Patents by Inventor Tadao Murata

Tadao Murata 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: 11913088
    Abstract: The present invention provides a high-strength steel sheet, which can be used in various applications including automobile parts and exhibits excellent collision safety and excellent moldability, and a method for manufacturing the high-strength steel sheet. The high-strength steel sheet according to an aspect of the present invention satisfies a predetermined chemical composition and has a metallographic microstructure having ferrite fraction: 0% to 10%, MA fraction: 0% to 30%, hard phase other than ferrite and MA: 70% to 100% in terms of area proportion and retained austenite fraction: 5% to 30% in terms of volume proportion, and in the high-strength steel sheet, the skewness of IQ as analyzed by the EBRD method is ?1.2 to ?0.3 when the skewness is expressed by a predetermined relational expression in a case where crystal grains having a bcc structure and a bct structure are regarded as an aggregation of regions having an area of 0.05 ?m2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tadao Murata, Muneaki Ikeda, Toshio Murakami
  • Publication number: 20220349020
    Abstract: The present invention provides a high-strength steel sheet, which can be used in various applications including automobile parts and exhibits excellent collision safety and excellent moldability, and a method for manufacturing the high-strength steel sheet. The high-strength steel sheet according to an aspect of the present invention satisfies a predetermined chemical composition and has a metallographic microstructure having ferrite fraction: 0% to 10%, MA fraction: 0% to 30%, hard phase other than ferrite and MA: 70% to 100% in terms of area proportion and retained austenite fraction: 5% to 30% in terms of volume proportion, and in the high-strength steel sheet, the skewness of IQ as analyzed by the EBRD method is ?1.2 to ?0.3 when the skewness is expressed by a predetermined relational expression in a case where crystal grains having a bcc structure and a bct structure are regarded as an aggregation of regions having an area of 0.05 ?m2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Publication date: November 3, 2022
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Tadao MURATA, Muneaki IKEDA, Toshio MURAKAMI
  • Patent number: 11466337
    Abstract: Disclosed is a high-strength sheet containing: C: 0.15% by mass to 0.35% by mass, a total of Si and Al: 0.5% by mass to 3.0% by mass, Al: 0.01% by mass or more, N: 0.01% by mass or less, Mn: 1.0% by mass to 4.0% by mass, P: 0.05% by mass or less, and S: 0.01% by mass or less, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel structure satisfies that: a ferrite fraction is 5% or less, the total fraction of tempered martensite and tempered bainite is 60% or more, the amount of retained austenite is 10% or more, MA has an average size of 1.0 ?m or less, retained austenite has an average size of 1.0 ?m or less, retained austenite having a size of 1.5 ?m or more accounts for 2% or more of the total amount of retained austenite, and the amount of solute nitrogen in a steel sheet is 0.002% by mass or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirokazu Natsumeda, Toshio Murakami, Kenji Saito, Tadao Murata
  • Patent number: 11332805
    Abstract: Disclosed is a high-strength sheet containing: C: 0.15% by mass to 0.35% by mass, a total of Si and Al: 0.5% by mass to 3.0% by mass, Mn: 1.0% by mass to 4.0% by mass, P: 0.05% by mass or less (including 0% by mass), S: 0.01% by mass or less (including 0% by mass), and Ti: 0.01% by mass to 0.2% by mass, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel structure satisfies that: a ferrite fraction is 5% or less, a total fraction of tempered martensite and tempered bainite is 60% or more, a retained austenite fraction is 10% or more, a fresh martensite fraction is 5% or less, retained austenite has an average grain size of 0.5 ?m or less, retained austenite having a grain size of 1.0 ?m or more accounts for 2% or more of the total amount of retained austenite, and a prior austenite grain size is 10 ?m or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirokazu Natsumeda, Toshio Murakami, Kenji Saito, Tadao Murata
  • Publication number: 20200190619
    Abstract: Disclosed is a high-strength sheet containing: C: 0.15% by mass to 0.35% by mass, a total of Si and Al: 0.5% by mass to 3.0% by mass, Al: 0.01% by mass or more, N: 0.01% by mass or less, Mn: 1.0% by mass to 4.0% by mass, P: 0.05% by mass or less, and S: 0.01% by mass or less, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel structure satisfies that: a ferrite fraction is 5% or less, the total fraction of tempered martensite and tempered bainite is 60% or more, the amount of retained austenite is 10% or more, MA has an average size of 1.0 ?m or less, retained austenite has an average size of 1.0 ?m or less, retained austenite having a size of 1.5 ?m or more accounts for 2% or more of the total amount of retained austenite, and the amount of solute nitrogen in a steel sheet is 0.002% by mass or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2018
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Hirokazu NATSUMEDA, Toshio MURAKAMI, Kenji SAITO, Tadao MURATA
  • Publication number: 20200071787
    Abstract: Disclosed is a high-strength sheet containing: C: 0.15% by mass to 0.35% by mass, a total of Si and Al: 0.5% by mass to 3.0% by mass, Mn: 1.0% by mass to 4.0% by mass, P: 0.05% by mass or less (including 0% by mass), S: 0.01% by mass or less (including 0% by mass), and Ti: 0.01% by mass to 0.2% by mass, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel structure satisfies that: a ferrite fraction is 5% or less, a total fraction of tempered martensite and tempered bainite is 60% or more, a retained austenite fraction is 10% or more, a fresh martensite fraction is 5% or less, retained austenite has an average grain size of 0.5 ?m or less, retained austenite having a grain size of 1.0 ?m or more accounts for 2% or more of the total amount of retained austenite, and a prior austenite grain size is 10 ?m or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 14, 2018
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Hirokazu NATSUMEDA, Toshio MURAKAMI, Kenji SAITO, Tadao MURATA
  • Publication number: 20190218640
    Abstract: Disclosed is a high-strength sheet including: C: 0.15% to 0.35% by mass, total of Si and Al: 0.5% to 3.0% by mass, Mn: 1.0% to 4.0% by mass, P: 0.05% by mass or less, and S: 0.01% by mass or less, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel structure satisfies that: a ferrite fraction is 5% or less, the total fraction of tempered martensite and tempered bainite is 60% or more, the amount of retained austenite is 10% or more, MA has an average size of 1.0 ?m or less, retained austenite has an average size of 1.0 ?m or less, retained austenite having a size of 1.5 ?m or more accounts for 2% or more of the total amount of retained austenite, and a scattering intensity at the q value of 1 nm?1 in X-ray small angle scattering is 1.0 cm1 or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Publication date: July 18, 2019
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Elijah KAKIUCHI, Toshio MURAKAMI, Shigeo OTANI, Yuichi FUTAMURA, Tadao MURATA
  • Publication number: 20190185958
    Abstract: Disclosed is a high-strength sheet including: C: 0.15% by mass to 0.35% by mass, total of Si and Al: 0.5% by mass to 3.0% by mass, Mn: 1.0% by mass to 4.0% by mass, P: 0.05% by mass or less, and S: 0.01% by mass or less, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel structure satisfies that: a ferrite fraction is 5% or less, the total fraction of tempered martensite and tempered bainite is 60% or more, the amount of retained austenite is 10% or more, MA has an average size of 1.0 ?m or less, a half-width of the concentration distribution of Mn in the carbon-concentrated region that is equal to the amount of retained austenite is 0.3% by mass or more, and a scattering intensity at the q value of 1 nm?1 in X-ray small angle scattering is 1.0 cm?1 or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Publication date: June 20, 2019
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Elijah KAKIUCHI, Toshio MURAKAMI, Shigeo OTANI, Yuichi FUTAMURA, Tadao MURATA
  • Publication number: 20190085426
    Abstract: One aspect of the present invention is a high strength steel sheet having a specific component composition, wherein a metal structure of the steel sheet comprises polygonal ferrite, bainite, tempered martensite, and retained austenite; when the metal structure is observed with a scanning electron microscope, the metal structure satisfies polygonal ferrite: 10 to 50 area %, bainite: 10 to 50 area %, and tempered martensite: 10 to 80 area % with respect to the metal structure overall; and when the metal structure is measured by X-ray diffractometry, the metal structure satisfies retained austenite: 5.0 volume % or more, retained austenite with a carbon concentration of 1.0 mass % or less: 3.5 volume % or more, and retained austenite with a carbon concentration of 0.8 mass % or less: 2.4 volume % or less with respect to the metal structure overall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2017
    Publication date: March 21, 2019
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Muneaki IKEDA, Koji KASUYA, Tadao MURATA, Kenji SAITO, Toshio MURAKAMI, Yuichi FUTAMURA
  • Publication number: 20190071757
    Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet comprising, as component composition, by mass: C: 0.15 to 0.35%; total of Si and Al: 0.5 to 2.5%; Mn: 1.0 to 4.0%; P: more than 0% and 0.05% or less; and S: more than 0% and 0.01% or less, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein a steel structure satisfies, in ratio with respect to the whole structure: ferrite: more than 5 area % and 50 area % or less; total of tempered martensite and bainite: 30 area % or more; and retained austenite: 10 volume % or more, the steel structure further includes MA, and the steel structure satisfies: an average circle equivalent diameter of the MA: 1.0 ?m or less; an average circle equivalent diameter of the retained austenite: 1.0 ?m or less; and a volume ratio of retained austenite with a circle equivalent diameter of 1.5 ?m or more to the whole retained austenite: 5% or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Publication date: March 7, 2019
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Tadao MURATA, Toshio MURAKAMI, Elijah KAKIUCHI, Shigeo OTANI, Yuichi FUTAMURA
  • Patent number: 10066274
    Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet of the present invention is a steel sheet satisfying a predetermined component composition. A metal structure of the steel sheet is composed of polygonal ferrite, high-temperature region generated bainite, low-temperature region generated bainite and retained austenite each having a predetermined area percent, and a distribution using each average IQ of predetermined crystal grains determined by electron backscatter diffraction satisfies Equations (1) and (2) below. According to the present invention, a high-strength steel sheet having excellent ductility and low-temperature toughness can be realized even at a tensile strength of 780 MPa or more. (IQave?IQmin)/(IQmax?IQmin)?0.40??(1) (?IQ)/(IQmax?IQmin)?0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Koji Kasuya, Tadao Murata, Sae Mizuta, Yuichi Futamura
  • Publication number: 20180044752
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet, in which the metal structure at a position of ¼ of the sheet thickness satisfies (1) to (4): (1) an area ratio of ferrite is more than 10% to 65% or less, with a balance being a hard phase including quenched martensite and retained austenite and including at least one selected from the group consisting of bainitic ferrite, bainite, and tempered martensite; (2) a volume ratio V? of retained austenite is 5% to 30%; (3) an area ratio VMA of an MA structure in which quenched martensite and retained austenite are combined is 3% to 25%, and an average circle-equivalent diameter of the MA structure is 2.0 ?m or less; and (4) a ratio VMA/V? of the area ratio VMA of the MA structure to the volume ratio V? of the retained austenite is 0.50 to 1.50.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Publication date: February 15, 2018
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Tadao MURATA, Yuichi FUTAMURA, Koji KASUYA
  • Publication number: 20180037964
    Abstract: A high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet, in which the metal structure at a position of ¼ of the sheet thickness satisfies (1) to (4) below. (1) The area ratio of ferrite is 0% or more and 10% or less, with the balance being a hard phase including quenched martensite and retained austenite and including at least one selected from the group consisting of bainitic ferrite, bainite, and tempered martensite. (2) The volume ratio V? of retained austenite is 5% to 30%. (3) The area ratio VMA of an MA structure in which quenched martensite and retained austenite are combined is 3% to 25%, and the average circle-equivalent diameter of the MA structure is 2.0 ?m or less. (4) The ratio VMA/V? of the area ratio VMA of the MA structure to the volume ratio V? of the retained austenite is 0.50 to 1.50.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Publication date: February 8, 2018
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Tadao MURATA, Yuichi FUTAMURA, Koji KASUYA
  • Publication number: 20160237520
    Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet of the present invention is a steel sheet satisfying a predetermined component composition. A metal structure of the steel sheet is composed of polygonal ferrite, high-temperature region generated bainite, low-temperature region generated bainite and retained austenite each having a predetermined area percent, and a distribution using each average IQ of predetermined crystal grains determined by electron backscatter diffraction satisfies Equations (1) and (2) below. According to the present invention, a high-strength steel sheet having excellent formability and low-temperature toughness can be realized even at a tensile strength of 590 MPa or more. (IQave?IQmin)/(IQmax?IQmin)?0.40??(1) (?IQ)/(IQmax?IQmin)?0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Publication date: August 18, 2016
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOBE SEIKO SHO (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Tadao MURATA, Koji KASUYA, Sae MIZUTA, Yuichi FUTAMURA
  • Publication number: 20160208359
    Abstract: A high-strength steel sheet of the present invention is a steel sheet satisfying a predetermined component composition. A metal structure of the steel sheet is composed of polygonal ferrite, high-temperature region generated bainite, low-temperature region generated bainite and retained austenite each having a predetermined area percent, and a distribution using each average IQ of predetermined crystal grains determined by electron backscatter diffraction satisfies Equations (1) and (2) below. According to the present invention, a high-strength steel sheet having excellent ductility and low-temperature toughness can be realized even at a tensile strength of 780 MPa or more. (IQave?IQmin)/(IQmax?IQmin)?0.40??(1) (?IQ)/(IQmax?IQmin)?0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2014
    Publication date: July 21, 2016
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOBE SEIKO SHO(KOBE STEEL, LTD.)
    Inventors: Koji KASUYA, Tadao MURATA, Sae MIZUTA, Yuichi FUTAMURA
  • Patent number: 6716374
    Abstract: An injection-compression molding apparatus includes a stationary mold provided with a nozzle for injecting molten resin, and a movable mold driven by a servo motor. In compressing the resin, high-speed position control of the movable mold is first performed, which is then switched to speed feedback control which enables delicate regulation of clamping pressure in accordance with pressure fluctuations in the resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Yutani, Shinji Kadoriku, Akira Yabe, Tadao Murata, Ryoma Murase
  • Patent number: 6461142
    Abstract: An injection device includes a cylinder, a plunger and a driving device. The cylinder has a port for supplying molding material into the cylinder, and the molding material supplies into the cylinder is compressed by the plunger. The plunger has a groove extending circumferentially around an outer wall of a large-diameter portion of the plunger, and the clearance between the outer wall of the large-diameter portion of the plunger and the inner wall of the cylinder is determined by a specified equation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinji Kadoriku, Takaaki Higashida, Hiroshi Yutani, Tadao Murata
  • Publication number: 20010038157
    Abstract: An injection-compression molding apparatus includes a stationary mold provided with a nozzle for injecting molten resin, and a movable mold driven by a servo motor. In compressing the resin, high-speed position control of the movable mold is first performed, which is then switched to speed feedback control which enables delicate regulation of clamping pressure in accordance with pressure fluctuations in the resin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2001
    Publication date: November 8, 2001
    Inventors: Hiroshi Yutani, Shinji Kadoriku, Akira Yabe, Tadao Murata, Ryoma Murase
  • Patent number: 4469269
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing the peripheral wall of a tank for an oil-immersed electric apparatus which comprises manufacturing a panel unit through the steps of:fabricating a panel by pressing a thin steel sheet to form an upward extending flange along both edges of the panel and provide a plurality of reinforcement depressions concaved toward the backside of the flat portion of said panel;folding the panel into two parts with the surface of the panel kept outside along the central line extending between both edges of the panel to fabricate a hollow fin;joining both sides of the folded fin by spot welding the reinforcement depressions; andwelding together the closely facing edges of both sides of the fin,and constructing the peripheral wall of the tank by joining together a plurality of panel units fabricated through the above-mentioned steps by welding the flanges of said panel units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 1982
    Date of Patent: September 4, 1984
    Assignee: Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuo Ito, Tadao Murata, Miyoshi Horiuchi, Masahiro Goto