Patents Represented by Attorney Ronald P. Rader, Fishman & Grauer Kananen
  • Patent number: 6031325
    Abstract: A focus electrode of an electron gun for color cathode ray tubes of the present invention is divided into at least two focus electrodes, three electron beam passage apertures are provided on each focus electrode, electron beam passage apertures disposed on the one end sides of at least one focus electrodes have different astigmatism respectively from electron beam passage apertures disposed on the other end sides, electron beam passage apertures disposed on both sides of the focus electrode have different astigmatism from electron beam passage apertures disposed on both sides facing each other of the adjacent focus electrodes, the electron beam passage apertures disposed at the center of the respective focus electrodes are shielded. The invention provides an in-line three beam type electron gun for color cathode ray tubes which is capable of equalizing the beam spot configuration of three electron beams on the right and left ends of the fluorescent screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 29, 2000
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Yasunobu Amano
  • Patent number: 6029063
    Abstract: A voice scratchpad implemented in a wireless telephone allows the user to record important information gathered during a phone conversation. The wireless telephone includes signal processing means and memory means for recording at least one message or memo which is spoken over the telephone. The telephone also includes controls for initiating the recording of such a memo and for retrieving and replaying the memo. Indexing may be included which allows the system to record and replay a plurality of memos. The user of the phone can thus record important information in a memo on the voice scratchpad without the need for paper or the concentration and effort required for writing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Corporation Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Adrian Parvulescu, Sophie Klym, Andrew Todd Zidel
  • Patent number: 6028010
    Abstract: A ring prevents particulate build-up in a chemical spraying chamber, and includes a top portion that has a rim, and rests on a base flange of the spraying chamber, and a bottom portion that has a vertical segment that extends below a bottom surface of the base flange.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Mitchell Szettella, Jeffrey Eugene Ozee, Augusto James Gonzales, Bryan Cary Tucker
  • Patent number: 6025118
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an optical disc master from a glass substrate includes coating the substrate with a layer of photoresist, and applying an alkali-gel layer atop the photoresist. The coated substrate is then placed in an environment with a higher than normal humidity. The surface of the coated glass is selectively exposed to a beam of a writing laser, the exposure being controlled by digital information to be recorded on the disc. Exposed portions of the coated substrate experience a chemical reaction between the photoresist and the alkali material in the humid environment. Exposed portions are then developed and ablated thereby creating the pits and lands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2000
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Edward W. Morton
  • Patent number: 6018656
    Abstract: A module (P-code module) provides parameter information to a Number Assignment Module (NAM) in a cellular phone unit by processing a simple programming code (P-code) entered by the user through a telephone keypad. The P-code employs a flexible length telephone keypad coding that can be translated into programmable parameters of cellular phone products. Field identification numbers and look-up tables are used to shorten the P-code length for more frequently used information. To activate a cellular phone, the user provides product and serial number information to a dial-up access center which then generates a scrambled P-code for entry by the user. The P-code module within the processor unit of the cellular phone likewise descrambles, decompresses, and performs an integrity check on the sequence of digits being entered by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2000
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Shirai
  • Patent number: 6016028
    Abstract: A color picture tube is provided with a glass bulb in which the external surface of the effective display area of the face plate is formed substantially flat and a color selection mask, having the curvature projected toward the face plate, provided opposed to the internal surface of the face plate within the glass bulb. Therefore, the external surface is flat, the mechanical shock resistance characteristic is high, a tension can surely be applied to the color selection mask and moreover vibration of the color selection mask can be prevented even if external vibration is applied thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2000
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yukinobu Iguchi, Ichiro Utsumi, Koji Saita
  • Patent number: 6016179
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device minimized in image retention phenomenon, comprising: a first insulating substrate having a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in a matrix and a first alignment film provided on the inner surface thereof, said insulating substrate comprising a plurality of thin film transistors associated with each of the pixel electrodes; a second insulating substrate disposed opposed to the first insulating substrate, said second insulating substrate having facing electrodes and a second alignment film formed on the inner surface thereof; a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and the second insulating substrates; and at least one of the first and the second alignment films having a thickness of 60 nm or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2000
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hirohide Fukumoto, Junichi Ushirono, Minoru Nakano, Hideo Kataoka
  • Patent number: 6011485
    Abstract: A novel paging technology allows a gambler to receive information about an event on which a wager may be placed. The pager may also including an input device for inputting wager information and a transmitter for transmitting the wager information so as to place a wager in response to the input. The pager may be used over an extended area or localized to the track or other event forum where the betting occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2000
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: James E. Wicks
  • Patent number: 6005371
    Abstract: The invention provides a charging apparatus capable of charging a secondary battery regardless of a drive state of a set circuit such as a video camera and a personal computer, and having a simple circuit configuration which can be realized at low production costs. A first resistor Ro is provided between a power source and the set circuit 1 and a secondary battery 2. A current flowing to the first resistor Ro is detected by an amplifier A2. This detection result is used to control a total current Io flowing to a set main body 3 including the set circuit 1 and the secondary battery 2 as a unitary block. Simultaneously with this, a current flowing to the second resistor Rb is detected by an amplifier A3 and this detection result is used to control a charge current Ib flowing to the secondary battery 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Koji Umetsu
  • Patent number: 6005270
    Abstract: A semiconductor nonvolatile memory device capable of lowering an operation voltage such as an erase voltage and capable of lowering costs and a method of production of the same, wherein a thin film transistor acting as the memory transistor is formed with a semiconductor layer 31b having a channel formation region formed on an insulating substrate 10 made of glass or plastic, a charge storing layer 32a formed on the semiconductor layer, a control gate 33a formed above the charge storing layer, and source and drain regions formed connected to the channel formation region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Takashi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 6005445
    Abstract: A phase adjustment circuit includes a ring oscillator which is phase locked to an external pixel clock by a phase locked loop. The ring oscillator is formed of n number of stages of variable delay circuits providing n+1 outputs of substantially equal phase differences. A control signal generation circuit is responsive to a phase control signal to generate n+1 weighting coefficients for weighting the n+1 outputs from the ring oscillator in a weighting circuit which produces a phase adjusted output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Masayuki Katakura
  • Patent number: 6003972
    Abstract: An ink jet printer apparatus includes a print head and a color correction processor. The print head is scanned relatively to a recording medium in a main scan direction and an auxiliary scan direction which is perpendicular to the main scan direction. The print head comprises recording heads of M which are arranged in the main scan direction while displaced from one another at an interval of L dots in the auxiliary scan direction, each of the recording heads having color recording elements of N. When in an interleave operation, every scanning operation, the recording heads of M perform an auxiliary feeding operation at an interval of P dots at (K-1) times and then perform an auxiliary feeding operation at an interval of S dots once, P/K is set as an irreducible fraction, P is set to an integer smaller than N.multidot.K/(K-1) and S is set to K.multidot.N-P(K-1), and when M>1, for M.ltoreq.K and L.multidot.M.ltoreq.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Narushima
  • Patent number: 6005659
    Abstract: A laser power meter of the present invention including a laser power sensor and a power meter module is used for measuring the power level of a laser source in a minidisc recorder/player. The laser power sensor includes a photodetector and a variable resistor electrically connected together and housed in a cartridge-like housing that is equivalent in dimension to a minidisc used in the minidisc recorder/player. The laser power sensor is inserted into the minidisc recorder/player like a regular minidisc, thus allowing laser power readings without disassembling the recorder/player.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1999
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Louis D. D'Alessandro, Izrail F. Pinzavetsky
  • Patent number: 6002612
    Abstract: A semiconductor nonvolatile memory wherein memory cells in which data is electrically processed are arranged in the form of a matrix, provided with an error correcting circuit for correcting error bits when there are less than a predetermined number of error bits in a plurality of bits of data; a circuit for processing data in units of the plurality of bits of data in the memory cells of the plurality of units and for counting the number of the unprocessed memory cells after data is processed; and a circuit for ending the processing of the data while leaving the unprocessed memory cells when the number of the unprocessed memory cells is less than the predetermined number of error bits and making the error correcting means save the error bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Noda, Kenshiro Arase, Toshinobu Sugiyama, Ihachi Naiki
  • Patent number: 6002821
    Abstract: An optical transmitting/receiving apparatus comprises a laser and an optical detector. The optical transmitting/receiving apparatus is connected to an optical fiber by a coupling mechanism in such a way that the optical fiber can be connected and disconnected to and from the optical transmitting/receiving apparatus with a high degree of freedom. An optical signal transmitted by the laser is supplied to the optical fiber. On the other hand, an inputting optical signal received through the optical fiber and a loopback optical signal are supplied to the optical detector. A signal output by the optical detector is supplied to a receiving circuit. When a self-diagnosis of the optical transmitting/receiving apparatus is carried out, the optical fiber is disconnected from the optical transmitting/receiving apparatus. In the self-diagnosis, a loopback control circuit generates a driving circuit control signal in accordance with a loopback control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Hideki Yoshida
  • Patent number: 6002144
    Abstract: A semiconductor device having a zener diode, wherein an anode electrode and a cathode electrode of the zener diode have a barrier metal layer as an underlying layer, i.e., a barrier metal structure to simplify manufacturing steps of the semiconductor device, while ensuring that the zener diode is short-circuited with a low resistance without variations in resistance. The anode electrode (6) and the cathode electrode (8) are formed with an underlying metal layer made of a barrier metal. The anode electrode and the cathode electrode are shaped such that Xa<La and Xc<Lc are satisfied, where Xa and Xc are the widths of opposite sides of contact portions of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, at which they are connected to an anode region and a cathode region, respectively, and La and Lc are the lengths of the respective contact portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Tetsuya Oishi
  • Patent number: 6001698
    Abstract: Disclosed is a MOS transistor and a fabrication process for the MOS transistor. Each gate electrode pattern made of silicon is formed on a gate oxide film formed on a silicon base body. An impurity is doped in the silicon base body using the gate electrode patterns as a mask, followed by activation of the impurity thus doped, to form diffusion layers in a surface layer of the silicon base body. An interlayer insulating film is formed in such a manner as to cover the gate electrode patterns. An upper portion of the interlayer insulating film is removed to expose the upper portion of each gate electrode pattern. The gate electrode pattern thus exposed is removed by selective etching. After that, a recessed portion formed by removal of each gate electrode pattern is embedded with a metal material, to form a CMOS transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Hideaki Kuroda
  • Patent number: 6002459
    Abstract: According to a liquid crystal panel of the present invention, the focal length of micro-lenses is set to be longer than the distance between the micro-lens array and the first substrate, while light collected by each micro-lens is arranged to focus inside the first substrate. Thus, the divergence angle after focusing can be reduced. Therefore, the maximum light-emerging angle from the LCD panel can be reduced, and eclipse of the light which causes chrominance or luminance non-uniformity does not occur even when a lens having a high F number is used as a projection lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kikuo Kaise, Shizuo Nishihara, Toshihiro Fukuda, Mikiya Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 5999822
    Abstract: A microphone art for a cellular telephone has a first tubular member telescoping with a second tubular member secured to a face of the cellular telephone. The tubular members are preferably arcuately-shaped, similar to a face of the telephone, and spring-loaded so that releasing a detent permits the second tubular member to extend from the first under the influence of a spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 7, 1999
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: James E. Wicks, Yutaka Hasegawa
  • Patent number: D420355
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2000
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: James E. Wicks, Eduardo Sciammarella