Patents by Inventor Tomoki Kubota

Tomoki Kubota 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).

  • Device mounted in vehicle
    Patent number: 6249720
    Abstract: A device is mounted in a vehicle which allows one or more of personified agent or imaginary living body to appear before a driver or passengers in the vehicle for communication therewith. A current status sensor (40) detects predetermined vehicle current status data, and a memory (292, 293) stores study data in response to entry of the latest current status data. One of a plurality of communication programs stored in a program table (291) may be selected in accordance with the current status data and/or the study data. An agent control unit (11) controls activity of the agent in accordance with the selected communication program. The determined agent activity is outputted through a display (27) and a speaker (25) for communication with the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2001
    Assignee: KabushikiKaisha Equos Research
    Inventors: Tomoki Kubota, Koji Hori, Manabu Mazda, Kazuhide Adachi, Kouji Mukai
  • Communicatory navigation system
    Patent number: 6202024
    Abstract: Disclosed is a communicatory navigation system including an information center (150), at least one navigation unit (100) each mounted on a vehicle and communication means for allowing bi-directional data communication between the information center and the navigation unit. Data transmission from the navigation unit to the information center is made during a period of communication that begins when the navigation unit become communicatable with the information center and ends when the bi-directional data communication therebetween is disconnected. The navigation unit is provided with a drive route history memory area (131) and an instrument operation history memory area (132), and data in these memory areas are transmitted to the information center, together with the vehicle current position data and the destination position data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Equos Research
    Inventors: Shoji Yokoyama, Tomoki Kubota, Yasuo Ito, Naoki Gorai, Takashi Sugawara, Hideaki Morita, Satoshi Kitano, Hiroki Ishikawa
  • Resistive steering sensor
    Patent number: 4839579
    Abstract: A steering sensor is installed in a vehicle by utilizing a clearance between a steering wheel and a turn signal switch assembly. This makes it possible to provide a steering sensor having a high degree of universality, since the sensor can be simply retrofitted on an existing vehicle not already having such a sensor. The steering sensor can be utilized widely in navigation or other systems requiring such a sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1989
    Inventors: Wataru Ito, Tomoki Kubota, Koji Sumiya, Shoji Yokoyama