Announcement of the 2026 Aichi Invention Awards Recipients

This award system was established in 1980 by the Aichi Prefecture Invention Association to honor individuals who have completed outstanding inventions, designs, or innovations within Aichi Prefecture, thereby promoting invention, fostering development, and contributing to the advancement of science and technology and the promotion of industry in Japan.

This year, there were 13 entries, and the winners for each category have been decided.

1. List of Award-Winning Companies (by category, in Japanese alphabetical order) - Aichi Invention Grand Prize: Toyota Industries Corporation, Toyota Central R&D Labs (New tooth-profile scroll compressor with excellent silence) - Aichi Invention Award: Aisin Corporation (Invisible fine water particle generation and emission device), NGK Insulators, Ltd. (Thick-film laminated NOx sensor with enhanced water-resistance), Sumitomo Riko Co., Ltd. (Water-developable flexographic printing plate), Denso Corporation (Sensing method for driver incapacitation due to sudden illness), Toho Gas Network Co., Ltd. / Daito Electric Material Co., Ltd. (Medium-pressure PE pipe protective material compatible with easy construction and impact resistance), Libre Co., Ltd. (Peltier wear with improved exhaust heat efficiency) - Invention Encouragement Award: Aisan Industry Co., Ltd. (Control device for hill-start support for small mobile vehicles), Brother Industries, Ltd. (Label printing tape with granular shine), Hoshizaki Corporation (Automatic drying operation for refrigerators), Rinnai Corporation (Grill cooking temperature control for gas stoves)

The invention by Toyota Industries Corporation, which won the Aichi Invention Grand Prize, was highly evaluated as being extremely unique and industrially superior. It fundamentally rethought the long-accepted conventional wisdom of the involute curve-based spiral shape in electric compressors and created a new scroll shape based on a new theory, which was successfully commercialized.

By extending gear theory and applying it to the scroll compressor, this invention achieves noise reduction at high speeds while contributing to multi-faceted performance improvements, including increased compression power, miniaturization, and cost reduction. Given the expectations for global market deployment and broad future applications, it was selected for this year's Aichi Invention Grand Prize as an invention excellent in both practicality and future potential.

2. Awards The following awards will be presented to the winners: - Aichi Invention Grand Prize: Certificate, plaque, and a supplementary prize of 100,000 yen - Aichi Invention Award: Certificate, plaque, and a supplementary prize of 50,000 yen - Invention Encouragement Award: Certificate and plaque

3. Award Ceremony To be held on Friday, June 19, 2026, from 16:00 to 17:00 at the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hall (2nd floor).