News Release

November 7, 2014

Satake Employees Receive the Encouraging Award at the 2014 Invention Awards Ceremony in Chugoku District

Encouraging Award by the Director of Small and Medium Enterprise Agency for Inventing “the Full Color Optical Sorter for Farmers”

On November 5, the 2014 Invention Awards Ceremony in Chugoku District was held at Mielparque Hiroshima. Six Satake employees received the Encouraging Award from the Director of Small and Medium Enterprise Agency for inventing the Full Color Optical Sorter for Farmers (patent registration). Also, Dr. Toshiko Satake received the Performing Achievement Award as the representative of the corporation’s distinguished achievement for work on this invention.

From left, Yoichi Kawamura, Naoki Kawaguchi, Takahiro Doi, Dr.Toshiko Satake, Tadashi Matsushita, Haruyoshi Yamaguchi, Masashi Kageyama at the ceremony

This invention award is given by Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation. The institute was established in 1921 for the purpose of encouraging and developing invention, and contributing to science and technology and promoting local industry. Japan is divided into eight districts and the institute gives award to people who create excellent inventions, devices and designs, and are dedicated to innovation, and contributing to instructing, encouraging and developing inventions.

The awarded patent (Patent No.5163623) is for the Optical Sorter mainly used by rice farmers in Japan, which removes foreign materials and discolored grains from rice. The optical section facing the machine’s front side can be opened for easy cleaning inside the machine and preventing sorting performance degradation. This technology is used in Satake’s optical sorter “PIKA-SEN Series”, and it significantly contributes to widespread use of optical sorters by farmers and the production of high quality rice.

Award shield

The following six employees in Technical Division received the encouraging award by the director of Small and Medium Enterprise Agency.
Yoichi Kawamura (Sensing Systems Engineering Group)
Masashi Kageyama (Drying and Farm Processing Group)
Naoki Kawaguchi (Drying and Farm Processing Group)
Haruyoshi Yamaguchi (Drying and Farm Processing Group)
Takahiro Doi (Sensing Systems Engineering Group)
Tadashi Matsushita (Sensing Systems Engineering Group)

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