Patents by Inventor Masaki Okamura

Masaki Okamura 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: 20170018921
    Abstract: A power supply system includes first and second DC power supplies and a power converter. The power converter includes first and third semiconductor elements electrically connected between respective nodes of a first node and a second node and a power line, second and fourth semiconductor elements electrically connected between respective nodes of the first node and the second node and a second power line, a fifth semiconductor element electrically connected between the first and second nodes, and first and second reactors. The first reactor is electrically connected in series with the first DC power supply, between the first node and the second power line. The second reactor is electrically connected in series with the second DC power supply, between the second power line and the second node. A control device controls on and off of the switching element included in the semiconductor element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2016
    Publication date: January 19, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shuji TOMURA, Shigeaki GOTO, Naoki YANAGIZAWA, Masaki OKAMURA, Naoyoshi TAKAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20170011842
    Abstract: A core has first to third magnetic leg portions. First and second windings wound on the first and second magnetic leg portions, respectively, are connected in series to constitute a first reactor. A third winding wound on the third magnetic leg portion constitutes a second reactor. A magnetic field produced from the first reactor and a magnetic field produced from the second reactor reinforce each other in the second magnetic leg portion, but weaken each other in the first magnetic leg portion. In accordance with increase in currents, the operation of the first and second reactors changes from a magnetically uncoupled mode in which the first and second reactors operate in a magnetically non-interfering state to a magnetically coupled mode in which the first and second reactors operate in a magnetically interfering state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2015
    Publication date: January 12, 2017
    Applicants: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA CHUO KENKYUSHO, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masanori ISHIGAKI, Shuji TOMURA, Naoki YANAGIZAWA, Masaki OKAMURA, Naoyoshi TAKAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20160288661
    Abstract: An electric power supply device for a vehicle includes an electric storage device, a boost converter, and a controller. The boost converter boosts voltage of the electric storage device and supplies the boosted voltage to an electric load of the vehicle. The controller controls the boost converter in a continuous boost mode and an intermittent boost mode. The continuous boost mode is a mode in which the boost converter is in continuous operation. The intermittent boost mode is a mode in which the boost converter is in intermittent operation. The controller more restricts a charge/discharge demand of the electric storage device such that a charge/discharge demand of the electric storage device at a time when the boost converter is operated in the intermittent boost mode is more restrictive than a charge/discharge demand of the electric storage device at a time when the boost converter is operated in the continuous boost mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2014
    Publication date: October 6, 2016
    Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Suguru Kumazawa, Hideki Kamatani, Ryoji Sato, Masaki Okamura
  • Publication number: 20160285377
    Abstract: An electric power conversion circuit system for reducing core loss in a transformer particularly during light loading and improving conversion efficiency during light loading comprising an electric power conversion circuit composed of a primary side conversion circuit having a left arm and a right arm and a secondary side conversion circuit having a left arm and a right arm, and a control circuit for controlling switching of switching transistors of the first side conversion circuit and the secondary side conversion circuit. When the output voltage is at a relatively light load, the control circuit controls to change the duty of the transmitting side among the primary side conversion circuit and the secondary side conversion circuit and controls to change the half-bridge phase differences of the left arm and the right arm of the primary side conversion circuit and the secondary side conversion circuit, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2016
    Publication date: September 29, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenichi TAKAGI, Shuntaro INOUE, Takahide SUGIYAMA, Kenichiro NAGASHITA, Yoshitaka NIIMI, Masaki OKAMURA
  • Publication number: 20160280072
    Abstract: A control device for a vehicle is equipped with second determination means for determining that the vehicle is stopped when first determination means determines that a rotational speed of a three-phase alternating-current electric motor is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold and that a stop operation is performed, control means for controlling an electric power converter such that a state of the electric power converter becomes a specific state where i) all the first switching are off and at least one of the second switching elements is on or ii) all the second switching elements are off and at least one of the first elements is on, and threshold setting means for setting the predetermined threshold based on a temperature of a magnet of the three-phase alternating-current electric motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Publication date: September 29, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaki OKAMURA, Sintaro TSUJII, Wanleng ANG, Yoshitaka NIIMI, Hideaki YAGUCHI, Keisuke MORISAKI
  • Publication number: 20160276940
    Abstract: The present invention provides a power conversion circuit system in which a circulating current can be reduced by accurately detecting the circulating current, to thereby improve efficiency in power conversion. The power conversion circuit system includes a power conversion circuit composed of a primary conversion circuit having left and right arms and a secondary conversion circuit having left and right arms, and a control circuit for controlling switching of switching transistors in the primary and secondary conversion circuits. The control circuit detects the circulating current at at least one of timings lagged by ?/2+?/2 from at least either a peak timing or a valley timing in a carrier counter where ? represents a difference in phase between the primary and secondary conversion circuits, and performs feedback control for reducing the detected circulating current to zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2016
    Publication date: September 22, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shuntaro INOUE, Kenichi TAKAGI, Takahide SUGIYAMA, Kenichiro NAGASHITA, Masaki OKAMURA, Yoshitaka NIIMI
  • Publication number: 20160264001
    Abstract: A vehicle control apparatus is provided with an upper controlling device and a lower controlling device. The upper controlling device has: a first determining device configured to determine whether or not the number of revolutions of a three-phase AC motor is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value and whether or not a stop operation which can stop the vehicle is performed; a second determining device configured to determine that the vehicle is stopped if it is determined that the number of revolutions of the three-phase AC motor is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value and that the stop operation is performed; and a commanding device configured to output a particular control command for setting the state of a power converter to a particular state if it is determined that the vehicle is stopped. The lower controlling device controls the power converter to be in the particular state after a lapse of a predetermined period from the reception of the particular control command.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2014
    Publication date: September 15, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shintaro TSUJII, Yoshitaka NIIMI, Masaki OKAMURA, Wanleng ANG, Hideaki YAGUCHI, Keisuke MORISAKI, Hichirosai OYOBE
  • Patent number: 9434273
    Abstract: An electrical source control apparatus controls a vehicle traveling by using a source system including a first source performing input/output of first power and a second source performing input/output of second power, capacity of the second source is smaller than that of the first source and output of the second source is larger than that of the first source. The apparatus has a controller programmed to select a first driving mode which prioritizes a fuel efficiency over a driving performance and a second driving mode which prioritizes the driving performance over the fuel efficiency based on a characteristic required for the vehicle from driving modes having different ratios of the first power with respect to a required power required for the source system, and control the first and second sources such that the input/output of the first power is performed in accordance with the ratio of the selected driving mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaki Okamura, Naoyoshi Takamatsu, Takaji Umeno, Shuji Tomura, Masanori Ishigaki, Naoki Yanagizawa
  • Patent number: 9438115
    Abstract: A power source system (5) includes a direct current power source (10), a direct current power source (20), and a power converter (50) having a plurality of switching elements (S1-S4) and reactors (L1, L2). The power converter (50) performs a direct current voltage conversion between the direct current power sources (10, 20) and a power source line (PL) in parallel by controlling the switching elements (S1-S4). Each of the switching elements (S1-S4) is disposed to be included in both a power conversion path formed between the direct current power source (10) and the power source line (PL), and a power conversion path formed between the direct current power source (20) and the power source line (PL).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masanori Ishigaki, Shuji Tomura, Naoki Yanagizawa, Takaji Umeno, Masaki Okamura, Daigo Nobe
  • Publication number: 20160250946
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a vehicle including a three-phase AC motor and a power converter, the control apparatus includes an ECU. The ECU is configured to determine whether a rotation speed of the three-phase AC motor is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and whether a stopping operation of the vehicle is performed, to determine that the vehicle stops when the rotation speed is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold and the stopping operation is performed, to determine whether the vehicle skids, and to switch a state of the power converter to a state where all on one side of the first and second switching elements are turned off and at least one on the other side of the first and second switching elements is turned on when the ECU determines that the vehicle stops and that the vehicle does not skid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2014
    Publication date: September 1, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshitaka NIIMI, Wanleng ANG, Masaki OKAMURA, Shintaro TSUJII, Keisuke MORISAKI, Hideaki YAGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20160250947
    Abstract: A control system for a vehicle including a three-phase AC motor, a first switching device, a second switching device, and a power converter, is provided. The control system includes a short-circuit detector, and an ECU. The ECU is configured to: (a) control the power converter, when it is determined that the vehicle is stopped, so as to place, the power converter in a predetermined condition in which one of the first switching device and the second switching device for all of the three phases is in an OFF state, and (b) control the power converter when the short-circuit detector detects a short circuit in one of the first switching devices and the second switching devices, so that said one of IS UPPER ARM the first and second switching devices in which the short circuit is detected provides the ON state in the predetermined condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Publication date: September 1, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshitaka NIIMI, Masaki OKAMURA, Shintaro TSUJII, Wanleng ANG
  • Patent number: 9431824
    Abstract: The power supply system includes a first DC power source, a second DC power source, and a power converter having a plurality of switching elements and reactors. The power converter is configured to be switchable, by the control of the plurality of switching elements, between a parallel connection mode in which DC voltage conversion is executed with the DC power sources connected in parallel with a power line and a series connection mode in which DC voltage conversion is executed with the DC power sources connected in series with the power line. Each of the switching elements is arranged to be included both in a power conversion path between the first DC power source and the power line PL and a power conversion path between the second DC power source and the power line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA CHUO KENKYUSHO, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masanori Ishigaki, Shuji Tomura, Takaji Umeno, Masaki Okamura, Daigo Nobe, Yoshiyuki Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20160241162
    Abstract: A boost control apparatus is provided with: a controlling device configured (i) to perform first duty control by a first control parameter if output current that flows through a reactor is not near zero, and (ii) to perform second duty control by a second control parameter if the output current is near zero, during one-side element control for driving only one of a first switching element and a second switching element, each of which is connected to a reactor in series. A rate calculating device is provided that is configured to calculate a change rate of the output current to a change amount of a duty value in the first duty control and the second duty control. A control determining device is also provided that is configured to control the controlling device to perform the second duty control regardless of the output current, if the change rate is less than a predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2016
    Publication date: August 18, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshifumi YAMAKAWA, Masaki OKAMURA, Naoyoshi TAKAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20160241133
    Abstract: A boost control apparatus is provided with a current value change amount detecting device configured to detect a change amount of output current that flows through the reactor in a first predetermined period during one-side element control for driving only one of a first switching element and a second switching element. A determining device is provided that is configured to determine that the output current is near zero if the change amount is less than a predetermined threshold value. A controlling device is also provided that is configured (i) to perform first duty control by a first control parameter if the output current is not near zero, and (ii) to perform second duty control by a second control parameter, which is different from the first control parameter, if the output current is near zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2016
    Publication date: August 18, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshifumi YAMAKAWA, Masaki OKAMURA, Naoyoshi TAKAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20160226408
    Abstract: An electric motor control apparatus controls an electric motor system that includes a power converter including switching elements and a three-phase alternating-current motor. The electric motor control apparatus includes generating devices for generating modulation signals by respectively adding corresponding triple harmonic signals to phase voltage command signals and a control device for controlling switching elements on the basis of a magnitude relation between each of the modulation signals and a carrier signal. Each of the triple harmonic signals includes a signal component that increases the absolute value of a peak value of a signal level of the corresponding modulation signal above the absolute value of a peak value of a signal level of the carrier signal in a corresponding one of phases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2014
    Publication date: August 4, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshifumi YAMAKAWA, Masaki OKAMURA, Naoyoshi TAKAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20160211792
    Abstract: The purpose is to suppress ripple of voltage between terminals of smoothing condenser. Electric motor control apparatus is electric motor control apparatus that controls electric motor system having electrical power converter, smoothing condenser and three-phase AC electric motor, and has generating device that generates modulation signal by adding third harmonic signal to phase voltage command signal; controlling device that controls operation of electrical power converter by using modulation signal; and adjusting device that adjusts amplitude of third harmonic signal, adjusting device adjusts amplitude of third harmonic signal so that peak value of voltage between terminals of smoothing condenser in the case where amplitude of third harmonic signal is adjusted is smaller than peak value of voltage between terminals in the case where amplitude of third harmonic signal is not adjusted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2013
    Publication date: July 21, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshifumi Yamakawa, Masaki Okamura, Naoyoshi Takamatsu
  • Publication number: 20160204703
    Abstract: An operation mode selection unit selects an operation mode of a power converter and generates a mode selection signal indicating the result of selection, in accordance with a load condition and a power supply condition. An operation mode switching control unit generates a mode control signal designating an operation mode of the power converter. When the operation mode currently selected by the mode control signal is different from an operation mode indicated by the mode selection signal, the operation mode switching control unit adjusts a power distribution ratio between a plurality of DC power supplies or an output voltage on an electric power line so as not to change abruptly, and then permits a transition of operation mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2014
    Publication date: July 14, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masanori ISHIGAKI, Shuji TOMURA, Naoki YANAGIZAWA, Masaki OKAMURA
  • Publication number: 20160204729
    Abstract: Provided is a motor controller that controls a motor system including: a power converter, a smoothing capacitor, a three-phase AC motor, and a current sensor. The motor controller is provided with an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit specifies a target phase that is a phase of a second phase voltage command signal having a largest difference from a first phase voltage command signal having a signal level that is neither a maximum nor a minimum signal level, based on three phase voltage command signals generated from the detection value of the current sensor, and corrects the detection value of the current sensor, which detects the phase current of the target phase, such that a terminal voltage of the smoothing capacitor matches the desired voltage value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2014
    Publication date: July 14, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshifumi YAMAKAWA, Masaki OKAMURA, Naoyoshi TAKAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20160190971
    Abstract: Provided is a motor controller for controlling a motor system including a power converter, a smoothing capacitor and a three-phase AC motor. The motor controller includes a generation unit configured to generate a modulation signal by adding a third harmonic signal to a phase voltage command signal, and a control unit configured to control an operation of the power converter using the modulation signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2014
    Publication date: June 30, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshifumi YAMAKAWA, Masaki OKAMURA, Naoyoshi TAKAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20160176295
    Abstract: A vehicle control device that controls a vehicle including a first electric motor that is driven at a rotation speed synchronized with a rotation speed of a drive shaft of the vehicle includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is configured to carry out first determination that determines whether the rotation speed of the first electric motor is lower than or equal to a first threshold and whether a stop operation that stops the vehicle is being carried out, and to carry out second determination that the vehicle is stopped when the electronic control unit has determined in the first determination that the rotation speed of the first electric motor is lower than or equal to the first threshold and the stop operation is being carried out.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2014
    Publication date: June 23, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshitaka NIIMI, Masaki OKAMURA, Shintaro TSUJII, Wanleng ANG, Hideaki YAGUCHI, Keisuke MORISAKI