Patents by Inventor Akinori SHIBATA

Akinori SHIBATA 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: 11623297
    Abstract: An indirect spot welding apparatus includes a welding electrode that is brought into pressure contact with one of surfaces of a plurality of plate-shaped members that are objects to be welded in one side in a stacking direction of the plate-shaped members, a ground electrode that is brought into pressure contact with the one of the surfaces in the one side or another one of the surfaces in the other side in the stacking direction in a position shifted from an axial center of the welding electrode, and an opposed member disposed coaxially with the ground electrode to be opposed to the ground electrode so as to hold at least one of the plate-shaped members between the opposed member and the ground electrode, and the welding electrode is mechanically integrated with the ground electrode to be movable in a direction parallel to an axial direction of the ground electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naotake Ishizaki, Tomohiro Eiju, Akinori Shibata
  • Patent number: 11293548
    Abstract: A sliding member (10) including a coating film (1) composed of a hard carbon layer on a sliding surface (16) of a base material (11). The coating film has, when a cross section thereof is observed by a bright-field TEM image, a thickness within a range of 1 ?m to 50 ?m, and is configured by repeating units including black hard carbon layers (B), relatively shown in black, and white hard carbon layers (W), relatively shown in white, and laminated in a thickness direction, and comprise an inclined region, provided on a base material side, where thicknesses of white hard carbon layers (W) of the repeating units gradually increase in a thickness direction, and a homogeneous region\, provided on a surface side of the sliding member, where thicknesses of the white hard carbon layers (W) of the repeating units are the same or substantially the same in the thickness direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignees: NIPPON PISTON RING CO., LTD, NIPPON ITF, INC
    Inventors: Takahiro Okazaki, Yoshihiro Ito, Hiroyuki Sugiura, Shinya Kanazawa, Hideki Moriguchi, Akinori Shibata, Takehiko Ooshiro
  • Patent number: 11261519
    Abstract: The purpose of the invention is to provide technology, which, in addition to being capable of forming thick hard carbon films of excellent durability even using PVD, is able to establish both chipping resistance and wear resistance in the formed hard carbon film and able to improve low friction properties and peeling resistance. Provided is a coating film to be coated on the surface of a substrate, the coating film having a total film thickness of greater than 1 ?m to 50 ?m wherein: when a cross-section is observed using bright field TEM images, white hard carbon layers that are shown as relatively white and black hard carbon layers that are shown as black are alternately laminated in the thickness direction; and the white hard carbon layers have regions that have grown in a fan-shape in the thickness direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignees: NIPPON ITF, INC., NIPPON PISTON RING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki Moriguchi, Akinori Shibata, Takehiko Ooshiro, Yoshihiro Ito, Takahiro Okazaki, Hiroyuki Sugiura
  • Patent number: 11247903
    Abstract: Provided is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in which a thick, hard carbon film having excellent durability can be formed, and chipping resistance and wear resistance can bot be achieved while improving the low friction properties and peeling resistance of the formed hard carbon film. Provided is a coating film having a total film thickness of greater than 1 ?m and less than or equal to 50 ?m, wherein, when observed using a bright field TEM image, the cross section of the coating film is revealed to consist of relatively white hard carbon layers and relatively black hard carbon layers alternately stacked in the thickness direction, and the white hard carbon layers have a region having a columns-shape, which has grown in the thickness direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: NIPPON ITF, INC.
    Inventors: Hideki Moriguchi, Akinori Shibata
  • Publication number: 20200217416
    Abstract: A sliding member (10) including a coating film (1) composed of a hard carbon layer on a sliding surface (16) of a base material (11). The coating film has, when a cross section thereof is observed by a bright-field TEM image, a thickness within a range of 1 ?m to 50 ?m, and is configured by repeating units including black hard carbon layers (B), relatively shown in black, and white hard carbon layers (W), relatively shown in white, and laminated in a thickness direction, and comprise an inclined region, provided on a base material side, where thicknesses of white hard carbon layers (W) of the repeating units gradually increase in a thickness direction, and a homogeneous region\, provided on a surface side of the sliding member, where thicknesses of the white hard carbon layers (W) of the repeating units are the same or substantially the same in the thickness direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2018
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Applicants: NIPPON PISTON RING CO., LTD., NIPPON ITF, INC.
    Inventors: Takahiro OKAZAKI, Yoshihiro ITO, Hiroyuki SUGIURA, Shinya KANAZAWA, Hideki MORIGUCHI, Akinori SHIBATA, Takehiko OOSHIRO
  • Publication number: 20200101557
    Abstract: An indirect spot welding apparatus includes a welding electrode that is brought into pressure contact with one of surfaces of a plurality of plate-shaped members that are objects to be welded in one side in a stacking direction of the plate-shaped members, a ground electrode that is brought into pressure contact with the one of the surfaces in the one side or another one of the surfaces in the other side in the stacking direction in a position shifted from an axial center of the welding electrode, and an opposed member disposed coaxially with the ground electrode to be opposed to the ground electrode so as to hold at least one of the plate-shaped members between the opposed member and the ground electrode, and the welding electrode is mechanically integrated with the ground electrode to be movable in a direction parallel to an axial direction of the ground electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2019
    Publication date: April 2, 2020
    Applicant: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naotake ISHIZAKI, Tomohiro EIJU, Akinori SHIBATA
  • Patent number: 10457885
    Abstract: Provided are a coating film, a manufacturing method for the same, and a PVD device that not only sufficiently improve the balance of low-friction properties and wear resistance, but also improve chipping resistance and peeling resistance. This film is coated on a substrate surface, wherein the coating film has a hard carbon that presents relatively black and white when observed in a cross-sectional bright-field TEM image, a mesh-shaped hard carbon layer is formed using a PVD method, said layer having white-colored hard carbon in a mesh shape extending in the thickness direction and black-colored hard carbon dispersed into the cavities in the mesh, and the ID/IG ratio is 1-6 when the mesh-shaped hard carbon layer is measured using Raman spectroscopy, said ratio being the ratio of the Raman spectrum D band peak area intensity and G band peak area intensity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignees: NIPPON ITF, INC., NIPPON PISTON RING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki Moriguchi, Tadashi Saito, Yoshikazu Tanaka, Akinori Shibata, Tetsumi Arahi, Katsuaki Ogawa, Takahiro Okazaki, Hiroyuki Sugiura, Yoshihiro Ito
  • Patent number: 10428809
    Abstract: To keep a discharge pressure or a discharge flow rate of a pumping system that jets a fluid from a nozzle selected from a plurality of nozzles a set value every selected nozzle. A pumping system that jets the fluid from the nozzle selected from the plurality of nozzles is provided with: a piston pump as a positive-displacement pump; a permanent-magnet type synchronous motor as a rotational speed variable drive unit; a turret device as selecting arrangement; a discharge pipe; the nozzle; a controller that controls the rotational speed of the drive unit; a storage that stores control parameters and a target value of the discharge pressure corresponding to each nozzle; and a pressure sensor, wherein the controller controls the rotational speed of the drive unit by feeding back the discharge pressure using the control parameters corresponding to the selected nozzle to match the discharge pressure with the target value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: SUGINO MACHINE LIMITED
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Kawamori, Yukinobu Takata, Akinori Shibata
  • Publication number: 20190100434
    Abstract: Provided is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method in which a thick, hard carbon film having excellent durability can be formed, and chipping resistance and wear resistance can bot be achieved while improving the low friction properties and peeling resistance of the formed hard carbon film. Provided is a coating film having a total film thickness of greater than 1 ?m and less than or equal to 50 ?m, wherein, when observed using a bright field TEM image, the cross section of the coating film is revealed to consist of relatively white hard carbon layers and relatively black hard carbon layers alternately stacked in the thickness direction, and the white hard carbon layers have a region having a columns-shape, which has grown in the thickness direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2017
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Applicant: NIPPON ITF, INC.
    Inventors: Hideki MORIGUCHI, Akinori SHIBATA
  • Publication number: 20180371608
    Abstract: The purpose of the invention is to provide technology, which, in addition to being capable of forming thick hard carbon films of excellent durability even using PVD, is able to establish both chipping resistance and wear resistance in the formed hard carbon film and able to improve low friction properties and peeling resistance. Provided is a coating film to be coated on the surface of a substrate, the coating film having a total film thickness of greater than 1 ?m to 50 ?m wherein: when a cross-section is observed using bright field TEM images, white hard carbon layers that are shown as relatively white and black hard carbon layers that are shown as black are alternately laminated in the thickness direction; and the white hard carbon layers have regions that have grown in a fan-shape in the thickness direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2016
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Applicants: NIPPON ITF, INC., NIPPON PISTON RING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki MORIGUCHI, Akinori SHIBATA, Takehiko OOSHIRO, Yoshihiro ITO, Takahiro OKAZAKI, Hiroyuki SUGIURA
  • Publication number: 20170306257
    Abstract: Provided are a coating film, a manufacturing method for the same, and a PVD device that not only sufficiently improve the balance of low-friction properties and wear resistance, but also improve chipping resistance and peeling resistance. This film is coated on a substrate surface, wherein the coating film has a hard carbon that presents relatively black and white when observed in a cross-sectional bright-field TEM image, a mesh-shaped hard carbon layer is formed using a PVD method, said layer having white-colored hard carbon in a mesh shape extending in the thickness direction and black-colored hard carbon dispersed into the cavities in the mesh, and the ID/IG ratio is 1-6 when the mesh-shaped hard carbon layer is measured using Raman spectroscopy, said ratio being the ratio of the Raman spectrum D band peak area intensity and G band peak area intensity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Publication date: October 26, 2017
    Applicants: NIPPON ITF, INC., NIPPON PISTON RING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki MORIGUCHI, Tadashi SAITO, Yoshikazu TANAKA, Akinori SHIBATA, Tetsumi ARAHI, Katsuaki OGAWA, Takahiro OKAZAKI, Hiroyuki SUGIURA, Yoshihiro ITO
  • Publication number: 20160222950
    Abstract: To keep a discharge pressure or a discharge flow rate of a pumping system that jets a fluid from a nozzle selected from a plurality of nozzles a set value every selected nozzle. A pumping system that jets the fluid from the nozzle selected from the plurality of nozzles is provided with: a piston pump as a positive-displacement pump; a permanent-magnet type synchronous motor as a rotational speed variable drive unit; a turret device as selecting arrangement; a discharge pipe; the nozzle; a controller that controls the rotational speed of the drive unit; a storage that stores control parameters and a target value of the discharge pressure corresponding to each nozzle; and a pressure sensor, wherein the controller controls the rotational speed of the drive unit by feeding back the discharge pressure using the control parameters corresponding to the selected nozzle to match the discharge pressure with the target value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2015
    Publication date: August 4, 2016
    Inventors: Yoshiteru KAWAMORI, Yukinobu TAKATA, Akinori SHIBATA