Patents by Inventor Mai SATO

Mai SATO 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: 20240101766
    Abstract: Provided is a production method for a water-absorbing resin in which an absorption capacity without pressure of the resulting water-absorbing resin is high and a water-absorbing resin can be efficiently obtained. The production method for a water-absorbing resin including a polymerization step of polymerizing a monomer composition containing an internal crosslinking agent and a monomer to obtain a crosslinked hydrogel polymer, and a drying step of drying the crosslinked hydrogel polymer to obtain a dry polymer, in which the crosslinked hydrogel polymer to be subjected to the drying step contains 50 ppm or more of hydrogen peroxide with respect to the solid content mass of the crosslinked hydrogel polymer, and the crosslinked hydrogel polymer is heated during the drying step so that a maximum reaching temperature of the crosslinked hydrogel polymer exceeds 160° C., and/or the dry polymer is heated after the drying step so that a maximum reaching temperature of the dry polymer exceeds 160° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2022
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Inventors: Ryota WAKABAYASHI, Yoshifumi ADACHI, Mai SATO, Shin-ichi FUJINO, Tsuyoshi YORINO, Shin-ya KATSUBE, Yoshihiro SHOBO, Hiroyasu WATABE
  • Patent number: 11806692
    Abstract: [Object] To provide a method for efficiently producing a water-absorbing agent having excellent physical properties. [Solution] The method for producing a water-absorbing agent includes a drying step of drying a particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer containing a drying aid. The drying aid is (a) a compound having a betaine structure and having a long-chain alkyl group having 8 or more carbon atoms, one quaternary nitrogen, and one acid group within a molecule thereof and/or (b) a compound having a long-chain alkyl group having 8 or more carbon atoms, one tertiary nitrogen, and one or more acid groups within a molecule thereof. An addition amount of the drying aid with respect to a gel solid content of the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer is 0.001% by mass to 0.5% by mass. In this production method, surface-crosslinking is performed on water-absorbent resin powder obtained through the drying step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ryota Wakabayashi, Mai Sato, Motohiro Imura, Tokio Shuto, Yoshihiro Shobo
  • Patent number: 11766659
    Abstract: The production method includes a drying step of drying a particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer obtained by polymerizing a monomer, which is a material of a water-absorbent resin, using a heating device to obtain dried particles. The heating device includes: a rotary container that contains the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer therein and rotates; and a plurality of heating tubes that are located within the rotary container, extend in an axial direction of the rotary container, and rotate together with the rotary container. A gel temperature of the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer to be subjected to the drying step, the gel temperature being measured by a contact thermometer, is not lower than 50° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyasu Watabe, Mai Sato, Ryota Wakabayashi, Yoshihiro Shobo, Shin-ya Katsube, Motohiro Imura, Koji Honda, Shin-ichi Fujino, Kunihiko Ishizaki, Tokio Shuto
  • Publication number: 20230089965
    Abstract: To provide a new technique for a teacher to recognize a tackling attitude of a student toward class is provided, the present invention provides a processing apparatus 100 including: an input word acquisition unit 101 that acquires an input word being a word input to each of a plurality of student terminals; a classification unit 102 that classifies the input words into a plurality of categories; and a first output unit 103 that displays a list of at least some of the input words, and also outputs, via an output terminal, a screen indicating a result of the classification of each of the input words displayed in the list.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2022
    Publication date: March 23, 2023
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Fumiyuki MIYAHARA, Mai Sato
  • Publication number: 20230088532
    Abstract: To provide a new technique for a teacher to recognize a tackling attitude of a student toward class, the present invention provides a processing apparatus 100 including: an operation history acquisition unit 107 that acquires an operation history of each of a plurality of student terminals; a detection unit 108 that detects, from the operation history, an NG operation being predefined; and a second output unit 109 that outputs warning information via an output terminal when the NG operation is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2022
    Publication date: March 23, 2023
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Fumiyuki MIYAHARA, Mai SATO
  • Patent number: 11465126
    Abstract: The production method includes: a gel-crushing step of grinding a crosslinked hydrogel polymer to obtain a particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer; a heating drying step of obtaining dried particles from the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer by using a continuous stirring drying machine; a post-crosslinking step of post-crosslinking the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer or the dried particles; and a sizing step of adjusting a particle size of the dried particles or the post-crosslinked dried particles to obtain water-absorbent resin powder. The particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer contains a gel fluidizer. A gel temperature of the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer containing the gel fluidizer, the gel temperature being measured by a contact thermometer, is not lower than 50° C. In the production method, the dried particles or the post-crosslinked dried particles is forcedly cooled before the sizing step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyasu Watabe, Mai Sato, Ryota Wakabayashi, Yoshihiro Shobo, Shin-ya Katsube, Motohiro Imura, Koji Honda, Yoshifumi Adachi, Tsuyoshi Yorino, Masafumi Inoue, Tomoyuki Arake, Hiroki Hayashi, Naoki Katakura, Shin-ichi Fujino, Kunihiko Ishizaki, Tokio Shuto
  • Publication number: 20210269606
    Abstract: A production method includes a surface-crosslinking step of heating a mixture of a surface-crosslinking agent and a particulate dried polymer obtained with an acid group-containing unsaturated monomer as a main component. A moisture content of the particulate dried polymer is not greater than 15% by mass. A heating device including a rotary container and a plurality of heating tubes that are located within the rotary container, extend in an axial direction of the rotary container, and rotate together with the rotary container, is used in the surface-crosslinking step. The heating device includes a means for introducing and discharging a gas into and from the rotary container.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2019
    Publication date: September 2, 2021
    Applicant: Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryota WAKABAYASHI, Shin-ichi FUJINO, Mai SATO, Yoshihiro SHOBO, Shin-ya KATSUBE, Kunihiko ISHIZAKI
  • Publication number: 20210115198
    Abstract: The present invention addresses the problem of providing; a water absorbent resin powder having a reduced amount of fine powder generated and a reduced amount of fine powder recovered; and a production method for the water absorbent resin. The production method of the present invention includes a drying step and a fine powder granulation step. The drying step is for obtaining a dried polymer by drying a particulate water-containing gel crosslinked polymer which is obtained using an acid group-containing unsaturated monomer as a main component. The fine powder granulation step is for obtaining a fine powder granulated product by adding a binder and an adhesion control agent to a fine powder made of a water absorbent resin. In this production method, the obtained fine powder granulated product is recovered in the drying step or in any step before the drying step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2019
    Publication date: April 22, 2021
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi YORINO, Naoki KATAKURA, Hiroki HAYASHI, Sumito KUMAGAI, Masahumi INOUE, Tomoyuki ARAKE, Mai SATO, Ryota WAKABAYASHI, Yoshihiro SHOBO, Shin-ya KATSUBE, Yoshifumi ADACHI, Satoshi MATSUMOTO
  • Publication number: 20190329220
    Abstract: The production method includes a drying step of drying a particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer obtained by polymerizing a monomer, which is a material of a water-absorbent resin, using a heating device to obtain dried particles. The heating device includes: a rotary container that contains the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer therein and rotates; and a plurality of heating tubes that are located within the rotary container, extend in an axial direction of the rotary container, and rotate together with the rotary container. A gel temperature of the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer to be subjected to the drying step, the gel temperature being measured by a contact thermometer, is not lower than 50° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Publication date: October 31, 2019
    Inventors: Hiroyasu WATABE, Mai SATO, Ryota WAKABAYASHI, Yoshihiro SHOBO, Shin-ya KATSUBE, Motohiro IMURA, Koji HONDA, Shin-ichi FUJINO, Kunihiko ISHIZAKI, Tokio SHUTO
  • Publication number: 20190329219
    Abstract: The production method includes: a gel-crushing step of grinding a crosslinked hydrogel polymer to obtain a particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer; a heating drying step of obtaining dried particles from the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer by using a continuous stirring drying machine; a post-crosslinking step of post-crosslinking the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer or the dried particles; and a sizing step of adjusting a particle size of the dried particles or the post-crosslinked dried particles to obtain water-absorbent resin powder. The particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer contains a gel fluidizer. A gel temperature of the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer containing the gel fluidizer, the gel temperature being measured by a contact thermometer, is not lower than 50° C. In the production method, the dried particles or the post-crosslinked dried particles is forcedly cooled before the sizing step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Publication date: October 31, 2019
    Inventors: Hiroyasu WATABE, Mai SATO, Ryota WAKABAYASHI, Yoshihiro SHOBO, Shin-ya KATSUBE, Motohiro IMURA, Koji HONDA, Yoshifumi ADACHI, Tsuyoshi YORINO, Masafumi INOUE, Tomoyuki ARAKE, Hiroki HAYASHI, Naoki KATAKURA, Shin-ichi FUJINO, Kunihiko ISHIZAKI, Tokio SHUTO
  • Publication number: 20190201868
    Abstract: [Object] To provide a method for efficiently producing a water-absorbing agent having excellent physical properties. [Solution] The method for producing a water-absorbing agent includes a drying step of drying a particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer containing a drying aid. The drying aid is (a) a compound having a betaine structure and having a long-chain alkyl group having 8 or more carbon atoms, one quaternary nitrogen, and one acid group within a molecule thereof and/or (b) a compound having a long-chain alkyl group having 8 or more carbon atoms, one tertiary nitrogen, and one or more acid groups within a molecule thereof. An addition amount of the drying aid with respect to a gel solid content of the particulate crosslinked hydrogel polymer is 0.001% by mass to 0.5% by mass. In this production method, surface-crosslinking is performed on water-absorbent resin powder obtained through the drying step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2017
    Publication date: July 4, 2019
    Applicant: Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryota WAKABAYASHI, Mai SATO, Motohiro IMURA, Tokio SHUTO, Yoshihiro SHOBO