Patents Assigned to Sharp
  • Patent number: 7709508
    Abstract: The present invention relates to compounds and derivatives thereof, their synthesis, and their use as estrogen receptor modulators. The compounds of the instant invention are ligands for estrogen receptors and as such may be useful for treatment or prevention of a variety of conditions related to estrogen functioning including: bone loss, bone fractures, osteoporosis, metastatic bone disease, Paget's disease, periodontal disease, cartilage degeneration, endometriosis, uterine fibroid disease, hot flashes, increased levels of LDL cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, impairment of cognitive functioning, age-related mild cognitive impairment, cerebral degenerative disorders, restenosis, gynecomastia, vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, obesity, incontinence, inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, sexual dysfunction, hypertension, retinal degeneration and cancer, in particular of the breast, uterus and prostate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Merck Sharp & Dohme
    Inventors: Mark L. Greenlee, Dongfang Meng, Donald M. Sperbeck, Kenneth J. Wildonger
  • Patent number: 7711306
    Abstract: A center distance between heating rollers for suspending an external heating belt is fixed, and a peripheral length of the external heating belt is set so that a tension is not exerted to the external heating belt when the external heating belt is not pressed against the fixing roller and the tension is exerted to the external heating belt when the external heating belt is pressed against the fixing roller. As a result, it is possible to provide an external belt heating type fixing apparatus, having a simple arrangement, which is excellent in a thermal efficiency and can suppress snaking of the belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Toshiaki Kagawa
  • Patent number: 7711141
    Abstract: Streaming image data comprising multiple images is received at an imaging device. Image boundaries are identified within the streaming image data. The streaming image data is transformed to an image-ready format that may be directly processed by a marking engine. Imaging (such as printing) of transformed image data for received images is initiated without waiting for all the streaming data to be received at the imaging device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventor: John J. Burlingame
  • Patent number: 7709858
    Abstract: A first region and a second region that has a defect density of which the value is higher than that of the first region are respectively formed so as to be aligned in stripe form in the direction parallel to the direction in which a dug out region extends, where atoms that terminate the surface of the first region are different from atoms that terminate the surface of the aforementioned second region, and the dug out region includes the first region and the second region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuhzoh Tsuda, Takeshi Kamikawa
  • Patent number: 7711841
    Abstract: In an exemplary embodiment, a streaming client is playing a media stream that is being streamed from a streaming server. The media stream is being played at a certain playback rate. While the media stream is being played, the level of a streaming buffer is monitored. If it is determined that the level of the streaming buffer is below a defined lower limit, then the playback rate is set equal to a value that is less than the intended playback rate for the media stream. The specific value of the playback rate depends on the level of the streaming buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventor: Sachin G. Deshpande
  • Patent number: 7710530
    Abstract: A color filter substrate includes: an insulating transparent substrate; a color filter layer provided on the insulating transparent substrate, including a plurality of colored layers and constituting an in-screen display region; and an in-screen frame region defined around the in-screen display region. A light-blocking layer is provided in the in-screen frame region to cover the insulating transparent substrate. A first spacer part and a second spacer part are formed in the in-screen frame region and the in-screen display region, respectively, and are oriented substantially perpendicularly to the insulating transparent substrate. The sum of the height of the first spacer part and the thickness of the light-blocking layer is substantially equal to the sum of the height of the second spacer part and the thickness of the color filter layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Toshihide Tsubata
  • Patent number: 7710388
    Abstract: A display device includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix. At least one of the pixels includes two sub-pixel groups. Each of the sub-pixel groups includes sub-pixels of three or more colors. Sub-pixels of the same color in each pixel are driven by the same signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mitsuaki Hirata, Masanori Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 7709658
    Abstract: The present invention relates to substituted pyrazoles, compositions containing such compounds and methods of treatment. The compounds are glucagon receptor antagonists and thus are useful for treating, preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
    Inventors: Lushi Tan, James Christopher McWilliams, Frederick W. Hartner, Naoki Yoshikawa, Wenji Li
  • Patent number: 7711293
    Abstract: A toner bottle that is composed of a main part, a toner loading portion, a bottle cap that can hermetically close and open a toner loading opening in the toner loading portion, and a bottle-side toner discharge port. This toner bottle is constructed such that the bottle cap that encloses the toner loading opening has a locking projection which can limit the rotation in the loosening direction while the toner loading portion has a cap locking projection which will engage the locking projection and can limit the rotation in the loosening direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazuya Koyama
  • Patent number: 7708896
    Abstract: An ion elution unit generates metal ions by applying a voltage between electrodes. Terminals are formed integrally to the electrodes. An interval between the electrodes becomes narrower from an upstream side to a downstream side with respect to a water current flowing through an inside of a casing of the ion elution unit. Terminals that are so laid as to run from the electrodes out of a casing of the ion elution unit are disposed on an upstream side with respect to a water current flowing through an inside of the casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hirokazu Ooe, Minoru Tadano, Mugihei Ikemizu, Hirofumi Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 7711307
    Abstract: A cleaning device and a blade which is provided in the cleaning device and which has an edge portion to be pressed against a surface of a photoreceptor, so as to scrape toner are arranged so that: the blade includes (a) a blade main body constituting a main body portion of the blade and (b) a fluorocarbon resin layer formed in an edge portion, which is to make contact with the photoreceptor, of the blade main body, the fluorocarbon resin layer being made of a resin material, the resin material being filled in irregularities of a smooth surface of the blade main body. With this, even when the cleaning device is provided in a high-speed machine using small-particle toner with no corner, it is possible to extend the life of the photoreceptor without reducing a cleaning property.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Kageyama
  • Patent number: 7711285
    Abstract: A cleaning device is provided with a cleaning unit (35) disposed downstream from a position at which a toner image is transferred to a paper. The cleaning unit (35) is provided with a cleaning blade (35c) for scraping off residual toner attached to an image bearing member and a toner catching sheet (35e) for preventing the residual toner or paper dust which have been scraped off from falling outside the cleaning unit. The free length in the toner catching sheet (35e) between affixed positions of a first end portion which is affixed to the cleaning unit (35) and a second end portion which abuts an outer circumferential portion of the image bearing member is determined by an amount of paper dust buildup on the outer circumferential portion of the image bearing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takashi Makiura, Takashi Kubo, Koichi Moriyama, Shunichi Hayashiyama, Mitsuru Ogura, Tetsuya Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 7710602
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention comprise methods and systems for context-based adaptive image processing wherein print job elements are processed according to context, which may be determined by segmentation and analysis of print job elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventor: James E. Owen
  • Publication number: 20100101367
    Abstract: This invention provides a method and apparatus for recovering In in the form of an alloy or a metal simple substance as a valuable material from waste LCD. In the In recovery method and apparatus, there is no need to recover In as indium hydroxide, and In can be recovered as a valuable metal. Accordingly, unlike the case of indium hydroxide, the recovery does not suffer from poor handling, and In can easily be recovered through a filter or the like with significantly improved In recovery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2006
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicants: KOBELCO ECO-SOLUTIONS CO., LTD., SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiaki Muratani, Takamichi Honma, Tomoharu Maeseto, Mitsushige Shimada
  • Publication number: 20100104309
    Abstract: A method for stepped energy savings for a printing device is described. A temperature of a fuser of a printing device is reduced to a first reduced temperature after a first idle interval has passed in which there is no printing activity at the printing device. The first reduced temperature is calculated to be a temperature from which the fuser can be raised to an operating temperature in a first specified percentage of the full power up time. The full power up time being the time required to change the fuser from an ambient temperature to the operating temperature. If there is no printing activity during the first idle interval and a second idle interval, the fuser of the printing device is reduced to a second reduced temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
    Inventor: Andrew Rodney Ferlitsch
  • Publication number: 20100105276
    Abstract: In a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, a sealant having a cut-out formed at least on the other end side of a display region is provided on one film substrate. A liquid crystal material is supplied to one end side of the display region in the one film substrate or the other film substrate. An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel includes a bonding unit arranged to bond the pair of film substrates to each other through the sealant and the liquid crystal material by pressing respective surfaces of the film substrates so that a pressure in a middle of the film substrates becomes higher than that at both ends thereof, and a sealing unit arranged to seal the cut-out of the sealant to the pair of film substrates bonded in the bonding unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2007
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tokuo Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20100103343
    Abstract: A backlight (2; illumination device) includes multiple light guide units (11) each including: a light source (5); and a light guide plate (7) for diffusing, for surface emission, light from the light source (5). Each light guide plate (7, 7 . . . ) includes: a light-emitting section (7b) having a light-emitting surface (7a); and a light guide section (7c) for guiding, to the light-emitting section, light from the light source (5), a light-emitting section (7b) of one of any adjacent two of the light guide plates (7) being provided above a light guide section (7c) of the other light guide plate (7).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuhsaku Ajichi, Takeshi Masuda
  • Publication number: 20100103206
    Abstract: This invention relates to an image processing method for improving the quality of an image to be displayed on a display device and to a liquid-crystal display device using the same, and aims at providing an image processing method for providing wide viewing angle and excellent tonal-intensity viewing angle characteristic and a liquid-crystal display device using the same. Combined together are a higher-luminance pixel to be driven higher in luminance than the luminance data of an image to be displayed and a lower-luminance pixel to be driven lower in luminance than the luminance data, to determine a luminance on the higher-luminance pixel and luminance on the lower-luminance pixel as well as an area ratio of the higher-luminance and lower-luminance pixels in a manner obtaining a luminance nearly equal to a desired luminance based on the luminance data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2009
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kamada, Hidefumi Yoshida, Yoshio Koike, Toshiaki Suzuki, Tetsuya Kobayashi, Yasutoshi Tasaka, Masakazu Shibasaki, Kunihiro Tashiro, Kazuya Ueda, Katsuyoshi Hiraki
  • Publication number: 20100103807
    Abstract: An optical data recording medium, in which irradiation of a light beam is used for recording and/or reproducing data includes (i) a substrate having an a rise and/or a recess which are a light-incident surface, (ii) a reflective layer, provided on the light-incident surface of the substrate, for reflecting the light beam, (iii) a light absorption layer for converting, to heat, a light of the light beam to heat on the surface of the reflective layer, (iv) a reproducing layer, provided on the surface of the heat-light converting layer, having a transmittance that changes in accordance with a light intensity distribution of the light beam. The optical data recording medium is excellent in super-resolution property, and enables reproduction of a shorter mark length.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2009
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideharu Tajima, Nobuyuki Takamori, Go Mori, Masaki Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20100104996
    Abstract: A baking apparatus includes a baking chamber and a plurality of guide rolls provided inside the baking chamber so that their respective rotation shafts extend parallel or substantially parallel to each other. The baking apparatus bakes a thin film on a film substrate contained in the baking chamber, while sequentially passing the film substrate to the plurality of guide rolls. The plurality of guide rolls are arranged in a spiral manner in the order that the film substrate is passed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tokuo Yoshida