Patents by Inventor Tatsufumi Aoi

Tatsufumi Aoi 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: 11891978
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade includes: a blade body; a down conductor extending along a longitudinal direction of the blade body; and at least a pair of magnetic field sensors disposed inside the blade body and at opposite positions across the down conductor, a pair of magnetic field sensors being configured to detect a local magnetic field at each of the positions. At least the pair of magnetic field sensors includes: a first sensor disposed on a first axis passing through an installation position of the down conductor in a cross section intersecting the longitudinal direction; and a second sensor disposed on a second axis passing through the installation position and being orthogonal to the first axis in the cross section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Syusaku Yamamoto, Naoto Murata, Yoichiro Tsumura
  • Publication number: 20230400012
    Abstract: A lightning protection system for a wind turbine blade, includes: a receptor disposed in a tip portion of the wind turbine blade; a leading edge protection portion made of a metal and electrically connected to the receptor and disposed so as to cover a leading edge of the wind turbine blade; a down conductor connected to the receptor; at least one connecting conductor for electrically connecting the leading edge protection portion and the down conductor at a position between the receptor and a blade root in a blade spanwise direction of the wind turbine blade; and a first current sensor for measuring a current flowing through a blade tip-side portion which is a portion, of the down conductor, between a blade tip and a connection point with the at least one connecting conductor in the blade spanwise direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2021
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Syusaku Yamamoto, Tatsufumi Aoi, Naoto Murata, Yoichiro Tsumura
  • Publication number: 20230265835
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade includes: a blade body; a down conductor extending along a longitudinal direction of the blade body; and at least a pair of magnetic field sensors disposed inside the blade body and at opposite positions across the down conductor, a pair of magnetic field sensors being configured to detect a local magnetic field at each of the positions. At least the pair of magnetic field sensors includes: a first sensor disposed on a first axis passing through an installation position of the down conductor in a cross section intersecting the longitudinal direction; and a second sensor disposed on a second axis passing through the installation position and being orthogonal to the first axis in the cross section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2021
    Publication date: August 24, 2023
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Syusaku Yamamoto, Naoto Murata, Yoichiro Tsumura
  • Patent number: 11519390
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade includes a blade main body and a leading edge protector. The leading edge protector includes a conductive material and covers a leading edge of the blade main body. The leading edge protector is also electrically connected to a down conductor disposed in a hollow space enclosed by a skin in the blade main body or a conductive mesh member provided along an outer surface of the skin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Naoto Murata, Syusaku Yamamoto, Yoichiro Tsumura, Tatsufumi Aoi, Akio Ikeda, Nobuyuki Kamihara, Takehiro Naka
  • Publication number: 20220338394
    Abstract: A composite material structure includes: a first composite material member including a first reinforcing fiber that is electrically conductive and impregnated with a first resin; a second composite material member including a second reinforcing fiber that is electrically conductive and impregnated with a second resin; an adhesive layer disposed between the first composite material member and the second composite material member to bond the first composite material member to the second composite material member; and an electromagnetic shielding member covering at least part of an area, exposed to an exterior, of the adhesive layer. At least one of the first and second composite material members has a predefined lightning current direction in which a lightning current generated by a lightning strike passes. The shielding member is disposed over an entire plane of a side face in a direction orthogonal to the lightning current direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2022
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Inventors: Tatsufumi AOI, Kazuki YAMAWAKI, Akio IKEDA, Hisashi SHIMIZU
  • Publication number: 20210372374
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade includes a blade main body and a leading edge protector. The leading edge protector includes a conductive material and covers a leading edge of the blade main body. The leading edge protector is also electrically connected to at least one of a down conductor disposed in a hollow space enclosed by a skin in the blade main body and a conductive mesh member provided along an outer surface of the skin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Inventors: Naoto MURATA, Syusaku YAMAMOTO, Yoichiro TSUMURA, Tatsufumi AOI, Akio IKEDA, Nobuyuki KAMIHARA, Takehiro NAKA
  • Patent number: 10616989
    Abstract: A plasma generation apparatus, and a plasma thruster configured to use the plasma generation apparatus are disclosed. The plasma generation apparatus includes a discharge vessel, a light-emitting monitor, a probe measuring instrument, a control device, and an optical axis driving unit. The discharge vessel is configured to ionize gas which is introduced to an inside thereof so as to generate plasma. The light-emitting monitor is configured to measure electron density of the plasma by emission spectra of the plasma. The probe measuring instrument is configured to measure the electron density of the plasma by a probe in the discharge vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Kengo Yamaguchi, Ryuichi Matsuda, Akio Ikeda, Hirofumi Shimizu, Takuya Yamazaki, Tatsuya Kimura
  • Patent number: 10124193
    Abstract: An X-ray therapy system includes a gantry, a positron emission tomography (PET) detection device in the gantry, and an irradiation unit in the gantry (and configured to radiate X-rays to a patient. The PET detection device has a pair of photon detection units and photon detection unit-moving devices configured to move the pair of photon detection units with respect to the gantry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignees: HITACHI, LTD., NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Masayori Ishikawa, Mitsuhiro Yoshida, Takanobu Handa, Tatsufumi Aoi
  • Patent number: 9983237
    Abstract: A lightning current measuring device is provided with: a polarized light separation element which separates light output from a sensor fiber into horizontal and vertical components having orthogonal planes of polarization, a Faraday rotation angle calculation unit calculating a Faraday rotation angle through arc-sine processing of a digitized signal of the difference between the horizontal and vertical components converted to a signal through photoelectric conversion after separation by the polarized light separation element, amplifiers which amplify the horizontal and vertical components converted to a signal through photoelectric conversion after separation by the polarized light separation element, a Faraday rotation angle calculating unit which calculates a Faraday rotation angle based on a digitized signal of the difference between the amplified horizontal and vertical components, and current value conversion units converting current values based on the calculated Faraday rotation angles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Yoichiro Tsumura, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Yutaka Kikuchihara
  • Publication number: 20170064806
    Abstract: Provided are a plasma generation apparatus including a measurement device and capable of controlling conditions of plasma properly and stably, and a plasma thruster using the plasma generation apparatus. A plasma generation apparatus including a measurement device of the present invention includes a discharge vessel, a light-emitting monitor, a probe measuring instrument, a control device, and an optical axis driving unit. The discharge vessel ionizes gas which is introduced to an inside thereof so as to generate plasma. The light-emitting monitor measures electron density of the plasma by emission spectra of the plasma. The probe measuring instrument measures the electron density of the plasma by a probe disposed in the discharge vessel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2015
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Inventors: Tatsufumi AOI, Kengo YAMAGUCHI, Ryuichi MATSUDA, Akio IKEDA, Hirofumi SHIMIZU, Takuya YAMAZAKI, Tatsuya KIMURA
  • Publication number: 20160041205
    Abstract: A lightning current measuring device is provided with: a polarized light separation element which separates light output from a sensor fiber into horizontal and vertical components having orthogonal planes of polarization, a Faraday rotation angle calculation unit calculating a Faraday rotation angle through arc-sine processing of a digitized signal of the difference between the horizontal and vertical components converted to a signal through photoelectric conversion after separation by the polarized light separation element, amplifiers which amplify the horizontal and vertical components converted to a signal through photoelectric conversion after separation by the polarized light separation element, a Faraday rotation angle calculating unit which calculates a Faraday rotation angle based on a digitized signal of the difference between the amplified horizontal and vertical components, and current value conversion units converting current values based on the calculated Faraday rotation angles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2014
    Publication date: February 11, 2016
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi AOI, Yoichiro TSUMURA, Kiyoshi KUROSAWA, Yutaka KIKUCHIHARA
  • Patent number: 9013170
    Abstract: The present invention has an object to provide a lightning current detection sensor that has a configuration resistant to high voltage and high current in a lightning strike and has high sensitivity and high resolution. In a lightning current detection sensor 10, an insulation-coated wire 22 wound in multiple turns is collectively covered with a base tape 21 and a cover tape 23. Thus, even when the insulation-coated wire 22 is wound in multiple turns to increase sensitivity, a minute area can be detected to increase resolution. Also, with the base tape 21 and the cover tape 23 covering the insulation-coated wire 22 and also a shield portion 12 made of an insulating material and a gap 40 formed between the shield portion 12 and the coil portion 20, a sufficient shielding property is ensured and detection with high accuracy can be performed against high current and high voltage without capacitative coupling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation
    Inventors: Kengou Yamaguchi, Tatsufumi Aoi, Takashi Okai
  • Publication number: 20150065870
    Abstract: The X-ray therapy system includes a gantry (11), a positron emission tomography (PET) detection device (12) provided in the gantry (11), and an irradiation unit (15) provided in the gantry (11) and configured to radiate X-rays to a patient. The PET detection device (12) has a pair of photon detection units (13) and photon detection unit-moving devices (14) configured to move the pair of photon detection units (13) with respect to the gantry (11).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 25, 2012
    Publication date: March 5, 2015
    Applicants: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD., National University Corporation Hokkaido University
    Inventors: Masayori Ishikawa, Mitsuhiro Yoshida, Takanobu Handa, Tatsufumi Aoi
  • Publication number: 20140086387
    Abstract: An object is to emit x-rays having a plurality of different energies and to suppress variations in the energy of the created x-rays. In an x-ray generating apparatus (14) provided in an x-ray inspection apparatus (10), a particle accelerator (20) creates a charged particle beam for generating x-rays having a plurality of different energies, and x-rays are emitted by irradiating a target (22) with the charged particle beam. A single-energy control device (40) controls the particle accelerator (20) for each of the x-rays having different energies on the basis of an x-ray radiation level per unit target current obtained from a measured value of the current flowing in the target (22) and a measured value of the radiation level of x-rays emitted from the target (22), when the target (22) is irradiated with the charged particle beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2011
    Publication date: March 27, 2014
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Yuichiro Kamino, Yasuo Ogi, Akira Watanabe, Nobuyuki Shigeoka
  • Publication number: 20140079189
    Abstract: An X-ray generating device (10) is provided with an electron gun (12) that generates an electron beam, a linear accelerator (14) that accelerates, by means of microwaves, the electron beam generated by the electron gun (12), an X-ray target (16) that generates X-rays by being irradiated with the electron beam accelerated by the linear accelerator (14), a microwave generating device that generates microwaves to be introduced into the linear accelerator (14), and a pulse modulator that controls the microwave generating device so as to change the power of the microwaves. Because the linear accelerator (14) includes a plurality of buncher cavities (40), even if there are electrons that are shifted out of the acceleration phase when the power of the microwaves is decreased, these electrons can be accelerated in the acceleration phase of the next time period; therefore, a decrease in the intensity of an electron beam to be emitted is suppressed even if the power of the microwaves is decreased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2012
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Inventors: Akihiro Miyamoto, Yuichiro Kamino, Shinya Ishii, Tatsufumi Aoi, Akira Watanabe
  • Publication number: 20120194168
    Abstract: The present invention has an object to provide a lightning current detection sensor that has a configuration resistant to high voltage and high current in a lightning strike and has high sensitivity and high resolution. In a lightning current detection sensor 10, an insulation-coated wire 22 wound in multiple turns is collectively covered with a base tape 21 and a cover tape 23. Thus, even when the insulation-coated wire 22 is wound in multiple turns to increase sensitivity, a minute area can be detected to increase resolution. Also, with the base tape 21 and the cover tape 23 covering the insulation-coated wire 22 and also a shield portion 12 made of an insulating material and a gap 40 formed between the shield portion 12 and the coil portion 20, a sufficient shielding property is ensured and detection with high accuracy can be performed against high current and high voltage without capacitative coupling.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2012
    Publication date: August 2, 2012
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI AIRCRAFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kengou YAMAGUCHI, Tatsufumi AOI, Takashi OKAI
  • Patent number: 8101933
    Abstract: A medical device which can rotate a radiation emitter or the like with high positional precision over an extended period of time is provided. Provided are a support frame installed such that a central axis thereof is positioned substantially horizontally; circular tracks respectively disposed on both side faces of the support frame; a moving gantry configured to revolve relative to the support frame via sliding portions configured to slide on the circular tracks; and revolving driving means for revolving the moving gantry, wherein the moving gantry is constructed of a rigid-framed structure formed of a first side portion and a second side portion disposed so as to flank the support frame from both side faces thereof, and coupling portions for coupling the first side portion and the second side portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industies, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Susumu Urano, Shuji Kaneko, Hiroyuki Shibata, Seinoshin Hamanaka
  • Patent number: 7995324
    Abstract: An object is providing an electrostatic attraction apparatus and an attracting/releasing method capable of reliably attracting and quickly releasing a glass substrate. An attraction force for attracting a glass substrate is obtained according to the physical properties of the glass substrate. In addition to obtaining an attraction voltage (Vc(t)) required for obtaining the attraction force, a holding voltage (Vh(t)) for holding an attraction state and a release voltage (Vr(t)) for releasing the glass substrate are also obtained (S1 to S7). Attraction time period (tc) is actually measured and if this measured time is different from a preset attraction time (t1), the holding voltage (Vh(t)) and the release voltage (Vr(t)) are recalculated according to the actually measured attraction time period (tc) (S8 to S11).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuo Kato, Shigenari Horie, Tatsufumi Aoi, Masaki Kawano, Yoshitaka Tsumoto, Hiroaki Ogasawara, Toshiro Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7935939
    Abstract: A radiotherapy apparatus controller includes: a movement collection section; a sensor control section configured to change a first time interval in which a second sensor measures a position of an irradiation area in the subject, based on the movement information; and an irradiation control section. The movement collection section collects movement information indicating a movement of a subject from a first sensor. The sensor control section changes a first time interval in which a second sensor measures a position of an irradiation area in the subject, based on the movement information. The irradiation control section controls a radiotherapy apparatus such that therapeutic radiation irradiated to the irradiation area is changed based on the position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Shuji Kaneko, Osamu Shibuya
  • Patent number: 7881431
    Abstract: A radiotherapy apparatus includes an acceleration unit configured to generate a charged particle beam. A target is configured to generate a radiation when the charged particle beam is irradiated to the target. A sensor is configured to measure an electric current flowing through the target. A dosimeter is configured to measure a dose of the radiation. A control unit is configured to control the acceleration unit based on the measured electric current and the measured dose.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsufumi Aoi, Ichiro Yamashita, Kazuhiro Tsukuda, Etsuro Hirai, Yuichiro Kamino