Patents by Inventor Kazutaka Asano
Kazutaka Asano 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).
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Patent number: 9014993Abstract: A flow rate measuring device simplifies calculation, reduces memory required for calculation, absorbs variations due to manual operation and, depending on the state of ignition, improves the accuracy of appliance identification by extracting features of appliances. The flow rate measuring device includes: a difference value conversion unit that converts into codes difference values of the flow rate measured at constant time intervals by an ultrasonic flowmeter; an appliance feature extraction unit creates an appliance feature code string indicating a feature of each appliance by, for example, making comparison and judgment using a third last code, a second last code, a last code and a current code of the codes obtained at constant time intervals, and by performing code deletion; and an identification unit performs appliance identification by comparing the appliance feature code string with an appliance inherent feature code string indicating the feature code string inherent in each appliance.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 2010Date of Patent: April 21, 2015Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Mitsuo Yokohata, Ryuji Iwamoto, Takuhisa Ootani, Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Hajime Miyata, Youichi Itou
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Patent number: 8606729Abstract: A newly-purchased gas appliance is detected and reported to a gas administrator. There are provided a flow rate detection portion, a flow rate calculation portion, a code extraction portion, an initial code learning portion, a code maintaining portion, a code judging portion, an additional code learning portion, and an external communication portion. The code extraction portion extracts a code pattern E. The initial code learning portion gathers similar code patterns E as a gas appliance code pattern F. The code judging portion judges whether or not the code pattern E matches any of gas appliance code patterns F held by the code maintaining portion within a predetermined range. The code patterns E that have failed to match are subjected to additional identification of a gas appliance in the additional code learning portion.Type: GrantFiled: May 19, 2010Date of Patent: December 10, 2013Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Takuhisa Ootani, Ryuji Iwamoto, Mitsuo Yokohata, Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Hajime Miyata, Youichi Itou
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Patent number: 8386084Abstract: An object is to prevent a mistaken shutoff caused by the mistaken registration of an appliance of which an amount of gas used changes. An individual flow registration maintenance unit maintains a registered flow rate deleted due to an increase/decrease in flow rate, again, performs determination on the flow rate maintained when a new flow rate is registered or a flow rate added with the maintained flow rate, and in the case where it is regarded to be the same, re-register the maintained flow rate.Type: GrantFiled: March 7, 2008Date of Patent: February 26, 2013Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Yasuo Koba, Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Takuhisa Ootani
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Patent number: 8373539Abstract: It is an objective to appropriately assure a function of limiting use of appliances that cause changes in quantities of gas used.Type: GrantFiled: March 7, 2008Date of Patent: February 12, 2013Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Takuhisa Ootani, Yasuo Koba, Sumiko Murakami
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Patent number: 8166999Abstract: A use condition of gas equipment is monitored. An abnormality determination unit 26 determines whether or not a use flow volume obtained by detecting a flow velocity obtained by measuring a signal transfer time in a medium using a flow velocity detection unit 17 and converting the detected flow velocity into a flow volume using a flow volume calculation unit 25. When the shutoff unit 27 shuts off a fluid path 1 when it is determined that there is abnormality, a return signal is output from a return unit 28 to a shutoff unit 27 in order to use the gas again by opening the fluid path. Simultaneously, when a return time-counting unit 29 starts the time-counting operation, and then, a predetermined time period has been elapsed, the flow volume calculation unit 25 determines whether or not a predetermined flow volume of greater flows in order to identify whether or not all of the gas plugs of the gas equipment connected to the downstream of the gas shutoff apparatus 27 are closed.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 2005Date of Patent: May 1, 2012Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Kouichi Ueki, Shigetada Sazawa, Kazutaka Hamada, Mitsuo Namba, Fujio Hori, Sadamu Kawashima, Isao Masuda, Hisanori Yamashita, Kazutaka Asano
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Publication number: 20120078828Abstract: A newly-purchased gas appliance is detected and reported to a gas administrator. There are provided a flow rate detection portion, a flow rate calculation portion, a code extraction portion, an initial code learning portion, a code maintaining portion, a code judging portion, an additional code learning portion, and an external communication portion. The code extraction portion extracts a code pattern E. The initial code learning portion gathers similar code patterns E as a gas appliance code pattern F. The code judging portion judges whether or not the code pattern E matches any of gas appliance code patterns F held by the code maintaining portion within a predetermined range. The code patterns E that have failed to match are subjected to additional identification of a gas appliance in the additional code learning portion.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 19, 2010Publication date: March 29, 2012Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATIONInventors: Takuhisa Ootani, Ryuji Iwamoto, Mitsuo Yokohata, Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Hajime Miyata, Youichi Itou
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Publication number: 20120016527Abstract: An object of the present invention is to make a function of limiting the use time appropriate by appropriately registering flow rates of appliances.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 28, 2010Publication date: January 19, 2012Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATIONInventors: Kouichi Ueki, Takuhisa Ootani, Ryuji Iwamoto, Kazutaka Asano
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Publication number: 20110320141Abstract: The present invention provides a flow rate measuring device capable of simplifying calculation, reducing the amount of a memory required for the calculation, absorbing variations due to manual operation and depending on the state of ignition, and improving the accuracy of appliance identification by using a configuration in which the features of appliances are extracted. The flow rate measuring device is formed of a difference value conversion unit 112 for converting the difference values of the flow rate measured at constant time intervals by an ultrasonic flowmeter 104; an appliance feature extraction unit 214 for creating an appliance feature code string indicating the feature of each appliance by making comparison and judgment using the third last code, the second last code, the last code and the current code of the codes obtained at constant time intervals and by performing code deletion, etc.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 1, 2010Publication date: December 29, 2011Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATIONInventors: Mitsuo Yokohata, Ryuji Iwamoto, Takuhisa Ootani, Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Hajime Miyata, Youichi Itou
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Publication number: 20110259446Abstract: An object of the present invention is to perform a suitable registration of a flow rate of appliances to promote the optimization of a usage time limitation function.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 16, 2009Publication date: October 27, 2011Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATIONInventors: Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Takuhisa Ootani
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Publication number: 20110168278Abstract: An object of the invention is to avoid a gap between the total using amount of gas and the sum of a plurality of change amounts held in a gas cutoff device. The gas cutoff device includes a flow rate detection unit 11, a flow rate calculation unit 12, an increase and decrease calculation unit 13, an increase and decrease determination unit 14, a valve driving unit 15, a valve 16, an increase and decrease correction unit 17, and a constant increase and decrease correction unit 18. The increase and decrease determination unit 14 acquires a corrected change amount āGā from the increase and decrease unit 17 or the constant increase and decrease correction unit 18 and adopts the amount as a new change amount āCā. In this way, it is possible to prevent the using time of gas until the gas path is closed from being lengthened.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 8, 2009Publication date: July 14, 2011Applicant: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Takuhisa Ootani, Kouichi Ueki, Ryuji Iwamoyo, Kazutaka Asano
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Publication number: 20110155268Abstract: An object of the present invention is to promote the optimization of a usage time limitation function of performing a suitable registration of an appliance flow rate.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 8, 2009Publication date: June 30, 2011Applicant: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Kouichi Ueki, Takuhisa Ootani, Ryuji Iwamoto, Kazutaka Asano
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Publication number: 20100330515Abstract: An object of the invention is to appropriately control the use limit function of an appliance according to the concentration level of CO gas. A gas shutoff device is made up of a flow rate registration unit 28 for registering as an appliance flow rate, an average flow rate found by classifying and storing in a flow rate storage unit 26 after flow rate detection, a CO gas leakage determination unit 29 for inputting an output signal responsive to the concentration level of CO gas from a CO alarm 20, an appliance estimation unit 30, when a signal is output by the CO gas leakage determination unit 29 and the flow rate is registered in the flow rate registration unit 28, for storing a flow rate pattern group stored in the flow rate storage unit 26 and the registered flow rate and estimating a CO gas leakage appliance, an appliance flow rate storage unit 31 for storing the flow rate pattern group, and a communication unit 35 for reporting appliance information.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 24, 2009Publication date: December 30, 2010Applicant: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Tadanori Shirasawa, Mitsuo Yokohata, Hirozumi Nakamura, Kazuo Kubo, Mitsuo Namba, Hisashi Saito
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Publication number: 20100219933Abstract: It is an objective to appropriately assure a function of limiting use of appliances that cause changes in quantities of gas used.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 7, 2008Publication date: September 2, 2010Applicant: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Takuhisa Ootani, Yasuo Koba, Shigeru Murakami, Sumiko Murakami
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Publication number: 20100170582Abstract: An object is to prevent a mistaken shutoff caused by the mistaken registration of an appliance of which an amount of gas used changes. An individual flow registration maintenance unit maintains a registered flow rate deleted due to an increase/decrease in flow rate, again, performs determination on the flow rate maintained when a new flow rate is registered or a flow rate added with the maintained flow rate, and in the case where it is regarded to be the same, re-register the maintained flow rate.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 7, 2008Publication date: July 8, 2010Applicant: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Yasuo Koba, Kouichi Ueki, Kazutaka Asano, Takuhisa Ootani
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Publication number: 20080115840Abstract: A use condition of gas equipment is monitored. An abnormality determination unit 26 determines whether or not a use flow volume obtained by detecting a flow velocity obtained by measuring a signal transfer time in a medium using a flow velocity detection unit 17 and converting the detected flow velocity into a flow volume using a flow volume calculation unit 25. When the shutoff unit 27 shuts off a fluid path 1 when it is determined that there is abnormality, a return signal is output from a return unit 28 to a shutoff unit 27 in order to use the gas again by opening the fluid path. Simultaneously, when a return time-counting unit 29 starts the time-counting operation, and then, a predetermined time period has been elapsed, the flow volume calculation unit 25 determines whether or not a predetermined flow volume of greater flows in order to identify whether or not all of the gas plugs of the gas equipment connected to the downstream of the gas shutoff apparatus 27 are closed.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 20, 2005Publication date: May 22, 2008Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.Inventors: Kouichi Ueki, Shigetada Sazawa, Kazutaka Hamada, Mitsuo Namba, Fujio Hori, Sadamu Kawashima, Isao Masuda, Hisanori Yamashita, Kazutaka Asano
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Patent number: 5554976Abstract: An abnormality detecting apparatus constantly monitors even a slight amount of gas which has leaked by checking a gas supply pipe when it is determined that the pressure regulating function of a pressure regulator is abnormal. The abnormality detecting apparatus detects an abnormality of the regulated pressure of a pressure regulator appropriately by comparing the regulated pressure with a predetermined low value of a pressure regulating range when the gas flow rate is high and with a predetermined high value of a pressure regulating range when the gas flow rate is low.Type: GrantFiled: October 5, 1993Date of Patent: September 10, 1996Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinji Miyauchi, Shinichi Nakane, Kazutaka Asano, Yoshio Horiike, Makoto Tsuboi
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Patent number: 4866633Abstract: A flow rate of a gas is measured by a flow rate measurement means, and when the flow rate exceeds a predetermined reference value, occurrence of an abnormal state such as escape of the gas is detected and a shutoff means is automatically closed by control of a microcomputer, futhermore, "a gas consumption pattern" showing combination of an amount of gas consumption, maximum flow rate and continuous consumption time of a consumer is observed in a predetermined time period, and a reference value of the gas consumption pattern is decided on the basis of the consumption state, moreover, a decision level of abnormal state is varied and set as a new reference values corresponding to the gas consumption pattern.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 1987Date of Patent: September 12, 1989Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Nakane, Takashi Uno, Kazutaka Asano