ASAHI KASEI CORPORATION signs its first-ever licensing agreement for millimeter-wave minute-metal inspection technology with a Japanese inspection equipment manufacturer

Asahi Kasei has entered into a license agreement with 株式会社アヤハエンジニアリング, which designs, manufactures and sells inspection equipment, covering the use of its millimeter-wave microscopic metal foreign-object inspection technology specifically for detecting metal foreign objects in yarn and textile products. The agreement is intended to commercialize inspection equipment using the technology, thereby advancing quality control at manufacturing sites and promoting its commercial implementation.

The technology uses a millimeter-wave cavity resonator to enable non-contact detection under a broad range of conditions, from a stationary state to high-speed transport. The cavity resonance method can detect nonmagnetic metals with high sensitivity as well as magnetic metals, and is described as overcoming the transport-speed limitations of conventional methods, with support for speeds of up to 800 m/min.

Asahi Kasei’s 60 GHz-band millimeter-wave radar sensor IC, “AK5816,” developed by Asahi Kasei Microdevices, has been adopted as the key device. The license agreement aims to commercialize the technology as inspection equipment for manufacturing sites. The inspection target is metal foreign objects in yarn and textiles, with the technology expected to enhance quality control for glass fiber, the raw material, and reduce the outflow of defective products.

Future plans include expanding the technology’s application to materials other than yarn and considering licensing it to other companies. Applications in inspection areas involving changes in dielectric constant, such as chemical-change inspection, are also under consideration.

Asahi Kasei is promoting “TBC,” a business-creation initiative that leverages intangible assets, and has positioned this agreement as part of its external expansion efforts.