Patents by Inventor Hiroaki Ichikawa

Hiroaki Ichikawa 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: 8986197
    Abstract: A medical system includes: a treatment instrument having an insertion portion configured by an exterior member, and an insertion member that is inserted into the exterior member and is longer than the exterior member; an insertion portion inserting/pulling-out device to transmit a driving force to the exterior member or the insertion member configuring the insertion portion of the treatment instrument, the insertion portion inserting/pulling-out device advancing/retreating at least one of the exterior member and the insertion member; and a driving force non-transmitting portion provided to the insertion member, the driving force non-transmitting portion preventing a driving force of the insertion portion inserting/pulling-out device from being transmitted to the exterior member when the insertion member is moved by a predetermined distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Tsutomu Okada, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Takaaki Komiya, Yoshio Onuki, Kazuki Honda, Yasuhito Kura, Kazushi Murakami
  • Patent number: 8934277
    Abstract: In some aspects of the invention, multiple insulating substrates each mounting thereon at least one each of at least four semiconductor devices that form at least one of three-level electric power inverter circuits and a base plate on the one surface of which a plurality of the insulating plates are arranged are provided. On the one surface of the base plate, at least four regions are established and multiple insulating substrates are arranged to be distributed so that at least one each of the at least four semiconductor devices is arranged in each of the four regions established on the base plate. This can make the semiconductor devices arranged to be distributed so that heat generating sections determined according to the operation mode of the semiconductor system comes to be partial to disperse generated heat, by which a semiconductor system is provided which can enhance heat dispersion efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shuangching Chen, Hiroaki Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 8931149
    Abstract: A wire coloring apparatus including a roller is provided to prevent drag of a colorant, which is jetted on an electric wire and not dried yet, the guide roller is arranged at a downstream side of a coloring nozzle, which jets a colorant toward a highest point of an outer surface of the electric wire moving along a lengthwise direction thereof, in a moving direction of the electric wire. The guide roller is formed with a pair of tapered surfaces catching and supporting the electric wire and approaching to each other in accordance with nearing to a rotating axis. When a radius REW of the electric wire 3 is 1.2 mm, an angle ?T formed by the pair of tapered surfaces is designed at least 60 degrees and not more than ?X degrees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Ichikawa, Masahiko Agata, Tatsuo Osada
  • Patent number: 8926609
    Abstract: A surgical device which is configured to apply energy to living tissue and to be used to perform a surgical procedure includes a grasping portion, an incising portion, an introduction portion and a treatment portion. The grasping portion grasps the living tissue having a first surface and a second surface. The incising portion is movable forward and backward with respect to the living tissue and incises the living tissue. The introduction portion is movable forward and backward with respect to the living tissue and introduces a biocompatible material, which is chemically bound with the living tissue, to a space between the first surface and the second surface. The treatment portion is configured to apply high-frequency energy and thermal energy to the living tissue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Ichikawa, Hideyuki Kasahara, Hiroshi Kakidachi, Masato Tamai
  • Patent number: 8830157
    Abstract: A display apparatus includes display means for displaying an image, a light source that irradiates light to the display means, and control means for controlling the quantity of light of the light source with pulse width modulation. The control means controls the quantity of light of the light source based on the ratio of the light-on period with pulse width modulation to the light-off period when the light source is turned off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Ichikawa, Kenichi Kikuchi, Kimio Hatajiri
  • Publication number: 20140218991
    Abstract: In some aspects of the invention, multiple insulating substrates each mounting thereon at least one each of at least four semiconductor devices that form at least one of three-level electric power inverter circuits and a base plate on the one surface of which a plurality of the insulating plates are arranged are provided. On the one surface of the base plate, at least four regions are established and multiple insulating substrates are arranged to be distributed so that at least one each of the at least four semiconductor devices is arranged in each of the four regions established on the base plate. This can make the semiconductor devices arranged to be distributed so that heat generating sections determined according to the operation mode of the semiconductor system comes to be partial to disperse generated heat, by which a semiconductor system is provided which can enhance heat dispersion efficiency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2014
    Publication date: August 7, 2014
    Applicant: FUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shuangching CHEN, Hiroaki ICHIKAWA
  • Patent number: 8702700
    Abstract: A surgical treatment device which is used together with an endoscope, includes a sheath, a treatment portion which is arranged at the distal end portion of the sheath and includes first to third electrodes configured to treat a living tissue by using electrical energy, an operation portion which is arranged at a proximal end portion of the sheath and which is configured to operate the treatment portion, and a switching portion which is configured to switch between a first mode in which a treatment is given by using the first electrode and at least one of the second and third electrodes in the treatment portion and a second mode in which a treatment is given by using the second and third electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignees: Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation, Olympus Medical Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Seiji Maeda, Hideyuki Kasahara, Akihito Kano, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Susumu Komagata, Randal J. Kadykowski
  • Patent number: 8529554
    Abstract: A treatment instrument operation unit is provided with a drive unit, an operation portion installation section and a command signal output section. The drive unit drives an operation portion for operating each treatment section of the respective treatment instruments. The operation portion is attached to the operation portion installation section provided to the drive unit. The command signal output section outputs an installation start signal to a controller for notifying that the installation of the treatment instrument has begun upon installation of the operation portion in the operation portion installation section. After outputting the installation start signal from the command signal output section to the controller, the drive unit drives the operation portion installation section to the position where the operation portion is allowed to be installed based on the control signal outputted form the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Kazushi Murakami, Yoshio Onuki, Takaaki Komiya, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Tsutomu Okada, Kazuki Honda, Yasuhito Kura
  • Patent number: 8367154
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide an apparatus for coloring an electrical wire to improve a visibility and design of the electrical wire. The apparatus includes a coloring device for ejecting a liquid coloring material to an outer surface of the electrical wire and a sliding device for moving relatively the coloring device in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the electrical wire so as to color each whole outer surface of a plurality of coloring regions thereof responsive to a belt-shaped design pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Yanagawa, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Masahiko Agata, Tatsuo Osada, Kenji Kinezuka
  • Patent number: 8325452
    Abstract: In order to enable detection of degradation of the heat dissipation from a semiconductor chip, even when the operating state of a semiconductor device cannot be predicted, a thermal resistance calculation circuit calculates the thermal resistance of the heat dissipation path from the semiconductor chip, based on the loss of a switching element calculated by a loss calculation circuit and the temperature of the semiconductor chip calculated by a temperature calculation portion, and when the voltage corresponding to the thermal resistance calculated by the thermal resistance calculation circuit exceeds a reference voltage, switching operation of the switching element is halted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroaki Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 8305338
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display apparatus and backlight adjustment method are provided. Backlight luminance sensors 111A to 111D are disposed in the vicinity of four outer corners of an effective screen of an LCD panel 121. Each of the backlight luminance sensors 111A to 111D detects the luminance of each of three primary colors. A backlight unit is composed of a three-primary LED array and a light diffusion unit. Transistors of the backlight luminance sensors and transistors of a pixel portion are formed on the same substrate in the same process. When a transistor is irradiated with backlight in its sufficient off region, an off current occurs due to light excitation. Since the value of the off current corresponds to the luminance of the rays of backlight that irradiates the transistor, the luminance of the backlight is detected with an output voltage into which the off current is converted. As a result, the luminance of the backlight is kept constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroaki Ichikawa
  • Publication number: 20120216744
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide an apparatus for coloring an electrical wire to improve a visibility and design of the electrical wire. The apparatus includes a coloring device for ejecting a liquid coloring material to an outer surface of the electrical wire and a sliding device for moving relatively the coloring device in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the electrical wire so as to color each whole outer surface of a plurality of coloring regions thereof responsive to a belt-shaped design pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: Yazaki Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Yanagawa, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Masahiko Agata, Tatsuo Osada, Kenji Kinezuka
  • Publication number: 20120162161
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display having: a liquid crystal display panel in which a plurality of pixels are two-dimensionally arranged at intersecting points of gate lines as many as a plurality of rows and signal lines as many as a plurality of columns which are wired in a matrix shape; and a plurality of driver ICs for applying a signal potential to each pixel of the liquid crystal display panel through the signal lines of a plurality of columns, wherein the number of output pins of each of a plurality of driver ICs is set to the measure of the total number of signal lines of a plurality of columns, thereby preventing that a fraction occurs in the signal lines.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2012
    Publication date: June 28, 2012
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masumitsu Ino, Hiroyoshi Tsubota, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Shinichi Teraguchi, Taketo Oka, Toru Akutagawa, Toshikazu Maekawa, Yoshiharu Nakajima, Naoshi Goto
  • Publication number: 20120145072
    Abstract: A wire coloring apparatus including a roller is provided to prevent drag of a colorant, which is jetted on an electric wire and not dried yet, the guide roller is arranged at a downstream side of a coloring nozzle, which jets a colorant toward a highest point of an outer surface of the electric wire moving along a lengthwise direction thereof, in a moving direction of the electric wire. The guide roller is formed with a pair of tapered surfaces catching and supporting the electric wire and approaching to each other in accordance with nearing to a rotating axis. When a radius REW of the electric wire 3 is 1.2 mm, an angle ?T formed by the pair of tapered surfaces is designed at least 60 degrees and not more than ?X degrees.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2012
    Publication date: June 14, 2012
    Applicant: Yazaki Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki ICHIKAWA, Masahiko Agata, Tatsuo Osada
  • Patent number: 8174487
    Abstract: The disclosure includes various embodiments including, for example: (i) a color liquid crystal display unit has a color display panel of transmissive type and a backlight unit placed behind the color display panel; (ii) a backlight unit has a plurality of LEDs connected in series and a drive unit to drive the LEDs; (iii) a temperature sensor to detect the temperature of LEDs; (iv) groups of LEDs are arranged in regions where the display unit has the same temperature; and (v) a drive unit controls current to be supplied to LEDs in response to temperature detected by the temperature sensor so that the LEDs retain the constant brightness even when the LEDs fluctuate in temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Norimasa Furukawa, Kenichi Kikuchi, Hiroaki Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 8111020
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a drive apparatus for a backlight unit (20) in which plural LED (Light Emitting Diode) elements are cascade-connected every three primary colors, which comprises a signal generating unit (44) for generating a signal having an arbitrary amplitude, an adjustment unit (50) for adjusting light emission quantities of groups of LED elements (30) on the basis of the signal which has been generated by the signal generating unit (44), a voltage applying unit (41) for applying a predetermined voltage every the groups of LED elements (30), light emission quantity detecting units (33) for detecting quantities of rays of light which have been emitted from the groups of LED elements (30), calorific value detecting units (32) for detecting calorific values emitted from the groups of LED elements in accordance with the voltage which has been applied to the voltage applying unit (41), and a control unit (50) for controlling the signal generating unit (44) on the basis of light emission qua
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Norimasa Furukawa, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Kenichi Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 8105230
    Abstract: A medical system according to the present invention includes: a medical instrument provided with a treatment portion for performing treatment operations on living body tissue; a treatment portion displacement mechanism for displacing the position of the treatment portion of the medical instrument; a treatment detection portion that detects whether the treatment portion is in a treatment state or a non-treatment state; and a control portion that controls displacement of the treatment portion by controlling the treatment portion displacement mechanism according to detection results from the treatment detection portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Kazuki Honda, Yasuhito Kura, Takaaki Komiya, Kazushi Murakami, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Tsutomu Okada, Yoshio Onuki
  • Patent number: 8083669
    Abstract: A medical device of the invention includes: a treatment instrument including a treatment portion which is used extended from a distal end of an endoscope insertion portion having a treatment instrument channel, an operation portion for operation of advancing/retreating an operation wire coupled to the treatment portion, and a treatment instrument insertion portion in which the operation wire is advanceably/retreatably inserted, the treatment instrument insertion portion having a predetermined flexibility and inserted into the treatment instrument channel; a detecting portion for detecting advancing/retreating moving amount of the treatment instrument insertion portion; a treatment portion operating device to which the operation portion is installed, the treatment portion operating device advancing/retreating the operation wire to operate the treatment portion; an operation instructing portion for instructing operation of the treatment portion; and a control device for judging a state of the treatment instrume
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Kazushi Murakami, Yoshio Onuki, Takaaki Komiya, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Yasuhito Kura, Kazuki Honda, Takehiro Nishiie
  • Patent number: 8075474
    Abstract: An endoscope system according to the present invention includes: an endoscope equipped with a long insertion portion; a medical instrument which includes a treating portion installed in a distal part and used to perform various treatments in a body cavity and a long sheath including a rigid portion with predetermined flexibility and a flexible portion more flexible than the rigid portion, the rigid portion and flexible portion being installed consecutively starting from a distal side, where the sheath is inserted in a channel of the insertion portion of the endoscope; an operation instruction apparatus used to give commands regarding operation of the medical instrument; a first medical instrument drive apparatus which operates the treating portion of the medical instrument; and a second medical instrument drive apparatus which moves the sheath forward and backward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Kazuki Honda, Kazushi Murakami, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Takehiro Nishiie, Yasuhito Kura, Yoshio Onuki, Takaaki Komiya
  • Patent number: 8075475
    Abstract: According to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope system including: an endoscope having an elongated insertion portion; a medical instrument configured to be inserted in a channel of the insertion portion of the endoscope and to have an elongated flexible sheath; and an advancing and retracting apparatus configured to advance and retract the sheath of the medical instrument in the channel with two rollers, wherein the sheath of the medical instrument is configured to have an outer diameter larger than the distance between the roller surfaces of the two rollers, and to have a frictional resistance increasing unit for increasing frictional resistance between the respective roller surfaces and the outer peripheral surface of the sheath in contact with the respective roller surfaces in a state where the sheath is inserted between the two rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Olympus Medical Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Kazuki Honda, Kazushi Murakami, Hiroaki Ichikawa, Takehiro Nishiie, Yasuhito Kura, Yoshio Onuki, Takaaki Komiya