Patents by Inventor Kazuo Itoh

Kazuo Itoh 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: 20150225179
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor which estimates weight of a transport object while it is carried without using devices such as a load cell which directly measures weight. The conveyor has a plurality of zones forming a series of carriage ways. An approach-run zone and a weight-measurement zone are arranged adjacently in the conveying direction and are provided with different drive motors. The drive motor of the approach-run zone and the drive motor of the weight-measurement zone are controlled with respectively different predetermined rotation speeds as their target rotation speeds. A rotation speed sensing means obtains the change of rotation speed of the drive motor in the weight-measurement zone when a transport object is conveyed into the weight-measurement zone from the approach-run zone, and a weight sensing means then calculates the weight of the transport object based on the change of the rotation speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicants: ITOH DENKI CO., LTD., UNIVERSITY OF HYOGO
    Inventors: Nozomu Araki, Kazuo Itoh, Kazushi Maeda
  • Publication number: 20150210484
    Abstract: In a transfer apparatus, a lifting unit has a lifting mechanism having a plurality of combined members and a motor. The lifting mechanism converts the rotation force of the motor to movement in the lifting direction, transmits the movement to at least one of first and second conveyors, raises or lowers at least one of first and second conveyors, and stops rotation of the motor when one of conveying paths reaches a predetermined height. In that process, a physical limit identification operation is executed in which the motor is rotated to operate the lifting mechanism to a physical operation limit and is then stopped, and control of the motor is changed so that the motor is rotated at low speed until the lifting mechanism reaches the physical operation limit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2014
    Publication date: July 30, 2015
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Toshiyuki Tachibana, Shinji Sayama
  • Patent number: 8996160
    Abstract: An article storage device for storing a plurality of pallets and having a plurality of storage compartments includes a conveyor for conveying the pallets, the conveyor being divided into a plurality of control zones corresponding to the respective storage compartments and having controllers in the respective zones. At least the controllers in the zones between the both end control zones each have a motor functioning also as an arrival detector, a RAM, and a communication circuit, the motor being for detecting a pallet being entering the home control zone, the RAM being for memorizing information indicating whether a pallet exists in the home control zone, and the communication circuit being for transmitting the information to the controller in the downstream zone. The controllers each contain a program to move up the pallet to the downstream zone so as to store the pallet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Shigeki Fukata
  • Patent number: 8887897
    Abstract: A fault diagnosis method for a roller conveyor including rollers, brushless motors, and zone controllers for controlling the brushless motors, the brushless motors and/or the rollers each having a rotation detector, the zone controllers each having a driver containing a logic circuit, a memory, which contains a program, and a micro computer is proposed. The program includes a fault diagnosis program and a criterial parameter. The zone controllers each obtain an operating parameter of the brushless motors and/or the rollers so as to perform comparison of the operating parameter with the criterial parameter and determine a failure of the roller conveyor in a case where a result of the comparison is above a predetermined level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2014
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Toshiyuki Tachibana, Yoshiyuki Kujihashi
  • Patent number: 8684169
    Abstract: A transfer device including a main conveyor part having a first conveying surface and a subsidiary conveyor part having a second conveying surface and arranged at the same area as the main conveyor part, the main conveyor part being designed to convey an article placed on the first conveying surface in one conveying direction, the subsidiary conveyor part being designed to convey an article placed on the second conveying surface in another direction transverse to the conveying direction of the main conveyor part, the main conveyor part and/or the subsidiary conveyor part being a roller conveyor having rollers, at least one of the rollers being a braking roller equipped with a brake, and the brake being designed to prevent the article from proceeding at least to the direction transverse to the conveying direction of the roller conveyor by a frictional force acting between the article and the braking roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Tatsuhiko Nakamura, Masaki Tanaka, Makoto Mitsuyoshi, Toshiyuki Tachibana, Michiyuki Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 8405224
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having a multilayer interconnect structure allowing heat in an interconnect layer at an intermediate level to be effectively dissipated is provided. A lower-layer interconnect (13), an intermediate interconnect (23), an upper-layer interconnect (33), a first contact via (15) formed to electrically connect the lower-layer interconnect (13) to the intermediate interconnect (23), and a second contact via (25) formed to electrically connect the intermediate interconnect (23) to the upper-layer interconnect (33) are provided. When viewed from above, the first and second contact vias (15, 25) both have a rectangular shape with their long sides extending in the same direction, and overlap with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuo Itoh
  • Patent number: 8321064
    Abstract: A grid interconnection device 100 for interconnecting a power storage device to a power distribution system to which alternating current power is distributed, the grid interconnection device comprises a receiver 101 and a controller 104. The receiver 101 receives a second adjustment instruction transmitted before a first adjustment instruction. The controller 104 controls the power storage amount on the basis of the second adjustment instruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Masahiro Makino, Toshiyuki Hirata
  • Patent number: 8319370
    Abstract: A grid interconnection device 100 comprises a receiver configured to receive an adjustment instruction and a controller configured to control a backward flow power on the basis of the adjustment instruction. The adjustment instruction includes group information indicating an application group to which the adjustment instruction is applied among a plurality of groups G. Customers 30 (each includes a power supply device) are grouped depending on the distance from a substation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Masahiro Makino, Toshiyuki Hirata
  • Patent number: 8272496
    Abstract: A transfer device is configured by a conveying part and a lifting part both fixed to a casing. The conveying part forms a latticework by two groups of rollers aligned in a first direction and a second direction in matrix and includes chains for rotating the group of rollers aligned in the first direction and the group of rollers aligned in the second direction per group and driving devices for conveyance. The lifting part includes a driving device for lifting, rectilinearly-movable members for performing a rectilinear motion, and converting members for converting the rectilinear motion of the rectilinearly-movable member to a rotational motion and further to a lifting motion so as to transmit the lifting motion to the rollers. The converting members are arranged at the respective lattice points to lift up and down either group of rollers concurrently, which form a flat surface to convey articles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Yoichi Morimoto, Tomonobu Hasegawa, Kosuke Toda
  • Publication number: 20120160637
    Abstract: An article storage device for storing a plurality of pallets and having a plurality of storage compartments includes a conveyor for conveying the pallets, the conveyor being divided into a plurality of control zones corresponding to the respective storage compartments and having controllers in the respective zones. At least the controllers in the zones between the both end control zones each have a motor functioning also as an arrival detector, a RAM, and a communication circuit, the motor being for detecting a pallet being entering the home control zone, the RAM being for memorizing information indicating whether a pallet exists in the home control zone, and the communication circuit being for transmitting the information to the controller in the downstream zone. The controllers each contain a program to move up the pallet to the downstream zone so as to store the pallet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2011
    Publication date: June 28, 2012
    Inventors: Kazuo ITOH, Shigeki Fukata
  • Publication number: 20120155141
    Abstract: A power converting apparatus is provided with an inverter circuit, an output short-circuiting circuit, and a control circuit. The inverter circuit comprises a first inverter switch and a second inverter switch. The output short-circuiting circuit comprises a first short-circuiting switch configured so as to short-circuit a power supply line that outputs a first polarity voltage, out of a pair of power supply lines, and a second short-circuiting switch configured so as to short-circuit a power supply line that outputs a second polarity voltage, out of the pair of power supply lines. Upon switching the polarity from the first polarity to the second polarity, the control circuit turns off the first short-circuiting switch before the timing whereby the second inverter switch is turned on.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2011
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: SANYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Koichiro ESAKA, Kazuo ITOH
  • Patent number: 8191702
    Abstract: An article lifting device 1 for lifting up and down articles includes a plurality of basic unit conveyors 11, the conveyors 11 each having an upper and a lower rotary bodies 13, and an elongated carrier 12 looped around the upper and lower rotary bodies 13. The carrier 12 is provided with a supporting body 14 for supporting an article. The basic unit conveyors 11 are arranged vertically and horizontally in a plane, so that the carriers 12 overlap in a vertical direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Tomonobu Hasegawa
  • Publication number: 20120048678
    Abstract: A transfer device including a main conveyor part having a first conveying surface and a subsidiary conveyor part having a second conveying surface and arranged at the same area as the main conveyor part, the main conveyor part being designed to convey an article placed on the first conveying surface in one conveying direction, the subsidiary conveyor part being designed to convey an article placed on the second conveying surface in another direction transverse to the conveying direction of the main conveyor part, the main conveyor part and/or the subsidiary conveyor part being a roller conveyor having rollers, at least one of the rollers being a braking roller equipped with a brake, and the brake being designed to prevent the article from proceeding at least to the direction transverse to the conveying direction of the roller conveyor by a frictional force acting between the article and the braking roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2011
    Publication date: March 1, 2012
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Tatsuhiko Nakamura, Masaki Tanaka, Makoto Mitsuyoshi, Toshiyuki Tachibana, Michiyuki Yamanaka
  • Publication number: 20120048682
    Abstract: A fault diagnosis method for a roller conveyor including rollers, brushless motors, and zone controllers for controlling the brushless motors, the brushless motors and/or the rollers each having a rotation detector, the zone controllers each having a driver containing a logic circuit, a memory, which contains a program, and a micro computer is proposed. The program includes a fault diagnosis program and a criterial parameter. The zone controllers each obtain an operating parameter of the brushless motors and/or the rollers so as to perform comparison of the operating parameter with the criterial parameter and determine a failure of the roller conveyor in a case where a result of the comparison is above a predetermined level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2011
    Publication date: March 1, 2012
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Toshiyuki Tachibana, Yoshiyuki Kujihashi
  • Patent number: 8028817
    Abstract: A conveyor, which has an area in its conveyor line and for adjusting intervals between articles, includes (1) a plurality of zones constituting the area and each having at least one driving motor and an article sensor, (2) structure for measuring either an interval between adjacent articles in the conveying direction or a difference of time points when adjacent articles in the conveying direction pass the sensor, and (3) a motor controller for each of the zones and for varying a rotational speed of the driving motor. When the measuring structure measures either the interval or the difference upon reception of signals from the sensor, the motor controller either accelerates or slows down the rotational speed of the driving motor in a zone where the article is placed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Toshiyuki Tachibana
  • Patent number: 8006829
    Abstract: A motorized roller includes a roller body of a cylindrical shape, in which a motor and a reducer are housed. The motorized roller has fixed shafts protruding out of both ends of the roller body. A first fixed shaft has a cavity, in which a first connector is housed. A second connector is connected to the first connector. The first fixed shaft has a first engaging part (inside screw) for preventing disengagement of the second connector, so that a part (screw forming part) of the second connector is engaged with the first engaging part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2011
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Masaki Tanaka, Takenobu Nakashima, Tatsuhiko Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20110089574
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having a multilayer interconnect structure allowing heat in an interconnect layer at an intermediate level to be effectively dissipated is provided. A lower-layer interconnect (13), an intermediate interconnect (23), an upper-layer interconnect (33), a first contact via (15) formed to electrically connect the lower-layer interconnect (13) to the intermediate interconnect (23), and a second contact via (25) formed to electrically connect the intermediate interconnect (23) to the upper-layer interconnect (33) are provided. When viewed from above, the first and second contact vias (15, 25) both have a rectangular shape with their long sides extending in the same direction, and overlap with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Publication date: April 21, 2011
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuo ITOH
  • Patent number: 7886509
    Abstract: A power-driven grass mower includes an operation division having a grass cutter; a motor division having an electric motor and a power-source division having a battery, wherein the operation division is provided with a first means for watching if the motor division is locked for some reason or other, and a second means for putting the motor division into the inching operation in response to any signal from the first means indicating that the motor division is in a locking condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Mitsuo Inoue, Masayuki Shimoda
  • Publication number: 20100277991
    Abstract: A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell having a circuit configuration in which a potential supplied to sources of load transistors 108 and 111 included in a latch section is different from at least one of a potential supplied to a word line 105 and a potential supplied to bit lines 106 and 107; a latch potential control circuit 101 for switching a normal operation mode and a test mode to each other in accordance with a signal applied to a test mode setting pin 102; and a read/write control circuit 103 for controlling the potential supplied to the sources of the load transistors 108 and 111 to be lower than at least one of the potential supplied to the word line 105 and the potential supplied to the bit lines 106 and 107, during an arbitrary period of at least a read operation in the test mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2010
    Publication date: November 4, 2010
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Satoshi ISHIKURA, Hironori Akamatsu, Kazuo Itoh, Yoshinobu Yamagami
  • Patent number: 7816877
    Abstract: A brake-controllable brushless motor has a rotor and a stator having polyphase coils; a polar position detector whereby electric power is supplied to the coil selected by its phase in response to the polar positions of the rotor detected by the polar position detector; a driver division for controlling the electric supply to the coils; a motor pulse identifier for recognizing motor pulse signals fed from the polar position detector; and a delayed pulse generator for producing phase-delayed pulse signals in response to the pulse signals fed from the motor pulse identifier, thereby ensuring that when the brushless motor is braked, the phase delay of the delayed pulse signals is progressively and continuously enlarged, and that the coils receive a controlled electric supply from the driver division in response to the delayed pulse signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: Itoh Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Itoh, Toshiyuki Tachibana, Mitsuo Inoue