Patents by Inventor Shoji Yoshikawa

Shoji Yoshikawa 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: 20020154308
    Abstract: The defect marking method comprises the steps of: installing a surface defect tester to detect surface flaw and a marker device to apply marking at defect position, in a continuous processing line of steel sheet; detecting the surface flaw on the steel sheet using the surface defect tester; determining defect name, defect grade, defect length, and defect position in the width direction of the steel sheet, on the basis of thus detected flaw information, further identifying the defect in terms of harmful defect, injudgicable defect, and harmless defect; applying tracking of the defect position for each of the harmful defect and the injudgicable defect; and applying marking to the defect position. The defect marking device comprises a defect inspection means having plurality of light-receiving parts and a signal processing section, and a marking means.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2001
    Publication date: October 24, 2002
    Applicant: NKK Corporation, a Japanese Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsuaki Uesugi, Shoji Yoshikawa, Masaichi Inomata, Tsutomu Kawamura, Takahiko Oshige, Hiroyuki Sugiura, Akira Kazama, Tsuneo Suyama, Yasuo Kushida, Shuichi Harada, Hajime Tanaka, Osamu Uehara, Shuji Kaneto, Masahiro Iwabuchi, Kozo Harada, Shinichi Tomonaga, Shigemi Fukuda
  • Publication number: 20020148961
    Abstract: The purpose of the invention is to provide an improved electron beam apparatus with improvements in throughput, accuracy, etc. One of the characterizing features of the electron beam apparatus of the present invention is that it has a plurality of optical systems, each of which comprises a primary electron optical system for scanning and irradiating a sample with a plurality of primary electron beams; a detector device for detecting a plurality of secondary beams emitted by irradiating the sample with the primary electron beams; and a secondary electron optical system for guiding the secondary electron beams from the sample to the detector device; all configured so that the plurality of optical systems scan different regions of the sample with their primary electron beams, and detect the respective secondary electron beams emitted from each of the respective regions. This is what makes higher throughput possible.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: October 17, 2002
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Tohru Satake, Nobuharu Noji, Hirosi Sobukawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Shoji Yoshikawa, Toshifumi Kimba, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito, Muneki Hamashima, Yoshiaki Kohama, Yukiharu Okubo
  • Publication number: 20020148975
    Abstract: A substrate inspection apparatus 1-1 (FIG.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: October 17, 2002
    Inventors: Toshifumi Kimba, Tohru Satake, Tsutomu Karimata, Kenji Watanabe, Nobuharu Noji, Takeshi Murakami, Masahiro Hatakeyama, Mamoru Nakasuji, Hirosi Sobukawa, Shoji Yoshikawa, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito
  • Publication number: 20020142496
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electron beam apparatus for evaluating a sample surface, which has a primary electro-optical system for irradiating a sample with a primary electron beam, a detecting system, and a secondary electro-optical system for directing secondary electron beams emitted from the sample surface by the irradiation of the primary electron beam to the detecting system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: October 3, 2002
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Tohru Satake, Kenji Watanabe, Takeshi Murakami, Nobuharu Noji, Hirosi Sobukawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Shoji Yoshikawa, Toshifumi Kimba, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito, Muneki Hamashima, Toru Takagi, Naoto Kihara, Hiroshi Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20020130262
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a substrate inspection apparatus for inspecting a pattern formed on a substrate by irradiating a charged particle beam onto the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: September 19, 2002
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Nobuharu Noji, Tohru Satake, Toshifumi Kimba, Masahiro Hatakeyama, Kenji Watanabe, Hirosi Sobukawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Shoji Yoshikawa, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito, Muneki Hamashima
  • Publication number: 20020117585
    Abstract: An apparatus for determining the attitude of an artificial satellite arranged to narrow attitude candidates down to a correct one in a short time. The apparatus has star sensors, star catalog data bases, star identification sections in each of which star images output from the star sensors are collated with a star catalog with respect to each star sensor to output a group of corresponding candidates, attitude computation sections for computing a value of an attitude candidate of the artificial satellite with respect to each corresponding candidate, an attitude updating section for updating the value of the attitude candidate on the basis of the star images output from the star sensor and the star catalog, and an attitude propagation section for computing the value of the attitude candidate at the present sampling time from the value of the attitude candidate at the preceding sampling time and the artificial satellite body angular velocity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2001
    Publication date: August 29, 2002
    Inventors: Shoji Yoshikawa, Katsuhiko Yamada, Haruhiko Shimoji, Masao Inoue, Norimasa Yoshida, Katsumasa Miyatake
  • Publication number: 20020109090
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electron beam apparatus for irradiating a sample with primary electron beams to detect secondary electron beams generated from a surface of the sample by the irradiation for evaluating the sample surface. In the electron beam apparatus, an electron gun has a cathode for emitting primary electron beams. The cathode includes a plurality of emitters for emitting primary electron beams, arranged apart from one another on a circle centered at an optical axis of a primary electro-optical system. The plurality of emitters are arranged such that when the plurality of emitters are projected onto a straight line parallel with a direction in which the primary electron beams are scanned, resulting points on the straight line are spaced at equal intervals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: August 15, 2002
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Nobuharu Noji, Tohru Satake, Masahiro Hatakeyama, Kenji Watanabe, Takao Kato, Hirosi Sobukawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Shoji Yoshikawa, Toshifumi Kimba, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito, Muneki Hamashima
  • Publication number: 20020088940
    Abstract: An electron beam inspection system of the image projection type includes a primary electron optical system for shaping an electron beam emitted from an electron gun into a rectangular configuration and applying the shaped electron beam to a sample surface to be inspected. A secondary electron optical system converges secondary electrons emitted from the sample. A detector converts the converged secondary electrons into an optical image through a fluorescent screen and focuses the image to a line sensor. A controller controls the charge transfer time of the line sensor at which the picked-up line image is transferred between each pair of adjacent pixel rows provided in the line sensor in association with the moving speed of a stage for moving the sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: July 11, 2002
    Inventors: Kenji Watanabe, Hirosi Sobukawa, Nobuharu Noji, Tohru Satake, Shoji Yoshikawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Mamoru Nakasuji, Masahiro Hatakeyama, Takeshi Murakami, Yuichiro Yamazaki, Ichirota Nagahama, Takamitsu Nagai, Kazuyoshi Sugihara
  • Publication number: 20020036264
    Abstract: An electron beam apparatus such as a sheet beam based testing apparatus has an electron-optical system for irradiating an object under testing with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and projecting an image of a secondary electron beam emitted by the irradiation of the primary electron beam, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron beam image projected by the electron-optical system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2001
    Publication date: March 28, 2002
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Nobuharu Noji, Tohru Satake, Toshifumi Kimba, Hirosi Sobukawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Shin Oowada, Shoji Yoshikawa, Mutsumi Saito
  • Publication number: 20020033449
    Abstract: An inspection apparatus and a semiconductor device manufacturing method using the same. The inspection apparatus is used for defect inspection, line width measurement, surface potential measurement or the like of a sample such as a wafer. In the inspection apparatus, a plurality of charged particles is delivered from a primary optical system to the sample, and secondary charged particles emitted from the sample are separated from the primary optical system and introduced through a secondary optical system to a detector. Irradiation of the charged particles is conducted while moving the sample. Irradiation spots of the charged particles are arranged by N rows along a moving direction of the sample and by M columns along a direction perpendicular thereto. Every row of the irradiation spots of the charged particles is shifted successively by a predetermined amount in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2001
    Publication date: March 21, 2002
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Nobuharu Noji, Tohru Satake, Toshifumi Kimba, Hirosi Sobukawa, Shoji Yoshikawa, Tsutomu Karimata, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito, Muneki Hamashima, Toru Takagi
  • Publication number: 20020032525
    Abstract: A GPS receiving system which achieves an equivalent synchronization in time measurement of GPS signals utilizing software without requiring highly accurate synchronization for receiver clocks with time information embedded in the GPS signals. The GPS receiving system performs a relative navigation process after correcting a pseudorange with a time tag error which is attributable to inaccuracy of receiver clocks of first and second moving objects. A relative navigation process correcting an absolute error of a time tag with a clock bias is also described. A differential computation unit calculates a difference between the first pseudorange and the second pseudorange commonized by the time tag commonizing unit. Correction in a time tag error correction unit is performed for the selected GPS data with a common GPS satellite identification number.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2001
    Publication date: March 14, 2002
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shoji Yoshikawa, Katsuhiko Yamada, Jun Tsukui
  • Publication number: 20020028399
    Abstract: An inspection apparatus by an electron beam comprises: an electron-optical device 70 having an electron-optical system for irradiating the object with a primary electron beam from an electron beam source, and a detector for detecting the secondary electron image projected by the electron-optical system; a stage system 50 for holding and moving the object relative to the electron-optical system; a mini-environment chamber 20 for supplying a clean gas to the object to prevent dust from contacting to the object; a working chamber 31 for accommodating the stage device, the working chamber being controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; at least two loading chambers 41, 42 disposed between the mini-environment chamber and the working chamber, adapted to be independently controllable so as to have a vacuum atmosphere; and a loader 60 for transferring the object to the stage system through the loading chambers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2001
    Publication date: March 7, 2002
    Inventors: Mamoru Nakasuji, Nobuharu Noji, Tohru Satake, Masahiro Hatakeyama, Toshifumi Kimba, Hirosi Sobukawa, Shoji Yoshikawa, Takeshi Murakami, Kenji Watanabe, Tsutomu Karimata, Shin Oowada, Mutsumi Saito, Yuichiro Yamazaki, Takamitsu Nagai, Ichirota Nagahama
  • Patent number: 6227496
    Abstract: An attitude determination system for an artificial satellite capable of performing star identification without need for the aid of ground station includes an image processing module (17) for processing star images observed at predetermined time points by a star sensor (16) mounted on the artificial satellite (1) for arithmetically determining direction vectors of the observed stars, a rotation estimating module (18) for estimating a rotational motion of the artificial satellite (1) between an attitude of the artificial satellite at a predetermined time point and an attitude of the artificial satellite at another time point, an elongation estimating module (19) for estimating elongations between the direction vectors of plural stars the images of which are picked up at a same time point by the star sensor and estimating the elongations between the direction vectors of plural stars the images of which are picked up at different time points by the star sensor on the basis of the estimated rotational motion, a st
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shoji Yoshikawa, Katsuhiko Yamada, Hiroshi Sakashita, Hiroo Yonechi
  • Patent number: 6166684
    Abstract: An artificial satellite navigation system and method. The artificial satellite navigation system includes a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, local satellite, and remote satellite absolute navigation units estimating the position and velocity of a local satellite or a remote satellite and bias and drift of a clock in the receiver. A difference calculation unit calculates differences in position and velocity from the local satellite and remote satellite absolute navigation units. A relative navigation unit estimates the relative position and velocity of the local satellite with respect to the remote satellite. The relative navigation unit navigates the local satellite relative to the remote satellite.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shoji Yoshikawa, Katsuhiko Yamada, Hiroshi Koyama, Jun Tsukui
  • Patent number: 6167144
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus and method for identifying a safe landing location on the surface of the moon or planets calculates local average brightness and brightness variance in a neighborhood of each image pixel based on a digital image data obtained with a camera and determines whether each pixel represents a level and flat area based on the local average brightness and brightness variance calculated for each pixel, thereby extracting a desirable landing site.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2000
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenichi Nishiguchi, Shoji Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 6102338
    Abstract: An attitude determination system for an artificial satellite capable of performing star identification without need for the aid of ground station includes an image processing module (17) for processing star images observed at predetermined time points by a star sensor (16) mounted on the artificial satellite (1) for arithmetically determining direction vectors of the observed stars, a rotation estimating module (18) for estimating a rotational motion of the artificial satellite (1) between an attitude of the artificial satellite at a predetermined time point and an attitude of the artificial satellite at another time point, an elongation estimating module (19) for estimating elongations between the direction vectors of plural stars the images of which are picked up at a same time point by the star sensor and estimating the elongations between the direction vectors of plural stars the images of which are picked up at different time points by the star sensor on the basis of the estimated rotational motion, a st
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shoji Yoshikawa, Katsuhiko Yamada, Hiroshi Sakashita, Hiroo Yonechi
  • Patent number: 5657301
    Abstract: This automatic changer system easily performs the operation of rewriting a program and acquiring the data of the system. The system includes program rewriting means (12) responsive to the application of a program rewrite command for selecting a storage medium (10) storing a new control program, reading in the new control program, erasing the previously stored control program stored in storage means (11) and storing the new control program in the storage means (11).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 12, 1997
    Assignee: NKK Corporation
    Inventors: Shoji Yoshikawa, Shinya Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 5109367
    Abstract: For an output signal of an error signal generating circuit generating a focus error signal and/or track error signal, it is materialized that a highly precise servo system can sufficiently deal with the case in which the change of the light intensity by switching recording and reproducing or the like and the dispersion of offset and sensitivity by an optical system exist, by providing with a compensating operational circuit generating a normalized focus and/or track error signal being independent of the reflected light intensity from a recording medium and/or the light intensity distribution and also the difference of sensitivity, and by providing with a bias applying circuit applying a bias component for deleting offset and so forth in the signal of this compensating operational circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1990
    Date of Patent: April 28, 1992
    Assignee: Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shoji Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 5048002
    Abstract: A servo tracking system enables a beam spot formed on a photodisc through an objective lens to trace a track on the disc. After opening the tracking servo loop, a drive signal is supplied to a lens actuator so as to move the objective lens across the tracks thereby generating a tracking error signal. The tracking error signal is sampled for detection of the central value of the same. An offset control is conducted so as to make the central value of the tracking error signal fall within an allowable standard range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 10, 1991
    Assignee: Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuji Horie, Shoji Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 5014256
    Abstract: A gain control device for controlling the loop gain of a servo tracking system which enables a beam spot formed on a photodisc through an objective lens to trace a track on the disc. The gain control device opens the tracking servo loop and applied a drive signal to a lens actuator so as to move the objective lens across the tracks thereby generating tracking error signals. The device samples the tracking error signals and detects the amplitudes of these signals, and controls the loop gain such that the detected amplitudes fall within a predetermined allowable range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1991
    Assignee: Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuji Horie, Shoji Yoshikawa