Patents by Inventor Hirotaka Mukunoki

Hirotaka Mukunoki 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: 11110885
    Abstract: A gas generator includes an igniter, a cup-shaped member, and a fixing member. The cup-shaped member accommodating an enhancer agent bursts or melts at the time of activation. The fixing member fixing a filter does not burst and melt even at the time of activation. Ra and Ha satisfy a condition of Ra/Ha 1.00 where Ra represents an inner diameter of a sidewall portion of the cup-shaped member and Ha represents a distance between a top wall portion of the cup-shaped member and the igniter. The sidewall portion includes a first region surrounded by a partition wall portion of the fixing member and a second region not surrounded by the partition wall portion. The partition wall portion has an end portion arranged closer to a top plate portion than the igniter. A gas generating agent is arranged to face the top wall portion, the second region, and the partition wall portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: NIPPON KAYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroaki Koyama, Shinya Ueda, Satoshi Ohsugi, Makoto Tsuruta, Motohiro Kanaji, Hirotaka Mukunoki
  • Publication number: 20130291756
    Abstract: A gas generator (1A) includes a housing including a lower shell (10) and an upper shell (20), an igniter (30), a gas generating agent (41), and a filter (50). The housing has a circumferential wall portion (12, 22) in a short, substantially cylindrical shape provided with a gas discharge opening (24) as well as a bottom plate portion (11) and a top plate portion (21) substantially in a disc shape closing axial end portions of the circumferential wall portion (12, 22). The filter (50) is formed from a stack structure made of a hollow, substantially cylindrical member and formed by winding hook metal. The housing further has, in a portion between the circumferential wall portion (22) and the top plate portion (21), an upper curved corner portion (23) which continues to each of these adjacent circumferential wall portion (22) and top plate portion (21) and is formed by abutment of an axial end portion of the filter (50) along a circumferential direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2012
    Publication date: November 7, 2013
    Applicant: NIPPON KAYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi Ohsugi, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Yusuke Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20130276664
    Abstract: A gas generator includes a lower shell, an upper shell, a holding portion, an igniter, and a filter. The lower shell is made of a press-formed product formed by press-working one plate-shaped member made of metal, and includes a protruding cylindrical portion and an opening provided in the protruding cylindrical portion. The holding portion is formed from a resin-molded portion formed by attaching an insulating fluid resin material to a bottom plate portion so as to reach a part of an outer surface from a part of an inner surface of the bottom plate portion of the lower shell through the opening and solidifying the same, and includes an accommodation recess portion in a portion opposed to a top plate portion. The igniter is held by the holding portion while it is inserted in the accommodation recess portion from a side of the top plate portion and fitted therein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Applicants: ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY & SOLUTION CO., LTD., NIPPON KAYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi Ohsugi, Yusuke Tanaka, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Jin Han Kim
  • Publication number: 20130276662
    Abstract: A gas generator (1A) includes a housing including a lower shell (10) and an upper shell (20), an igniter (40), a gas generating agent (61), and a filter (70). The housing includes a bottom plate portion (11) to which the igniter (40) is assembled and a combustion chamber (60) accommodating the gas generating agent (61). The filter (70) is formed from a hollow cylindrical member and disposed in the housing so as to surround the combustion chamber (60) in a radial direction of the housing. The bottom plate portion (11) is provided with a positioning portion (38) formed from a resin-molded portion secured to the bottom plate portion (11), which is formed by adhering a fluid resin material to an inner surface and solidifying the same, and the positioning portion (38) abuts to an inner circumferential surface of an axial end portion of the filter (70) located on a side of the bottom plate portion (11).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2012
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Applicant: Nippon Kayaku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Satoshi Ohsugi, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Yusuke Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20130276663
    Abstract: A gas generator (1A) includes a lower shell (10), an upper shell (20), a holding portion (30), an igniter (40), an enhancer cup (46), and a filter (70). The lower shell (10) is made of a press-formed product formed by press-working one plate-shaped member made of metal, and includes a protruding cylindrical portion (13) and an opening (15) provided in the protruding cylindrical portion (13). The holding portion (13) is made of a resin-molded portion formed by attaching an insulating fluid resin material to a bottom plate portion (11) so as to reach a part of an outer surface from a part of an inner surface of the bottom plate portion (11) of the lower shell (10) through the opening (15) and solidifying the same. The enhancer cup (46) is held by the holding portion (30) as an locking protruding portion (46a) provided in the enhancer cup (46) is locked to a locking recess portion (36a) provided in the holding portion (30).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Applicant: NIPPON KAYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi Ohsugi, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Yusuke Tanaka, Jin Han Kim
  • Patent number: 8547680
    Abstract: There is provided an ignition system which is capable of surely operating by electric energy stored in a capacitor for ignition while separating an igniter from electric circuits for communication and ignition without producing improper operation through static electricity and noise and is compact and excellent in the productivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: Nipponkayaku Kabushikikaisha
    Inventors: Hideyuki Koike, Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki
  • Patent number: 8250978
    Abstract: The invention provides a semiconductor bridge, an igniter, and a gas generator each of which satisfies a high-speed responsiveness required of, for example, an automotive side inflator. The semiconductor bridge includes a bridge part heated by being supplied with a current. The bridge part is disposed on a substrate. The bridge part includes a first layer and an ignition bridge layer. The first layer is formed on the substrate and has insulating properties. The ignition bridge layer serves as a second layer disposed on the first layer. The width of the bridge part at the first layer and the width of the bridge part at the second layer are substantially equal to each other. A space is provided around the bridge part. With this structure, the diffusion of current and heat into the substrate can be restricted to the minimum level, and the ignition time can be quickened as an ignition characteristic. Each of the igniter and the gas generator includes the semiconductor bridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Nippon Kayaku Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hirotaka Mukunoki, Shigeru Maeda, Hiroki Taguchi
  • Patent number: 8096242
    Abstract: A squib includes a cup body and a closure plug for holding a plurality of electrode pins insulated from one another and closing the opening of the cup body, and further includes, in the cup body, ignition powder and an ASIC component formed by molding a resin around electric circuits including an ASIC and a capacitor, a heating element connected to the ASIC and located at the top of the resin molding of the ASIC component, and connection electrodes located at the bottom of the resin molding for connecting the ASIC to the electrode pins. The squib includes a cylindrical metal fixture having at the center of its top an opening of a size sufficient to expose the heating element and being fixed to the closure plug in a state covering the top circumferential periphery and side surface of the ASIC component and pushing the connection electrode of the ASIC component against the electrode pins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Nipponkayaku Kabushikikaisha
    Inventors: Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Hideyuki Koike
  • Patent number: 8020489
    Abstract: A squib includes an SCB chip connected to electrode pins so as to ignite by externally applied electric current, and a capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pins in parallel with a thin film resistor on the SCB chip. The capacitor is arranged above the header, and the SCB chip is directly mounted on the capacitor so that the thin film resistor on the SCB chip and the capacitor are electrically connected through electrodes provided on a substrate of the SCB chip, while the size of the SCB chip is smaller than that of the capacitor. In this way, the invention provides the squib which effectively eliminates surface unevenness when the capacitor is located, and enables the connection of the SCB chip and the capacitor to the electrode pins only by one reflow process, and further makes it possible to use an even smaller chip than those used in the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Nipponkayaku Kabushikikaisha
    Inventors: Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Hideyuki Koike
  • Publication number: 20110210535
    Abstract: There is provided an ignition system which is capable of surely operating by electric energy stored in a capacitor for ignition while separating an igniter from electric circuits for communication and ignition without producing improper operation through static electricity and noise and is compact and excellent in the productivity. An ignition system comprises an igniter, which includes a cup body having an opening at one end, a closure plug for sealing the opening of the cup body, an ignition powder filled in the inside of the cup body and an SCB chip mounted on the closure plug and electrically connected to the electrode pins for causing the ignition powder to ignite upon energization, and a connector for connecting the igniter to an ECU, wherein a circuit for ASIC is arranged in the connector to cause ignition by discharge from a capacitor for ignition incorporated in the circuit for ASIC, and a capacitor for electrostatic protection is electrically connected in parallel to the SCB chip within the igniter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: NIPPONKAYAKU KABUSHIKIKAISHA
    Inventors: Hideyuki Koike, Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki
  • Patent number: 7954848
    Abstract: An inflator includes in a combustion chamber a first gas generating charge and a second gas generating charge to be ignited and burned to generate an inflation gas. The second gas generating charge is slower in speed of combustion than the first gas generating charge. The inflator further includes a partition wall that segregates the first and second gas generating charges. The partition wall is located away from an ignition area of an ignition device that ignites the first gas generating charge, with the first gas generating charge located between itself and the ignition area. The partition wall is burnable to destruction by the fire generated by combustion of the first gas generating charge so as to permit propagation of the fire to the second gas generating charge by its generally entire area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignees: Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd., NipponKayaku KabushikiKaisha
    Inventors: Shinichi Hayakawa, Toru Ozaki, Yasushi Masuda, Hiroyuki Ochi, Shinya Hasegawa, Hirotaka Mukunoki
  • Publication number: 20100253053
    Abstract: An inflator includes in a combustion chamber a first gas generating charge and a second gas generating charge to be ignited and burned to generate an inflation gas. The second gas generating charge is slower in speed of combustion than the first gas generating charge. The inflator further includes a partition wall that segregates the first and second gas generating charges. The partition wall is located away from an ignition area of an ignition device that ignites the first gas generating charge, with the first gas generating charge located between itself and the ignition area. The partition wall is burnable to destruction by the fire generated by combustion of the first gas generating charge so as to permit propagation of the fire to the second gas generating charge by its generally entire area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2010
    Publication date: October 7, 2010
    Applicants: TOYODA GOSEI CO., LTD., NIPPON KAYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shinichi Hayakawa, Toru Ozaki, Yasushi Masuda, Hiroyuki Ochi, Shinya Hasegawa, Hirotaka Mukunoki
  • Publication number: 20100181748
    Abstract: A squib comprising a cup body, a cup body cover, and a header for holding a plurality of electrode pins insulated from one another and closing the opening portion of the cup body, wherein the internal of the cup body has an ignition powder, and a heating element connected to the electrode pins for igniting the ignition powder by externally applying electric current arranged in contact with the ignition powder, wherein a metal cylindrical or ring restraining member is provided in the outer periphery of the cup body and covered around with the cup body cover.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2008
    Publication date: July 22, 2010
    Applicant: NIPPONKAYAKU KABUSHIKIKAISHA
    Inventors: Koji Nakamura, Takatoshi Tsukamoto, Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Hideyuki Koike
  • Patent number: 7748323
    Abstract: There is provided a semiconductor bridge device wherein a reaction time for generating sparks is short and a spark generating amount is large. This semiconductor bridge device comprises a substrate, a pair of land portions, a bridge portion electrically connecting between the pair of the land portions, and an electrode pad arranged on each upper surface in the pair of the land portions and emitting sparks at the bridge portion through an electric current passed between the electrode pads, in which the pair of the land portions and the bridge portion consist of a laminate formed by alternately laminating a metal layer and a metal oxide layer plural times, and an outermost layer in the laminate is a metal layer, and a metal oxide having a decomposition temperature of higher than 1500° C. is used in the metal oxide layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Assignee: Nipponkayaku Kabushikikaisha
    Inventors: Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki
  • Publication number: 20090200779
    Abstract: The invention provides an ignition device which is produced without reducing its productivity, while being compact in size and enabling electric current securely to flow through electric circuits built in the ignition device. The ignition device includes a metal cup and a metal header for holding a plurality of electrode pins respectively insulated and closing the opening of the cup, and further includes, in the cup, ignition charge and an ASIC component. The ASIC component includes an ASIC and a capacitor both mounted on a substrate molded with a resin to form a resin mold, and the resin mold has at its top a heating element connected to the ASIC and further has at its bottom communication electrodes for connecting the ASIC to the electrode pins, so that the ASIC component thus constructed abuts against the header. The electrode pins and the communication electrodes are jointed to each other under pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2007
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Applicants: NIPPONKAYAKU KABUSHIKIKAISHA, HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki, Dairi Kubo, Kazuo Matsuda, Junichi Nishimura, Kazutaka Saito
  • Publication number: 20090126592
    Abstract: The invention provides a semiconductor bridge, an igniter, and a gas generator each of which satisfies a high-speed responsiveness required of, for example, an automotive side inflator. The semiconductor bridge includes a bridge part heated by being supplied with a current. The bridge part is disposed on a substrate. The bridge part includes a first layer and an ignition bridge layer. The first layer is formed on the substrate and has insulating properties. The ignition bridge layer serves as a second layer disposed on the first layer. The width of the bridge part at the first layer and the width of the bridge part at the second layer are substantially equal to each other. A space is provided around the bridge part. With this structure, the diffusion of current and heat into the substrate can be restricted to the minimum level, and the ignition time can be quickened as an ignition characteristic. Each of the igniter and the gas generator includes the semiconductor bridge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2006
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: NIPPON KAYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirotaka Mukunoki, Shigeru Maeda, Hiroki Taguchi
  • Publication number: 20080190316
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an electric detonator containing no primary charge or igniting charge, having a simple structure, and capable of directly igniting a base charge of secondary explosive. A detonator of the present invention includes a cylindrical tube closed at one end, a base charge contained in the tube near the closed end thereof, and an ignition device inserted from an open end of the tube and accommodated near the open end. The ignition device is a semiconductor bridge device including a laminate layer and electrode pads. The laminate layer includes layers of a reactive metal and a reactive insulator. The base charge is, for example, pentaerythritol tetranitrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2005
    Publication date: August 14, 2008
    Applicant: NIPPON KAYAKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yutaka Kagawa, Michiharu Arifuku, Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki
  • Publication number: 20080083343
    Abstract: There is provided a semiconductor bridge device wherein a reaction time for generating sparks is short and a spark generating amount is large. This semiconductor bridge device comprises a substrate, a pair of land portions, a bridge portion electrically connecting between the pair of the land portions, and an electrode pad arranged on each upper surface in the pair of the land portions and emitting sparks at the bridge portion through an electric current passed between the electrode pads, in which the pair of the land portions and the bridge portion consist of a laminate formed by alternately laminating a metal layer and a metal oxide layer plural times, and an outermost layer in the laminate is a metal layer, and a metal oxide having a decomposition temperature of higher than 1500° C. is used in the metal oxide layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2005
    Publication date: April 10, 2008
    Inventors: Shigeru Maeda, Hirotaka Mukunoki