Patents Assigned to Sharp
  • Patent number: 7537945
    Abstract: Provided are a semiconductor laser device capable of stable operation at the time of high power output without damage to a resonator end surface and a method of manufacturing the same, as well as an optical transmission module and an optical disk apparatus using the semiconductor laser device. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor laser device includes a laser wafer formation step of forming a laser wafer at least having a semiconductor layer to form a resonator end surface, a cleavage step of cleaving the laser wafer in the atmosphere and forming a semiconductor laser element having the resonator end surface, a contact step of brining the resonator end surface in contact with a nitrogen containing gas containing 90-100 volume % nitrogen for one hour or longer, and a reflectance control film formation step of forming a reflectance control film in contact with the resonator end surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shuichi Hirukawa, Katsuhiko Kishimoto
  • Patent number: 7538754
    Abstract: A signal circuit of the present invention includes (i) a plurality of signal sources; (ii) a plurality of source lines; and driving means for driving the data lines, the source lines being divided into a plurality of groups, each of the groups including three source lines, adjacent groups constituting one block, wherein: the driving means selects groups which belong to a clump of blocks including a first block, and a second block adjacent to the first block so that, (i) during a first predetermined period, the driving means simultaneously selects groups that belong to the first block, and simultaneously selects groups that belong to the second block, and (ii) during a second predetermined period subsequent to the first predetermined period, the driving means selects groups one by one from groups disposed at respective ends of the clump of blocks, simultaneously selects adjacent groups that belong to different blocks, and selects remaining groups one by one.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuya Tsuda, Maki Sasagawa
  • Patent number: 7539435
    Abstract: An isolating wall is provided for isolating, from a space outside the isolation wall, a space including: a photosensitive drum; a developing unit; a charging device; a transfer device; and a fixing device. With this configuration, the space in which powder toner (toner which is not fixed on a recording material by the fixing device) is present is isolated from the space outside the isolation wall. Thus, in an image forming apparatus using powder developer, this configuration makes it possible to (i) prevent the floating toner from going out of the image forming apparatus, or (ii) prevent the floating toner from deteriorating a function of the image forming apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsuyuki Katoh, Hiroshi Ishii
  • Patent number: 7538840
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display has spacers for maintaining a liquid crystal layer and a cell gap between a substrate and an opposite substrate and also has regions either within a single pixel or over two or more pixels. The spacers are of columnar shape elongated from the substrate to the opposite substrate or the other way round, and the columnar spacers are provided in regions in which the liquid crystal layer is thinnest among those regions in which the liquid crystal layer varies in thickness. The structure makes the liquid crystal display having two or more different cell gaps to stably maintain those cell gaps and produces good quality displays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koichi Fujimori, Yozo Narutaki, Tokihiko Shinomiya
  • Patent number: 7537369
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to allow electromagnetic wave, which is radiated from a radiation source, to be radiated efficiently from a radiation surface in a surface radiation conversion element such as, for example, a light-guiding plate. The present invention is a surface radiation conversion element for converting electromagnetic wave, which is radiated from a radiation source, to surface radiation, wherein an element body 101 has a generally plate shape constituted with a material having a larger electric permittivity than outside and, in the inside of the element body 101, a plurality of closed spaces 103 are disposed whose electric permittivity is smaller than that of the material constituting the element body 101 and whose surfaces opposite to the radiation surface 123 are generally flat. The aforesaid closed spaces 103 can be formed with recesses 121 disposed in the first member 110 or the second member 120 constituting the element body 101.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshiki Takata
  • Patent number: 7538364
    Abstract: On a substrate of a GaN FET, an undoped AlN layer, a GaN delta doped layer, an undoped GaN layer, and an undoped Al0.2Ga0.8N layer are formed in sequence. Arranged on the undoped Al0.2Ga0.8N layer are a Ti/Al/Pt/Au source ohmic electrode, a Pt/Au gate Schottky electrode, and a Ti/Al/Pt/Au drain ohmic electrode. Parallel conduction and gate leak are reduced or eliminated by the GaN delta doped layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: John Twynam
  • Patent number: 7538442
    Abstract: In the peripheral part of a semiconductor chip, third electrode pads for wire bonding and plate wiring and first electrode pads dedicated to wire bonding are provided. On the other hand, second electrode pads dedicated to plate wiring are provided on an inner part away from the edge of the semiconductor chip. Further, the first and second electrode pads are connected via metal bypass layers, respectively. In the case of wire bonding, the first and third electrode pads are used and the third electrode pads are encapsulated with an insulating layer. Further, in the case of plate wiring, the second and third electrode pads are used and the first electrode pads are covered with an insulating layer. This realizes a semiconductor chip which has great versatility and which can be used in semiconductor packages of various types.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Nakanishi, Haruya Mori
  • Patent number: 7539040
    Abstract: A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device comprises a memory cell including a variable resistance element changing its electric resistance by voltage application and having current-voltage characteristics in which a positive bias current flowing when a positive voltage is applied from one electrode as a reference electrode to the other electrode through an incorporated rectifier junction is larger than a negative bias current, a memory cell selection circuit for selecting the memory cell from the memory cell array, a voltage supply circuit for supplying a voltage to the memory cell so that a predetermined positive voltage corresponding to the reading operation is applied to the other electrode of the variable resistance element, in the reading operation, and a readout circuit for detecting the amount of the positive bias current and reading the information stored in the selected memory cell, in order to suppress the reading disturbance of the memory cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignees: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
    Inventors: Yukio Tamai, Akihito Sawa
  • Patent number: 7538846
    Abstract: Sub picture element electrodes made of ITO are formed in a picture element region which is sectioned by gate bus lines and data bus lines. These sub picture element electrodes are electrically connected to each other with a wiring connection. This wiring connection includes a metal connection portion which is formed simultaneously with the data bus lines and the like, and an ITO connection portion which is formed simultaneously with the sub picture element electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidefumi Yoshida, Yasutoshi Tasaka, Hideaki Tsuda, Yohei Nakanishi, Tsuyoshi Kamada, Kazuya Ueda
  • Patent number: 7539455
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus of the present invention carries out an image processing with respect to image information which is to be printed. The image forming apparatus predicts the occurrence of an image elongation which may occur due to slippage of a recording material with respect to the electrostatic image drum, and specifies an image elongation occurring area on the basis of a printing ratio of the image information. If the occurrence of slippage, and thus image elongation is predicted, the amount of the image elongation occurring area to be shortened is calculated. The image information is then modified to obtain write image information that is shortened based on the calculated shortening amount. This write image information is then used to form the electrostatic latent image that is developed and transferred to a recording material. Thus, even slippage does occur, it is possible to accurately form the desired image on the recording material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshiki Takiguchi, Kouji Wakamoto, Tatsuya Inoue, Hiroshi Ishii
  • Patent number: 7538896
    Abstract: The data processing device of the present invention comprises a print job generating unit 22 for generating a print job in PDL format (PDL job) and a print job in BMI (bitmap image) format (BMI job) for one data file to perform stock printing, a storage device 12 for storing both print jobs, and a means for sending to a printer 15 or 16 the stored print job in response to an instruction from a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshiaki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 7538836
    Abstract: The present invention provides a circularly polarizing plate comprising a polarizer and an optical layer having a value 5 of Nz shown by the following equation (1), wherein the circularly polarizing plate comprises a birefringent body satisfying Nz<0 between the polarizer and a retarder satisfying Nz>0. Nz=(nx?nz)/(nx?ny)(1), where nx and ny designates main refractive indexes in a plane to light having a wavelength of 550 nm and satisfy nx?ny, and nz designates a main refractive index in a thickness direction to the light having the wavelength of 550 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenji Fujita, Takayuki Natsume
  • Patent number: 7538360
    Abstract: A nitride-based semiconductor light-emitting device and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The nitride-based light-emitting device includes a first conductivity type nitride-based semiconductor layer, a light-emitting layer and a second conductivity type nitride-based semiconductor layer, that are successively layered above a translucent base. A first conductivity type electrode layer is electrically connected to the first conductivity type nitride-based semiconductor layer, and a second conductivity type electrode layer is electrically connected to the second conductivity type nitride-based semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mayuko Fudeta, Toshio Hata
  • Patent number: 7537003
    Abstract: A kitchen apparatus body installed in a cabinet includes a heating chamber configured to carry out processing, such a high-frequency heating, on an object to be processed. The kitchen apparatus body includes an air supply unit configured to suck in cooling air, a first exhaust unit configured to exhaust air including the heat from the heating chamber, and a second exhaust unit configured to exhaust air used to cool a unit, such as a high-voltage transformer, having a high temperature. The air supply unit and the first and second exhaust units are collectively disposed in a side section of the kitchen apparatus body in a manner such that they extend from the front to back and such that the inlet and the outlets open to the front surface. Therefore, the air supply and the exhaust are separated from each other so as to improve their efficiency. Even when vapor is included in the exhaust air, condensation can be prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masayuki Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 7539905
    Abstract: A technique is provided for detecting errors in persistent memory, such as flash memory, where values of data items are stored at memory locations added consecutively to one end of the already-allocated memory segment. When a new location is added, a pointer to the address of the new location is stored at the location of a preceding value for that item. The address of the latest location is determined (21) whenever power is reapplied. The pointer fields of the locations are searched (24) for any pointer whose value is greater than the address of the last location. If such a pointer value is found, this indicates that an error occurred when writing the pointer value, for example because power was removed before completion of the pointer writing cycle. The error can be corrected by changing the pointer value to the address of the last location (27).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Andrew Kay
  • Publication number: 20090128746
    Abstract: A display includes a display device having a first polarizer and a second polarizer or a reflector, and a display layer disposed between the first polarizer and the second polarizer or the reflector. A liquid crystal layer is disposed between the display layer and one of the first polarizer and the second polarizer or reflector. The liquid crystal molecules of at least one region of the liquid crystal layer are switchable between a first state in which the display has a first display mode with a first viewing angle range and a second state in which the display has a second display mode having a second viewing angle range smaller than the first viewing angle range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2006
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Diana Ulrich Kean, Anthony John Carver, Paul Anthony Gass, Heather Ann Stevenson, Emma Jayne Walton
  • Publication number: 20090128691
    Abstract: In a case of changing the resolution of the synthesized image signal obtained by synthesizing the first image signal and a second image signal, identification information for identifying whether or not the character signal is contained is added to the synthesized image signal based on presence/absence of the character signal, by a character signal creating unit and a character signal synthesizing unit. Then, based on the identification information, a resolution changing unit separates the synthesized image signal into a third image signal containing a component of the character signal and a fourth image signal containing no component of the character signal, changes the resolutions of the third image signal and the fourth image signal, and synthesizes the third image signal and the fourth image signal with the resolutions changed, based on the identification information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2005
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tomoo Nishigaki
  • Publication number: 20090128752
    Abstract: A transflective display device capable of suppressing white balance from shifting to yellow includes filters of R, G, B, and Y, and a region corresponding to a reflective member in the Y filter is covered with a BM. Therefore, filters used in the reflective display are limited to three colors of R, G, and B, and thereby white balance can be prevented from shifting to yellow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2006
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akiko Itou, Kohzoh Nakamura, Shun Ueki, Tokio Taguchi
  • Publication number: 20090127440
    Abstract: A colored microlens array includes a plurality of microlenses for focusing incident light on a plurality of respective positions, on a substrate or a transparent film provided on the substrate, in which peripheral sections of the plurality of microlenses overlap each other at the adjacent positions and the microlenses are colored in a plurality of colors and arranged in a predetermined color arrangement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2008
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Junichi Nakai
  • Publication number: 20090128672
    Abstract: A color solid-state image capturing apparatus is provided, where a plurality of light receiving sections are arranged on a light receiving surface of an image capturing area, a plurality of color filters are positioned in a constant period above the plurality of light receiving sections, and a plurality of microlenses for focusing light on the plurality of respective light receiving sections are positioned on the plurality of color filters, and a plurality of color signals are output in accordance with the plurality of color filters, where the constant period of the plurality of color filters is defined as a unit, and the size of the plurality of microlenses is variable for each light receiving section so that the ratio of the plurality of color signals is constant in the unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2008
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takashi Watanabe