Patents by Inventor Masayuki Yamada

Masayuki Yamada 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).

  • THICKNESS OF A SEAT CUSHION AT THE BACK SIDE OF A SEAT CUSHION FRAME
    Publication number: 20090146477
    Abstract: In a seat (10), a seat back (14) tilts forward to be superposed on a seat cushion (20) and thereby the seat (10) is stowed. In this stowage operation, an arm (26) and a cushion main frame (22) are moved forward by a back frame (16), rotating a front link (28) forward. The operation reduces the distance in the vertical direction between a position at which the front link (28) is connected to the cushion main frame (22) and a restriction shaft (30), so that the distance in the vertical direction between the cushion main frame (22) and a lower wall of an under cover (32) can be reduced. As a result, the under cover (32) contacts with a vehicle compartment floor surface (12) and a seat cushion body (24) is inserted inside the under cover (32). This allows the thickness of the seat cushion (20) to be reduced at the back side of the cushion main frame (22).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2006
    Publication date: June 11, 2009
    Inventors: Masayuki Yamada, Hideki Kobayashi, Takeshi Toukai, Masaki Mori, Keisuke Onoda, Makoto Ito
  • Speech synthesis method and apparatus, and dictionary generation method and apparatus
    Patent number: 7546241
    Abstract: In a speech synthesis process, micro-segments are cut from acquired waveform data and a window function. The obtained micro-segments are re-arranged to implement a desired prosody, and superposed data is generated by superposing the re-arranged micro-segments, so as to obtain synthetic speech waveform data. A spectrum correction filter is formed based on the acquired waveform data. At least one of the waveform data, micro-segments, and superposed data is corrected using the spectrum correction filter. In this way, “blur” of a speech spectrum due to the window function applied to obtain micro-segments is reduced, and speech synthesis with high sound quality is realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2009
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masayuki Yamada, Yasuhiro Komori, Toshiaki Fukada
  • Seat Structure, Seat Extension/Retraction Method and Vehicle
    Publication number: 20090127904
    Abstract: In a seat (10), rotating a seat cushion rearward causes the seat cushion to be superposed on the front side of a seat back for stowage. In the stowage of the seat (10), the seat cushion is rotated rearward, moving an interlocking link downward. The connection link (18) is then rotated downward in the seat back, so that a distance in a back-and-forth direction between a back main frame (14) and a receiving member (20) is reduced. This allows the thickness of the seat back (12) to be reduced in a part on the back of the back main frame (14).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2006
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Inventors: Masayuki Yamada, Hideki Kobayashi, Takeshi Toukai, Masaki Mori, Keisuke Onoda, Makoto Ito
  • OPTICAL TRANSPARENT MEMBER AND OPTICAL SYSTEM USING THE SAME
    Publication number: 20090081361
    Abstract: It is an object to provide an optical transparent member capable of maintaining a high-performance antireflection effect for a base over a long period of time, and an optical system using the same, specifically an optical transparent member including on a base a layer containing SiO2 as a main component, a layer containing Al2O3 as a main component, and a plate crystal layer formed from plate crystals containing Al2O3 as a main component, wherein the surface of the plate crystal layer has a shape of irregularities, and an optical system using the same.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2008
    Publication date: March 26, 2009
    Applicants: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, OSAKA PREFECTURE UNIVERESITY
    Inventors: Masayuki Yamada, Yoshinori Kotani, Hiroyuki Tanaka, Takeharu Okuno, Tsutomu Minami, Masahiro Tatsumisago, Kiyoharu Tadanaga
  • NICKEL-BASED ALLOY FOR TURBINE ROTOR OF STEAM TURBINE AND TURBINE ROTOR OF STEAM TURBINE
    Publication number: 20090074584
    Abstract: A Nickel-based alloy for a turbine rotor of a steam turbine contains C: 0.01 to 0.15, Cr: 18 to 28, Co: 10 to 15, Mo: 8 to 12, Al: 1.5 to 2, Ti: 0.1 to 0.6, B: 0.001 to 0.006, Ta: 0.1 to 0.7 in % by weight, and the remaining portion is composed of Ni and unavoidable impurities. The Nickel-based alloy is composed of the above-stated chemical composition range, and thereby, a mechanical strength improves while maintaining forgeability as same as a conventional steel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2008
    Publication date: March 19, 2009
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Kuniyoshi Nemoto, Kiyoshi Imai, Yomei Yoshioka, Masayuki Yamada, Reki Takaku, Takeo Suga, Masafumi Fukuda, Kenichi Okuno, Akihiro Takakuwa
  • Database construction apparatus and method
    Patent number: 7505904
    Abstract: A database construction apparatus and method which construct a tree structure database are provided. First of all, consecutive node numbers are assigned to nodes for each layer, from an upper layer to a lower layer in a tree structure, in the order of the node numbers of parent nodes. Thereafter, the respective nodes are assigned child node relative numbers representing relative values between the node numbers and the node numbers of corresponding child nodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2009
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideo Kuboyama, Masayuki Yamada
  • Three-dimensional position measurement method and apparatus used for three-dimensional position measurement
    Patent number: 7502100
    Abstract: In three-dimensional measurement where circular polarized light or elliptical polarized light is projected as measurement light, correct measurement results can be obtained irrespective of the difference in intensity between primary reflected light and secondary reflected light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2009
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Sensing, Inc.
    Inventors: Toshio Kawano, Masayuki Yamada
  • POLYMER ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANE AND POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL
    Publication number: 20090042077
    Abstract: There are provided a polymer electrolyte membrane having at least one surface with an average surface roughness Ra? of from 30 nm to 500 nm and a surface area ratio Sr of 1.2 or more in which Sr is defined as S/S0 with S0 representing a surface area when the at least one surface is ideally flat and S representing an actual surface area of the at least one surface, and a polymer electrolyte fuel cell comprising the polymer electrolyte membrane. Thereby, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell is provided that improves the efficiency of contact between the polymer electrolyte membrane and the catalyst, efficiently separates hydrogen ions and electrons produced on the catalyst, and provides high output characteristics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2008
    Publication date: February 12, 2009
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Motokazu Kobayashi, Masayuki Yamada, Zuyi Zhang, Shinji Eritate, Teigo Sakakibara
  • Remote access server wherein the number of logical link resources is set higher than the number of physical link resources
    Patent number: 7486663
    Abstract: In a remote access server (RAS), the number of logical link resources, which are circuit resources between the RAS and an ISP server, is set greater than the number of physical link resources, which are circuit resources between the RAS and each terminal device. In the RAS, when a particular circuit undergoes a transition to the dormant state, only the physical link resource is released to allow use by other terminal devices while the logical link resource is maintained unchanged in a connected state, whereby the loss probability is reduced without increasing the number of physical link resources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuo Matsuda, Masayuki Yamada, Kazuhiko Azuma, Toshikazu Maruyama
  • HOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN FAN UNIT AND FAN UNIT INCLUDING THE SAME
    Publication number: 20090022587
    Abstract: A housing assembly for a fan unit includes an upper housing having a lower engaging portion adjacent to its lower end surface and a lower housing having an upper engaging portion adjacent to its upper end surface. When one of the upper and lower housings rotates relative to the other about a center axis of the housings in a first direction with the opposing end surfaces of the housings in axial contact, the lower and upper engaging portions engage with each other. While the lower and upper engaging portions are in engagement, one of the lower and upper engaging portions presses the other in both axial directions to cause elastic axial deformation of the other; and one of the lower and upper engaging portions presses the other toward both the first direction and a second direction opposite thereto to cause elastic circumferential deformation of the other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2008
    Publication date: January 22, 2009
    Applicant: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yusuke YOSHIDA, Takahiro KIKUICHI, Masayuki YAMADA
  • FILM AND ANTIREFLECTION FILM HAVING FINE IRREGULARITIES ON SURFACE, PRODUCTION METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND OPTICAL MEMBER USING THE SAME
    Publication number: 20090022954
    Abstract: A transparent antireflection film, including fine irregularities mainly composed of alumina, and a transparent thin film layer supporting the fine irregularities, in which the transparent thin film layer contains at least one selected from the group consisting of zirconia, silica, titania, and zinc oxide. A production method for the aforementioned transparent antireflection film, including: forming a multicomponent film using an application liquid containing at least one compound selected from the group consisting of a zirconium compound, a silicon compound, a titanium compound, and a zinc compound, and at least an aluminum compound; and subjecting the multicomponent film to warm water treatment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2008
    Publication date: January 22, 2009
    Applicants: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, OSAKA PREFECTURE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Yoshinori Kotani, Masayuki Yamada, Zuyi Zhang, Makoto Kubota, Tsutomu Minami, Masahiro Tatsumisago, Kiyoharu Tadanaga, Atsunori Matsuda
  • SPEECH RECOGNITION APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF
    Publication number: 20090012790
    Abstract: A speech recognition apparatus which improves the sound quality of speech output as a speech recognition result is provided. The speech recognition apparatus includes a recognition unit, which recognizes speech based on a recognition dictionary, and a registration unit, which registers a dictionary entry of a new recognition word in the recognition dictionary. The recognition unit includes a generation unit, which generates a dictionary entry including speech of the new recognition word item and feature parameters of the speech, and a modification unit, which makes a modification for improving the sound quality of the speech included in the dictionary entry generated by the generation unit. The recognition unit includes a speech output unit, which outputs speech which is included in a dictionary entry corresponding to the recognition result of input speech, and is modified by the modification unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2008
    Publication date: January 8, 2009
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masayuki Yamada, Toshiaki Fukada, Yasuo Okutani, Michio Aizawa
  • Sheet loading device and image forming apparatus
    Patent number: 7469893
    Abstract: Disclosed is a sheet loading device, which comprises a sheet tray adapted to place thereon a sheet stack consisting of a plurality of stacked sheets, a pair of side fences disposed on the side on a top surface of the sheet tray to sandwich the sheet stack therebetween in a direction orthogonal to a sheet loading direction, a pair of racks attached to respective ones of the pair of side fences and disposed on the side of a bottom surface of the sheet tray to extend in mutually opposed directions of the pair of side fences, and a pinion adapted to be rotated about a pinion shaft penetrating the sheet tray and engaged with the racks. The pinion has a first surface opposite to the bottom surface of the sheet tray, and a second surface located on the opposite side of the first surface and provided coaxially with a flange having a diameter greater than that of an engaged portion of the pinion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2008
    Assignee: Kyocera Mita Corporation
    Inventor: Masayuki Yamada
  • OPTICAL MEMBER, OPTICAL SYSTEM USING THE OPTICAL MEMBER, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN OPTICAL MEMBER
    Publication number: 20080310026
    Abstract: Provides is an optical member capable of keeping a high performance antireflection effect over a long period of time with respect to an arbitrary substrate. The optical member has plural layers on a substrate, and includes at least one metal oxide layer having a void, and at least one layer containing an organic resin as a main component formed between the substrate and the metal oxide layer. The metal oxide layer is a plate crystal layer formed of a plate crystal containing aluminum oxide as a main component and a surface of the plate crystal layer has an uneven profile. The organic resin has an aromatic ring and/or a hetero ring in at least a part thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2008
    Publication date: December 18, 2008
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomonari Nakayama, Masayuki Yamada
  • METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OPTICAL ELEMENT, AND OPTICAL ELEMENT
    Publication number: 20080305254
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an optical element having a good reflection preventing characteristic is provided in which an irregularity structure having a reflection preventing function can be formed at low temperature. The method includes forming a film on the optical substrate by using a coating liquid containing a metal alkoxide containing at least aluminum, immersing the film in a water-containing liquid, baking the film having been immersed in the water-containing liquid, and subjecting the film having been baked to treatment with warm water to form an aluminum-containing film having a fine irregularity structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2008
    Publication date: December 11, 2008
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Tanaka, Masayuki Yamada, Yoshinori Kotani
  • Speech synthesis dictionary creation apparatus, method, and computer-readable medium storing program codes for controlling such apparatus and pitch-mark-data file creation apparatus, method, and computer-readable medium storing program codes for controlling such apparatus
    Patent number: 7428492
    Abstract: The distance between the first two pitch marks of a voiced portion of speech data to be processed is calculated. The difference between the adjacent inter-pitch-mark distances is calculated. The respective calculation results are stored and managed in a file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2008
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masayuki Yamada
  • CONCAVE DIFFRACTION GRATING DEVICE, REFLECTIVE DISPERSION DEVICE, AND SPECTRAL DEVICE
    Publication number: 20080225291
    Abstract: A concave diffraction grating device, a reflective dispersion device, and a spectral device of the invention include a diffraction grating plane having an aspherical configuration, wherein the diffraction grating plane is symmetrical in a predetermined direction, and asymmetrical in a direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction in such a manner that the curvature of one end portion of the diffraction grating plane in the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction is gradually decreased, and the curvature of the other end portion thereof is gradually increased. The concave diffraction grating device, the reflective dispersion device, and the spectral device with the above arrangement have desirable slit image forming performance with respect to all the wavelengths in a visible region, and are suitable for mass-production.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2008
    Publication date: September 18, 2008
    Applicant: Konica Minolta Sensing, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenji KONNO, Kenji IMURA, Masayuki YAMADA
  • Speech Synthesis Method and Apparatus
    Publication number: 20080177548
    Abstract: A speech synthesis method includes selecting a segment, determining whether to conduct prosodic modification on the selected segment, calculating a target value of prosodic modification of a segment on which prosodic modification has been determined to be conducted based on a result of the determination, conducting prosodic modification such that a prosody of the segment on which prosodic modification has been determined to be conducted takes the target value of prosodic modification, and concatenating the segment on which prosodic modification has been conducted or a segment on which prosodic modification has been determined not to be conducted as a result of the determination.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2006
    Publication date: July 24, 2008
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masayuki Yamada, Yasuo Okutani, Michio Aizawa
  • OPTICAL MEMBER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME
    Publication number: 20080176038
    Abstract: An optical member including an oxide layer that has a stable fine textured structure and is excellent in durability is provided. The optical member includes a base material and an antireflection coating on a surface of the base material. The antireflection coating includes at least an oxide layer having a fine textured structure on the surface, and the oxide layer contains a phosphate compound. Furthermore, a method of manufacturing the optical member is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2008
    Publication date: July 24, 2008
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Zuyi Zhang, Hiroyuki Tanaka, Masayuki Yamada
  • Image forming apparatus and method
    Patent number: 7376566
    Abstract: Provided are an image forming apparatus and an image forming method in which a decline in the recognition rate of voice recognition ascribable to operating sound during printing can be prevented by starting voice recognition after the printing operation has been suspended. The image forming apparatus is provided with a voice recognition unit (103) for recognizing entered voice, and a image printing unit (107) for printing prescribed print information. Whether the image printing unit (107) is currently printing is discriminated by an image-printing-state holding unit (106). Further, a request to start operation of a voice recognition unit (103) is accepted. If the request to start operation of the voice recognition unit (103) is accepted during printing of print information by the image printing unit (107), then printing of the print information by the image printing unit (107) is suspended.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Michio Aizawa, Tsuyoshi Yagisawa, Masayuki Yamada