Patents by Inventor Tomoyuki Awazu

Tomoyuki Awazu 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: 9132384
    Abstract: Provided are a gas decomposition component, a power generation apparatus including the gas decomposition component, and a method for decomposing a gas. A gas decomposition component includes a cylindrical MEA including a first electrode layer, a cylindrical solid electrolyte layer, and a second electrode layer in order from an inside toward an outside, in a layered structure; a first gas channel through which a first gas that is decomposed flows, the first gas channel being disposed inside the cylindrical MEA; and a second gas channel through which a second gas flows, the second gas channel being disposed outside the cylindrical MEA, wherein the gas decomposition component further includes a heater for heating the entirety of the component; and a preheating pipe through which the first gas to be introduced into the first gas channel passes beforehand to be preheated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Naho Mizuhara, Toshio Ueda, Hideyuki Doi, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Patent number: 9136552
    Abstract: Provided are a gas decomposition component in which an electrochemical reaction is used to reduce the running cost and high treatment performance can be achieved; and a method for producing the gas decomposition component. The gas decomposition component includes a cylindrical MEA 7 including an anode 2 on an inner-surface side, a cathode 5 on an outer-surface side, and a solid electrolyte 1 sandwiched between the anode and the cathode; a porous metal body 11s that is inserted on the inner-surface side of the cylindrical MEA and is in contact with the first electrode; and a central conductive rod 11k inserted so as to serve as an electrically conductive shaft of the porous metal body 11s.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Toshio Ueda, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Patent number: 8902566
    Abstract: A capacitor has a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a solid electrolyte layer arranged between the electrode layers. At least one of the electrode layers of this capacitor has an Al porous body, and an electrode body held in this Al porous body to polarize the electrolyte. The oxygen content in the surface of the Al porous body is 3.1% by mass or less. The matter that the oxygen content in the surface of the Al porous body is 3.1% by mass or less is equal to the matter that a high-resistance oxide film is hardly formed on the surface of the Al porous body. Thus, this Al porous body makes it possible to make the current collector area of the electrode layer large so that the capacitor can be improved in capacity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Ota, Akihisa Hosoe, Masatoshi Majima, Koji Nitta, Tomoyuki Awazu, Kazuki Okuno, Masahiro Kato, Shoichiro Sakai, Shinji Inazawa
  • Patent number: 8865367
    Abstract: Provided is a gas decomposition component that employs an electrochemical reaction and can have high treatment performance, in particular, an ammonia decomposition component. The gas decomposition component includes a MEA 7 including a solid electrolyte 1 and an anode 2 and a cathode 5 that are disposed so as to sandwich the solid electrolyte; Celmets 11s electrically connected to the anode 2; a heater 41 that heats the MEA; and an inlet 17 through which a gaseous fluid containing a gas is introduced into the MEA, an outlet 19 through which the gaseous fluid having passed through the MEA is discharged, and a passage P extending between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the Celmets 11s are discontinuously disposed along the passage P and, with respect to a middle position 15 of the passage, the length of the Celmets disposed is larger on the side of the outlet than on the side of the inlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Toshio Ueda, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Publication number: 20140291161
    Abstract: Provided is a method for obtaining a particular metal at high purity, with safety, and at low cost, from a treatment object containing two or more metal elements. The present invention provides a method for producing a metal by molten salt electrolysis, the method including a step of dissolving, in a molten salt, a metal element contained in a treatment object containing two or more metal elements; and a step of depositing or alloying a particular metal present in the molten salt, on one of a pair of electrode members disposed in the molten salt containing the dissolved metal element, by controlling a potential of the electrode members to a predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2012
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Awazu, Masatoshi Majima
  • Publication number: 20140166501
    Abstract: An element recovery method and an element recovery apparatus are provided by which an element containing a high-purity rare earth element can be recovered at low cost. The element recovery method includes the steps of: preparing molten salt containing a rare earth element; and controlling electric potentials in a pair of electrode members at prescribed values while keeping the pair of electrode members in contact with the molten salt, thereby depositing the rare earth element existing in the molten salt on one of the pair of electrode members. In this way, as compared with the conventional wet separation method, an element such as a rare earth element that is to be recovered can be directly recovered from the molten salt in which the element is dissolved, so that the steps of the recovery method can be simplified and reduced in cost.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicants: KYOTO UNIVERSITY, SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Awazu, Takayasu Sugihara, Masatoshi Majima, Toshiyuki Nohira, Rika Hagiwara, Seitaro Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 8728627
    Abstract: There is provided a manufacturing method of an aluminum structure, including a conductive treatment process of forming an electrically conductive layer on a surface of a resin molded body, the electrically conductive layer being made of one or more metals selected from the group consisting of gold, silver, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, palladium, nickel, copper, cobalt, iron, and aluminum, and a plating process of plating the resin molded body subjected to the conductive treatment process with aluminum in a molten salt bath. The manufacturing method of an aluminum structure allows aluminum plating on the surface of even a porous resin molded body having a three-dimensional network structure. In particular, there is also provided a manufacturing method of an aluminum structure that can form porous aluminum having a large area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihisa Hosoe, Koji Nitta, Kazuki Okuno, Tomoyuki Awazu, Shinji Inazawa
  • Publication number: 20140087206
    Abstract: Provided is a porous metal body containing at least nickel, tin, and chromium. An example of a method of producing such a porous metal body is a method including a conductive-coating-layer formation step of forming a conductive coating layer containing chromium on a surface of a porous base formed of a resin material; a metal-layer formation step of forming a nickel layer and a tin layer in any order on a surface of the conductive coating layer; a removal step of removing the porous base; and a diffusion step of, by a heat treatment, causing interdiffusion of metal atoms between the nickel layer and the tin layer and diffusing chromium contained in the conductive coating layer into the nickel layer and the tin layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2013
    Publication date: March 27, 2014
    Applicants: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC TOYAMA CO., LTD., SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuki OKUNO, Masahiro KATO, Tomoyuki AWAZU, Masatoshi MAJIMA, Kengo TSUKAMOTO, Hitoshi TSUCHIDA, Hidetoshi SAITO
  • Patent number: 8597487
    Abstract: Provided is a method of producing an aluminum structure using a porous resin molded body having a three-dimensional network structure, with which it is possible to form an aluminum structure having a low oxide content in the surface of aluminum (i.e., having an oxide film with a small thickness), and in particular, it is possible to obtain an aluminum porous body that has a large area. The method includes a step of preparing an aluminum-coated resin molded body in which an aluminum layer is formed, directly or with another layer therebetween, on a surface of a resin molded body composed of urethane, and a step of decomposing the resin molded body by bringing the aluminum-coated resin molded body into contact with concentrated nitric acid with a concentration of 62% or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihisa Hosoe, Kotaro Kimura, Takayasu Sugihara, Osamu Ohama, Kazuki Okuno, Tomoyuki Awazu, Koji Nitta
  • Publication number: 20130266862
    Abstract: Provided are a porous metal body that is excellent in terms of corrosion resistance and that is suitable for a collector for batteries such as lithium-ion batteries, capacitors, or fuel cells; and methods for producing the porous metal body. A production method includes a step of coating a porous nickel body with an alloy containing at least nickel and tungsten or a metal containing at least tin; and a subsequent step of a heat treatment. Another production method includes a step of forming a nickel-plated layer on a porous base and then continuously forming an alloy-plated layer containing at least nickel and tungsten or tin, a step of removing the porous base, and a step of reducing metal. Such a method can provide a porous metal body in which tungsten or tin is diffused in a porous nickel body or a nickel-plated layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2011
    Publication date: October 10, 2013
    Applicants: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC TOYAMA CO., LTD., SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuki Okuno, Masahiro Kato, Masatoshi Majima, Tomoyuki Awazu, Hidetoshi Saito, Junichi Nishimura, Keiji Shiraishi, Hitoshi Tsuchida, Kengo Tsukamoto
  • Publication number: 20130260280
    Abstract: Provided are a gas decomposition component, a method for producing a gas decomposition component, and a power generation apparatus. A gas decomposition component 10 includes a cylindrical-body MEA 7 including a first electrode 2 disposed on an inner-surface side, a second electrode 5 disposed on an outer-surface side, and a solid electrolyte 1 sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode; and a porous metal body 11s inserted on the inner-surface side of the cylindrical-body MEA and electrically connected to the first electrode, wherein the gas decomposition component further includes a porous conductive-paste-coated layer 11g formed on an inner circumferential surface of the first electrode, and a metal mesh sheet 11a disposed on an inner circumferential side of the conductive-paste-coated layer, and an electrical connection between the first electrode and the porous metal body is established through the conductive-paste-coated layer and the metal mesh sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2011
    Publication date: October 3, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Naho Mizuhara, Toshio Ueda, Hideyuki Doi, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Publication number: 20130224612
    Abstract: Provided are a gas decomposition component, a power generation apparatus including the gas decomposition component, and a method for decomposing a gas. A gas decomposition component includes a cylindrical MEA including a first electrode layer, a cylindrical solid electrolyte layer, and a second electrode layer in order from an inside toward an outside, in a layered structure; a first gas channel through which a first gas that is decomposed flows, the first gas channel being disposed inside the cylindrical MEA; and a second gas channel through which a second gas flows, the second gas channel being disposed outside the cylindrical MEA, wherein the gas decomposition component further includes a heater for heating the entirety of the component; and a preheating pipe through which the first gas to be introduced into the first gas channel passes beforehand to be preheated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Publication date: August 29, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Naho Mizuhara, Toshio Ueda, Hideyuki Doi, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Publication number: 20130171542
    Abstract: A gas decomposition component includes a cylindrical membrane electrode assembly (MEA) including a first electrode layer, a cylindrical solid electrolyte layer, and a second electrode layer in order from an inside toward an outside, in a layered structure, wherein an end portion of the cylindrical MEA is sealed, a gas guide pipe is inserted through another end portion of the cylindrical MEA into an inner space of the cylindrical MEA to form a cylindrical channel between the gas guide pipe and an inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical MEA, and a gas flowing through the gas guide pipe toward the sealed portion is made to flow out of the gas guide pipe in a region near the sealed portion so that a flow direction of the gas is reversed and the gas flows through the cylindrical channel in a direction opposite to the flow direction in the guide pipe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 13, 2011
    Publication date: July 4, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Naho Mizuhara, Toshio Ueda, Hideyuki Doi, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Publication number: 20130101919
    Abstract: Provided are a MEA, a fuel cell, and a gas detoxification apparatus that allow at high efficiency a general electrochemical reaction causing gas decomposition or the like and are excellent in cost efficiency; and a method for producing a MEA. In this MEA 7, a porous base 3, a porous anode 2, an ion-conductive solid electrolyte 1, and a porous cathode 5 are stacked. The anode 2 or the cathode 5 is in contact with a surface of the porous base 3. The porous anode 2 includes a metal deposit body 21 having catalysis for gas decomposition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2011
    Publication date: April 25, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu
  • Publication number: 20130101920
    Abstract: Provided are a catalyst, an electrode, a fuel cell, a gas detoxification apparatus, and the like that can promote a general electrochemical reaction causing gas decomposition or the like. A catalyst according to the present invention is used for promoting an electrochemical reaction and is chain particles 3 formed of an alloy particles containing nickel (Ni) and at least one selected from the group consisting of iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), tungsten (W), and copper (Cu).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Publication date: April 25, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Toshio Ueda, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Publication number: 20130089810
    Abstract: Provided is a gas decomposition component that employs an electrochemical reaction to reduce the running cost and can have high treatment performance. A gas decomposition component includes a cylindrical-body MEA 7 including an anode 2 on an inner-surface side, a cathode 5 on an outer-surface side, and a solid electrolyte 1; and a porous metal body 11s that is inserted on the inner-surface side of the cylindrical-body MEA and is electrically connected to the anode 2, wherein a metal mesh sheet 11a is disposed between the anode 2 and the porous metal body 11s. Another gas decomposition component includes the cylindrical MEA 7 and silver-paste-coated wiring 12g formed on the cathode 5, wherein the silver-paste-coated wiring 12g is a porous body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Publication date: April 11, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Toshiyuki Kuramoto, Toshio Ueda, Tomoyuki Awazu
  • Publication number: 20130089806
    Abstract: Provided is a gas decomposition component that employs an electrochemical reaction and can have high treatment performance, in particular, an ammonia decomposition component. The gas decomposition component includes a MEA 7 including a solid electrolyte 1 and an anode 2 and a cathode 5 that are disposed so as to sandwich the solid electrolyte; Celmets 11s electrically connected to the anode 2; a heater 41 that heats the MEA; and an inlet 17 through which a gaseous fluid containing a gas is introduced into the MEA, an outlet 19 through which the gaseous fluid having passed through the MEA is discharged, and a passage P extending between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the Celmets 11s are discontinuously disposed along the passage P and, with respect to a middle position 15 of the passage, the length of the Celmets disposed is larger on the side of the outlet than on the side of the inlet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Publication date: April 11, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Toshio Ueda, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Publication number: 20130084514
    Abstract: Provided are a gas decomposition component in which an electrochemical reaction is used to reduce the running cost and high treatment performance can be achieved; and a method for producing the gas decomposition component. The gas decomposition component includes a cylindrical MEA 7 including an anode 2 on an inner-surface side, a cathode 5 on an outer-surface side, and a solid electrolyte 1 sandwiched between the anode and the cathode; a porous metal body 11s that is inserted on the inner-surface side of the cylindrical MEA and is in contact with the first electrode; and a central conductive rod 11k inserted so as to serve as an electrically conductive shaft of the porous metal body 11s.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Publication date: April 4, 2013
    Applicant: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Chihiro Hiraiwa, Masatoshi Majima, Tetsuya Kuwabara, Tomoyuki Awazu, Toshio Ueda, Toshiyuki Kuramoto
  • Patent number: 8377567
    Abstract: A porous metal member composed of an alloy at least containing nickel and tungsten is provided. The alloy may contain 50 to 80 wt % of nickel and 20 to 50 wt % of tungsten and may further contain 10 wt % or less of phosphorus and/or 10 wt % or less of boron. Such a porous metal member can be produced by, for example, making a porous base such as a urethane foam be electrically conductive, forming an alloy film containing nickel and tungsten, then removing the porous base from the alloy film, and subsequently reducing the alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignees: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Sumitomo Electric Toyama Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuki Okuno, Masahiro Kato, Tomoyuki Awazu, Masatoshi Majima, Hidetoshi Saito, Keiji Shiraishi, Hitoshi Tsuchida, Junichi Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20120321951
    Abstract: A porous metal body containing continuous pores and having a low oxygen content is provided by decomposing a porous resin body that contains continuous pores and has a layer of a metal thereon by heating the porous resin body at a temperature equal to or less than the melting point of the metal while the porous resin body is immersed in a first molten salt and a negative potential is applied to the metal layer; and a method for producing the porous metal body is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2012
    Publication date: December 20, 2012
    Inventors: Koutarou KIMURA, Koji NITTA, Akihisa HOSOE, Shinji INAZAWA, Kazuki OKUNO, Masatoshi MAJIMA, Hajime OTA, Shoichiro SAKAI, Kengo GOTO, Tomoyuki AWAZU