Patents by Inventor Kazuo Takahashi

Kazuo Takahashi 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: 20140083388
    Abstract: A cylinder internal-pressure sensor is provided with a housing unit 2 composed of an outer cylinder portion 2e and an inner cylinder portion 2i having elastic portions 2es and 2is having elasticity in an axial direction Fs formed on an intermediate portion Xm in the axial direction Fs; a pressure-receiving ring block portion 3 hermetically fixed between the outer cylinder portion 2e and the inner cylinder portion 2i located on the fronts of the elastic portions 2es and 2is and faced with the rear of the elastic portions 2e and 2i through the elastic portions 2e and 2i and having a front surface 3f as a pressure receiving surface; at least one or more pressure detection elements 5a, 5b, 5c, . . .
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2012
    Publication date: March 27, 2014
    Applicants: CITIZEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD., CITIZEN FINETECH MIYOTA CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Aki Sudou, Takayuki Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8651759
    Abstract: A cylindrical cosmetic container with an inner cap (7) inside a cap (5) fit outside an upper end of a container body (X) uses a first motion resistance at a halfway covering posture to an immediately preceding covering posture and a second motion resistance from the immediately preceding covering posture to a fully cover posture while the container body (X) is covered with the cap (5), in which the inner cap (7) includes a protrusion (7f) to deform towards an outer diameter side while applying the first motion resistance by being pressed into sliding contact with an extending upper end (4c) of the container body (X) and a projection (7d) projecting from an outer circumferential surface for applying the second motion resistance greater than the first motion resistance when a convex rib (4b) moves over the projection (7d).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Hidan Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Takahiro Kusumoto, Kenichi Hiyama, Yoshinobu Abe, Yutaka Mihara
  • Publication number: 20140033720
    Abstract: A controller for use in a gas turbine power plant includes a compressor that compresses combustion air; a water-atomization cooling apparatus that sprays water drops of atomized water supplied via a water-atomization flow-rate regulating valve over a flow of air drawn in the compressor; a combustor that mixes the compressed combustion air with fuel to thereby burn a fuel-air mixture and generate combustion gas at high temperature and performs combustion switching during operation; a turbine that uses the combustion gas to drive the compressor and a generator; the water-atomization flow-rate regulating valve that controls a flow rate of the atomized water; and a compressor inlet inner blade that controls a flow rate of air drawn in the compressor. The controller includes control means that calculates a fuel-air ratio correction command signal for compensating for reduction in a fuel-air ratio in the combustor occurring during the combustion switching.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2011
    Publication date: February 6, 2014
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Eunkyeong Kim, Kazuhito Koyama, Shigeo Hatamiya, Yukinori Katagiri, Takuya Yoshida, Naohiro Kusumi, Kazuo Takahashi
  • Patent number: 8587777
    Abstract: A change in surface state can be dealt with by setting threshold values different for respective regions of an object to be examined in accordance with a magnitude of noises, thereby improving a detection sensitivity. A function for setting an examination threshold value every region is installed. A function for setting examination threshold values every plurality of detectors spatially independent of each other is installed. The magnitude of noises from the object to be examined differs depending on a spatial direction even in the same region. Therefore, the detection sensitivity is maximized by maximizing an S/N ratio of a detection signal by an optimum signal arithmetic operating process according to the magnitude of noises from the object to be examined every detector and every region of the object to be examined and by setting the optimum threshold values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiro Jingu, Kazuo Takahashi
  • Publication number: 20130278926
    Abstract: Surface states have traditionally been measured with apparatuses such as an atomic force microscope (AFM), and these measurements have been high in resolution but low in speed. In conventional apparatuses for inspecting the foreign matter sticking to a wafer surface, and for inspecting defects present on the wafer surface, the inspection has had a tendency to be restricted in a region of the highest noise level arising from the roughness of the surface, the surface state, and/or crystal orientations, and thereby to reduce detection sensitivity in a region of lower noise levels. In these conventional techniques, signal processing of the light scattered from the object to be inspected has been based only upon the intensity of the light. This invention acquires three-dimensional data by, during such signal processing, adding detection intervals and the frequency of detection, as well as the intensity of light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2011
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Applicant: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Takahiro Jingu
  • Patent number: 8563958
    Abstract: Reflected light caused by the state of the surface of a wafer, a foreign material, or a defect is superimposed on a haze frequency component caused by the type and thickness of a film or a surface irregularity. In order to detect a haze frequency component caused by a haze present on the surface of an object to be inspected, light propagating from the object to be inspected is detected and converted into an electric signal. The electric signal is sampled at a predetermined sampling time interval and converted into digital data. A frequency component caused by a foreign material, a defect or the like is separated from the digital data to ensure that a haze frequency component is selected. The haze frequency component is caused by a stain attached to the surface of the wafer, hazy tarnish, a surface irregularity or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Takahiro Jingu
  • Publication number: 20130271754
    Abstract: This invention implements reduction in the amount of background-scattered light from a semiconductor wafer surface and highly sensitive inspection, without increasing the number of detectors. A surface inspection apparatus that detects defects on the surface of an object (semiconductor wafer surface) to be inspected, by irradiating the surface of the object with a beam of light such as laser light and detecting the light reflected or scattered from the surface; wherein a widely apertured lens with an optical Fourier transform function is disposed between the object to be inspected and a detector, a filter variable in position as well in aperture diameter is provided on a Fourier transform plane, and background-scattered light from the semiconductor wafer surface is effectively blocked, whereby only a signal from a defect such as a foreign substance is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2011
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nobuaki Hirose, Takahiro Jingu, Hidetoshi Nishiyama, Kazuo Takahashi, Hisashi Hatano
  • Patent number: 8535159
    Abstract: A league is formed by a given number of teams formed by a plurality of players and having an identical team level, and the teams compete for league ranking based on team points obtained in a given period. A team level of each team is changed based on the league ranking. The player plays a game using a game device to obtain the team points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2013
    Assignee: Namco Bandai Games Inc.
    Inventors: Takashi Umaki, Kunihiko Minakata, Kazuo Takahashi, Hironori Ikeda
  • Patent number: 8524325
    Abstract: A method of producing a photocatalytic coating material which includes: the steps of coating the surface of a base material having hydrophobic substances on its surface with a photocatalytic coating material including at least (a) photocatalytic oxide particles, (b) a hydrophobic-resin emulsion, (c) water, and (d) silica particles, and hardening the coated material. The average sizes of the ingredient (a) and the ingredient (d) are smaller than that of the emulsified particles of the hydrophobic resin dispersed in the ingredient (b), ingredient (a) constitutes 1 to <5% by weight of the total solid matter of the coating material, ingredient (d) constitutes 1 to 90% by weight of a total solid matter of the coating material, and once the coating material is applied onto a base material, the photocatalytic oxide particles and the silica particles move upward and a coating film 1 ?m to 1 mm thick is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignees: Toto Ltd., JHCC Ltd., Okitsumo Incorporated
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Akira Shimai, Mitsuhide Shimohigoshi, Norio Sendoda, Tatsuhiko Kuga, Koji Okubo, Kazumasa Okita
  • Publication number: 20130192193
    Abstract: Disclosed is a solar assisted combined cycle power plant having a compressor that pressurizes combustion air, a combustor that mixes and burns the combustion air and gas turbine fuel to generate a high-temperature combustion gas, a gas turbine that drives the compressor by using the combustion gas, an exhaust heat recovery steam generator that obtains steam from thermal energy of a gas exhausted from the gas turbine, and a steam turbine that is driven by using the steam obtained by the exhaust heat recovery steam generator. The solar assisted combined cycle power plant includes a solar collector to turn supplied water to warm water; a heat accumulator that stores pressurized hot water from the solar collector and the exhaust heat recovery steam generator; and a spray device that handles the pressurized hot water as spray water and sprays the spray water onto the air to be taken into the compressor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: August 1, 2013
    Applicant: Hitachi ,Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Yoshida, Yukinori Katagiri, Tatsurou Yashiki, Takuya Yoshida, Kazuo Takahashi, Naohiro Kusumi, Takaaki Sekiai
  • Publication number: 20130174549
    Abstract: Provided is a gas turbine system capable of dealing with a request for output increase even when high-pressure hot water generated using solar thermal energy cannot be used according to the operating state of the gas turbine system. A gas turbine system which sucks in intake air from an air intake duct by a compressor and drives a gas turbine by combustion gas obtained by burning air and fuel by a combustor, said gas turbine system being provided with pipes for generating high-pressure hot water by providing a solar collecting tube that utilizes solar heat and spraying the high-pressure hot water into the intake air sucked in by the compressor, and pipes for spraying normal temperature water into the intake air sucked in by the compressor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: July 11, 2013
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takaaki Sediai, Kazuhito Koyama, Shigeo Hatamiya, Fumio Takahashi, Naoyuki Nagafuchi, Kazuo Takahashi
  • Publication number: 20130148113
    Abstract: The light scattered from the sample surface and foreign matter is imaged on an image intensifier and detected by a lens-coupled multi-pixel sensor such as a TDI sensor or a CCD sensor. The light scattered by surface roughness is spatially eliminated to detect the light scattered from foreign matter with increased sensitivity. A mechanism for shifting the image intensifier is incorporated to prevent a signal intensity decrease, which may be caused by a decrease in the sensitivity of the image intensifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2010
    Publication date: June 13, 2013
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mizuki Oku, Minori Noguchi, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Kazuo Takahashi, Kei Shimura
  • Patent number: 8445154
    Abstract: The present invention provides a fuel cell power system, in which a combustion exhaust gas having a high temperature and generated by the combustion reaction of unreacted fuel gas and oxidizer gas which are not utilized in a power-generating reaction is introduced into a gas header for distributing the fuel gas or the oxidizer gas to a plurality of fuel cells contained in a fuel cell body, in such a way that a larger amount of heat is transferred to the gas which is to be supplied to the cells disposed in a peripheral area of the fuel cell body by heat exchange, and a smaller amount of the heat is transferred to the gas which is to be supplied to the cells disposed in a central area of the fuel cell body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tadashi Yoshida, Hiromi Tokoi, Kazuo Takahashi, Shin Takahashi, Akihiko Noie, Akira Gunji, Nariyoshi Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20130091839
    Abstract: The power recovery system includes: a Stirling engine; and a vaporization device that stores a liquid therein in such a manner that the liquid is kept in contact with an upper portion of a cylinder and vaporizes the liquid by supplying the cold heat of the liquid to the upper portion of the cylinder. The vaporization device includes a liquid container which stores the liquid therein in such a manner that the liquid is kept in contact with the upper portion of the cylinder, and an outer container embracing the liquid container and defining a space portion around the liquid container. The space portion communicates with the liquid container and an exhaust vent. Gas vaporized in the liquid container passes between the liquid container and an outer wall surface of a heat insulating material during passage thereof from the liquid container to the exhaust vent through the space portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Publication date: April 18, 2013
    Applicants: Chubu Electric Power Company, Incorporated, Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Ryota Kokenawa, Norio Oiwa, Akira Ishikawa
  • Publication number: 20130081390
    Abstract: A vaporization method includes a preparing step of preparing a vaporizing tube that covers at least a part of a heat exchange unit for cold energy of a Stirling engine and is capable of forming an ascending flow of the liquid flowing from a bottom to a top of the heat exchange unit for cold energy, and a vaporizing step of feeding the liquid in the vaporizing tube to thereby form the ascending flow and bringing the liquid into contact with the Stirling engine to vaporize the liquid. In the preparing step, a flowing direction of the ascending flow is adjusted to suppress occurrence of separated flows of the liquid and gas in the vaporizing tube. In the vaporizing step, the liquid is fed at a flow velocity at which a gas-liquid two-phase flow in which the liquid and the gas are mixed is formed in the vaporizing tube.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Publication date: April 4, 2013
    Applicants: CHUBU ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY INCORPORATED, KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOBE SEIKO SHO (KOBE STEEL LTD)
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Norio Oiwa
  • Publication number: 20130084164
    Abstract: A power generation apparatus includes an expander and a power transmission shaft that extracts a rotational driving force generated by the expander to the exterior of a housing of the expander. The housing of the expander contains a driving unit of the expander within a space enclosed by a partition wall of the housing. The power transmission shaft includes a magnetic coupling, divided between the interior and exterior of the housing of the expander through the partition wall. The rotational driving force extracted via the magnetic coupling is used as auxiliary power that supplements the power of a driving source provided separately from the expander when driving a rotating machine using the power of the driving source. A clutch mechanism and a speed variator are provided in a power transmission path that transmits the rotational driving force extracted by the power transmission shaft to the driving source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Publication date: April 4, 2013
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: SHIGETO ADACHI, MASAYOSHI MATSUMURA, YUTAKA NARUKAWA, KAZUO TAKAHASHI
  • Patent number: 8411551
    Abstract: A guide-layer separated optical recording medium includes a guide layer with a guide track formed therein and a plurality of recording layers, these layers being separately deposited from each other. A layer position information region for indicating position information of each of the recording layers, is formed on the guide track within a different range of the guide layer for each of the recording layers. Each of the recording layers includes a preformat region having a predetermined signal written on a record track along the guide track, and the preformat region on each of the recording layers is provided in a region corresponding to the layer position information region. An optical recording medium drive apparatus and a recording layer access method for the guide-layer separated optical recording medium are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuo Takahashi
  • Publication number: 20130049367
    Abstract: For a power generation apparatus to efficiently extract rotational driving force generated by an expander to the exterior of a housing that contains the expander while preventing a working medium from leaking, the power generation apparatus according to the present invention includes a housing that contains a driving unit of the expander within a space enclosed by a partition wall, and a magnetic coupling that is divided between the inside and outside of the housing through the partition wall and that transmits the rotational driving force of the expander to the exterior of the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2012
    Publication date: February 28, 2013
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Shigeto ADACHI, Masayoshi MATSUMURA, Yutaka NARUKAWA, Kazuo TAKAHASHI
  • Publication number: 20130010290
    Abstract: There are provided a surface inspection device and a surface inspection method which can inspect a surface of a test object with uniform detection sensitivity. A surface inspection device includes a test object moving stage, a lighting device, an inspection coordinate detection device, a light detector, an A/D converter, and a foreign object/defect determination unit. The lighting device is configured to change a dimension of a light spot in a circumferential direction based on a position of the light spot in a radial direction obtained by the inspection coordinate detection device. The density of irradiation light intensity of the light spot is made constant while the light spot is being moved for scanning between an outer peripheral portion and a central portion on the test object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2011
    Publication date: January 10, 2013
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Takahiro Jingu
  • Publication number: 20120327403
    Abstract: A surface inspection apparatus includes a blocking unit included in a subsequent processing unit that groups data items into having an arbitrary number of data items. The subsequent processing unit acquires a data item from each of the blocks. The blocking unit changes, in accordance with an instruction transmitted from a state monitoring unit, the number of data items to be blocked. A threshold processing unit acquires data items from the blocking unit that have values larger than a threshold, and transmits the data items to a memory. The state monitoring unit monitors an available capacity of the memory. When the state monitoring unit detects a reduction in the available capacity of the memory, it causes the blocking unit to increase the number of data items to be blocked into each of the blocks so that data does not overflow from the memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2012
    Publication date: December 27, 2012
    Applicant: HITACHI HIGH-TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Terumi OBUCHI, Hiroshi KIKUCHI, Yuji INOUE, Nobuhiro OBARA, Kazuo TAKAHASHI