Patents by Inventor Nobuo Shirokawa

Nobuo Shirokawa 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: 7432484
    Abstract: The invention relates to a high frequency heating apparatus and provides a tracking method of a frequency modulation in order to prevent an extension of the harmonic current component of an oscillation threshold ebm which varies from moment to moment in accordance with a change in the temperature of a magnetron. A driving signal for driving a first semiconductor switching element (3) and a second semiconductor switching element (4) is transmitted to a driving control IC unit (14), and an input reference signal Ref is used to perform an input current fixed control. In this case, a variation amount of the input current of the input reference signal Ref is understood as an accumulation information POW and a constant is optimally configured in a resistor network in an ebm-tracking bias circuit (20).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Moriya, Haruo Suenaga, Shinichi Sakai, Nobuo Shirokawa, Manabu Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 7414228
    Abstract: There is constructed a constitution such that a shunt resistor 30 is interposed in series with a portion capable of measuring an output current of a unidirectional power source portion 1 of a high frequency heating apparatus and a voltage generated at the shunt resistor 30 is outputted by a buffer 31. Further, an operational amplifier 3101 having a high input impedance is used for the buffer 31. Further, a diode bridge 101 and a semiconductor switching element 205 are fixed to a common heat radiating plate 33, the heat radiating plate 33 is formed with a notched portion 33a to thereby ensure insulating distances to the diode bridge 101 and the semiconductor switching element 205, and the shunt resistor 30 is arranged on a straight line the same as that between the diode bridge 101 and the semiconductor switching element 205.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Haruo Suenaga, Hideaki Moriya, Hisashi Morikawa, Shinichi Sakai, Makoto Mihara, Nobuo Shirokawa, Toyotsubu Matsukura, Masato Matsuda
  • Publication number: 20080061055
    Abstract: The invention relates to a high frequency heating apparatus and provides a tracking method of a frequency modulation in order to prevent an extension of the harmonic current component of an oscillation threshold ebm which varies from moment to moment in accordance with a change in the temperature of a magnetron. A driving signal for driving a first semiconductor switching element (3) and a second semiconductor switching element (4) is transmitted to a driving control IC unit (14), and an input reference signal Ref is used to perform an input current fixed control. In this case, a variation amount of the input current of the input reference signal Ref is understood as an accumulation information POW and a constant is optimally configured in a resistor network in an ebm-tracking bias circuit (20). Sequentially, a portion in which an operating frequency ascends is provided by giving a bias to a frequency modulation waveform, and then a frequency modulation tracking is performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2005
    Publication date: March 13, 2008
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideaki Moriya, Haruo Suenaga, Shinichi Sakai, Nobuo Shirokawa, Manabu Kinoshita
  • Publication number: 20080047959
    Abstract: The invention relates to a high frequency heating apparatus that drives a magnetron such as a microwave, and provides a frequency modulation method of preventing harmonic current occurring due to a high frequency switching operation. When a driving signal is transmitted in order to drive a first semiconductor switching element (3) and a second semiconductor switching element (4), an inverter operating frequency in the every phase of a commercial power supply is provided as a frequency difference (inclination) of the phase range from 0° to 90° using a triangular wave-forming circuit in an oscillation circuit (16). A modulation waveform for a frequency modulation control is formed, configuring an upper limit clamp, a lower limit clamp, a lower limit value corresponding to the lowest frequency in a frequency modulation-forming circuit (15) on the basis of a commercial power rectifying voltage-dividing waveform after rectification.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2005
    Publication date: February 28, 2008
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideaki Moriya, Haruo Suenaga, Shinichi Sakai, Nobuo Shirokawa, Manabu Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 7282682
    Abstract: A purpose of the present invention is to provide an inverter circuit capable of firmly turning ON IGBTs under limited condition, while a heat loss and noise can be hardly produced in semiconductor switching elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Haruo Suenaga, Hideaki Moriya, Shinichi Sakai, Hisashi Morikawa, Nobuo Shirokawa, Manabu Kinoshita
  • Publication number: 20070195561
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an inverter circuit in which soft start can be implemented by a simple circuit added thereto. In high-frequency heating apparatus for driving a magnetron, a DC power supply is chopped by two semiconductor switching devices, and this is output as an AC current through a resonance circuit. The high-frequency heating apparatus includes a dead time generation circuit for turning off the semiconductor switching devices concurrently. In the high-frequency heating apparatus, a drive unit for driving the aforementioned semiconductor switching devices has a function of limiting the lowest frequency of a frequency with which the semiconductor switching devices are driven. The aforementioned lowest frequency is set to be high at the beginning of operation of the high-frequency heating apparatus, and the aforementioned lowest frequency is set to be lower gradually thereafter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2005
    Publication date: August 23, 2007
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Haruo Suenaga, Hideaki Moriya, Shinichi Sakai, Hisashi Morikawa, Toyotsugu Matsukura, Nobuo Shirokawa
  • Publication number: 20070175890
    Abstract: A purpose of the present invention is to provide an inverter circuit capable of firmly turning ON IGBTs under limited condition, while a heat loss and noise can be hardly produced in semiconductor switching elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Publication date: August 2, 2007
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Haruo Suenaga, Hideaki Moriya, Shinichi Sakai, Hisashi Morikawa, Nobuo Shirokawa, Manabu Kinoshita
  • Publication number: 20060226141
    Abstract: There is constructed a constitution such that a shunt resistor 30 is interposed in series with a portion capable of measuring an output current of a unidirectional power source portion 1 of a high frequency heating apparatus and a voltage generated at the shunt resistor 30 is outputted by a buffer 31. Further, an operational amplifier 3101 having a high input impedance is used for the buffer 31. Further, a diode bridge 101 and a semiconductor switching element 205 are fixed to a common heat radiating plate 33, the heat radiating plate 33 is formed with a notched portion 33a to thereby ensure insulating distances to the diode bridge 101 and the semiconductor switching element 205, and the shunt resistor 30 is arranged on a straight line the same as that between the diode bridge 101 and the semiconductor switching element 205.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2004
    Publication date: October 12, 2006
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Haruo Suenaga, Hideaki Moriya, Hisashi Morikawa, Shinichi Sakai, Makoto Mihara, Nobuo Shirokawa, Toyotsugu Matsukura, Masato Matsuda
  • Patent number: 6970065
    Abstract: It is an object to decrease an occupied space in a printed board to carry out space saving and to reduce the size of a unit without sacrificing the performance of a transformer and increasing a cost. A transformer 11 is constituted by a bobbin 13 having at least a primary winding 15 and a secondary winding 17 wound therearound and a core 21, and the side surface of the bobbin 13 is provided with a component holding section for holding high-voltage components such as a capacitor 31 and a diode 33 which constitute a voltage doubler rectifying circuit for rectifying a high voltage having a high frequency from the secondary winding 15.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinichi Sakai, Keiichi Satou, Kenji Yasui, Haruo Suenaga, Hisashi Morikawa, Yoshitaka Oda, Nobuo Shirokawa
  • Publication number: 20040113740
    Abstract: It is an object to decrease an occupied space in a printed board to carry out space saving and to reduce the size of a unit without sacrificing the performance of a transformer and increasing a cost.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2003
    Publication date: June 17, 2004
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinichi Sakai, Keiichi Satou, Kenji Yasui, Haruo Suenaga, Hisashi Morikawa, Yoshitaka Oda, Nobuo Shirokawa