Patents by Inventor Yasushi Ichikawa

Yasushi Ichikawa 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).

  • Multi-piece solid golf ball
    Patent number: 6723008
    Abstract: In a multi-piece solid golf ball comprising a solid core and a cover of two inner and outer layers enclosing the solid core, the solid core has a deflection of at least 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2004
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Higuchi, Hirotaka Shimosaka, Yasushi Ichikawa, Rinya Takesue
  • Multi-piece solid golf ball
    Patent number: 6716117
    Abstract: In a multi-piece solid golf ball comprising a solid core and a cover consisting of inner and outer layers, the cover inner layer is composed mainly of an ionomer resin, and the cover outer layer is composed mainly of another thermoplastic elastomer. A thermoplastic resin-base adhesive layer is interposed between the cover inner and outer layers, or a thermoplastic resin-base adhesive is blended in the inner and/or outer layer cover stock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasushi Ichikawa, Shunichi Kashiwagi, Rinya Takesue
  • Multi-piece solid golf ball
    Patent number: 6702695
    Abstract: A multi-piece solid golf ball comprising a solid core and an enclosing cover of inner and outer layers is characterized in that the solid core has a deflection of at least 1.1 mm under an applied load of 30 kg, the cover inner layer has a Shore D hardness of 45-61, the cover outer layer has a Shore D hardness of 35-55, and the sum of dimple trajectory volumes each obtained by multiplying a dimple volume by the square root of a dimple diameter is 530-750.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Higuchi, Hirotaka Shimosaka, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Multi-piece solid golf ball
    Patent number: 6659890
    Abstract: A multi-piece solid golf ball includes a core having a structure with at least two layers and a cover on the core with an outer and inner cover layers. The core has a diameter in the range of 35 to 41 mm. The inner sphere of the core is formed of a rubber material based on polybutadiene and an outer layer is formed of a thermoplastic or rubber based material. The outer cover layer has a Shore D hardness of 40-60 degrees. The inner cover layer has a Shore D hardness of up to 53 degrees and lower than that of the outer cover layer. The ball's carry is comparable to conventional solid golf balls and spin receptivity is approximate to wound golf balls while the ball is durable and offers pleasant feel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hisashi Yamagishi, Hiroshi Higuchi, Yasushi Ichikawa, Junji Hayashi
  • Golf ball
    Publication number: 20030224875
    Abstract: In a golf ball comprising a core and a cover of one or more layers, the cover or its layer is formed primarily of a mixture comprising a blend of (a) an ionomer resin in the form of an alkali metal-neutralized ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer and (b) an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymer or an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate copolymer, and (c) a thermoplastic elastomer. The golf ball exhibits good surface finish and has improved rebound, feel and durability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2003
    Publication date: December 4, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Rinya Takesue, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Golf ball
    Publication number: 20030224873
    Abstract: In a golf ball comprising a core and a cover of plural layers, a cover inner layer is formed primarily of an ionomer resin in admixture with a compound containing at least two reactive functional groups and having a molecular weight of up to 20,000 and a cover outer layer is formed primarily of a non-ionomer resin. The ball is fully durable to repeated impact, and maintains good spin performance, rebound characteristics and feel even after repeated impact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2003
    Publication date: December 4, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasushi Ichikawa, Rinya Takesue, Eiji Takehana
  • Golf ball
    Publication number: 20030224874
    Abstract: In a golf ball comprising a core and a cover of one or more layers, the cover or its layer is formed primarily of a mixture comprising a blend of (a) an ionomer resin in the form of a divalent metal-neutralized ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer and (b) an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymer or an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate copolymer, (c) a thermoplastic elastomer, (d) a fatty acid or derivative thereof having a molecular weight of 280 to 1,500, and (e) a basic metal compound. The mixture is thermally stable, flowable and easy to mold and the ball has improved rebound, feel and durability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2003
    Publication date: December 4, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Rinya Takesue, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Golf ball
    Patent number: 6653402
    Abstract: A golf ball comprising a part of a resin composition comprising (A) a polyester block copolymer, (B) an ionomer resin, (C) a polyester-aromatic vinyl copolymer block copolymer and (D) an epoxy-modified graft polymer comprising an olefin polymer backbone and vinyl polymer pendants wherein components (C) and (D) help to mix components (A) and (B) in a more compatible manner is provided. The resin composition has flexibility, high resilience, toughness, flexural fatigue resistance and tear strength, exhibits a sufficiently smooth flow in the melt to injection mold, and develops no delamination when molded, and the golf ball offers increased distance and pleasant feel upon impact and is endowed with superior durability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasushi Ichikawa, Yoko Furuta
  • Golf ball materials and golf ball
    Publication number: 20030207996
    Abstract: A golf ball material containing (a) a calcium ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer having an acid content of 2-12% by weight, and (b) a calcium ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer having an acid content of 8-15% by weight, in a weight ratio from 100:0 to 40:60, and having a Shore D hardness of 30-60 is effectively moldable and is capable of providing golf balls with excellent rebound energy and a pleasant feel when hit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 14, 2003
    Publication date: November 6, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Rinya Takesue, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • CO oxidizer
    Publication number: 20030182859
    Abstract: A fuel cell system is proposed which is provided with a CO oxidizer having a compact agitator executing uniform mixing. The fuel cell system is provided with a reformer (2) performing reformate reactions to produce a hydrogen-rich reformate gas containing CO, a CO oxidizer (1) reducing the CO concentration in the reformate gas produced in the reformer (2), and a fuel cell performing power generation using reformate gas with a reduced CO concentration from the CO oxidizer. The CO oxidizer is provided with a CO removal catalyst (6) promoting oxidizing of CO. An oxidizing agent inlet (5) and an agitator (4) are provided upstream of the CO removal catalyst (6). The oxidizing agent inlet (5) supplies oxidizing agent to the reformate gas and the agitator (4) has a plurality of curved passages (8) having at least two curves.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2003
    Publication date: October 2, 2003
    Applicant: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Resin composition for golf ball and golf ball
    Patent number: 6624221
    Abstract: A resin composition comprising, in admixture, (A) a specific thermoplastic resin component, (B) at least one wax component selected from among (b-1) a fatty acid having 20-80 carbon atoms and/or a derivative thereof and (b-2) an oxidized natural wax and/or derivative having a neutralization value of 60-190 mg KOH/g, and optionally, (C) a basic inorganic metal compound capable of neutralizing acid groups in the thermoplastic resin component (A) and/or the wax component (B) is improved in flow, moldability and heat resistance and thus suitable to form a layer of a golf ball which exhibits improved rebound and distance properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Rinya Takesue, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Golf ball
    Patent number: 6620061
    Abstract: In a golf ball comprising a core and an enclosure of one or more layers enclosing the core, at least one enclosure layer is formed of a rubber composition comprising a base rubber based on 1,4-polybutadiene having a cis-1,4-structure, an &agr;,&bgr;-unsaturated carboxylic acid, a metal oxide, and a polymerization initiator. The rubber composition is subjected to crosslinking reaction. The ball has a great resilience, pleasant feel, good controllability upon iron shots, and high resistance against flaw on the cover surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasushi Ichikawa, Jun Shindo, Rinya Takesue
  • Golf ball
    Patent number: 6616552
    Abstract: In a golf ball including a core and a cover of at least one layer, the cover layer is formed of a heated mixture of an ionomer resin and a metal salt such as magnesium stearate. The heated mixture exhibits such a crystal melting behavior that when measured by DSC, the difference between first and second peak temperature is up to 30° C. The ball is improved in resilience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Rinya Takesue, Yasushi Ichikawa, Shunichi Kashiwagi, Nobuhiko Sato
  • Golf ball materials and golf ball
    Patent number: 6613843
    Abstract: A golf ball material containing (a) a calcium ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate random copolymer having an acid content of 2-12% by weight, and (b) a calcium ion-neutralized olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer having an acid content of 8-15% by weight, in a weight ratio from 100:0 to 40:60, and having a Shore D hardness of 30-60 is effectively moldable and is capable of providing golf balls with excellent rebound energy and a pleasant feel when hit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Rinya Takesue, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Golf ball material and golf ball
    Publication number: 20030134954
    Abstract: A golf ball material comprising a heated mixture of (a) a random copolymer containing at least 5% by weight of a metal ion-neutralized unsaturated carboxylic acid having an acid content of at least 16% by weight, (b) a thermoplastic elastomer, (c) a fatty acid and/or derivative thereof having a molecular weight of 280-1,500, and (d) a basic metal compound capable of neutralizing unneutralized acid groups in components (a) and (c) has good thermal stability, flow and moldability, and can be molded into a part exhibiting excellent rebound, ensuring the manufacture of golf balls with high performance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2002
    Publication date: July 17, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO.,LTD.
    Inventors: Rinya Takesue, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Multi-piece solid golf ball
    Publication number: 20030134694
    Abstract: Provided is a multi-piece solid golf ball, wherein an outer layer cover is made from a material containing a polyurethane based elastomer as a main component; a surface Shore D hardness of a solid core is in a range of 50 to 60, a Shore D hardness of an inner layer cover is in a range of 53 to 61, and a Shore D hardness of the outer layer cover is in a range of 52 to 58; an average value of the surface Shore D hardnesses of the solid core and inner and outer layer covers is in a range of 53 to 58; a value obtained by dividing a thickness of the outer layer cover by a thickness of the inner layer cover is in a range of 0.48 to 1.00, and a total of the thickness of the outer layer cover and the thickness of the inner layer cover is in a range of 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm; and a dimple volume occupying ratio VR value is in a range of 0.66% to 0.85%.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2002
    Publication date: July 17, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideo Watanabe, Junji Umezawa, Yasushi Ichikawa, Rinya Takesue
  • Golf ball
    Publication number: 20030130424
    Abstract: A golf ball includes a portion formed from a golf ball-forming composition containing at least one kind selected from a crosslinked silicone rubber powder and a crosslinked silicone resin powder. Each of the crosslinked silicone rubber powder and the crosslinked silicone resin powder has an average particle size in a range of 60 to 500 &mgr;m. The golf ball is excellent in durability against repetitive hitting and adhesiveness of a coating film, and particularly, has a good resilience and a long flight distance in both a wide temperature range and a wide hitting head speed range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2002
    Publication date: July 10, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasushi Ichikawa, Rinya Takesue, Eiji Takehana
  • Multi-piece golf ball
    Publication number: 20030130060
    Abstract: A multi-piece golf ball includes a core having a diameter of 30 to 40 mm, at least one intermediate layer including the outermost layer having a thickness of 0.5 to 2.0 mm, and a cover having a thickness of 1.0 to 3.0 mm. The core is made from a rubber composition mainly containing polybutadiene. The outermost layer is made from a non-ionomer based thermoplastic resin. The cover is made from a material obtained by dispersedly blending at least one kind of silicone powder selected from a silicone rubber powder, a silicon resin powder, and a composite powder thereof, in a main resin component containing an ionomer resin in an amount of 50% by weight or more. The core has a hardness corresponding to a deflection in a range of 3.5 to 6.5 mm under an applied load of 100 kg.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2002
    Publication date: July 10, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Junji Hayashi, Hisashi Yamagishi, Yasumasa Shimizu, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Two-piece golf ball
    Publication number: 20030119608
    Abstract: A two-piece golf ball includes a core and a cover having a thickness of 1.0 to 3.0 mm. The core is made from a rubber composition containing a main rubber component which mainly contains polybutadiene. The cover is made from a material mainly containing an ionomer resin in which at least one kind of silicone powder selected from a silicone rubber powder, a silicon resin powder, and a composite powder thereof is dispersedly blended. The core has a hardness corresponding to a deflection in a range of 3.3 to 6.0 mm under an applied load of 100 kg. The cover has a Dulometer D hardness in a range of 55 to 70.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2002
    Publication date: June 26, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Junji Hayashi, Hisashi Yamagishi, Yasumasa Shimizu, Yasushi Ichikawa
  • Two-piece golf ball
    Publication number: 20030119607
    Abstract: A two-piece golf ball includes a core and a cover having a thickness of 0.5 to 2.5 mm. The core is made from a rubber composition mainly containing polybutadiene. The cover is made from a material obtained by dispersedly blending at least one kind of silicone powder selected from a silicone rubber powder, a silicon resin powder, and a composite powder thereof, in a main resin component mainly containing an ionomer resin. The core has a hardness corresponding to a deflection in a range of 3.0 to 5.5 mm under an applied load of 100 kg. The cover has a Dulometer D hardness in a range of 45 to 55.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2002
    Publication date: June 26, 2003
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Junji Hayashi, Hisashi Yamagishi, Yasumasa Shimizu, Yasushi Ichikawa