Patents by Inventor Akihiko Kudo
Akihiko Kudo 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).
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Publication number: 20180017631Abstract: An object is to achieve management control of an assembled battery using an accurate measured value of a cell voltage. A battery system monitoring apparatus 10 that monitors and controls a battery system includes battery monitoring circuits 100 provided for respective cell groups 120. Each of the battery monitoring circuits 100 includes a cell voltage measurement module 6 that is connected with two electrodes of respective single battery cells 110 of a corresponding cell group 120 via voltage detection lines 2 and that measures a cell voltage of each of the single battery cells 110 at each of predetermined timings. An RC filter 4 is connected with the voltage detection lines 2. The RC filter 4 includes resistors and capacitors. The cell voltage measurement module 6 extends intervals at which the cell voltage is to be measured when a stored charge amount in the capacitor in the RC filter 4 changes.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 3, 2016Publication date: January 18, 2018Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Akihiko KUDO, Tomonori KANAI, Tomoyuki ARIMA, Akiko TSUKAMOTO
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Patent number: 9853463Abstract: A battery monitoring and control integrated circuit is connected to a cell group having a plurality of series-connected single cells for monitoring and controlling the single cells, and includes: a first start input terminal for connecting to a DC signal generation circuit which generates a DC signal based on an AC start signal input from the outside; a start detection unit which detects the DC signal and activates the battery monitoring and control integrated circuit; and a start output unit which outputs the AC start signal to the outside after the activation of the battery monitoring and control integrated circuit.Type: GrantFiled: April 29, 2016Date of Patent: December 26, 2017Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.Inventors: Akihiko Kudo, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Akihiko Emori, Akihiro Machida
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Patent number: 9825477Abstract: A battery monitoring device monitors a battery having a plurality of cell groups in which a plurality of cells is connected in series. The battery monitoring device comprises at one or more integrated circuit units, each of which corresponds to each cell group, that respectively measure the voltages of the cells of the cell group and performs cell balancing in order to adjust the capacities of the cells of the cell group; a control unit that controls the integrated circuit unit; and a power supply unit that supplies power to the control unit. The control unit causes the integrated circuit unit to start or to stop cell balancing, and sets a timer period for starting or stopping supply of the power.Type: GrantFiled: October 19, 2012Date of Patent: November 21, 2017Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Hikaru Miura, Akihiko Kudo
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Patent number: 9800137Abstract: A power supply startup system activates a power supply of a device provided with a battery or the like at high speed by a wireless signal while suppressing current consumption on standby. The power supply startup system includes a battery, a device supplied with a power from the battery, and a controller which performs wireless communication with the device. The device includes a power supply section which generates a power supply from the battery, a startup section which receives a wireless startup signal transmitted by the controller and outputs a startup signal to the power supply section, a control section which controls the power supply section and the startup section, and a wireless communication section which performs wireless communication with the controller. The wireless startup signal includes at least two signal regions of a first stage and a second stage.Type: GrantFiled: February 27, 2013Date of Patent: October 24, 2017Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Takahide Terada, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Akihiko Kudo, Takanori Yamazoe, Hiroshi Iwasawa
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Publication number: 20170250545Abstract: A battery system monitoring apparatus for monitoring a cell group having a plurality of battery cells, and includes a cell controller IC which monitors and controls the states of the plurality of battery cells. A battery controller controls the cell controller IC and a plurality of voltage detection lines measure the voltage across the terminals of the battery cell. The voltage detection lines connect positive and negative electrodes of the battery cell, respectively, to a plurality of voltage input terminals of the cell controller IC. A power line connects the positive electrode of the battery cell having the highest potential among the plurality of battery cells to a power supply terminal of the cell controller IC and a ground line which connects the negative electrode of the battery cell having the lowest potential among the plurality of battery cells to a ground terminal of the cell controller IC.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 16, 2017Publication date: August 31, 2017Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Akihiko KUDO, Mutsumi KIKUCHI, Akihiko EMORI
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Patent number: 9746525Abstract: A battery system monitoring device that monitors a battery system provided with a cell group having a plurality of battery cells connected in series with each other, including: a first control device that monitors and controls states of the plurality of battery cells of the cell group; a second control device that controls the first control device; a temperature detection unit that measures a temperature in the vicinity of the first control device; and a plurality of voltage detection lines, for measuring an inter-terminal voltage of the battery cell, which connect each of a positive electrode and a negative electrode of the battery cell and the first control device. The first control device includes a balancing switch, which performs balancing discharge of the battery cell for each of the battery cells.Type: GrantFiled: September 8, 2011Date of Patent: August 29, 2017Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.Inventors: Akihiko Kudo, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Tomonori Kanai, Tatsumi Yamauchi, Akihiro Machida
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Patent number: 9748537Abstract: There is provided a highly reliable storage battery apparatus which can diagnose the status of a temperature detection unit and a cooling unit. In the storage battery apparatus comprising a battery module including one or more batteries, a plurality of temperature detection units and a cooling unit cooling the battery module, the temperature detection units measure, at least, the temperature of the cooling medium inputted to the storage battery apparatus, the temperature of the cooling medium outputted from the storage battery apparatus, and the temperature of at least one of the batteries and the battery module.Type: GrantFiled: August 10, 2007Date of Patent: August 29, 2017Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Akihiko Emori, Youhei Kawahara, Takahiro Kawata, Akihiko Kudo
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Publication number: 20170214254Abstract: A battery system includes a battery module that is constituted with a plurality of serially connected battery cells, a plurality of integrated circuits that group the battery cells so as to perform processing on battery cells in each group, a first transmission path through which a command signal is transmitted via a first insulating circuit from a higher-order control circuit that controls the integrated circuits to a highest-order integrated circuit of the integrated circuit, a second transmission path through which a data signal collected by the integrated circuits is transmitted from the highest-order integrated circuit to a lowest-order integrated circuit, and a third transmission path through which the data signal is transmitted from the lowest-order integrated circuit to the higher-order control circuit via a second insulating circuit.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 10, 2017Publication date: July 27, 2017Inventors: Kenji KUBO, Akihiko KUDO, Mutsumi KIKUCHI, Gosuke SHIBAHARA
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Patent number: 9696383Abstract: A battery monitoring system includes a plurality of battery monitoring devices connected to a battery formed by connecting a plurality of battery cell groups in series, and monitor a state of the battery for the respective battery cell groups, each of the plurality of battery cell groups being of one or a plurality of battery cells connected in series, and a controller that performs wireless communication with the plurality of battery monitoring devices. First identification information portions which are different from each other are set in the plurality of battery monitoring devices in advance, and second identification information corresponding to an order of potentials of the battery cell groups in the battery, to which the battery monitoring devices are connected, is assigned to each of the plurality of battery monitoring devices. The controller stores a relationship between the first and second identification information for each battery monitoring device.Type: GrantFiled: October 7, 2011Date of Patent: July 4, 2017Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Mutsumi Kikuchi, Akihiko Kudo, Tomonori Kanai, Hikaru Miura, Akihiko Emori
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Publication number: 20170183787Abstract: The present invention is to provide a photocatalyst electrode for water decomposition exhibiting a high photocurrent density and having reduced dark current. The photocatalyst electrode for water decomposition of the present invention has a photocatalyst layer and a current collector layer that is formed by a vapor deposition method and is disposed on the photocatalyst layer.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 10, 2017Publication date: June 29, 2017Applicants: FUJIFILM Corporation, Japan Technological Research Association of Artificial Photosynthetic Chemical Process, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO, TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE FOUNDATIONInventors: Chisato KATAYAMA, Kazunari DOMEN, Akihiko KUDO, Ryo NIISHIRO, Yongbo KUANG, Masaharu YAMAGUCHI, Koichiro UEDA
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Patent number: 9673640Abstract: A battery system monitoring apparatus for monitoring a cell group having a plurality of battery cells, and includes a cell controller IC which monitors and controls the states of the plurality of battery cells. A battery controller controls the cell controller IC and a plurality of voltage detection lines measure the voltage across the terminals of the battery cell. The voltage detection lines connect positive and negative electrodes of the battery cell, respectively, to a plurality of voltage input terminals of the cell controller IC. A power line connects the positive electrode of the battery cell having the highest potential among the plurality of battery cells to a power supply terminal of the cell controller IC and a ground line which connects the negative electrode of the battery cell having the lowest potential among the plurality of battery cells to a ground terminal of the cell controller IC.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 2011Date of Patent: June 6, 2017Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Akihiko Kudo, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Akihiko Emori
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Patent number: 9651625Abstract: A battery monitoring apparatus comprises a reception section to receive a radio signal and to output power and a demodulated signal according to the radio signal; a first power source circuit to perform power supply based on the power; a decode circuit to operate upon receiving the power supply from the first power source circuit and to output an activation signal and a command based on the demodulated signal; a second power source circuit to be activated according to the activation signal and to perform power supply; a battery monitoring circuit to operate upon receiving the power supply from the second power source circuit and to output a monitoring result of a state of the battery according to the command; and a transmission section to operate upon receiving the power supply from the second power source circuit and to wirelessly transmit the monitoring result.Type: GrantFiled: October 7, 2011Date of Patent: May 16, 2017Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Mutsumi Kikuchi, Akihiko Kudo, Tomonori Kanai, Hikaru Miura, Akihiko Emori
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Patent number: 9647466Abstract: A battery system includes a battery module that is constituted with a plurality of serially connected battery cells, a plurality of integrated circuits that group the battery cells so as to perform processing on battery cells in each group, a first transmission path through which a command signal is transmitted via a first insulating circuit from a higher-order control circuit that controls the integrated circuits to a highest-order integrated circuit of the integrated circuit, a second transmission path through which a data signal collected by the integrated circuits is transmitted from the highest-order integrated circuit to a lowest-order integrated circuit, and a third transmission path through which the data signal is transmitted from the lowest-order integrated circuit to the higher-order control circuit via a second insulating circuit.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 2009Date of Patent: May 9, 2017Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.Inventors: Kenji Kubo, Akihiko Kudo, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Gosuke Shibahara
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Patent number: 9568557Abstract: A battery monitoring device for monitoring a cell group made by connecting a plurality of single battery cells in series includes a reference voltage generation circuit configured to generate a variable reference voltage, a switching circuit configured to select, as a measurement target voltage, any one of a plurality of types of voltages including the cell voltages of the single battery cells in the cell group and the reference voltage, and an AD converter configured to measure the measurement target voltage which is selected by the switching circuit, and output a digital signal according to the measurement result.Type: GrantFiled: April 27, 2012Date of Patent: February 14, 2017Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Akihiko Kudo, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Tomonori Kanai, Tatsumi Yamauchi, Akihiro Machida
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Patent number: 9519027Abstract: A battery monitoring device for monitoring a cell group made by connecting a plurality of single battery cells in series including a first switching circuit configured to select, as a measurement target voltage, a type of voltage a differential amplifier circuit including a first input terminal and a second input terminal, configured to convert the measurement target voltage, which is selected by the first switching circuit and input between the first input terminal and the second input terminal, into a voltage in a predetermined range by performing differential amplification, and an AD converter configured to measure the measurement target voltage selected by the first switching circuit and converted by the differential amplifier circuit, and output a digital signal according to the measurement result, wherein an abnormality detection voltage, is output to the AD converter.Type: GrantFiled: April 27, 2012Date of Patent: December 13, 2016Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Akihiko Kudo, Mutsumi Kikuchi, Tomonori Kanai, Tatsumi Yamauchi, Akihiro Machida
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Patent number: 9496749Abstract: A storage battery control device controls an assembly battery having a plurality of secondary battery cells connected to each other, including at least one integrated circuit adapted to monitor and control charging and discharging of each of the secondary battery cells of the assembly battery. A bypass capacitor is disposed in a channel connecting a positive electrode-side external terminal and a negative electrode-side external terminal of the integrated circuit to each other. At least one first current limiting element is disposed in the channel, and at least one first switch is disposed in parallel to the first current limiting element, and adapted to short the first current limiting element.Type: GrantFiled: March 23, 2012Date of Patent: November 15, 2016Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventors: Mitsuo Noda, Akihiko Kudo, Tatsumi Yamauchi
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Publication number: 20160303977Abstract: A battery monitoring system, comprises a battery state detection circuit that detects battery states of a plurality of battery cells that are connected in series, based on respective cell voltages of the plurality of battery cells, and a control circuit that monitors state of a battery cell, based on each cell voltage of the plurality of battery cells. The control circuit inputs pseudo voltage information to the battery state detection circuit, and thereby diagnoses whether or not the battery state detection circuit is operating normally.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 28, 2016Publication date: October 20, 2016Inventors: Akihiko KUDO, Mutsumi KIKUCHI, Gosuke SHIBAHARA, Akihiko EMORI, Yasuo UEMURA, Tatsumi YAMAUCHI, Kenji KUBO, Masahito SONEHARA, Masahiko AMANO, Yoshinori AOSHIMA
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Publication number: 20160301112Abstract: Communication distance can be extended in a battery system that transmits states of the battery cells by wireless communication. Each of cell controllers wirelessly transmits measurement result of states of battery cells in cell groups to a battery controller, by using an electric power supplied from the battery cells in the cell groups. The battery controller continuously transmits unmodulated carrier wave to each of the cell controllers. Each of the cell controllers changes an impedance for the unmodulated carrier wave transmitted from the battery controller at a predetermined timing in dependence on the measurement result of the states of the battery cells in the cell groups. Due to this, the measurement result of the states of the battery cells in the cell groups is wirelessly transmitted to the battery controller.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 27, 2014Publication date: October 13, 2016Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.Inventors: Takanori YAMAZOE, Hiroshi IWASAWA, Takahide TERADA, Takashi TAKEUCHI, Mutsumi KIKUCHI, Akihiko KUDO, Tomonori KANAI
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Publication number: 20160241056Abstract: A battery monitoring and control integrated circuit is connected to a cell group having a plurality of series-connected single cells for monitoring and controlling the single cells, and includes: a first start input terminal for connecting to a DC signal generation circuit which generates a DC signal based on an AC start signal input from the outside; a start detection unit which detects the DC signal and activates the battery monitoring and control integrated circuit; and a start output unit which outputs the AC start signal to the outside after the activation of the battery monitoring and control integrated circuit.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 29, 2016Publication date: August 18, 2016Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Inc.Inventors: Akihiko KUDO, Mutsumi KIKUCHI, Akihiko EMORI, Akihiro MACHIDA
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Patent number: 9419447Abstract: A battery control device that controls a battery module in which a plurality of cell groups, in each of which a plurality of cells are connected in series, are connected in series or series-parallel, includes: a plurality of cell controller ICs that control each of the plurality of cell groups; and one or more connectors that are provided for connecting the plurality of cell controller ICs to the battery module; wherein: the plurality of cell controller ICs include first and second cell controller ICs that are provided in sequence, so as to control two or more of the cell groups that are connected in series; and an auxiliary connection member (a pin) is provided for connecting GND terminal side wiring of the first cell controller IC and VCC terminal side wiring of the second cell controller IC together, externally to the battery control device.Type: GrantFiled: February 3, 2015Date of Patent: August 16, 2016Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.Inventors: Tatsumi Yamauchi, Akihiro Machida, Akihiko Kudo