Patents Represented by Attorney Panasonic Patent Center
  • Patent number: 7950016
    Abstract: A method of assigning task management blocks for first type tasks to time slot information on a one-by-one basis, assigning a plurality of task management blocks for second type tasks to time slot information, selecting a task management block according to a priority classification when switching to the time slot of the time slot information, and switching to the time slot except the time slot information. Additionally a task switching apparatus selects the task management block assigned to the time slot and executes the task.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Kunihiko Hayashi
  • Patent number: 7949225
    Abstract: A BD-ROM playback apparatus for selecting and playing back one among text subtitle streams together with a moving picture. PSR 48-61 store Decode Capability flags whose set values indicate, for each language, whether or not a decode capability is present. Procedure executing unit 20 judges whether each text subtitle stream can be displayed, by referring to each set value of flags. Stream selection unit 17 selects a text subtitle stream judged as being able to be decoded. Here, the decode capability for a language being present indicates presence of rendering capability for converting character codes of the language into bitmaps, and support capability for supporting properties of the language. The b16 to b23 in PSR 30 includes a permission flag indicating whether stream selection unit 17 is permitted to select an unsupported language for which rendering capability is present but not support capability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Wataru Ikeda, Tomoyuki Okada
  • Patent number: 7941045
    Abstract: A camera body that includes a lens attaching unit to which an interchangeable lens unit including a lens-side contact is mountable and that communicates information with the interchangeable lens unit when the interchangeable lens unit is attached to the lens attaching unit, the camera body comprising: a substrate; a holding member fixed to the substrate and formed of a conductive material; a body-side contact that is electrically connected to the lens-side contact when the interchangeable lens unit is mounted to the camera body and that is held by the holding member so as to be movable between a projected position at which the body-side contact projects from the holding member and a retracted position; and a biasing unit that biases the body-side contact to the projected position, wherein the body-side contact is electrically connected to the holding member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Koji Yasuda
  • Patent number: 7936893
    Abstract: In a hearing aid, a main body case has a fitting-use first communication terminal provided inside the main body case, so that the first communication terminal can be visually checked when the battery case is removed by turning, and the battery case has a first locking protrusion that is engaged with the main body case and a pressing protrusion that is opposite the first communication terminal, when the battery case is turned for installation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Tada, Yosimasa Simogochi, Kazumasa Okamura
  • Patent number: 7933516
    Abstract: A camera body includes a body mount, an imaging element, an imaging element circuit board, a main circuit board, and a metal heat radiating plate. The body mount allows the lens unit to be mounted. The imaging element is disposed on the opposite side of the body mount from the side where the lens unit is mounted, and converts an optical image of the subject into image data. The imaging element circuit board is electrically connected to the imaging element and controls the imaging element. The main circuit board is disposed on the opposite side of the imaging element from the body mount, and includes a camera controller. The heat radiating plate is disposed between the imaging element and the main circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Iyoda, Atsushi Inoue, Ryuichi Nagaoka
  • Patent number: 7933428
    Abstract: A microphone apparatus includes a mounting substrate, and at least two MEMS microphone elements mounted on the mounting substrate. The mounting substrate is provided with respective sound holes located directly under the MEMS microphone elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Tatsuhiro Sawada
  • Patent number: 7933076
    Abstract: A lens driving device includes a lens, a moving member that supports the lens, a stationary member that movably supports the moving member, a pitch drive mechanism that drives the moving member in the pitch correction direction, and a yaw drive mechanism that drives in the yaw correction direction. The pitch drive mechanism has first and second magnets provided to the stationary member, and first and second coils provided to the moving member. The yaw drive mechanism has a third magnet provided to the stationary member, and a third coil provided to the moving member. The first and second coils are arranged on opposite sides of the lens when viewed in a third direction that is perpendicular to the pitch and yaw correction directions, and the third coil is arranged on the same side as the first coil with respect to the lens when viewed in the third direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Daisuke Ito
  • Patent number: 7933515
    Abstract: A camera body includes a body mount to which the lens unit can be mounted, a metal main frame supporting the body mount, an imaging element configured to convert an optical image of the subject into image data, an intermediate part disposed along a thermal conduction path formed between the main frame and the imaging element, and a metal heat radiating member connected to the intermediate part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Iyoda, Atsushi Inoue, Ryuichi Nagaoka
  • Patent number: 7930520
    Abstract: A processor for sequentially executing a plurality of programs using a plurality of register value groups stored in a memory that correspond one-to-one with the programs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kazushi Kurata, Tetsuya Tanaka, Nobuo Higaki, Kunihiko Hayashi, Hiroshi Kadota, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Kozo Kimura, Hideshi Nishida, Kazuya Furukawa, Shigeki Fujii, Toshio Sugimura
  • Patent number: 7921281
    Abstract: A processor for sequentially executing a plurality of programs using a plurality of register value groups stored in a memory that correspond one-to-one with the programs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kazushi Kurata, Tetsuya Tanaka, Nobuo Higaki, Kunihiko Hayashi, Hiroshi Kadota, Tokuzo Kiyohara, Kozo Kimura, Hideshi Nishida, Kazuya Furukawa, Shigeki Fujii, Toshio Sugimura
  • Patent number: 7911350
    Abstract: A drunk driving detection system to be incorporated in a vehicle includes a steering wheel, a film, a pair of contact detection electrodes, an alcohol sensor, and a control circuit. The steering wheel is provided with an opening in a portion to be grasped by a driver. The film is liquid-impermeable and air-permeable, and covers the first opening. The contact detection electrodes are provided on the film. The alcohol sensor is provided in a space in communication with the opening. The control circuit is connected to the contact detection electrodes and the alcohol sensor, and measures the resistance between the contact detection electrodes. When the resistance is within a predetermined range, the control circuit determines that the driver is in contact with the film and detects an alcohol drinking condition of the driver based on the output from the alcohol sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Rihito Shoji, Junichi Yukawa, Fumiyasu Konno, Toshio Ishizaki
  • Patent number: 7913169
    Abstract: A BD-ROM has recorded therein an AV Clip generated by multiplexing a video stream and a graphics stream. The graphics stream represents an interactive display to be overlayed with the video stream, and includes a sequence of three Button State groups. The interactive display includes a plurality of buttons, each of which changes from a normal state to a selected state, and from the selected state to an active state, according to a user operation. In the three Button State groups in the graphics stream, the first-order group (N-ODSs) is made of a plurality of pieces of graphics data, which represent normal states of the buttons, the second-order group (S-ODSs) is made of a plurality of pieces of graphics data, which represent selected states of the buttons, and the third-order group (A-ODSs) is made of a plurality of pieces of graphics data, which represent active states of the buttons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Yahata, Joseph McCrossan, Tomoyuki Okada, Wataru Ikeda
  • Patent number: 7912368
    Abstract: An eyepiece lens system for an electronic viewfinder, usable to be disposed on an optical axis between a reflective LCD of the viewfinder and a last optical surface of the viewfinder, the eyepiece lens system comprising: a first lens having a positive refractive index; a second lens having a negative refractive index; and a third lens having a positive refractive index, wherein the first lens, the second lens, and the third lens are disposed in this order from a side of the LCD to a side of the last optical surface, satisfying the conditions: 18 mm<f1<20 mm, ?18 mm<f2<?16 mm, 18 mm<f3<20 mm, 19 mm<f<21 mm, and 0?HH?/f<+0.13 where f1 is a focal length of the first lens, f2 is a focal length of the second lens, f3 is a focal length of the third lens, f is a combined focal length of the first to the third lenses, and HH? is distance in an optical axis direction between a rear principal point H and a front principal point H?.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yushi Ogino, Kunio Niwa, Takayuki Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 7912352
    Abstract: When playing an AV Clip recorded on a BD-ROM, a judgment is made, for each elementary stream, which of a plurality of predetermined conditions the elementary stream satisfies. The plurality of predetermined conditions include (a) a condition that a playback apparatus has a capability of playing the elementary stream, (b) a language attribute of the elementary stream matches a language setting of the playback apparatus, and (c) a channel attribute of the elementary stream is surround sound and the playback apparatus has a surround output capability. The playback apparatus assigns a priority to each elementary stream based on which conditions the elementary stream satisfies, selects an elementary stream having a highest priority, and plays the selected elementary stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Wataru Ikeda, Tomoyuki Okada, Yasushi Uesaka
  • Patent number: 7894711
    Abstract: A BD-ROM contains an AVClip in which a video stream is multiplexed with an interactive graphics stream. The video stream constitutes a moving picture. On the other hand, the graphics stream constitutes menu presentations to be combined with a moving picture. The graphics stream includes a plurality of display sets constituting the menu presentations. Each of the display sets has interactive control information (ICS). Among the display sets belonging to the graphics stream, the interactive control information (ICS) other than the one belonging to the head one include version information (page_version_number) indicating whether or not content of the menu presentation has changed with respect to the previous Display Set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph McCrossan, Tomoyuki Okada
  • Patent number: 7889620
    Abstract: A light source emits light with a first wavelength and light with a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength toward an optical disk from adjacent positions. An optical receiver detects light reflected from the optical disk. An astigmatism-generating element generates light used for focus control in a condition where a focusing position on one of two perpendicular cross sections including an optical axis of the light reflected from the optical disk is located ahead of the optical receiver and a focusing position on the other cross section is located behind the optical receiver are included. The astigmatism-generating element is a Fresnel mirror configured to include a plurality of reflecting mirrors. A level difference between the reflecting mirrors adjacent to each other is distributed in a range from a depth of substantially (natural number/2) times the first wavelength to (natural number/2) times the second wavelength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Masaharu Fukakusa, Hideki Yoshinaka, Mayumi Tsukamoto, Satoshi Nagata, Eizo Ono
  • Patent number: 7885516
    Abstract: When playing an AV Clip recorded on a BD-ROM, a judgment is made, for each elementary stream, which of a plurality of predetermined conditions the elementary stream satisfies. The plurality of predetermined conditions include (a) a condition that a playback apparatus has a capability of playing the elementary stream, (b) a language attribute of the elementary stream matches a language setting of the playback apparatus, and (c) a channel attribute of the elementary stream is surround sound and the playback apparatus has a surround output capability. The playback apparatus assigns a priority to each elementary stream based on which conditions the elementary stream satisfies, selects an elementary stream having a highest priority, and plays the selected elementary stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Wataru Ikeda, Tomoyuki Okada, Yasushi Uesaka
  • Patent number: 7881589
    Abstract: When playing an AV Clip recorded on a BD-ROM, a judgment is made, for each elementary stream, which of a plurality of predetermined conditions the elementary stream satisfies. The plurality of predetermined conditions include (a) a condition that a playback apparatus has a capability of playing the elementary stream, (b) a language attribute of the elementary stream matches a language setting of the playback apparatus, and (c) a channel attribute of the elementary stream is surround sound and the playback apparatus has a surround output capability. The playback apparatus assigns a priority to each elementary stream based on which conditions the elementary stream satisfies, selects an elementary stream having a highest priority, and plays the selected elementary stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Wataru Ikeda, Tomoyuki Okada, Yasushi Uesaka
  • Patent number: 7874747
    Abstract: An intermediate adapter includes a first terminal operable to be electrically connected to a lens detecting terminal provided on the camera body when the intermediate adapter is attached to the camera body, a second terminal operable to be electrically connected to a terminal provided on the interchangeable lens for providing a ground potential when the interchangeable lens is attached to the intermediate adapter, and a first switch interposed between the first terminal and the second terminal. The first switch is operable to electrically connect the first terminal and the second terminal when the first switch is on, and disconnect the electrical connection between the first terminal and the second terminal when the first switch is off. While the intermediate adapter is being attached to the interchangeable lens, the first switch is off to disconnect the electrical connection between the first terminal and the second terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ueda, Koji Shibuno, Hidekazu Nakajima, Michihiko Ootsuka
  • Patent number: 7877002
    Abstract: A BD-ROM playback apparatus for selecting and playing back one among text subtitle streams together with a moving picture. PSR 48-61 store Decode Capability flags whose set values indicate, for each language, whether or not a decode capability is present. Procedure executing unit 20 judges whether each text subtitle stream can be displayed, by referring to the set values of the flags. Stream selection unit 17 selects a text subtitle stream judged as being able to be decoded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Wataru Ikeda, Tomoyuki Okada