Patents by Inventor Katsuya Hirano

Katsuya Hirano 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: 11917382
    Abstract: An in-vehicle acoustic system includes a first amplifier that outputs a first audio signal to a first mid-range speaker; a second amplifier that outputs a second audio signal to a second mid-range speaker; a third amplifier that outputs a third audio signal to a first high-range speaker and a first low-range speaker; and a fourth amplifier that outputs a fourth audio signal to a second high-range speaker and a second low-range speaker, in which the third audio signal is inputted to the first high-range speaker, the fourth audio signal is inputted to the second high-range speaker, the first audio signal is inputted to a deep-bass speaker, the third audio signal is inputted to the first low-range speaker, the fourth audio signal is inputted to the second low-range speaker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: YAMAHA Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuya Hirano, Tomokazu Hikida, Takakazu Nakashima
  • Publication number: 20230292001
    Abstract: A lens device is provided that outputs an action state of a lens while utilizing a multi-purpose communication interface capable of connecting a large number of camera devices. The lens device includes: a lens mechanism that is built into a lens main body and forms the optical image; a drive control unit that is built into the lens main body and drive-controls the lens mechanism; a control unit that includes a microcomputer and outputs a drive control signal to the drive control unit; a first connection unit that forms a first communication interface capable of having input/output communication with the control unit, and is capable of connecting to a network; and a second connection unit that includes a second communication interface capable of outputting a signal from the control unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Inventors: Tsunemi NIIKURA, Katsuya HIRANO
  • Publication number: 20220413254
    Abstract: A lens device with which a network can be pulled out from a lens main body and connected to an operation terminal is provided. The lens device for capturing an optical image includes: a lens mechanism for forming the optical image, the lens mechanism being built into a lens main body; a drive control unit for drive-controlling the lens mechanism, the drive control unit being built into the lens main body; a central processing unit that outputs a drive control signal to the drive control unit; and a network that forms a power supply interface for the lens main body, and a communication interface for the central processing unit. Thereby, the lens and the operation terminal are connected via the network, so that it is possible to expand the connection mode between the lens and the operation terminal to an n-to-one or n-to-n connection mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2019
    Publication date: December 29, 2022
    Applicant: CBC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tsunemi NIIKURA, Kazutaka SHIBUYA, Katsuya HIRANO
  • Publication number: 20210392436
    Abstract: An in-vehicle acoustic system includes a first amplifier that outputs a first audio signal to a first mid-range speaker; a second amplifier that outputs a second audio signal to a second mid-range speaker; a third amplifier that outputs a third audio signal to a first high-range speaker and a first low-range speaker; and a fourth amplifier that outputs a fourth audio signal to a second high-range speaker and a second low-range speaker, in which the third audio signal is inputted to the first high-range speaker, the fourth audio signal is inputted to the second high-range speaker, the first audio signal is inputted to a deep-bass speaker, the third audio signal is inputted to the first low-range speaker, the fourth audio signal is inputted to the second low-range speaker.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2021
    Publication date: December 16, 2021
    Inventors: Katsuya HIRANO, Tomokazu HIKIDA, Takakazu NAKASHIMA
  • Patent number: 10932042
    Abstract: A conversation assist apparatus for a vehicle that includes a plurality of microphones and a plurality of electric loudspeakers, each microphone of the plurality of microphones and each electric loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers being arranged so as to correspond to a seat of four seats arranged in a rectangular manner in a passenger compartment of the vehicle includes a signal processor configured to generate an audio signal by adding a delay to an output signal of a microphone of the plurality of microphones; a supplier configured to supply the generated audio signal to an electric loudspeaker of the plurality of electric loudspeakers that corresponds to a diagonal seat, from among the four seats, that is located at a diagonal position of a seat corresponding to the microphone; and a controller configured to control an amount of the delay based on a state of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya Hirano, Tsuyoshi Okami
  • Patent number: 10812901
    Abstract: A conversation assist apparatus for a vehicle that includes a plurality of microphones and a plurality of electric loudspeakers, each microphone of the plurality of microphones and each electric loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers being arranged so as to correspond to a seat of four seats arranged in a rectangular manner in a passenger compartment of the vehicle includes a signal processor configured to generate an audio signal by adding a delay to an output signal of a microphone of the plurality of microphones; a supplier configured to supply the generated audio signal to an electric loudspeaker of the plurality of electric loudspeakers that corresponds to a diagonal seat, from among the four seats, that is located at a diagonal position of a seat corresponding to the microphone; and a controller configured to control an amount of the delay based on a state of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya Hirano, Tsuyoshi Okami
  • Publication number: 20200304909
    Abstract: A conversation assist apparatus for a vehicle that includes a plurality of microphones and a plurality of electric loudspeakers, each microphone of the plurality of microphones and each electric loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers being arranged so as to correspond to a seat of four seats arranged in a rectangular manner in a passenger compartment of the vehicle includes a signal processor configured to generate an audio signal by adding a delay to an output signal of a microphone of the plurality of microphones; a supplier configured to supply the generated audio signal to an electric loudspeaker of the plurality of electric loudspeakers that corresponds to a diagonal seat, from among the four seats, that is located at a diagonal position of a seat corresponding to the microphone; and a controller configured to control an amount of the delay based on a state of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Publication date: September 24, 2020
    Inventors: Katsuya HIRANO, Tsuyoshi OKAMI
  • Publication number: 20190230437
    Abstract: A conversation assist apparatus for a vehicle that includes a plurality of microphones and a plurality of electric loudspeakers, each microphone of the plurality of microphones and each electric loudspeaker of the plurality of loudspeakers being arranged so as to correspond to a seat of four seats arranged in a rectangular manner in a passenger compartment of the vehicle includes a signal processor configured to generate an audio signal by adding a delay to an output signal of a microphone of the plurality of microphones; a supplier configured to supply the generated audio signal to an electric loudspeaker of the plurality of electric loudspeakers that corresponds to a diagonal seat, from among the four seats, that is located at a diagonal position of a seat corresponding to the microphone; and a controller configured to control an amount of the delay based on a state of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2019
    Publication date: July 25, 2019
    Inventors: Katsuya HIRANO, Tsuyoshi OKAMI
  • Patent number: 9933462
    Abstract: A current sensor includes an element substrate that has a first surface facing a wire to which electric current to be measured is supplied and a second surface positioned on the opposite side of the first surface; a pair of sloping surfaces that are formed mutually juxtaposed in the element substrate so as to have slope angles by which their mutual spacing gradually decreases in a first direction approximately orthogonal with the first surface heading from the first surface to the second surface; a pair of magnetism detecting elements that are respectively attached to the pair of sloping surfaces formed in the element substrate; and external connection terminals that are respectively connected to the pair of magnetism detecting elements and that extend in a second direction that is the opposite direction of the first direction, in which the sensitivity directions of the pair of magnetism detecting elements are respectively set so as to slope along the pair of sloping surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Sekimoto, Norihiro Kawagishi, Katsuya Hirano
  • Patent number: 9841440
    Abstract: A current detection circuit includes a coil that is constituted by a metal wiring formed on a semiconductor substrate, a resistor that is provided in a position near the coil on the semiconductor substrate, constituted by a metal wiring formed on the semiconductor substrate, which is made of a metal material being same as that of the coil, and arranged so as to prevent any magnetic field from being generated due to a current flowing in the resistor, an output circuit that outputs currents in accordance with a resistance ratio between the coil and the resistor to the coil and the resistor correspondingly through a common terminal, and a detection circuit that detects the current flowing in the resistor to thereby detect the current flowing in the coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuya Hirano, Yasuhiko Sekimoto, Norihiro Kawagishi
  • Patent number: 9766436
    Abstract: There is provided a zoom lens, consisting of sequentially from an object side: a first lens group having a positive refractive power and a focusing function; a second lens group having a negative refractive power and having a variator function of performing zooming; a third lens group having a positive refractive power and a diaphragm; a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power, and having a compensator function of correcting a position of an imaging plane at the time of zooming; and a fifth lens group having a positive or negative refractive power, wherein the second lens group is moved to the imaging plane side from the object side along an optical axis, and the fourth lens group is moved along the optical axis in a state of fixing the first lens group, the third lens group, and the fifth lens group at the time of zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end, and only the first lens group is moved along the optical axis at the time of focusing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: CBC Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Katsuya Hirano
  • Patent number: 9364837
    Abstract: A straight-drum centrifugal dehydration device, wherein extraction of moisture from heavy phase built up in a bowl is facilitated to improve the dehydration effect, and compression efficiency is improved to achieve a reduced load. The straight-drum centrifugal dehydration device, wherein an outer peripheral surface of a rotary drum (21) of a screw conveyor (20) comprises a straight section (24) and a tapered section (25) that spreads outward and away from the straight section, the straight-drum centrifugal dehydration device having an inorganic flocculant feed path for feeding an inorganic flocculant to an inner peripheral surface of the straight section (24) of the rotary drum, and the straight section being provided with an inorganic flocculant addition nozzle (109) communicating with the inorganic flocculant feed path and projecting into an annular space of the bowl and an orifice (108) for adding the inorganic flocculant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: KOTOBUKI INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kaoru Yamaguchi, Toshiya Kitakaze, Masashi Uehane, Katsuya Hirano, Isamu Tobita
  • Publication number: 20160161529
    Abstract: A current detection circuit includes a coil that is constituted by a metal wiring formed on a semiconductor substrate, a resistor that is provided in a position near the coil on the semiconductor substrate, constituted by a metal wiring formed on the semiconductor substrate, which is made of a metal material being same as that of the coil, and arranged so as to prevent any magnetic field from being generated due to a current flowing in the resistor, an output circuit that outputs currents in accordance with a resistance ratio between the coil and the resistor to the coil and the resistor correspondingly through a common terminal, and a detection circuit that detects the current flowing in the resistor to thereby detect the current flowing in the coil.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2014
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Applicant: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuya HIRANO, Yasuhiko SEKIMOTO, Norihiro KAWAGISHI
  • Publication number: 20160091692
    Abstract: There is provided a zoom lens, consisting of sequentially from an object side: a first lens group having a positive refractive power and a focusing function; a second lens group having a negative refractive power and having a variator function of performing zooming; a third lens group having a positive refractive power and a diaphragm; a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power, and having a compensator function of correcting a position of an imaging plane at the time of zooming; and a fifth lens group having a positive or negative refractive power, wherein the second lens group is moved to the imaging plane side from the object side along an optical axis, and the fourth lens group is moved along the optical axis in a state of fixing the first lens group, the third lens group, and the fifth lens group at the time of zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end, and only the first lens group is moved along the optical axis at the time of focusing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2013
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventor: Katsuya HIRANO
  • Publication number: 20150276817
    Abstract: A current sensor includes an element substrate that has a first surface facing a wire to which electric current to be measured is supplied and a second surface positioned on the opposite side of the first surface; a pair of sloping surfaces that are formed mutually juxtaposed in the element substrate so as to have slope angles by which their mutual spacing gradually decreases in a first direction approximately orthogonal with the first surface heading from the first surface to the second surface; a pair of magnetism detecting elements that are respectively attached to the pair of sloping surfaces formed in the element substrate; and external connection terminals that are respectively connected to the pair of magnetism detecting elements and that extend in a second direction that is the opposite direction of the first direction, in which the sensitivity directions of the pair of magnetism detecting elements are respectively set so as to slope along the pair of sloping surfaces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Sekimoto, Norihiro Kawagishi, Katsuya Hirano
  • Publication number: 20130337991
    Abstract: A straight-drum centrifugal dehydration device, wherein extraction of moisture from heavy phase built up in a bowl is facilitated to improve the dehydration effect, and compression efficiency is improved to achieve a reduced load. The straight-drum centrifugal dehydration device, wherein an outer peripheral surface of a rotary drum (21) of a screw conveyor (20) comprises a straight section (24) and a tapered section (25) that spreads outward and away from the straight section, the straight-drum centrifugal dehydration device having an inorganic flocculant feed path for feeding an inorganic flocculant to an inner peripheral surface of the straight section (24) of the rotary drum, and the straight section being provided with an inorganic flocculant addition nozzle (109) communicating with the inorganic flocculant feed path and projecting into an annular space of the bowl and an orifice (108) for adding the inorganic flocculant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2012
    Publication date: December 19, 2013
    Applicant: KOTOBUKI INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kaoru Yamaguchi, Toshiya Kitakaze, Masashi Uehane, Katsuya Hirano, Isamu Tobita
  • Patent number: 8575481
    Abstract: The present invention has an object of providing an electronic apparatus storing container capable of facilitating mounting of an electronic apparatus and having improved productivity. The electronic apparatus storing container according to the present invention includes: a base including an electronic apparatus mounting area of a planar shape in which an electronic apparatus is mountable, and a packing groove formed in an outer peripheral portion of the electronic apparatus mounting area; a waterproof packing fit in a corresponding manner in the packing groove; and a case joined with the base with the waterproof packing sandwiched therebetween, the case storing the electronic apparatus mounted in the electronic apparatus mounting area. This improves the productivity of the electronic apparatus storing container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Masashi Hasegawa, Naoto Ozaki, Katsuya Hirano
  • Patent number: 8502602
    Abstract: A class-D amplifier circuit includes an amplifier that generates pulse-width modulated output signals according to input signals which have phases reverse to each other and are supplied to a first input end and a second input end, a first transistor interposed between a first input path extending from the first input end to the amplifier and a second input path extending from the second input end to the amplifier, and a voltage applying circuit that applies a control voltage corresponding to a predetermined value to a control terminal of the first transistor so that a current flowing between both ends of the first transistor increases in accordance with increase of levels of the input signals within a range in which the levels of the input signals are higher than the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuya Hirano, Hirotoshi Tsuchiya
  • Publication number: 20120154044
    Abstract: A class-D amplifier circuit includes an amplifier that generates pulse-width modulated output signals according to input signals which have phases reverse to each other and are supplied to a first input end and a second input end, a first transistor interposed between a first input path extending from the first input end to the amplifier and a second input path extending from the second input end to the amplifier, and a voltage applying circuit that applies a control voltage corresponding to a predetermined value to a control terminal of the first transistor so that a current flowing between both ends of the first transistor increases in accordance with increase of levels of the input signals within a range in which the levels of the input signals are higher than the predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2011
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuya HIRANO, Hirotoshi Tsuchiya
  • Publication number: 20120019210
    Abstract: Suppliable power per unit time from a secondary battery (4) to a DC communication device load (3) during an output suppression time zone (TS) is stored in a memory (2B) as a threshold (W1). A current power consumption (W2) of the DC communication device load (3) is measured. An output control unit (2D) is provided with a function of, during the output suppression time zone (TS), comparing the current power consumption (W2) of the DC communication device load (3) with the threshold (W1) in the memory (2B), if W2?W1, stopping power supply from a rectifying unit (2-1) to the DC communication device load (3) and covering the power consumption (W2) only by power accumulated in the secondary battery (4), and if W2>W1, covering the power consumption up to the threshold (W1) by the power accumulated in the secondary battery (4) and covering the power consumption more than the threshold (W1) by power from the rectifying unit (2-1).
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2010
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Inventors: Akira Wakamatsu, Katsuya Hirano