Patents by Inventor Taro Imagawa

Taro Imagawa 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: 20210116388
    Abstract: A prediction device for predicting the growth direction of a crack that occurs in a subject includes: an obtainer that obtains video of the subject; a derivation unit that derives displacement of each of a plurality of regions in the obtained video; a selector that selects, from among the plurality of regions, two or more regions each having displacement similar to displacement of a reference region included in the plurality of regions; and an identification unit that identifies, as the growth direction, the longitudinal direction of a collective region made up of the two or more selected regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2020
    Publication date: April 22, 2021
    Inventors: Yuki MARUYAMA, Hiroya KUSAKA, Taro IMAGAWA, Akihiro NODA
  • Patent number: 10982951
    Abstract: An axle-load measuring apparatus measures an axle load of a vehicle by using a captured image where a road and the vehicle on the road are imaged, and the axle-load measuring apparatus includes a displacement calculator, a correction information obtaining unit, and an axle-load calculator. The displacement calculator detects a displacement of the road by using the captured image. The displacement is caused by receiving the axle load. The correction information obtaining unit obtains correction information. An axle-load calculator calculates the axle load by using the displacement and the correction information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akihiro Noda, Hiroya Kusaka, Taro Imagawa
  • Publication number: 20210110515
    Abstract: A displacement measurement device includes: an obtainer that obtains a first image which contains a subject and a second image which contains the subject; a generator that generates M template images which contain the subject and which have noise from the first image and generates M target images which contain the subject and which have noise from the second image, M being an integer of 2 or higher; a hypothetical displacement calculator that calculates M hypothetical displacements of the subject from the M template images and the M target images; and a displacement calculator that calculates a displacement of the subject by performing statistical processing on the M hypothetical displacements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2020
    Publication date: April 15, 2021
    Inventors: Akihiro NODA, Taro IMAGAWA, Yuki MARUYAMA, Hiroya KUSAKA
  • Publication number: 20210104035
    Abstract: An inspection device includes: an obtainer that obtains at least one captured image of a plurality of sound insulation plates; a deriver that derives a displacement of each of the plurality of sound insulation plates in the image; and an extractor that, based on the displacements of the plurality of sound insulation plates, extracts, from the plurality of sound insulation plates, a sound insulation plate of interest that moves differently from another sound insulation plate included in the plurality of sound insulation plates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Inventors: Yuki MARUYAMA, Hiroya KUSAKA, Taro IMAGAWA, Akihiro NODA
  • Publication number: 20210104033
    Abstract: An inspection device inspects fastening members that fasten a structure. The inspection device includes an obtainer that obtains images including a first image and a second image of the fastening members at times different from each other; a detector that detects first displacements that are respective displacements of the fastening members based on the first image and the second image; and an identifier that identifies, out of the fastening members based on the first displacements, a target fastening member behaving differently from other fastening members.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Inventors: Taro IMAGAWA, Akihiro NODA, Yuki MARUYAMA, Hiroya KUSAKA
  • Publication number: 20210104032
    Abstract: A displacement measurement device includes: a first machine learning model trained to generate, from one image which contains a subject and has noise, at least one image which contains the subject and which has noise or has had noise removed; a first obtainer that obtains a first image which contains the subject and has noise and a second image which contains the subject and has noise; a first generator that, using the first machine learning model, generates M template images containing the subject from the first image and generates M target images containing the subject from the second image, M being an integer of 2 or higher; a hypothetical displacement calculator that calculates M hypothetical displacements of the subject from the M template images and the M target images; and a displacement calculator that calculates a displacement of the subject by performing statistical processing on the M hypothetical displacements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Inventors: Akihiro NODA, Taro IMAGAWA, Hiroya KUSAKA, Yuki MARUYAMA
  • Publication number: 20210104031
    Abstract: An information presentation method according to the present disclosure includes: acquiring two or more monochrome images obtained by image-capturing a structure using a monochrome camera and one or more first color images obtained by image-capturing the structure using a color camera, the one or more first color images having a less amount of information than an amount of information of the two or more monochrome images; detecting a displacement that indicates a movement of the structure based on the two or more monochrome images; generating presentation information that includes one or more second color images that present information that indicates the displacement based on the two or more monochrome images and the one or more first color images; and outputting the presentation information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Inventors: Taro IMAGAWA, Akihiro NODA, Yuki MARUYAMA, Hiroya KUSAKA
  • Publication number: 20210099718
    Abstract: An encoding device that compression-encodes a plurality of images to measure local displacement of the structure includes: a determiner that determines, as a first region in the plurality of images to be used to measure local displacement of the structure; and an encoder that encodes the first region using a first parameter and encodes a second region different from the first region using a second parameter. The first parameter is a coding parameter yielding less loss of image information due to lossy compression than the second parameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2020
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Inventors: Yuki MARUYAMA, Hiroya KUSAKA, Taro IMAGAWA, Akihiro NODA
  • Patent number: 10914572
    Abstract: A displacement measuring apparatus measures a displacement of a measurement object by using a captured image where the measurement object and a load object are imaged. The displacement is caused by the load object in contact with the measurement object at a contact position. The displacement measuring apparatus includes a position detector, an area setting unit and a displacement calculator. The position detector detects a position, of the load object, in the captured image. The area setting unit sets a position and a size of a detection area in the captured image by using distance information and the position of the load object detected by the position detector, the distance information spatially indicating a distance between the measurement object when the load object is not on the measurement object and an imaging device that generates the captured image. The displacement calculator calculates the displacement by using only an image in the detection area in the captured image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akihiro Noda, Hiroya Kusaka, Taro Imagawa
  • Publication number: 20200410664
    Abstract: A measurement device includes: an obtainer that obtains a plurality of images of a support member that movably supports a structure, the plurality of images being captured at mutually different times while the structure is subjected to varying loads; and a measurer that measures displacement of the support member based on the plurality of images obtained by the obtainer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2020
    Publication date: December 31, 2020
    Inventors: Taro IMAGAWA, Hiroya KUSAKA, Akihiro NODA
  • Publication number: 20200408586
    Abstract: An axle load measuring apparatus includes a displacement calculator, a storage, and an axle load calculator. The displacement calculator detects displacements of positions on a road caused by an axle load using a captured image of the road and a vehicle thereon. When a certain amount of load is applied to a predetermined position of the road, the storage stores a displacement function representing shape information of a spatial distribution of a displacement of the road originated from the predetermined position. The axle load calculator calculates the axle load based on the displacements of the positions and the displacement function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Publication date: December 31, 2020
    Inventors: Taro IMAGAWA, Akihiro NODA, Hiroya KUSAKA
  • Publication number: 20200378900
    Abstract: An inspection device that inspects a structure with a crack, including: an obtainer that obtains images of the structure captured at mutually different times while the structure is subjected to varying loads; a crack detector that detects a crack on a surface of the structure in each image; a motion estimator that divides each image into blocks having a predetermined size, and derives motion vectors of the blocks based on a positional relation between a position of each block relative to a reference in a first image and a position of each block relative to the reference in a second image, the reference being a tip of the crack detected, the first and second images being included in the images; and an inspector that determines safety of the structure based on a difference between ones of the motion vectors of symmetric positions with respect to the crack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2020
    Publication date: December 3, 2020
    Inventors: Taro IMAGAWA, Hiroya KUSAKA, Akihiro NODA
  • Patent number: 10733751
    Abstract: A displacement detecting apparatus includes: a detector which detects displacement, which is spatial displacement over time, of each of a plurality of measurement points which have been set on an object, using a plurality of images of the object captured at a plurality of time points; an extractor which extracts characteristic displacement specific to the object, based on the displacement detected by the detector; and a calculator which calculates overall displacement indicating displacement of the entirety of the object, from the characteristic displacement extracted by the extractor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Taro Imagawa
  • Publication number: 20200209049
    Abstract: A double tire determination device includes an image input unit and a determination unit. The image input unit receives input of a captured image including a tire mounted on a vehicle. The determination unit determines whether the tire is a double tire, based on a ratio between a first area and a second area. The first area is an area of a first wheel region that is a part of a region of a wheel holding the tire and that is located on a side in a first direction with respect to a position of a rotation center of the tire. The second area is an area of a second wheel region that is a part of the region of the wheel holding the tire and that is located on a side in a second direction, which is opposite to the first direction, with respect to the position of the rotation center.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Publication date: July 2, 2020
    Inventors: AKIHIRO NODA, TARO IMAGAWA, HIROYA KUSAKA
  • Patent number: 10697821
    Abstract: A calibration device is a calibration device configured to calibrate a load meter that measures an axle load of a vehicle. The calibration device includes a detector and a calibrator. The detector detects a displacement amount corresponding to displacement caused on a road by the axle load of the vehicle. The calibrator aggregates the displacement amounts detected by the detector to generate a histogram of the displacement amounts, and updates a displacement coefficient for calculating the axle load of the vehicle based on a shape of the histogram. The calibrator updates the displacement coefficient base only on the shape of the histogram corresponding to a first axle serving as a forefront axle of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Taro Imagawa, Akihiro Noda, Hiroya Kusaka
  • Publication number: 20200202555
    Abstract: A lift-up determining device includes a detector and a determination unit. The detector acquires a captured image including a tire on an axle of a vehicle and detects the tire from the captured image. The determination unit determines, based on a detection result by the detector, whether the axle is lifted up.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Publication date: June 25, 2020
    Inventors: AKIHIRO NODA, TARO IMAGAWA, HIROYA KUSAKA
  • Patent number: 10667675
    Abstract: A lighting unit has a plurality of light sources that emits excitation light having relative spectral distributions different from each other. An imaging unit simultaneously captures an image of fluorescent light emitted from the subject by the excitation light and an image of reflected light obtained by reflecting the excitation light by the subject, to generate a captured image. The arithmetic unit calculates a relative spectral distribution of the fluorescent light emitted from the subject by using the information about the relative spectral distribution of the reflected light for each of the plurality of light sources stored in the memory and the captured image for each of the plurality of light sources generated by the imaging unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Shunsuke Yasugi, Taro Imagawa, Shinsaku Hiura
  • Patent number: 10616458
    Abstract: A lighting unit includes a plurality of light sources that respectively emit plural rays of illumination light. An imaging unit that simultaneously images plural rays of reflected light obtained by the plural rays of illumination light being reflected by a subject so as to obtain information about a plurality of colors, and generates a captured image including the information about the plurality of colors. A memory stores sensitivity information items that correspond to the plurality of light sources respectively. An arithmetic unit performs an arithmetic operation to generate a plurality of separated images from the captured image by using the sensitivity information items. The plurality of separated images correspond to the plurality of light sources respectively, and each of the plurality of separated images only includes information about a corresponding one of the plural rays of reflected light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management
    Inventors: Shunsuke Yasugi, Hiroya Kusaka, Taro Imagawa, Akihiro Noda
  • Patent number: 10609292
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit, a detector, a calculator, and a controller. The imaging unit captures an image of a road on which a vehicle runs, and generates the captured image of the road. The detector detects a contact position at which the vehicle is in contact with the road in the captured image. The calculator calculates a first brightness range based on brightness distribution in a first road surface area on the road and the first road surface area includes the contact position. The controller determines an imaging condition for the imaging unit based on the first brightness range, and controls the imaging unit using the determined imaging condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Taro Imagawa, Akihiro Noda, Hiroya Kusaka
  • Publication number: 20200041394
    Abstract: A rigidity measurement apparatus is a rigidity measurement apparatus that measures rigidity of an object to be measured and includes a load estimator, a displacement calculator, and a rigidity calculator. The load estimator estimates a load applied to a measurement point set on the object to be measured by using a captured image of the object to be measured. The displacement calculator calculates a displacement of the measurement point by using the captured image. The rigidity calculator calculates the rigidity of the object to be measured by using the load and the displacement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventors: Taro IMAGAWA, Akihiro NODA, Hiroya KUSAKA