A Study of Identifying Trends in Projector using F-Term Codes from Japanese Patent Applications

It is important for companies to understand technological trends when developing technologies and products. Based on Utterback and Abernathy's theory of the emergence of dominant design, we investigate a method of obtaining technological trends using patent information. In a previous study, we visualised the innovation state and obtained the emergence of dominant designs using FI and theme codes, which are original patent classification codes of Japanese patents, as well as F-terms. However, there has not been sufficient research conducted on how to obtain patent applications and how to select FIs, theme codes, and F-terms, which are the preconditions for the analysis. In this study, we discuss a procedure for obtaining patent applications, selecting FIs, theme codes and F-terms, visualising the innovation state, and predicting the emergence of dominant designs, and report the results

Formulating Growth Guidelines in the Innovation Process: The Case of Mechanical Engineering SMEs

In Japan and Germany, the mechanical engineering industry is a significant industrial sector, and the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute a large proportion of the number of firms and employees, has a considerable impact on a country\u27s growth. Innovation is an effective approach for firms to achieve growth. In this study, we propose that the phase of formulating growth guidelines, which include three factors: growth objectives, scope, and directions for growth, should be establish before the phase of implementing the innovation process. A new scope framework is constructed and a method for evaluating the consistency of the growth guidelines is presented. The method is applied to Japanese mechanical engineering SMEs that have achieved growth through innovation, and the applicability of the framework and the consistency of the growth guidelines are confirmed. This study provides an idea of growth guidelines that can be used to guide decision making in implementing the innovation proces

A Study on Prerequisite Steps and Decision Making to Increase a Provability of Innovation in Mechanical Engineering SMEs

This study is a case study of two Japanese SMEs, Y and O, that have created core technologies through mechanical engineering, achieved sustainable growth through technological innovation, and achieved niche top company status. Companies need to generate innovation to achieve sustainable growth, and various studies have been conducted on innovation models. It has also been shown that innovation is not a one-off event but a process and that it is important to manage the process appropriately. In this context, we propose a four-stage process, beginning with the "Generating value" step as a framework for the innovation process of a company aiming for sustainable growth. To increase the certainty of innovation, management needs to understand the readiness of the innovation process to determine the decision to execute the process. Accordingly, this study proposed a method to check the readiness of the innovation process by creating a "state diagram of sub-elements for the prospect of generating innovations" to help management determine the decision to execute the process before the "Generating Value" step of the innovation process. In order to confirm the validity of the state diagram, we examined how the management of Company Y\u27s refrigerated vehicle business and Company O\u27s mower business have judged their decision-making to implement the innovation process, based on a review of company documents and interviews with the management. The results of the comparative verification between the state diagrams and actual results are reporte

A Framework That Shows the Process to Help Customers Understand the Value at Each Stage of Product Development

New products for new markets must meet market requirements. However, in the early stage of the new product development, the market requirements cannot be accurately understood. Therefore, we believe that finding the good customers, educating them, and helping them understand the value at each stage of product development is essential. We show a framework in which the process of searching for good customers and helping the customers understand the value at each development stage of the new product for the new market. Furthermore, we discuss whether this framework can be effective in the development of new products for new market

Analysis of three-layer gasket performance affected by flange surface

Gaskets are components that play a very important role in piping connections to prevent leakage. Several factors affect the performance of the gasket, one of which is the contact surface of the flange. The quality of the contact surfaces in the connection also influences the leakage rate of each connection, therefore the gasket sealing performance is assessed by the rate of leakage that occurs. As a result, the surface roughness of the flange has an effect on sealing. This study examines the capability of a three-layer corrugated metal gasket to prevent leakage when the outside layer thickness and flange roughness are adjusted. The feature of three-layer corrugated metal gasket was elucidated using the finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental method. The leak rate was tested using a helium leak quantity test experimentally. The gasket was constructed with oxygen-free copper (C1020) as the outside layer and SUS304 as the base layer, and it was structured in a three-layer pattern with no bonding. A mold press was used to make the gasket. The simulation method applies finite element analysis software to investigate the correlation between contact stress, contact width, surface thickness and surface roughness. The projected results matched the experiment results fairly well. A three-layer corrugated metal gasket shows improvement capability to prevent leakage than a single gasket (standard). The gasket three-layer shows sealing performance improvement that leakage did not occur in low axial force 40 kN for all surface roughness test. In terms of sealing, a three-layer gasket with a low thickness ratio works well. Surface roughness of the flange has no influence on the three-layer gaske

The real contact width evaluation of a three-layer metal gasket

The performance of a three-layer metal gasket is affected by the contact width between the gasket surface and the rough flanges. In the simulation, proper flange roughness modeling will make it easier to predict the gasket performance later. The surface roughness modeling in the simulation will be compared with experimental measurements to determine how much contact occurs due to the rough flange surface. Experimental measurement of real contact width using a digital microscope and simulation using finite element software. The measurements between the simulation results of the real surface roughness model and the experimental results show that they are close to the same. So it can be said that our simulation model is close to the actual conditions

Optimum Design of Laminated Corrugated Metal Gasket Using Computer Simulation

Previous studies on corrugated metal gaskets using single material SUS 304 was clarified. However, the corrugated metal gasket for elastic model in contact with flange having high surface roughness was still leaking due to only partial contact occurs. Besides that, for gasket contact with another surface roughness of flange still need high axial force. Further development is needed to improve gasket perform. The basic problem of single material SUS 304 is lower of contact width. The contact stress is larger enough to reduce the internal pressure effect of piping. To increase the contact width between flange and gasket, it needed surface layer in the both outside of gasket. The layer materials should softer than base material. The layer material will stick on the outer surface of flange. The optimization analysis using simulation analysis. Simulation analysis using finite element method based on contact width and contact stress. The Taguchi method used to determine the optimum design. The optimum design of laminated corrugated metal gasket has been obtained. The dimension of laminated corrugated metal gasket is pitch 1 is 4.5mm, pitch 2 is 3.4 mm, pitch 3 is 4 mm, thickness of based material is 1,5 mm, radius is 1,5 mm, height is 0.35 and thickness of surface material is 0.1 mm. This gasket is better than corrugated metal gasket without laminated

Forecasting the Timing of the Emergence of a Dominant Design: The Case of the Projectors

The timing of market entry is important for companies to achieve commercial success. The relationship between good market entry timing and the emergence of a dominant design was discussed. However, the dominant design was assumed to be known only in retrospect. In this study, targeting the projector industry, we demonstrate that the timing of the emergence of the dominant design can be forecast in advance by deriving the time relationship between product launch and patent application. The emergence of dominant designs and the timing of their emergence were identified based on the analysis of product trends in the market. The timing of the patent application that the dominant design will emerge was forecast based on the analysis of technology trends using patent information. The cycle type of the projector industry was considered, and the time lag between patent application and product launch was inferred. This study provides a useful insight into the dominant design

Estudio sobre la relación entre la "toma de decisiones directivas" y los "factores que influyen en el éxito de la innovación" en las empresas japonesas de nicho superior

In Japan, there is a niche top company in the mower category of the agricultural machinery market, Company O, which has continued to grow by creating a series of new products that did not exist in the market. In this study, we report the results of our research on Company O, a niche top company, and how they have controlled the factors that affect the growth of the company in the innovation process and how the management has been involved in controlling these factors in order to create innovation in their products and market growth. We report the results of our research and discussion on how managers have been involved in the control of these factors and in decision making.En Japón existe una empresa nicho top en la categoría de cortacésped del mercado de maquinaria agrícola, la Empresa O, que ha seguido creciendo mediante la creación de una serie de nuevos productos que no existían en el mercado. En este estudio, se informan los resultados de nuestra investigación sobre la Empresa O, una empresa líder en su nicho, y cómo han controlado los factores que afectan al crecimiento de la empresa en el proceso de innovación, así como la dirección empresarial se ha implicado en el control de estos factores para crear innovación en sus productos y crecer en el mercado. Por otra parte, se debate sobre no sólo en cómo han participado los directivos en el control de estos factores sino también en la toma de decisiones

Análisis de tendencias tecnológicas mediante el uso de la patente japonesa F-trem y clarificación de la tecnología central con el enfoque de Despliegue de la Función de Calidad (QFD)

When a company develops technologies or products, it is important to obtain the trend of technology. It is necessary to obtain the trend of technology from macro and micro perspectives. In this case, patent information was used in both macro- and micro- perspectives. The core technologies of the companies are used to analyze the trend of technology from the micro perspective. The QFD approach is used as a method to identify the core technology of a company. From the core technology obtained by the QFD method, the patent classification codes are identified. The changes in technology were obtained by using the patent classification code.Cuando una empresa desarrolla tecnologías o productos, es importante obtener la tendencia de la tecnología. Es necesario obtener la tendencia de la tecnología desde las perspectivas macro y micro. En este caso, se utilizó información sobre patentes tanto en la perspectiva macro como en la micro. Las tecnologías principales de las empresas se utilizan para analizar la tendencia de la tecnología desde la perspectiva micro. El enfoque QFD se utiliza como método para identificar la tecnología central de una empresa. A partir de la tecnología central obtenida mediante el método QFD, se identifican los códigos de clasificación de patentes. Los cambios en la tecnología se obtuvieron utilizando el código de clasificación de patentes