Abstract: An information processing apparatus has a disk shuttle to mount a magnetic disk unit, a main body case to contain at least one disk shuttle, a connector of magnetic disk provided at the insertion end of the disk shuttle inserted from one side of the main body case, a connector of a main body provided in the other side of the main body case and fitted with the connector of the magnetic disk, a back plane to be fixed with the connector of the main body, an tenon formed at the insertion end of the disk shuttle and extending toward the back plane, and a mortise formed in the back plane to be fitted with the tenon, thereby locking the movement in the direction transverse to the inserting direction of disk shuttle.

Abstract: An optical device in which a polymerizable liquid crystal material various optical characteristics of which is stable even against heating during manufacture of an optical apparatus such as an image display is cured. The optical device has a support and an optical functional layer made of a cured polymerizable liquid crystal material having a predetermined liquid crystal regularity and provided on the support. The optical device is characterized in that the optical device is subjected to a heat treatment at a predetermined temperature and in that the thickness decrease of the optical functional layer defined by (A?B)/A is 5% or less where A is the thickness of the optical functional layer after the heat treatment, and B is the thickness of the optical functional layer after the optical device is heated for 60 minutes at the heat-treatment temperature.

Abstract: A liquid crystalline transfer sheet 10 includes a liquid crystal layer 12 formed on the surface of a substrate 14, where the surface hardness of the liquid crystal layer 12 is higher on the releasing surface 12A side, which is on the substrate 14 side, than on the adhering surface 12B side, which is on the receiving object 16 side. Therefore, the adhesion between the adhering surface 12B of the liquid crystal layer 12 and the receiving object 16 becomes stronger than that between the releasing surface 12A of the liquid crystal layer 12 and the substrate 14. It is thus possible to securely transfer the liquid crystal layer 12 to the receiving object 16 without leaving a part of the liquid crystal layer 12 on the substrate 14.

Abstract: The present invention provides an inexpensive retardation optical element having the function of reflecting ultraviolet light, capable of decreasing the amount of ultraviolet light that enters a liquid crystal cell, and a liquid crystal display comprising such a retardation optical element. A retardation optical element having the function of reflecting ultraviolet light 10 comprises a retardation layer 12 having a cholesteric liquid crystalline molecular structure in planar orientation. The retardation layer 12 is made so that at least part of its selective reflection wave range for light, which the retardation layer 12 selectively reflects, due to its liquid crystalline molecular structure, is included in an ultraviolet region of 100 to 400 nm and that the maximum reflectance for light in this ultraviolet region is 30% or more.

Abstract: The present invention provides a retardation optical element comprising a negative C plate (retardation layer) and an A plate (retardation layer), never causing the appearance of bright-and-dark patterns on the displayed image even when placed between a liquid crystal cell and a polarizer, thus being capable of effectively preventing lowering of display quality. A retardation optical element 10 comprises: a C plate type retardation layer 12 that has a cholesteric structure with liquid crystalline molecules in planar orientation and functions as a negative C plate; and an A plate type retardation layer 14 that has a nematic structure and functions as an A plate.

Abstract: In a liquid-crystal display (10), unpolarized light from a light source (12) passes through a linear polarization separation layer (14) and strikes a liquid-crystal cell (16). The liquid-crystal cell (16), in response to an applied electrical field, changes the direction of a director, so as to change the direction of the electrical field oscillation vector of the incident linearly polarized light by substantially 0 to 90°, this light then striking a dichroic linear polarization layer (18) on the surface, whereby only a component coincident with the polarization transmission axis thereof is allowed to exit to the outside. The dichroic linear polarization layer (18) transmits 50% of this incident light, and absorbs the remaining 50%.

Abstract: A polarized light extraction optical element is formed by a light-transmitting base material and a polarization separation layer laminated thereonto, this polarization separation layer being a liquid crystal layer made of a cholesteric liquid crystal. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer is smaller than the thickness that would be required to achieve a maximum reflectivity, so that part of one of the right and left circularly polarized light components is reflected with a reflectivity smaller than the maximum reflectivity.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a process of producing a circularly-polarized-light-extracting optical element adapted to effectively prevent the appearance of bright and dark stripes on the screen of a display to avoid lowering of the displaying quality of the display. The circularly-polarized-light-extracting optical element includes a glass substrate 11, an alignment layer 12 laminated to the glass substrate 11, and a cholesteric layer 13 formed on the alignment layer 12, in which molecules are aligned in the sate of planar alignment due to the alignment-regulating action of the surface of the alignment layer 12. The cholesteric layer 13 has a first surface 13a on its glass substrate 11 side, and a second surface 13b opposite to the first surface 13a. Director directions of molecules on the first surface 13a of the cholesteric layer 13 are aligned in substantially one direction owing to the alignment-regulating action of the surface of the alignment layer 12.

Abstract: In a liquid-crystal display (10), unpolarized light from a light source (12) passes through a linear polarization separation layer (14) and strikes a liquid-crystal cell (16). The liquid-crystal cell (16), in response to an applied electrical field, changes the direction of a director, so as to change the direction of the electrical field oscillation vector of the incident linearly polarized light by substantially 0 to 90°, this light then striking a dichroic linear polarization layer (18) on the surface, whereby only a component coincident with the polarization transmission axis thereof is allowed to exit to the outside. The dichroic linear polarization layer (18) transmits 50% of this incident light, and absorbs the remaining 50%.

Abstract: The invention relates to a liquid crystal display that incorporates a laminated retardation layer 10 comprising a combination of a negative C-plate having a specific chromatic dispersion and a positive A-plate having a specific chromatic dispersion, used to improve the viewing angle characteristics thereof, thereby presenting high-contrast images with high color reproducibility yet with neither interference variations nor color shifts. The laminated retardation layer 10 is obtained by lamination of a retardation layer 11 having positive index anisotropy and an optical axis in a layer plane and a retardation layer 12 having negative index anisotropy and an optical axis in a normal direction to a layer plane.

Abstract: A display apparatus has a lens sheet with a plurality of unit columnar lenses arranged so as to be parallel to one another, and is disposed on the observation side of a display panel, spaced therefrom by a layer of air. The direction of the ridge lines of the unit columnar lenses of the lens sheet, seen from the observation side, are non-parallel to the direction of an edge of the display panel.

Abstract: Provided is a circularly-polarized-light-extracting optical element adapted to effectively prevent lowering of displaying quality that is brought about by the appearance of bright and dark stripes on the screen of a display even when the circularly-polarized-light-extracting optical element is placed between circular or elliptical polarizers arranged in the cross nicol disposition. The circularly-polarized-light-extracting optical element 10 includes a liquid crystal layer 12 having cholesteric regularity with liquid crystalline molecules in planar orientation. The liquid crystalline molecules on a surface 12A, which is one of the two main opposite surfaces 12A and 12B of the liquid crystal layer 12, are wholly oriented in substantially one direction (director Da) and the liquid crystalline molecules on the other main surface 12B of the liquid crystal layer 12 are also wholly oriented in substantially one direction (director Db).

Abstract: In an optical sheet 10 having a prism surface 16 formed by providing unit prisms 14 on the upper surface of a transparent base material 12, a coating layer 18 is provided on the reverse surface of the transparent base material opposite to the prism surface 16, spherical beads 20 are arranged projecting from the surface of the coating layer 18 by 1 to 10 &mgr;m in height, and the coating layer 18 is brought into contact with the flat and smooth surface 22A of the light-transmissive material 22 through the spherical beads 20 which are put between them. The spherical beads are 1 &mgr;m or less in half bandwidth of the distribution of particle diameters and are made uniform in height projecting from the coating layer 18.

Abstract: The present invention provides a laminated retardation optical element that never lowers contrast and thus never degrades display performance even when placed between a liquid crystal cell and a &lgr;/4 retardation film. In a liquid crystal display 90, a laminated retardation optical element 10 is placed between a polarizer 102A on the incident side and a liquid crystal cell 104, and a &lgr;/4 retardation film 102C is placed between a polarizer 102B on the emergent side and the liquid crystal cell 104. The laminated retardation optical element 10 comprises: a &lgr;/4 retardation layer 14 having the function of bringing, to light that passes through this retardation layer, a phase difference corresponding to a quarter of the wavelength of the light; and a C plate-type retardation layer 16 that acts as a negative C plate. The &lgr;/4 retardation layer 14 and the C plate-type retardation layer 16 are laminated to a transparent substrate 12 in the order mentioned, and are optically bonded to each other.

Abstract: A back light device 10 comprises a light source 12, a lightconductor 14 for outputting light from the light source from its outputting surface 14B, a light diffusing sheet 16 for receiving diffused light from the lightconductor 14 and shifting the maximum intensity direction to the direction of the normal standing on the light outputting face 16B, a polarized beam splitting sheet 18 through which one polarized light component among the light from the light diffusing sheet 16 is transmitted and on which the other polarized light component is reflected.

Abstract: The present invention provides an inexpensive retardation optical element having the function of reflecting ultraviolet light, capable of decreasing the amount of ultraviolet light that enters a liquid crystal cell, and a liquid crystal display comprising such a retardation optical element. A retardation optical element having the function of reflecting ultraviolet light 10 comprises a retardation layer 12 having a cholesteric liquid crystalline molecular structure in planar orientation. The retardation layer 12 is made so that at least part of its selective reflection wave range for light, which the retardation layer 12 selectively reflects, due to its liquid crystalline molecular structure, is included in an ultraviolet region of 100 to 400 nm and that the maximum reflectance for light in this ultraviolet region is 30% or more.

Abstract: A main object of the invention is to provide a phase difference layer laminated body which has a very high freedom in orienting molecules of its phase difference layer, and which is manufactured with ease.

Abstract: Provided herein is a retardation optical element 10 that produces no bright and dark fringes on a displayed image even when placed between a liquid crystal cell 104 and a polarizer 102B and thus can effectively prevent lowering of display quality. The retardation optical element 10 includes a retardation layer 12 having a cholesteric-regular molecular structure with liquid crystalline molecules in planar orientation. The helical pitch in the molecular structure of the retardation layer 12 is so adjusted that the retardation layer 12 can, owing to its molecular structure, selectively reflect light whose wavelength falls in a range different from the wave range of light incident on the retardation layer 12 (the selective reflection wave range of the retardation layer is either shorter or longer than the wave range of the incident light).

Abstract: An optical device in which a polymerizable liquid crystal material various optical characteristics of which is stable even against heating during manufacture of an optical apparatus such as an image display is cured. The optical device has a support and an optical functional layer made of a cured polymerizable liquid crystal material having a predetermined liquid crystal regularity and provided on the support. The optical device is characterized in that the optical device is subjected to a heat treatment at a predetermined temperature and in that the thickness decrease of the optical functional layer defined by (A−B)/A is 5% or less where A is the thickness of the optical functional layer after the heat treatment, and B is the thickness of the optical functional layer after the optical device is heated for 60 minutes at the heat-treatment temperature.

Abstract: In an optical sheet 10 having a prism surface 16 formed by providing unit prisms 14 on the upper surface of a transparent base material 12, a coating layer 18 is provided on the reverse surface of the transparent base material opposite to the prism surface 16, spherical beads 20 are arranged projecting from the surface of the coating layer 18 by 1 to 10 &mgr;m in height, and the coating layer 18 is brought into contact with the flat and smooth surface 22A of the light-transmissive material 22 through the spherical beads 20 which are put between them. The spherical beads are 1 &mgr;m or less in half bandwidth of the distribution of particle diameters and are made uniform in height projecting from the coating layer 18.