公开(公告)号：US11549535B2

公开(公告)日：2023-01-10

申请号：US16605353

申请日：2018-04-03

Applicant: NHK Spring Co., Ltd.

Inventor： Yuichiro Yamauchi ,  Ayane Sato ,  Katsuji Goto ,  Masakazu Ando ,  Takuya Sato ,  Yu Yoda ,  Shimpei Kurokawa ,  Masatake Kinoshita

IPC: F16B5/08 ,  B60N2/68 ,  F16B5/04 ,  B23K11/11

Abstract: A joined body includes: a thin plate including through holes; a first member including a proximal portion having a portion contacting the thin plate, and a protruding portion that protrudes in relation to a contact surface of the proximal portion and is inserted through the through hole; and a second member arranged oppositely to the proximal portion via the thin plate and made of a material that is same as that of the first member. The thin plate is made of a material having a specific gravity smaller than that of the material forming the first and the second members. The second member and an end portion of the protruding portion are connected to each other, by a part of the second member and a part of the end portion being melt-solidified, the end portion being at a side opposite to a side connected to the proximal portion.

公开(公告)号：US12038060B2

公开(公告)日：2024-07-16

申请号：US17601927

申请日：2020-04-13

Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.

Inventor： Yosuke Kawai ,  Shimpei Kurokawa ,  Yuki Hayakawa

IPC: F16F3/02 ,  B25J18/06 ,  A61B34/30

CPC classification number: F16F3/02 ,  B25J18/06 ,  A61B34/30 ,  F16F2226/048

Abstract: The present invention provides a flexible member having excellent load resistance and flexibility while achieving a reduction in size. This flexible member is provided with: a main body part which includes multiple wave washers that are stacked in an axial direction and are joined to one another by multiple joint parts, and which is capable of bending relative to the axial direction by elastic deformation of the wave washers; and easily deformable parts formed between the joint parts that are adjacent to one another in the circumferential direction in each wave washer.

公开(公告)号：US11883954B2

公开(公告)日：2024-01-30

申请号：US17601711

申请日：2020-04-13

Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.

Inventor： Shimpei Kurokawa ,  Yosuke Kawai

IPC: B25J18/06 ,  A61B34/30 ,  F16F1/32

CPC classification number: B25J18/06 ,  A61B34/30 ,  F16F1/328 ,  F16F2226/04

Abstract: A flexible member is provided which can have excellent load resistance and flexibility while being more compact. This flexible member has a main body part in which multiple wave washers having closed ring shapes is stacked in an axial direction and joined to each other by multiple joint parts, and the main body part is able to be bent with respect to the axial direction due to elastic deformation of the wave washers. Each of the joint parts includes: a pair of welded parts in linear shape, being gradually separated from each other in a circumferential direction from an inner circumferential side toward an outer circumferential side of the wave washer.

公开(公告)号：US12262905B2

公开(公告)日：2025-04-01

申请号：US17268929

申请日：2019-08-02

Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD

Inventor： Takafumi Hirata ,  Shimpei Kurokawa ,  Yuki Hotoda

IPC: A61B17/29 ,  A61B17/00 ,  A61B17/28 ,  A61B34/00 ,  A61B34/30 ,  A61B34/37 ,  B25J3/00 ,  B25J9/10 ,  B25J17/02 ,  F16F3/06

Abstract: Provided is a bending structure and a joint function part, capable of ensuring sufficient flexibility and rigidity in an axial direction. The bending structure is provided with an outer coiled part formed of a wire wound in a coiled shape and an inner coiled part formed of a wire wound in a coiled shape and arranged in the outer coiled part, wherein the outer coiled part has a plurality of gaps to distance adjacent coils, and coils of the inner coiled part are provided so as to correspond to the gaps of the outer coiled part and fit between the adjacent coils while being in contact with the adjacent coils of the outer coiled part.

公开(公告)号：US12098755B2

公开(公告)日：2024-09-24

申请号：US17601425

申请日：2020-04-10

Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.

Inventor： Motoyuki Otsuka ,  Takafumi Hirata ,  Shimpei Kurokawa ,  Soichi Nakayama ,  Masahiro Inaba

IPC: F16F1/32 ,  A61B17/29 ,  A61B34/00 ,  A61B34/20 ,  F16F1/02 ,  A61B17/00 ,  A61B34/30 ,  B25J9/00 ,  B25J18/06

CPC classification number: F16F1/328 ,  A61B17/29 ,  A61B34/71 ,  F16F1/025 ,  A61B2017/00305 ,  A61B2034/301 ,  B25J9/0015 ,  B25J18/06

Abstract: Provided is a flexible member that can exhibit excellent load resistance and flexibility while achieving a reduction in size. This flexible member includes: a main body part which has multiple wave washers stacked in an axial direction and joined to each other, and the main body part is able to be bent with respect to the axial direction due to elastic deformation of the wave washers; and a linking member that is elastically deformable, the linking member being provided at an end part of the main body part and being linked to other member. A deformation amount of the linking member is smaller than a deformation amount of the wave washer, when the main body part is bent.

公开(公告)号：US11378147B2

公开(公告)日：2022-07-05

申请号：US16559137

申请日：2019-09-03

Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.

Inventor： Takeshi Suzuki ,  Yoshiki Ono ,  Shimpei Kurokawa ,  Kosuke Shibairi

IPC: F16F1/02 ,  C21D9/02 ,  C22C38/04 ,  C22C38/02 ,  C21D7/06 ,  C21D1/18 ,  C22C38/18 ,  C21D8/06 ,  B24C1/10

Abstract: A spring consists of, by mass %, 0.5 to 0.7% of C, 1.0 to 2.0% of Si, 0.1 to 1.0% of Mn, 0.1 to 1.0% of Cr, not more than 0.035% of P, not more than 0.035% of S, and the balance of Fe and inevitable impurities. The spring has a structure including not less than 65% of bainite and 4 to 13% of residual austenite by area ratio in a cross section. The spring has a compressive residual stress layer in a cross section from a surface to a depth of 0.35 mm to D/4, in which D (mm) is a circle-equivalent diameter of the cross section. The spring has a high hardness layer with greater hardness than a center portion by 50 to 500 HV from a surface to a depth of 0.05 to 0.3 mm.

公开(公告)号：US11576740B2

公开(公告)日：2023-02-14

申请号：US16755121

申请日：2018-10-02

Applicant: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.

Inventor： Shimpei Kurokawa ,  Yuki Hotoda ,  Shinji Iino

IPC: A61B34/00 ,  A61B34/30 ,  B25J18/06 ,  A61B17/00

Abstract: Provided are a bending structure and a flexible tube for a medical manipulator, which comprise a main body that is composed of the wave washers stacked in an axial direction and kept a stacked state, the main body being bendable according to the expansion and contraction in the axial direction. Accordingly, linearity of load characteristics based on load and a bending angle is made high to make it possible to obtain the flexible tube having superior load bearing and bendability while conducting size reduction.