Patents by Inventor Yumiko Kato

Yumiko Kato 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: 20130242387
    Abstract: Provided is a three-dimensional image display system including: eyeglasses including a type information transmission unit which transmits type information of the eyeglasses and a potential information transmission unit which transmits a biopotential of a viewer as potential information; and a three-dimensional display TV including a type information reception unit which receives the type information, an electrode position determination unit which determines, based on the received type information, a position of an electrode included in the eyeglasses, a potential information reception unit which receives the transmitted potential information, and a wearing conditions determination unit which determines wearing conditions of the viewer wearing the eyeglasses, based on the determined electrode position and the received potential information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2013
    Publication date: September 19, 2013
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun OZAWA, Yumiko KATO, Tsuyoshi INOUE
  • Publication number: 20130235169
    Abstract: An HMD includes: a display which displays a three-dimensional video image; a position obtaining unit which measures a position of an inner corner or tail of an eye of a viewer with respect to the display; a standard position storage unit which obtains and stores, as a standard position relating to the position, the measured position of the inner corner or outer corner of the eye, in calibration for determining the standard position; a position gap detecting unit which detects, as a position gap, a difference between the standard position and a newly measured position of the inner corner or outer corner of the eye of the viewer viewing content with respect to the display; and an image processing unit which performs image processing on the 3D video image to be displayed on the display, to rotated or parallely move the 3D video image according to the detected position gap.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2013
    Publication date: September 12, 2013
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yumiko KATO, Jun OZAWA
  • Publication number: 20130229711
    Abstract: Provided is an image display system which can assuredly perform collaborative processing such as determination of a fatigue state of a viewer using three-dimensional eyeglasses and an image display apparatus, without increasing system scale, the image display system including: a transmitting and receiving unit included in a three-dimensional display TV which transmits to three-dimensional eyeglasses a specification-designating signal designating a specification which at least includes a data format for a communication signal; a transmitting and receiving unit included in the three-dimensional eyeglasses which receives the specification-designating signal transmitted from the three-dimensional display TV and, according to the specification designated by the received specification-designating signal, converts a biometric signal acquired by a biometric signal sensor into the communication signal, and transmits the communication signal to the three-dimensional display TV.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2013
    Publication date: September 5, 2013
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yumiko KATO, Jun OZAWA, Tsuyoshi INOUE
  • Patent number: 8478486
    Abstract: A vehicle control device (10) is provided that can predict a driving operation of a driver earlier to respond to the driving operation quickly. The vehicle control device (10) includes: a posture measuring unit (11) to measure a posture indicating a state of at least one of the buttock region, the upper pelvic region, and the driver's leg opposite to the other leg with which the driver operates a brake or an accelerator; a posture change detection unit (12) to detect a posture change measured; a preparatory movement identification unit (13) to identify whether the posture change is caused by the driver's preparatory movement spontaneously made before the brake or accelerator operation, based on whether the posture change detected satisfies a predetermined condition; and a vehicle control unit (14) to control the vehicle when it is identified that the posture change has been caused by the preparatory movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yumiko Kato, Hoshimi Masakatsu
  • Patent number: 8393607
    Abstract: A sheet-processing device for performing various sheet post-processing functions at high speed and implementing a compact structure includes a compiler 106 that causes a stacked sheet to wait until stapling processing is performed; a jogger 107 that aligns the sheet stacked on the compiler 106; a stapler device 24 that performs the stapling processing to the sheet aligned by the jogger 107 as many as the setting number of sheets; and a sheet transfer pathway 105 through which the sheet in which an image is formed is delivered to the compiler 106.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2013
    Assignee: Gradco (Japan) Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazushige Masunari, Yumiko Kato
  • Publication number: 20130028698
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes a sheet conveying path; a sheet entrance unit provided in the sheet conveying path; a sheet discharge unit provided in a location separated from the sheet entrance unit by a predetermined distance; a driving unit that drives the sheet entrance unit and the sheet discharge unit; a sheet guide unit that guides sheets and is provided between the sheet entrance unit and the sheet discharge unit to allow the sheets passing through the sheet entrance unit to be sequentially stacked; and a sheet buffer device that is configured such that the stacked sheets pass through the sheet discharge unit while the stacked sheets are loaded on a step with each leading end of the stacked sheets being separated with a predetermined interval.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2012
    Publication date: January 31, 2013
    Inventors: Kazushige MASUNARI, Yumiko Kato
  • Publication number: 20130020750
    Abstract: A sheet-processing device for performing various sheet post-processing functions at high speed and implementing a compact structure includes a compiler 106 that causes a stacked sheet to wait until stapling processing is performed; a jogger 107 that aligns the sheet stacked on the compiler 106; a stapler device 24 that performs the stapling processing to the sheet aligned by the jogger 107 as many as the setting number of sheets; and a sheet transfer pathway 105 through which the sheet in which an image is formed is delivered to the compiler 106.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2012
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Applicant: GRADCO (JAPAN) LTD.
    Inventors: Kazushige MASUNARI, Yumiko KATO
  • Patent number: 8340869
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a contact-position-dependent type operational intention determining unit that detects a change in posture of a rider using posture sensors for a backrest disposed in areas of a backrest with which left and right shoulder blades of the rider come into contact, and thereby determines whether there is an operational intention of the rider; and a left-right amount-of-change comparison type turn intention determining unit that determines, only when it is determined that there is an operational intention, whether there is a left or right turn intention of the rider from a difference between sensor output values located left-right symmetrically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yumi Wakita, Yumiko Kato, Mizuho Sakakibara, Kenichi Inoue
  • Publication number: 20120288108
    Abstract: In an exemplary assessment system of speech sound listening, an output section presents a speech sound to a user as an auditory stimulation; a positive component determination section determines whether a positive component appears in an event-related potential of an electroencephalogram signal of the user in a range from 600-900 ms from a starting point, the starting point being a point in time at which the speech sound is presented, and outputs an assessment result as to whether the user is listening to the speech sound with strife or not; and a negative component determination section determines whether a negative component appears in the event-related potential in a range from 100-300 ms from a starting point, the starting point being the point in time at which the speech sound is presented, and outputs an assessment result as to whether the user is annoyed by the speech sound or not.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinobu ADACHI, Koji MORIKAWA, Yumiko KATO, Kazuki KOZUKA
  • Patent number: 8311831
    Abstract: A voice emphasizing device emphasizes in a speech a “strained rough voice” at a position where a speaker or user of the speech intends to generate emphasis or musical expression. Thereby, the voice emphasizing device can provide the position with emphasis of anger, excitement, tension, or an animated way of speaking, or musical expression of Enka (Japanese ballad), blues, rock, or the like. As a result, rich vocal expression can be achieved. The voice emphasizing device includes: an emphasis utterance section detection unit (12) detecting, from an input speech waveform, an emphasis section that is a time duration having a waveform intended by the speaker or user to be converted; and a voice emphasizing unit (13) increasing fluctuation of an amplitude envelope of the waveform in the detected emphasis section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yumiko Kato, Takahiro Kamai, Masakatsu Hoshimi
  • Publication number: 20120283929
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a contact-position-dependent type operational intention determining unit that detects a change in posture of a rider using posture sensors for a backrest disposed in areas of a backrest with which left and right shoulder blades of the rider come into contact, and thereby determines whether there is an operational intention of the rider; and a left-right amount-of-change comparison type turn intention determining unit that determines, only when it is determined that there is an operational intention, whether there is a left or right turn intention of the rider from a difference between sensor output values located left-right symmetrically.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2012
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Inventors: Yumi WAKITA, Yumiko Kato, Mizuho Sakakibara, Kenichi Inoue
  • Publication number: 20120279285
    Abstract: A safety device for a machine having an action part for processing or moving an object includes: a posture obtainment unit configured to obtain a plurality of posture data indicating a posture of at least part of the lower body of a worker; and a preparatory movement determination unit configured to determine that a preparatory movement preceding a dangerous movement which brings at least part of the upper body of the worker closer to a working area of the action part is being performed in the case where a change in the posture indicated by the plurality of posture data shows that the worker is shifting a center of gravity of whole body of the worker in an orientation away from the working area of the action part without changing positions of both feet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2012
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Inventors: Yumiko KATO, Jun OZAWA
  • Publication number: 20120172744
    Abstract: An electroencephalogram measurement apparatus includes: an electroencephalogram measurement section for measuring an electroencephalogram of a user by using a plurality of electrodes; an electro-acoustic transducer for presenting an acoustic signal to the user, the electro-acoustic transducer being in a vicinity of at least one electrode among the plurality of electrodes while the electroencephalogram measurement section is worn by the user; an amplitude envelope extraction section for extracting an amplitude envelope of the acoustic signal presented by the electro-acoustic transducer; a frequency analysis section for applying a frequency analysis to the amplitude envelope extracted by the amplitude envelope extraction section; and a noise estimation section for estimating an electrical noise which is mixed at the at least one electrode by using a previously provided set of transform rules and the extracted amplitude envelope.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 29, 2012
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yumiko KATO, Shinobu ADACHI, Yoshihisa TERADA, Koji MORIKAWA
  • Publication number: 20120155993
    Abstract: A binding apparatus performs a binding process by bonding the end side of the sheet bundle, and is provided with a notch cutter that forms a notch in the end side used in the sheet binding process in the middle of the sheet conveyance path of the binding apparatus. The notch forming unit includes a pair of sheet conveyance guides for forming a part of the sheet conveyance path, a cutter provided in a rotatably supported bracket, and a biasing means for applying a force to the cutter to face the sheet conveyance path formed by a pair of the sheet conveyance guides at all times.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2011
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Inventors: Kazushige Masunari, Yumiko Kato, Kuniaki Kimura, Hiroshi Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 8204747
    Abstract: An emotion recognition apparatus performs accurate and stable speech-based emotion recognition, irrespective of individual, regional, and language differences of prosodic information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yumiko Kato, Takahiro Kamai, Yoshihisa Nakatoh, Yoshifumi Hirose
  • Publication number: 20120091648
    Abstract: A sheet processing device for performing various sheet post-processing functions at high speed and implementing a compact structure includes a compiler 106 that causes a stacked sheet to wait until stapling processing is performed; a jogger 107 that aligns the sheet stacked on the compiler 106; a stapler device 24 that performs the stapling processing to the sheet aligned by the jogger 107 as many as the setting number of sheets; and a sheet transfer pathway 105 through which the sheet in which an image is formed is delivered to the compiler 106.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2011
    Publication date: April 19, 2012
    Inventors: Kazushige Masunari, Yumiko Kato
  • Patent number: 8073696
    Abstract: A voice synthesis device is provided to include: an emotion input unit obtaining an utterance mode of a voice waveform, a prosody generation unit generating a prosody, a characteristic tone selection unit selecting a characteristic tone based on the utterance mode; and a characteristic tone temporal position estimation unit (i) judging whether or not each of phonemes included in a phonologic sequence of text is to be uttered with the characteristic tone, based on the phonologic sequence, the characteristic tone, and the prosody, and (ii) deciding a phoneme, which is an utterance position where the text is uttered with the characteristic tone. The voice synthesis device also includes an element selection unit and an element connection unit generating the voice waveform based on the phonologic sequence, the prosody, and the utterance position, so that the text is uttered in the utterance mode with the characteristic tone at the determined utterance position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yumiko Kato, Takahiro Kamai
  • Publication number: 20110178680
    Abstract: A vehicle control device (10) is provided that can predict a driving operation of a driver earlier to respond to the driving operation quickly. The vehicle control device (10) includes: a posture measuring unit (11) to measure a posture indicating a state of at least one of the buttock region, the upper pelvic region, and the driver's leg opposite to the other leg with which the driver operates a brake or an accelerator; a posture change detection unit (12) to detect a posture change measured; a preparatory movement identification unit (13) to identify whether the posture change is caused by the driver's preparatory movement spontaneously made before the brake or accelerator operation, based on whether the posture change detected satisfies a predetermined condition; and a vehicle control unit (14) to control the vehicle when it is identified that the posture change has been caused by the preparatory movement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2011
    Publication date: July 21, 2011
    Inventors: Yumiko KATO, Masakatsu HOSHIMI
  • Patent number: 7809572
    Abstract: A text edit apparatus which presents, based on language analysis information regarding a text, a portion of the text where voice quality may change when the text is read aloud has advantages of predicting likelihood of the voice quality change and judging whether or not the voice quality change will occur.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuyoshi Yamagami, Yumiko Kato, Shinobu Adachi
  • Patent number: 7735105
    Abstract: To purchase an item which is viewed on a broadcast. The items may include furniture, jewelry, clothing and automobiles. The viewer is able to utter a phrase in reference to a viewed item that they wish to view or purchase. The system then searches the broadcast information and displays all relevant items. The viewer is then able to select and purchase a particular item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yumiko Kato, Takahiro Kamai, Kenji Mizutani, Hideyuki Yoshida