Patents by Inventor Atsuhiro Funahashi

Atsuhiro Funahashi 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).

  • Publication number: 20080299453
    Abstract: A battery module has a plurality of prismatic batteries (2) stacked in a thickness direction. Two plates (3, 4) are provided between each of the batteries (2), and each of the batteries (2) is compressed by shifting the two plates (3, 4) in directions away from each other. A pair of frame members (10, 20) having opposing surfaces (11, 21) extending along the stacking direction of the batteries (2) are disposed face to face so as to sandwich the batteries (2) in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the batteries. Wedge-shaped spacers (12, 22) inserted between the two plates (3, 4) are provided respectively on the opposing surfaces. By narrowing the gap between the pair of frame members (10, 20), the spacers (12, 22) are allowed to advance inwardly between the two plates (3, 4) so that the two plates are shifted in directions away from each other, whereby the batteries are compressed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2008
    Publication date: December 4, 2008
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Shinyashiki, Masayuki Fujiwara, Hitoshi Maeda, Atsuhiro Funahashi
  • Publication number: 20080292950
    Abstract: A spacer (52) interposed between a plurality of batteries in a battery module has an inner cavity. A filling agent having fire-extinguishing capability is filled in the inner cavity. An opening can be formed at a portion (low-melting point portion (14)) of the spacer (52) by heat so that the filling agent can flow out of the spacer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2008
    Publication date: November 27, 2008
    Applicant: SANYO ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Maeda, Masayuki Fujiwara, Yoshitaka Shinyashiki, Atsuhiro Funahashi
  • Patent number: 7351496
    Abstract: A battery including an electrode unit which is an electricity generating element housed in a battery can, in which the electricity can be taken out of the can via a pair of negative and positive electrode terminals which are exposed outside the can, and one of the negative and positive electrode terminals has a coating layer formed on a surface thereof that is the same material as the material of which the other of the negative and positive electrode terminals is made.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2008
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoya Nakanishi, Kouichi Satoh, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Patent number: 7335442
    Abstract: A battery including an electrode unit housed in a battery can and which generates electricity which can be taken out of the battery via a pair of negative and positive electrode terminals, wherein a terminal assembly is installed in the battery, a current collector plate is connected to an edge of an electrode of the electrode unit for connecting the electrode unit to the terminal assembly, and one or more than one connecting piece which is protrusively formed on a surface of the current collector plate is welded and secured to a base portion of the terminal assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoya Nakanishi, Kouichi Satoh, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma, Yasuhiro Yamauchi, Noriyuki Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 7229716
    Abstract: A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode comprising a graphite as a negative electrode active material, and a nonaqueous electrolyte including at least a saturated cyclic carbonic ester and containing a cyclic carbonic ester having a carbon-carbon double bond such that, when a content of the cyclic carbonic ester having a carbon-carbon double bond is x (g), a content of the graphite in the negative electrode is B (g), a specific surface area of the graphite is A (m2/g), a size of the crystallite of the graphite in a direction of the c axis is Lc, and a size of the crystallite of the graphite in a direction of the a axis is La, a condition expressed by 0.05×10?2?x/[A×B×2Lc/(2Lc+La)]?3×10?2 is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2007
    Assignee: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsunori Yanagida, Takao Inoue, Naoya Nakanishi, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Patent number: 7217475
    Abstract: A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is provided with a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein positive electrode active material is a mixture of lithium-manganese composite oxide having spinel structure represented by a general formula Li1+zMn2O4 (wherein a relationship 0?z?0.2 is satisfied) and lithium-transition metal composite oxide represented by the general formula LiNi1?x?yCoxMnyO2 (wherein the relationships 0.5<x+y<1.0 and 0.1<y<0.6 are satisfied), and negative electrode active material is graphite coated with low crystalline carbon where whole or a part of a surface of first graphite material as a substrate is coated with second carbon material which is lower in crystallinity compared with the first graphite material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2007
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoya Nakanishi, Kouichi Satoh, Hideki Kitao, Hiroyuki Akita, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Patent number: 7198871
    Abstract: In a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery provided with a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution, a positive electrode active material is a mixture of lithium-manganese composite oxide and at least one of lithium-nickel composite oxide represented by a general formula LiNiaM11?aO2 and lithium-cobalt composite oxide represented by the general formula LiCobM21?bO2, and said non-aqueous electrolyte solution contains at least a saturated cyclic carbonic acid ester and an unsaturated cyclic carbonic acid ester having double bond of carbon where content by amount of said unsaturated cyclic carbonic acid ester having double bond of carbon is in a range of 1.0×10?8 to 2.4×10?4 g per positive electrode capacity 1 mAh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2007
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric, Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideki Kitao, Takao Inoue, Katsunori Yanagida, Naoya Nakanishi, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Patent number: 7175939
    Abstract: In a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery provided with a positive electrode, a negative electrode using carbon material as negative electrode active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution, the non-aqueous electrolyte solution contains at least a saturated cyclic carbonic ester and a cyclic carbonic ester having C?C double bond where an amount of the cyclic carbonic ester having C?C double bond is in a range of 1.0×10?8 to 13.0×10?5 g per negative electrode capacity of 1 mAh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2007
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsunori Yanagida, Naoya Nakanishi, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Patent number: 6926998
    Abstract: A nickel-metal hydride storage battery comprising a positive electrode containing nickel hydroxide, a negative electrode containing a hydrogen absorbing alloy and an alkaline electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode contains a hydroxide and/or an oxide of an element selected from the group consisting of calcium, strontium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanoid and bismuth, and the negative electrode contains germanium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2005
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Akita, Tadayoshi Tanaka, Yoshifumi Magari, Katsuhiko Shinyama, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Patent number: 6924062
    Abstract: A nickel-metal hydride storage battery which includes a positive electrode containing nickel hydroxide, a negative electrode containing a hydrogen absorbing alloy and an alkaline electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode contains a hydroxide and/or an oxide of an element selected from the group consisting of calcium, strontium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanoid and bismuth, and the negative electrode contains a hydroxide and/or an oxide of at least one element selected from the group consisting of scandium, yttrium and lanthanoid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2005
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshifumi Magari, Tadayoshi Tanaka, Hiroyuki Akita, Katsuhiko Shinyama, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Patent number: 6869546
    Abstract: For us in nonaqueous electrolyte secondary cells, the invention provides an electrode which comprises a first carbon material serving as a core material, and a second carbon material coating the first carbon material over the surface thereof and containing boron. When used as an active substance for negative electrode to provide a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary cell, the electrode diminishes the reduction of the cell capacity that would result if the cell is allowed to store, giving improved storage characteristics to the cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2005
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsunori Yanagida, Atsushi Yanai, Takeshi Maeda, Yoshinori Kida, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma, Ikuo Yonezu
  • Publication number: 20050019657
    Abstract: A nickel-metal hydride battery provided with a positive electrode using nickel hydroxide, a negative electrode using hydrogen absorbing alloy, an alkaline electrolyte solution, and a separator 3 separating the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein use is made of the negative electrode and/or the alkaline electrolyte solution comprising Mo or W, the separator using sulfonized olefinic resin, and the positive electrode comprising hydroxide and/or oxide of at least one element selected from Ca, Sr, Sc, Y, lanthanoid and Bi.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 25, 2002
    Publication date: January 27, 2005
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Shinyama, Hiroyuki Akita, Tadayoshi Tanaka, Yoshifumi Magari, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Publication number: 20040191612
    Abstract: A prismatic battery wherein a wound electrode (2) is housed in a battery can (1) including a sealing plate (12) fixed onto an opening of a prismatic case (11) with the outer surface of the electrode (2) aligned with the bottom of the prismatic case (11). Current collector plates (3), (30) are placed at both ends of the wound electrode (2) where edges (21), (22) of a pair of positive and negative electrodes project. The current collector plates (3), (30) are connected to a pair of positive and negative electrode terminals (4), (40). The current collector plates (3), (30) and the electrode terminals (4), (40) are connected by flexible flexible lead members (5), (50).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2004
    Publication date: September 30, 2004
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Akita, Hideki Kitao, Kouichi Satoh, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Publication number: 20040142234
    Abstract: A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is provided with a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein positive electrode active material is a mixture of lithium-manganese composite oxide having spinel structure represented by a general formula Li1+zMn2O4 (wherein a relationship 0≦z≦0.2 is satisfied) and lithium-transition metal composite oxide represented by the general formula LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2 (wherein the relationships 0.5<x+y<1.0 and 0.1<y<0.6 are satisfied), and negative electrode active material is graphite coated with low crystalline carbon where whole or a part of a surface of first graphite material as a substrate is coated with second carbon material which is lower in crystallinity compared with the first graphite material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2003
    Publication date: July 22, 2004
    Inventors: Naoya Nakanishi, Kouichi Satoh, Hideki Kitao, Hiroyuki Akita, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Publication number: 20040110064
    Abstract: In a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery provided with a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution, a positive electrode active material is a mixture of lithium-manganese composite oxide and at least one of lithium-nickel composite oxide represented by a general formula LiNiaM11−aO2 and lithium-cobalt composite oxide represented by the general formula LiCobM21−bO2, and said non-aqueous electrolyte solution contains at least a saturated cyclic carbonic acid ester and an unsaturated cyclic carbonic acid ester having double bond of carbon where content by amount of said unsaturated cyclic carbonic acid ester having double bond of carbon is in a range of 1.0×10−8 to 2.4×10−4 g per positive electrode capacity 1 mAh.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2003
    Publication date: June 10, 2004
    Applicant: SANYO ELECTRIC, CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideki Kitao, Takao Inoue, Katsunori Yanagida, Naoya Nakanishi, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Publication number: 20040101751
    Abstract: A nickel metal hydride storage battery which includes a positive electrode containing nickel hydroxide as a active material, a negative electrode containing a hydrogen absorbing alloy which contains aluminum, a separator and an alkaline electrolyte, wherein a complex-forming agent which forms a complex with aluminum is included in the negative electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2003
    Publication date: May 27, 2004
    Inventors: Yoshifumi Magari, Tadayoshi Tanaka, Hiroyuki Akita, Katsuhiko Shinyama, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Publication number: 20040062993
    Abstract: A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode comprising a graphite as a negative electrode active material, and a nonaqueous electrolyte including at least a saturated cyclic carbonic ester and containing a cyclic carbonic ester having a carbon-carbon double bond such that, when a content of the cyclic carbonic ester having a carbon-carbon double bond is x (g), a content of the graphite in the negative electrode is B (g), a specific surface area of the graphite is A (m2/g), a size of the crystallite of the graphite in a direction of the c axis is Lc, and a size of the crystallite of the graphite in a direction of the a axis is La, a condition expressed by
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2003
    Publication date: April 1, 2004
    Inventors: Katsunori Yanagida, Takao Inoue, Naoya Nakanishi, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Publication number: 20040062995
    Abstract: In a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery provided with a positive electrode, a negative electrode using carbon material as negative electrode active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution, the non-aqueous electrolyte solution contains at least a saturated cyclic carbonic ester and a cyclic carbonic ester having C═C double bond where an amount of the cyclic carbonic ester having C═C double bond is in a range of 1.0×10−8 to 13.0×10−5 g per negative electrode capacity of 1 mAh.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2003
    Publication date: April 1, 2004
    Applicant: SANYO ELECTRIC, CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Katsunori Yanagida, Naoya Nakanishi, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma
  • Publication number: 20040023107
    Abstract: A battery including an electrode unit housed in a battery can and which generates electricity which can be taken out of the battery via a pair of negative and positive electrode terminals, wherein a terminal assembly is installed in the battery, a current collector plate is connected to an edge of an electrode of the electrode unit for connecting the electrode unit to the terminal assembly, and one or more than one connecting piece which is protrusively formed on a surface of the current collector plate is welded and secured to a base portion of the terminal assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2003
    Publication date: February 5, 2004
    Inventors: Naoya Nakanishi, Kouichi Satoh, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma, Yasuhiro Yamauchi, Noriyuki Miyazaki
  • Publication number: 20040023108
    Abstract: A battery including an electrode unit which is an electricity generating element housed in a battery can, in which the electricity can be taken out of the can via a pair of negative and positive electrode terminals which are exposed outside the can, and one of the negative and positive electrode terminals has a coating layer formed on a surface thereof that is the same material as the material of which the other of the negative and positive electrode terminals is made.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2003
    Publication date: February 5, 2004
    Inventors: Naoya Nakanishi, Kouichi Satoh, Atsuhiro Funahashi, Toshiyuki Nohma