Patents by Inventor Naoki Hirai

Naoki Hirai 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: 20230068234
    Abstract: Provided is a method for manufacturing a ribbon piece that allows suppressing a damage of a rotary die cutter. A method for manufacturing a ribbon piece of the present disclosure includes punching out a ribbon piece from a ribbon material using a rotary die cutter. The rotary die cutter includes a die roll and an anvil roll. The die roll includes a die roll body, and a cutting blade is formed to protrude on an outer peripheral surface of the die roll body. The anvil roll includes an anvil roll body, a groove is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the anvil roll body, and the cutting blade is engageable with the groove with a space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, SANJO MACHINE WORKS, LTD., KOTO ENGRAVING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akinori TOMIOKA, Takuya SUKEDA, Naoki HIRAI, Yoshikiyo KONDO, Masaaki SHIMIZU, Isamu SAKAYORI, Kojiro KATAOKA, Hiroshi MISONO
  • Patent number: 11492226
    Abstract: A method of transporting a plurality of sheet-like members containing a magnetic material includes a first step of placing one of the members on an endless belt, and a second step of releasing the member from a portion of the endless belt which is moved and folded back along a roller. The endless belt includes a first magnetic force generating portion that generates first magnetic force, and a second magnetic force generating portion that generates second magnetic force that is stronger than the first magnetic force. In the first step, the member is placed on the belt, such that a first portion of the member containing the magnetic material is located in the first magnetic force generating portion, and a second portion of the member containing the magnetic material and located rearward of the first portion in a conveying direction is located in the second magnetic force generating portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takuya Sukeda, Naoki Hirai, Akinori Tomioka
  • Publication number: 20220002108
    Abstract: A method of transporting a plurality of sheet-like members containing a magnetic material includes a first step of placing one of the members on an endless belt, and a second step of releasing the member from a portion of the endless belt which is moved and folded back along a roller. The endless belt includes a first magnetic force generating portion that generates first magnetic force, and a second magnetic force generating portion that generates second magnetic force that is stronger than the first magnetic force. In the first step, the member is placed on the belt, such that a first portion of the member containing the magnetic material is located in the first magnetic force generating portion, and a second portion of the member containing the magnetic material and located rearward of the first portion in a conveying direction is located in the second magnetic force generating portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Publication date: January 6, 2022
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takuya Sukeda, Naoki Hirai, Akinori Tomioka
  • Publication number: 20200238560
    Abstract: Provided are rotary dies that can cut amorphous materials while having suppressed wear. The rotary dies are adapted to cut a target, and include an anvil roller, a die cutter, a first elastic portion, and a second elastic portion. The anvil roller rotates while supporting the target. The die cutter has a projecting edge for cutting the target and is configured to rotate. The first elastic portion is arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the anvil roller, and elastically deforms upon contacting the rear surface of the target when the target is cut. The second elastic portion is arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the die cutter, and elastically deforms upon contacting the front surface of the target when the target is cut. The hardness of the first elastic portion is greater than that of the second elastic portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2020
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Hiromichi NAKATA, Noboru SHIMAMOTO, Takuya SUKEDA, Akinori TOMIOKA, Naoki HIRAI
  • Publication number: 20160379300
    Abstract: A prediction device according to the present application includes an acquisition unit and a prediction unit. The acquisition unit acquires information on a current price at which a target product is bid at an auction. The prediction unit predicts a price difference between the current price and a future price at which the target product is assumed to be bid after bidding at the current price based on the information on the current price acquired by the acquisition unit and a bid history at the auction. For example, the prediction unit predicts a price difference between the current price and the future price at which the target product is assumed to be bid immediately after bidding at the current price.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2016
    Publication date: December 29, 2016
    Applicant: YAHOO JAPAN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoki HIRAI, Koji TSUKAMOTO, Junichiro KITAGAWA, Katsushi YAMASHITA, Satoshi YAMAUCHI, Akira TAJIMA
  • Patent number: 9495485
    Abstract: An information processing device includes target object information obtaining unit configured to obtain target object information indicating a position and an area of a target object in a virtual space, surface information obtaining unit configured to obtain surface information indicating a position and an area of a thickness area that is defined by a surface in the virtual space and a predetermined thickness imparted to the surface, and collision determining unit configured to carry out collision determination, based on the target object information and the surface information, so as to determine whether the target object has collided against the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignees: SONY CORPORATION, SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT INC.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Matsuike, Naoki Hirai
  • Publication number: 20150352629
    Abstract: In a forging device including a rotating table and a shaping roller, which forging device forges a workpiece such that an outer peripheral surface of the shaping roller is pressed against an end surface of the workpiece in a central-axis direction of the workpiece while the workpiece is rotated by the rotating table, the shaping roller is placed apart from a rotation axis, and a position of that end of the outer peripheral surface of the shaping roller which is opposite to a rotation-axis side in a central-axis direction of the shaping roller is placed at an outer side in a radial direction of the workpiece relative to a position of an outer peripheral surface of the workpiece that has been forged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2013
    Publication date: December 10, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takuya SUKEDA, Hirohumi INOSHITA, Naoki HIRAI, Yoshinori ISHIKAWA, Hideji NAITO
  • Patent number: 9026388
    Abstract: It is determined that a drop in the capacity of a sodium-sulfur battery has proceeded to an abnormal level when both the following expression (1) and expression (2) hold. Qe?Qn?K1 . . . (1) where Qe: abnormal block depth of discharge; Qn: normal block depth of discharge; and K1: block abnormality determination set point (setting value) and Qe?K2 . . . (2) where K2: depth of discharge abnormality determination set point (setting value).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Hirai, Motohiro Fukuhara
  • Patent number: 8957640
    Abstract: An accurately and precisely calculation of the state of charge of a sodium-sulfur battery may be made by determining a state of charge Qr according to expression (1) given below even if the sodium-sulfur battery is applied to compensate for fluctuations in the power generated by a natural energy generating device: Qr=100×(1?(Qu/(Qa?Qsf))) . . . (1) where Qu: used capacity; Qa: product capacity; and Qsf: residual capacity in final year; and Qsf=f1(Cef) . . . (2) where f1(Cef): conversion function for determining the residual capacity Qsf in the final year on the basis of the equivalent cycle Cef in final year.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Hirai, Motohiro Fukuhara
  • Patent number: 8914243
    Abstract: A number (uo) of healthy strings of one block in a sodium-sulfur battery is determined according to expression (1), and a failure of the sodium-sulfur battery is detected on the basis of the determination of the value of the uo. This method makes it possible to properly determine a failure of the sodium-sulfur battery, which can be used to compensate for fluctuations of electric power generated by a renewable energy generating device. uo=(Qo/Qs)×us . . . (1) where Qs: used capacity of reference block; Qo: used capacity of target block; and us: number of healthy strings of reference block (us?u).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Hirai, Motohiro Fukuhara
  • Patent number: 8866446
    Abstract: An end-of-discharge voltage correction section subtracts, from an end-of-discharge open voltage, the product I×RO of a discharge current I of a block and an ohmic resistance RO of the block and the product ITD×RP of a discharge current ITD obtained by performing a time delay process on the discharge current and a polarization resistance RP of the block. Then, a resulting value is set as an end-of-discharge voltage VL. The ohmic resistance RO is increased as an equivalent cycle count CY increases, and is increased as a healthy parallel number NPH decreases. An increment ?CY of the equivalent cycle count CY in each charge/discharge cycle becomes greater as a discharge depth DD increases. The healthy parallel number NPH is derived by multiplying a healthy parallel number NPHR of a reference block by the ratio of a capacity CPR of the reference block to a capacity CPS of a target block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhito Furuta, Naoki Hirai, Keita Ikuta
  • Publication number: 20120303340
    Abstract: An information processing device includes target object information obtaining unit configured to obtain target object information indicating a position and an area of a target object in a virtual space, surface information obtaining unit configured to obtain surface information indicating a position and an area of a thickness area that is defined by a surface in the virtual space and a predetermined thickness imparted to the surface, and collision determining unit configured to carry out collision determination, based on the target object information and the surface information, so as to determine whether the target object has collided against the surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2012
    Publication date: November 29, 2012
    Applicant: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Matsuike, Naoki Hirai
  • Patent number: 8257846
    Abstract: A temperature increasing method for a sodium-sulfur battery includes three or more temperature gradients, and inflection points of 90±5° C. and 150±5° C. at which the temperature gradient changes, and the temperature gradient in a section from 90±5° C. to 150±5° C. is 5° C./h or less, whereby it is possible to increase a temperature of the sodium-sulfur battery quickly without affecting the quality of the sodium-sulfur battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoki Hirai
  • Patent number: 8163407
    Abstract: In a method for controlling a sodium-sulfur battery, a time of correcting or resetting a depth of discharge of the sodium-sulfur battery is determined within a predetermined period based on weather information, and the depth of discharge of the sodium-sulfur battery is corrected or reset in the determined time. According to this sodium-sulfur battery control method, the depth of discharge of the sodium-sulfur battery can be accurately managed in a small-scale interconnected system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoki Hirai
  • Publication number: 20120086403
    Abstract: An end-of-discharge voltage correction section subtracts, from an end-of-discharge open voltage, the product I×RO of a discharge current I of a block and an ohmic resistance RO of the block and the product ITD×RP of a discharge current ITD obtained by performing a time delay process on the discharge current and a polarization resistance RP of the block. Then, a resulting value is set as an end-of-discharge voltage VL. The ohmic resistance RO is increased as an equivalent cycle count CY increases, and is increased as a healthy parallel number NPH decreases. An increment ?CY of the equivalent cycle count CY in each charge/discharge cycle becomes greater as a discharge depth DD increases. The healthy parallel number NPH is derived by multiplying a healthy parallel number NPHR of a reference block by the ratio of a capacity CPR of the reference block to a capacity CPS of a target block.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhito FURUTA, Naoki Hirai, Keita Ikuta
  • Publication number: 20120041690
    Abstract: A number (uo) of healthy strings of one block in a sodium-sulfur battery is determined according to expression (1), and a failure of the sodium-sulfur battery is detected on the basis of the determination of the value of the uo. This method makes it possible to properly determine a failure of the sodium-sulfur battery, which can be used to compensate for fluctuations of electric power generated by a renewable energy generating device. uo=(Qo/Qs)×us . . . (1) where Qs: used capacity of reference block; Qo: used capacity of target block; and us: number of healthy strings of reference block (us?u).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Publication date: February 16, 2012
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki HIRAI, Motohiro Fukuhara
  • Publication number: 20110313699
    Abstract: An accurately and precisely calculation of the state of charge of a sodium-sulfur battery may be made by determining a state of charge Qr according to expression (1) given below even if the sodium-sulfur battery is applied to compensate for fluctuations in the power generated by a natural energy generating device: Qr=100×(1?(Qu/(Qa?Qsf))) . . . (1) where Qu: used capacity; Qa: product capacity; and Qsf: residual capacity in final year; and Qsf=f1(Cef) . . . (2) where f1(Cef): conversion function for determining the residual capacity Qsf in the final year on the basis of the equivalent cycle Cef in final year.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki HIRAI, Motohiro FUKUHARA
  • Publication number: 20110295534
    Abstract: It is determined that a drop in the capacity of a sodium-sulfur battery has proceeded to an abnormal level when both the following expression (1) and expression (2) hold. Qe?Qn?K1 . . . (1) where Qe: abnormal block depth-of discharge; Qn: normal block depth of discharge; and K1: block abnormality determination setting value (integer constant), and Qe?K2 . . . (2) where K2: depth of discharge abnormality determination setting value (integer constant).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2011
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Hirai, Motohiro Fukuhara
  • Publication number: 20110262781
    Abstract: A temperature increasing method for a sodium-sulfur battery includes three or more temperature gradients, and inflection points of 90±5° C. and 150±5° C. at which the temperature gradient changes, and the temperature gradient in a section from 90±5° C. to 150±5° C. is 5° C./h or less, whereby it is possible to increase a temperature of the sodium-sulfur battery quickly without affecting the quality of the sodium-sulfur battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2011
    Publication date: October 27, 2011
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoki HIRAI
  • Publication number: 20110206955
    Abstract: In a method for controlling a sodium-sulfur battery, a time of correcting or resetting a depth of discharge of the sodium-sulfur battery is determined within a predetermined period based on weather information, and the depth of discharge of the sodium-sulfur battery is corrected or reset in the determined time. According to this sodium-sulfur battery control method, the depth of discharge of the sodium-sulfur battery can be accurately managed in a small-scale interconnected system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2011
    Publication date: August 25, 2011
    Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoki HIRAI