Patents by Inventor Tomoko Morita

Tomoko Morita 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: 7388617
    Abstract: A plurality of interlaced video signals respectively corresponding to a plurality of continuous fields are generated by first, second, and third one-field delay circuits on the basis of an inputted interlaced video signal. A first progressive video field signal is generated by a first progressive video generation circuit on the basis of the plurality of interlaced video signals. A second progressive video field signal is generated by a second progressive video generation circuit on the basis of the plurality of interlaced video signals. Motion amount information in the vertical direction of a picture is calculated by a comparison circuit on the basis of the first progressive video field signal and the second progressive video field signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Tomoaki Daigi, Hideaki Kawamura, Hideto Nakahigashi, Tomoko Morita
  • Publication number: 20080127640
    Abstract: An exhaust gas purifying device for an internal combustion engine, comprises: an exhaust purifying catalyst; a NOx purifying catalyst disposed downstream of the exhaust purifying catalyst; upstream and downstream A/F detecting sensors disposed on upstream and downstream sides of the exhaust purifying catalyst, respectively; means for supplying a reducing agent to the NOx purifying catalyst when conducting a reduction control of the NOx; means for calculating an amount of reduced NOx in the NOx purifying catalyst; means for terminating the reduction control when the amount of reduced NOx exceeds a prescribed reduction termination threshold value; means for detecting a degree of deterioration of the exhaust purifying catalyst based on an output from the upstream and downstream A/F detecting sensors; a threshold value correcting means for correcting the reduction termination threshold value according to the degree of deterioration of the exhaust purifying catalyst; and a correction prohibiting means for prohibit
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Applicant: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Norio Suzuki, Naohiro Sato
  • Publication number: 20080131346
    Abstract: An exhaust emission control device for an internal combustion engine, which is capable of supplying a just enough amount of reducing agent to a NOx catalyst, thereby reducing exhaust emission and improving fuel economy. The device includes a three-way catalyst, a NOx catalyst provided downstream of the three-way catalyst, and an ECU. The ECU carries out rich spike control such that exhaust gases flowing into the NOx catalyst form a reducing atmosphere. During the control, the ECU calculates a reducing agent consumption amount of reducing agent in the exhaust gases consumed by the three-way catalyst, calculates a cumulative reducing agent amount as a total amount of reducing agent supplied to the NOx catalyst, depending on the reducing agent consumption amount, and terminates the control when the cumulative reducing agent amount becomes larger than a predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2007
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Norio Suzuki, Hiroshi Ohno
  • Publication number: 20080120963
    Abstract: An exhaust emission control device for an internal combustion engine, which is capable of supplying a just enough amount of reducing agent to the NOx catalyst even when a catalyst is provided on an upstream side of the NOx catalyst. A catalyst and a NOx catalyst are disposed at respective upstream and downstream locations in an exhaust system, for purifying NOx and for trapping NOx under an oxidizing atmosphere and reducing the NOx under a reducing atmosphere, respectively. An air-fuel sensor is disposed between the catalyst and the NOx catalyst. A reducing agent is supplied to an upstream side of the catalyst, to control exhaust gases such that the gases form the reducing atmosphere. To determine time of termination of NOx reduction control, an amount of reducing agent supplied to the NOx catalyst is calculated, and calculation of the amount of reducing agent is started when the air-fuel ratio has converged within a vicinity of a target air-fuel ratio.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Norio Suzuki, Katsuji Wada
  • Publication number: 20080124263
    Abstract: An exhaust emission control device which is capable of supplying a just enough amount of reducing agent to a NOx catalyst while causing the amount of reducing agent consumed in an upstream catalyst to be reflected thereon. A NOx catalyst for trapping NOx and reducing NOx to change the same into harmless ingredients in a reducing atmosphere is disposed downstream of a catalyst. Reducing agent is supplied upstream of the catalyst to cause the NOx catalyst to perform a NOx-reducing action. The amount of oxygen occluded in the catalyst is calculated. During reduction control, according to the oxygen occlusion amount, the amount of reducing agent oxidized and consumed in the catalyst is calculated. According to the reducing agent consumption amount, the amount of reducing agent supplied to the NOx catalyst is calculated. The reduction control is terminated based on the reducing agent supply amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2007
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Norio Suzuki, Hiroshi Ohno
  • Publication number: 20080120965
    Abstract: An exhaust emission control device for an internal combustion engine which is capable of supplying a just enough amount of reducing agent to a NOx catalyst while causing the consumption amount of reducing agent dependent on the degradation degree of an upstream catalyst to be reflected thereon. A NOx catalyst is disposed at a location downstream of a catalyst having an oxidation function for purifying exhaust gases, for trapping NOx contained in exhaust gases in an oxidizing atmosphere, and reducing the trapped NOx in a reducing atmosphere to thereby purify the trapped NOx. Exhaust gases flowing into the NOx catalyst are controlled to the reducing atmosphere, by supplying reducing agent to an upstream side of the catalyst. The degradation degree of the catalyst is estimated, and a time period over which the reduction control should be executed is corrected according to the estimated degradation degree.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2007
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoko MORITA, Norio SUZUKI, Takashi Konomoto
  • Publication number: 20080120964
    Abstract: An exhaust gas purifying device for an internal combustion engine, comprises: a first catalyst (TWC 7, example) having a reducing capability; a second catalyst (LNC 9, example) provided downstream of the first catalyst, the second catalyst is adapted to trap NOx in a lean condition of air fuel ratio of an exhaust gas and reduce the trapped NOx in a rich condition of air fuel ratio of the exhaust gas; and an exhaust air fuel ratio control means for controlling an exhaust air fuel ratio to decrease the NOx in the first and second catalysts, wherein the exhaust air fuel ratio control means conducts NOx decreasing control suitable for the first catalyst when the second catalyst is in an inactive state and the first catalyst is in an active state, and wherein the exhaust air fuel ratio control means conducts NOx decreasing control suitable for the second catalyst after the second catalyst is activated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Applicant: Honda Motor Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Norio Suzuki, Nobuhiro Komatsu, Tomoko Morita, Hisao Haga
  • Publication number: 20080120969
    Abstract: An exhaust emission control device for an internal combustion engine, which is capable of accurately estimating the amount of NOx trapped by a NOx catalyst even when a catalyst is provided on an upstream side of the NOx catalyst. A catalyst having the function of purifying NOx and a NOx catalyst for trapping NOx under an oxidizing atmosphere are disposed in an exhaust system. The amount of NOx contained in exhaust gases is estimated. A NOx purification performance of the catalyst is calculated. The NOx emission amount is corrected based on the purification performance. An amount of NOx trapped in the NOx catalyst is calculated based on the corrected NOx emission amount. A reducing agent is supplied to an upstream side of the catalyst based on the trapped NOx amount, thereby causing the NOx catalyst to carry out a NOx reducing operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2007
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Norio Suzuki, Katsuji Wada
  • Publication number: 20070274889
    Abstract: The invention provides a catalyst for catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides contained in exhaust gases wherein fuel is supplied and subjected to combustion under periodic rich/lean conditions and the resulting exhaust gases are brought into contact therewith, which catalyst comprises: (A) a catalyst component A comprising (c) ceria or (d) praseodymium oxide or (e) an oxide and/or a composite oxide of at least two elements selected from the group consisting of cerium, zirconium, praseodymium, neodymium, terbium, samarium, gadolinium and lanthanum; (B) a catalyst component B comprising (d) a noble metal catalyst component selected from the group consisting of platinum, rhodium, palladium and oxides thereof and (e) a carrier; and (C) a catalyst component C comprising (f) a solid acid, and (g) a solid acid supporting an oxide of at least one element selected from the group consisting of vanadium, tungsten, molybdenum, copper, iron, cobalt, nickel and manganese.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2004
    Publication date: November 29, 2007
    Inventors: Tadao Nakatsuji, Norio Suzuki, Hiroshi Ohno, Naohiro Sato, Tomoko Morita, Katsuji Wada
  • Patent number: 7236147
    Abstract: A gray level conversion/diffusion circuit diffuses the difference between a non-display gray level and a display gray level by error diffusion processing when a video signal is a video signal of the non-display gray level, a video signal-sub-field corresponder converts a video signal of one field after diffusion to a video signal every sub-field, and a sub-field processor, a scanning and sustain driving circuits and a data driving circuit make a discharge cell of a plasma display panel emit light or emit no light every sub-field in response to the video signal every sub-field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Mitsuhiro Kasahara
  • Publication number: 20070003455
    Abstract: A NOx removing device 4 having NOx absorbing capacity and ammonia retaining capacity is provided in an exhaust pipe 2 of an internal combustion engine 1. A reforming catalyst 3 is disposed upstream of the NOx removing device 4. The reforming catalyst 3 generates hydrogen and carbon monoxide by the steam reforming reaction, when the exhaust gases are in the reducing state. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide generated by the reforming catalyst 3 are supplied to the NOx removing device 4, and contribute to generation of ammonia. The generated ammonia is retained in the NOx removing device 4 and reduces NOx in exhaust gases when the exhaust gases are in the oxidizing state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2005
    Publication date: January 4, 2007
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Norio Suzuki, Katsuji Wada, Hiroshi Ohno, Naohiro Satoh
  • Publication number: 20060140833
    Abstract: An exhaust gas purifying apparatus for an internal combustion engine including an ammonia generating device and a NOx removing device. The ammonia generating device is provided in an exhaust system of the engine, and generates ammonia by a reaction of NOx and reducing components in exhaust gases when the exhaust gases are in a reducing state. The NOx removing device is provided downstream of the ammonia generating device, and adsorbs NOx in the exhaust gases when the exhaust gases are in an oxidizing state. The NOx removing device reduces the adsorbed NOx to generate ammonia and retains the generated ammonia when the exhaust gases are in the reducing state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2005
    Publication date: June 29, 2006
    Inventors: Tomoko Morita, Norio Suzuki, Katsuji Wada
  • Patent number: 6965358
    Abstract: The invention provides an apparatus and a method applied to a plasma display panel or other display panel, achieving a gray scale display by using a plurality of weighted subfields. The apparatus comprises a gray scale limiting/difference diffusion circuit (17) for converting gray scale levels in a supplied image signal to specific gray scale levels that do not easily create pseudo contours in moving picture areas and to intermediate gray scale levels between the specific gray scale levels, and diffusing the difference between the converted gray scale level and the original gray scale level to adjacent pixels, and a dither circuit (19) for generating a video signal to display the converted gray scale level from the circuit (17) alternately in even and odd fields. The dither circuit (19) generates the video signal in which the gray scale levels offset the dither level above and below the dithered gray scale are alternately presented when the converted gray scale level is a dithered gray scale.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2005
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Yuichi Ishikawa, Tomoko Morita
  • Publication number: 20050178109
    Abstract: An exhaust gas purifying apparatus for an internal combustion engine having an exhaust system. The apparatus includes a NOx purifying device provided in the exhaust system. This device removes NOx from exhaust gases when a concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gases is higher than a concentration of reducing components in the exhaust gases; generates ammonia and retains the generated ammonia when the concentration of reducing components in the inflowing exhaust gases is higher than the concentration of oxygen; and purifies NOx with the retained ammonia when the concentration of reducing components in the inflowing exhaust gases is lower than the concentration of oxygen. A residual amount of ammonia retained in the NOx purifying device is estimated. The concentration of reducing components in the exhaust gases is switched with respect to the concentration of oxygen according to the estimated residual amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2005
    Publication date: August 18, 2005
    Inventors: Katsuji Wada, Hiroshi Ohno, Norio Suzuki, Tomoko Morita
  • Publication number: 20050151878
    Abstract: A plurality of interlaced video signals respectively corresponding to a plurality of continuous fields are generated by first, second, and third one-field delay circuits on the basis of an inputted interlaced video signal. A first progressive video field signal is generated by a first progressive video generation circuit on the basis of the plurality of interlaced video signals. A second progressive video field signal is generated by a second progressive video generation circuit on the basis of the plurality of interlaced video signals. Motion amount information in the vertical direction of a picture is calculated by a comparison circuit on the basis of the first progressive video field signal and the second progressive video field signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2003
    Publication date: July 14, 2005
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Tomoaki Daigi, Hideaki Kawamura, Hideto Nakahigashi, Tomoko Morita
  • Publication number: 20050140825
    Abstract: A first video signal generation circuit newly generates pixels between pixels in a first progressive video field signal outputted by a first progressive video generation circuit, and outputs a third progressive video field signal. A second video signal generation circuit newly generates pixels between pixels in a second progressive video field signal outputted by a second progressive video generation circuit, and outputs a fourth progressive video field signal. A comparison circuit compares the third progressive video field signal and the fourth progressive video field signal, and outputs the result of the comparison as motion amount information. An output circuit synthesizes an intra-field interpolation signal and a frame interfiled interpolation signal on the basis of the motion amount information, and outputs a composite signal as a progressive video signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2003
    Publication date: June 30, 2005
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Tomoaki Daigi, Hideaki Kawamura, Hideto Nakahigashi, Tomoko Morita
  • Patent number: RE39711
    Abstract: A temperature difference estimated value is found from a video signal using a temperature estimated value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of a display screen of a PDP and a reference value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of the PDP which is outputted from a panel periphery temperature setter by a temperature difference estimator, and the luminance of an image displayed on a display is controlled depending on the temperature difference estimated value by a controller and a brightness controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Yuichi Ishikawa, Tomoko Morita
  • Patent number: RE39740
    Abstract: A temperature difference estimated value is found from a video signal using a temperature estimated value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of a display screen of a PDP and a reference value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of the PDP which is outputted from a panel periphery temperature setter by a temperature difference estimator, and the luminance of an image displayed on a display is controlled depending on the temperature difference estimated value by a controller and a brightness controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Yuichi Ishikawa, Tomoko Morita
  • Patent number: RE39741
    Abstract: A temperature difference estimated value is found from a video signal using a temperature estimated value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of a display screen of a PDP and a reference value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of the PDP which is outputted from a panel periphery temperature setter by a temperature difference estimator, and the luminance of an image displayed on a display is controlled depending on the temperature difference estimated value by a controller and a brightness controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Yuichi Ishikawa, Tomoko Morita
  • Patent number: RE39742
    Abstract: A temperature difference estimated value is found from a video signal using a temperature estimated value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of a display screen of a PDP and a reference value representing the temperature of the panel outer periphery of the PDP which is outputted from a panel periphery temperature setter by a temperature difference estimator, and the luminance of an image displayed on a display is controlled depending on the temperature difference estimated value by a controller and a brightness controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2007
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kasahara, Yuichi Ishikawa, Tomoko Morita