Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited

Ishihara Chemical Co., Ltd.

Takashi Okada

Noriyuki Okaya

Minehiko Mukaida

Fumitaka Tachinami

Hiroshi Sakaue

Kosuke Masuda

Shinichi Miyata

Manabu Matsui

Satoshi Wada

Yoshifumi Kawagoe

Hiroaki Kagaya

Tetsuya Yamamoto

Takafumi Okamoto

Ei Uchida

Saori Yoshida

Takeru Kuzuya

Toshiya Hayashi

Seiji Kashiwagi

Mikita Seto

Shunta Kokatsu

An underwater docking system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: an underwater vehicle that sails in water; and an underwater station with which the underwater vehicle docks. One of the underwater vehicle and the underwater station includes: a reference point; and a first fitting located around the reference point as a center. The other of the underwater vehicle and the underwater station includes: a detector that detects the reference point; and a second fitting located around the detector as a center and fitted to the first fitting. One of the first fitting and the second fitting is an annular groove. The other of the first fitting and the second fitting includes at least two protrusions that are inserted into the annular groove.

Underwater docking system, underwater vehicle, and underwater station

A tyre includes a crown land portion, an outboard middle land portion, an outboard shoulder land portion, an outboard crown circumferential groove, an outboard shoulder circumferential groove, an inboard middle land portion, an inboard shoulder land portion, an inboard crown circumferential groove, and an inboard shoulder circumferential groove. The outboard middle land portion is provided with full-opened outboard middle sipe that are inclined to a tyre axial direction. The outboard middle sipes each have two opposite sipe-edge portions provided with chamfer portions. In each chamfer portion of each outboard middle sipe, chamfer widths at both ends of the outboard middle sipe are larger than a chamfer width of a central portion of the outboard middle sipe. The outboard shoulder land portion is provided with outboard shoulder sipes that are inclined in the same direction as the outboard middle sipes to the tyre axial direction.

Tyre

A pneumatic tire comprises a sidewall portion of which outer surface is provided with a decorative portion extending in the tire circumferential direction in an arc shape. The decorative portion is formed from a first pattern area and a second pattern area having different surface aspects. When the decorative portion is divided into a number N of decorative zones (N&#x3e;2) by equally-spaced parallel straight lines which are perpendicular to a reference center line extending in a tire radial direction, percentages of occupied area of the first pattern area in the respective decorative zones are gradually increased from the radially innermost decorative zone to the radially outermost decorative zone.

Pneumatic tire

A charging system includes a charging station having: a base underwater; a pole extending in an upper-lower direction; and a power supplying portion. An AUV includes: an underwater main body; a power receiving portion; a holding device including a pair of guide and holding portions, the pair of guide portions guides the pole to a holding position after the pole contacts the guide portions from a proceeding-direction, the holding portion holds the pole to be rotatable relative to the pole; a thrust generating apparatus generates in a horizontal direction; and a control device controls the thrust generating apparatus. A light emitter at one of the base and the underwater main body, and a light receiver is provided at the other. The control device controls the thrust so the underwater main body reaches a rotational position where the light receiver receives light emitted, the rotational position set relative to the pole.

Charging system for autonomous underwater vehicle and method of lifting and recovering autonomous underwater vehicle

An AUV support system includes: a surface ship; an underwater station configured to support an AUV which autonomously sails in water; and a cable connecting the surface ship and the underwater station. The cable includes: a first cable portion extending downward from the surface ship through a water surface when the underwater station is suspended in the water by the cable from the surface ship that is in a stop state on the water; a second cable portion extending upward from a lower end portion of the first cable portion when the underwater station is suspended as above; and a third cable portion extending downward from an upper end portion of the second cable portion and connected to the underwater station when the underwater station is suspended as above.

Autonomous underwater vehicle support system

An underwater sailing body includes: a positioning device configured to detect positional information of a hull of the underwater sailing body; a posture detecting sensor configured to detect posture information of the hull; an actuator configured to apply thrust to the hull in a front-rear direction of the hull, a left-right direction of the hull, an upper-lower direction of the hull in water to change the position and posture of the hull; and a controller configured to control the actuator. In order to hold a hull at a target position when the hull receives an external force by disturbances, the hull keeps balance by using thrusters with respect to the external force acting on the hull. Specifically, the hull is held at the target position by controlling a thruster configured to generate thrust in a front-rear direction and a thruster configured to generate thrust in a left-right direction.

Underwater sailing body and method of controlling posture of underwater sailing body

A tire comprises a tread portion provided with a tread profile. The axial distance Lfrom the tire equator to a contact point Pbetween the tread profile and a tangential line thereto at which the angle &#x3b8; of the tangential line becomes 3 degrees with respect to the tire-axial-direction line, is smaller than 65% of a half tread width Tw. The difference (&#x3b8;&#x2212;&#x3b8;) of an angle &#x3b8;of the tangential line at an axial position Papart from the tire equator by 90% of the half tread width Tw, from an angle &#x3b8;of the tangential line at an axial position Papart from the tire equator by 60% of the half tread width Tw, is in a range from 7 to 12 degrees.

Tire

A tireincludes shoulder regionseach provided with first lateral groovesand second lateral grooves. Each of the first lateral groovesincludes an inner portionthat extends axially outwardly from an inner end () arranged axially outside a crown main groovewith a space therebetween and obliquely at an angle &#x3b8;with respect to the tire axial direction, and an outer portionthat extends obliquely at an angle &#x3b8;smaller than the angle &#x3b8;with respect to the tire axial direction so as to cross a tread edge (Te). Each of the second lateral groovesis arranged between adjacent first lateral grooves and extends axially outwardly from an inner end () thereof arranged axially outside the crown main groove and obliquely in the same direction as the first lateral groovesso as to terminate without reaching the tread edge (Te).

A charging system for an autonomous underwater vehicle includes: a sea floating body; a charging station suspended in water from the body through a string-shaped body and located downstream of the sea floating body by receiving a water flow, the station including a noncontact electricity supplying portion located away from the string-shaped body; and an autonomous underwater vehicle coupled to the station that is rotatable about the string-shaped body, the vehicle including a noncontact electricity receiving portion configured to receive electricity supplied from the supplying portion, wherein: the station takes by the water flow such a posture that the noncontact electricity supplying portion is located downstream of the string-shaped body in a water flow direction; and when the vehicle is coupled to the station, the vehicle takes by the water flow such a posture that the receiving portion is located downstream of the string-shaped body in the water flow direction.

Charging system for autonomous underwater vehicle

An autonomous underwater vehicle including an underwater vehicle main body incorporating a power source, a buoy connected to the underwater vehicle main body through a rope, and an ejector configured to, with the underwater vehicle main body floating on a sea surface, eject the buoy from the underwater vehicle main body by compressed gas in an obliquely upward direction.

Autonomous underwater vehicle

An underwater actuator includes: a housing to be immersed under water; a cylinder chamber formed in the housing; a piston accommodated in the cylinder chamber so the piston is movable in a sliding manner in the cylinder chamber, the piston dividing the cylinder chamber into a first and a second pressure receiving chambers; a rod extending from the piston to the first pressure receiving chamber side, the rod penetrating the housing; a release chamber formed in the housing, having an internal pressure kept lower than a water pressure outside of the housing; and a switching mechanism including: a first switcher configured to switch a communication state between the second pressure receiving chamber and the outside of the housing to allow or block communication therebetween; and a second switcher configured to switch a communication state between the second pressure receiving chamber and the release chamber to allow or block communication therebetween.

Underwater actuator and underwater vehicle including the same

An underwater docking system for an autonomous underwater vehicle, the underwater docking system including: an underwater station including a base mount fixed to a seabed and a circular frame member supported by the base mount and parallel to a horizontal plane; and an autonomous underwater vehicle configured to dock with the underwater station while sailing through an upper side of the frame member, wherein: the autonomous underwater vehicle includes an underwater vehicle main body.

Underwater docking system for autonomous underwater vehicle

The present invention provides a non-cyanide-type gold-tin alloy plating bath comprising: (i) at least one water-soluble gold compound, (ii) at least one completing agent for gold, (iii) at least one water-soluble tin compound, and (iv) at least one component selected from the group consisting of cationic macromolecular surfactants and cationic macromolecular compounds. By using the non-cyanide-type gold-tin alloy plating bath of the present invention, a gold-tin alloy plating film having good brightness, reflow properties and the like can be formed.

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Takashi Okada