Patents by Inventor Akihito Okumura

Akihito Okumura 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).

  • Patent number: 11909347
    Abstract: A stepping motor control device includes a driving unit that drives a stepping motor including a rotor that rotates a hand and a coil that generates a magnetic flux for rotating the rotor, a control unit that outputs, to the driving unit, a driving pulse for rotating the rotor and a swinging pulse for swinging the rotor, a voltage detecting unit that detects an induced voltage generated in the coil when the rotor vibrates, and a determining unit that determines, based on a result of the detection of the voltage detecting unit, a mechanical load received by the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: SEIKO WATCH KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akihito Okumura, Kosuke Yamamoto, Tetsuya Nobe, Kazumi Sakumoto
  • Publication number: 20230400814
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to prevent a positional deviation of a hand while reducing power consumption. A watch includes: a plurality of hands; a plurality of motors configured to drive or brake the plurality of hands, respectively; a pulse generation unit configured to supply, to the plurality of motors, a drive pulse for driving the hands and a lock pulse for braking the hands; and a control unit configured to control an operation mode including a normal hand movement mode and a tactile read mode, and the pulse generation unit supplies the lock pulse to the motors when the control unit shifts the operation mode to the tactile read mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2023
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Inventors: KOSUKE YAMAMOTO, Kazumi SAKUMOTO, Akihito OKUMURA
  • Publication number: 20220291637
    Abstract: A stepping motor control device configured to drive a stepping motor having a rotor and a coil includes: a train wheel including a load gear which has a load tooth whose rotation load is different from that of another tooth and in which the rotor has an odd number of rotation steps when the load gear rotates once, and transmitting a rotation force from the rotor to the hand; a voltage detection unit that detects an induced voltage generated at one end portion of a first end portion and a second end portion of the coil when the rotor vibrates; and a determination unit which, based on a result detected by the voltage detection unit, determines a mechanical load received by the rotor due to contact of the load tooth of the load gear with a tooth meshing with the load gear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2022
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Inventors: Kazuo Kato, Tomohiro Ihashi, Kazumi Sakumoto, Akihito Okumura
  • Patent number: 11424702
    Abstract: A motor driving apparatus including a driving circuit for supplying a first pulse with which a first coil included in a two-phase stepping motor generates a first magnetic flux, a second pulse with which a second coil included in the stepping motor generates a second magnetic flux opposite to the first magnetic flux, a third pulse with which the first coil generates the second magnetic flux, and a fourth pulse with which the second coil generates the first magnetic flux, to the stepping motor. The driving circuit supplies the second pulse, the third pulse, and the fourth pulse in this order to the stepping motor in a state of being stopped to start the stepping motor, and supplies the first pulse, the second pulse, the third pulse, and the fourth pulse in this order to the stepping motor after starting to continuously drive the stepping motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Nobe, Satoshi Sakai, Kazumi Sakumoto, Kosuke Yamamoto, Akihito Okumura
  • Publication number: 20220181997
    Abstract: A stepping motor control device includes a driving unit that drives a stepping motor including a rotor that rotates a hand and a coil that generates a magnetic flux for rotating the rotor, a control unit that outputs, to the driving unit, a driving pulse for rotating the rotor and a swinging pulse for swinging the rotor, a voltage detecting unit that detects an induced voltage generated in the coil when the rotor vibrates, and a determining unit that determines, based on a result of the detection of the voltage detecting unit, a mechanical load received by the rotor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: Akihito OKUMURA, Kosuke YAMAMOTO, Tetsuya NOBE, Kazumi SAKUMOTO
  • Patent number: 11316454
    Abstract: A stepping motor control device is configured to drive a stepping motor by applying a normal drive pulse or a fixed pulse having an energy larger than that of the normal drive pulse. The stepping motor control device includes a determination unit configured to, based on whether or not a pulse applied to the stepping motor before the normal drive pulse is the fixed pulse, determine whether or not to add a degaussing pulse is applied to the normal drive pulse, the degaussing pulse being a pulse for canceling a residual magnetic flux generated in a stator of the stepping motor when the fixed pulse; and a drive control unit configured to, based on a determination result of the determination unit, drive the stepping motor with the normal drive pulse to which the degaussing pulse is added.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Akihito Okumura, Kosuke Yamamoto, Kenji Ogasawara, Tomohiro Ihashi
  • Publication number: 20220100082
    Abstract: A photomask is used for scanning type projection exposure provided with a projection lens assembly composed of a lens assembly. A line width in a plurality of patterns of the photomask in a region to be transferred by performing scanning exposure including connecting portions of the lens assembly are corrected with respect to a line width of patterns which are the same as the patterns of the photomask present in a region to be transferred by performing scanning exposure but do not include the connecting portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2021
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Applicant: TOPPAN INC.
    Inventors: Akihito OKUMURA, Hiroaki MIYAJI, Takehiro YAMADA
  • Patent number: 11221559
    Abstract: A photomask including a photomask body having a surface on which a mask pattern is formed and to be scanned and subjected to pattern transfer to a resist through a lens assembly including a connecting portion and a non-connecting portion. The mask pattern has a first region subjected to the pattern transfer at the connecting portion of the lens assembly and a second region subjected to the pattern transfer at the non-connecting portion. The mask pattern has, in at least one of the first and second regions, a corrected line width which is adjusted by calculation such that the resist is to have a target line width as designed. The corrected line width has a stepwise change in at least one of a scanning direction and a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. The stepwise change is made by including a correction component based on a random number.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akihito Okumura, Hiroaki Miyaji
  • Patent number: 11175631
    Abstract: There is provided an analog electronic timepiece including a stepping motor in which a rotor magnetized in two poles is rotationally driven in a stator connected to a driving coil, a drive circuit for applying a drive pulse to the driving coil, the drive pulse being a pulse for driving the rotor, and a control unit for controlling application of the drive pulse by the drive circuit, in which when an induced voltage induced in the driving coil by rotation of the rotor satisfies a predetermined condition related to the induced voltage, the control unit controls the drive circuit so that the drive pulse is applied to the driving coil before free vibration of the rotor is settled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventor: Akihito Okumura
  • Publication number: 20210271160
    Abstract: A photomask is used for scanning type projection exposure provided with a projection lens assembly composed of a lens assembly. A line width in a plurality of patterns of the photomask in a region to be transferred by performing scanning exposure including connecting portions of the lens assembly are corrected with respect to a line width of patterns which are the same as the patterns of the photomask present in a region to be transferred by performing scanning exposure but do not include the connecting portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2021
    Publication date: September 2, 2021
    Applicant: TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akihito OKUMURA, Hiroaki MIYAJI, Takehiro YAMADA
  • Publication number: 20210091694
    Abstract: A stepping motor control device is configured to drive a stepping motor by applying a normal drive pulse or a fixed pulse having an energy larger than that of the normal drive pulse. The stepping motor control device includes a determination unit configured to, based on whether or not a pulse applied to the stepping motor before the normal drive pulse is the fixed pulse, determine whether or not to add a degaussing pulse is applied to the normal drive pulse, the degaussing pulse being a pulse for canceling a residual magnetic flux generated in a stator of the stepping motor when the fixed pulse; and a drive control unit configured to, based on a determination result of the determination unit, drive the stepping motor with the normal drive pulse to which the degaussing pulse is added.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Publication date: March 25, 2021
    Inventors: Akihito OKUMURA, Kosuke YAMAMOTO, Kenji OGASAWARA, Tomohiro IHASHI
  • Patent number: 10866521
    Abstract: An exposure apparatus includes: a first light source that generates first exposure light, a diaphragm having plurality of openings positioned between the first light source and an exposure photomask, a plurality of first projection optical systems that individually project an optical image realized by the first exposure light transmitted through each of the plurality of openings on an exposure target, a second light source that generates second exposure light, and a correction stepper. The correction stepper irradiates a light amount correction region with the second exposure light so as to limit an irradiation range of the exposure target to be irradiated with the second exposure light transmitted through the exposure photomask, and the light amount correction region is a region extending in a first direction by a width of a multi-opening region in a second direction in a plan view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: TOPPAN PRINTING CO.. LTD.
    Inventors: Akihito Okumura, Yoshinori Motoda, Hiroaki Miyaji
  • Patent number: 10849105
    Abstract: In the field of wireless communication, a technique for inhibiting a disconnection while also inhibiting a communication slow-down is provided. A wireless communication device includes: a communication module configured to be capable of communicating with another wireless communication device through plural channels in a first mode with a first code strength and in a second mode with a second code strength higher than the first code strength; a strength measurement unit which measures a received signal strength; a channel detection unit which detects unused channels; and a control device which switches the communication mode of the communication module between the first mode and the second mode based on the strength measured by the strength measurement unit of a signal received from another wireless communication device and the number of unused channels detected out of plural channels by the channel detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akihito Okumura
  • Publication number: 20200341387
    Abstract: A photomask including a photomask body having a surface on which a mask pattern is formed and to be scanned and subjected to pattern transfer to a resist through a lens assembly including a connecting portion and a non-connecting portion. The mask pattern has a first region subjected to the pattern transfer at the connecting portion of the lens assembly and a second region subjected to the pattern transfer at the non-connecting portion. The mask pattern has, in at least one of the first and second regions, a corrected line width which is adjusted by calculation such that the resist is to have a target line width as designed. The corrected line width has a stepwise change in at least one of a scanning direction and a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. The stepwise change is made by including a correction component based on a random number.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2020
    Publication date: October 29, 2020
    Applicant: TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akihito OKUMURA, Hiroaki MIYAJI
  • Publication number: 20200313583
    Abstract: A motor driving apparatus including a driving circuit for supplying a first pulse with which a first coil included in a two-phase stepping motor generates a first magnetic flux, a second pulse with which a second coil included in the stepping motor generates a second magnetic flux opposite to the first magnetic flux, a third pulse with which the first coil generates the second magnetic flux, and a fourth pulse with which the second coil generates the first magnetic flux, to the stepping motor. The driving circuit supplies the second pulse, the third pulse, and the fourth pulse in this order to the stepping motor in a state of being stopped to start the stepping motor, and supplies the first pulse, the second pulse, the third pulse, and the fourth pulse in this order to the stepping motor after starting to continuously drive the stepping motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2020
    Publication date: October 1, 2020
    Inventors: Tetsuya NOBE, Satoshi SAKAI, Kazumi SAKUMOTO, Kosuke YAMAMOTO, Akihito OKUMURA
  • Publication number: 20200225618
    Abstract: There is provided an analog electronic timepiece including a stepping motor in which a rotor magnetized in two poles is rotationally driven in a stator connected to a driving coil, a drive circuit for applying a drive pulse to the driving coil, the drive pulse being a pulse for driving the rotor, and a control unit for controlling application of the drive pulse by the drive circuit, in which when an induced voltage induced in the driving coil by rotation of the rotor satisfies a predetermined condition related to the induced voltage, the control unit controls the drive circuit so that the drive pulse is applied to the driving coil before free vibration of the rotor is settled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Publication date: July 16, 2020
    Inventor: Akihito Okumura
  • Publication number: 20200124974
    Abstract: An exposure apparatus includes: a first light source that generates first exposure light, a diaphragm having plurality of openings positioned between the first light source and an exposure photomask, a plurality of first projection optical systems that individually project an optical image realized by the first exposure light transmitted through each of the plurality of openings on an exposure target, a second light source that generates second exposure light, and a correction stepper. The correction stepper irradiates a light amount correction region with the second exposure light so as to limit an irradiation range of the exposure target to be irradiated with the second exposure light transmitted through the exposure photomask, and the light amount correction region is a region extending in a first direction by a width of a multi-opening region in a second direction in a plan view.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Publication date: April 23, 2020
    Applicant: TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akihito OKUMURA, Yoshinori MOTODA, Hiroaki MIYAJI
  • Patent number: 10539927
    Abstract: A timepiece includes a voltage detection unit that detects a voltage applied to a stepping motor for driving an indicating hand, and that outputs a voltage detection result, and a drive control unit that controls a rotor to perform reverse rotation by using a reverse rotation pulse including a first pulse whose polarity is the same as that of a normal rotation pulse for causing the rotor of the stepping motor to perform normal rotation, a second pulse whose polarity is reverse to that of the first pulse, and a third pulse whose polarity is reverse to that of the second pulse, and to control the rotor to perform the reverse rotation by using the third pulse having a pulse width set in accordance with the voltage detection result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Akihito Okumura, Ryosuke Isogai, Kosuke Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20190273456
    Abstract: A stepping motor control device includes a rotation detection unit and a control unit. The rotation detection unit detects a rotation state of a rotor of the stepping motor after outputting a driving pulse to the stepping motor that rotates a hand. The control unit controls the hand to be driven to rotate in a reverse direction by outputting a plurality of first pulses having different energies as a plurality of test pulses before outputting the first pulse, causing the rotation detection unit to detect the rotation state of the rotor by the test pulse after outputting each of the plurality of test pulses, setting a test pulse according to the detected rotation state as the first pulse, and using the set first pulse and the second pulse having polarity different from that of the first pulse as the driving pulse.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2019
    Publication date: September 5, 2019
    Inventor: Akihito OKUMURA
  • Publication number: 20190155147
    Abstract: A photomask is used for scanning type projection exposure provided with a projection lens assembly composed of a lens assembly. A line width in a plurality of patterns of the photomask in a region to be transferred by performing scanning exposure including connecting portions of the lens assembly are corrected with respect to a line width of patterns which are the same as the patterns of the photomask present in a region to be transferred by performing scanning exposure but do not include the connecting portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2019
    Publication date: May 23, 2019
    Applicant: TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akihito OKUMURA, Hiroaki MIYAJI, Takehiro YAMADA