Patents by Inventor Toshikazu Kawashima

Toshikazu Kawashima 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: 9980344
    Abstract: A luminaire includes a light source, a terminal that receives a dimming signal indicating a dimming rate and a parameter signal including a predetermined coefficient, a storage that stores the predetermined coefficient included in the parameter signal received by the terminal, a controller that generates a control value by multiplying information based on the dimming signal received by the terminal by the predetermined coefficient stored in the storage, and a lighting circuit that causes the light source to output light at a brightness in accordance with the control value provided by the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuki Kimura, Toshikazu Kawashima, Yuichi Ejiri
  • Publication number: 20170215250
    Abstract: A luminaire includes a light source, a terminal that receives a dimming signal indicating a dimming rate and a parameter signal including a predetermined coefficient, a storage that stores the predetermined coefficient included in the parameter signal received by the terminal, a controller that generates a control value by multiplying information based on the dimming signal received by the terminal by the predetermined coefficient stored in the storage, and a lighting circuit that causes the light source to output light at a brightness in accordance with the control value provided by the controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2017
    Publication date: July 27, 2017
    Inventors: Yuki KIMURA, Toshikazu KAWASHIMA, Yuichi EJIRI
  • Patent number: 9084305
    Abstract: A lighting system includes a lighting load and a lighting control device. The lighting control device is configured to adjust a light output of the lighting load to a first light output corresponding to a first correlated color temperature and a first illuminance in a first time slot, and to decrease the light output of the lighting load up to a second light output corresponding to a second correlated color temperature and a second illuminance with the passage of time in a second time slot after the first time slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Naohiro Toda, Hiroki Noguchi, Tadashi Nishimura, Shinsuke Nishioka, Toshikazu Kawashima
  • Patent number: 9078304
    Abstract: The lighting system includes a plurality of lighting apparatuses and a controller configured to control the lighting apparatuses. Upon receiving a random number generation instruction from the controller, the lighting apparatus generates a first random number and a second random number by using a random number generation unit, and counts synchronization signals sent from the controller. When acknowledging that the counted number of the synchronization signals is equal to the first random number, the lighting apparatus sends the second random number to the controller. The controller identifies the lighting apparatuses based on the second random numbers respectively received from the lighting apparatuses, and uniquely allocates mutually different addresses to the respective identified lighting apparatuses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Tanigawa, Yuichi Ejiri, Toshikazu Kawashima
  • Publication number: 20130334983
    Abstract: The lighting system includes a plurality of lighting apparatuses and a controller configured to control the lighting apparatuses. Upon receiving a random number generation instruction from the controller, the lighting apparatus generates a first random number and a second random number by using a random number generation unit, and counts synchronization signals sent from the controller. When acknowledging that the counted number of the synchronization signals is equal to the first random number, the lighting apparatus sends the second random number to the controller. The controller identifies the lighting apparatuses based on the second random numbers respectively received from the lighting apparatuses, and uniquely allocates mutually different addresses to the respective identified lighting apparatuses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2013
    Publication date: December 19, 2013
    Applicant: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuya TANIGAWA, Yuichi EJIRI, Toshikazu KAWASHIMA
  • Publication number: 20130229113
    Abstract: A lighting system includes a lighting load and a lighting control device. The lighting control device is configured to adjust a light output of the lighting load to a first light output corresponding to a first correlated color temperature and a first illuminance in a first time slot, and to decrease the light output of the lighting load up to a second light output corresponding to a second correlated color temperature and a second illuminance with the passage of time in a second time slot after the first time slot.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2013
    Publication date: September 5, 2013
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naohiro TODA, Hiroki NOGUCHI, Tadashi NISHIMURA, Shinsuke NISHIOKA, Toshikazu KAWASHIMA
  • Patent number: 8167453
    Abstract: An illumination device includes an illumination lamp installed to a device housing, a sensor for use in controlling the lighting operation of the illumination lamp, and a sensor attachment unit through which the sensor is detachably attached to the device housing such that a sensing unit of the sensor is exposed to the outside. The illumination device further includes a decoration member for attachment to the sensor attachment unit when the sensor is not attached to the sensor attachment unit, the decoration member having substantially the same outward appearance as that of the sensor. The sensor and the decoration member are interchangeably attached to the sensor attachment unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Toshikazu Kawashima, Atsuo Nanahara, Yuichi Ejiri
  • Patent number: 7973498
    Abstract: An illumination control system includes lighting apparatuses connected to a communications line and a number of functional units of plural kinds functioning to detect information from ambient environments of the lighting apparatuses. Each lighting apparatus includes a lamp, an illumination circuit, a communication unit, a control unit, and a unit attaching part to which the functional unit is detachably attached. Each lighting apparatus belongs to one or more of plural groups corresponding to the functional units, the groups being operated based on information detected by the respective functional units. A functional unit having a detecting function corresponding to an operation of each group is attached to each unit attaching part of at least one lighting apparatus of each group, and each communication unit of the at least one lighting apparatus sends the control signal including information detected by the corresponding functional unit to another lighting apparatus in the same group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshikazu Kawashima, Junichi Katou, Atsuo Nanahara
  • Publication number: 20100092094
    Abstract: A brightness detection system includes an image sensor for generating imaging data formed of pixels, and a calculation unit for finding the brightness of an object by calculating the imaging data. The calculation unit is designed to execute a calculation only for selected arbitrary pixels among the pixels of the imaging data and falling within a preliminarily designated brightness detection range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2009
    Publication date: April 15, 2010
    Applicant: Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsuya Tanigawa, Shinji Matsuda, Toshikazu Kawashima
  • Publication number: 20090212718
    Abstract: An illumination control system includes lighting apparatuses connected to a communications line and a number of functional units of plural kinds functioning to detect information from ambient environments of the lighting apparatuses. Each lighting apparatus includes a lamp, an illumination circuit, a communication unit, a control unit, and a unit attaching part to which the functional unit is detachably attached. Each lighting apparatus belongs to one or more of plural groups corresponding to the functional units, the groups being operated based on information detected by the respective functional units. A functional unit having a detecting function corresponding to an operation of each group is attached to each unit attaching part of at least one lighting apparatus of each group, and each communication unit of the at least one lighting apparatus sends the control signal including information detected by the corresponding functional unit to another lighting apparatus in the same group.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2009
    Publication date: August 27, 2009
    Applicant: Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshikazu Kawashima, Junichi Katou, Atsuo Nanahara
  • Patent number: 6079862
    Abstract: Automatic tracking lighting equipment for automatically tracking a target to be illuminated. A spotlight is supported for pivoting in horizontal and vertical directions on a ceiling surface. A horizontal drive mechanism changes the horizontal angle of the spotlight and a vertical drive mechanism changes the vertical angle of the spotlight. A CCD camera picks up the image of a target area to be illuminated. An image recognition unit processes the image from the CCD camera to recognize the target to be illuminated and to specify its coordinates. A coordinate calculation unit calculates how far to move the spotlight based on a distance of the target to be illuminated. A movable control unit converts the output of the coordinate calculation unit into drive signals for the horizontal drive mechanism and for the vertical drive mechanism and outputs drive signals to pivot the spotlight in a desired direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2000
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshikazu Kawashima, Minoru Yoshida, Satoshi Furukawa, Kenichi Hagio