Patents by Inventor Minoru Gyoda

Minoru Gyoda 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: 20240014671
    Abstract: A battery-powered system includes a battery pack (10; 71; 81) connected to an electrical equipment (30; 50; 76; 86). The battery pack includes a first positive electrode terminal (11), a first negative electrode terminal (12), a first communication terminal (13), a first data input circuit (23), and a first limiting circuit (D11; D72; D82) that limits a flow of electric current in a direction from the first negative electrode terminal to the first communication terminal via the first data input circuit. The connected equipment includes a second positive electrode terminal (31; 51), a second negative electrode terminal (32; 52), a second communication terminal (33; 53), a second data input circuit (43; 63; 77; 87), and a second limiting circuit (D31; D51; D77; D87) that limits a flow of electric current in a direction from the second negative electrode terminal to the second communication terminal via the second data input circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2023
    Publication date: January 11, 2024
    Inventors: Minoru GYODA, Hitoshi SUZUKI, Motohiro OMURA
  • Patent number: 11811249
    Abstract: A battery-powered system includes a battery pack (10; 71; 81) connected to an electrical equipment (30; 50; 76; 86). The battery pack includes a first positive electrode terminal (11), a first negative electrode terminal (12), a first communication terminal (13), a first data input circuit (23), and a first limiting circuit (D11; D72; D82) that limits a flow of electric current in a direction from the first negative electrode terminal to the first communication terminal via the first data input circuit. The connected equipment includes a second positive electrode terminal (31; 51), a second negative electrode terminal (32; 52), a second communication terminal (33; 53), a second data input circuit (43; 63; 77; 87), and a second limiting circuit (D31; D51; D77; D87) that limits a flow of electric current in a direction from the second negative electrode terminal to the second communication terminal via the second data input circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: MAKITA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Minoru Gyoda, Hitoshi Suzuki, Motohiro Omura
  • Patent number: 11616276
    Abstract: A battery pack may include a battery (60), a board (10), a first connection terminal (12), a second connection terminal (11), a control circuit (620), and a busbar (18). The first connection terminal is provided on the board and is configured to be connected to an electric work machine (500). The second connection terminal is provided on the board and is connected to the battery. The control circuit is provided on the board and is configured to control discharging of the battery. The busbar is provided on the board in a current discharge path between the first connection terminal and the second connection terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: MAKITA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Minoru Gyoda
  • Publication number: 20220367963
    Abstract: A battery pack may include a battery cell; a control board disposed above the battery cell and connected to the battery cell; a plurality of terminals disposed on the control board and disposed side by side in a left-right direction; a plurality of partition wall disposed on the control board; and an outer case housing the battery cell, the control board, the plurality of terminals, and the plurality of partition walls, and having an upper surface comprising a terminal reception part configured to receive a terminal of the power tool. The plurality of terminals may include a first terminal and a second terminal adjacent to the first terminal in the left-right direction. At least two of the partition walls are disposed between the first terminal and the second terminal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Publication date: November 17, 2022
    Applicant: MAKITA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tatsuya NAGAHAMA, Minoru GYODA
  • Patent number: 11482764
    Abstract: A battery pack in one aspect of the present disclosure includes a communication terminal and a detector, and supplies electric power to an external device. The communication terminal receives a first signal, a second signal, and a third signal. The first signal has a first potential, the second signal has a second potential, and the third signal has a third potential. The first potential, the second potential, and the third potential are different from one another. The detector determines a potential at the communication terminal, to thereby detect the first signal, the second signal, or the third signal in accordance with the determined potential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: MAKITA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hitoshi Suzuki, Minoru Gyoda, Nobuyuki Oyama, Hiroshi Inoue
  • Patent number: 11394086
    Abstract: A battery module including a plurality of battery cells, a first chassis, and a connection member. The battery cells are aligned in a first direction. The first chassis includes a plurality of first compartments in which the battery cells are housed one by one, and at least one second compartment that is partitioned in the first direction. The connection member includes a body that is housed in the second compartment, a pair of connection terminals that is mounted on a first face of the body and is electrically connectable to the electrodes of the battery cells via a conductive member. The first face faces in a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and a conductor that extends across the pair of connection terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation
    Inventors: Masahito Morone, Hirofumi Yamamoto, Tatsumi Matsuo, Motohiro Itou, Shinya Sato, Kazuto Kuroda, Ryo Okabe, Norihiro Kaneko, Minoru Gyoda, Yuji Sasaki, Kota Asami, Nobuyasu Negishi
  • Patent number: 11336103
    Abstract: A storage battery system includes a cell module including storage battery cells, a battery management unit configured to maintain a contactor having a normally open contact in a closed state, while being supplied with power, and a power supply control circuit that DC to DC converts the power of the cell module for supply to the battery management unit. The power supply control circuit includes an SOC estimator that determines from a voltage of the cell module whether or not the cell module is in an overdischarge state, and after determining that the cell module is not in the overdischarge state, outputs a status signal to the power supply control circuit. In response to no receipt of the status signal from the SOC estimator, the power supply control circuit interrupts the power supply to the battery management unit from the cell module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Yusuke Kikuchi, Kota Asami, Motohiro Itou, Minoru Gyoda, Shinya Sato, Kazuto Kuroda
  • Publication number: 20220123565
    Abstract: A battery pack is configured to supply electric power to an electric work machine, such as a power tool or outdoor power equipment. The battery pack includes a first battery-signal terminal and a second battery-signal terminal. The first battery-signal terminal outputs, to the electric work machine, a first signal indicating that discharging is to be prohibited or permitted. The second battery-signal terminal outputs, to the electric work machine, a second signal indicating that discharging is to be prohibited or permitted. Thus, two communication paths are provided for transmitting signals to permit or prohibit discharging of the battery pack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2019
    Publication date: April 21, 2022
    Inventors: Yoshitaka ICHIKAWA, Akihiro NAKAMOTO, Minoru GYODA, Hayato KANO, Toru YAMADA, Hitoshi SUZUKI
  • Publication number: 20210305661
    Abstract: A battery pack may include a battery (60), a board (10), a first connection terminal (12), a second connection terminal (11), a control circuit (620), and a busbar (18). The first connection terminal is provided on the board and is configured to be connected to an electric work machine (500). The second connection terminal is provided on the board and is connected to the battery. The control circuit is provided on the board and is configured to control discharging of the battery. The busbar is provided on the board in a current discharge path between the first connection terminal and the second connection terminal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2021
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Inventor: Minoru GYODA
  • Publication number: 20200388817
    Abstract: A battery-powered system includes a battery pack (10; 71; 81) connected to an electrical equipment (30; 50; 76; 86). The battery pack includes a first positive electrode terminal (11), a first negative electrode terminal (12), a first communication terminal (13), a first data input circuit (23), and a first limiting circuit (D11; D72; D82) that limits a flow of electric current in a direction from the first negative electrode terminal to the first communication terminal via the first data input circuit. The connected equipment includes a second positive electrode terminal (31; 51), a second negative electrode terminal (32; 52), a second communication terminal (33; 53), a second data input circuit (43; 63; 77; 87), and a second limiting circuit (D31; D51; D77; D87) that limits a flow of electric current in a direction from the second negative electrode terminal to the second communication terminal via the second data input circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2020
    Publication date: December 10, 2020
    Inventors: Minoru GYODA, Hitoshi SUZUKI, Motohiro OMURA
  • Publication number: 20200381930
    Abstract: A battery pack (60), which is rechargeable by a charger (600), includes one or more battery cells (60), a control part (620), a communication part (620, 400, 15), and a switching-control part (620). The control part is configured to be switchable to any of a plurality of operation states, including a controlled-operation state and a low-power operation state. The switching-control part: compares a communication-stop time (Ta1) to a state-switching determination value (Tth1); does not switch the operation state of the control part if the communication-stop time is less than or equal to the state-switching determination value; and does switch the operation state of the control part to the low-power operation state if the communication-stop time exceeds the state-switching determination value, whereby power consumption of the control part can be reduced upon completion, e.g., of a charging operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Inventors: Hayato KANO, Toru YAMADA, Minoru GYODA
  • Publication number: 20200266644
    Abstract: A storage battery system includes a cell module including storage battery cells, a battery management unit configured to maintain a contactor having a normally open contact in a closed state, while being supplied with power, and a power supply control circuit that DC to DC converts the power of the cell module for supply to the battery management unit. The power supply control circuit includes an SOC estimator that determines from a voltage of the cell module whether or not the cell module is in an overdischarge state, and after determining that the cell module is not in the overdischarge state, outputs a status signal to the power supply control circuit. In response to no receipt of the status signal from the SOC estimator, the power supply control circuit interrupts the power supply to the battery management unit from the cell module.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Publication date: August 20, 2020
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Yusuke KIKUCHI, Kota ASAMI, Motohiro ITOU, Minoru GYODA, Shinya SATO, Kazuto KURODA
  • Publication number: 20200106081
    Abstract: A battery pack in one aspect of the present disclosure includes a communication terminal and a detector, and supplies electric power to an external device. The communication terminal receives a first signal, a second signal, and a third signal. The first signal has a first potential, the second signal has a second potential, and the third signal has a third potential. The first potential, the second potential, and the third potential are different from one another. The detector determines a potential at the communication terminal, to thereby detect the first signal, the second signal, or the third signal in accordance with the determined potential.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Publication date: April 2, 2020
    Applicant: MAKITA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hitoshi SUZUKI, Minoru GYODA, Nobuyuki OYAMA, Hiroshi INOUE
  • Publication number: 20190097202
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a battery module includes, for example, a plurality of battery cells, a first chassis, and a connection member. The battery cells are aligned in a first direction. The first chassis includes a plurality of first compartments in which the battery cells are housed one by one, and at least one second compartment that is partitioned in the first direction. The connection member includes a body that is housed in the second compartment; a pair of connection terminals that is mounted on a first face of the body and is electrically connectable to the electrodes of the battery cells via a conductive member, the first face facing in a second direction intersecting with the first direction; and a conductor that extends across the pair of connection terminals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Applicants: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation
    Inventors: Masahito Morone, Hirofumi Yamamoto, Tatsumi Matsuo, Motohiro Itou, Shinya Sato, Kazuto Kuroda, Ryo Okabe, Norihiro Kaneko, Minoru Gyoda, Yuji Sasaki, Kota Asami, Nobuyasu Negishi
  • Publication number: 20190081366
    Abstract: A battery control device of embodiments includes at least two transistors and a control unit. The at least two transistors are at least two transistors that are connected to a battery in series and control charging of the battery, include body diodes, respectively, and are connected in series such that respective body diodes are arranged in the same direction. The control unit changes a conduction pattern in which a conduction state and a non-conduction state of the at least two transistors are switched, and determines whether at least one of the at least two transistors has an abnormality on the basis of a change in a measured voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2018
    Publication date: March 14, 2019
    Applicants: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Gyoda, Masanori Terasaki, Makoto Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 10177577
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a storage battery device includes a battery group, a charge-and-discharge control FET unit, and a drive controller. The battery group includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series. The charge-and-discharge control FET unit is connected to a low potential side of the battery group and includes at least a pair of N-channel MOSFETs source terminals of which are back-to-back connected. The drive controller outputs a drive control signal to a gate terminal of the respective N-channel MOSFETs included in the charge-and-discharge control FET unit. The drive control signal is generated based on a potential level of the source terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Fuyuki Kanbe, Kazuto Kuroda, Shinichiro Kosugi, Masahiro Sekino, Minoru Gyoda, Yosuke Saeki
  • Patent number: 9472941
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, battery module includes a main circuit, a resistive element, a current-amount detection circuit, and a breaker. A charge and discharge current of a battery flows through the main circuit via a positive connecting terminal and a negative connecting terminal. The resistive element is provided in a current path branched from the main circuit, and able to form a closed circuit with an external control device via one of the positive connecting terminal and the negative connecting terminal while an insulating state between the main circuit and the external control device is maintained. The current-amount detection circuit detects an amount of current flowing through the resistive element, and outputs a current-amount detection signal. The breaker circuit interrupts the current flowing through the main circuit when the amount of current flowing through the resistive element is smaller than a predetermined threshold current based on the current-amount detection signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kazuto Kuroda, Shinichiro Kosugi, Minoru Gyoda, Fuyuki Kanbe
  • Publication number: 20160226288
    Abstract: An overcharge protection device according to an embodiment includes a switching unit and a controller. The switching unit includes a plurality of switching elements connected in series. The plurality of switching elements is connected in parallel to a fuse and a rechargeable battery. The fuse is interposed between and connected to the rechargeable battery and a charger configured to charge the rechargeable battery. The controller detects output voltage of the rechargeable battery, and, if the detected output voltage exceeds a certain overcharge detection voltage, short-circuits a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal of the rechargeable battery by turning on the switching elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2014
    Publication date: August 4, 2016
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kazuto Kuroda, Shinichiro Kosugi, Masahiro Sekino, Shigeru Nozawa, Minoru Gyoda, Yosuke Saeki, Fuyuki Kanbe
  • Publication number: 20160181836
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a storage battery device includes a battery group, a charge-and-discharge control FET unit, and a drive controller. The battery group includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series. The charge-and-discharge control FET unit is connected to a low potential side of the battery group and includes at least a pair of N-channel MOSFETs source terminals of which are back-to-back connected. The drive controller outputs a drive control signal to a gate terminal of the respective N-channel MOSFETs included in the charge-and-discharge control FET unit. The drive control signal is generated based on a potential level of the source terminals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2014
    Publication date: June 23, 2016
    Inventors: Fuyuki Kanabe, Kazuto Kuroda, Shinichiro Kosugi, Masahiro Sekino, Minoru Gyoda, Yosuke Saeki
  • Publication number: 20140265639
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, battery module includes a main circuit, a resistive element, a current-amount detection circuit, and a breaker. A charge and discharge current of a battery flows through the main circuit via a positive connecting terminal and a negative connecting terminal. The resistive element is provided in a current path branched from the main circuit, and able to form a closed circuit with an external control device via one of the positive connecting terminal and the negative connecting terminal while an insulating state between the main circuit and the external control device is maintained. The current-amount detection circuit detects an amount of current flowing through the resistive element, and outputs a current-amount detection signal. The breaker circuit interrupts the current flowing through the main circuit when the amount of current flowing through the resistive element is smaller than a predetermined threshold current based on the current-amount detection signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kazuto Kuroda, Shinichiro Kosugi, Minoru Gyoda, Fuyuki Kanbe