Patents Represented by Attorney Muramatsu & Associates
  • Patent number: 7908897
    Abstract: A spline rolling tool including a plurality of forming teeth that are to bite into a cylindrical workpiece so as to roll splines in the workpiece. Each of the forming teeth has an incomplete toothed region in which a crest of each forming tooth is removed such that an upper end of each forming tooth in the incomplete toothed region is defined by an incomplete-toothed region surface that includes a curved surface portion, a flat surface portion and a slant surface portion. The incomplete-toothed region surface is defined at its periphery by a chamfered edge that has a surface roughness of not larger than about 3.2 ?m. Also disclosed is a process of manufacturing the spline rolling tool, which includes a chamfering step of forming the chamfered edge by using a wire brush having abrasive grains that are fixed to bristles of the wire brush.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd., OSG Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiko Igarashi, Hideo Watanabe, Nobuyoshi Asaga, Satoshi Komuro, Takeshi Mochizuki, Daisuke Sakurai, Manabu Igusa, Yoshihiro Umebayashi, Masahiro Oiwake
  • Patent number: 7890272
    Abstract: To provide a torque measurement device capable of more accurately specifying positions of reflectors which are attached to a rotating body, and more accurately obtaining a torque of the rotating body. A pair of reflectors (14a, 14b) is provided on the surface of the rotating body (13) and has a spacing in the axial direction, reflected light data obtained by reflection of reflection patterns in the pair of reflectors (14a, 14b) is input and stored, a point of minimizing AIC is determined for a model of the reflected light data from the rotating body (13), and existence regions of the pair of reflectors (14a, 14b) are detected. Then, a twist amount of the rotating body (13) is calculated from the reflector positions specified by the detected existence regions of the pair of reflectors (14a, 14b), and the torque is calculated from the calculated twist amount of the rotating body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated
    Inventor: Shuichi Umezawa
  • Patent number: 7890256
    Abstract: A map scrolling method and apparatus enables to incrementally tracing back to previous relevant locations of the map image. The method includes the steps of: recording information on a stopped location of a map image every time when a user stops during a map scrolling operation; comparing the recorded information with a predetermined threshold value to determine whether the information satisfies threshold value; recording the stopped location in a memory as a traceable location when the recorded information satisfies the threshold value; and tracing back to the map image of the traceable locations recorded in the memory, one by one, every time when the user presses a cancel key or its equivalent of the navigation system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc
    Inventor: Maung Han
  • Patent number: 7889101
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a navigation system for generating a reminder message by applying predefined validation rule to display and/or voice announce the reminder message associated with a particular location. The method includes the steps of creating reminder message data which include a reminder message, a primary location, a secondary location, and a validation rule; comparing a reference location with the primary location; applying the validation rule in the reminder message data to determine whether a relationship between the primary location and the reference location satisfies the condition in the validation rule; displaying the reminder message when the condition is satisfied; and conducting a route guidance operation to reach a location selected by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc
    Inventor: Tatsuo Yokota
  • Patent number: 7890330
    Abstract: A method records verbal expressions of a person for use in a vehicle navigation system. The vehicle navigation system has a database including a map and text describing street names and points of interest of the map. The method includes the steps of obtaining from the database text of a word having at least one syllable, analyzing the syllable with a greedy algorithm to construct at least one text phrase comprising each syllable, such that the number of phrases is substantially minimized, converting the text phrase to at least one corresponding phonetic symbol phrase, displaying to the person the phonetic symbol phrase, the person verbally expressing each phrase of the phonetic symbol phrase, and recording the verbal expression of each phrase of the phonetic symbol phrase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Inci Ozkaragoz, Benjamin Ao, William Arthur
  • Patent number: 7869938
    Abstract: The display method and apparatus for a navigation system interchangeably displays a normal map image and a simplified map image in accordance with a user's preference and complexity of the map image. The method includes the steps of checking whether a simple map mode or a normal map mode is set for displaying a map image on a monitor screen of the navigation system, determining which map elements are selected to be displayed when the simple map mode is set, and displaying the map image with only the selected map elements when the simple map mode is set while displaying the map image with all the map elements when the normal map mode is set. The navigation system is designed to switch between the normal map mode and the simple map mode either manually or automatically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc
    Inventor: Hikaru Wako
  • Patent number: 7868821
    Abstract: A navigation system with a capability of estimating positions of the platform vehicle and recognized landmarks using satellite information and camera measurements is disclosed. One aspect is to represent a landmark by one or few representative features by executing image recognition and feature extraction to find representative features inside the recognized landmark. Another aspect is to re-identify the recognized landmarks in the landmark database correlating the landmark attributes obtained by image recognition and mathematical feature characteristics obtained by feature extraction with the corresponding data in the landmark database. A further aspect is to enhance navigation accuracy through the Kalman filter architecture with additional imagery measurements of landmarks whose positions are known or previously estimated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc
    Inventor: Takayuki Hoshizaki
  • Patent number: 7865302
    Abstract: A method for displaying an arrival screen for a navigation system includes the steps of receiving a house number of a destination specified by a user, retrieving map data indicating a road segment which includes the specified house number thereon, estimating positions of the destination based on the house number of the destination and position data of the road segment, and displaying a destination arrival screen when the user comes within a predetermined distance range from the destination. The destination arrival screen displays a street number over a building footprint where the user is passing by, a position of the destination, a current position of the user, and a road on which the user is moving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Mari Hatazawa
  • Patent number: 7861461
    Abstract: A door opening and closing device for a slide door, which can be horizontally open and close the slide door by application of a light load and which can be constructed and maintained at low costs. The door opening and closing device has a transmission mechanism for converting through a lever (31) the amount of settlement of a tread plate (21) placed on floor surfaces at positions in front and back of the slide door (12), into a predetermined displacement amount. The tread plate (21) is weight-wise balanced such that the transmission mechanism and settlement of the tread plate due to the weight of an adjustment weight (W) causes the tread plate (21) to float through the lever (31). Up-down movement of the long transmission member (32) presses a drive rotation body (42) to an open door rail (41), and a component force of the pressing force allows the slide door (12) to be opened by application of a light load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Yuki Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuo Nakano
  • Patent number: 7847272
    Abstract: An electron beam exposure system is designed to correct a proximity effect. The electron beam exposure system includes: an electron beam generation unit for generating an electron beam; an electron beam exposure mask having opening portions that are arranged so that sizes of the opening portions change at a predetermined rate in order of arrangement; a mask deflection unit for deflecting the electron beam on the electron beam exposure mask; a substrate deflection unit for deflecting and projecting the electron beam onto a substrate; and a control unit for controlling deflection amounts in the mask deflection unit and the substrate deflection unit. The direction or directions of the change may be any one of a row direction and a column direction or may be the row and column directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2010
    Assignee: Advantest Corp.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Yasuda, Akio Yamada
  • Patent number: 7847823
    Abstract: A motion vector calculation method includes: processing for calculating multi-resolution data up to a predetermined resolution level L from a plurality of inputted image data; and processing for estimating motion vectors per resolution executing a matching step for temporarily calculating motion vectors minimizing an energy function within a predetermined range of the input motion vectors and a smoothing step for finally calculating the motion vectors by averaging the surrounding data. By using the motion vectors of the resolution level L finally calculated as input motion vectors of a further higher resolution level L-1, the processing for estimating motion vectors per resolution is successively repeated on image data of a high resolution, thereby calculating the motion vectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2010
    Assignee: Morpho, Inc.
    Inventors: Kensuke Habuka, Masaki Hiraga
  • Patent number: 7839158
    Abstract: A method of detecting an abnormality in a burn-in apparatus, which brings a heater and a temperature sensor into contact with various devices under test during a burn-in test and controls power consumption of the heater to adjust levels of temperature of the devices under test, wherein the temperature sensor detects temperature of a temperature control block in which the heater and the temperature sensor are arranged and with which a cooling liquid is in contact while the devices under test are not in contact with the heater and the temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor is diagnosed to be normal or not based on a result of detection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: Advantest Corp.
    Inventors: Kazumi Kita, Tadahiro Kurasawa, Yasuo Muramatsu, legal representative
  • Patent number: 7822380
    Abstract: A method and apparatus prevents interference between a radio signal from RDS-TMC service provider for receiving traffic and travel data by an RDS-TMC receiver and a radio signal for transmitting audio, text, or image data from an FM modulator. The method includes the steps of starting an operation of the receiver system, stopping an operation of the FM modulator while keeping operation of the RDS-TMC receiver, examining whether an RDS-TMC signal from a service provider is available at a current location, receiving the RDS-TMC signal and retrieving RDS-TMC data therefrom, sending the retrieved RDS-TMC data to an audio/video system, and starting the operation of the FM modulator while allowing to output an FM signal from the FM modulator at allowable frequency bands which are outside of a blocked range to send data to the audio/video system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Chun-Hsien Wu
  • Patent number: 7814435
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a navigation system displays local brand icons in such a way that a user not familiar with the local brand icons can tell the types of business that the brand icons represent through graphic representations on a screen of the navigation system. The method includes the step of creating an icon database regarding generic icons and brand icons where the icon database includes information for distinguishing a local brand icon from a national brand icon, displaying the icons over a map image on a screen of a navigation system, detecting whether there is any local brand icon displayed on the screen, and indicating a business category of a business entity using the local brand icon when the local brand icon is detected on the screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: Alpine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Hikaru Wako
  • Patent number: 7789599
    Abstract: A drill including a columnar body that is rotated about an axis, a cutting edge that is formed at the tip end of the body, and a thinning edge that is formed continuously with the cutting edge close to the axis of the body, by having a thinning at the tip end of the body. The thinning edge is formed such that a rake angle of the thinning edge relative to the axis of the body changes depending on a location of the thinning edge, where the rake angle of the thinning edge close to the cutting edge is a positive angle larger than that close to the axis of the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: OSG Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshihiro Takikawa
  • Patent number: 7791360
    Abstract: A connection unit for electrically connecting a DUT mounting board, on which an IC socket is mounted, with a testing apparatus for testing an electronic device inserted into the IC socket, the connection unit has a holding substrate provided to face the DUT mounting board and a connection-unit-side connector, which is provided on the holding substrate to be able to change a position of the connection-unit-side connector on the holding substrate, for being connected to a performance-board-side connector included in the DUT mounting board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Advantest Corp.
    Inventors: Kentaro Fukushima, Masashi Hoshino
  • Patent number: 7791698
    Abstract: A big screen display suitable for moving image displaying that has an excellent viewing angle property, an excellent reliability and a productivity, and a quick speed of response, and has a bright and excellent contrast is realized at low cost. Vertically aligned mode liquid crystal display comprises a scan wiring, a video signal wiring, a pixel electrode, an alignment directional control electrode, and a thin film transistor element formed in a position where a scan wiring and a video signal wiring intersect with each other, and a common electrode formed in opposing substrate side. An electric field distribution formed with three electrodes comprising an alignment directional control electrode, and a pixel electrode, and a common electrode formed in an countering substrate side may control motion directions of vertically aligned anisotropic liquid crystal molecules having a negative dielectric constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Obayashiseikou Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoto Hirota
  • Patent number: 7791022
    Abstract: A scanning electron microscope with a length measurement function includes an electron gun for emitting an electron beam, a measurement target region setting unit for setting a measurement region for a pattern formed on a sample, a storing unit for storing the designated measurement region, a beam blanker unit for controlling an irradiation of the electron beam depending on the measurement region, and a control unit for extracting the designated measurement region from the storing unit, interrupting the electron beam with the beam blanker unit in a region other than the measurement region, irradiating the electron beam onto the sample in the measurement region, capturing an image of the measurement region, and measuring the pattern. The measurement region may be a pair of regions having the same areas as each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Advantest Corp.
    Inventors: Takayuki Nakamura, Toshimichi Iwai, Soichi Shida, Mitsuo Hiroyama
  • Patent number: 7777202
    Abstract: An electron beam exposure apparatus includes: an electron gun for generating an electron beam; a deflector for deflecting the electron beam; a wafer stage; a stage position detector for detecting a position of the wafer stage; and a stage position computing unit for calculating a movement velocity of the wafer stage. On a basis of the movement velocity, the stage position computing unit calculates an amount of positional change of the wafer stage with respect to an interpolation time, and subsequently calculates an amount of positional movement of the wafer stage by sequentially adding the amount of positional change to the position of the wafer stage in synchronism with the interpolation time. Thus, the stage position computing unit calculates an amount of deflection of the electron beam corresponding to the amount of the positional movement of the wafer stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Advantest Corp.
    Inventors: Takamasa Satoh, Yoshihisa Ooae
  • Patent number: 7773819
    Abstract: Multi-resolution images of a reference image and a target image are generated. Then, whole-range matching is performed on an image of a lower resolution to detect a two-dimensional displacement between the images. Block matching is performed on an image of a higher resolution to detect a displacement at each feature point. The accuracy of motion data is increased by correcting the motion data with an image of a higher resolution by using the previously calculated motion data of the lowest resolution through higher resolutions as an initial value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Morpho, Inc.
    Inventors: Masaki Hiraga, Kensuke Habuka