Patents by Inventor Kaoru Hirata

Kaoru Hirata 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).

  • Publication number: 20250012654
    Abstract: A pressure sensor that can prevent application of excessive stress on a port and detect fluid differential pressure accurately. A base includes a sensor that detects a pressure difference between a first fluid and a second fluid. A first port is attached to the base and has a first flow path through which the first fluid is introduced. A second port is attached to the base and has a second flow path through which the second fluid is introduced. The outer diameter of the first port is equal to the outer diameter of the second port, and the diameter of the first flow path is smaller than the diameter of the second flow path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2024
    Publication date: January 9, 2025
    Applicants: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED, NIDEC COMPONENTS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kaoru Hirata, Keisuke Ideguchi, Shinya Ogawa, Katsuyuki Sugita, Masaaki Nagase, Kouji Nishino, Masaki Fukasawa, Yusuke Ishikawa
  • Publication number: 20250012376
    Abstract: A flow rate control device includes a piezo valve having a metal diaphragm valve element that is opened and closed by a piezo actuator, a strain sensor for detecting a displacement amount of the piezo actuator, and a control circuit for receiving a detection signal of the strain sensor and controlling a drive voltage of the piezo actuator, wherein the control circuit is configured so as, by applying a positive drive voltage one or more times and then applying a negative drive voltage a plurality of times to the piezo actuator at a desired timing, to bring an amount of strain detected by the strain sensor close to zero when no drive voltage is applied to the piezo actuator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2024
    Publication date: January 9, 2025
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Toru HIRAI, Kaoru HIRATA, Katsuyuki SUGITA
  • Patent number: 12174647
    Abstract: The flow rate control device 10 includes a control valve 11, a restriction part 12 provided downstream of the control valve 11, an upstream pressure sensor 13 for measuring a pressure P1 between the control valve 11 and the restriction part 12, a differential pressure sensor 20 for measuring a differential pressure ?P between the upstream and the downstream of the restriction part 12, and an arithmetic control circuit 16 connected to the control valve 11, the upstream pressure sensor 13, and the differential pressure sensor 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2024
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2024
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaoru Hirata, Keisuke Ideguchi, Shinya Ogawa, Katsuyuki Sugita, Masaaki Nagase, Kouji Nishino, Nobukazu Ikeda, Hiroyuki Ito
  • Patent number: 12007797
    Abstract: A flow rate control device 100 includes a control valve 6 provided in a flow path 1, a flow rate measurement unit 2, 3 for measuring fluid flow rate controlled by the control valve 6, and a controller 7. The controller 7 is configured so as to control the opening/closing operation of the control valve 6 to match the measurement integral flow rate based on the signal outputted from the flow rate measurement unit (Vn+Vd) to the target integral flow rate Vs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2024
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Sugita, Kouji Nishino, Naofumi Yasumoto, Kaoru Hirata, Shinya Ogawa, Keisuke Ideguchi
  • Publication number: 20240167577
    Abstract: A controller capable of improving the disappearance resistance of a synthetic resin coating of a diaphragm, and a vaporization supply device comprising the controller. The controller includes a body having an inflow passage and an outflow passage, a valve seat provided between the inflow passage and the outflow passage, a diaphragm capable of being seated on or separated from the valve seat, and an actuator for causing the diaphragm to be seated on and separated from the valve seat. The material of the valve seat is nickel-based, and the diaphragm is provided with a synthetic resin coating on a surface of a side to be brought into contact with the valve seat.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2022
    Publication date: May 23, 2024
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Atsushi HIDAKA, Kazuteru TANAKA, Takatoshi NAKATANI, Kazuyuki MORISAKI, Masafumi KITANO, Kaoru HIRATA, Masaaki NAGASE, Kouji NISHINO, Nobukazu IKEDA
  • Patent number: 11988543
    Abstract: An abnormality detection method is performed in a gas supply system including a flow rate control device having a restriction part, a control valve, a flow rate control pressure sensor for measuring upstream pressure, and a control circuit. The inflow pressure sensor measures the supply pressure. An upstream on/off valve is provided upstream of the inflow pressure sensor. The method includes closing the upstream on/off valve when the gas flows at a controlled flow rate at the downstream of the restriction part by controlling an opening degree of the control valve based on the output of the flow rate control pressure sensor; measuring a drop in supply pressure on the upstream side of the control valve after closing the upstream on/off valve while keeping the control valve open; and detecting the presence or absence of abnormality in the flow rate control device based on the measured supply pressure drop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Atsushi Hidaka, Masaaki Nagase, Kouji Nishino, Nobukazu Ikeda, Kaoru Hirata
  • Publication number: 20240160230
    Abstract: The flow rate control device 10 includes a control valve 11, a restriction part 12 provided downstream of the control valve 11, an upstream pressure sensor 13 for measuring a pressure P1 between the control valve 11 and the restriction part 12, a differential pressure sensor 20 for measuring a differential pressure ?P between the upstream and the downstream of the restriction part 12, and an arithmetic control circuit 16 connected to the control valve 11, the upstream pressure sensor 13, and the differential pressure sensor 20.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2024
    Publication date: May 16, 2024
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaoru HIRATA, Keisuke IDEGUCHI, Shinya OGAWA, Katsuyuki SUGITA, Masaaki NAGASE, Kouji NISHINO, Nobukazu IKEDA, Hiroyuki ITO
  • Patent number: 11976748
    Abstract: A diaphragm valve includes a body (3) having a flow path (2), a seat (4) formed in the flow path (2), a metal diaphragm (5) for opening and closing the flow path (2), a pair of clamping parts (6) and (7) for claiming peripheral edge portions of the metal diaphragm (5) to fix the metal diaphragm (5) to the body (3), and an actuator (8) for abutting the metal diaphragm (5) to the seat (4) or separating the metal diaphragm from the seat (4), wherein a fluorine resin coating is formed on a seat side surface (5a) of the metal diaphragm (5) at least in a contact region (B-A) with the seat (4) in a region (C) surrounded by a clamping region (D-C) between the seat side surface (5a) and one of the pair of clamping portions (6, 7), excluding the clamping region (D-C).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaoru Hirata, Masaaki Nagase, Atsushi Hidaka, Kazuyuki Morisaki, Keisuke Ideguchi, Kosuke Sugimoto, Masafumi Kitano, Kouji Nishino, Nobukazu Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20240094078
    Abstract: The pressure sensor 10 comprises: a bottomed cylindrical sensor module 11 having inside a pressure receiving chamber C1 communicating with a flow path and including a diaphragm 11a in contact with the pressure receiving chamber; a pressure detecting element 12 for outputting a strain of the diaphragm 11a as a pressure; a base ring 14 fixed at an outer edge of an open-side end part 11c of the sensor module and disposed on an outer peripheral side of the sensor module 11; a hermetic member 13 fixed to the base ring 14 for forming a sealed vacuum chamber C2 opposite to the pressure receiving chamber C1 across the diaphragm 11a; a gasket 18 sandwiched between the base ring 14 and a body 5; and a pressing flange 19 for pressing the base ring 14 to the body 5 through the gasket 18.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2021
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicants: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED, NIDEC COPAL ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Atsushi HIDAKA, Takatoshi NAKATANI, Kaoru HIRATA, Kouji NISHINO, Nobukazu IKEDA, Masaki FUKASAWA
  • Patent number: 11914407
    Abstract: The flow rate control device 10 includes a control valve 11, a restriction part 12 provided downstream of the control valve 11, an upstream pressure sensor 13 for measuring a pressure P1 between the control valve 11 and the restriction part 12, a differential pressure sensor 20 for measuring a differential pressure ?P between the upstream and the downstream of the restriction part 12, and an arithmetic control circuit 16 connected to the control valve 11, the upstream pressure sensor 13, and the differential pressure sensor 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaoru Hirata, Keisuke Ideguchi, Shinya Ogawa, Katsuyuki Sugita, Masaaki Nagase, Kouji Nishino, Nobukazu Ikeda, Hiroyuki Ito
  • Publication number: 20230359228
    Abstract: A flow rate control device 100 includes a control valve 6 provided in a flow path 1, a flow rate measurement unit 2, 3 for measuring fluid flow rate controlled by the control valve 6, and a controller 7. The controller 7 is configured so as to control the opening/closing operation of the control valve 6 to match the measurement integral flow rate based on the signal outputted from the flow rate measurement unit (Vn+Vd) to the target integral flow rate Vs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2023
    Publication date: November 9, 2023
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Katsuyuki SUGITA, Kouji NISHINO, Naofumi YASUMOTO, Kaoru HIRATA, Shinya OGAWA, Keisuke IDEGUCHI
  • Patent number: 11733721
    Abstract: A flow rate control device 100 includes a control valve 6 provided in a flow path 1, a flow rate measurement unit 2, 3 for measuring fluid flow rate controlled by the control valve 6, and a controller 7. The controller 7 is configured so as to control the opening/closing operation of the control valve 6 to match the measurement integral flow rate based on the signal outputted from the flow rate measurement unit (Vn+Vd) to the target integral flow rate Vs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Sugita, Kouji Nishino, Naofumi Yasumoto, Kaoru Hirata, Shinya Ogawa, Keisuke Ideguchi
  • Publication number: 20230129479
    Abstract: A flow rate control device (8) includes a control valve (6) having a valve element and a piezoelectric element for moving the valve element, and an arithmetic processing circuit (7) for controlling an operation of the control valve, wherein the arithmetic processing circuit is configured to receive an external command signal SE corresponding to a target flow rate when opening the control valve from a closed state so that a gas flows at the target flow rate, and to generate an internal command signal E1 output to a driving circuit for determining a voltage applied to the piezoelectric element based on the external command signal, the internal command signal is a signal that rises with time from zero and converges to a value of the external command signal, and is generated such that a slope at the time of initial rise and a slope immediately before convergence are smaller than a slope therebetween.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2021
    Publication date: April 27, 2023
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Katsuyuki SUGITA, Kouji NISHINO, Kaoru HIRATA, Shinya OGAWA, Keisuke IDEGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20230011244
    Abstract: A pressure control device 20 includes a pressure control valve 25, a flow resistance 23 provided downstream of the pressure control valve, for restricting a gas flow, a first pressure sensor 21 for measuring a gas pressure between the pressure control valve and the flow resistance, a second pressure sensor 22 for measuring a gas pressure downstream of the flow resistance, and an arithmetic control circuit 26 connected to the first pressure sensor and the second pressure sensor. The pressure control device is configured to control the gas pressure downstream of the flow resistance by adjusting an opening degree of the pressure control valve based on an output of the second pressure sensor regardless of an output of the first pressure sensor control, and calculate the flow rate of the gas downstream of the flow resistance based on the output of the first pressure sensor and the output of the second pressure sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Publication date: January 12, 2023
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaoru HIRATA, Kouji NISHINO, Katsuyuki SUGITA, Shinya OGAWA, Keisuke IDEGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20220390269
    Abstract: The abnormality detection method of the flow rate control device 10 is performed in the gas supply system 100 including the flow rate control device 10 having the restriction part 12, the control valve 14, the flow rate control pressure sensor 16 for measuring the upstream pressure P1, and the control circuit 19, the inflow pressure sensor 20 for measuring the supply pressure P0, and the upstream on-off valve 2 provided upstream of the inflow pressure sensor, and includes a step of closing the upstream on-off valve in a state in which the gas flows at the controlled flow rate at the downstream of the restriction part by controlling the opening degree of the control valve based on the output of the flow rate control pressure sensor, a step of measuring the drop in the supply pressure P0 on the upstream side of the control valve after closing the upstream on-off valve while keeping the control valve open, and a step of detecting the presence or absence of abnormality in the flow rate control device based on the
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2020
    Publication date: December 8, 2022
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Atsushi HIDAKA, Masaaki NAGASE, Kouji NISHINO, Nobukazu IKEDA, Kaoru HIRATA
  • Publication number: 20220268365
    Abstract: A diaphragm valve includes a body 3 having a flow path 2 formed therein, a sheet 4 formed in the flow path 2, a metal diaphragm 5 for opening and closing the flow path 2 by abutting on or separating from the sheet 4, a pair of clamping parts 6 and 7 for claiming peripheral edge portions of both side surfaces of the metal diaphragm 5 respectively to fix the metal diaphragm 5 to the body 3, and an actuator 8 for abutting the metal diaphragm 5 on the sheet 4 or separating the metal diaphragm from the sheet 4, wherein a fluorine resin coating is formed on a sheet side surface 5a of the metal diaphragm 5 in a region excluding a clamping region D-C between the sheet side surface 5a and the clamping part 7, and at least in a contact region B-A with the sheet 4 in a region C surrounded by the clamping region D-C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2020
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaoru HIRATA, Masaaki NAGASE, Atsushi HIDAKA, Kazuyuki MORISAKI, Keisuke IDEGUCHI, Kosuke SUGIMOTO, Masafumi KITANO, Kouji NISHINO, Nobukazu IKEDA
  • Patent number: 11416011
    Abstract: A pressure-type flow rate control device includes a restriction part; a control valve provided upstream of the restriction part; an upstream pressure sensor for detecting pressure between the restriction part and the control valve; and an arithmetic processing circuit connected to the control valve and the upstream pressor sensor. The device is configured to perform flow rate control by controlling the control valve according to an output of the upstream pressure sensor. The arithmetic processing circuit performs an operation of closing the control valve in order to reduce a flow rate of a fluid flowing through the restriction part, and performs an operation of closing the control valve by feedback control in which a target value is an exponential function more gradual than the pressure drop characteristic data when a gas flows out of the restriction part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Sugita, Kaoru Hirata, Nobukazu Ikeda, Kouji Nishino, Masahiko Takimoto, Takahiro Imai, Shinya Ogawa
  • Patent number: 11402250
    Abstract: The liquid level meter according to the present invention includes a resistive temperature detector, a temperature measuring body located above it, a temperature detecting unit detecting temperatures of the resistive temperature detector and the temperature measuring body, a current controlling unit determining a current value to be flowed through the resistive temperature detector so that the resistive temperature detector and the temperature measuring body become a predetermined temperature difference, a power supply unit supplying the current of the determined current value to the resistive temperature detector, and a liquid level detecting unit detecting a position of a liquid level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Atsushi Hidaka, Takatoshi Nakatani, Satoru Yamashita, Katsuyuki Sugita, Kaoru Hirata, Masaaki Nagase, Kouji Nishino, Nobukazu Ikeda
  • Patent number: 11391608
    Abstract: A self-diagnosis method of a flow rate control device includes: a step (a) for measuring a pressure drop characteristic after a pressure control valve (6) has been changed to a closed state from a state where a fluid flows from the upstream side of the pressure control valve with the opening of a flow rate control valve (8) is larger than a restriction part; a step (b) for measuring the pressure drop characteristic after the pressure control valve has been changed to the closed state from a state where the fluid flows from the upstream side of the flow rate control valve to the downstream side with the opening of the flow rate control valve is smaller than the restriction part; a step (c) for determining whether there is an abnormality by comparing the pressure drop characteristic measured in step (a) with a corresponding reference pressure drop characteristic; a step (d) for determining whether there is an abnormality by comparing the pressure drop characteristic measured in step (b) with a corresponding ref
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Sugita, Ryousuke Dohi, Kaoru Hirata, Koji Kawada, Nobukazu Ikeda, Kouji Nishino
  • Publication number: 20220197316
    Abstract: The flow rate control device 10 includes a control valve 11, a restriction part 12 provided downstream of the control valve 11, an upstream pressure sensor 13 for measuring a pressure P1 between the control valve 11 and the restriction part 12, a differential pressure sensor 20 for measuring a differential pressure ?P between the upstream and the downstream of the restriction part 12, and an arithmetic control circuit 16 connected to the control valve 11, the upstream pressure sensor 13, and the differential pressure sensor 20.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 16, 2020
    Publication date: June 23, 2022
    Applicant: FUJIKIN INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kaoru HIRATA, Keisuke IDEGUCHI, Shinya OGAWA, Katsuyuki SUGITA, Masaaki NAGASE, Kouji NISHINO, Nobukazu IKEDA, Hiroyuki ITO