Patents by Inventor Hiroaki Tao

Hiroaki Tao has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20150171221
    Abstract: Provided is a thin film transistor comprising an oxide semiconductor thin film layer and has a threshold voltage that does not change much due to light, a bias stress or the like, thereby exhibiting excellent stress stability. A thin film transistor of the present invention is provided with: a gate electrode; an oxide semiconductor layer that is used as a channel layer; and a gate insulator film that is arranged between the gate electrode and the channel layer. The oxide semiconductor layer is configured of at least one metal element that is selected from the group consisting of In, Ga, Zn and Sn (excluding the cases where the oxide semiconductor layer is constituted of metal elements Sn, and at least one of In and Zn). The hydrogen concentration in the gate insulator film, which is in direct contact with the oxide semiconductor layer, is controlled to 4 atomic % or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2013
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Aya Miki, Shinya Morita, Hiroshi Goto, Toshihiro Kugimiya, Hiroaki Tao, Kenta Hirose
  • Publication number: 20150091000
    Abstract: Provided is an oxide-semiconductor-based thin film transistor having satisfactory switching characteristics and stress resistance. Change in threshold voltage through stress application is suppressed in the thin film transistor. The thin film transistor of excellent stability comprises a substrate and, formed thereon, at least a gate electrode, a gate insulating film, oxide semiconductor layers, a source-drain electrode, and a passivation film for protecting the gate insulating film, and oxide semiconductor layers, wherein the oxide semiconductor layers are laminated layers comprising a second oxide semiconductor layer consisting of In, Zn, Sn, and O and a first oxide semiconductor layer consisting of In, Ga, Zn, and O. The second oxide semiconductor layer is formed on the gate insulating film. The first oxide semiconductor layer is interposed between the second oxide semiconductor layer and the passivation film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2013
    Publication date: April 2, 2015
    Applicant: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Shinya Morita, Aya Miki, Hiroaki Tao, Toshihiro Kugimiya
  • Publication number: 20140295241
    Abstract: A protrusion 53 is shaped to protrude from a main body 51 toward a supporter non-contact part 23 so as to circumvent a supporter 30. The protrusion 53 includes a protrusion heat transfer surface 55 which is a surface on the battery heat transfer surface 20 side (i.e., an upper side Y2). A heat conduction member 40 contacts with the supporter non-contact part 23 and the protrusion heat transfer surface 55.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicants: GS YUASA INTERNATIONAL LTD., KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroaki TAO, Naoki GOTO, Yoichiro YAMAZAKI, Yusuke SAWADA, Yasutaka MIYAWAKI, Hiroshi YAMASHIRO
  • Publication number: 20140287291
    Abstract: An electric storage apparatus in which a first projecting portion projecting on one side and a second projecting portion projecting on the opposite side of the one side are formed at different positions in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the first and second projecting portions project.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2014
    Publication date: September 25, 2014
    Applicants: KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD., GS Yuasa International Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasutaka MIYAWAKI, Hiroshi YAMASHIRO, Hiroaki TAO, Yoshihiro NAKAMURA, Yusuke SAWADA
  • Patent number: 8808625
    Abstract: In a dispensing apparatus for dispensing a liquid, such as a sample solution, on a substrate, such as a glass slide, the dispensing apparatus includes a capillary provided with a distal end and a proximal end, a pump unit configured to pump an operating liquid into the capillary and to pump the operating liquid out of the capillary, and a controller configured to control the pump unit so as to change a position of a liquid surface of the operating liquid in the capillary so that a predetermined volume of liquid is suctioned from the distal end into the capillary and the liquid suctioned in the capillary is discharged from the distal end. As a result, it is possible to precisely dispense extremely small volume amounts of liquids such as a nanoliter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Hiroshi Aoki, Hiroaki Tao, Masaki Torimura, Takashi Ikeda
  • Patent number: 8743307
    Abstract: A display device includes a first substrate, a gate line disposed on the first substrate and including a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer disposed on the gate line, a semiconductor layer disposed on the gate insulating layer, a data line disposed on the semiconductor layer and connected to a source electrode, a drain electrode disposed on the semiconductor layer and facing the source electrode and a passivation layer disposed on the data line, in which the semiconductor layer is formed of an oxide semiconductor including indium, tin, and zinc. The indium is present in an amount of about 5 atomic percent (at %) to about 50 at %, and a ratio of the zinc to the tin is about 1.38 to about 3.88.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignees: Samsung Display Co, Ltd., Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jae Woo Park, Je Hun Lee, Byung Du Ahn, Sei-Yong Park, Jun Hyun Park, Gun Hee Kim, Ji Hun Lim, Kyoung Won Lee, Toshihiro Kugimiya, Aya Miki, Shinya Morita, Tomoya Kishi, Hiroaki Tao, Hiroshi Goto
  • Patent number: 8697356
    Abstract: A single-chain probe of the present invention for detecting a ligand, comprises: a ligand binding protein for binding the ligand; a recognition protein for recognizing that the ligand is bound by the ligand binding protein; and C- and N-terminal fragments, generated by dissecting an enzyme, between the ligand binding protein and the recognition protein, wherein a carboxy terminal end of the C-terminal fragment is located upstream of an amino terminal end of the N-terminal fragment, and the C- and N-terminal fragments vary the enzyme activity via complementation in case where the recognition protein recognizes that the ligand is bound by the ligand binding protein. This makes it possible to achieve detection of a target protein-specific ligand using the single chain with a high efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Sung-Bae Kim, Hiroaki Tao, Moritoshi Sato
  • Patent number: 8663577
    Abstract: A spotter that includes a plurality of spotting heads, each of the plurality of spotting heads having a discharging portion at a tip portion, the plurality of spotting heads form an m×n array (m, n>1) with m spotting heads arranged lengthwise and n spotting heads arranged crosswise; and a pitch varying mechanism configured to vary an array pitch of the plurality of spotting heads arrayed in a lengthwise direction and an array pitch of the plurality of spotting heads arrayed in a crosswise direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Hiroshi Aoki, Masaki Torimura, Hiroaki Tao, Takashi Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20130341617
    Abstract: The oxide of the present invention for thin-film transistors is an In—Zn—Sn-based oxide containing In, Zn, and Sn, wherein when the respective contents (atomic %) of metal elements contained in the In—Zn—Sn-based oxide are expressed by [Zn], [Sn], and [In], the In—Zn—Sn-based oxide fulfills the following expressions (2) and (4) when [In]/([In]+[Sn])?0.5; or the following expressions (1), (3), and (4) when [In]/([In]+[Sn])?0.5. [In]/([In]+[Zn]+[Sn])?0.3 - - - (1), [In]/([In]+[Zn]+[Sn])?1.4×{[Zn]/([Zn]+[Sn])}?0.5 - - - (2), [Zn]/([In]+[Zn]+[Sn])?0.83 - - - (3), and 0.1?[In]/([In]+[Zn]+[Sn]) - - - (4). According to the present invention, oxide thin films for thin-film transistors can be obtained, which provide TFTs with excellent switching characteristics, and which have high sputtering rate in the sputtering and properly controlled etching rate in the wet etching.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2012
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Applicants: Samsung Display Co., Ltd., KABUSHIKI KAISHA KOBE SEIKO SHO (Kobe Steel, Ltd.)
    Inventors: Hiroaki Tao, Aya Miki, Shinya Morita, Satoshi Yasuno, Toshihiro Kugimiya, Jae Woo Park, Je Hun Lee, Byung Du Ahn, Gun Hee Kim
  • Publication number: 20130261029
    Abstract: A spotter that includes a plurality of spotting heads, each of the plurality of spotting heads having a discharging portion at a tip portion, the plurality of spotting heads form an m×n array (m, n>1) with m spotting heads arranged lengthwise and n spotting heads arranged crosswise; and a pitch varying mechanism configured to vary an array pitch of the plurality of spotting heads arrayed in a lengthwise direction and an array pitch of the plurality of spotting heads arrayed in a crosswise direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Publication date: October 3, 2013
    Applicant: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Hiroshi AOKI, Masaki TORIMURA, Hiroaki TAO, Takashi IKEDA
  • Patent number: 8454820
    Abstract: Constitute a molecular recognition probe comprising: an electrochemically active group; an activity suppression group that suppresses an electrochemical activity of the electrochemically active group; a receptor area where a molecule of a target substance is specifically recognized; and a molecule area where a steric structure is changed as a result of molecular recognition; wherein the electrochemically active group is suppressed of its activity by the activity suppression group before the molecule is recognized and restores its activity after the molecule is recognized; or constitute a molecular recognition sensor by providing an anchor area on the molecular recognition probe and fixing it on a surface of an electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2013
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Hiroshi Aoki, Hiroaki Tao, Akiko Kitajima
  • Publication number: 20130075720
    Abstract: An oxide semiconductor includes a first material including at least one selected from the group consisting of zinc (Zn) and tin (Sn), and a second material, where a value acquired by subtracting an electronegativity difference value between the second material and oxygen (O) from the electronegativity difference value between the first material and oxygen (O) is less than about 1.3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Publication date: March 28, 2013
    Applicants: Kobe Steel, Ltd., SAMSUNG DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Byung Du AHN, Je Hun LEE, Sei-Yong PARK, Jun Hyun PARK, Gun Hee KIM, Ji Hun LIM, Jae Woo PARK, Jin Seong PARK, Toshihiro KUGIMIYA, Aya MIKI, Shinya MORITA, Tomoya KISHI, Hiroaki TAO
  • Patent number: 8222596
    Abstract: The invention provides a new GC/ICP-MS capable of preventing carbon deposition caused by the analysis sample or its solvent. With a GC/ICP-MS, it is effective to introduce oxygen continuously or during a specific period to the part where argon or other makeup gas is introduced to the ICP-MS, and this is achieved by introducing oxygen in air into the gas supply line using an oxygen permeable tube or oxygen permeable membrane. A selector valve is used to introduce permeated oxygen to the aforementioned gas supply line only during a desired period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2012
    Assignee: National Institue of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Hiroaki Tao, Tetsuya Nakazato
  • Publication number: 20120126113
    Abstract: The invention provides a new GC/ICP-MS capable of preventing carbon deposition caused by the analysis sample or its solvent. With a GC/ICP-MS, it is effective to introduce oxygen continuously or during a specific period to the part where argon or other makeup gas is introduced to the ICP-MS, and this is achieved by introducing oxygen in air into the gas supply line using an oxygen permeable tube or oxygen permeable membrane. A selector valve is used to introduce permeated oxygen to the aforementioned gas supply line only during a desired period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2007
    Publication date: May 24, 2012
    Inventors: Hiroaki Tao, Tetsuya Nakazato
  • Patent number: 8124424
    Abstract: The claimed invention comprises a single molecule-format bioluminescent probe for detecting a target-specific ligand in a living cell, which comprises, a ligand-binding molecule of which conformation is changed upon binding to the ligand, wherein the ligand-binding molecule comprises a ligand-binding domain (LBD) of a nuclear receptor and an LBD-interacting domain that is a co-activator peptide of said nuclear receptor, and an N-terminal polypeptide and a C-terminal polypeptide of a click beetle luciferase (N-CBLuc and C-CBLuc), which flank each end of the ligand-binding molecule, respectively, wherein the N-CBLuc and the C-CBLuc self-complement to generate a luminescent signal only upon binding of the ligand to the ligand-binding molecule.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2012
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Yoshio Umezawa, Moritoshi Sato, Hiroaki Tao, SungBae Kim
  • Publication number: 20120034672
    Abstract: This invention provides a genetically modified marine luciferase such as Gaussia luciferase, which has high bioluminescence intensity, and has high bioluminescence stability and/or red-shifted wavelength. Specifically disclosed is a luciferase variant with improved optical property obtained by replacing at least one amino acid residue among the amino acid sequence of a marine luciferase at positions corresponding to positions 89 to 118 in the amino acid sequence of Gaussia luciferase (GLuc), wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to at least one selected from positions 89, 90, 95, 97, 100, 108, 112, 115, and 118 in the amino acid sequence of GLuc is replaced by way of conservative amino acid replacement. The above-mentioned replacement in a marine luciferase improves enzymatic activity of the luciferase. Also disclosed is a bioluminescent probe having an improved optical property, which is produced using the luciferase variant of the present invention.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2011
    Publication date: February 9, 2012
    Inventors: SungBae KIM, Hiroaki Tao, Moritoshi Sato
  • Patent number: 8043827
    Abstract: The present invention provides an “in vivo and in vitro real-time bioluminescence imaging means,” which can transmit a detection signal promptly in response to an external signal, while taking advantage of a single-molecule-format luminescent probe as a bioluminescent means. The present invention is characterized by using, as a single-molecule-format luminescent probe utilizing the increase and decrease of a second messenger level as an index, a fusion protein including a single-chain protein containing a second messenger recognition protein and optionally a peptide which is capable of binding with the protein, and linked respectively to the N-terminus and the C-terminus thereto, an N-terminal fragment (N-LE) and a C-terminal fragment (C-LE) generated by dissecting a luminescent enzyme (LE).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Sung-Bae Kim, Hiroaki Tao, Moritoshi Sato
  • Publication number: 20110056844
    Abstract: Constitute a molecular recognition probe comprising: an electrochemically active group; an activity suppression group that suppresses an electrochemical activity of the electrochemically active group; a receptor area where a molecule of a target substance is specifically recognized; and a molecule area where a steric structure is changed as a result of molecular recognition; wherein the electrochemically active group is suppressed of its activity by the activity suppression group before the molecule is recognized and restores its activity after the molecule is recognized; or constitute a molecular recognition sensor by providing an anchor area on the molecular recognition probe and fixing it on a surface of an electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2010
    Publication date: March 10, 2011
    Applicant: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Hiroshi AOKI, Hiroaki TAO, Akiko KITAJIMA
  • Publication number: 20100273150
    Abstract: This application aims to provide a single molecule-format probe for detecting a target-specific ligand easily and accurately as an index of the presence or absence of a signal. The invention is a single molecule-format bioluminescent probe for detecting a target-specific ligand in a living cell, which comprises, a ligand-binding molecule of which conformation is changed upon binding to the ligand, and an N-terminal polypeptide (N-LE) and a C-terminal polypeptide (C-LE) of a luminescent enzyme (LE), which are linked to each end of the ligand-binding molecule, respectively, wherein the N-LE and the C-LE self-complement to generate a luminescent signal only upon binding of the ligand to the ligand-binding molecule. The ligand-binding molecule is a fusion molecule carrying a ligand-binding domain (LBD) and an LBD-interacting domain or peptide that interacts with the LBD upon binding of the ligand to the LBD.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2008
    Publication date: October 28, 2010
    Inventors: Yoshio Umezawa, Moritoshi Sato, Hiroaki Tao, SungBae Kim
  • Publication number: 20090305910
    Abstract: At each lattice point 2 of pantographs 1, a capillary 3 is held perpendicular to the pantograph lattice. The pantograph 1 includes: rings 4 and 5 to serve as lattice points; and shafts 6 linking the rings with one another. Each of the capillaries 3 is supported by the two rings 4 and 5. The shafts are free to rotate about an intersection 7. The ring 5 is fixed to the capillary 3, but the ring 4 is a movable ring being moveable freely up and down in the axial direction of the capillary 3 in conjunction with the pantograph 1. The lattice distance can be determined accomplished by moving up or down the movable ring at an arbitrarily-chosen lattice point in a pantograph 1. Accordingly, all the capillaries move in parallel to one another, and the ends of all the capillaries always stay within a single plane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2007
    Publication date: December 10, 2009
    Applicant: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Hiroshi Aoki, Masaki Torimura, Hiroaki Tao, Takashi Ikeda