Patents by Inventor Shinji Sugiyama

Shinji Sugiyama 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: 10166888
    Abstract: The object of the invention is to provide a vehicle seat which can improve degree of freedom in the design of the vehicle seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: TS TECH CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shinji Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 10117589
    Abstract: A vehicle seat includes sheet-shaped sensors configured to detect electric signals associated with the biopotential of a seated passenger, the vehicle seat being configured to remove noise caused due to static electricity to stably measure a bioelectric signal (e.g., heart rate) of the passenger. A seat back includes the sheet-shaped sensors. A cushion pad placed on a seat back frame is covered with a trim cover. Vertically-extending conductive fabric in a belt shape is disposed on an outer surface of the trim cover. The portion where the conductive fabric is disposed has a three-layer structure of the conductive fabric, a skin, and a wadding. A free end of the conductive fabric drawn into the seat back is provided with a J-hook hooked onto a lower frame bridging portion, thus part of the conductive fabric and the lower frame bridging portion contact each other to be electrically conductive with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: TS Tech Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 10098578
    Abstract: An alertness device includes: a respiration sensor that obtains respiratory data of a person; a calculation unit; a waveform generation unit that generates a respiratory interval (RI) waveform which is a transition in a predetermined time period of an RI which is an interval for one respiration; and a determination unit. The calculation unit calculates an average value of the RI and RrMSSDn in a predetermined time period. In a case where an average value of the subsequent RI is greater than an average value of the RI directly previous to the subsequent RI and in a case where the RrMSSDn of the subsequent RI is greater than a value which is obtained by multiplying the RrMSSDn of the previous RI by a constant ?, the determination unit determines on the basis of values calculated by the calculation unit that the person is in a state of low alertness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignees: TS Tech Co., Ltd., Public University Corporation Nagoya City University
    Inventors: Shinji Sugiyama, Takayoshi Ito, Kiyoko Yokoyama, Issey Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9975452
    Abstract: A seat configured so that the accuracy of detection of each sensor provided in the seat to detect the body potential of a seated occupant can be improved without degrading the sense and comfort of the seat. A seat includes a trim cover having a contact surface for a seated occupant, and sensors arranged opposite to the contact surface and configured to detect the body potential of the seated occupant. Each sensor is a capacitive coupling sensor configured to detect the body potential through the trim cover. Moreover, a portion of the seat facing each sensor includes a dielectric configured to increase the dielectric constant of such a portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: TS Tech Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 9964324
    Abstract: A first fan controlling section of a controller circuit is configured to control a first blower fan so as to induce the discharge of the airflow of a cool air through a first air outlet defined in a first enclosure of an indoor unit of the air conditioner. A second fan controlling section is configured to control second blower fans so as to induce the discharge of the airflows of a room air through second air outlets, respectively, defined in a pair of second enclosures disposed on the opposite sides of the first enclosure. An enclosure attitude controlling section is configured to change the respective attitude of the second enclosures relative to the first enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: FUJITSU GENERAL LIMITED
    Inventors: Ritsushi Taira, Shinji Sugiyama, Kenji Haruyama, Syun Iwano, Fumiaki Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20180118071
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a chair in which attachment strength of a holding member and the chair is enhanced and an attachment state can be stably maintained. A legged chair includes a leg member, a support post connected to the leg member, a metal frame integrated with the support post, the metal frame forming a seated portion, an awakening device configured to awaken a seated person, a battery configured to supply electric power to the awakening device, an ECU that controls the awakening device, and a holding cover configured to hold the battery and the ECU. The holding cover is attached to the highly rigid metal frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2016
    Publication date: May 3, 2018
    Inventors: Shinji Sugiyama, Yukitaka Tadachi
  • Publication number: 20180093589
    Abstract: In order to improve steering operation operability during cornering while maintaining a driver holding property, a seat apparatus is provided with: a seat back frame; a cornering sensor for detecting a cornering direction of a vehicle; and a control unit that controls the seat back frame on the basis of the result of detection by the cornering sensor. The seat back frame is provided with: left and right side frames disposed on both sides of the seat back frame; a back plate disposed between the left and right side frames; and a swinging mechanism for swinging the back plate with respect to the direction of movement of the vehicle. The control unit controls the swinging mechanism such that, upon detection of a cornering direction of the vehicle by the cornering sensor, the inner one of the sides of the back plate with respect to the cornering direction is positioned rearward of the outer one of the sides with respect to the cornering direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Publication date: April 5, 2018
    Applicant: TS TECH CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shinji SUGIYAMA
  • Publication number: 20180079321
    Abstract: A seat is configured to suitably restrain a warping of a connecting portion in a signal transmission path, when the connecting portion is disposed inside a through hole provided in a pad member of the seat. The seat includes: a pressure sensor that detects a seating pressure of a seat occupant; a leading wire of the transmission path that extends from the pressure sensor; a cable of the transmission path that extends from an electronic control unit for a signal output from the pressure sensor; a warp restraining member that restrains a warping of a connecting portion of the leading wire and the cable; and a through hole formed in a pad member of the seat, from one end to another end in the thickness direction of the pad member. The warp restraining member is inserted into the through hole to thereby pass the transmission path through the through hole.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2016
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Inventor: Shinji Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 9877678
    Abstract: A respiration signal of a seated person is detected with high accuracy by using a vehicle seat that includes a seat cushion; and a sensor detecting a pressure signal from a load applied from a seated person. The sensor is provided to be along an edge of a contact portion between the seat cushion and buttocks of the seated person. The sensor transmits the detected pressure signal to an arithmetic operation device of the seated person. In a respiration measuring device, the arithmetic operation device computes the detected pressure signal detected by the sensor to obtain a respiration signal of the seated person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignees: TS Tech Co., Ltd., Josho Gakuen Educational Foundation, Nihon University
    Inventors: Shinji Sugiyama, Toyokazu Nakano, Mieko Ohsuga, Ichiro Kageyama, Yukiyo Kuriyagawa, Shu Iida
  • Publication number: 20180022235
    Abstract: A vehicle seat comprising: a seat cushion; a seat back; an actuator capable of changing an orientation of the seat back laterally by moving a pressure-receiving member and a controller configured to exercise control over the actuator. The controller includes a posture control unit configured to execute, during turning of a vehicle, a seat posture control under which the actuator is caused to move the pressure-receiving member from an initial position to an advanced position to cause the seat back to orient toward a turning direction. The posture control unit is configured to activate, when an execution time of the seat posture control has become equal to or greater than an execution time threshold value, a control under which the actuator is caused to move the pressure-receiving member from the advanced position to an intermediate position to reversely change the orientation of the seat back.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Publication date: January 25, 2018
    Inventor: Shinji SUGIYAMA
  • Patent number: 9868366
    Abstract: In order to improve steering operation operability during cornering while maintaining a driver holding property, a seat apparatus is provided with: a seat back frame; a cornering sensor for detecting a cornering direction of a vehicle; and a control unit that controls the seat back frame on the basis of the result of detection by the cornering sensor. The seat back frame is provided with: left and right side frames disposed on both sides of the seat back frame; a back plate disposed between the left and right side frames; and a swinging mechanism for swinging the back plate with respect to the direction of movement of the vehicle. The control unit controls the swinging mechanism such that, upon detection of a cornering direction of the vehicle by the cornering sensor, the inner one of the sides of the back plate with respect to the cornering direction is positioned rearward of the outer one of the sides with respect to the cornering direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: TS TECH CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shinji Sugiyama
  • Publication number: 20170367655
    Abstract: Upon determining a physiological state of a seated person on the basis of measurement results of some of plural sensors, the sensors are easily and properly selected. A system includes sensors that measure measurement values to be changed on a seating surface of a seat, and a determination device. The determination device includes a storage unit that stores association relationships set by associating each area with some of the sensors, an area identification unit that identifies an area in which the coordinates of a gravity center of the seated person are located among the areas, a sensor selection unit that selects the sensors associated with the area identified by the area identification unit from the association relationships stored by the storage unit, and a determination unit that determines a physiological state of the seated person on the basis of the measurement results of the selected sensors are provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2015
    Publication date: December 28, 2017
    Inventor: Shinji SUGIYAMA
  • Publication number: 20170334322
    Abstract: A vehicle seat includes a pressure-receiving member disposed rearwardly of an occupant between left and right side frames, and a rocking mechanism configured to cause a left side or a right side of the pressure-receiving member to move frontward and rearward. The rocking mechanism includes a first link member provided pivotally, a second link member provided pivotally on the first link member and pivotally connected to the pressure-receiving member, and an actuator configured to cause the first link member and the second link member to pivot.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2017
    Publication date: November 23, 2017
    Inventors: Shinji SUGIYAMA, Kazunori ISHIHARA, Shuichi SHIMIZU
  • Patent number: 9815384
    Abstract: A wakefulness-maintenance apparatus applies a stimulus, which is not perceived to be unpleasant to most seated persons, to a seated person, and effectively maintaining the wakefulness of the seated person. After a control device provided to the wakefulness-maintenance apparatus stimulates the seated person using a first stimulus at a timing close to a human heartbeat, if an index showing the wakefulness of the seated person departs within a predetermined time from a standard indicating that the wakefulness has been maintained, the control device drives a stimulus device to stimulate the seated person using a second stimulus having a timing that differs from the first stimulus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignees: TS Tech Co., Ltd., Public University Corporation Nagoya City University
    Inventors: Shinji Sugiyama, Toyokazu Nakano, Kiyoko Yokoyama, Issey Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9751434
    Abstract: A vehicle seat includes a pressure-receiving member disposed rearwardly of an occupant between left and right side frames, and a rocking mechanism configured to cause a left side or a right side of the pressure-receiving member to move frontward and rearward. The rocking mechanism includes a first link member provided pivotally, a second link member provided pivotally on the first link member and pivotally connected to the pressure-receiving member, and an actuator configured to cause the first link member and the second link member to pivot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: TS TECH CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinji Sugiyama, Kazunori Ishihara, Shuichi Shimizu
  • Patent number: 9726384
    Abstract: An air conditioner includes a main unit having an enclosure defining an air outlet. The enclosure contains a heat exchanger generating a cool air or a warm air forming airflow running out of the air outlet. A pair of fan units are disposed on the opposite sides of the air outlet. The fan units are configured to suck a room air and to blow the room air. The airflow of the room air can be utilized to control the direction and/or movement of the airflow of the cool air or the warm air. The cool air or the warm air can be conveyed to desired locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: FUJITSU GENERAL LIMITED
    Inventors: Ritsushi Taira, Shinji Sugiyama, Kenji Haruyama, Syun Iwano, Fumiaki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9693726
    Abstract: An alertness device includes a heart rate sensor configured to obtain an electrocardiographic signal of a person, a calculation unit configured to calculate the electrocardiographic signal obtained from the heart rate sensor, a waveform generation unit configured to generate an RRI waveform from an electrocardiographic waveform of the electrocardiographic signal, and a determination unit configured to determine the alertness of the person based on the electrocardiographic signal. The calculation unit replicates a same number of RRI waveforms as that of anchors, each anchor being a point where a certain RRI is shorter than an adjacent preceding RRI, moves the time axes of the replicated RRI waveforms such that the anchors of the replicated RRI waveforms are in phase with each other, and calculates a PRSA signal defined as an RRI average for each time axis. The determination unit determines the alertness based on the RRIs and the PRSA signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignees: TS Tech Co., Ltd., Public University Corporation Nagoya City University
    Inventors: Shinji Sugiyama, Takayoshi Ito, Kiyoko Yokoyama, Issey Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9511699
    Abstract: A seat cushion includes a seat base frame, a cushion pad disposed on the seat base frame, and a skin material that covers the seat base frame and the cushion pad. The seat base frame includes a pair of side frames that extends in the front to back direction, a front elastic member that is installed in the pair of side frames and is in contact with the cushion pad, and a rear elastic member that is disposed while being separated from the front elastic member by a predetermined distance and is in contact with the cushion pad, in which a pad contact surface of the front elastic member is disposed to be inclined rearward with respect to a horizontal plane and a pad contact surface of the rear elastic member is disposed to be inclined forward with respect to the horizontal plane or to be parallel thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: TS Tech Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Sugiyama
  • Publication number: 20160325649
    Abstract: A seat with an alertness-maintaining device that can efficiently secure a drive source (for example, a motor) when the drive source is internally housed and a vibratory stimulus is imparted to the occupant. The present disclosure relates to a seat with an alertness-maintaining device, the seat being provided with an alertness-maintaining device for imparting physical force to the occupant to promote alertness. A load-supporting portion for supporting the load on the back of the occupant is installed, and a device drive unit for imparting physical force to the occupant, the device drive unit that forms the alertness-maintaining device, is attached to the load-supporting portion. The device drive unit is provided with a drive source and a support member. The support member is attached to the load-supporting portion while grasping a part of the load-supporting portion by a drive source attachment surface portion and a load-supporting portion-clamping piece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2014
    Publication date: November 10, 2016
    Inventors: Shinji Sugiyama, Haruki Mochizuki
  • Patent number: D831087
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Hideki Morimoto, Shinji Sugiyama