Patents Assigned to National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
  • Patent number: 7210897
    Abstract: A space 4 constituted by a sound absorption panel section 1 and active sound absorption control system section 2 between the inner and outer walls of a nacelle forming an engine intake/exhaust duct is utilized as an acoustic resonance field and as a sound absorption field by sticking a porous sound absorption material 14 onto the inside wall surface of the space. The panel section 1 defines a sound absorption space by means of surface plate 6 made of a perforated plate and wire mesh materials plate, panel construction side plate 9 and back sheet plate 13 having porous sound absorption material stuck thereon; and a movement-controlled reflective plate 8, that is capable of movement/rotation control with respect to said perforated plate, is provided within this sound absorption space. Movement of the reflective plate 8 is controlled utilizing the adaptive feed forward control method by means of the output from an active sound absorption control system section 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2007
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventor: Hiroshi Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 7061692
    Abstract: This electromagnetic wave concentrator having high rigidity and flexibility is suitable for communications and is produced by molding using stress relaxation in thin-film material. An ultra-lightweight electromagnetic wave concentrator is obtained by increasing the rigidity by forming a thin-film curved body of an electromagnetic wave reflective surface having a paraboloid shape. Reinforcing grooves in the reflective surface increase rigidity. To form the reflective surface shape and the reinforcing grooves, pressure is applied to the thin-film material with a molding die, or the thin-film material is attached to the molding die by pressure while heating the thin-film material with a heating device, such as a thermostatic chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2006
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Hironori Sahara, Morio Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20060110007
    Abstract: A method for detecting a linear image in a planar picture is provided whereby the positions of a linear image can be determined by devising suitable processing of image data, even if a linear image traced by a moving object, such as space debris, a meteor, or the like, does not appear clearly on a picture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2002
    Publication date: May 25, 2006
    Applicants: NATIONAL AEROSPACE LABORATORY OF JAPAN, JAPAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toshifumi Yanagisawa, Atsushi Nakajima
  • Patent number: 6981364
    Abstract: A novel combined engine for a single-stage spacecraft is provided that combines a air-breathing engine utilizing oxygen in the atmosphere as oxidizer and rocket engines for obtaining thrust outside the atmosphere and that does not require a portion whose shape is variable in accordance with the flight speed. Rocket engines 15 are provided on struts 12 that form air introduction channels 10 in the air intake section 4. The rocket jets 18 from the rocket engines 15 control the flow of the airflows 16 introduced into the combustion chamber 20 in accordance with the flight speed. When the spacecraft 1 is stationary or in subsonic flight, the rocket jets 18 promote air intake into the combustion chamber 20 by lowering of static pressure due to expansion (ejector effect). In the subsonic flight condition, it performs the role of air compression, mixing with incoming air, fuel injection and ignition and during supersonic/ultra-supersonic flight it performs the role of a variable diffuser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2006
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Osamu Okamoto, Tatsuo Yamanaka, Masataka Maita, Hideyuki Taguchi, Takeshi Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 6976401
    Abstract: An offset rotary joint unit equipped with a rotation correction mechanism, in which a bending motion can be executed in a two-dimensional plane only by virtue of a rotary mechanism and which can support a high-load weight and is applicable for two-arm mechanisms such as nursing assistant robots. One offset rotary joint unit 4 is composed of a first arm 1, a rotation correction arm 2 rotationally driven around the axial line of the first arm, and a second arm 3 rotationally driven around an axial line obliquely intersecting with the rotation correction arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Osamu Okamoto, Teruomi Nakaya, Isao Yamaguchi, Seizo Suzuki, Jyunichi Ueno, Yasuoki Usui, Hiroaki Nagano, Katsuhiko Renbutsu, Mitsuharu Izaki, Tadashi Kishimoto
  • Patent number: 6922610
    Abstract: A robot is obtained having various functions that are demanded for planetary landing vehicles, extreme operations robots or the like, in particular to provide a leg structure for a robot that is capable of getting up itself when overturned, facilitating take-off and landing on uneven ground, and that has a walking function and that has a hand function capable of three-dimensional operation. A robot comprises a main robot body and at least three legs mounted on this main body for enabling three-dimensional movement of the main robot body such as a self-erecting action or walking action; each leg is constituted by a multi-joint arm having a plurality of said offset rotary joints linked together and has a ground-engaging member mounted at the leading end of the arm, so that each leg is capable of independently controlled three-dimensional movement and drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Osamu Okamoto, Teruomi Nakaya, Seizo Suzuki, Isao Yamaguchi, Heihachiro Kamimura, Kotaro Matsumoto, Sachiko Wakabayashi, Shuichi Sasa
  • Patent number: 6889495
    Abstract: The present invention provides a gas turbine combustor which makes it possible to achieve both a high combustion efficiency and low NOx emissions characteristics over a wide output power range without using a device that can vary the flow rate of the air used for combustion, by burning a lean mixture using high-temperature burned gas. The gas turbine combustor 10 comprises pre-mixture injection tubes 16 which conduct a mixture of fuel and air into a combustion chamber 11. The mixture from the pre-mixture injection tubes 16 is injected toward burned gas 19a present on the downstream side of the flame 19, which is injected from burners 15 that open into the combustion chamber 11, and this mixture is mixed with the burned gas 19a. Even in a mixture which is leaner than the lower limit of inflammability, the radicals in the burned gas 19a are effective in initiating reactions, so that the combustion of the mixture can be started.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Shigeru Hayashi, Hideshi Yamada
  • Patent number: 6884021
    Abstract: This invention provides a single cascade multistage turbine that has a compact turbine structure having only a single cascade, and enables power to be extracted efficiently in the same way as a multistage turbine having multistage rotor vanes. The working fluid supplied through the supply duct 3 flows on one side of the single cascade of rotor vanes 2 to one part of the circumference direction of the rotor vanes 2, and after passing through the rotor vanes 2 it passes through the circulation ducts 4a and 4b and returns to the former side of the rotor vanes 2. The circulation ducts 4a and 4b consist of exhaust duct members 6a and 6b, return duct members 7a and 7b, and inflow duct members 8a and 8b. Using the circulation ducts 4a and 4b this circulation process is repeated at least once whereby the working fluid is again passed through the rotor vanes 2 at a slightly different position in the circumferential direction of the rotor vanes 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2005
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventor: Yoshio Saito
  • Publication number: 20050016157
    Abstract: A novel combined engine for a single-stage spacecraft is provided that combines a air-breathing engine utilizing oxygen in the atmosphere as oxidizer and rocket engines for obtaining thrust outside the atmosphere and that does not require a portion whose shape is variable in accordance with the flight speed. Rocket engines 15 are provided on struts 12 that form air introduction channels 10 in the air intake section 4. The rocket jets 18 from the rocket engines 15 control the flow of the airflows 16 introduced into the combustion chamber 20 in accordance with the flight speed. When the spacecraft 1 is stationary or in subsonic flight, the rocket jets 18 promote air intake into the combustion chamber 20 by lowering of static pressure due to expansion (ejector effect). In the subsonic flight condition, it performs the role of air compression, mixing with incoming air, fuel injection and ignition and during supersonic/ultra-supersonic flight it performs the role of a variable diffuser.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2003
    Publication date: January 27, 2005
    Applicant: NATIONAL AEROSPACE LABORATORY OF JAPAN
    Inventors: Osamu Okamoto, Tatsuo Yamanaka, Masataka Maita, Hideyuki Taguchi, Takeshi Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 6847326
    Abstract: The present invention provides a GPS device for measuring the wave height and current direction and speed, which is capable of accurately measuring the wave height (height of the waves) and current direction and speed (tidal current) in any point on the sea, ocean, lake, or marsh, and to a system using such a device. The GPS receiver 2 of the GPS device 1 for measuring the wave height and current direction and speed processes the GPS signals received with the GPS antenna 3 and measures the three-dimensional position of antenna 3. The three-dimensional position data are recorded by the data recording unit 4 connected to the GPS receiver 2. When the floating body 5 having those devices 2-4 installed thereon floats on the sea or ocean, it moves together with the waves and tidal current in the present location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2005
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Masatoshi Harigae, Isao Yamaguchi, Tokio Kasai
  • Patent number: 6834495
    Abstract: This invention provides a multi-fan system separated core engine type turbofan engine in which high pressure air is used as the working fluid for a turbine which drives a fan, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs of the turbofan engine and simplifying the constitution thereof. A turbine for driving a fan 11 which is provided in a propulsion device 3 of the multi-fan system separated core engine type turbofan engine 1 is an air turbine 13 which is driven by the supply through a duct 9 of a part of high pressure air compressed in a compressor 5 of a core engine 2. Since the working fluid of the air turbine 13 for driving the fan 11 is not high temperature combustion gas, there is no need to use expensive heat-resistant material for the turbine, and thus the propulsion device 3 can be manufactured at low cost, the constitution thereof can be simplified, and operational control can be ameliorated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Yoshio Saito, Masanori Endo, Yukio Matsuda, Nanahisa Sugiyama, Takeshi Tagashira
  • Patent number: 6834493
    Abstract: Cavitation is reduced in a rotary pump while the pump performance is maintained by utilizing a low-temperature fluid source already present in the pump system. The fluid from the low-temperature fluid source receives heat from the fluid flowing to the pump, thereby lowering its temperature and the saturated vapor pressure, which increases the allowable margin for a decrease in fluid pressure and reduces the occurrence of cavitation. The pump system may be used for a liquid rocket engine. The fluid velocity of the fluid directed to the pump is low before releasing heat, so there is only a slight pressure loss at the pump. Accordingly, the temperature is lowered and the occurrence of cavitation is reduced within the pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Hashimoto, Mitsuo Watanabe, Takeshi Kanda, Satoshi Hasegawa, Kenji Kudo, Athuo Murakami, Kouichiro Tani
  • Patent number: 6811271
    Abstract: The electromagnetic wave focusing device has a mirror group consisting of a focal-line type primary reflective mirror and secondary reflective mirror which have a unique parabolic cross-sectional shape. Incident light rays are primarily reflected by the primary reflective mirror and are then secondarily reflected by the secondary reflective mirror, so that solar rays are focused at one point. The electromagnetic wave focusing device can be made extremely thin and light-weight, and can be folded without causing great loss of precision or great increase in mass. Consequently, the mirror bodies can be folded into a compact form and loaded inside the restricted space of a rocket or the like; thus, the device can be transported into aerospace, and a sunlight focusing device having high focusing performance can be reproduced on-site with a high precision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Yukio Hayakawa, Morio Shimizu
  • Patent number: 6797390
    Abstract: An oxygen-quenching luminophore constituting part of a pressure-sensitive luminophore is directly bonded by a covalent bond to an organic polymer compound having trimethylsilyl groups, so the luminophore molecules are retained in the polymer and free aggregation is inhibited when the organic solvent is evaporated. It is therefore possible to prevent light response from being reduced by the aggregation of the luminophore molecules during evaporation of the organic solvent, which is a drawback of forming films from conventional mixed-type pressure-sensitive paints. A thin-film sensor with uniform characteristics can be formed by spraying or application from a pressure-sensitive paint obtained by mixing a functional polymer with a solvent. In addition, a coating solution that has high reproducibility and is suitable for spraying or application can be obtained merely by dissolving the functional polymer as a single component in a suitable solvent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Keisuke Asai, Hiroyuki Nishide
  • Patent number: 6792746
    Abstract: A low-noise separated core engine type turbofan engine is provided in which noise generated by a control propulsion device is reduced by using high pressure air as the working fluid of a turbine for driving a control fan used in the attitude control of the airframe. A control fan 17 of a separated core engine type turbofan engine 1, which is comprised in a control propulsion device 4 provided for attitude control of the aircraft, is driven by an air turbine 19 which uses as working fluid high pressure air compressed by a compressor 6 of the core engine 2 and supplied through a duct 10. The speed of the working fluid which is discharged from the control fan 17 and air turbine 19 is sufficiently low for attitude control and not as high as the speed of the working fluid which is discharged from a propulsion device 3 which is provided for thrust, and thus noise generated by the control propulsion device 4 can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventors: Yoshio Saito, Masanori Endo, Yukio Matsuda, Nanahisa Sugiyama, Takeshi Tagashira
  • Patent number: 6786430
    Abstract: This invention provides a liquid atomizing nozzle which utilizes a swirling flow of gas to form a liquid film in as uniform thickness as possible in a circumferential direction, and in which blockages are difficult to develop, and which can facilitate atomization by further reducing the size of the droplets which disperse from the front end. A liquid injected into an annular space 7 through liquid passages 14 formed in an outer cylinder 2 in an incline to the radial direction, flows within the annular space 7 having a component swirling in the circumferential direction. Air which flows into the annular space 7 through air passages 10 formed inclined in the same direction as the liquid passages in the outer cylinder 2, develops a swirling flow Ac within the annular space 7, acts upon the injected liquid to spread it onto an inner wall 5 of the outer cylinder 2, and further improving the uniformity of the thickness of the liquid film in a circumferential direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventor: Shigeru Hayashi
  • Patent number: 6772856
    Abstract: The fine jet control type sound absorption system of this invention, aimed at absorbing low-frequency sound with both discrete frequency and broadband frequency to the same degree as already existing acoustic lining can do, is composed of two parts. One is a barrier wall covering an air space in which the concerning low-frequency sound propagates and having a multiplicity of small holes formed therein. The other is the means for causing a fine jet passing through these small holes into or out from the air space. This sound absorption system realizes a fine jet in the vicinity of the barrier wall for the purpose of canceling the sound inside the air space by means of the interference of the sound with the fine jets. Any of or a combination of shape of small holes, jet ejection angle or suction angle, amount of jet flow, thickness of a barrier wall back layer and air flow angle at which secondary air flows into the barrier wall back layer is selected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventor: Tatsuya Ishii
  • Patent number: 6751532
    Abstract: The wind turbulence prediction system according to the present invention provides a measurement system, which is capable of measuring three-dimensional wind turbulence, exhibits limited aerodynamic and structural effects when mounted on an aircraft, is capable of measurement even in cases in which the velocity is equal to or less than 20 to 30 m/s, at which velocity a Pitot tube is incapable of measurement, and even in cases where the air flow direction differs greatly from the axis of aircraft body, and does not produce an error resulting from disruption of the air flow by the aircraft body itself. The wind turbulence prediction system of the present invention adopts a system that measures the speed of remote three-dimensional air flow by mounting a laser wind speed indicator utilizing the Doppler effect on an aircraft, irradiating laser light while scanning same in a cone shape, and then receiving scattered light from wind turbulence regions forward of an aircraft body in flight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2004
    Assignee: National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
    Inventor: Hamaki Inokuchi
  • Publication number: 20040067364
    Abstract: The resin in a fiber-reinforced resin material that uses a single fiber reinforcing ply or a number of fiber reinforcing plies for reinforcing the resin material is reinforced by dispersing carbon nanofibers therein, whereby a fiber-reinforced composite resin material having improved strength such as compressive strength is provided. In a carbon nanofiber-dispersed resin fiber-reinforced composite material 1, an uncured resin 4 having carbon nanofibers 5 dispersed therein is impregnated into a number of fiber reinforcing plies 2a laid one upon another. Upon curing the resin 4, the strength of the matrix 3 itself is increased through the carbon nanofibers 5 dispersed in the resin 4. Moreover, the fiber reinforcement 2 and the resin 4 are joined together strongly by the carbon nanofibers 5, and hence the strength of the composite material, for example the compressive strength, which hitherto has been dependent on the strength of the resin 4 only, is improved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2003
    Publication date: April 8, 2004
    Applicants: NATIONAL AEROSPACE LABORATORY OF JAPAN, GSI CREOS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Ishikawa, Yutaka Iwahori, Shin Ishiwata, Shunji Higaki
  • Publication number: 20040051986
    Abstract: The present invention provides an ultra-lightweight and highly precise electromagnetic wave concentrator having a high rigidity and also flexibility, which is suitable as a solar ray concentrate device and for communications, this concentrator being produced by a molding process using the effect of stress relaxation in a thin-film material. An ultra-lightweight electromagnetic wave concentrator 10 having a high rigidity and also flexibility is obtained by conducting processing that increases the rigidity by forming a thin-film curved body comprising an electromagnetic wave reflective surface 11 that has the surface shape that is part of a paraboloid of revolution or of a curved surface modeling same by the effect of stress relaxation in a thin-film material, and also forming a structure of reinforcing grooves 13-15 in the reflective surface 11 for increasing the regidity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2003
    Publication date: March 18, 2004
    Applicant: NATIONAL AEROSPACE LABORATORY OF JAPAN
    Inventors: Hironori Sahara, Morio Shimizu