Patents by Inventor Masato Fujikawa

Masato Fujikawa 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: 7819768
    Abstract: A hydraulic control apparatus for a transmission includes a line pressure regulating device that enables control in which an oil pressure from an oil pump is regulated so as to attain a line pressure, and that enables control in which the line pressure is switched stepwise between a low pressure state in a lower pressure range and a high pressure state in a higher pressure range; a plurality of hydraulic servos that engage and disengage friction engaging elements using engagement pressures that are based on the line pressure; and a high pressure state detecting device that detects that the line pressure regulating device is outputting the line pressure in the high pressure state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignees: Aisin AW Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiichi Kinugasa, Kazuhito Enomoto, Kiyotomo Miura, Kazuyuki Noda, Satoru Wakuta, Hiroatsu Endo, Masatoshi Adachi, Masato Fujikawa, Kazuo Kawaguchi
  • Patent number: 7811696
    Abstract: In a lithium secondary battery of the present invention, the positive electrode includes a positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode active material layer carried on the positive electrode current collector, the negative electrode includes a negative electrode current collector and a negative electrode active material layer carried on the negative electrode current collector, a heat-resistant layer is formed on the negative electrode, and an insulating tape is attached onto at least a part of the exposed portion of the positive electrode current collector that is opposite to the end of the negative electrode active material layer. Thus, by forming the heat-resistant layer on the negative electrode and attaching the insulating tape onto a part of the exposed portion of the positive electrode current collector, it is possible to efficiently provide a lithium secondary battery exhibiting high safety.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Masato Fujikawa, Akira Nagasaki, Tetsu Hashimoto, Kaoru Inoue, Mikinari Shimada
  • Publication number: 20100227217
    Abstract: The present invention provides a battery including: a battery case having a bottom, a side wall, and an upper opening; an electrode assembly; an electrolyte; and a sealing plate covering the upper opening of the battery case accommodating the electrode assembly and the electrolyte, the electrode assembly including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein a gasket is interposed between an opening-edge portion of the battery case and the sealing plate, and a first highly-resistive layer is disposed between the opening-edge portion of the battery case and the gasket, or a second highly-resistive layer is disposed between the sealing plate and the gasket. This configuration makes it possible to prevent a short circuit between the battery case and the sealing plate from occurring even when the gasket is broken.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2009
    Publication date: September 9, 2010
    Inventors: Masato Fujikawa, Tomohiko Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 7775336
    Abstract: Lubricating oil supply holes are drilled into a first member that is fitted to a plurality of first annular plates by a spline. Of splines to which each lubricating oil supply hole corresponds, lubricating oil grooves provided in the plurality of first annular plates do not overlap the splines on at least one of the front and rear surfaces of the first annular plates, and therefore lubricating oil flowing out of the lubricating oil supply holes is dispersed in a circumferential direction and flows from the inner periphery to the outer periphery of the first annular plates, rather than gathering in each lubricating oil groove and flowing in an outer peripheral direction. As a result, a force generated by an axial lubricating oil flow, which acts in a direction for causing the second annular plates to contact friction materials on the first annular plates, is suppressed, leading to a reduction in drag torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignees: Aisin AW Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Aishin Kako Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaaki Nishida, Satoru Kasuya, Masashi Kito, Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Akitomo Suzuki, Masato Fujikawa, Ryuji Ibaraki, Masatoshi Adachi, Tsuyoshi Mikami, Hideo Ono
  • Publication number: 20100201321
    Abstract: A battery internal short-circuit detecting device has: a battery temperature detection unit for detecting a battery temperature Tr; an ambient temperature detection unit for detecting an ambient temperature Te; an average heating value detection unit for detecting an average value Pav of battery heating values per predetermined first period ?W1, which are generated by discharging or charging the battery; a battery temperature estimation unit for obtaining a battery temperature Tp estimated to be reached after a lapse of a predetermined second period ?W2 since the detection of the average value Pav of the heating values, based on the average value Pav of the heating values and the ambient temperature Te; and an internal short-circuit determination unit for determining that an internal short circuit has occurred when the actual battery temperature Tr after the lapse of the second period ?W2 is equal to or greater than the sum of the estimated battery temperature Tp and a predetermined coefficient ?.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2008
    Publication date: August 12, 2010
    Inventors: Jun Asakura, Takuya Nakashima, Toshiyuki Nakatsuji, Masato Fujikawa
  • Publication number: 20100188054
    Abstract: An internal short-circuit detecting device for detecting an internal short circuit of a battery being subjected to constant current charge using a constant current amount (I) has: a voltage detection unit for detecting a terminal voltage of the battery; a terminal voltage acquisition unit for acquiring a terminal voltage (V1), as predetermined by the voltage detection unit, at a starting point of a first period (?W1) and a terminal voltage (V2) at an ending point; a voltage increase amount calculation unit for calculating an actual increase amount (?V3) of the terminal voltage of the first period (?W1) from the terminal voltages (V1 and V2); a voltage increase amount prediction unit for calculating a predicted increase amount (?V4) of the terminal voltage for the period when charging is performed using the current amount (I) for the first period (?W1); and an internal short-circuit determination unit for determining that the internal short circuit is generated when the actual increase amount (?V3) is equal to
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2008
    Publication date: July 29, 2010
    Inventors: Jun Asakura, Takuya Nakashima, Toshiyuki Nakatsuji, Masato Fujikawa
  • Publication number: 20100188050
    Abstract: A battery internal short-circuit detection apparatus includes: a voltage detection unit for detecting a terminal voltage of the battery; a current detection unit for detecting a discharging current of the battery; a voltage drop and recovery detection unit for detecting a momentary voltage drop of the battery and a recovery from the voltage drop, in response to a result of detection performed by the voltage detection unit; and a determination unit for determining that an internal short circuit has occurred, when a maximum value of the discharging current detected by the current detection unit between the voltage drop and the recovery is equal to or lower than a threshold current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2008
    Publication date: July 29, 2010
    Inventors: Jun Asakura, Takuya Nakashima, Toshiyuki Nakatsuji, Masato Fujikawa
  • Publication number: 20100178541
    Abstract: A lithium secondary battery having enhanced safety, which includes an electrode group, a non-aqueous electrolyte and a battery can for housing them. The electrode group includes: a positive electrode having a strip-shaped positive electrode current collector and a material mixture layer carried thereon; a negative electrode having a strip-shaped negative electrode current collector and a material mixture layer carried thereon; a separator; and a porous heat resistant layer. The positive and negative electrodes are spirally wound with the separator and the porous heat resistant layer interposed therebetween. An outermost surface of the electrode group includes an exposed portion of either of the positive and negative electrode current collectors. The exposed portion faces an inner surface of the battery can with the separator interposed therebetween, and has opposite polarity to that of the battery can.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2010
    Publication date: July 15, 2010
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masato FUJIKAWA, Kaoru Inoue, Mikinari Shimada
  • Patent number: 7754375
    Abstract: Disclosed is a lithium ion secondary battery wherein an active material layer of at least one of positive and negative electrodes, or a separator carries a porous insulating layer, and the surface of the active material layer or separator carrying the porous insulating layer has a first region in which the porous insulating layer is formed and a second region including plural discontinuous deficient hole portions where the porous insulating layer is not formed. When a given reference deficient hole portion is selected from the plural deficient hole portions and a given circle having an area ten times that of the reference deficient hole portion is set on the surface of the active material layer or separator, the area of a part of the second region surrounded by the circle is controlled to not less than 10 ?m2 and not more than 100 mm2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Masato Fujikawa, Hajime Nishino, Mikinari Shimada
  • Publication number: 20100136428
    Abstract: The non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery of the present invention is provided with an electrode plate group and a non-aqueous electrolyte, the electrode plate group including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, a positive electrode lead connected to the positive electrode, and a negative electrode lead connected to the negative electrode. The energy density of the electrode plate group is 750 Wh/L or higher by volume, and the cross-sectional area of at least one of the positive electrode lead and the negative electrode lead is 5.5×10?5 to 1.2×10?2 cm2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2008
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomohiko Yokoyama, Hideharu Takezawa, Masato Fujikawa, Shinji Kasamatsu
  • Publication number: 20100136393
    Abstract: In a lithium ion secondary battery, a lithium-nickel-containing composite oxide that contains lithium and nickel is used as a positive electrode active material, and a negative electrode active material having a melting temperature of 1200° C. or less in a lithium-absorbed state is included in a negative electrode active material layer. By configuring as above, in the lithium ion secondary battery, it is possible to achieve higher capacity, higher output, and longer life, as well as further improved safety, and particularly in a nail penetration test, to suppress the heat generation due to internal short circuit and to reliably prevent the occurrence of thermal runaway.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2008
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Inventors: Hideharu Takezawa, Masato Fujikawa, Miyiki Nakai, Shinji Kasamatsu, Tomohiko Yokoyama
  • Publication number: 20100112442
    Abstract: An electrode for an electrochemical device according to the present invention includes a current collector and an active material layer formed on the current collector. The active material layer includes an active material capable of reversibly absorbing and desorbing lithium ions and having a theoretical capacity density of more than 833 mAh/cm3, and the BET specific surface area of the active material layer is 5 m2/g or more and 80 m2/g or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2008
    Publication date: May 6, 2010
    Inventors: Masato Fujikawa, Hideharu Takezawa, Miyuki Nakai
  • Patent number: 7695854
    Abstract: A lithium secondary battery including: a positive electrode including a strip-shaped positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode active material layer carried on each surface of the positive electrode current collector; a negative electrode including a strip-shaped negative electrode current collector and a negative electrode active material layer carried on each surface of the negative electrode current collector; a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein an exposed portion carrying no active material layer is formed on a substantially center portion in a longitudinal direction of a least one of the positive electrode current collector and the negative electrode current collector, a current collecting lead is connected to the exposed portion, and a first heat resistant layer is formed such that the first heat resistant faces at least part of the current collecting lead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Masato Fujikawa, Kaoru Inoue, Mikinari Shimada
  • Patent number: 7679739
    Abstract: There is provided a film measuring device capable of accurately and easily measuring the thickness of a microporous film formed on a battery electrode plate over the entire area of the film. A color CCD sensor 8 shoots the microporous film. A video board 11 converts a color tone of a color image signal obtained by the image pickup into gradation data of respective color components of RGB. After the data conversion, an image processing board 12 extracts line images of the respective color components. A calculator 14 obtains the thickness of the microporous film by referring to pre-measured film thickness reference values corresponding to the gradation data of the green or blue color component, which are stored in a table storage 13 as reference thickness table data, using the gradation data of the line image of the green color component or the blue color component as lookup data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuya Hayashi, Masato Fujikawa, Kazutaka Teramoto
  • Publication number: 20100046794
    Abstract: There is provided a film measuring device capable of accurately and easily measuring the thickness of a microporous film formed on a battery electrode plate over the entire area of the film. A color CCD sensor 8 shoots the microporous film. A video board 11 converts a color tone of a color image signal obtained by the image pickup into gradation data of respective color components of RGB. After the data conversion, an image processing board 12 extracts line images of the respective color components. A calculator 14 obtains the thickness of the microporous film by referring to pre-measured film thickness reference values corresponding to the gradation data of the green or blue color component, which are stored in a table storage 13 as reference thickness table data, using the gradation data of the line image of the green color component or the blue color component as lookup data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2009
    Publication date: February 25, 2010
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tetsuya HAYASHI, Masato FUJIKAWA, Kazutaka TERAMOTO
  • Publication number: 20100028762
    Abstract: A battery includes an electrode assembly including a first electrode and a second electrode, a non-aqueous electrolyte, a battery case, a first lead connecting the first electrode with a bottom of the battery case, a seal member sealing an opening of the battery case, and a second lead connecting the second electrode with the seal member. At least one of the first lead and the second lead has a high resistant portion that has a higher resistance than the other portions per unit length. The high resistant portion is disposed at a position of the first lead closer to the first electrode than the portion connected to the bottom of the battery case or at a position of the second lead closer to the second electrode than the portion connected to the seal member. The high resistant portion is in contact with the battery case or the seal member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2009
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Inventors: Tomohiko Yokoyama, Masato Fujikawa
  • Patent number: 7637336
    Abstract: Drain holes are arranged in positions offset from valve holes of a valve body. The drain holes have a long chimney-shaped space such that even if insulation material, that has peeled off of an electric motor, is suspended in oil, it is less likely to enter drain chambers through the drain holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2009
    Assignees: Aisin AW Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuhito Enomoto, Kiyotomo Mirua, Satoru Wakuta, Kazuhisa Ozaki, Nobuyuki Nagashima, Masato Fujikawa, Tomoyuki Maruyama, Masatoshi Adachi
  • Publication number: 20090286148
    Abstract: Methods for evaluating battery safety under internal short-circuit conditions are improved to eliminate variations in evaluation results and accurately evaluate battery safety under internal short-circuit conditions. An internal short-circuit is caused in a battery by using an internal short-circuit causing method in which battery information obtained upon the occurrence of an internal short-circuit hardly changes with the structure of the battery. At this time, the battery information is detected to accurately evaluate the safety of the battery upon the internal short-circuit and identify the safety level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2007
    Publication date: November 19, 2009
    Inventors: Masato Fujikawa, Shinji Kasamatsu, Hajime Nishino, Mikinari Shimada
  • Publication number: 20090226803
    Abstract: A battery includes an electrode group, a case, a sealing member, and a mesh portion. The electrode group includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode opposing the positive electrode, an electrolyte interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The case has an opening and contains the electrode group. The sealing member closes the opening of the case. The mesh portion is provided so as to face an exhaust hole formed in at least one of the case and the sealing member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2009
    Publication date: September 10, 2009
    Inventors: Hajime NISHINO, Masato FUJIKAWA, Tomohiko Yokoyama, Mikinari Shimada
  • Publication number: 20090197153
    Abstract: A battery pack including at least a battery and a casing for accommodating the battery, in which the casing has a ventilation hole communicating with the outside of the casing, and a mesh member made of metal for covering at least the ventilation hole is provided at the side surface of the casing. Preferably, the mesh member is coated with an insulating resin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Publication date: August 6, 2009
    Inventors: Masato Fujikawa, Mikinari Shimada