Patents Assigned to NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.
  • Patent number: 11659767
    Abstract: A thermoelectric element-containing package according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a thermoelectric conversion module including: a first substrate having first and second main surfaces; a second substrate having third and fourth main surfaces; and a plurality of thermoelectric elements that are sandwiched between the first and second substrates and arranged along the second main surface and the third main surface. The thermoelectric element-containing package further includes: a frame joined to the first and second substrates so as to form a hermetically sealed space surrounding the plurality of thermoelectric elements and disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; and a placement member that is disposed on the first main surface of the first substrate or the fourth main surface of the second substrate and to which an additional device is to be connected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignees: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD., FERROTEC MATERIAL TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masahiro Ogawa, Tetsuya Kato, Takayuki Hachida
  • Patent number: 11658082
    Abstract: A wiring substrate includes a substrate body composed of a plurality of ceramic layers (insulating materials) and having a front surface and a back surface located on opposite sides thereof and having a side surface located between the front surface and the back surface. The outline of the substrate body in a plan view which is a view from the front surface side is composed of a plurality of curved portions separated from one another and a plurality of straight portions each located between adjacent ones of the curved portions. The total length of the curved portions in the plan view is at least 40% of the sum of the total length of the curved portions and the total length of the straight portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirotake Fujii, Yutaka Kachi
  • Publication number: 20230155353
    Abstract: Spark plug has center electrode having leg portion extending in an axis direction, brim portion located at rear end side with respect to the leg portion and protruding outwards in a radial direction with respect to the leg portion and connecting portion connecting the leg portion and the brim portion; insulator having penetration hole and supporting the center electrode; and seal member filling the penetration hole and fixing the brim portion and the insulator. The center electrode satisfies “(D1-D2)/D1 ? 0.06”, where a maximum value of a radius of the brim portion is D1, and a minimum value of the radius of the brim portion is D2, also satisfies “L2/L1 ? 0.30”, where a size of the center electrode along the axis direction is L1, and a size along the axis direction from boundary between the connecting portion and the leg portion to a center of gravity of the center electrode is L2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Publication date: May 18, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Eiichi NAKAI, Masahiro NISHIDA, Shingo KOZUKA
  • Publication number: 20230155354
    Abstract: A spark plug has an insulator having a through hole formed along an axial direction, a center electrode which is partially inserted into a portion of the through hole on a forward end side in the axial direction, and a glass seal portion which is in contact with the insulator and the center electrode within the through hole, in which the glass seal portion contains glass and an electrically conductive substance. The glass contains an Si component and a B component in a total amount of 50 mass % or more, as reduced to SiO2 and B2O3, a Zn component in an amount of 20 mass % to 35 mass % as reduced to ZnO, and an alkali metal component. The glass contains, as the alkali metal component, an Na component in an amount less than 1 mass % as reduced to Na2O.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2021
    Publication date: May 18, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Seiji NAKANO, Takehito KUNO, Kota YAMAUCHI
  • Patent number: 11652335
    Abstract: To prevent a sealant from intruding between a flange and a stepped portion during manufacture of a spark plug and to prevent cracking of an insulator during use of the spark plug, a spark plug includes a center electrode including a flange, an insulator having a through-hole extending in an axial-line direction and holding the center electrode, and a sealant filled in the through-hole to fix the flange and the insulator to each other; the insulator including a stepped portion in which the through-hole reduces a diameter toward a front end side and that supports the flange, and a small-diameter portion that is continuous with a front end side of the stepped portion and in which the diameter of the through-hole is smaller than in the stepped portion; an angle ?1 formed by the stepped portion and a plane perpendicular to the axial line and an angle ?2 formed by the plane perpendicular to the axial line and an opposing surface of the flange opposing the stepped portion satisfies ?1??2?6°, and in a cross section i
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Seiji Nakano, Kengo Fujimura, Shota Takaenoki
  • Publication number: 20230143447
    Abstract: A spark plug includes a metallic shell which holds a center electrode in an insulated condition, and a ground electrode is held in a penetration hole of the metallic shell. The penetration hole includes a circular counterbore portion, and a penetrating portion extending from the counterbore portion to an inner circumferential surface of the metallic shell. The ground electrode includes a fixing portion which is fixed to the counterbore portion, and an extension portion extending from the fixing portion. The extension portion has a flat surface which faces a forward end surface of the center electrode in the axial direction. The penetrating portion restricts the extension portion such that the flat surface of the extension portion faces toward a rear end side in the axial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Publication date: May 11, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tatsuya GOZAWA
  • Patent number: 11637412
    Abstract: The spark plug includes: an insulator having an axial hole extending in an axial direction; a center electrode disposed at a front end in the axial direction of the axial hole and having a front end portion that protrudes from a front side of the axial hole; a tubular metal shell holding the insulator; and a ground electrode having one end portion that is fixed to a through hole provided in the metal shell, the ground electrode having another end portion that forms a discharge gap between the other end portion and the front end portion of the center electrode. The through hole extends toward the front side in the axial direction, in a direction from an outer peripheral surface toward an inner peripheral surface of the metal shell. The one end portion is located on a rear side relative to the other end portion in the axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Daisuke Mishima
  • Publication number: 20230119721
    Abstract: A noble metal tip for a spark plug according to the present invention contains iridium (Jr) in an amount of 50 mass % or more and aluminum (Al) in an amount of 0.1 mass % or more and 5 mass % or less, and further contains rhodium (Rh), wherein a metallographic structure comprised of fiber-like elements R is observed, and the fiber-like elements R of the metallographic structure have an average aspect ratio of 150 or more and have an average length of 25 ?m or less in a minor axis direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2021
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Osamu YOSHIMOTO, Tomoo TANAKA, Kengo HATTORI
  • Publication number: 20230119530
    Abstract: A gas sensor (1) including: a sensor element (21) having a detection section (22) through an element introduction hole (25); a metallic shell (11); and a single-wall tubular protector (51) having a gas introduction hole (56) and a gas discharge hole (53); a gap G is present between the gas introduction hole and a forwardly facing surface (12a) of the metallic shell; when the gas introduction hole is viewed toward the rear end side, an area Sh of a portion of the forwardly facing surface seen through the gas introduction hole, is equal to or greater than ½ of an opening area Sg of the gas introduction hole; the element introduction hole is located on the forward end side in relation to a forwardmost end (12f) of the forwardly facing surface; and a distance L1 of the gap G is smaller than a diameter D of the gas introduction hole.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kunihiko YONEZU, Yuji SHIMAZAKI, Masayuki YOSHIDA
  • Patent number: 11631940
    Abstract: A waveguide slot antenna is configured by a waveguide, formed by a dielectric substrate, a first conductive layer formed at a lower surface of the dielectric substrate, a second conductive layer formed at an upper surface of the dielectric substrate and provided with one or a plurality of slots, and a pair of side wall parts electrically connecting the first and second conductive layers and extending in a first direction, being provided with a power feeding part. The one or a plurality of slots include a first slot having a predetermined slot length along the first direction. The waveguide slot antenna has a structure in which, on a plan view from a second direction, the power feeding part overlaps the first slot, and the power feeding part does not deviate from a range of the slot length along the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Takahashi, Satoshi Hirano, Naoko Mori, Ikuro Aoki, Takuya Adachi
  • Patent number: 11631597
    Abstract: A holding apparatus including a holding substrate having a first main face on one side in a thickness direction thereof, and a heat generation section which is disposed in the holding substrate and generates heat when energized. The heat generation section includes a plurality of first heating elements arrayed in a planar direction orthogonal to the thickness direction of the holding substrate, and a second heating element disposed on a side toward the first main face in the thickness direction with respect to the plurality of first heating elements. Any one of the plurality of first heating elements is electrically connected to the second heating element in series through a first via extending in the thickness direction within the holding substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Kaname Miwa
  • Patent number: 11623284
    Abstract: A surface-coated cutting tool including a tool substrate containing WC crystal grains and insulating grains, and a coating layer composed of a multiple nitride of Ti, Al, and V and disposed on the surface of the tool substrate. The multiple nitride is represented by a compositional formula: TiaAlbVcN satisfying the following relations: 0.25?a?0.35, 0.64?b?0.74, 0<c?0.06, and a+b+c=1 wherein each of a, b, and c represents an atomic proportion. The coating layer is characterized by exhibiting a peak attributed to a hexagonal crystal phase and a peak attributed to a cubic crystal phase as observed through X-ray diffractometry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shota Nozaki, Ryoji Toyoda
  • Publication number: 20230106076
    Abstract: This spark plug includes a cap portion covering a center electrode and an end of a ground electrode from a front side. In a cross section including an axial line, where a pitch of an external thread of a metal shell is X (mm), an axial-line-direction distance between a crest of a rear-end ridge of a full thread portion of an external thread and a rear end of a contact portion of an insulator with which the metal shell contacts directly or via another member is A (mm), an axial-line-direction distance between the rear end of the contact portion and a front end of the insulator is B (mm), and an axial-line-direction distance between the rear end of the contact portion and a seating surface of the metal shell is C (mm), 0<A<4×, B?15, and C?3.6 are satisfied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Publication date: April 6, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya GOZAWA, Ritsuka NAKAGAWA
  • Patent number: 11616346
    Abstract: A spark plug having a center electrode that includes a columnar noble metal tip at one end thereof, and a ground electrode that forms a spark gap between the ground electrode and a circular discharge surface of the tip. In the tip, a mass % of Pt is largest and a content percentage of Ni is more than or equal to 0 mass % and less than or equal to 40 mass %. In each of both a cross-section of the tip parallel to the discharge surface and a cross-section of the tip perpendicular to the discharge surface, particles each having an aspect ratio of more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 10 occupy more than or equal to 70% of observed particles in an area extending from an outline of the cross-section by a distance of 10% of a diameter of the discharge surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuki Ito, Hiroaki Izawa, Kengo Hattori
  • Patent number: 11609215
    Abstract: A gas sensor includes a gas sensor element for detecting the concentration of a specific gas in a gas under measurement, a tubular housing having an opening, a sealing member closing the opening, and a heat dissipating member having a rear end located at the same position or forward of the rear end of the housing. The heat dissipating member reduces heat transferred from the forward end side of the gas sensor to the sealing member and includes a connection portion connected to the housing, and a main portion extending rearward from the connection portion such that a gap is formed between the main portion and the housing. The main portion has heat dissipating openings for establishing communication between the gap and a space on the outer circumferential side of the heat dissipating member. The heat dissipating openings are formed on the rear end side of the main portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daisuke Matsuyama, Masahiro Asai, Masashi Nomura, Yuto Inose, Takehiro Oba
  • Publication number: 20230074136
    Abstract: A gas sensor (200) including a sensor element (10) having electrode pads (11a-12b); a separator (166); and a plurality of metal terminals (21a, 21b, 22a, 22b) each having a body portion (21a1) and a front end portion (21a2), and being insulated from each other by the separator. The separator has an element storage portion (168) penetrating in the axial-line direction or recessed toward a rear side from a front facing surface of the separator, the element storage portion has a first storage space (168a) at a front side thereof and a second storage space (168b) at a rear side thereof, the second storage space has a rotation restriction wall (168w) configured such that a relative rotation allowable angle 2? between the sensor element and the separator is smaller than in the first storage space, and the rear end side of the sensor element is stored in the second storage space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Publication date: March 9, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Daisuke MATSUYAMA, Kunihiko YONEZU, Masashi NOMURA, Yuto INOSE, Masana OKAI
  • Publication number: 20230064238
    Abstract: A spark plug having a center electrode that includes a columnar noble metal tip at one end thereof, and a ground electrode that forms a spark gap between the ground electrode and a circular discharge surface of the tip. In the tip, a mass % of Pt is largest and a content percentage of Ni is more than or equal to 0 mass % and less than or equal to 40 mass %. In each of both a cross-section of the noble metal tip parallel to the discharge surface and a cross-section of the tip perpendicular to the discharge surface, particles each having an aspect ratio of more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 10 occupy more than or equal to 70% of observed particles in an area extending from an outline of the cross-section by a distance of 10% of a diameter of the discharge surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2021
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuki ITO, Hiroaki IZAWA, Kengo HATTORI
  • Publication number: 20230068377
    Abstract: A gas sensor element includes: a first ceramic structure (100A) having a detection cell (120); a second ceramic structure (100B) having a pump cell (110) disposed apart from the first ceramic structure in a lamination direction; and a third ceramic structure (100C) having a frame-shaped body (200) surrounding a space (150a) formed between the first and second ceramic structures, the frame-shaped body including a gas introduction portion (151) and a peripheral wall portion (141). A gap (150b) connected to the space (150a) is formed between an opposed surface (151b1) and the second ceramic structure. A ceramic buffer layer (300) having a lower shrinkage start temperature than a material for forming the gas introduction portion is formed on the opposed surface so as to overlap a boundary portion X between an edge (150b1) on the external side of the gap and the second ceramic structure when viewed in the lamination direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Applicant: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hitoshi FURUTA, Akinori KOJIMA, Kentaro KAMADA, Yosuke SUZUKI
  • Patent number: D983345
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Akihiro Momozaki
  • Patent number: D983346
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Akihiro Momozaki