Denso Corporation

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Nagoya University

Captex Co., Ltd.

Mitsuru Fujita

Akira Ito

Kazuyoshi Obayashi

Mitsuyasu Matsuura

Tatsuya Suzuki

Toshihiro Hattori

Masahito Mizukoshi

Akira Sakamoto

Kenichi Tanaka

Takuma Yamaguchi

Kiyonari Kojima

Atsuyuki Hiruma

Shinji Fukui

Jun Ishii

Shinkichi Inagaki

Yukitsugu Sakaguchi

Masahiro Sumiya

Junichirou Kanamori

Toshiki Isogai

Hisanaga Matsuoka

Hiroshige Asada

Naoki Kamikawa

Ayako Okamoto

Shinji Katoh

Motoi Oda

An availability prediction apparatus includes an access section that accesses a storage section and a prediction section. The storage section stores availability specified periods occurred before a present time associated with respective frequencies of the availability specified periods, and the access section acquires the availability specified periods from the storage section. The prediction section predicts at least one target availability specified period within a prediction term, which begins at the present time and ends at a time later than the present time by a predetermined term. The prediction section includes a correlating section that correlates the availability specified periods with candidate periods included in the prediction term, and a selection section that specifies and selects one of the candidate periods having a highest occurrence probability as the target availability specified period.

Availability prediction apparatus for electric power storage device

A power supply system for supplying a grid power to a building includes a power generator, a power storing device, and a power controller. The power generator generates off-grid power from a predetermined energy. The power storing device stores the grid power and the off-grid power and supplies the stored power to the building. The power controller controls consumptions of the grid power and the off-grid power. The power controller calculates predicted consumption data related to power consumed in the building and predicted generation data related to power generated by the power generator. The power controller calculates a charging-discharging schedule for the power storing device based on the predicted consumption data and the predicted generation data by formulating the charging-discharging schedule as a mixed integer programming problem.

Power supply system

The electric power supply system includes a stationary device and a mobile device. The mobile device includes a rotary electric machine driven by an engine, a vehicular battery which is used to move the vehicle, and an emergency battery. The stationary battery in the stationary device may be charged by either one of the rotary electric machine, the stationary battery or the emergency battery via an inter-battery power line. The amount of charge to the stationary battery is set based on an amount of necessary power WRQ which the stationary device needs, and an amount of available power WVH which the mobile device can supply. The stationary battery can be charged in an efficient manner and with a sufficient amount of electric power.

Vehicular electric power supply device and electric power supply system

A battery charging system for a vehicle, capable of charging a vehicle battery pack properly in a short time even during driving a vehicle-mounted electrical load. The battery charging system includes the battery pack mounted in the vehicle, the vehicle-mounted electrical load that can be driven by a current from the battery pack, and a battery charge controller that controls charging of the battery pack. When the battery pack is charged by using an external battery charger during operation of the load, the battery charge controller requires the external battery charger to supply a sum current that is a sum of a current for charging the battery pack and a current for driving the load to the vehicle.

Battery charging system for vehicle and battery charge controller in the same

A storage battery has at least battery banks, switching units, a charging terminal, a discharging terminal and a battery management unit. The battery banks form a bank structure. Each switching unit electrically connects a group of the battery banks with either the charging terminal or the discharging terminal, and disconnects the group of the battery banks from the charging terminal or the discharging terminal. The battery management unit instructs the switching units to electrically and simultaneously connect one or more battery banks to the charging terminal during charging, and to electrically and simultaneously connect one or more battery banks to the discharging terminal during discharging.

Storage battery

A power supply apparatus for a vehicle supplies/charges electric power to/from a power supply unit. The vehicle includes a first power-inverter circuit, a capacitor, high-resistance and low-resistance electric-paths between the capacitor and a battery, a first switching unit opening/closing the electric-paths, and a unit operating the first switching unit, when connecting between the battery and the first power-inverter circuit, in such a manner that after the high-resistance electric path is closed and the low-resistance electric path is opened, the high-resistance electric-path is opened and the low-resistance electric-path is closed. The apparatus includes an electric power transferring electric-path, an operating unit operating the first power-inverter circuit to supply/receive electric power to/from the power supply unit, and a prohibiting unit prohibiting the electric-path between the power supply unit and the first power-inverter circuit from closing when the amount of charge of the capacitor is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

Power supply apparatus for vehicle

A power supply apparatus for a vehicle is provided which supplies electric power to a power supply unit and charges electric power from the power supply unit via a power port. The vehicle includes a plurality of power inverter circuits which are connected to a common storage unit in parallel. The plurality of power inverter circuits include an electric power transferring power inverter circuit connected to the power port via an electric power transferring electric path, and are divided into a first category including the electric power transferring power inverter circuit and a second category. The power supply apparatus includes a connection prohibiting unit which realizes a state in which the power inverter circuit included in the first category is electrically connected to the storage unit, and the power inverter circuit included in the second category is disconnected from the storage unit.

An antenna apparatus is disclosed. The antenna apparatus includes a board and a line antenna. The board includes: a base part having dielectric layers and a conductive layer disposed between the dielectric layers; multiple metal plates arranged on one surface of the base part while being spaced apart at even intervals so as to provide a band-gap surface; and a connection part via which the conductive layer is electrically connectable with the multiple metal plates. The line antenna is located on a band-gap surface side of the board, is arranged along the band gap surface, and is configured to receive and transmit the electromagnetic wave within an operating frequency band. The connection part includes a first adjustment circuit that is configured to individually adjust an impedance between the conductive layer and each of the plurality of metal plates.

Antenna apparatus

A location detection apparatus is disclosed that includes: a light source; a light output side reflector having a reflecting surface for reflecting light from the light source to a space; a rotation mechanism for rotating the light output side reflector; a first light receiving element for receiving the light reflected from an object existing in the space; a light reception side reflector for reflecting the light from the object to the first light receiving element; a second light receiving element for receiving the light from the light output side reflector; a light conductor for conducting the light reflected from or transmitted through the reflecting surface toward the second light receiving element when the light output side reflector is in a predetermined position; and a rotational position detector that detects rotational position of the light output side reflector based on a detection result of the second light receiving element.

Location detection apparatus

A driving support apparatus has a display mounted in a vehicle, a driving information receiving unit receiving a steering angle of a steering wheel of the vehicle, and a control unit. The control unit produces a vehicle figure imitating a shape of the vehicle and a tire figure imitating a shape of a tire of the vehicle in a bird's-eye view, calculates a predicted running locus of the vehicle, detects positions of portions of an obstacle facing the vehicle one after another, and controls the display to display a driving support image including the vehicle figure, the tire figure, the running locus and obstacle detecting marks indicating the positions of the obstacle while changing a direction of the tire figure with respect to the vehicle figure according to the steering angle. A driver recognizes a turning rate of the vehicle from the direction of the tire figure.

Driving support apparatus

An antenna apparatus has a ground plane and a traveling-wave linear antenna The ground plane has a dielectric layer and metallic plates disposed on the dielectric layer. The plates placed on a front side of the ground plane act as a band gap surface. The dielectric constant and thickness of the dielectric layer, the number of plates and the width of spaces among the plates are adjusted, so that the band gap surface prevents propagation of electromagnetic waves within a specific frequency band. The antenna is disposed over the band gap surface on the front side of the ground plane to be spaced away from the band gap surface. The antenna radiates electromagnetic waves of an operational frequency within the specific frequency band in response to an alternating current of the operational frequency fed to the linear antenna.

Antenna apparatus for radio communication

An ultrasonic sensor includes: a first vibrator for transmitting an ultrasonic wave; multiple second vibrators for outputting a reception signal of a reflection wave; a casing having a bottom for accommodating the vibrators, an outer surface of the bottom providing a vibrating surface; and multiple tubes for guiding the ultrasonic wave. Each tube has a first opening coupled with an outside of a mobile body. An area of the first opening is smaller than an area of the vibrating surface. A distance between two adjacent first openings is smaller than a distance between two adjacent vibrating surfaces. The length of the tubes is determined to equalize a phase difference of the reflection waves at the first openings is equal to that at the vibrating surfaces.

Growing community of inventors

Kuwana, Japan

Mitsuru Fujita