Patents by Inventor Hiromu Inoue

Hiromu Inoue 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: 9557277
    Abstract: An inspection apparatus comprising, a focal position detector that detects a reference focal position of an image plane of a sample from a variation of an output value in optical image data of the sample, the output value being acquired by changing a distance between a first lens and the sample, and detects an optimum focal position of an inspection from the reference focal position, an image processor that obtains at least one of either an average gradation value in each predetermined unit region or a variation of a gradation value in the unit region with respect to the optical image data obtained at the optimum focal position, and a defect detector that detects a defect of the sample based on at least one of either the average gradation value or the variation of the gradation value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiromu Inoue, Riki Ogawa
  • Publication number: 20170018916
    Abstract: A door hole seal is provided between an inner panel and a door trim of an automobile door. The door hole seal comprises a slit mechanism used to pull out a wire harness from an outer-cabin side to an inner-cabin side or from the inner-cabin side to the outer-cabin side. The slit mechanism comprises a first slit extending up and down with respect to the main sheet and a circular hole formed at a lower end of the first slit. The circular hole has a diameter that is identical to or slightly smaller than that of a wire harness, and is arranged to receive the wire harness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2016
    Publication date: January 19, 2017
    Inventors: Yasuhiro ITSUKI, Naoya SASAKI, Satoshi ENDO, Hiromu INOUE
  • Patent number: 9539884
    Abstract: A door sash joined to a door body in a simple manner is provided. A door sash includes a design part, a tubular part, and a connection part. The connection part includes a first connection part continuous to the design part, a second connection part continuous to the tubular part, and a stepped part between the first connection part and the second connection part. The second connection part is closer to the inner side of the door opening than the first connection part. A vicinity of one end of the plate material in a cross section view includes an overlapping part forming a closed cross section by overlapping on the second connection part from the outside. The surface of the overlapping part is closer to the inner side of the door opening than the surface of the first connection part or flush with the surface of the first connection part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoshi Endo, Hiromu Inoue
  • Patent number: 9460502
    Abstract: A defect inspection apparatus including an illumination optical system, an image formation optical system, an image data conversion unit, a singular part detecting circuit, an optical path length adjusting mechanism, and a defect determining unit. The image formation optical system forms an optical image derived from light passing through first and second optical paths. The image data conversion unit converts, to image data, each of the optical images. The singular part detecting circuit detects a singular part in each of the image data. The optical path length adjusting mechanism equalizes the optical path lengths of the first and second optical paths. The defect determining unit determines a defect on the basis of singular part detection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Hiromu Inoue, Takeshi Fujiwara
  • Publication number: 20160221422
    Abstract: A door sash joined to a door body in a simple manner is provided. A door sash includes a design part, a tubular part, and a connection part. The connection part includes a first connection part continuous to the design part, a second connection part continuous to the tubular part, and a stepped part between the first connection part and the second connection part. The second connection part is closer to the inner side of the door opening than the first connection part. A vicinity of one end of the plate material in a cross section view includes an overlapping part forming a closed cross section by overlapping on the second connection part from the outside. The surface of the overlapping part is closer to the inner side of the door opening than the surface of the first connection part or flush with the surface of the first connection part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2014
    Publication date: August 4, 2016
    Inventors: Satoshi Endo, Hiromu Inoue
  • Patent number: 9406117
    Abstract: A method and system for imaging an object to be inspected and obtaining an optical image; creating a reference image from design pattern data; preparing an inspection recipe including one or more templates and parameter settings necessary for the inspection; checking the pattern and the template against each other, and selecting the reference image which corresponds to the template; detecting first and second edges in the selected reference image in accordance with the parameter setting using determined coordinates as a reference; detecting first and second edges in the optical image, this optical image corresponds to the selected reference image; and determining an inspection value by acquiring the difference between the line width of the optical image and the reference image using the first edge and second edge of the reference image and the first edge and second edges of the optical image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Takanao Touya, Shuichi Tamamushi, Hidenori Sato, Hiroyuki Tanizaki, Takeshi Fujiwara, Eiji Sawa, Kentaro Okuda, Hiroyuki Ikeda, Hiromu Inoue, Hiroshi Tsukada
  • Publication number: 20160214468
    Abstract: A vehicle door manufactured at a low cost and providing a flush feeling of a vehicle, wherein a front door includes a door body, a door sash, and door glass, the door sash including a receiving part receiving the door glass, and a molding adjacent to an outside surface of the vehicle body around a door opening, the molding including an outside wall being a wall part at a vehicle outer side of the receiving part, and an inclined wall inclining inward a vehicle as getting closer to a parting line, wherein an outer surface of the outside wall is positioned more outside a vehicle than the parting line, and a distal edge of the inclined wall is positioned more inside a vehicle than the parting line, or included in a tangent plane to the outer surface of the vehicle body near the parting line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2014
    Publication date: July 28, 2016
    Inventors: Satoshi Endo, Hiromu Inoue
  • Patent number: 9290971
    Abstract: A door device for a vehicle includes a cable for connecting a handle device and a lock unit. A cable holding member mounted to the handle device is displaced between an engagement position in which the cable holding member engages with the cable and a non-engagement position in which the cable holding member does not engage with the cable. A contact portion of a door panel is configured such that when the handle device is being mounted to the door panel, the contact portion contacts the cable holding member in the non-engagement position and interferes with the assembly of the handle device to the door panel and the contact portion does not contact the cable holding member in the engagement position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toyohisa Amagai, Kinji Hoshikawa, Hiromu Inoue
  • Publication number: 20160034632
    Abstract: In a position measuring method, a mask including first patterns to be transferred and second patterns not to be transferred is prepared. The position coordinates of the second patterns are measured with a position measuring apparatus and an inspection system. First position correction data is generated based on the position coordinates of the second patterns. A difference is obtained between the measured position coordinates of the second patterns and the first position correction data is corrected using the obtained difference. Second position correction data is generated from the corrected first position correction data. An optical image including the position coordinates of the first and second patterns is acquired. The position coordinates of the first patterns of the optical image are corrected using a difference between the position coordinates of the second patterns of the optical image and of the second patterns based on the second position correction data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2015
    Publication date: February 4, 2016
    Applicant: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Hiromu INOUE
  • Patent number: 9207189
    Abstract: A sample support apparatus is provided in which a XY-table and a Z-table moving along a height direction are disposed in a Z-reference surface as a height reference, and in which a sample is disposed at a predetermined height position while supported by the Z-table, the sample support apparatus comprising, a height correction unit that controls movement of the Z-table, and a Z-sensor that is provided on the Z-reference surface to measure the height from the Z-reference surface, wherein a measuring surface is aligned along the same axis with respect to a measuring position of the sample, the height of the measuring surface from the Z-reference surface is measured by the Z-sensor, the height correction unit moves the Z-table according to the measured value of the height so that the sample is disposed at the predetermined height position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Riki Ogawa, Hiromu Inoue
  • Patent number: 9194817
    Abstract: A defect detection method comprising, irradiating light from a light source in an optical system and obtaining a plurality of optical images of a sample having a repeated pattern of a size smaller than a resolution of the optical system; while changing the conditions of the optical system, performing correction processing for the optical images with the use of at least one of a noise filter and a convolution filter; shifting a position of the other optical images based on any of the plurality of optical images, obtaining a relationship between shift amounts of the other optical images and a change of correlation of a gray scale value between the plurality of optical images, and performing positional alignment of the optical images based on the shift amount obtained when the correlation is highest, performing defect detection of the sample with the use of the optical images after the positional alignment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Shinji Sugihara, Riki Ogawa, Hiromu Inoue
  • Patent number: 9116136
    Abstract: A sample, which has a mesa portion having a pattern thereon, is placed on a Z table. Light is irradiated to the mesa portion through an optical system and light reflected by the mesa portion is received to measure a height of the mesa portion. A height map of the mesa portion is created based on a height of a corner position. A height using the height map is corrected based on a deviation of a measured value from a target value, and a temporal variation of a focal position of light irradiated to the mesa portion. An optical image of the pattern is obtained based on the corrected height of the mesa portion. The optical image is compared with a reference image and a defect is determined when a difference value between the optical image and the reference image is more than a predetermined threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: NUFLARE TECHNOLOGY, INC
    Inventors: Hiromu Inoue, Nobutaka Kikuiri
  • Publication number: 20150193918
    Abstract: A method and system for imaging an object to be inspected and obtaining an optical image; creating a reference image from design pattern data; preparing an inspection recipe including one or more templates and parameter settings necessary for the inspection; checking the pattern and the template against each other, and selecting the reference image which corresponds to the template; detecting first and second edges in the selected reference image in accordance with the parameter setting using determined coordinates as a reference; detecting first and second edges in the optical image, this optical image corresponds to the selected reference image; and determining an inspection value by acquiring the difference between the line width of the optical image and the reference image using the first edge and second edge of the reference image and the first edge and second edges of the optical image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2015
    Publication date: July 9, 2015
    Applicants: NuFlare Technology, Inc., KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Takanao TOUYA, Shuichi Tamamushi, Hidenori Sato, Hiroyuki Tanizaki, Takeshi Fujiwara, Eiji Sawa, Kentaro Okuda, Hiroyuki Ikeda, Hiromu Inoue, Hiroshi Tsukada
  • Patent number: 9036896
    Abstract: A method and system for imaging an object to be inspected and obtaining an optical image; creating a reference image from design pattern data; preparing an inspection recipe including one or more templates and parameter settings necessary for the inspection; checking the pattern and the template against each other, and selecting the reference image which corresponds to the template; detecting first and second edges in the selected reference image in accordance with the parameter setting using determined coordinates as a reference; detecting first and second edges in the optical image, this optical image corresponds to the selected reference image; and determining an inspection value by acquiring the difference between the line width of the optical image and the reference image using the first edge and second edge of the reference image and the first edge and second edges of the optical image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignees: NuFlare Technology, Inc., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Takanao Touya, Shuichi Tamamushi, Hidenori Sato, Hiroyuki Tanizaki, Takeshi Fujiwara, Eiji Sawa, Kentaro Okuda, Hiroyuki Ikeda, Hiromu Inoue, Hiroshi Tsukada
  • Publication number: 20140240700
    Abstract: A sample support apparatus is provided in which a XY-table and a Z-table moving along a height direction are disposed in a Z-reference surface as a height reference, and in which a sample is disposed at a predetermined height position while supported by the Z-table, the sample support apparatus comprising, a height correction unit that controls movement of the Z-table, and a Z-sensor that is provided on the Z-reference surface to measure the height from the Z-reference surface, wherein a measuring surface is aligned along the same axis with respect to a measuring position of the sample, the height of the measuring surface from the Z-reference surface is measured by the Z-sensor, the height correction unit moves the Z-table according to the measured value of the height so that the sample is disposed at the predetermined height position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2014
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Riki OGAWA, Hiromu Inoue
  • Publication number: 20140204202
    Abstract: An inspection apparatus comprising, an optical system emitting light having a predetermined wavelength, illuminating a sample while the light is converted into light having a polarization plane not in the range of ?5 degrees to 5 degrees and 85 degrees to 95 degrees with respect to a direction of a repetitive pattern on the sample, an optical system for acquiring an image and forming said image on an image sensor using a lens, a half-wave plate, a first image sensor, a second image sensor, an inspection analyzer, wherein these differ in a transmission axis direction, a processor that obtains an average gray level and a standard deviation in each predetermined unit region of the image, and a defect detector, wherein a resolution limit defined by a wavelength of the light source and a numerical aperture of the lens is a value in which the pattern is not resolved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2014
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Riki OGAWA, Hiromu INOUE, Masatoshi HIRONO
  • Patent number: 8761518
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a pattern inspection apparatus includes a first inspection data creation section, a first delay section, a first recognition section, a first extraction section, a first and a second level difference calculation section, a first and a second determination section, and a first logic OR calculation section. The first extraction section extracts data of a sub-resolution pattern from the first inspection data and the first delay data. The first and second level difference calculation section calculate differences between an average output level of a surrounding region for a target pixel of the extracted data from the first inspection data or the first delay data and an output level of the extracted data. The first and second determination sections determine presence or absence of a defect. The first logic OR calculation section calculates logic OR of determination results of the first and second determination sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Hiromu Inoue, Takeshi Fujiwara, Hiroshi Tsukada, Takashi Hirano
  • Publication number: 20140111636
    Abstract: An inspection apparatus comprising, a focal position detector that detects a reference focal position of an image plane of a sample from a variation of an output value in optical image data of the sample, the output value being acquired by changing a distance between a first lens and the sample, and detects an optimum focal position of an inspection from the reference focal position, an image processor that obtains at least one of either an average gradation value in each predetermined unit region or a variation of a gradation value in the unit region with respect to the optical image data obtained at the optimum focal position, and a defect detector that detects a defect of the sample based on at least one of either the average gradation value or the variation of the gradation value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2013
    Publication date: April 24, 2014
    Applicant: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiromu Inoue, Riki Ogawa
  • Publication number: 20140104412
    Abstract: A first output value evaluation device obtains an average value of output values of optical image data for each of unit regions and creates a distribution map of an average value in an inspected region. A first defect history management device creates a distribution map related with the shape of the pattern from the distribution map of the average value and holds the created distribution map. A second output value evaluation device obtains at least one of a variation value and deviation of the output value of each pixel in the unit region. A defect determination device compares the obtained value with a threshold value. A second defect history management device holds information of the output value determined as a defect in the defect determination device. A defect/defect history analysis device analyzes, and checks the information from the first defect history management device and the second defect history management device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2013
    Publication date: April 17, 2014
    Applicant: NUFLARE TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: Hiromu INOUE, Nobutaka KIKUIRI
  • Publication number: 20140055774
    Abstract: A defect detection method comprising, irradiating light from a light source in an optical system and obtaining a plurality of optical images of a sample having a repeated pattern of a size smaller than a resolution of the optical system; while changing the conditions of the optical system, performing correction processing for the optical images with the use of at least one of a noise filter and a convolution filter; shifting a position of the other optical images based on any of the plurality of optical images, obtaining a relationship between shift amounts of the other optical images and a change of correlation of a gray scale value between the plurality of optical images, and performing positional alignment of the optical images based on the shift amount obtained when the correlation is highest, performing defect detection of the sample with the use of the optical images after the positional alignment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2013
    Publication date: February 27, 2014
    Applicant: NuFlare Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Shinji SUGIHARA, Riki Ogawa, Hiromu Inoue