Patents by Inventor Osamu Okamoto

Osamu Okamoto 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: 20140093809
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell preventing formation of a diffusion layer containing Ca and other elements, and having an excellent power generation performance at low temperature by preventing breakdown of a crystal structure of an electrolyte by firing. Disclosed is a solid oxide fuel cell which includes an inner electrode, a solid electrolyte, and an outer electrode, each being sequentially laminated on the surface of a porous support. The porous support contains forsterite, and has a Mg/Si molar ratio of 1.90 to 2.2 both inclusive, and an A-to-B ratio (A/B) of 0.0% to 9.0% both inclusive, where A denotes a maximum peak height which appears at a diffraction angle 2?=26.5° to 27.0° and B denotes a maximum peak height which appears at 36.5° to 37.0° in a powder X-ray diffraction pattern obtained by using Cu—K? radiation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Shigeru ANDO, Seiki FURUYA, Yutaka MOMIYAMA, Kiyoshi HAYAMA, Osamu OKAMOTO, Naoki WATANABE, Nobuo ISAKA, Masaki SATO
  • Publication number: 20140093800
    Abstract: The present invention is a solid oxide fuel cell 1 including a reforming section 94, disposed inside a fuel gas supply flow path 20 above a vaporizing section 86 to surround the upper portion of a fuel cell stack 14, for steam reforming raw fuel gas F introduced from a fuel gas introducing portion 90a using steam S produced in a vaporizing section; and a circulating flow path portion 156 disposed in a fuel gas supply flow path between the vaporizing section and the reforming section for circulating rising raw fuel gas introduced from a fuel gas introducing section into a fuel gas supply flow path and rising steam produced in the vaporizing section along the circumferential direction of the fuel gas supply flow path so as to form a flow supplying mixed raw fuel gas and steam uniformly over the entire circumference of the reforming section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Masaki SATO, Naoki WATANABE, Nobuo ISAKA, Shigeru ANDO, Yutaka MOMIYAMA, Kiyoshi HAYAMA, Seiki FURUYA, Osamu OKAMOTO
  • Publication number: 20140080034
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell preventing formation of a diffusion layer containing Ca and other elements, and having an excellent power generation performance at low temperature by preventing breakdown of a crystal structure of an electrolyte by firing. Disclosed is a solid oxide fuel cell which includes a fuel electrode, a solid electrolyte, and an air electrode, each being sequentially laminated on the surface of a porous support. The porous support contains forsterite, and further has a calcium element (Ca) content of more than 0.2 mass % but not more than 2 mass % in terms of CaO.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Shigeru ANDO, Seiki FURUYA, Yutaka MOMIYAMA, Kiyoshi HAYAMA, Osamu OKAMOTO, Naoki WATANABE, Nobuo ISAKA, Masaki SATO
  • Publication number: 20140080033
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell preventing formation of a diffusion layer containing Ca and other elements, and having an excellent power generation performance at low temperature by preventing breakdown of a crystal structure of an electrolyte by firing. Disclosed is a solid oxide fuel cell which includes an inner electrode, a solid electrolyte, and an outer electrode, each sequentially laminated on the surface of a porous support. The porous support contains forsterite, and has a Ca element content of 0.2 mass % or less in terms of CaO in a surface region at the inner electrode side.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Shigeru ANDO, Seiki FURUYA, Yutaka MOMIYAMA, Kiyoshi HAYAMA, Osamu OKAMOTO, Naoki WATANABE, Nobuo ISAKA, Masaki SATO
  • Patent number: 8554097
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes an image heater for heating an image on a recording material. The apparatus also includes a first temperature detecting member that detects a temperature of the image heating member, with the first temperature detecting member provided in a sheet processing region for a recording material of a minimum size. A controller is also provided for controlling electric power supply to the image heater on the basis of an output of the first temperature detecting member. Further provided is a second temperature detecting member is that is capable of detecting a temperature of the image heating member when the image heating member is contacted or is not contacted with a belt. A controller is also provided for controlling the image heating operation on the basis of the temperature of the image heating member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuaki Hara, Osamu Okamoto, Kazuhisa Okuda, Keisuke Mogi, Takeshi Fukuda, Ikuo Nakamoto
  • Patent number: 8358960
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes an endless belt; a rotatable member, contacting an outer surface of the belt, for forming a nip in which a recording material is nipped and conveyed; a stretcher for stretching the belt; an urging member, contacting an inner surface of the belt, for urging the stretcher by movement of the belt so as to include a contact portion at which the urging member contacts the stretchers; a lubricator for applying a lubricant onto the inner surface of the belt; and a collector, contacting the stretcher downstream of an area in which the stretcher contacts the belt and upstream of the contact portion with respect to a rotational direction of the stretcher, for collecting the lubricant from the stretcher. The collector includes a guide for guiding the lubricant, collected from the stretcher, onto the inner surface of the endless belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2013
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Patent number: 8311470
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes: a belt member; an inclinable steering roller configured to support the belt member; a heating member configured to contact the belt member and heat an image on a recording material; a detecting member configured to detect a position of a belt end in a widthwise direction of the belt member; a correcting device configured to correct a position of the belt member in the widthwise direction by inclining the steering roller in accordance with a detected position of the belt end by the detecting member; and a supporting device configured to support the detecting member. The supporting device is provided with a contact portion for press-contacting an end surface of one end portion of a pressing roller configured to press the belt member against the heating member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20120276388
    Abstract: A plurality of pre-formed controlled particles for use in an aerosol deposition method by which an aerosol with brittle material fine particles dispersed in a gas is sprayed toward a substrate to form a structure made of the brittle material fine particles. Each of the controlled particles includes an assembly packed with a plurality of fine particles which are not chemically bonded together, which include the brittle material fine particles, and have a mean primary particle diameter of 0.1 ?m or more and 5 ?m or less. The controlled particles have a mean circle-equivalent diameter of 20 ?m or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2012
    Publication date: November 1, 2012
    Applicant: TOTO LTD.
    Inventors: Hironori HATONO, Masahiro MIZUKANE, Osamu OKAMOTO
  • Patent number: 8295748
    Abstract: A typical belt conveying apparatus and a typical image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes: an endless belt; a supporting member that rotatably supports the belt; a sensor that detects a predetermined breakage at one end of the belt in a belt width direction; and a detecting mechanism that detects a predetermined breakage at the other end of the belt in the belt width direction by the use of the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Patent number: 8254819
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a rotatable member; a belt member, contactable to the rotatable member, for forming a nip in which an image on a recording material is heated; a pressing member, disposed inside the belt member, for pressing the belt member against the rotatable member; a lubricant application member for applying a lubricant onto an inner surface of the belt member; a contact-and-separation device for moving the belt member toward and away from the rotatable member; and a switching mechanism for switching a contact pressure of the lubricant application member on the belt member, when the belt member is separated from the rotatable member, so as to be smaller than that when the belt member contacts the rotatable member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Patent number: 8241703
    Abstract: A composite structure formation method based on an aerosol deposition method by which an aerosol with brittle material fine particles dispersed in a gas is sprayed toward a substrate to form a structure made of the brittle material fine particles, the composite structure formation method includes: storing a plurality of controlled particles in a storage mechanism, the controlled particle being an assembly packed with a plurality of particles including the brittle material fine particles; supplying the controlled particles from the storage mechanism to an aerosolation mechanism; disaggregating the supplied controlled particles in the aerosolation mechanism to form an aerosol; and spraying the aerosol toward the substrate to form a composite structure having the structure and the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Toto Ltd.
    Inventors: Hironori Hatono, Masahiro Mizukane, Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20110212891
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a compound represented by formula (I): wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or the like; R2 and R3 represent a hydrogen atom or the like; R4 is a group represented by (II) R5 represents a phenyl group which may be substituted with a halogen or the like; m is an integer of from 1 to 3; and p is an integer of from 0 to 4; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2009
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Inventors: Osamu Okamoto, Yasuhiro Sasaki, Hitomi Watanabe, Hideki Jona, Kevin D. Dykstra
  • Patent number: 7907383
    Abstract: The present invention provides an electrostatic chuck in which the surface can be kept smooth after being exposed to plasma, so as to protect a material to be clamped such as a silicon wafer from being contaminated with particles, and which is excellent in clamping and releasing a material to be clamped and easy to manufacture by low-temperature firing. The electrostatic chuck includes a dielectric material in which alumina is 99.4 wt % or more, and titanium oxide is more than 0.2 wt % and equal to or less than 0.6 wt %, wherein the electrostatic chuck's volume resistivity is 108-1011 ?cm in room temperature, and wherein the titanium oxide segregates in boundaries of particles of the alumina.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2011
    Assignee: Toto Ltd.
    Inventors: Masami Ando, Jun Miyaji, Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20110026960
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a belt member; a inclinable steering roller for supporting the belt member; a heating member for contacting to the belt member and heating an image on a recording material; a detecting member for detecting a position of a belt end in a widthwise direction of the belt member; correcting means for correcting a position of the belt member in the widthwise direction by inclining the steering roller in accordance with a detected position of the belt end by the detecting member; supporting means for supporting the detecting member; and the supporting means being provided with a contact portion for press-contacting the end surface of the one end portion of the steering roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2010
    Publication date: February 3, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20110026983
    Abstract: A typical belt conveying apparatus and a typical image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes: an endless belt; a supporting member that rotatably supports the belt; a sensor that detects a predetermined breakage at one end of the belt in a belt width direction; and a detecting mechanism that detects a predetermined breakage at the other end of the belt in the belt width direction by the use of the sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2010
    Publication date: February 3, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20110008084
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes an endless belt; a rotatable member, contactable to an outer surface of the endless belt, for forming a nip in which a recording material is nipped and conveyed; a stretching member for stretching the endless belt; an urging member, contacting an inner surface of the endless belt, for urging the stretching member by movement of the endless belt so as to include a contact portion at which the urging member contacts the stretching member; a lubricant application member for applying a lubricant onto the inner surface of the endless belt; and a collecting member, contacting the stretching member at a position downstream of an area in which the stretching member contacts the endless belt and upstream of the contact portion with respect to a rotational direction of the stretching member, for collecting the lubricant from the stretching member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 13, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20110008083
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a rotatable member; a belt member contactable to the rotatable member; a pressing member for pressing the belt member against the rotatable member to form a nip in which a recording material is nipped and conveyed; and a sheet member for covering a pressing surface of the pressing member at which the pressing member presses the belt member. The sheet member is mounted on the pressing member so as to have a first area in which an end portion thereof is located outside an end portion of the belt member with respect to a widthwise direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the recording material and which includes a portion opposing the pressing surface, and so as to have a second area in which the end portion thereof is located inside the end portion of the belt member with respect to the widthwise direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2010
    Publication date: January 13, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20110008085
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a rotatable member; a belt member, contactable to the rotatable member, for forming a nip in which an image on a recording material is heated; a pressing member, disposed inside the belt member, for pressing the belt member against the rotatable member; a lubricant application member for applying a lubricant onto an inner surface of the belt member; a contact-and-separation device for moving the belt member toward and away from the rotatable member; and a switching mechanism for switching a contact pressure of the lubricant application member on the belt member, when the belt member is separated from the rotatable member, so as to be smaller than that when the belt member contacts the rotatable member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 13, 2011
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Osamu Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20100296828
    Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes an image heater for heating an image on a recording material. The apparatus also includes a first temperature detecting member that detects a temperature of the image heating member, with the first temperature detecting member provided in a sheet processing region for a recording material of a minimum size. A controller is also provided for controlling electric power supply to the image heater on the basis of an output of the first temperature detecting member. Further provided is a second temperature detecting member is that is capable of detecting a temperature of the image heating member when the image heating member is contacted or is not contacted with a belt. A controller is also provided for controlling the image heating operation on the basis of the temperature of the image heating member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2010
    Publication date: November 25, 2010
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuaki Hara, Osamu Okamoto, Kazuhisa Okuda, Keisuke Mogi, Takeshi Fukuda, Ikuo Nakamoto
  • Patent number: 7829586
    Abstract: Disclosed is an aryl-substituted nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound represented by the formula (I) below or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. This compound serves as nociceptin receptor antagonist and is useful as a pharmaceutical agent for treating diseases associated with a nociceptin receptor. (I) [in the formula, A1, A2 and A3 independently represent a carbon atom or a nitrogen atom, and one or two of A1, A2 and A3 represent a carbon atom; R1 represents a lower alkyl group or the like; R2 represents a phenyl group which may be substituted with a halogen atom or the like; R3 represents a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group or the like; and R4 represents a lower alkyl group or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirokatsu Ito, Kensuke Kobayashi, Hisashi Ohta, Osamu Okamoto, Satoshi Ozaki, Tomohiro Tsujita