizu, Tomomi Mitani, Hiroshi Mori, Toru Odachi, Yoshiaki Onishi, Hidenori Kitamura, Toshifumi Miyahara, Takaaki Ogawa, Hirokazu Nagaoka
  • Patent number: 6901624
    Abstract: A self-moving cleaner has a main body and comprises an intake opening for suctioning dust, an electric blower for generating airflow to suction dust, a dust receiver for collecting the dust suctioned by the electric blower, rollers driven by drive motors, a power source for supplying electric power to the electric blower and the drive motors, and sensors for optically detecting a distance to an obstacle. An enclosure surrounds the main body, the electric blower, the dust receiver, the power source, and the sensors, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semi-transparent, and the sensors transmit and receive light through the enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2005
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mori, Kiminori Kato, Naoyuki Ohara, Toru Odachi, Hidetaka Yabuuchi, Hiroyuki Kayama, Miki Yasuno, Masayo Haji, Tadashi Matsuyo, Hidetoshi Imai, Yasuo Oshima, Masaichi Fukushima, Atsushi Nakayama
  • Publication number: 20040143929
    Abstract: An electric vacuum cleaner includes an inlet port through which a suctioned air stream including dirt particles pass and a centrifugal separation member having a substantially circular space therein. The centrifugal separation member has a swirl portion to swirl the dust-laden suction air stream along an inner surface of the centrifugal separation member. By forming swirl passageway between the swirl portion and the inner surface of the centrifugal separation member, the high velocity swirling air stream can be made and consequently an efficiency of separating the dirt particles from the suction air and collecting the dirt particles can be improved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2004
    Publication date: July 29, 2004
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mori, Toru Odachi, Kenichiro Sunaba, Tetsuo Imai
  • Publication number: 20040128791
    Abstract: A vacuum cleaner includes a first dirt separation unit and a second dirt separation unit. The first dirt separation unit has a first inlet port through which a suction air stream including dirt particles is introduced thereinto, and the second dirt separation unit has a second inlet port through which the air stream introduced into the first dirt separation unit is introduced into the second dirt separation. The first and the second inlet port are disposed such that they are not registered with each other. Accordingly, the dirt particles suctioned are separated in two stages, thereby decreasing the possibility of occlusion of a filter and rapid deterioration of a suction force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2003
    Publication date: July 8, 2004
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiki Kuroki, Seiji Yamaguchi, Tomonori Kato, Masashi Okushima, Yuichi Shimizu, Tomomi Mitani, Hiroshi Mori, Toru Odachi, Yoshiaki Onishi, Hidenori Kitamura, Toshifumi Miyahara, Takaaki Ogawa, Hirokazu Nagaoka
  • Publication number: 20040088820
    Abstract: A vacuum cleaner arrangement includes a cleaner main body accommodating a secondary battery and a blower, and having a terminal connector. The arrangement also includes a charger having a charging terminal to be connected to the terminal connector for charging the cleaner main body, and the charger has a box portion accommodating a power transformer. A notice device is on the charger to indicate when the charging terminal is connected to the terminal connector such that power can be supplied from the charging terminal to the terminal connector. The charging terminal is positioned adjacent a side wall of the box portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2003
    Publication date: May 13, 2004
    Inventors: Tomonori Kato, Tamaki Nishikori, Hiroshi Hayakawa, Naoyuki Ohara, Koichi Ito, Toru Odachi, Seizo Hayashi
  • Publication number: 20040020005
    Abstract: A vacuum-cleaner suction tool which comprises a sucking portion for sucking up dust on a surface to be cleaned, a joint portion having one end connected to the upper side of the sucking portion and the other end provided with a connection pipe, and an agitator disposed within the sucking portion for scraping dust off the surface, the opening, joint portion, and connection pipe each having a channel portion allowing sucked-up dust to pass therethrough, in which the joint portion is configured to be turnable, relative to the sucking portion, in a direction substantially horizontal to the surface to be cleaned to such an extent that the longitudinal central axis of the sucking portion becomes substantially parallel to the longitudinal central axis of the connection pipe, whereby the forward end of sucking portion, from left to right, can be brought into close contact with wall surfaces so that dust liable to collect at corners can be fully sucked up.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2003
    Publication date: February 5, 2004
    Inventors: Toru Odachi, Hideo Okubo, Saburo Kajikawa, Tetsuo Imai
  • Patent number: 6684451
    Abstract: In the invention, a brush body 30 that is rotated and driven by a motor 32 is disposed in a suction unit 2, and dust is sucked from the suction unit 2 by a blower 4, while exhaust of the blower 4 is sent to the suction unit 2 side through an exhaust passage 27. While the exhaust of the blower 4 is blown to the motor 32 exhaust is blown to the floor for lifting the dust from the floor to enhance the dust collection efficiency, and moreover, if the output of the motor 32 for driving the brush 30 is increased, temperature rise of the motor 32 can be suppressed, and thus durability may be enhanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2004
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomonori Kato, Tamaki Nishikori, Hiroshi Hayakawa, Naoyuki Ohara, Koichi Ito, Toru Odachi, Seizo Hayashi
  • Publication number: 20020189045
    Abstract: A self-moving cleaner has main body 1 comprising intake opening 9 for suctioning dust, electric blower 7 for generating airflow to suction the dust, dust receiver 10 for collecting the dust suctioned by the electric blower 7, rollers 11 driven by drive motors (3 and 4), power source 8 for supplying electric power to the electric blower 7 and the drive motors (3 and 4), sensors (2 and 12) for optically detecting a distance to an obstacle, and enclosure 16 containing therein the electric blower 7, the dust receiver 9, the power source 8, and the sensors (2 and 12), wherein the enclosure 16 is constructed transparent or semitransparent, and the sensors (2 and 12) transmit and receive light through the enclosure 16. Thus provided is the self-moving cleaner that can accurately detect a position of its own main body even with a reduced cost.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2002
    Publication date: December 19, 2002
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mori, Kiminori Kato, Naoyuki Ohara, Toru Odachi, Hidetaka Yabuuchi, Hiroyuki Kayama, Miki Yasuno, Masayo Haji, Tadashi Matsuyo, Hidetoshi Imai, Yasuo Oshima, Masaichi Fukushima, Atsushi Nakayama
  • Publication number: 20020059689
    Abstract: In the invention, a brush body 30 that is rotated and driven by a motor 32 is disposed in a suction unit 2, and dust is sucked from the suction unit 2 by a blower 4, while exhaust of the blower 4 is sent to the suction unit 2 side through an exhaust passage 27. While the exhaust of the blower 4 is blown to the motor 32 exhaust is blown to the floor for lifting the dust from the floor to enhance the dust collection efficiency, and moreover, if the output of the motor 32 for driving the brush 30 is increased, temperature rise of the motor 32 can be suppressed, and thus durability may be enhanced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2002
    Publication date: May 23, 2002
    Inventors: Tomonori Kato, Tamaki Nishikori, Hiroshi Hayakawa, Naoyuki Ohara, Koichi Ito, Toru Odachi, Seizo Hayashi
  • Patent number: 6345411
    Abstract: In the invention, a brush body 30 that is rotated and driven by a motor 32 is disposed in a suction unit 2, and dust is sucked from the suction unit 2 by a blower 4, while exhaust of the blower 4 is sent to the suction unit 2 side through an exhaust passage 27. While the exhaust of the blower 4 is blown to the motor 32 exhaust is blown to the floor for lifting the dust from the floor to enhance the dust collection efficiency, and moreover, if the output of the motor 32 for driving the brush 30 is increased, temperature rise of the motor 32 can be suppressed, and thus durability may be enhanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomonori Kato, Tamaki Nishikori, Hiroshi Hayakawa, Naoyuki Ohara, Koichi Ito, Toru Odachi, Seizo Hayashi