Patents by Inventor Minoru Aoki

Minoru Aoki 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: 20120004554
    Abstract: The ultrasound probe according to the present embodiment comprises ultrasound oscillators configured to transmit and receive ultrasound waves, an intermediate layer configured to have greater acoustic impedance than the ultrasound oscillators, a backing material configured to support the ultrasound oscillators, and a buffer layer. The ultrasound oscillators, the intermediate layer and the backing material are disposed in that order of the ultrasound oscillator, the intermediate layer and the backing material. The buffer layer, which has smaller acoustic impedance than the intermediate layer and the backing material, is disposed between the intermediate layer and the backing material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2011
    Publication date: January 5, 2012
    Applicants: TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Minoru AOKI, Koichi SHIBAMOTO, Kentaro TSUZUKI, Takashi TAKEUCHI, Hiroyuki SHIKATA
  • Patent number: 8082794
    Abstract: A ultrasonic probe has a plurality of piezoelectric transducers arranged in the array direction. Each piezoelectric transducer has a piezoelectric element which vibrates in the thickness direction. A signal electrode is formed on the lower surface of the piezoelectric element. An earth electrode is formed on the upper surface of the piezoelectric element. Inside the piezoelectric element, a plurality of non-piezoelectric elements are arranged along the lens direction. Each non-piezoelectric element does not come in contact with the signal electrode and the earth electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Aoki, Hiroyuki Shikata
  • Publication number: 20110121687
    Abstract: A flexible printed circuit board, interposed between an intermediate member and a backing material, covers an almost whole back face of the intermediate member and has first and second wiring patterns. A first electrode is interposed between the piezoelectric transducer and the intermediate member, extracted onto the side face of the intermediate member contiguous with one side face of the piezoelectric transducer, and electrically connected to the first wiring pattern. A second electrode is formed on the ultrasound transmission face of the piezoelectric transducer, extracted by being routed on the other side face of the piezoelectric transducer and a side face of the intermediate member contiguous with the other side face of the piezoelectric transducer, and electrically connected to the second wiring pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2010
    Publication date: May 26, 2011
    Applicants: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Minoru AOKI
  • Publication number: 20110013213
    Abstract: An image reading apparatus includes a casing, a light emitting section, a substrate, a support member, and a light guide. The light emitting section includes plural point light sources disposed in a row. The light emitting section is installed to a first face of the substrate. The support member is installed to the casing and supports a second face of the substrate at a projection portion where a position of the light emitting section is projected at the second face of the substrate. The light guide is installed to the casing adjacent to the light emitting section, and guides light from the light emitting section to a read-face.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2010
    Publication date: January 20, 2011
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kaoru TAKAHASHI, Hironori Shimada, Minoru Aoki, Masayuki Saito
  • Patent number: 7830563
    Abstract: An image scanner includes a scanning unit that scans a white scanning member via a contact glass on one line basis when the image scanner is powered on and outputs image data of the white scanning member, and a determining unit that determines whether at least one of the contact glass and the white scanning member has dirt or a scratch thereon by comparing the image data with reference data on one line basis. The reference data is acquired by scanning the scanning member in a situation that there is no dirt or scratch on the scanning member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Minoru Aoki
  • Publication number: 20100215844
    Abstract: A nozzle for injecting a semiconductive coating material from the internal diameter side of a stator to the external diameter side of the stator is inserted in a core duct serving as an air flow passage between adjacent slots, and the semiconductive coating material is coated on the surface of the stator coil exposed to the air flow passage without drawing out the stator coil from the slot in the stator core to form a semiconductive coating layer, thereby repairing exfoliation of the semiconductive coating material on the surface of the stator coil.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Publication date: August 26, 2010
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Minoru Aoki
  • Patent number: 7755256
    Abstract: An ultrasonic probe including a piezoelectric vibrator configured to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, an acoustic lens configured to focus the ultrasonic waves and an acoustic matching layer arranged between the piezoelectric vibrator and the acoustic lens and configured to modify acoustic impedance from the piezoelectric vibrator to the acoustic lens. The acoustic matching layer includes a first region arranged at center areas along a direction of transmitting and receiving of the ultrasonic waves, a second region arranged between the first region and the piezoelectric vibrator and having a rate of change of acoustic impedance which is less than rate of change of acoustic impedance of the first region and a third region arranged between the first region and the acoustic lens, and having a rate of change of acoustic impedance which is less than a rate of change of acoustic impedance of the first region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Koichi Shibamoto, Minoru Aoki, Yasuhisa Makita, Takashi Takeuchi, Hiroyuki Shikata
  • Patent number: 7745977
    Abstract: An ultrasonic probe is provided which includes a piezoelectric vibrator having an earth electrode and a signal electrode on a rear surface, an acoustic matching layer disposed on a front surface side of the piezoelectric vibrator, a packing material disposed on the rear surface of the piezoelectric vibrator, and a flexible printed circuit that is interposed between the piezoelectric vibrator and the packing material to cover the entire rear surface of the piezoelectric vibrator and has an earth wiring layer and a signal wiring layer. The earth wiring layer and the signal wiring layer are exposed from a surface facing the piezoelectric vibrator of the flexible printed circuit so as to be electrically connected to the earth electrode and the signal electrode through an exposed surface of the earth wiring layer and an exposed surface of the signal wiring layer, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Aoki, Hiroyuki Shikata, Takashi Takeuchi, Yasuhisa Makita, Koichi Shibamoto
  • Publication number: 20090306516
    Abstract: An ultrasound probe and an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus that can acquire 3-D ultrasound image data of a wide viewing scope including both a diagnosis portion and peripheral portions of the diagnosis portion by swinging a transducer unit in an orthogonal direction to an array of a plurality transducers in the transducer unit without sacrificing the operability of the ultrasound probe. The ultrasound probe includes a transducer unit having a plurality of transducers, an arm for holding one edge of the transducer unit so as to be extendable in a longitudinal direction, a rail body for holding the other edge of the transducer unit and a driving unit for driving the transducer unit along the rail body. The rail body is comprised of a main rail member having a first curvature in order to form a main track and at least one sub-rail member having a second curvature being larger than the first curvature for forming at least one sub-track.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2009
    Publication date: December 10, 2009
    Applicants: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yutaka OONUKI, Hideki KOSAKU, Yasuhisa MAKITA, Koichi SHIBAMOTO, Minoru AOKI, Tetsuya MOROKAWA
  • Patent number: 7598658
    Abstract: An ultrasonic probe includes piezoelectric elements each including grooves parallel to each other and arrayed in a direction substantially parallel to the grooves, and a mixed member which is to fill the grooves and obtained by mixing in a nonconductive resin member a nonconductive granular substance with a coefficient of thermal expansion of not more than substantially 10?5 K?1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2009
    Assignees: Kabuhsiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Takeuchi, Hiroyuki Shikata, Minoru Aoki, Shinichi Sato, Masaaki Sudo
  • Publication number: 20090088643
    Abstract: A ultrasonic probe has a plurality of piezoelectric transducers arranged in the array direction. Each piezoelectric transducer has a piezoelectric element which vibrates in the thickness direction. A signal electrode is formed on the lower surface of the piezoelectric element. An earth electrode is formed on the upper surface of the piezoelectric element. Inside the piezoelectric element, a plurality of non-piezoelectric elements are arranged along the lens direction. Each non-piezoelectric element does not come in contact with the signal electrode and the earth electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2008
    Publication date: April 2, 2009
    Inventors: Minoru AOKI, Hiroyuki Shikata
  • Publication number: 20080238262
    Abstract: An ultrasonic probe includes piezoelectric elements each including grooves parallel to each other and arrayed in a direction substantially parallel to the grooves, and a mixed member which is to fill the grooves and obtained by mixing in a nonconductive resin member a nonconductive granular substance with a coefficient of thermal expansion of not more than substantially 10?5 K?1.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2007
    Publication date: October 2, 2008
    Inventors: Takashi Takeuchi, Hiroyuki Shikata, Minoru Aoki, Shinichi Sato, Masaaki Sudo
  • Patent number: 7286398
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: groups of memory cells that are connected to word lines; and select gates that are controlled by control word lines and are connected to the groups of memory cells, each of the select gates being capable of storing protection information for a respective one of the groups of memory cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2007
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Masaru Yano, Minoru Aoki
  • Publication number: 20070239021
    Abstract: A generating unit generates a polurality of ultrasonic cross-sectional images at a plurality of angles when an ultrasonic wave emitting surface in an ultrasonic probe is rotated. A regenerating unit saves information on the angle of the ultrasonic wave emitting surface when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and rotates the ultrasonic wave emitting surface from the angle of the ultrasonic wave emitting surface different from the saved angle information to the angle based on the saved angle information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2007
    Publication date: October 11, 2007
    Inventors: Yutaka Oonuki, Hiroyuki Shikata, Hideki Kosaku, Takashi Ogawa, Minoru Aoki
  • Patent number: 7265773
    Abstract: An image detection device includes a light source, an image sensor, a light guiding device, an image focusing device and a housing. The light source is configured to irradiate a pattern image with a light beam. The light guiding device is located on a first light path from the light source to the pattern image and is configured to guide the light beam irradiated by the light source to the image and further guide the light reflected from the pattern image to the image sensor along a second light path. The image focusing device is located on the second light path of from the light guiding device to the image sensor and is configured to focus the light reflected from the pattern image on the image sensor. The housing is configured to contain the light source, the image sensor, the light guiding device and the image focusing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2007
    Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Satoh, Minoru Aoki
  • Publication number: 20070146816
    Abstract: An image scanner includes a scanning unit that scans a white scanning member via a contact glass on one line basis when the image scanner is powered on and outputs image data of the white scanning member, and a determining unit that determines whether at least one of the contact glass and the white scanning member has dirt or a scratch thereon by comparing the image data with reference data on one line basis. The reference data is acquired by scanning the scanning member in a situation that there is no dirt or scratch on the scanning member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Publication date: June 28, 2007
    Inventor: Minoru Aoki
  • Publication number: 20070145860
    Abstract: An ultrasonic probe is provided which includes a piezoelectric vibrator having an earth electrode and a signal electrode on a rear surface, an acoustic matching layer disposed on a front surface side of the piezoelectric vibrator, a packing material disposed on the rear surface of the piezoelectric vibrator, and a flexible printed circuit that is interposed between the piezoelectric vibrator and the packing material to cover the entire rear surface of the piezoelectric vibrator and has an earth wiring layer and a signal wiring layer. The earth wiring layer and the signal wiring layer are exposed from a surface facing the piezoelectric vibrator of the flexible printed circuit so as to be electrically connected to the earth electrode and the signal electrode through an exposed surface of the earth wiring layer and an exposed surface of the signal wiring layer, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2006
    Publication date: June 28, 2007
    Inventors: Minoru Aoki, Hiroyuki Shikata, Takashi Takeuchi, Yasuhisa Makita, Koichi Shibamoto
  • Publication number: 20070108872
    Abstract: An ultrasonic probe including a piezoelectric vibrator configured to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, an acoustic lens configured to focus the ultrasonic waves and an acoustic matching layer arranged between the piezoelectric vibrator and the acoustic lens and configured to modify acoustic impedance from the piezoelectric vibrator to the acoustic lens. The acoustic matching layer includes a first region arranged at center areas along a direction of transmitting and receiving of the ultrasonic waves, a second region arranged between the first region and the piezoelectric vibrator and having a rate of change of acoustic impedance which is less than rate of change of acoustic impedance of the first region and a third region arranged between the first region and the acoustic lens, and having a rate of change of acoustic impedance which is less than a rate of change of acoustic impedance of the first region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2006
    Publication date: May 17, 2007
    Applicant: Kabushi Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Koichi Shibamoto, Minoru Aoki, Yasuhisa Makita, Takakshi Takeuchi, Hiroyuki Shikata
  • Patent number: 7184338
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a latch circuit that latches a given signal in a test mode; and a generating circuit that generates a signal that defines a program voltage used for programming of a memory cell in accordance with the signal latched in the latch circuit. The generating circuit includes: a circuit that generates the signal that defines an initial voltage of the program voltage; a circuit that generates the signal that defines a pulse width of the program voltage; and a circuit that generates the signal that defines a step width of the program voltage when the program voltage is a voltage that increases stepwise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2007
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Harunobu Nakagawa, Minoru Aoki, Shigekazu Yamada
  • Publication number: 20060215451
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: groups of memory cells that are connected to word lines; and select gates that are controlled by control word lines and are connected to the groups of memory cells, each of the select gates being capable of storing protection information for a respective one of the groups of memory cells.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2005
    Publication date: September 28, 2006
    Inventors: Masaru Yano, Minoru Aoki