Patents by Inventor Hiroki Nagai

Hiroki Nagai 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: 9196891
    Abstract: An electrode is provided with a metal terminal extending from a battery module main body, a bolt which has an expanded section configuring a retaining section at a rear end portion and penetrates the metal terminal upward, and an insulating body which insulates the metal terminal and the battery module case one from the other. The insulating body is provided with a drop preventing section which abuts at least a lower surface of the expanded section of the bolt and prevents the bolt from dropping from the metal terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takenori Tsuchiya, Hiroki Nagai, Masahide Hikosaka
  • Publication number: 20150325838
    Abstract: A lithium secondary battery includes an electrode body containing a positive electrode and a negative electrode, a non-aqueous electrolytic solution, and a battery case in which the electrode body and the non-aqueous electrolytic solution are housed, wherein the positive electrode includes a positive electrode active material particle of a hollow structure having a shell portion formed of a lamellar lithium transition metal oxide and a hollow portion formed therein, the long diameter of a primary particle of the lithium transition metal oxide based on SEM observation is 1 ?m or less, the thickness of the shell portion based on SEM observation is 2 ?m or less, the negative electrode is provided with a negative electrode active material particle formed of a carbon material, and a krypton adsorption amount of the negative electrode active material particle is 3.5 m2/g or greater but 4 m2/g or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2013
    Publication date: November 12, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takumi TAMAKI, Hiroki NAGAI, Tetsuya WASEDA
  • Patent number: 9184442
    Abstract: A secondary battery 100 includes a positive electrode current collector 221 and a positive electrode mixture layer 223 coated on the positive electrode current collector 221. The positive electrode mixture layer 223 includes a positive electrode active material 610 and an electrically conductive material 620. A ratio (Vb/Va) of a volume Vb of holes formed inside the positive electrode mixture layer 223 to an apparent volume Va of the positive electrode mixture layer 223 satisfies 0.30?(Vb/Va). In addition, in a micropore distribution of differential micropore volume with respect to a micropore diameter as measured by the mercury intrusion method, the positive electrode mixture layer 223 has a first peak at which a micropore diameter D1 satisfies D1?0.25 ?m and a second peak at which a micropore diameter D2 is greater than the first peak micropore diameter D1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroki Nagai, Masahiro Morita, Takashi Iwao
  • Publication number: 20150315342
    Abstract: To provide a process for producing a PTFE molding powder having a high bulk density from granular polymer particles without using an emulsifying agent having problems of bioaccumulation and toxicity. A process for producing a polytetrafluoroethylene molding powder, which comprises a step of suspension-polymerizing a monomer containing at least 99.8 mass % of tetrafluoroethylene in an aqueous medium to produce granular polymer particles and a step of milling the granular polymer particles, wherein the aqueous medium contains a compound represented by RF(OCF(X1)CF2)k-1OCF(X2)COO?M+, at a concentration of from 0.5 to 2,000 ppm. RF is a perfluorinated C1-10 monovalent organic group, X1 and X2 are fluorine atoms, etc., and M+ is an ammonium ion or the like.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Publication date: November 5, 2015
    Applicant: ASAHI GLASS COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Shinya HIGUCHI, Masahiro Takazawa, Hiroki Nagai
  • Patent number: 9172124
    Abstract: A photoelectric conversion material is obtained through easy processing from a substance containing silicon oxide, which is inexpensive, imposes no burden on the environment, and is stable, as a component. This material can be used in a photocell and a secondary photocell. Any of synthetic quartz, fused quartz glass, soda-lime glass, non-alkali glass, and borosilicate glass, which are compositions containing silicon oxide, is pulverized, immersed in an aqueous solution of halogen acid, washed with water, and dried. The resultant material is deposited on an electrode plate and this electrode plate is placed in water where an appropriate electrolyte is mixed. This electrode plate is electrically connected to an opposite electrode to provide a photoelectrode. The material may be enclosed in a container, mixed with an organic electrolyte, having an extraction electrode and an opposite electrode, to provide a photocell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: IFTL-SOLAR INC.
    Inventors: Nobuaki Komatsu, Tomoko Ito, Hiroki Nagai
  • Patent number: 9159983
    Abstract: A battery includes a current breaking mechanism 20 provided in a battery and configured such that an external terminal 21 connecting a terminal rivet 31 connected to a power generating element 16 to an electrode terminal is provided with thick portions 48 and 49 and a breakable portion 45 so that the thick portions 48 and 49 are continuous through the breakable portion 45 only. The battery further includes: the terminal rivet 31 placed passing through a closing plate 12 forming a part of a battery case 11, a part of the terminal rivet 31 located outside the battery case 11 being placed on the thick portion 48 of the external terminal 21 in close contact relation, the terminal rivet 31 having a through hole 32; and a sealing cap 25 covering an exit of the through hole 32 on the outside of the battery case 11 and being joined to the external terminal 21 over the entire circumference of the through hole 32 or joined to both the external terminal 21 and the terminal rivet 31 across them.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroki Nagai
  • Patent number: 9159998
    Abstract: A positive electrode active material provided in the present invention is characterized in that it is substantially formed of a lithium nickel cobalt manganese composite oxide and that a molar content ratio (NiIII/NiII) of bivalent nickel atoms (NiII) and trivalent nickel atoms (NiIII) of nickel atoms constituting the composite oxide is 0.15?(NiIII/NiII)?0.95.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroki Nagai, Satoshi Goto, Hidekazu Hiratsuka
  • Patent number: 9133906
    Abstract: A centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device comprising having a support member coupled to a rotary element that is rotated by power from a drive device, and a mass body coupled to the support member so as to swing about a pendulum fulcrum and rotate about a center of gravity. An order of vibration of the mass body is determined on the basis of an order of vibration to be damped generated by the drive device in consideration of at least a rotational angle of the mass body about the pendulum fulcrum and a rotational angle of the mass body about the center of gravity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignees: AISIN AW CO., LTD., AISIN AW INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Takikawa, Yoichi Oi, Hiroki Nagai, Takayuki Miyaoka, Yuichiro Hirai, Takuya Yoshikawa, Tomonori Kinoshita, Aki Ogawa
  • Patent number: 9133907
    Abstract: A centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device disposed within a liquid chamber that stores a liquid, the centrifugal-pendulum vibration absorbing device having a support member coupled to a rotary element that is rotated by power from a drive device; and a mass body supported by the support member so as to be swingable. An order of vibration of the mass body is determined on the basis of an order of vibration to be damped generated by the drive device in consideration of at least a force caused by a centrifugal liquid pressure generated within the liquid chamber along with rotation of the drive device to act on the mass body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignees: AISIN AW CO., LTD., AISIN AW INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Takikawa, Yoichi Oi, Hiroki Nagai, Takayuki Miyaoka, Yuichiro Hirai, Takuya Yoshikawa, Tomonori Kinoshita, Aki Ogawa
  • Patent number: 9126845
    Abstract: The present invention provides a lithium secondary battery having a great output power in a low SOC range and a positive electrode active material for use in the battery. The battery comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a non-aqueous electrolyte. The positive electrode comprises a positive electrode active material in a form of secondary particles as aggregates of primary particles of a lithium transition metal oxide. The positive electrode active material comprises at least one species of Ni, Co and Mn, and further comprises W and Mg. The W is present, concentrated on surfaces of the primary particles while the Mg is present throughout the primary particles. The Mg content in the positive electrode active material is higher than 50 ppm relative, to the total amount of the active material based on the mass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroki Nagai
  • Publication number: 20150207147
    Abstract: This invention provides a method for producing a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery. The method comprises constructing a battery cell that comprises a positive electrode comprising a positive electrode active material, a negative electrode comprising a negative electrode active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution comprising a non-aqueous solvent and an oxalatoborate-based compound. The method further comprises charging the battery cell to form on the negative electrode a layer that is derived from the oxalatoborate-based compound and comprises boron and oxalate ions. The method further comprises carrying out a modification treatment to increase the ratio of number of moles mB of boron to number of moles mA of oxalate ions in the layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2013
    Publication date: July 23, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroki Nagai, Takumi Tamaki, Hiroshi Onizuka
  • Publication number: 20150188183
    Abstract: A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The positive electrode of this secondary battery contains a positive electrode active substance having a hollow structure, which has a shell portion and a hollow portion formed inside the shell portion. In addition, a heat-resistant barrier layer is disposed between the positive electrode and the separator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2013
    Publication date: July 2, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroki Nagai, Takumi Tamaki
  • Patent number: 9040194
    Abstract: An electrode is provided with a metal terminal extending from a battery module main body, a bolt which has an expanded section configuring a retaining section at a rear end portion and penetrates the metal terminal upward, and an insulating body which insulates the metal terminal and the battery module case one from the other. The insulating body is provided with a drop preventing section which abuts at least a lower surface of the expanded section of the bolt and prevents the bolt from dropping from the metal terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takenori Tsuchiya, Hiroki Nagai, Masahide Hikosaka
  • Publication number: 20150140389
    Abstract: A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a heat-resistant layer disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The positive electrode of this secondary battery contains a positive electrode active substance having a hollow structure, which has a shell portion and a hollow portion formed inside the shell portion. In addition, the heat-resistant layer contains plate-shaped inorganic filler particles as the main component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2013
    Publication date: May 21, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroki Nagai, Takumi Tamaki, Harunari Shimamura
  • Patent number: 9005804
    Abstract: An electrode is provided with a metal terminal extending from a battery module main body, a bolt which has an expanded section configuring a retaining section at a rear end portion and penetrates the metal terminal upward, and an insulating body which insulates the metal terminal and the battery module case one from the other. The insulating body is provided with a drop preventing section which abuts at least a lower surface of the expanded section of the bolt and prevents the bolt from dropping from the metal terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takenori Tsuchiya, Hiroki Nagai, Masahide Hikosaka
  • Publication number: 20150090929
    Abstract: A lithium-ion secondary battery 100 includes a positive electrode current collector 221 and a porous positive electrode active material layer 223 retained by the positive electrode current collector 221. The positive electrode active material layer 223 contains, for example, positive electrode active material particles 610, an electrically conductive material 620, and a binder 630. In this lithium-ion secondary battery 100, the positive electrode active material particles 610 have a shell portion 612 constituted by a lithium transition metal oxide, a hollow portion 614 formed inside the shell portion 612, and a through hole 616 penetrating the shell portion 612. In the lithium-ion secondary battery 100, in the positive electrode active material layer 223 on average, the hollow portion 614 accounts for 23% or higher of an apparent sectional area of the positive electrode active material particles 610.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2014
    Publication date: April 2, 2015
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroki Nagai
  • Patent number: 8986570
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for producing a positive electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery constituted by a lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese complex oxide with a lamellar structure, the method including: (1) a step of preparing a starting source material for producing the complex oxide including a lithium supply source, a nickel supply source, a cobalt supply source, and a manganese supply source; (2) a step of pre-firing the starting source material by heating at a pre-firing temperature that has been set to a temperature lower than 800° C. and higher than a melting temperature of the lithium supply source; and (3) a step of firing the pre-fired material obtained in the pre-firing step by raising a temperature to a temperature range higher than the pre-firing temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroki Nagai, Hidekazu Hiratsuka
  • Patent number: 8986884
    Abstract: A lithium-ion secondary battery comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode is provided. The positive electrode comprises as a positive electrode active material a lithium transition metal composite oxide having a layered structure. The composite oxide contains as its metal components at least one species of Ni, Co and Mn as well as W and Ca. The composite oxide contains 0.26 mol % or more, but 5 mol % or less of W and Ca combined when all the metal elements contained in the oxide excluding lithium account for a total of 100 mol %, with the ratio (mW/mCa) of the number of moles of W contained, mW, to the number of moles of Ca contained, mCa, being 2.0 or larger, but 50 or smaller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroki Nagai
  • Patent number: 8986877
    Abstract: A battery (100) provided by the invention includes an electrode assembly (30) having a current collector forming a positive electrode and a current collector forming a negative electrode; and a flat terminal (10a, 10b) joined to each current collector. The flat terminal (10a, 10b) has a flat portion (12) including a joint area (11) joined to the corresponding the current collector, and the flat terminal has a first curved portion (14) that is formed away from the joint area along the longitudinal direction (13) of the flat terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroki Nagai, Satomi Kawase, Tooru Nakai
  • Publication number: 20150072232
    Abstract: In a lithium-ion secondary battery (100), positive electrode active material particles (610) each include a shell portion (612) made of a layered lithium-transition metal oxide, a hollow portion (614) formed inside the shell portion (612), and a through-hole (616) penetrating through the shell portion (612). A positive electrode active material layer (223) has a density A of 1.80 g/cm3?A?2.35 g/cm3, and a negative electrode active material layer (243) has a density B of 0.95 g/cm3?B?1.25 g/cm3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Publication date: March 12, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroki Nagai