Patents by Inventor Masaki Munakata

Masaki Munakata 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).

  • Patent number: 6806206
    Abstract: A silver or silver alloy thin layer on a substrate is etched by an etching liquid uniformly without producing an etching residue while avoiding side etching due to over etching. The etching liquid contains silver ions in a range from 0.005 to 1 weight %. The etching liquid is fed to a tank or an etching liquid feeding apparatus, and then brought into contact with the silver or silver alloy thin layer on the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2004
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, St Liquid Crystal Display Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
    Inventors: Masaki Munakata, Hirohito Komatsu, Satoshi Kumon, Kazuma Teramoto, Nobuhiro Goda, Masakazu Motoi, Noriyuki Saitou, Toshiaki Sakakihara, Makoto Ishikawa
  • Publication number: 20030022518
    Abstract: A silver or silver alloy thin layer on a substrate is etched by an etching liquid uniformly without producing an etching residue while avoiding side etching due to over etching. The etching liquid contains silver ions in a range from 0.005 to 1 weight %. The etching liquid is fed to a tank or an etching liquid feeding apparatus, and then brought into contact with the silver or silver alloy thin layer on the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2002
    Publication date: January 30, 2003
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION; ST LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY CORPORATION; and MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaki Munakata, Hirohito Komatsu, Satoshi Kumon, Kazuma Teramoto, Nobuhiro Goda, Masakazu Motoi, Noriyuki Saitou, Toshiaki Sakakihara, Makoto Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 6373540
    Abstract: A reflective guest-host-liquid-crystal display device includes: first and second substrates jointed to each other, with a predetermined gap provided therebetween; and guest-host liquid crystal including a dichroic dye, held in the gap. The first substrate includes: switching devices; a light-reflection layer; a quarter-wavelength-plate layer, formed above the switching devices and the light-reflection layer, having a contact hole in conduction with the switching devices; pixel electrodes, formed by patterning the surface of the quarter-wavelength-plate layer, connected to the switching devices by the contact hole; and a light-shielding black matrix formed along the border of each pixel electrode. The second substrate has a counter electrode formed on the outer surface thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2002
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Masaki Munakata
  • Patent number: 6016178
    Abstract: A color reflective guest-host liquid-crystal display device is provided which does not require a polarizing plate and which has a bright screen. A transparent electrode is formed on an upper substrate of a color reflective guest-host liquid-crystal display device. A reflection electrode is formed on a lower substrate, and an electro-optic element is held in the spacing between the two substrates so as to perform light modulation in response to an applied voltage. The electro-optic element has a laminated structure including a guest-host liquid-crystal layer which contains a dichroic dye and which is uniformly oriented along the transparent electrode, and a phase shifter which has a predetermined optical anisotropic axis and which is formed along the reflection electrode. The transparent electrode and the reflection electrode face each other and define a plurality of pixels. A color filter assigns incident light of a different wavelength to each pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2000
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hideo Kataoka, Nobuyuki Shigeno, Masaki Munakata, Tetsuo Urabe
  • Patent number: 5926242
    Abstract: A reflective guest-host liquid-crystal display includes: a pair of upper and lower substrates joined together with a predetermined space therebetween; and a guest-host liquid-crystal layer which is held within the space and contains a dichroic dye. The upper substrate is provided with at least a counter electrode. At least thin-film transistors (TFTs), a reflective layer, a .lambda./4 phase shifter (quarter-wavelength plate), and pixel electrodes are formed on the lower substrate. The .lambda./4 phase shifter is formed above the TFTs and the reflective layer, and has contact holes connecting to the drain electrodes of the TFTs. The pixel electrodes are patterned on the .lambda./4 phase shifter and connected to the corresponding drain electrodes of the TFTs through the corresponding contact holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hideo Kataoka, Ying Bao Yang, Nobuyuki Shigeno, Tetsuo Urabe, Masaki Munakata
  • Patent number: 5349453
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device comprises a first substrate which has a plurality of picture element electrodes arranged in a matrix and a plurality of switching elements associated with the respective picture element electrodes to drive the electrodes, a second substrate which is opposed to the first substrate, and a liquid crystal layer provided between the first and second substrates. A micro-lens is formed between the first substrate and each picture element electrode, by which a high contrast ratio is obtained in a totally white display mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 20, 1994
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Masaki Munakata