Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Citizen Tokei Kabushiki Kaisha

Nobuhiro Fueki

Tomoyuki Nishio

Nariaki Kuriyama

Mizuho Doi

Sukeyuki Shinotsuka

Satoshi Hiyama

Atsushi Inaba

Hiroshi Yamakawa

Makoto Furukawa

Takashi Hosoi

Masaki Kunigami

Sukeyuju Shinotuka

Tomoyuki Kamiyama

Katsuhiko Takebe

Koji Oda

Hideo Seki

Masatoshi Kobayashi

Toshiaki Tanaka

Jiro Kurita

Keiji Otsuka

Toshio Imai

Jiro Kirita

Hironori Watanabe

In an FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating) sensor, a stress direction converter includes a flat portion to which stresses are applied from the exterior, and stress transmitting sections that are bridged from the flat portion to an optical fiber cable. An inclined portion of the optical fiber cable, through which reflected light reflected by gratings is transmitted, is disposed along an inclined section that makes up one of the stress transmitting sections.

Optical fiber sensor, pressure sensor, end effector and stress detecting method using the same

An FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating) sensor is equipped with a plurality of stress detection sensors made up from optical fibers in which gratings that reflect light of a specified wavelength are arrayed, and a stress direction converter that converts stresses applied from the exterior into stresses of a direction in which the gratings are arrayed, and which transmits the stresses to each of the gratings. Consequently, the stress direction converter can transmit stresses, which are applied from a body, to a plurality of gratings.

Optical fiber sensor, pressure sensor, end effector and sensor signal processor

A welding condition monitoring device for monitoring the welding state of a welding work portion by taking an image thereof by an image sensor having a wide dynamic range and capable of taking an image covering a very bright welding portion and relatively dark portion. The monitoring device selectively emphasizes the outputs of the image sensor for any of luminance areas of the image taken by the image sensor using a sensor output characteristic table and can provide an image clearly showing both the very bright welding portion and the dark bead portion with a sufficient contrast allowing an observer to reliably recognize the objects in the image.

Welding condition monitoring device

Disclosed is an image sensor consisting of light sensor circuits arranged to form an array of pixels, each of which produces in a photoelectric converting element a sensor current proportional to the quantity of light falling thereon and converts the sensor current into a voltage signal by a MOS type transistor with a logarithmic output characteristic in a weak inverse state, wherein a means for changing over a drain voltage of the transistor for each light sensor circuit to a value lower than a normal value for a specified time to remove a charge accumulated in a parasitic capacity of the photoelectric converting element to initialize the circuit before detecting a light signal. The image sensor can obtain a voltage signal corresponding to the quantity of incident light even if the sensor current was rapidly changed, thereby eliminating the possibility of occurrence of afterglow of each pixel even at a small quantity of incident light.

Image sensor with a voltage switching circuit for low afterglow

A photosensor circuit comprises a photodiode PD, which converts a light signal into electricity, an n-channel MOS transistor QDwhich has a logarithmic characteristic in its weakly reversed condition and converts a sensor current generated by the photodiode PD into a detection voltage which has a logarithmic characteristic, and a capacitor which is connected to a detection terminal of this transistor QD. A resetting voltage VG=VS is applied to the gate G of the transistor QDto lower the impedance between the drain and the source of the transistor for resetting the transistor to an initial condition. As the n-channel MOS transistor QDis a depletion type n-channel MOS transistor, when this transistor QDdoes not receive any gate voltage, the transistor stays in a weakly reversed condition and has a logarithmic characteristic. This photosensor circuit has a high SN ratio and is capable of detecting minute light signals in high precision. Furthermore, it shows no after-image phenomenon and requires a relatively small number of power sources.

Photosensor circuit capable of detecting minute light signal in high precision and image sensor utilizing photosensor circuit

A very small and economical acceleration sensor which can detect acting acceleration with high sensitivity and high accuracy by precisely processing a semiconductor substrate and the like by using the photoengraving technique in a semiconductor manufacturing process to accurately form the elements themselves such as a sensor case, a cavity, a heater, a temperature-sensing resistor element, and a heat-type temperature-sensing resistor element, and the relative placement of each element. One embodiment of the acceleration sensor can detect acceleration acting from any of the three-dimensional directions.

Acceleration sensor with temperature resistor elements

A hybrid sensor which is comprised of an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration based on a temperature distribution of a predetermined gas hermetically enclosed within a fluid-tight space, and an angular velocity sensor for detecting angular velocity based on a deviation of a flow of a predetermined gas. The acceleration sensor and the angular velocity sensor are formed in one piece by the use of semiconductor processing technology in such a manner that the acceleration sensor and the angular velocity sensor are formed on a plurality of semiconductor substrates, and then the plurality of semiconductor substrates are superposed one upon another and united into a laminate.

Hybrid sensor

Acceleration sensor

A multiple-axis gas flow type angular velocity sensor which can accurately and stably detect the magnitude and direction of angular velocities acting in any direction on the sensor main body is provided by performing precision processing on semiconductor substrates using a photo engraving process, which is a process for producing semiconductors, and forming a plurality of pairs of thermosensitive resistor elements, a gas passage and a sensor case by laminating a plurality of semiconductor substrates.

Multiple-axis gas flow type angular velocity sensor

A gas flow type angular velocity sensor which is capable of reliably sensing an angular velocity while accurately controlling the working gas flow with temperature compensation by using a pair of heat wires as a gas flow sensor without providing any additional gas flow sensor in the sensor body wherein an angular velocity sensing bridge circuit is provided at its current supply source with a temperature compensating circuit connected in series which temperature compensating circuit is composed of a pair of series or parallel connected resistance elements, one of which is a thermosensitive resistance element disposed in a gas path and the other of which is a reference resistance element disposed outside the gas path.

Gas flow type angular velocity sensor

A semiconductor gas rate sensor includes a base composed of a first semiconductor substrate and a second semiconductor substrate bonded thereto by a thermosetting adhesive layer deposited on a mating surface of the second semiconductor substrate, the base having a gas flow passage defined therein and a nozzle defined therein for injecting a gas flow into the gas flow passage, and a detector disposed in and extending across the gas flow passage for detecting a deflected state of the gas flow when an angular velocity acts on the base, the nozzle being formed between a recess defined in mating surface of the first semiconductor substrate and the mating surface of the second semiconductor substrate. To manufacture the semiconductor gas rate sensor, the first semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor substrate are joined to each other with the thermosetting adhesive layer on the mating surface of the second semiconductor substrate, and thereafter, the first semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor substrate are heated while the second semiconductor substrate is being kept underneath the first semiconductor substrate.

Growing community of inventors

Wako, Japan

Nobuhiro Fueki