Patents by Inventor Mitsuo Fukukawa

Mitsuo Fukukawa 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).

  • Patent number: 5546123
    Abstract: An automatic steering device is presented for controlling the direction of travel of an asphalt finisher during a paving operation. The device is provided with a laser generator (18) which projects a laser beam of a slit shape on a series of objects along the roadside which is selected to served as a reference line (A). An image recording device (17), a CCD camera, is disposed on the vehicle member (2), which records the projected laser light illuminating the objects and outputs a generated image (Ba) to a master controller (22). The master controller (22) determines the current deviation of the vehicle member (2) from the reference line (A) by the changes in the position of the generated image (Ba), and operates the automatic control device so as to steer the vehicle member (2) in the correct direction to permit the asphalt finisher to follow the reference line (A).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 13, 1996
    Assignee: Niigata Engineering Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Hachiro Ikeda, Noriaki Miyamoto, Ryoei Umeda, Hidenori Yasu, Mitsuo Fukukawa, Yukiei Masuyama, Shoji Kinoshita, Yukio Takagi, Tomohiro Gocho, Fumio Goto, Akio Ishii, Tetsuo Ogawa, Yoshun Hasegawa, Keitaro Hironaka, Yasuhiro Ogoshi
  • Patent number: 5484227
    Abstract: Efficient paving operation requires that the levelling operation of asphalt be carried out accurately along a reference line which follows a given direction along a roadside. A simple and effective automatic control device for controlling the steering direction in conjunction with adjustments of the screed for an asphalt finisher (shortened to finisher) is presented. The control device automatically regulates the extension or retraction of the screeds on both sides of the finisher in reference to a visual display of the reference line following some objects along the roadside. The visual detection system of control is simple and economical and provides an accurate control over the direction of paving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 16, 1996
    Assignees: Niigata Engineering Co., Ltd., The Nippon Road Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hachiro Ikeda, Noriaki Miyamoto, Ryoei Umeda, Hidenori Yasu, Mitsuo Fukukawa, Yukiei Masuyama, Shoji Kinoshita, Yukio Takagi, Tomohiro Gocho, Fumio Goto, Akio Ishii, Tetsuo Ogawa, Yoshun Hasegawa, Keitaro Hironaka, Yasuhiro Ogoshi
  • Patent number: 4970800
    Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for grading and measuring surfaces such as roadbeds which have curved and inclined profiles which may have different shapes in successive transverse sections of the roadbed. A blade and screw cutter are supported by a frame which extends over the surface being worked, and these tools are movable along this frame. The tools are movable toward and away from the surface being shaped in response to a control means which has memorized the appropriate positions, or by reference to a deformable rule which may also be reshaped in response to computer-memorized data. According to a disclosed method, the rule is reshaped for different sections of the surface.An apparatus for checking and measuring a surface which has a curved profile includes a plurality of piston-cylinder units which are mounted on a main frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 20, 1990
    Assignees: Kajima Road Company, Kajima Corporation
    Inventors: Seiichiro Takizawa, Mitsuo Fukukawa, Masayuki Yazawa, Kazumitsu Asai, Yoshiharu Okamoto, Tetsuo Tanaka
  • Patent number: 4861189
    Abstract: An inclined roadbed is paved by vehicles which are connected by wires to uphill anchor vehicles. A paving vehicle on the inclined surface has a device for projecting a laser beam to a beam-receiving device on its respective anchor vehicle. The height of the wire connection point on the anchor vehicle is changed in response to signals from the beam-receiving device, so as to equalize the forces exerted on the inclined surface by the left and right sides of the paving vehicle. For paving surfaces such as automobile test tracks which have compound curvatures, a pavement laying apparatus has a curved surface formed by a plurality of interconnected screed plates which are each connected to a respective screw jack. A microcomputer stores data representing the desired shape of the pavement at different points along the travel path of the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 1988
    Date of Patent: August 29, 1989
    Assignees: Kajima Corporation, Kajima Road Company
    Inventors: Mitsuo Fukukawa, Masayuki Yazawa, Kazumitsu Asai, Yoshiharu Okamoto, Kouhei Mio
  • Patent number: 4854769
    Abstract: An inclined roadbed is paved by vehicles which are connected by wires to uphill anchor vehicles. A paving vehicle on the inclined surface has a device for projecting a laser beam to a beam-receiving device on its respective anchor vehicle. The height of the wire connection point on the anchor vehicle is changed in response to signals from the beam-receiving device, so as to equalize the forces exerted on the inclined surface by the left and right sides of the paving vehicle. For paving surfaces such as automobile test tracks which have compound curvatures, a pavement laying apparatus has a curved surface formed by a plurality of interconnected screed plates which are each connected to a respective screw jack. A microcomputer stores data representing the desired shape of the pavement at different points along the travel path of the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 1988
    Date of Patent: August 8, 1989
    Assignees: Kajima Corporation, Kasima Road Company
    Inventors: Mitsuo Fukukawa, Masayuki Yazawa, Kazumitsu Asai, Yoshiharu Okamoto, Kouhei Mio
  • Patent number: 4852278
    Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for grading and measuring surfaces such as roadbeds which have curved and inclined profiles which may have different shapes in successive transverse sections of the roadbed. A blade and screw cutter are supported by a frame which extends over the surface being worked, and these tools are movable along this frame. The tools are movable toward and away from the surface being shaped in response to a control means which has memorized the appropriate positions, or by reference to a deformable rule which may also be reshaped in response to computer-memorized data. According to a disclsoed method, the rule is reshaped for different sections of the surface.An apparatus for checking and measuring a surface which has a curved profile includes a plurality of piston-cylinder units which are mounted on a main frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 1987
    Date of Patent: August 1, 1989
    Assignees: Kajima Corporation, Kajima Road Company
    Inventors: Seiichiro Takizawa, Mitsuo Fukukawa, Masayuki Yazawa, Kazumitsu Asai, Yoshiharu Okamoto
  • Patent number: 4801219
    Abstract: A compactor having the roller shafts mounted for changing the inclination of the roller through a linkage system. The compactor is connected to an anchor vehicle by a tension member which deters lateral shifting and has a sensor indicating the inclination angle. The sensor is connected to a control which varies the tension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 1987
    Date of Patent: January 31, 1989
    Assignees: Kajima Corporation, Kajima Road Company
    Inventors: Masayuki Yazawa, Mitsuo Fukukawa, Kazumitsu Asai, Yoshiharu Okamoto
  • Patent number: 4699543
    Abstract: A slope paving machine is composed of a wheeled truck, a boom device mounted on and extending from said truck, a pavement finisher which is suspendable from the forward end of said boom device and hingedly connected thereto, and a conveyor mounted on and extending from said truck. The pavement finisher is capable of traveling on a sloped surface in a direction at right angles to a line of slope.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 1986
    Date of Patent: October 13, 1987
    Assignees: Kajima Corporation, Kajima Road Company
    Inventors: Kohei Mio, Yukio Yamagishi, Hiroshi Ishikawa, Mitsuo Fukukawa, Shigeyuki Takahashi