Patents by Inventor So Kuranaka
So Kuranaka 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).
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Patent number: 9088035Abstract: A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery including: a positive electrode including a positive electrode material mixture layer; a negative electrode including a negative electrode material mixture layer; a separator or lithium-ion conductive porous film interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and a lithium-ion conductive non-aqueous electrolyte. The positive electrode material mixture layer contains a positive electrode active material comprising a lithium transition metal composite oxide, and the lithium transition metal composite oxide contains lithium, a transition metal, and a metal different from the transition metal. The negative electrode material mixture layer contains a negative electrode active material comprising a carbon material. In the area where the positive electrode material mixture layer and the negative electrode material mixture layer are opposed to each other, the ratio R:Wp/Wn is 1.3 to 2.Type: GrantFiled: May 11, 2004Date of Patent: July 21, 2015Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.Inventors: Shoichiro Watanabe, Masatoshi Nagayama, So Kuranaka
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Patent number: 8470481Abstract: A clean power supply unit with a high fuel utilization rate using a fuel cell is provided. The power supply unit of the present invention comprises a fuel cell using methanol as fuel; a secondary battery for supplying power to a load; a fuel cell control part for controlling the amount of fuel and/or air supplied to the above-mentioned fuel cell; and a power converter for converting the power output from the above-mentioned fuel cell to a predetermined voltage or current, supplying power to the load and/or the above-mentioned secondary battery and controlling the supplied power so as to fall within a predetermined range including the value at which the amount of methanol discharged from the above-mentioned fuel cell becomes minimized.Type: GrantFiled: February 19, 2010Date of Patent: June 25, 2013Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Katsumi Kozu, Toshihiko Ichinose, Masahiro Takada, Satoshi Shibutani, So Kuranaka
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Patent number: 7846577Abstract: A battery pack is provided, in which a plurality of rechargeable batteries are held by a center frame, a bottom-side frame, and a terminal-side frame in a parallel spaced relationship, the plurality of rechargeable batteries being connected in series and integrated with a circuit substrate by mounting the circuit substrate on the terminal-side frame, the circuit substrate being provided with a resin mold, whereby the battery pack is free of damage to electrical circuit parts even in the event of entrance of water or dust through vents that are provided for suppressing temperature rise of the rechargeable batteries.Type: GrantFiled: January 18, 2005Date of Patent: December 7, 2010Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Katsumi Kozu, Toshihiko Ichinose, So Kuranaka
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Publication number: 20100143812Abstract: A clean power supply unit with a high fuel utilization rate using a fuel cell is provided. The power supply unit of the present invention comprises a fuel cell using methanol as fuel; a secondary battery for supplying power to a load; a fuel cell control part for controlling the amount of fuel and/or air supplied to the above-mentioned fuel cell; and a power converter for converting the power output from the above-mentioned fuel cell to a predetermined voltage or current, supplying power to the load and/or the above-mentioned secondary battery and controlling the supplied power so as to fall within a predetermined range including the value at which the amount of methanol discharged from the above-mentioned fuel cell becomes minimized.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 19, 2010Publication date: June 10, 2010Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATIONInventors: Katsumi Kozu, Toshihiko Ichinose, Masahiro Takada, Satoshi Shibutani, So Kuranaka
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Patent number: 7687167Abstract: A clean power supply unit with a high fuel utilization rate using a fuel cell is provided. The power supply unit of the present invention comprises a fuel cell using methanol as fuel; a secondary battery for supplying power to a load; a fuel cell control part for controlling the amount of fuel and/or air supplied to the above-mentioned fuel cell; and a power converter for converting the power output from the above-mentioned fuel cell to a predetermined voltage or current, supplying power to the load and/or the above-mentioned secondary battery and controlling the supplied power so as to fall within a predetermined range including the value at which the amount of methanol discharged from the above-mentioned fuel cell becomes minimized.Type: GrantFiled: July 19, 2004Date of Patent: March 30, 2010Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Katsumi Kozu, Toshihiko Ichinose, Masahiro Takada, Satoshi Shibutani, So Kuranaka
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Patent number: 7535199Abstract: A battery pack is provided which includes: a battery set having a plurality of secondary-battery cells connected in series and in parallel; and a battery-abnormality detection circuit. The battery-abnormality detection circuit controls a battery-set circuit separation switch, so as to detect an abnormality in each secondary-battery cell based on a change in the voltage of each cell when parallel-connection separation switches are turned off, and if detecting an abnormal secondary-battery cell, so as to separate the series module including this cell from a battery-set body.Type: GrantFiled: February 24, 2006Date of Patent: May 19, 2009Assignee: Panasonic CorporationInventors: Tadao Kimura, Naohisa Morimoto, So Kuranaka
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Publication number: 20080233475Abstract: A battery pack is provided, in which a plurality of rechargeable batteries are held by a center frame, a bottom-side frame, and a terminal-side frame in a parallel spaced relationship, the plurality of rechargeable batteries being connected in series and integrated with a circuit substrate by mounting the circuit substrate on the terminal-side frame, the circuit substrate being provided with a resin mold, whereby the battery pack is free of damage to electrical circuit parts even in the event of entrance of water or dust through vents that are provided for suppressing temperature rise of the rechargeable batteries.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 18, 2005Publication date: September 25, 2008Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd,Inventors: Katsumi Kozu, Toshihiko Ichinose, So Kuranaka
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Patent number: 7129674Abstract: The power supply apparatus of the present invention comprises a fuel cell, a secondary battery for supplying power to a load, a power measurement section for measuring the output power of the fuel cell, a power converter which inputs output of the fuel cell, controls the output power so that the input voltage or the input current approaches the operation target value, supplies the output power to the load and/or the secondary battery and conducts a power conversion, and a control section which controls quantity of fuel to be supplied to the fuel cell, and also indicates to the power converter of an operation target value that comes within predetermined range which includes the smallest quantity of fuel the fuel cell discharges, wherein the control section sequentially indicates a plurality of the target values for power measurement to the power converter, the power measurement section measures the output power of the fuel cell for each target value for power measurement, and the control section seeks the targType: GrantFiled: July 28, 2004Date of Patent: October 31, 2006Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toshihiko Ichinose, Masahiro Takada, Katsumi Kozu, So Kuranaka
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Publication number: 20060194109Abstract: A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery including: a positive electrode including a positive electrode material mixture layer; a negative electrode including a negative electrode material mixture layer; a separator or lithium-ion conductive porous film interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and a lithium-ion conductive non-aqueous electrolyte. The positive electrode material mixture layer contains a positive electrode active material comprising a lithium transition metal composite oxide, and the lithium transition metal composite oxide contains lithium, a transition metal, and a metal different from the transition metal. The negative electrode material mixture layer contains a negative electrode active material comprising a carbon material. In the area where the positive electrode material mixture layer and the negative electrode material mixture layer are opposed to each other, the ratio R:Wp/Wn is 1.3 to 2.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 11, 2004Publication date: August 31, 2006Inventors: Shoichiro Watanabe, Masatoshi Nagayama, So Kuranaka
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Publication number: 20060192529Abstract: A battery pack is provided which includes: a battery set having a plurality of secondary-battery cells connected in series and in parallel; and a battery-abnormality detection circuit. The battery-abnormality detection circuit controls a battery-set circuit separation switch, so as to detect an abnormality in each secondary-battery cell based on a change in the voltage of each cell when parallel-connection separation switches are turned off, and if detecting an abnormal secondary-battery cell, so as to separate the series module including this cell from a battery-set body.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 24, 2006Publication date: August 31, 2006Inventors: Tadao Kimura, Naohisa Morimoto, So Kuranaka
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Publication number: 20050040786Abstract: The power supply apparatus of the present invention comprises a fuel cell, a secondary battery for supplying power to a load, a power measurement section for measuring the output power of the fuel cell, a power converter which inputs output of the fuel cell, controls the output power so that the input voltage or the input current approaches the operation target value, supplies the output power to the load and/or the secondary battery and conducts a power conversion, and a control section which controls quantity of fuel to be supplied to the fuel cell, and also indicates to the power converter of an operation target value that comes within predetermined range which includes the smallest quantity of fuel the fuel cell discharges, wherein the control section sequentially indicates a plurality of the target values for power measurement to the power converter, the power measurement section measures the output power of the fuel cell for each target value for power measurement, and the control section seeks the targType: ApplicationFiled: July 28, 2004Publication date: February 24, 2005Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Toshihiko Ichinose, Masahiro Takada, Katsumi Kozu, So Kuranaka
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Publication number: 20050014043Abstract: A clean power supply unit with a high fuel utilization rate using a fuel cell is provided. The power supply unit of the present invention comprises a fuel cell using methanol as fuel; a secondary battery for supplying power to a load; a fuel cell control part for controlling the amount of fuel and/or air supplied to the above-mentioned fuel cell; and a power converter for converting the power output from the above-mentioned fuel cell to a predetermined voltage or current, supplying power to the load and/or the above-mentioned secondary battery and controlling the supplied power so as to fall within a predetermined range including the value at which the amount of methanol discharged from the above-mentioned fuel cell becomes minimized.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 19, 2004Publication date: January 20, 2005Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Katsumi Kozu, Toshihiko Ichinose, Masahiro Takada, Satoshi Shibutani, So Kuranaka
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Publication number: 20020164527Abstract: A positive electrode active material for an alkaline storage battery comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a nickel hydroxide powder and a nickel oxyhydroxide powder is disclosed, wherein the positive electrode active material has (1) a mean particle circularity from 0.95 to 1, (2) a mean particle size from 5 to 20 &mgr;m on a volume basis, and (3) a specific surface area from 5 to 20 m2/g, and (4) at least the nickel hydroxide powder has an X-ray diffraction pattern where a full width at half maximum of a peak attributed to (101) face is from 0.7 to 1.2 deg/2&thgr; and a peak intensity ratio of a peak attributed to (001) face to a peak attributed to (101) face is not less than 1.1.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 22, 2002Publication date: November 7, 2002Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Futoshi Tanigawa, Yasushi Nakamura, Kohji Yuasa, So Kuranaka
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Patent number: 5976725Abstract: A fuel cell system has a fuel cell of solid polymer type, a rectangular parallelepiped sealing container for accommodating hydrogen occlusion alloy for occluding hydrogen to be supplied to said fuel cell, a connection portion provided in a hydrogen passage between said sealing container and said fuel cell for connecting said sealing container and said fuel cell detachably, a valve mechanism provided in said hydrogen passage for opening and shutting hydrogen gas, and a hydrogen flow rate control mechanism provided in said hydrogen passage for controlling the flow rate of hydrogen gas, and/or hydrogen pressure control mechanism for controlling the pressure of hydrogen gas.Type: GrantFiled: June 16, 1997Date of Patent: November 2, 1999Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Takaharu Gamo, So Kuranaka, Yoshio Morita, Jo Suzuki, Mamoru Hamanishi, Sadao Nagai, Kazuhito Hatoh, Eiichi Yasumoto