Patents by Inventor Hidekazu Minami
Hidekazu Minami 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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Patent number: 11965222Abstract: A method of producing a hot-rolled steel sheet and a method for producing a cold-rolled full hard steel sheet are provided. The methods comprising heating a steel slab having a composition containing, in terms of mass %, C: 0.010% or more and 0.150% or less, Si: 0.20% or less, Mn: 1.00% or less, P: 0.100% or less, S: 0.0500% or less, Al: 0.001% or more and 0.100% or less, N: 0.0100% or less, and the balance being Fe and unavoidable impurities, in which 0.002%?[% P]+[% S]?0.070% ([% M] denotes a content (mass %) of M element in steel) is satisfied.Type: GrantFiled: January 26, 2021Date of Patent: April 23, 2024Assignee: JFE Steel CorporationInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Yoshimasa Funakawa
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Patent number: 11946111Abstract: A steel sheet is provided, having a tensile strength of 590 MPa or more, a particular composition and a steel structure that contains, in terms of area fraction, particular amounts of ferrite and martensite, in which the ferrite average crystal grain size is 20 ?m or less, the martensite average size is 15 ?m or less, the ratio of the average crystal grain size of the ferrite to the average size of the martensite (ferrite average crystal grain size/martensite average size) is 0.5 to 10.0, the ratio of the hardness of the martensite to the hardness of the ferrite (martensite hardness/ferrite hardness) is 1.0 or more and 5.0 or less, and, in the texture of the ferrite, the inverse intensity ratio of ?-fiber to the ?-fiber is 0.8 or more and 7.0 or less.Type: GrantFiled: March 7, 2017Date of Patent: April 2, 2024Assignee: JFE Steel CorporationInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Yoshimasa Funakawa, Shinjiro Kaneko
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Patent number: 11939642Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet having a tensile strength of 1,180 MPa or more, and specified chemical composition. The steel sheet includes a steel structure in which an area fraction of martensite having a carbon concentration of more than 0.7×[% C] and less than 1.5×[% C] is 55% or more, an area fraction of tempered martensite having a carbon concentration of 0.7×[% C] or less is 5% or more and 40% or less, a ratio of a carbon concentration in retained austenite to a volume fraction of retained austenite is 0.05 or more and 0.40 or less, and the martensite and the tempered martensite each have an average grain size of 5.3 ?m or less, where [% C] represents the content, by mass %, of compositional element C in steel.Type: GrantFiled: August 20, 2019Date of Patent: March 26, 2024Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Yuji Tanaka, Junya Tobata, Takeshi Yokota
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Publication number: 20240084412Abstract: Disclosed herein are a method for producing a hot-rolled steel sheet, a method for producing a cold-rolled full hard steel sheet, and methods for producing a heat-treated steel sheet that serve as the methods for producing intermediate products for obtaining a steel sheet having a tensile strength of 590 MPa or more, a particular composition and a particular steel structure.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 15, 2023Publication date: March 14, 2024Applicant: JFE Steel CorporationInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Yoshimasa Funakawa, Shinjiro Kaneko
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Patent number: 11926881Abstract: A high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet having a high yield ratio and excellent stretch flangeability and a method for manufacturing the steel sheet. The high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet has a chemical composition including, by mass %, C: 0.10 to 0.30%, Si: 0.50 to 2.00%, Mn: 2.5 to 4.0%, P: 0.050% or less, S: 0.020% or less, Al: 0.10% or less, N: 0.01% or less, Ti: 0.100% or less, and B: 0.0003 to 0.0030%, with the balance being Fe and incidental impurities. N and Ti satisfy a specified formula, and the total area fraction of martensite and bainite is 95% or more. The number density of bainite grains having an area of 3 ?m2 or more and a carbon concentration of less than 0.7C is 1200 grains/mm2 or less.Type: GrantFiled: June 19, 2020Date of Patent: March 12, 2024Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Yuji Tanaka, Hidekazu Minami, Naoki Takayama, Takako Yamashita
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Publication number: 20230357883Abstract: Provided are a steel sheet dehydrogenation apparatus, a steel sheet production system, and a steel sheet production method capable of producing a steel sheet excellent in hydrogen embrittlement resistance without changing the mechanical properties of the steel sheet. A dehydrogenation apparatus comprises: a housing configured to house a steel sheet coil obtained by coiling a steel strip; and a sound wave irradiator configured to irradiate the steel sheet coil housed in the housing with sound waves to obtain a product coil.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 7, 2021Publication date: November 9, 2023Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Yuki TOJI, Kazuki ENDOH, Hidekazu MINAMI
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Publication number: 20230265539Abstract: Provided is a continuous annealing line capable of producing a steel sheet excellent in hydrogen embrittlement resistance. A continuous annealing line 100 comprises: a payoff reel 10 configured to uncoil a cold-rolled coil C to feed a cold-rolled steel sheet S; an annealing furnace 20 configured to continuously anneal the cold-rolled steel sheet S and including a heating zone 22, a soaking zone 24, and a cooling zone 26 that are arranged from an upstream side in a sheet passing direction; a downstream line 30 configured to continuously pass the cold-rolled steel sheet S discharged from the annealing furnace 20 therethrough; a tension reel 50 configured to coil the cold-rolled steel sheet S; and a sound wave irradiator 60 configured to irradiate the cold-rolled steel sheet S being passed from the cooling zone 26 to the tension reel 50 with sound waves.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 11, 2021Publication date: August 24, 2023Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu MINAMI, Kazuki ENDOH, Yuki TOJI
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Publication number: 20230160032Abstract: A steel sheet having a tensile strength (TS) of 780 MPa or more and less than 1180 MPa, high LME resistance, and good weld fatigue properties. The steel sheet has a specific chemical composition and a specific steel microstructure. Crystal grains containing an oxide of Si and/or Mn in a region within 4.9 ?m in a thickness direction from a surface of the steel sheet have an average grain size in the range of 3 to 10 ?m, the lowest Si concentration LSi and the lowest Mn concentration LMn in the region within 4.9 ?m in the thickness direction from the surface of the steel sheet and a Si concentration TSi and a Mn concentration TMn at a quarter thickness position of the steel sheet satisfy a specified formula.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 25, 2021Publication date: May 25, 2023Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Lingling YANG, Yoshiyasu KAWASAKI, Hidekazu MINAMI, Tatsuya NAKAGAITO, Shotaro TERASHIMA, Shunsuke YAMAMOTO, Katsuya HOSHINO, Yuki TAKEDA
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Publication number: 20230129828Abstract: A steel sheet with a tensile strength (TS) of 780 MPa or more and less than 1180 MPa, a member, and a method for producing them. In a region of the steel sheet within 4.9 ?m in the thickness direction, a region with a Si concentration not more than one-third of the Si concentration in the chemical composition of the steel sheet and with a Mn concentration not more than one-third of the Mn concentration in the chemical composition of the steel sheet has a thickness of 1.0 ?m or more. The lowest Si concentration LSi and the lowest Mn concentration LMn in the region within 4.9 ?m from the surface of the steel sheet and a Si concentration TSi and a Mn concentration TMn at a quarter thickness position of the steel sheet satisfy the following formula (1): LSi+LMn?(TSi+TMn)/4??(1).Type: ApplicationFiled: March 25, 2021Publication date: April 27, 2023Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Yoshiyasu KAWASAKI, Lingling YANG, Shotaro TERASHIMA, Hidekazu MINAMI, Tatsuya NAKAGAITO, Shunsuke YAMAMOTO, Katsuya HOSHINO, Yuki TAKEDA
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Patent number: 11578381Abstract: A production method for a high-strength steel sheet having a tensile strength TS of 780 MPa or more is provided. The production method comprises: heating a steel slab having a predetermined chemical composition; hotrolling the steel slab; coiling the hot-rolled sheet; subjecting the hot-rolled sheet to pickling treatment; holding the hot-rolled sheet in a pre-determined temperature range for predetermined time; cold rolling the hot-rolled sheet to obtain a cold-rolled sheet; subjecting the cold-rolled sheet to first annealing treatment; cooling the cold-rolled sheet at a pre-determined average cooling rate; cooling the cold-rolled sheet to room temperature; reheating the clod-rolled sheet to perform second annealing treatment; cooling the cold-rolled sheet at a first average cooling rate; cooling the cold-rolled sheet at a second average cooling rate; reheating the cold-rolled sheet to a predetermined reheating temperature range; and holding the cold-rolled sheet in the reheating temperature range.Type: GrantFiled: September 17, 2021Date of Patent: February 14, 2023Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Shinjiro Kaneko
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Patent number: 11492677Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet has a specific composition and a microstructure. In the microstructure, the area fraction of elongated ferrite phase grains having an aspect ratio of 3 or more is 1% or less, the average crystal grain size of martensite included in a region extending 50 ?m from a surface of the steel sheet is 20 ?m or less, the content of oxide particles having a minor axis length of 0.8 ?m or less in the region extending 50 ?m from the surface of the steel sheet is 1.0×1010 particles/m2 or more, and the content of coarse oxide particles having a minor axis length of more than 1 ?m in the region extending 50 ?m from the surface of the steel sheet is 1.0×108 particles/m2 or less. The content of hydrogen trapped in the steel sheet is 0.05 ppm by mass or more.Type: GrantFiled: October 9, 2018Date of Patent: November 8, 2022Assignee: JFE Steel CorporationInventors: Hiroshi Hasegawa, Hidekazu Minami, Tatsuya Nakagaito, Kana Sasaki, Shoji Tanaka
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Patent number: 11490101Abstract: It is configured to include a video signal compression unit that compresses a video signal for displaying, on an image inspection monitor, an image inspection screen including a first area for displaying a medical image and a second area for displaying information other than the medical image, and a transmitting unit that transmits, via a communication network, the video signal having been compressed, and the video signal compression unit compresses, in each frame of the video signal, the second area of the image inspection screen at a compression rate higher than a compression rate of the first area.Type: GrantFiled: July 1, 2019Date of Patent: November 1, 2022Assignee: Shimadzu CorporationInventor: Hidekazu Minami
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Publication number: 20220340989Abstract: A high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet having a high yield ratio and excellent stretch flangeability and a method for manufacturing the steel sheet. The high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet has a chemical composition including, by mass %, C: 0.10 to 0.30%, Si: 0.50 to 2.00%, Mn: 2.5 to 4.0%, P: 0.050% or less, S: 0.020% or less, Al: 0.10% or less, N: 0.01% or less, Ti: 0.100% or less, and B: 0.0003 to 0.0030%, with the balance being Fe and incidental impurities. N and Ti satisfy a specified formula, and the total area fraction of martensite and bainite is 95% or more. The number density of bainite grains having an area of 3 ?m2 or more and a carbon concentration of less than 0.7C is 1200 grains/mm2 or less.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 19, 2020Publication date: October 27, 2022Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Yuji TANAKA, Hidekazu MINAMI, Naoki TAKAYAMA, Takako YAMASHITA
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Publication number: 20220251676Abstract: Provided are a high-strength hot-dip galvanized steel sheet that has a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more and excellent ductility, stretch flangeability, bendability and LME resistance and can manufacture parts with high dimensional accuracy, and its manufacturing method. The high-strength steel sheet with a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more has a chemical composition containing C, Si, Mn, P, S, Al and N, with [% Si], [% Mn], [% P], [% Mo] and [% Cr] satisfying a predetermined relationship and the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, and a steel microstructure including ferrite, tempered martensite and bainite, and retained austenite, where the diffusible hydrogen amount in the steel sheet is 0.60 mass ppm or less, a thickness of softened surface layer is 5 ?m or more and 150 ?m or less, and a frequency of coincidence boundary in the steel sheet surface layer after a high-temperature tensile test is 0.45 or less.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 19, 2020Publication date: August 11, 2022Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu MINAMI, Takeshi YOKOTA, Yoshiyasu KAWASAKI, Shotaro TERASHIMA
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Patent number: 11408058Abstract: There is provided a high-strength steel sheet and a method for producing the same. The steel sheet has a specified chemical composition and a microstructure including, in terms of area percentage, 20.0% or more and 60.0% or less ferrite, 40.0% or more and 80.0% or less of a hard phase composed of bainitic ferrite, tempered martensite, fresh martensite, and retained austenite, 35.0% or more and 55.0% or less bainitic ferrite with respect to the entire hard phase, 20.0% or more and 40.0% or less tempered martensite with respect to the entire hard phase, 3.0% or more and 15.0% or less fresh martensite with respect to the entire hard phase, and 5.0% or more and 20.0% or less retained austenite with respect to the entire hard phase.Type: GrantFiled: February 9, 2018Date of Patent: August 9, 2022Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Takashi Kobayashi, Shinjiro Kaneko, Yuji Tanaka
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Patent number: 11408044Abstract: There is provided a high-strength steel sheet and a method for producing the same. The high-strength steel sheet has a specified chemical composition and a steel microstructure including, by area fraction, 75.0% or more tempered martensite, 1.0% or more and 20.0% or less fresh martensite, and 5.0% or more and 20.0% or less retained austenite. A hardness ratio of the fresh martensite to the tempered martensite is 1.5 or more and 3.0 or less, the ratio of the maximum KAM value in the tempered martensite in the vicinity of the heterophase interface between the tempered martensite and the fresh martensite to the average KAM value in the tempered martensite is 1.5 or more and 30.0 or less, and the average of ratios of grain sizes of prior austenite grains in the rolling direction to those in the thickness direction is 2.0 or less.Type: GrantFiled: February 9, 2018Date of Patent: August 9, 2022Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Fusae Shiimori, Shinjiro Kaneko, Takashi Kobayashi, Yuji Tanaka
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Patent number: 11401595Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet having a TS of 780 MPa or more, excellent stretch flangeability, and excellent in-plane anisotropy of TS is provided. A high-strength steel sheet comprises: a predetermined chemical composition; a steel microstructure including, in area fraction, ferrite: 20% or more and 50% or less, lower bainite: 5% or more and 40% or less, martensite: 1% or more and 20% or less, and tempered martensite: 20% or less, and including, in volume fraction, retained austenite: 5% or more, the retained austenite having an average grain size of 2 ?m or less; and a texture having an inverse intensity ratio of ?-fiber to ?-fiber of 3.0 or less.Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2017Date of Patent: August 2, 2022Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu Minami, Shinjiro Kaneko, Reiko Sugihara, Kazunori Tahara, Kazuma Mori
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Patent number: 11401569Abstract: Provided is a high-strength steel sheet having a tensile strength (TS) of 750 MPa or more and excellent in ductility and stretch flangeability, in which the steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition and a microstructure containing, in area ratio, ferrite: 50% to 90%, quenched martensite: 1% to 8%, tempered martensite: 3% to 40%, and retained austenite: 6% to 15%, the quenched martensite has an average grain size of 2.5 ?m or less, the quenched martensite has an average circularity index of 0.50 or more, the circularity index being defined as 4 ?M/D2, where D is a perimeter of the quenched martensite and M is an area of the quenched martensite, and the steel sheet has a ratio of an area ratio of the quenched martensite fM to a total area ratio of the quenched martensite and the tempered martensite fM+TM, fM/fM+TM, of 50% or less.Type: GrantFiled: October 29, 2018Date of Patent: August 2, 2022Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Seigo Tsuchihashi, Hidekazu Minami, Takashi Kobayashi
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Publication number: 20220195552Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet comprises: a chemical composition containing C, Si, Mn, P, S, Al, N, Mo, Cr, Ca, and Sb with a balance consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein [% Si], [% Mn], [% P], [% Mo], and [% Cr] satisfy a predetermined relationship; a steel microstructure that contains ferrite, hard phase, and retained austenite and in which a carbon concentration in the retained austenite is 0.55% or more and 1.10% or less, an amount of diffusible hydrogen in the steel sheet is 0.80 mass ppm or less, a surface layer softening thickness is 5 ?m or more and 150 ?m or less, and a corresponding grain boundary frequency in a surface layer of the steel sheet after a high-temperature tensile test is 0.45 or less; and a tensile strength of 980 MPa or more.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 21, 2020Publication date: June 23, 2022Applicant: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Hidekazu MINAMI, Yuji TANAKA, Takeshi YOKOTA
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Patent number: 11332804Abstract: A high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet or high-strength coated steel sheet that has a tensile strength (TS) of 780 MPa or more and has high ductility, stretch-flangeability, and in-plane stability of stretch-flangeability and methods for producing the same. The high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet has a specified chemical composition and a microstructure comprising, by area fraction, in a range of 50% to 80% of ferrite, 8% or less of martensite with an average grain size of 2.5 ?m or less, in a range of 6% to 15% of retained austenite, and in a range of 3% to 40% of tempered martensite. A ratio fM/fM+TM being 50% or less, where fM denotes the area fraction of martensite and fM+TM denotes the total area fraction of martensite and tempered martensite, and a standard deviation of the grain size of martensite at certain portions being 0.7 ?m or less.Type: GrantFiled: January 21, 2019Date of Patent: May 17, 2022Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATIONInventors: Seigo Tsuchihashi, Shinsuke Komine, Tatsuya Nakagaito, Hidekazu Minami