Patents by Inventor Kiyonori Tokuno

Kiyonori Tokuno 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: 11760887
    Abstract: The titanium material includes a titanium oxide layer formed on a surface of titanium being a base material, the titanium oxide layer having a thickness measured by a glow discharge spectrometry of 60 to 300 nm, wherein: the titanium oxide layer contains 0.5 to 7.0 at % of nitrogen, and an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of a surface thereof is 2.0 to 4.0 ?m; and a power spectrum of a surface roughness of the titanium material has a peak of an amplitude height of 0.005 to 0.020 ?m in a range of a wavelength of 1.1 to 2.5 ?m and has a peak of an amplitude height of 0.0010 to 0.0030 ?m in a range of a wavelength of 0.80 to 0.98 ?m. An L*a*b* color space may be L*: 30 to 40, a*: 2.0 to 9.0, and b*: ?7.0 to 18.0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michio Kaneko, Kiyonori Tokuno, Takao Wada, Mitsuyuki Hasegawa, Kazuo Yamagishi, Mitsuru Nakayama
  • Publication number: 20210347011
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a material, including: a first process of placing a blast transfer material on a surface of a base material, and a second process of blasting to the surface of the base material through the blast transfer material, wherein the blast transfer material is nonuniform in one or more of density, thickness, and hardness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2019
    Publication date: November 11, 2021
    Applicants: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION, JAPAN BLAST PROCESS RESEARCHES CO.,LTD
    Inventors: Michio KANEKO, Kiyonori TOKUNO, Satoshi SHIMAZAKI
  • Publication number: 20210189144
    Abstract: The titanium material includes a titanium oxide layer formed on a surface of titanium being a base material, the titanium oxide layer having a thickness measured by a glow discharge spectrometry of 60 to 300 nm, wherein: the titanium oxide layer contains 0.5 to 7.0 at % of nitrogen, and an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of a surface thereof is 2.0 to 4.0 ?m; and a power spectrum of a surface roughness of the titanium material has a peak of an amplitude height of 0.005 to 0.020 ?m in a range of a wavelength of 1.1 to 2.5 ?m and has a peak of an amplitude height of 0.0010 to 0.0030 ?m in a range of a wavelength of 0.80 to 0.98 ?m. An L*a*b* color space may be L*: 30 to 40, a*: 2.0 to 9.0, and b*: ?7.0 to 18.0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2018
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michio KANEKO, Kiyonori TOKUNO, Takao WADA, Mitsuyuki HASEGAWA, Kazuo YAMAGISHI, Mitsuru NAKAYAMA
  • Patent number: 10305119
    Abstract: In a titanium material or a titanium alloy material, in an oxide film formed on a surface of a titanium or a titanium alloy, the composition ratio of TiO (ITiO/(ITi+ITiO)×100 found from the maximum intensity of the X-ray diffraction peaks of TiO (ITiO) and the maximum intensity of the X-ray diffraction peaks of metal titanium (ITi) in X-ray diffraction measured at an incident angle to the surface of 0.3° is 0.5% or more. A titanium material or a titanium alloy material, and a fuel cell separator and a polymer electrolyte fuel cell having good contact-to-carbon electrical conductivity and good durability can be provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Takahashi, Taku Kagawa, Masanari Kimoto, Junko Imamura, Kiyonori Tokuno, Atsuhiko Kuroda
  • Patent number: 10074857
    Abstract: A titanium or titanium alloy material for a separator of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell having high contact conductivity with carbon and high durability, and including an oxide film formed on a titanium or titanium alloy substrate by a stabilization treatment performed after a passivation treatment, and one or more kinds of conductive materials selected from carbide, nitride, carbonitride, and boride of tantalum, titanium, vanadium, zirconium, and chromium, the conductive materials being dispersed in the oxide film and having a major axis diameter of from 1 nm to 100 nm. A contact resistance value with a carbon paper is 20 m?·cm2 or less at a surface pressure of 10 kgf/cm2 before and after an accelerated deterioration test in which the titanium or titanium alloy material is immersed in a sulfuric acid aqueous solution having an adjusted pH of 4 at 80° C. for four days.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kihira, Yuuichi Yosida, Taku Kagawa, Takumi Nishimoto, Koki Tanaka, Masao Kimura, Kiyonori Tokuno, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Takashi Domoto
  • Patent number: 10033052
    Abstract: The composition ratio of a titanium hydride [ITi—H/(ITi+ITi—H)]×100 found from the maximum intensity of metal titanium (ITi) and the maximum intensity of the titanium hydride (ITi—H) of the X-ray diffraction peaks measured at a surface of a titanium or a titanium alloy at an incident angle to the surface of 0.3° is 55% or more, a titanium oxide film is formed on an outermost surface of the titanium or the titanium alloy, and C is at 10 atomic % or less, N is at 1 atomic % or less, and B is at 1 atomic % or less in a position where the surface has been subjected to sputtering of 5 nm with argon. The titanium oxide film is formed by performing stabilization treatment after performing passivation treatment in prescribed aqueous solutions, and has a thickness of 3 to 10 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Takahashi, Taku Kagawa, Masanari Kimoto, Junko Imamura, Kiyonori Tokuno, Atsuhiko Kuroda
  • Patent number: 9947942
    Abstract: A titanium or titanium alloy material for a fuel cell separator has a surface shape in which a plurality of projections are distributed, and a titanium oxide film on a surface of the projections. Fine projections are assumed to increase the contact conductivity remarkably. By increasing contact conductivity with carbon and durability of a titanium or titanium alloy material for a fuel cell separator, the lifetime of a fuel cell may be increased. The material has high usability in the cell manufacturing industry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Takahashi, Taku Kagawa, Hiroshi Kihira, Kiyonori Tokuno, Takumi Nishimoto, Koki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9885102
    Abstract: The present invention provides colored pure titanium or titanium alloy having low susceptibility to discoloration in an atmospheric environment exhibiting a superior resistance to discoloration even when the titanium is used in an environment of harsh acid rain such as a roof or wall material and free from deterioration of the aesthetic appearance over a long period of time, that is, colored pure titanium obtained by the anodic oxidation method, that is, colored pure titanium or titanium alloy having low susceptibility to discoloration in an atmospheric environment characterized by having an average phosphorus content in a range of 40 nm from a surface of a titanium oxide layer formed on the titanium surface of 5.5 atomic % or less and by having an average carbon concentration in a range of a depth of 100 nm from the titanium surface of 3 to 15 atomic %.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michio Kaneko, Kiyonori Tokuno, Takao Wada, Mitsuyuki Hasegawa, Kazuo Yamagishi
  • Publication number: 20170077527
    Abstract: A titanium material comprises: a plate-like matrix made of titanium or a titanium alloy and having a rough surface on which minute protrusions are formed; a surface oxide coating film formed along the rough surface and containing one or more titanium oxides; and a tip covering formed on the surface oxide coating film in an area comprising a tip of the minute protrusion and containing one or more noble metals. A composition ratio of TiO [ITiO/(ITi+ITiO)×100] determined from maximum intensity ITiO of diffraction peaks of TiO and maximum intensity ITi of diffraction peaks of metal Ti in an X-ray diffraction intensity curve of the surface oxide coating film is more than or equal to 0.5%.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Publication date: March 16, 2017
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junko IMAMURA, Kiyonori TOKUNO, Taku KAGAWA, Masanari KIMOTO, Yasuhiro MASAKI
  • Publication number: 20160336600
    Abstract: A composite metal foil in which the surface of a titanium foil or a titanium alloy foil is coated with an electrically conductive layer; in the composite metal foil, an electrically conductive film in which TiO is dispersed in an oxide film and the TiO composition ratio [ITiO/(ITi+ITiO)] found from the maximum intensity of the diffraction peaks of TiO (ITiO) and the maximum intensity of the diffraction peaks of metal titanium (ITi) out of the X-ray diffraction peaks of the surface of the titanium foil or the titanium alloy foil is 0.5% or more is formed on the surface of the titanium foil or the titanium alloy foil, and the electrically conductive layer consists of, in mass %, silver particles with an average particle size of not less than 10 nm and not more than 500 nm: 20% to 90%, a dispersant: 0.2% to 1.0%, and the balance: an acrylic resin or an epoxy resin, and has a thickness of 5 to 50 ?m.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 2, 2015
    Publication date: November 17, 2016
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Taku KAGAWA, Kazuhiro TAKAHASHI, Takashi IIJIMA, Masanari KIMOTO, Junko IMAMURA, Kiyonori TOKUNO, Atsuhiko KURODA
  • Publication number: 20160329575
    Abstract: In a titanium material or a titanium alloy material, in an oxide film formed on a surface of a titanium or a titanium alloy, the composition ratio of TiO (ITiO/(ITi+ITiO)×100 found from the maximum intensity of the X-ray diffraction peaks of TiO (ITiO) and the maximum intensity of the X-ray diffraction peaks of metal titanium (ITi) in X-ray diffraction measured at an incident angle to the surface of 0.3° is 0.5% or more. A titanium material or a titanium alloy material, and a fuel cell separator and a polymer electrolyte fuel cell having good contact-to-carbon electrical conductivity and good durability can be provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2015
    Publication date: November 10, 2016
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiro TAKAHASHI, Taku KAGAWA, Masanari KIMOTO, Junko IMAMURA, Kiyonori TOKUNO, Atsuhiko KURODA
  • Publication number: 20160308222
    Abstract: The composition ratio of a titanium hydride [ITi—H/(ITi+ITi—H)]×100 found from the maximum intensity of metal titanium (ITi) and the maximum intensity of the titanium hydride (ITi—H) of the X-ray diffraction peaks measured at a surface of a titanium or a titanium alloy at an incident angle to the surface of 0.3° is 55% or more, a titanium oxide film is formed on an outermost surface of the titanium or the titanium alloy, and C is at 10 atomic % or less, N is at 1 atomic % or less, and B is at 1 atomic % or less in a position where the surface has been subjected to sputtering of 5 nm with argon. The titanium oxide film is formed by performing stabilization treatment after performing passivation treatment in prescribed aqueous solutions, and has a thickness of 3 to 10 nm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2015
    Publication date: October 20, 2016
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiro TAKAHASHI, Taku KAGAWA, Masanari KIMOTO, Junko IMAMURA, Kiyonori TOKUNO, Atsuhiko KURODA
  • Publication number: 20150325864
    Abstract: [Object] To increase contact conductivity with carbon and durability of a titanium or titanium alloy material for a fuel cell separator so as to increase the lifetime of a fuel cell. [Solution] Provided is a titanium or titanium alloy material for a fuel cell separator having a surface shape in which a plurality of projections are distributed, and a titanium oxide film on a surface of the projections. Fine projections are assumed to increase the contact conductivity remarkably. The present invention has high usability in the cell manufacturing industry.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2014
    Publication date: November 12, 2015
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takumi NISHIMOTO, Hiroshi KIHIRA, Kiyonori TOKUNO, Taku KAGAWA, Koki TANAKA, Kazuhiro TAKAHASHI
  • Publication number: 20150280251
    Abstract: [Object] To increase contact conductivity with carbon and durability of a titanium or titanium alloy material for a fuel cell separator so as to increase the lifetime of a fuel cell. [Solution] Provided is a titanium or titanium alloy material for a fuel cell separator having a surface shape in which a plurality of projections are distributed, and a titanium oxide film on a surface of the projections. Fine projections are assumed to increase the contact conductivity remarkably. The present invention has high usability in the cell manufacturing industry.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2014
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Takahashi, Taku Kagawa, Hiroshi Kihira, Kiyonori Tokuno, Takumi Nishimoto, Koki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9065081
    Abstract: The present invention provides titanium material for a separator for solid polymer fuel cell use comprised of titanium which has a surface layer part where conductive compound particles are affixed, which is excellent in contact resistance between the separator surface and carbon paper and in durability, and which is low in cost and superior in recyclability and a method of production of the same. This titanium material for separator use has on the surface of the titanium base material a film comprised of the titanium compound particles made of titanium carbide, titanium nitride, or titanium carbonitride and titanium oxide. The film has a thickness of 0.1 to 1 ?m, the coverage rate is an area percentage of 20% or more, and the contents of carbon and nitrogen in the film total 5 to 40 at %. The titanium material for a separator is produced by annealing or shot blasting and pickling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koki Tanaka, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Hiroshi Kihira, Kiyonori Tokuno
  • Publication number: 20150147678
    Abstract: [Object] To provide a titanium or titanium alloy material for a separator of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell having high contact conductivity with carbon and high durability. [Solution] The titanium or titanium alloy material includes an oxide film formed on a titanium or titanium alloy substrate by stabilization treatment performed after passivation treatment, and one or more kinds of conductive materials selected from carbide, nitride, carbonitride, and boride of tantalum, titanium, vanadium, zirconium, and chromium, the conductive materials being dispersed in the oxide film and having a major axis diameter from 1 nm to 100 nm. A contact resistance value with a carbon paper is 20 m?·cm2 or less at a surface pressure of 10 kgf/cm2 before and after an accelerated deterioration test in which the titanium or titanium alloy material is immersed in a sulfuric acid aqueous solution having an adjusted pH of 4 at 80° C. for four days.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2013
    Publication date: May 28, 2015
    Applicant: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kihira, Yuuichi Yosida, Taku Kagawa, Takumi Nishimoto, Koki Tanaka, Masao Kimura, Kiyonori Tokuno, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Takashi Domoto
  • Patent number: 9011976
    Abstract: The present invention provides a titanium sheet covered with a protective film superior in high temperature oxidation resistance and high temperature salt damage resistance and a method of production of the same and an automobile exhaust system using the same. The titanium sheet covered with a protective film is formed on its surface with a protective film of a thickness of 1 to 100 ?m where flake-shaped metal Al with an average thickness of 0.1 to 5 ?m and average width or average length of 1 to 50 ?m or grain-shaped metal Al with an average size of 0.1 to 30 ?m is dispersed in 20 to 60 mass % silicone resin or silicone grease and comprised of Si: 15 to 55 mass % and C: 10 to 45 mass % and having a balance of unavoidable impurities. Preferably the titanium sheet of the substrate contains one or both of 0.5 to 2.1 mass % of Cu and 0.4 to 2.5 mass % of Al.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroaki Otsuka, Hideki Fujii, Kiyonori Tokuno, Yoshiaki Itami, Takashi Domoto
  • Patent number: 8865612
    Abstract: The provision of beautiful colored titanium which is excellent in adhesion of the pure titanium or a titanium alloy with the base material, is excellent in photocatalytic activity, and further is excellent in design properties and a method of production of the same which is excellent in productivity and uses an anodic oxidation process is made the object. A titanium-based material having visible light response and excellent in photocatalytic activity characterized in that the material has pure titanium or titanium alloy as a base material, a thickness of a titanium oxide layer which is present on its surface is 0.1 ?m to 5.0 ?m in range, said titanium oxide layer contains anatase-type titanium dioxide and titanium bonded with hydroxy groups, and further said titanium oxide layer contains nitrogen and carbon respectively in 0.5 to 30 mass %.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
    Inventors: Michio Kaneko, Kiyonori Tokuno, Hiroshi Shimizu, Kazuo Yamagishi, Asami Shimomura, Mituyuki Hasegawa, Ruriko Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 8785031
    Abstract: The present invention provides a polymer electrolyte fuel cell separator made of pure titanium or a titanium alloy superior in contact resistance with carbon paper and a method of production of the same, that is, a separator having a surface layer part to which conductive compound particles are affixed, characterized in that the surface oxide has a thickness of 3 to 15 nm in range, an average carbon concentration in a range from an outermost surface, including the oxide layer, to a depth of 100 nm is 0.02 to 6 at %, and the conductive compound particles have an average particle size of 0.01 to 20 ?m. Further, the method of production of the present invention is characterized by forming, blast treating a surface of the formed article by particles comprised of conductive compound particles of an average particle size of 0.01 to 20 ?m covering a surface of superhard core particles, impregnating it by a nitric acid aqueous solution of a concentration of 15 to 71 mass % and a temperature of 40 to 100° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal Corporation
    Inventors: Michio Kaneko, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Kiyonori Tokuno, Hiroshi Kihira, Wataru Hisada
  • Patent number: 8603268
    Abstract: A titanium material for a solid polymer fuel cell separator having a low contact resistance and a method of production of the same, the titanium material having at its surface a surface layer structure in which particles of a Ti compound containing either C or N are dispersed, the particles of Ti compound being covered by titanium oxide and/or metal Ti, characterized in that, when analyzed from the surface by XPS, a Ti2p spectrum of TiO2 is detected, further, at a Ti2p spectral energy range of TiO and/or a Ti2p spectral energy range of metal Ti, a Ti maximum detection peak height is at least 3 times the standard deviations of the background at the respective spectral energy ranges, and at a C1s spectral energy range and N1s spectral energy range, a maximum detection peak height is less than 3 times the standard deviations of the background at the respective spectral energy ranges of C1s and N1s, are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Takahashi, Kiyonori Tokuno, Hiroshi Kihira, Koki Tanaka, Michio Kaneko