Patents by Inventor Junichi Arakawa

Junichi Arakawa 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: 11961980
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for treating lithium ion battery scrap containing Li, Ni, Co, Mn, Al, Cu and Fe, the method comprising carrying out a calcination step, a crushing step and a sieving step in this order, and after the steps, the method comprising: a leaching step of leaching the lithium ion battery scrap by adding it to an acidic solution to leave at least a part of Cu as a solid; a Fe/Al removal step comprising allowing a leached solution obtained in the leaching step to pass through a Fe removal process for separating and removing Fe by addition of an oxidizing agent and an Al removal process for separating and removing a part of Al by neutralization in any order; an Al/Mn extraction step of extracting and removing a residue of Al and Mn from a separated solution obtained in the Fe/Al removal step by solvent extraction; a Co recovery step of extracting and back-extracting Co from a first extracted solution obtained in the Al/Mn extraction step by solvent extraction and recovering the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: JX METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi Arakawa, Yasufumi Haga, Junichi Ito
  • Publication number: 20230312369
    Abstract: A method for producing mixed metal salts containing manganese ions and at least one of cobalt ions and nickel ions, the method including: an Al removal step of subjecting an acidic solution containing at least manganese ions and aluminum ions, and at least one of cobalt ions and nickel ions, to removal of the aluminum ions by extracting the aluminum ions into a solvent, the acidic solution being obtained by subjecting battery powder of lithium ion batteries to a leaching step; and a precipitation step of neutralizing an extracted residual liquid obtained in the Al removal step under conditions where a pH is less than 10.0, to precipitate mixed metal salts comprising a metal salt of manganese and a metal salt of at least one of cobalt and nickel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation
    Inventors: Junichi ARAKAWA, Kazunori TAJIRI
  • Publication number: 20230304130
    Abstract: A method for recovering lithium from lithium ion battery scrap according to this invention comprises subjecting lithium ion battery scrap to a calcination step, a crushing step, and a sieving step sequentially carried out, wherein the method comprises, between the calcination step and the crushing step, between the crushing step and the sieving step, or after the sieving step, a lithium dissolution step of bringing the lithium ion battery scrap into contact with water and dissolving lithium contained in the lithium ion battery scrap in the water to obtain a lithium-dissolved solution; a lithium concentration step of solvent-extracting lithium ions contained in the lithium-dissolved solution and stripping them to concentrate the lithium ions to obtain a lithium concentrate; and a carbonation step of carbonating the lithium ions in the lithium concentrate to obtain lithium carbonate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2023
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi ARAKAWA, Yasufumi HAGA, Junichi ITO
  • Patent number: 11702719
    Abstract: A method for recovering lithium from lithium ion battery scrap according to this invention comprises subjecting lithium ion battery scrap to a calcination step, a crushing step, and a sieving step sequentially carried out, wherein the method comprises, between the calcination step and the crushing step, between the crushing step and the sieving step, or after the sieving step, a lithium dissolution step of bringing the lithium ion battery scrap into contact with water and dissolving lithium contained in the lithium ion battery scrap in the water to obtain a lithium-dissolved solution; a lithium concentration step of solvent-extracting lithium ions contained in the lithium-dissolved solution and stripping them to concentrate the lithium ions to obtain a lithium concentrate; and a carbonation step of carbonating the lithium ions in the lithium concentrate to obtain lithium carbonate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi Arakawa, Yasufumi Haga, Junichi Ito
  • Publication number: 20230193422
    Abstract: A method for producing a mixed metal solution containing manganese ions and at least one of cobalt ions and nickel ions, the method including: an Al removal step of subjecting an acidic solution containing at least manganese ions and aluminum ions, and at least one of cobalt ions and nickel ions, to removal of the aluminum ions by extracting the aluminum ions into a solvent while leaving at least a part of the manganese ions in the acidic solution in an aqueous phase, the acidic solution being obtained by subjecting battery powder of lithium ion batteries to a leaching step; and a metal extraction step of bringing an extracted residual liquid obtained in the Al removal step to an equilibrium pH of 6.5 to 7.5 using a solvent containing a carboxylic acid-based extracting agent, extracting at least one of the manganese ions and at least one of the cobalt ions and the nickel ions into the solvent, and then back-extracting the manganese ions and at least one of the cobalt ions and nickel ions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Publication date: June 22, 2023
    Applicant: JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation
    Inventors: Junichi ARAKAWA, Kazunori TAJIRI
  • Patent number: 11434545
    Abstract: A method for recovering lithium according to this invention comprises separating sodium from a lithium-containing solution containing lithium ions and sodium ions to recover lithium, wherein the method comprises a solvent extraction step including: at least three-stage extraction process having a first extraction process, a second extraction process, and a third extraction process; and a lithium back extraction stage of back extracting the lithium ions from a solvent that have undergone the at least three-stage extraction process; and wherein, in the extraction process, the solvent undergoes the first extraction process, the second extraction process, and the third extraction process in this order, and a solution as the lithium-containing solution undergoes the respective processes in opposite order to the order of the solvent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Junichi Arakawa
  • Publication number: 20210108285
    Abstract: A method for recovering lithium according to this invention comprises separating sodium from a lithium-containing solution containing lithium ions and sodium ions to recover lithium, wherein the method comprises a solvent extraction step including: at least three-stage extraction process having a first extraction process, a second extraction process, and a third extraction process; and a lithium back extraction stage of back extracting the lithium ions from a solvent that have undergone the at least three-stage extraction process; and wherein, in the extraction process, the solvent undergoes the first extraction process, the second extraction process, and the third extraction process in this order, and a solution as the lithium-containing solution undergoes the respective processes in opposite order to the order of the solvent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Publication date: April 15, 2021
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Junichi ARAKAWA
  • Publication number: 20210108286
    Abstract: A method for recovering lithium from lithium ion battery scrap according to this invention comprises subjecting lithium ion battery scrap to a calcination step, a crushing step, and a sieving step sequentially carried out, wherein the method comprises, between the calcination step and the crushing step, between the crushing step and the sieving step, or after the sieving step, a lithium dissolution step of bringing the lithium ion battery scrap into contact with water and dissolving lithium contained in the lithium ion battery scrap in the water to obtain a lithium-dissolved solution; a lithium concentration step of solvent-extracting lithium ions contained in the lithium-dissolved solution and stripping them to concentrate the lithium ions to obtain a lithium concentrate; and a carbonation step of carbonating the lithium ions in the lithium concentrate to obtain lithium carbonate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Publication date: April 15, 2021
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi ARAKAWA, Yasufumi HAGA, Junichi ITO
  • Patent number: 10865462
    Abstract: A method for processing lithium ion battery scrap includes a leaching step of leaching lithium ion battery scrap and subjecting the resulting leached solution to solid-liquid separation to obtain a first separated solution; an iron removal step of adding an oxidizing agent to the first separated solution and adjusting a pH of the first separated solution in a range of from 3.0 to 4.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing iron in the first separated solution to obtain a second separated solution; and an aluminum removal step of neutralizing the second separated solution to a pH range of from 4.0 to 6.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing aluminum in the second separated solution to obtain a third separated solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi Ito, Junichi Arakawa, Takuya Yokota, Naoki Higuchi
  • Patent number: 10807879
    Abstract: A method for processing lithium ion battery scrap according to this invention includes a leaching step of leaching lithium ion battery scrap to obtain a leached solution; an aluminum removal step of neutralizing the leached solution to a pH range of from 4.0 to 6.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing aluminum in the leached solution to obtain a first separated solution; and an iron removal step of adding an oxidizing agent to the first separated solution and adjusting the pH in a range of from 3.0 to 5.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing iron in the first separated solution to obtain a second separated solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi Ito, Junichi Arakawa, Takuya Yokota, Naoki Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20200044295
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for treating lithium ion battery scrap containing Li, Ni, Co, Mn, Al, Cu and Fe, the method comprising carrying out a calcination step, a crushing step and a sieving step in this order, and after the steps, the method comprising: a leaching step of leaching the lithium ion battery scrap by adding it to an acidic solution to leave at least a part of Cu as a solid; a Fe/Al removal step comprising allowing a leached solution obtained in the leaching step to pass through a Fe removal process for separating and removing Fe by addition of an oxidizing agent and an Al removal process for separating and removing a part of Al by neutralization in any order; an Al/Mn extraction step of extracting and removing a residue of Al and Mn from a separated solution obtained in the Fe/Al removal step by solvent extraction; a Co recovery step of extracting and back-extracting Co from a first extracted solution obtained in the Al/Mn extraction step by solvent extraction and recovering the
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi ARAKAWA, Yasufumi HAGA, Junichi ITO
  • Patent number: 10443111
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for removing iron from an iron-containing solution containing an iron ion, comprising adding a lithium ion battery cathode material containing manganese to an acidic sulfuric acid solution to obtain a cathode material-containing solution, and then precipitating a manganese ion as manganese dioxide in a mixed solution obtained by mixing the iron-containing solution with the cathode material-containing solution while precipitating the iron ion contained in the iron-containing solution as a solid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi Arakawa, Junichi Ito, Takuya Yokota
  • Patent number: 10400304
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for removing copper from lithium ion battery scrap containing copper, comprising a leaching step of adding the lithium ion battery scrap to an acidic solution and leaching the lithium ion battery scrap under a condition that an aluminum solid is present in the acidic solution; and a copper separating step of separating copper contained in the acidic solution as a solid from the acidic solution, after the leaching step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ken Adachi, Junichi Arakawa, Junichi Ito
  • Publication number: 20190106768
    Abstract: A method for processing lithium ion battery scrap includes a leaching step of leaching lithium ion battery scrap and subjecting the resulting leached solution to solid-liquid separation to obtain a first separated solution; an iron removal step of adding an oxidizing agent to the first separated solution and adjusting a pH of the first separated solution in a range of from 3.0 to 4.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing iron in the first separated solution to obtain a second separated solution; and an aluminum removal step of neutralizing the second separated solution to a pH range of from 4.0 to 6.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing aluminum in the second separated solution to obtain a third separated solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2017
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi ITO, Junichi ARAKAWA, Takuya YOKOTA, Naoki HIGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20190084839
    Abstract: A method for processing lithium ion battery scrap according to this invention includes a leaching step of leaching lithium ion battery scrap to obtain a leached solution; an aluminum removal step of neutralizing the leached solution to a pH range of from 4.0 to 6.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing aluminum in the leached solution to obtain a first separated solution; and an iron removal step of adding an oxidizing agent to the first separated solution and adjusting the pH in a range of from 3.0 to 5.0, then performing solid-liquid separation and removing iron in the first separated solution to obtain a second separated solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2017
    Publication date: March 21, 2019
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi ITO, Junichi ARAKAWA, Takuya YOKOTA, Naoki HIGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20180087127
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for removing copper from lithium ion battery scrap containing copper, comprising a leaching step of adding the lithium ion battery scrap to an acidic solution and leaching the lithium ion battery scrap under a condition that an aluminum solid is present in the acidic solution; and a copper separating step of separating copper contained in the acidic solution as a solid from the acidic solution, after the leaching step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2016
    Publication date: March 29, 2018
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ken ADACHI, Junichi ARAKAWA, Junichi ITO
  • Publication number: 20180073098
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for removing iron from an iron-containing solution containing an iron ion, comprising adding a lithium ion battery cathode material containing manganese to an acidic sulfuric acid solution to obtain a cathode material-containing solution, and then precipitating a manganese ion as manganese dioxide in a mixed solution obtained by mixing the iron-containing solution with the cathode material-containing solution while precipitating the iron ion contained in the iron-containing solution as a solid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2016
    Publication date: March 15, 2018
    Applicant: JX NIPPON MINING & METALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichi ARAKAWA, Junichi ITO, Takuya YOKOTA
  • Patent number: 6067101
    Abstract: A power source circuit having a charge circuit for charging a chargeable battery includes a charge function having a circuit for detecting a battery voltage of the battery after the passage of a predetermined period at a charge voltage rising stage since the start of charging, a device for judging the life of the battery by comparing a detected result of the detecting circuit with a reference value, and a device for stopping the charge of the battery in accordance with the judgment of a battery failure by the judging device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2000
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Junichi Arakawa, Makoto Kashimura, Toshihiko Bekki, Hideo Horigome, Kazuyuki Masumoto
  • Patent number: 5697717
    Abstract: A printer has an electric power supply controller which controls electric power supplied to an indicator indicating a state of the printer so as to prolong a driving time of the printer, which is driven by a battery. When the apparatus is set to an on-line state using an on-line key, electric power is initially supplied to an on-line LED, which indicates the apparatus is in the on-line state. Afterwards, when a predetermined time period has passed, the supply of electric power is cut off to the on-line LED, whereby the consumption of electric power supplied to the indicator can be minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 16, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuichi Kaneko, Tetsuhito Ikeda, Akira Kuribayashi, Junichi Arakawa, Hideo Horigome
  • Patent number: 5673070
    Abstract: A battery-driven recording apparatus records a plurality of lines by recording-scan by using a recording head having a plurality of recording elements. A capacity of a battery is detected, and when the capacity of the battery is lowered, the number of lines to be recorded in one recording scan is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1997
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideki Nakanishi, Junichi Arakawa, Hideo Horigome, Yuichi Kaneko, Tetsuhito Ikeda, Akira Kuribayashi