Patents by Inventor Masaki Shimizu

Masaki Shimizu 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: 20100053492
    Abstract: A frame is narrowed by a technically reasonable design, without technical limitation for frame narrowing which tends to be considered troublesome when bent-tube type fluorescent tubes having U-shaped bent portions are to be alternately arranged to face each other nor without the trouble of storing the bent-type fluorescent tubes in a chassis while being manufactured. A backlight device (2) is provided with a backlight chassis (23) wherein a plurality of fluorescent tubes (21) having electrodes are arranged and stored, and an inverter circuit board is arranged on the rear surface of the backlight chassis (23). Furthermore, the backlight device (2) is provided with a storing section (30), which is attached to the backlight chassis (23) by storing a conductive holding section for holding the electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2007
    Publication date: March 4, 2010
    Inventors: Masaki Shimizu, Mitsuhiro Moriyasu
  • Publication number: 20090316079
    Abstract: A fluorescent tube is prevented from being wrongly attached and broken when being attached, and luminance nonuniformity of backlight due to luminance difference generated in a tube axis direction of the fluorescent tube is reduced. A backlight device 2 is provided with a plurality of fluorescent tubes 21 having electrodes 211 at both ends; a bundling member 213 for bundling wirings 212 pulled out from the electrode 211 on one side of two or more of the fluorescent tubes 21; and a conducting means 31 for achieving conduction between the electrodes of the two fluorescent tubes among the fluorescent tubes 21 by being connected with the bundling member 213. The conducting means 31 permits a current to be carried between the electrodes of the two fluorescent tubes 21, which are bundled by the one bundling member 213, and the conducting means are arranged on inverter circuit substrate 28, respectively, not to be adjacent to each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2007
    Publication date: December 24, 2009
    Inventors: Masahiro Arai, Kohei Nanbu, Masaki Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20090279320
    Abstract: A plurality of clipping portions which clip a plurality of lamps to be juxtaposed are provided on one face, and a mounting portion to be mounted on a supporting member by which said lamps are supported, and holding projecting portions for holding positions of the clipping portions with respect to said supporting member are provided, and two flexible portions which can bend in a direction in which a distance between said supporting sections is changed are provided between at least two clipping portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2007
    Publication date: November 12, 2009
    Inventors: Masashi Yokota, Masaki Okazaki, Hiroki Fukai, Hideto Takeuchi, Masaki Shimizu
  • Patent number: 7582592
    Abstract: A skin cleansing composition contains, in addition to water, the following ingredients (A) to (D): (A) a polyoxyethylene alkylether sulfate, (B) an ether carboxylic acid-type surfactant, (C) an alkyl polyglycoside, and (D) one or more of a higher fatty acid and a higher alcohol. A total amount of the ingredients (A), (B) and (C) ranges from 5 to 30 wt % based on the whole composition, with the ingredient (A) amounting to from 20 to 80 wt %, the ingredient (B) amounting to from 7 to 70 wt %, and the ingredient (C) amounting to from 7 to 70 wt %, the amount of the ingredient (D) ranges from 0.3 to 3 wt % based on the whole composition. A pH of the composition ranges from 4.5 to 7 when diluted to 5 wt % by weight with deionized water. The skin cleansing composition can produce abundant foam of fine and smooth quality without an increase in foam viscosity, and therefore, allows the body to be washed with comfort.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2009
    Assignee: Kao Corporation
    Inventors: Naoko Yamamoto, Masaki Shimizu, Natsuko Toshida
  • Publication number: 20090205549
    Abstract: A sewing machine capable of sewing a manually moved workpiece cloth in free motion includes a carrier that carries the workpiece cloth and being manually moved to move the workpiece cloth; a support element that movably supports the carrier; a movement amount detector that detects an amount of carrier movement; a specifier that specifies a stitch pitch; a comparator that produces a comparison of the amount of carrier movement with the stitch pitch; a regulator provided at the support element and that regulates carrier movement; and a controller that controls the regulator such that the amount of carrier movement does not exceed the stitch pitch based on the comparison produced by the comparator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2009
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Akie Ukai, Yoshio Nishimura, Yoshinori Nakamura, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
  • Publication number: 20090179196
    Abstract: The object is to provide a light-emitting transistor material which is high in both luminescent property and mobility when used as a light-emitting transistor device. A light-emitting transistor device is provided in which light emission of a specific pyrene-based organic compound is used for a light-emitting layer of a transistor device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2007
    Publication date: July 16, 2009
    Inventors: Chihaya Adachi, Takahito Oyamada, Hiroyuki Uchiuzou, Seiji Akiyama, Takayoshi Takahashi, Kumiko Takenouchi, Masaki Shimizu, Tamejiro Hiyama, Etsuya Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20090168396
    Abstract: In order to control light emission of light emitting diodes, current dividing circuits are used to supply currents of a substantially fixed level to all lines. Light emitting diodes are arranged in groups of a predetermined number of LEDs in series, and sets of the light emitting diodes connected to the first line and sets of the light emitting diodes connected to the second line are laid out on the same straight line so as to form a single row. Substrates with these formed thereon are arranged adjacent to each other in the direction of the rows, so that sets of the light emitting diodes connected to the first line and sets of the light emitting diodes connected to the second line are arranged alternately. With this configuration, it is possible to provide a backlight device with a plurality of LED arrays arranged thereon, which can uniformly illuminate the entire screen with light from the LED arrays.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2006
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Moriyasu, Hideyuki Chikazawa, Masaki Shimizu
  • Patent number: 7540649
    Abstract: The fluorescent lamp retaining member retains two lamp units each including two fluorescent lamps that have electrodes at both ends thereof, a bundling member that bundles a wire from each of electrodes at one end of the two fluorescent lamps, and a conductive member that connects electrodes at the other end of the two fluorescent lamps through a conductive path. The fluorescent lamp retaining member holds the vicinity of the central of each of the fluorescent lamps so arranged in parallel as to set the bundling members in the same direction. The fluorescent lamp retaining member allows one retained lamp unit to rotate relative to the other retained lamp unit adjacent thereto, and so retains the lamp units adjacent to each other that the bundling members and conductive members are arranged alternately after one lamp unit has been rotated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tamotsu Satoh, Ryoh Hatakeyama, Masaki Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20090107374
    Abstract: A sewing machine capable of mode switching between a normal sewing mode and a free motion sewing mode including a feed dog switcher that switches a feed dog between an active state in which the feed dog is moved above and below a needle plate and an inactive state in which the feed dog is lowered below the needle plate, a first instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at a beginning of pattern sewing sequence, a second instruction issuer that instructs execution of fastening stitching at an end of pattern sewing sequence, and a controller that, when in the free motion sewing mode, activates the feed dog by the feed dog switcher in response to an incoming instruction signal from the first or the second instruction issuer to execute fastening stitching through control of feed dog based on fastening stitching data to longitudinally feed a workpiece cloth.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2008
    Publication date: April 30, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Yoshio Nishimura, Satoru Makino, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20090101053
    Abstract: A sewing machine including a main shaft; a motor driving the main shaft; a needle bar; a sewing needle attached to a lower end of the needle bar; a needle-bar drive mechanism driven by the main shaft and vertically moving the needle bar; a speed setter setting a rotational speed of the main shaft; a needle-position detector detecting a vertical position of the sewing needle or the needle bar; a main shaft speed detector; a motor controller; and a needle plate; wherein the motor controller executes at least either of a first control decelerating the main shaft below the set rotational speed when the lower end of the sewing needle is above the needle plate, or a second control accelerating the main shaft above the set speed when the lower end of the sewing needle is positioned below the needle plate based on detected results provided by the detectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2008
    Publication date: April 23, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshio Nishimura, Hirokazu Hirose, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Masaki Shimizu, Satoru Makino, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20090023623
    Abstract: A skin cleansing composition contains, in addition to water, the following ingredients (A) to (D): (A) a polyoxyethylene alkylether sulfate, (B) an ether carboxylic acid-type surfactant, (C) an alkyl polyglycoside, and (D) one or more of a higher fatty acid and a higher alcohol. A total amount of the ingredients (A), (B) and (C) ranges from to 30 wt % based on the whole composition, with the ingredient (A) amounting to from 20 to 80 wt %, the ingredient (B) amounting to from 7 to 70 wt %, and the ingredient (C) amounting to from 7 to 70 wt %, the amount of the ingredient (D) ranges from 0.3 to 3 wt % based on the whole composition. A pH of the composition ranges from 4.5 to 7 when diluted to 5 wt % by weight with deionized water. The skin cleansing composition can produce abundant foam of fine and smooth quality without an increase in foam viscosity, and therefore, allows the body to be washed with comfort.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2008
    Publication date: January 22, 2009
    Applicant: KAO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoko Yamamoto, Masaki Shimizu, Natsuko Toshida
  • Publication number: 20090007829
    Abstract: A sewing machine includes a sewing machine motor that vertically drives a sewing needle via a main shaft; a sewing speed commander that produces a command sewing speed determined by rotational speed of the sewing machine motor; a stitch-pitch specifier that specifies a stitch pitch to be applied to manually fed sewing operation; a consumed thread amount detector that detects a consumed needle-thread amount in each ongoing sewing cycle; a sewing speed controller that controls sewing speed at the command sewing speed when the command sewing speed is equal to or less than a predetermined reference sewing speed, and that controls sewing speed at a target sewing speed calculated based on the consumed needle-thread amount and the stitch pitch when the command sewing speed is greater than the reference sewing speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2008
    Publication date: January 8, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaki Shimizu, Hiroshi Yamasaki, Hirokazu Hirose
  • Publication number: 20080308026
    Abstract: An embroiderable sewing machine, including a plurality types of embroidery frames that hold a workpiece cloth to be embroidered; a carriage allowing selective attachment and detachment of the embroidery frames; a transfer mechanism that transfers the carriage independently in two orthogonal directions; a first detector that outputs a constant signal corresponding to the type of embroidery frame attached to the carriage; a second detector capable of outputting a detection signal based on presence and absence of a detection subject provided at the embroidery frame; and a signal converter that converts the constant signal outputted from the first detector into a periodic signal based on the detection signal outputted from the second detector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2008
    Publication date: December 18, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaki Shimizu, Chikahisa Noguchi, Kentaro Torii, Tomoyasu Niizeki
  • Patent number: 7448580
    Abstract: A flat panel display apparatus is provided which is capable of conducting a transition of a display unit between the landscape and portrait orientation at one step and rotating around the substantial central portion of said display unit. The flat panel display apparatus includes a thin flat display unit having a rectangular display screen thereon; a stand unit for supporting said display unit; and a horizontal rotary pin which is secured to the display unit on its rear side in the substantial center thereof and which holds said display unit so that display unit is rotatable by at least 90° relative to the stand unit and is characterized in that said display apparatus is provided with translational motion means which causes the translational motion of said display unit in a vertical direction in an interlocking manner with the rotation of said horizontal rotary pin secured to the display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2008
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaki Shimizu, Takashi Yoshii
  • Patent number: 7446829
    Abstract: To compensate for uneven brightness in the longitudinal direction of fluorescent lamps of a backlight unit and achieve a display screen with an even brightness, a reflection unit of the backlight unit, the fluorescent tube surface of the fluorescent lamps or a diffusion unit is used to either reduce the reflectance, transmittance, or radiation brightness of the high-voltage side of the fluorescent lamps or increase the reflectance, transmittance, or radiation brightness of the low-voltage side thereof so as to compensate for uneven brightness of the illumination light and thereby ensure an even brightness. For example, dot pattern regions D1, D2 and D3, i.e., the regions whose density increases in stages, are imparted to the portion of a reflection layer 13 of the backlight unit with a relatively high brightness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2008
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yutaka Inoue, Kohji Ohtsuka, Kazuya Idei, Masaki Shimizu, Takashi Yoshii
  • Publication number: 20080261845
    Abstract: A skin cleansing composition contains the following ingredients (A), (B) and (C): (A) a polyoxyethylene alkylether sulfate, (B) a polyoxyethylene alkylether carboxylate, and (C) a cationic group-containing polymer having a cationic charge density of not less than 4.5 meq/g, and/or polyvinylpyrrolidone. A weight ratio (A):(B) of the ingredient (A) to the ingredient (B) is from 85:15 to 25:75. A total content of the ingredients (A) and (B) based on the whole composition ranges from 5 to 25 wt %. A content of the ingredient (C) ranges from 0.05 to 1 wt %. The skin cleansing composition is excellent in foamability and foam quality, and provides a good stop feeling during rinsing and a refreshed touch feeling after towel blotting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 16, 2008
    Publication date: October 23, 2008
    Applicant: KAO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoko YAMAMOTO, Ryosuke Fujii, Masaki Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20080229991
    Abstract: A sewing machine for a user to perform sewing while moving a work cloth includes: a detecting device that detects the work cloth; a movement calculating device that calculates, by two-dimensional coordinate data, a movement direction and a movement quantity of the work cloth between previous detection and current detection of the work cloth when the work cloth is detected; a movement data storage device that stores movement data serving as two-dimensional coordinate data indicative of the movement direction and the movement quantity; a movement data creating device that detects the work cloth on a one by one needle basis of sewing, calculates the movement data, and stores the calculated data in the movement data storage device; a cloth feed mechanism that moves the work cloth; and a reproduction sewing control device that performs sewing while moving the work cloth based on the movement data stored in the movement data storage device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2008
    Publication date: September 25, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20080229992
    Abstract: A sewing machine that enables a user to perform sewing while moving a piece of work cloth, the sewing machine including: a main shaft that drives a needle bar equipped with a sewing needle, a sewing machine motor that rotary-drives the main shaft, a detection device that detects an actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth, a target pitch storage device that stores a predetermined length as a target pitch, which is a target value of stitch pitches of the piece of work cloth, an agreement degree calculation device that calculates an agreement degree between the target pitch and a stitch pitch in actual sewing that is to be determined based on the actual movement distance of the piece of work cloth which is detected by the detection device; and a notification device that notifies of the agreement degree calculated by the agreement degree calculation device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2008
    Publication date: September 25, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshinori Nakamura, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Akie Ukai, Satoru Makino, Masaki Shimizu, Kazumi Sai
  • Publication number: 20080210147
    Abstract: A sewing machine that sews a work cloth being moved by a user includes a detection device that detects the work cloth, a movement calculation device that calculates movement data of the work cloth, a movement data storage device that stores the movement data, a movement data creation device that causes the detection device and the movement calculation device to respectively detect the work cloth and calculate the movement data for each stitch, and that stores the movement data into the movement data storage device, a line segment specification device that specifies a line segment based on the movement data, a determination device that determines whether a stitch to be formed next will overlap with an already formed stitch corresponding to the specified line segment, and an error control device that performs an error correction operation based on a determination result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Publication date: September 4, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshinori Nakamura, Akie Ukai, Masaki Shimizu, Yoshio Nishimura, Kazumi Sai, Satoru Makino
  • Publication number: 20080196646
    Abstract: A sewing machine includes a needle bar that is equipped with a sewing needle at a lower end of the needle bar, a presser bar that is equipped with a presser foot at a lower end of the presser bar, which holds down a work cloth, a sewing machine motor which is a driving source that drives the needle bar in an up and down direction, and a switching device that switches between a normal mode in which the needle bar is driven in the up and down direction to form stitches and a practice mode in which the sewing machine is operated in a condition where at least the needle bar is not driven.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Publication date: August 21, 2008
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoru Makino, Hirokazu Hirose, Yoshio Nishimura, Masaki Shimizu, Akie Ukai, Yoshinori Nakamura, Kazumi Sai