Patents by Inventor Hiroyuki Kawata

Hiroyuki Kawata 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: 11970752
    Abstract: Provided are: a steel sheet having a high strength and excellent hydrogen embrittlement resistance; and a method of producing the same. The steel sheet has prescribed chemical composition and structure, in which a standard deviation ? of Mn concentration satisfies ??0.15 Mnave (wherein, Mnave represents an average Mn concentration) and a region with a Mn concentration of higher than (Mnave+1.3?) has a circle-equivalent diameter of less than 10.0 ?m. The method of producing the steel sheet includes: the hot rolling step that includes finish rolling a slab having a prescribed chemical composition under prescribed conditions; the step of coiling the thus obtained hot-rolled steel sheet at a coiling temperature of 450 to 700° C.; and the step of cold rolling the hot-rolled steel sheet and subsequently annealing this steel sheet at 800 to 900° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kengo Takeda, Hiroyuki Kawata, Takafumi Yokoyama, Katsuya Nakano
  • Patent number: 11905570
    Abstract: A hot dip galvanized steel sheet includes a base steel sheet and a hot dip galvanized layer on at least one surface of the base metal steel sheet, wherein the base steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition, and contains, by volume fraction, ferrite: 0% to 50%, retained austenite: 0% to 30%, tempered martensite: 5% or more, fresh martensite: 0% to 10%, and pearlite and cementite in total: 0% to 5%, when there are remaining structures, the remaining structures consist of bainite, a concentration of B atoms at prior austenite grain boundaries is 2.0 atm % or more, and an average effective crystal grain size is 7.0 ?m or less, and a method for producing the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Yokoyama, Hiroyuki Kawata, Kunio Hayashi, Yuji Yamaguchi, Satoshi Uchida
  • Patent number: 11898219
    Abstract: A steel sheet including a steel micro-structure containing, in volume fraction, tempered martensite: 85% or more, retained austenite: 5% or more to less than 15%, and ferrite, pearlite, bainite, and as-quenched martensite being less than 10% in total, when contents of Mn and C in the retained austenite are denoted by MnA and CA, and when contents of Mn and C in a matrix are denoted by MnM and CM, respectively, following Formulas (1) to (3) are satisfied, and the number of carbides having an equivalent circle radius of 0.1 ?m or more is 100 or less in a region measuring 20000 ?m2, and the steel sheet has a tensile strength of 1100 MPa or more. The steel sheet is excellent in crash resistance and formability. MnA/MnM?1.2??(1) CA/CM?5.0??(2) CA?1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya Nakano, Kengo Takeda, Hiroyuki Kawata, Akihiro Uenishi
  • Patent number: 11885025
    Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet includes a chemical composition including: by mass %, C: 0.080 to 0.500%, Si: 2.50% or less, Mn: 0.50 to 5.00%, P: 0.100% or less, S: 0.0100% or less, Al: 0.001 to 2.500%, N: 0.0150% or less, O: 0.0050% or less, and the balance: Fe and inevitable impurities. The high-strength steel sheet satisfying a predetermined formula has a microstructure in a region from ?t to ?t from a steel sheet surface. The microstructure includes: by volume %, 20% or more of acicular ferrite, 20% or more of an island-shaped hard structure including residual austenite, 2% to 25% of residual austenite, and 20% or less of aggregated ferrite.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kawata, Eisaku Sakurada, Kohichi Sano, Takafumi Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 11866800
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes a predetermined composition satisfying Expression (1), in which the microstructure at the ¼ thickness position from the surface in the sheet thickness direction includes, by vol %, ferrite: 95% or more and a remainder of the microstructure: 5% or less, has a proportion of unrecrystallized ferrite in the ferrite of 5% or less, and a half width w and an X-ray wavelength ? at a peak of (200) plane of the ferrite satisfy Expression (2). 0.80?{(Ti/48?N/14)+Nb/93}/(C/12)?5.00??(1) w×??0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kawata, Kengo Takeda, Mai Nagano
  • Patent number: 11859260
    Abstract: A steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition, in which a metallographic structure in a surface layer region ranging from a surface to a position of 20 ?m from the surface in a sheet thickness direction consists of ferrite and a secondary phase having a volume fraction of 1.0% to 15.0%, the metallographic structure in an internal region ranging from a position of more than 20 ?m from the surface in the sheet thickness direction to a ¼ thickness position from the surface in the sheet thickness direction consists of ferrite and a secondary phase having a volume fraction of 5.0% to 25.0%, the volume fraction of the secondary phase in the surface layer region is less than the volume fraction of the secondary phase in the internal region, and in the surface layer region, the average grain size of the secondary phase is 0.5 ?m to 4.0 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masahiro Kubo, Hiroyuki Kawata, Masahiro Saito, Kenichiro Otsuka, Masafumi Azuma
  • Patent number: 11814708
    Abstract: Provided are a hot dip galvanized steel sheet comprising a base steel sheet and a hot dip galvanized layer on at least one surface of the base metal steel sheet, wherein the base steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition and contains, by volume fraction, ferrite: 0% to 50%, retained austenite: 6% to 30%, bainite: 5% or more, tempered martensite: 5% or more, fresh martensite: 0% to 10%, and pearlite and cementite in total: 0% to 5%, a number density of tempered martensite with a circle equivalent diameter of 5.0 ?m or more is 20/1000 ?m2 or less, and an area ratio of fresh martensite with a circle equivalent diameter of 2.0 ?m or more after imparting 5% plastic strain is 10% or less, and a method for producing the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Yokoyama, Hiroyuki Kawata, Kunio Hayashi, Yuji Yamaguchi, Satoshi Uchida
  • Patent number: 11801897
    Abstract: In a frame member, the hardness of a sheet-thickness-direction central section in a portion where a softening layer is provided is greater than or equal to 400 Hv, the softening layer has hardness smaller by at least 10 Hv than the hardness of the sheet-thickness-direction central section in the portion where the softening layer is provided, the thickness of the softening layer is greater than or equal to 2% of the sheet thickness but smaller than 20% of the sheet thickness, the hardness of the softening layer at the surface is greater than or equal to 0.5 times the hardness of the sheet-thickness-direction central section but smaller than 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuri Toda, Hiroaki Kubota, Hiroyuki Kawata, Daisuke Maeda
  • Patent number: 11732321
    Abstract: Provided are: a steel sheet having a high strength and excellent stretch formability; and a method of producing the same. The steel sheet has prescribed chemical composition and structure, in which the integration degree of the (111)<112> orientation of ferrite is 3.0 or higher, and the integration degree of the (252)<2-11> orientation of martensite and tempered martensite is 5.0 or lower. The method of producing the steel sheet includes: the step of continuously casting a molten steel having the prescribed chemical composition, and performing 5 to 40% rolling reduction at a temperature of 800° C. to lower than 1,200° C. in a period after the continuous casting until cooling to room temperature; the hot rolling step of performing hot rolling with a finishing temperature of 650 to 950° C.; the step of coiling the resulting hot-rolled steel sheet at a coiling temperature of 400 to 700° C.; the step of retaining the hot-rolled steel sheet at (coiling start temperature+20° C. to 100° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kengo Takeda, Hitoshi Nikaido, Hiroyuki Kawata, Takafumi Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 11732341
    Abstract: In a metal coated steel sheet, a chemical composition contains, in mass %, at least C: 0.03% to 0.70%, Si: 0.25% to 2.50%, Mn: 1.00% to 5.00%, P: 0.100% or less, S: 0.010% or less, sol. Al: 0.001% to 2.500, N: 0.020% or less, and a balance composed of iron and impurities, a metal structure contains greater than 5.0 vol % of retained austenite and greater than 5.0 vol % of tempered martensite, and satisfies a C content in the retained austenite being 0.85 mass % or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun Haga, Kohichi Sano, Koutarou Hayashi, Kunio Hayashi, Masaharu Kameda, Akihiro Uenishi, Hiroyuki Kawata
  • Patent number: 11718347
    Abstract: The frame member has a flat sheet portion with a recessed portion having a pair of wall portions and a bottom portion extending between tip portions in an extending direction of the pair of wall portions, in which a Vickers hardness of a region of the flat sheet portion excluding the recessed portion is 330 Hv or more, a depth of the recessed portion is 5 mm or more, when a width of the recessed portion is L0 and a cross-sectional length of an inner peripheral wall of the recessed portion consisting of the pair of wall portions and the bottom portion is L1, a value of (L1?L0)/L0 is 0.18 or more and 2.8 or less, and a Vickers hardness of a ridgeline portion extending between the flat sheet portion and the recessed portion is 1.06 times or more and 1.20 times or less the Vickers hardness of the region of the flat sheet portion excluding the recessed portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroaki Kubota, Yuri Toda, Hiroyuki Kawata
  • Patent number: 11680303
    Abstract: This steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition, in which a steel structure of an inside of the steel sheet contains, by volume fraction, soft ferrite: 0% to 30%, retained austenite: 3% to 40%, fresh martensite: 0% to 30%, a sum of pearlite and cementite: 0% to 10%, and a remainder includes hard ferrite, a number proportion of the retained austenite having an aspect ratio of 2.0 or more in the total retained austenite is 50% or more, a soft layer having a thickness of 1 to 100 ?m from a surface in a sheet thickness direction is present, in ferrite contained in the soft layer, a volume fraction of grains having an aspect ratio of 3.0 or more is 50% or more, a volume fraction of retained austenite in the soft layer is 80% or less of the volume fraction of the retained austenite in the inside of the steel sheet, and a peak of an emission intensity at a wavelength indicating Si appears in a range of more than 0.2 ?m and 10.0 ?m or less from the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Yokoyama, Riki Okamoto, Kohichi Sano, Hiroyuki Kawata, Kohei Ueda, Eisaku Sakurada
  • Publication number: 20230141963
    Abstract: There is provided a steel sheet including a chemical composition consisting of, in mass %: C: 0.03 to 0.25%, Si: 0.1 to 2.0%, Mn: 1.0 to 3.0%, P: 0.200% or less, S: 0.0500% or less, Al: 0.01 to 1.00%, N: 0.0100% or less, and Ti: 0.01 to 0.25%, with the balance: Fe and impurities, and a steel micro-structure containing, in area %: ferrite: 50 to 85%, the balance being one or more kinds selected from martensite, bainite, and retained austenite, and an intensity of ?-fiber is more than 4.0 times in terms of random intensity ratio, and an average KAM value of grains having crystal orientations that form angles within 10° from ?-fiber is 1.30° or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Publication date: May 11, 2023
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuaki TANAKA, Hitoshi NIKAIDO, Hiroyuki KAWATA, Natsuko SUGIURA
  • Publication number: 20230047282
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes a predetermined composition satisfying Expression (1), in which the microstructure at the ¼ thickness position from the surface in the sheet thickness direction includes, by vol %, ferrite: 95% or more and a remainder of the microstructure: 5% or less, has a proportion of unrecrystallized ferrite in the ferrite of 5% or less, and a half width w and an X-ray wavelength ? at a peak of (200) plane of the ferrite satisfy Expression (2). 0.80?{(Ti/48?N/14)+Nb/93}/(C/12)?5.00??(1) w×??0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Publication date: February 16, 2023
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki KAWATA, Kengo TAKEDA, Mai NAGANO
  • Publication number: 20230041513
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes a predetermined composition, in which a microstructure at a ¼ thickness position from a surface in a sheet thickness direction includes, by vol %, ferrite: 80% or more, martensite: 2% or less, and residual austenite: 2% or less, a proportion of unrecrystallized ferrite in the ferrite of 5% or less, and in the microstructure of the steel sheet stretched by 10% at the ¼ thickness position from the surface in the sheet thickness direction, a number density of voids having a maximum diameter of 1.0 ?m or more is 1.0×109 pieces/m2 or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2020
    Publication date: February 9, 2023
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki KAWATA, Kengo TAKEDA, Katsuya NAKANO
  • Publication number: 20220389531
    Abstract: A steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition, in which a microstructure in a ¼ width portion, a microstructure in a ½ width portion, and a microstructure in a ¾ width portion, include, by area %, ferrite: 80% or more, martensite: 2% or less, and residual austenite: 2% or less, in which a proportion of unrecrystallized ferrite in the ferrite is 5% to 60%, an average grain size of carbonitrides is 6.0 nm to 30.0 nm, and Expressions (2) to (5) are satisfied. ?SF/?SF?0.10??(2) ?dF/?dF?0.20??(3) ?SUF?20??(4) ?dC/?dC?0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2021
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki KAWATA, Kengo TAKEDA, Eriko TSUKAMOTO
  • Patent number: 11519061
    Abstract: A steel sheet includes: a predetermined chemical composition; and a steel structure represented by, in area %, first martensite in which two or more iron carbides each having a circle-equivalent diameter of 2 nm to 500 nm are contained in each lath: 20% to 95%, ferrite: 15% or less, retained austenite: 15% or less, and the balance: bainite, or second martensite in which less than two iron carbides each having a circle-equivalent diameter of 2 nm to 500 nm are contained in each lath, or the both of these, in which the total area fraction of ND//<111> orientation grains and ND//<100> orientation grains is 40% or less, and the content of solid-solution C is 0.44 ppm or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Riki Okamoto, Hiroyuki Kawata, Masafumi Azuma, Akihiro Uenishi, Naoki Maruyama
  • Patent number: 11472159
    Abstract: A high strength steel sheet comprising a center part of sheet thickness and a surface soft part formed at one side or two sides of the center part of sheet thickness, having metal structures of the center part of sheet thickness comprising, by area ratio, tempered martensite: 85% or more, one or more of ferrite, bainite, pearlite, and retained austenite: total of less than 15%, and as-quenched martensite: less than 5%, and additionally having metal structures of the surface soft part comprising, by area ratio, ferrite: 65% or more, pearlite: 5% or more and less than 20%, one or more of tempered martensite, bainite, and retained austenite: total of less than 10%, and as-quenched martensite: less than 5%, wherein a Vickers hardness (Hc) of the center part of sheet thickness and a Vickers hardness (Hs) of the surface soft part satisfy 0.50?Hs/Hc?0.75.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya Nakano, Kengo Takeda, Hiroyuki Kawata
  • Publication number: 20220316020
    Abstract: A steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition, in which a metallographic structure in a surface layer region ranging from a surface to a position of 20 ?m from the surface in a sheet thickness direction consists of ferrite and a secondary phase having a volume fraction of 0.01% to 5.0%, a metallographic structure in an internal region ranging from a position of more than 20 ?m from the surface in the sheet thickness direction to a ¼thickness position from the surface in the sheet thickness direction consists of ferrite and a secondary phase having a volume fraction of 2.0% to 10.0%, the volume fraction of the secondary phase in the surface layer region is less than the volume fraction of the secondary phase in the internal region, and in the surface layer region, an average grain size of the secondary phase is 0.01 ?m to 4.0 ?m, and a texture in which an XODF{001}/{111} as the ratio of the intensity of {001} orientation to an intensity of {111} orientation in the ferrite is 0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Publication date: October 6, 2022
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masahiro KUBO, Hiroyuki KAWATA, Masahiro SAITO, Kenichiro OTSUKA, Masafumi AZUMA
  • Patent number: 11447848
    Abstract: A steel sheet wherein a steel structure of an inside of the steel sheet contains, by volume fraction, soft ferrite: 0% to 30%, retained austenite: 3% to 40%, fresh martensite: 0% to 30%, a sum of pearlite and cementite: 0% to 10%, and a remainder including hard ferrite. In the steel sheet, in a ? to ? thickness range, a proportion of retained austenite having an aspect ratio of 2.0 or more is 50% or more, and a soft layer having a thickness of 1 to 100 ?m from a surface in a sheet thickness direction is present. When an emission intensity at a wavelength indicating Si is analyzed in the sheet thickness direction from the surface by a radio-frequency glow discharge analysis method, a peak of the emission intensity appears in a range of more than 0.2 ?m and 5.0 ?m or less from the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takafumi Yokoyama, Kohichi Sano, Riki Okamoto, Hiroyuki Kawata, Eisaku Sakurada, Yuji Yamaguchi, Kazuki Shiokawa, Yuichi Nakahira, Kohei Ueda, Masahiro Nakata, Satoshi Uchida