Patents Assigned to Public Works Research Institute
  • Publication number: 20120183205
    Abstract: Measurement of 3D displacement based on successively captured images of an object becomes difficult to be performed due to a load imposed on an operator along with an increase of the number of target portions defined on the object and that of time steps for displacement measurement. A device for displacement measurement executes stereo measurement relative to a stereo image to generate 3D shape information and orthographically projected image of an object for each time, and tracks the 2D image of the target portion through pattern matching between orthographically projected images at successive times to obtain a 2D displacement vector. The device for displacement measurement converts the start point and the end point of the 2D displacement vector into 3D coordinates, using the 3D shape information, to obtain a 3D displacement vector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2010
    Publication date: July 19, 2012
    Applicants: INCORPORATED ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY PUBLIC WORKS RESEARCH INSTITUTE, PASCO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideki Shimamura, Hiroyuki Shimomura, Kikuo Tachibana, Lin Zhu, Kazunori Fujisawa
  • Patent number: 7743444
    Abstract: A cable-stayed suspension bridge having characteristics of a cable stayed bridge and those of a suspension bridge at the same and time and using one-box and two-box girders in combination is disclosed. The bridge grinder of the cable-stayed suspension bridge includes one-box girders that each extend to both sides through the respective one tower and a two-box girder set in a central portion of the center span between towers in the length direction of the bridge girder. The cable-stayed suspension bridge includes cable-stayed structures in which a respective one of the one-box girders is supported by the tower with plural cables and a suspension structure in which the two-box girder is supported by the plural towers with two main cables and plural hanger ropes. The two-box girder has a central ventilation opening in the central portion as viewed in a transverse direction thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignees: Incorporated Administrative Agency Public Works Research Institute, Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company Limited, Incorporated Foundation Public Works Research Center, Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Kawada Industries, Inc., Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., JFE Engineering Corporation, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jun Murakoshi, Koichiro Fumoto, Hideki Shimodoi, Masao Miyazaki, Syuji Shirai, Masato Suzawa
  • Patent number: 7571899
    Abstract: A gas-liquid dissolving apparatus includes an intake unit that takes in to-be-treated water from an oxygen-deficient water area, an oxygen-containing gas supply unit, a bottomed gas-liquid dissolving chamber that has at least one hole formed in a lower portion and a top plate provided in an upper portion, a nozzle that ejects the gas supplied by the supplying unit and the water supplied by the intake unit, a gas-liquid separating chamber that has a gas-vent hole formed in an upper portion and a takeout port provided in a lower portion thereof, and a water supplying unit that returns the water taken out from the takeout port to the oxygen-deficient water area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2009
    Assignees: Matsuedoken Co., Ltd., Incorporated Administrative Agency Public Works Research Institute
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kitasako, Masao Katsube, Katsuhiro Sakamoto, Junzo Sago, Hiroaki Tanaka, Jun Tsumori
  • Patent number: 6459991
    Abstract: The present invention provides a collision in right/left turn prevention system which can automatically stop a vehicle even when a driver of the vehicle can not correctly grasp a course of a vehicle running in the counter direction because of the road line form or because the counter vehicle is hid behind other vehicles, or when a velocity of the counter vehicle is faster than that estimated by the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2002
    Assignee: Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction
    Inventors: Akihiko Takiguchi, Koji Kubota, Naoya Noguchi, Satoshi Moteki, Harutada Ooya, Hideaki Murakami, Masaya Yamada, Hiroshi Takahashi, Akira Kuno, Hisashi Ezure, Tetsuaki Kondo, Ryoji Matsubara, Yasuyuki Ohira, Kenichi Ohtani, Hiroshi Mashimo, Takao Inobe, Kazumasa Miyamoto, Kazutaka Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6378772
    Abstract: A method and device for magnetizing road markers for giving road information to vehicles in which the road markers are embedded in a road and later magnetized according to a pattern corresponding to coded road information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2002
    Assignee: Public Works Research Institute
    Inventor: Ryugen Yonemura
  • Patent number: 6360171
    Abstract: A system-enabled vehicle entering a crossing warns a driver of the vehicle that a possibility of bumping exists, thereby allowing the driver to brake and stop the vehicle in an emergency in front of the crossing. When the system determines a possibility of bumping with another vehicle entering the crossing exists, the system continuously provides controls for decelerating and stopping the vehicle in a range from a point where the system can decelerate the vehicle in an emergency with time allowance for stopping the vehicle in front of the crossing up to a point in front of the crossing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction
    Inventors: Kazumasa Miyamoto, Naoya Noguchi, Satoshi Moteki, Harutada Ooya, Hideaki Murakami, Masaya Yamada, Hiroshi Takahashi, Akihiko Takiguchi, Koji Kubota, Akira Kuno, Hisashi Ezure, Tetsuaki Kondo, Ryoji Matsubara, Yasuyuki Ohira, Kenichi Ohtani, Hiroshi Mashimo, Takao Inobe, Kazutaka Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6337637
    Abstract: The collision with pedestrian prevention system according to the present invention comprises pedestrian detection means, road surface conditions detection means, road information accumulation means, vehicle position detection means, vehicle state detection means, processing means, information output means, and vehicle control means. Because of the configuration, the driver is alerted the presence of any pedestrian on a pedestrian's crossing and can immediately correct operations for handling the vehicle without being perplexed by the information just about to finish crossing the road. This system works only when there is the possibility of collision between a pedestrian on a pedestrian's crossing and a vehicle, and provides automatic controls for decelerating or stopping the vehicle when the driver can stop the vehicle by emergently braking over a distance from the vehicle to the pedestrian's crossing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2002
    Assignee: Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction
    Inventors: Koji Kubota, Naoya Noguchi, Satoshi Moteki, Harutada Ooya, Hideaki Murakami, Masaya Yamada, Hiroshi Takahashi, Akihiko Takiguchi, Akira Kuno, Hisashi Ezure, Tetsuaki Kondo, Ryoji Matsubara, Yasuyuki Ohira, Kenichi Ohtani, Hiroshi Mashimo, Takao Inobe, Kazumasa Miyamoto, Kazutaka Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6317682
    Abstract: A road information communicating system is provided in which a central communication system communicates with vehicles using a network of distributed information processing units. Each of these distributed information processing units is able to receive local road information and compute a set of local coordinates corresponding to that local road information. It is then able to relay that information to the central unit and receive like information from other distributed units. The information is then prioritized, and a subset of that prioritized data is selected and transmitted to vehicles in the coverage area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2001
    Assignee: Public Works Research Institute
    Inventors: Toshihiko Ogura, Keiichi Nishimoto
  • Patent number: 6246955
    Abstract: An area corresponding to a zone 15 on a road 14 is divided to area A and area B, and an information traffic volume in each area is monitored. When overflow is about to occur, time slots for other areas are temporally allocated to the area to evade the overflow, so that shortage of communication channels due to a traffic jam or for some other reasons can be prevented in a system for providing automated driving controls for vehicles by means of communication systems based on a zone system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Public Works Research Institute
    Inventors: Kumiko Nishikawa, Junichi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 5349712
    Abstract: This variable damper system for a bridge is installed between a superstructure and a substructure of a bridge and can freely change the damping characteristics so that the inertial force of the superstructure generated in an earthquake will be distributed to the substructure and the vibration will be reduced, and all the functions of a viscous damper/stopper, an energy absorber, and a stopper for preventing excessive response with a shock absorber have been integrated in one unit of this system, so that one unit of this system can perform the same functions as those carried out by a plurality of conventions devices each having an independent function and also a narrow space on the top surface of the substructure of a bridge can be used as it is.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1994
    Assignee: Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Kawashima, Shigeki Unjoh, Hideyuki Shimizu
  • Patent number: 5160604
    Abstract: A toxic substance-detecting device detects toxic substances in water by use of a microorganism sensor to ascertain the safety of affluents flowing into sewage-treating processes, environmental waters such as rivers, and waters flowing into water purification plants and a water quality-monitoring system employing a detecting device. The device includes a fixed micro-organism membrane and apparatus for circulating a buffer solution of micro-organism substrate and nutrient to one side of the membranne and solutions of water to be examined, standard and cleaning water to the other side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1992
    Assignees: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd., Public Works Research Institute
    Inventors: Eiichi Nakamura, Hiroaki Tanaka, Yoshiharu Tanaka, Takashi Iitake, Hiroshi Hoshikawa
  • Patent number: 5006251
    Abstract: A process for treating organic waste water in which a first step provided the stage precedent to a second step using an aerobic filter bed employs an upward flow type solid-liquid separator packed with a filter medium, with the SS (suspended solids) removal at the preceding stage being performed at a high SS removal rate and in a short time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1991
    Assignees: Director General, Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction, Nishihara Environmental Sanitation Research Corporation Limited
    Inventors: Kazuo Takeishi, Yasuhiro Okubo, Takashi Itoh
  • Patent number: 4985149
    Abstract: Sewage sludge or an agricultural or fish waste material is subjected to pretreatment in the form of wet mill treatment and then is subjected to anaerobic digestion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 15, 1991
    Assignees: Public Works Research Institute, Ministry of Construction, Kabushiki Kaisha Yakult Honsha, Fujita Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshio Ohshima, Tsunekazu Watanabe, Keizaburo Watanabe, Noboru Nonoyama, Masayoshi Kitazume, Yukihiro Tomita
  • Patent number: 4279540
    Abstract: A deformable dam made of an impermeable flexible membrane secured in a water tight manner to the bottom and side walls of a river. The flexible membrane is inflatable using either air or water, or a combination to vary the overall effective length of the dam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1979
    Date of Patent: July 21, 1981
    Assignees: Kazuto Nakazawa, General Director Public Works Research Institute Ministry of Construction, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kyozo Suga, Jinya Iizuka, Yoshiomi Tsuji