Patents by Inventor Akira Kurozuka

Akira Kurozuka 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).

  • Patent number: 7872952
    Abstract: An optical disk apparatus according to the present invention includes: a light emission section for emitting laser light; an optical system for irradiating the optical disk medium with the laser light; and an aberration control section for controlling aberration of the laser light. In one embodiment, the aberration control section repeatedly switches between a plurality of aberration setting states in a focus lock-in operation. In another embodiment, the aberration control section simultaneously sets a plurality of aberration setting states in a focus lock-in operation. As a result, a plurality of aberration setting states can be allowed to substantially coexist within a single optical system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Shin-ichi Kadowaki, Joji Anzai, Osamu Kajino
  • Patent number: 7872395
    Abstract: An actuator 1 according to the present invention includes: a first movable section 5; a second movable section 6 supporting the first movable section 5; and a stationary section 13 supporting the second movable section 6. The second movable section 6 includes: a first conductive portion 6a for applying a first voltage to the first movable section 5; a second conductive portion 6b to which a second voltage is applied; and backlining 15 for stabilizing the first conductive portion 6a and the second conductive portion 6b to each other in an electrically insulated state. The backlining 15 stabilizes the first conductive portion 6a and the second conductive portion 6b from a face of the actuator 1 opposite from the face on which the mirror section 34 is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Hiroshi Obi
  • Publication number: 20100289664
    Abstract: A light projection device, includes a movable projector section which illuminates or display information by projecting light while moving a projection position; a position detecting section which detects a position of a lost article instructed by a user; a view field detecting section which detects a view field of the user, and a controller section which controls said movable projection section based on the lost article detected by the position detecting section and the view field of the user detected by the view field detecting section, and either directly illuminates the lost article or projects guide information for guiding the user to the lost article within a view field of the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2009
    Publication date: November 18, 2010
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tetsuro Mizushima, Kazuhisa Yamamoto, Akira Kurozuka, Kakuya Yamamoto, Keiji Sugiyama, Kenji Nakayama
  • Patent number: 7830473
    Abstract: The present invention comprises: a laser light source 101 operable to output a laser light; an optical component 114 operable to couple, to an optical fiber 126, the laser light outputted from the laser light source 101; an actuator 118 operable to hold the optical component 114; a photoreceiver 503 operable to monitor the laser light outputted from the optical fiber; and a control device 117 operable to drive the actuator 118 in accordance with a result of the monitoring by the photoreceiver 503, thereby controlling a position of the optical component 114.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Furuya, Shinichi Shikii, Tetsuro Mizushima, Akira Kurozuka, Kazuhisa Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 7792163
    Abstract: It is aimed to suppress a local increase of an energy density per unit time in a nonlinear crystal. A fundamental wave emitted from a fundamental wave laser light source is condensed by a condenser lens and incident on a nonlinear crystal 11 having a poled structure. By displacing a focus position of a fundamental wave 50 by means of a scanning mirror 21, a local increase of the energy density per unit time in the nonlinear crystal 11 is suppressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Nakayama, Kiminori Mizuuchi, Hiroyuki Furuya, Akira Kurozuka
  • Publication number: 20100220293
    Abstract: A multipurpose projector 100 is provided with a fiber bundle 6 including a plurality of cores fixedly arranged on an input plane and an output plane, laser beam sources 1r, 1g and 1b for emitting laser beams having directivities, an optical guide unit 2 to 5 for modulating the laser beams emitted from the laser beam sources 1r, 1g and 1b and guiding the modulated laser beams to the input plane of the fiber bundle 6, a projection lens 8 for enlarging and projecting the laser beams emerging from the output plane of the fiber bundle 6 to a display space 12, and a projection angle adjusting mechanism 7 disposed on the side of the output plane of the fiber bundle 6 for adjusting projection angles of the laser beams projected from the projection lens 8. Thus, the projector can have its projection space freely operated and enlarged to extend its application not only to image display, but also to illumination and decoration with colored light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2008
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Inventors: Tetsuro Mizushima, Kazuhisa Yamamoto, Akira Kurozuka, Kakuya Yamamoto, Keiji Sugiyama
  • Publication number: 20100220299
    Abstract: An image display device is provided with an image display unit for displaying an image visually recognizable by a viewer. The image display unit includes a sub-diffusion layer for diffusing laser light, a vibrator for vibrating the sub-diffusion layer, a primary diffusion layer for diffusing the laser light diffused by the sub-diffusion layer and a light shielding layer for cutting off outside light from a viewer side, wherein the primary diffusion layer and the light shielding layer are arranged at the viewer side of the sub-diffusion layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2007
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Inventors: Tetsuro Mizushima, Tatsuo Itoh, Toshifumi Yokoyama, Akira Kurozuka
  • Publication number: 20100195022
    Abstract: It is aimed to provide an LCD backlight device and liquid crystal display that can suppress light quantity loss and ensure uniform brightness. An LCD backlight device 101 has a laser light source 1 that emits laser light, and a light guiding plate 3 that transforms the laser light from the laser light source 1 into linear laser light, and transforms the linear laser light into a planar laser light, and emits the planar laser light, and the light guiding plate 3 has a third side face 6 that transforms the linear laser light into the planar laser light by reflecting the linear laser light by a plurality of reflection surfaces that are formed along the entrance direction of the linear laser light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2008
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Inventors: Shinichi Shikii, Tetsuro Mizushima, Tatsuo Itoh, Akira Kurozuka, Takayuki Nagata, Kazuhisa Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 7742219
    Abstract: A micro-mechanical structure according to the present invention includes: a base 1; an elastic supporting member 5 having elasticity, the elastic supporting member 5 being formed on the base 1; and a movable section supported by the elastic supporting member 5 so as to be capable of making a relative move with respect to the base 1. This movable section includes a movable electrode 6 opposing the base 1 via a first gap, and a mirror 8 being affixed to the movable electrode 6 via a vertical rib 7.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Hironori Tomita, Yoshihiro Mushika
  • Publication number: 20100103077
    Abstract: An image display apparatus includes: a left-eye light source (101) that outputs a left-eye image constituting an original image in whole or in part; a left-eye deflection unit (104) that deflects, toward a left eye of the user, the left-eye image outputted by the left-eye light source (101); a right-eye light source (110) that outputs a right-eye image constituting the original image in whole or in part; a right-eye deflection unit (107) that deflects, toward a right eye of the user, the right-eye image outputted by the right-eye light source (110); and a control unit (105, 111) that controls the left-eye light source (101) and the right-eye light source (110) such that the left-eye image and the right-eye image are outputted which are different from each other in at least one of pixel position, image shape, image size, image resolution, and display frame rate so that the user can recognize the original image from the left-eye image and the right-eye image by an image fusion effect.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Inventors: Keiji Sugiyama, Kakuya Yamamoto, Akira Kurozuka
  • Publication number: 20100097580
    Abstract: A display apparatus that displays an image on a retina of a user, the display apparatus comprising: an image output unit (100) which includes a light source (101, 110), a wavefront shape change unit (102, 109), and a scan unit (103, 108) and is configured to output display light for displaying the image; and a deflection unit (104, 107) configured to deflect, toward an eye of the user, the display light outputted by the image output unit (100). The deflection unit (104, 107) has a deflection characteristic of suppressing image distortion caused by a change in relative position of the deflection unit (104, 107) with respect to a pupil of the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2008
    Publication date: April 22, 2010
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kakuya Yamamoto, Kenichi Kasazumi, Tatsuo Itoh, Akira Kurozuka, Keiji Sugiyama
  • Publication number: 20100067078
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a bi-axial pivoting type actuator having a first movable section, a second movable section supporting the first movable section, and backlining. A first conductive portion and a second conductive portion for independently applying a driving voltage to each of the first movable section and the second movable section are provided on the second movable section, in a state of being split by isolation trenches and being stabilized by the backlining provided under the second movable section. By providing such backlining, mutual stabilization of the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion in an electrically isolated state, and simplification of the production steps for the actuator are realized. By providing a mirror on the first conductive portion of the actuator of the present invention as such, it becomes possible to provide a bi-axial pivoting type mirror device through a simple production process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2007
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Inventors: Hiroshi Obi, Hironori Tomita, Akira Kurozuka
  • Publication number: 20100060551
    Abstract: A beam scanning-type display device used as a head-mounted display (HMD) or a head-up display (HUD) includes a light source (101) which emits a beam, a scanning unit (103) which performs scanning using the beam emitted from the light source (101), a deflecting unit (104) which deflects the beam used for the scanning by the scanning unit (103) in the direction toward an eye of a user, and a wavefront shape changing unit (102) which changes the wavefront shape of the beam from the light source (101) so that the beam spot size falls within the predetermined allowable range, and emits the beam to the wavefront shape changing unit (102).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2008
    Publication date: March 11, 2010
    Inventors: Keiji Sugiyama, Kakuya Yamamoto, Kenichi Kasazumi, Tatsuo Itoh, Akira Kurozuka
  • Publication number: 20090279163
    Abstract: A micro-mechanical structure according to the present invention includes: a base 1; an elastic supporting member 5 having elasticity, the elastic supporting member 5 being formed on the base 1; and a movable section supported by the elastic supporting member 5 so as to be capable of making a relative move with respect to the base 1. This movable section includes a movable electrode 6 opposing the base 1 via a first gap, and a mirror 8 being affixed to the movable electrode 6 via a vertical rib 7.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2006
    Publication date: November 12, 2009
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Hironori Tomita, Yoshihiro Mushika
  • Publication number: 20090185249
    Abstract: A scan unit according to the present invention is a scan unit including: a reflecting portion for reflecting laser light; and an enclosure portion having a movable object enclosed within a hollow, characterized in that the movable object moves in accordance with an angular velocity of the scan unit, thereby changing a reflecting state of the reflecting portion with respect to the laser light. In one embodiment, the movable object moves in accordance with the angular velocity of the scan unit to cover at least a part of the reflecting portion. In one embodiment, the movable object moves in accordance with the angular velocity of the scan unit to deform the reflecting portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2007
    Publication date: July 23, 2009
    Inventors: Hiroshi Obi, Hironori Tomita, Akira Kurozuka, Osamu Kajino
  • Publication number: 20090180168
    Abstract: An actuator 1 according to the present invention includes: a first movable section 5; a second movable section 6 supporting the first movable section 5; and a stationary section 13 supporting the second movable section 6. The second movable section 6 includes: a first conductive portion 6a for applying a first voltage to the first movable section 5; a second conductive portion 6b to which a second voltage is applied; and backlining 15 for stabilizing the first conductive portion 6a and the second conductive portion 6b to each other in an electrically insulated state. The backlining 15 stabilizes the first conductive portion 6a and the second conductive portion 6b from a face of the actuator 1 opposite from the face on which the mirror section 34 is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2006
    Publication date: July 16, 2009
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Hiroshi Obi
  • Publication number: 20090147636
    Abstract: An optical head device according to the present invention includes: a light source for outputting laser light; an optical system for allowing the laser light to be radiated onto an optical disk medium; and an aberration correction section for correcting an aberration of the laser light. The aberration correction section includes: a plurality of mirror sections for reflecting the laser light; a plurality of mirror driving sections for displacing the plurality of mirror sections; and a detection section for detecting a physical condition within the optical head device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2006
    Publication date: June 11, 2009
    Inventors: Hiroshi Obi, Hironori Tomita, Akira Kurozuka, Osamu Kajino
  • Publication number: 20090147224
    Abstract: An image projection apparatus according to the present invention includes a light source for outputting laser light and a mirror section for reflecting and projecting the laser light having been output from the light source, and displays an image with at least a portion of the projected laser light. The image projection apparatus includes a detection section for detecting at least a portion of the laser light returning from a projection direction of the laser light, and a calculation section for determining an image displayable region based on the detected light. The mirror section reflects at least a portion of the laser light returning from the projection direction of the laser light so as to be led into the detection section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2006
    Publication date: June 11, 2009
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Hironori Tomita, Osamu Kajino, Hiroshi Obi, Masanari Mohri
  • Patent number: 7538471
    Abstract: There has been a trade-off between the rigidity and the mass of a movable section of a microactuator, and also between the rigidity of the movable section and the electrostatic force. A microactuator 100 includes: a base 1; a first comb electrode 2 supported by the base 1; a movable section 6 having a second comb electrode 8 opposing the first comb electrode 2, and at least one reinforcement rib 9 protruding toward the base 1; and an elastic supporting member 3 for supporting the movable section 6 so as to allow the movable section 6 to be displaced with respect to the base 1. The height of the second comb electrode 8 is different from the height of the at least one reinforcement rib 9.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Yoshihiro Mushika, Osamu Kajino
  • Publication number: 20090091666
    Abstract: An image projector according to the present invention includes a light source for emitting a laser beam, of which the intensity has been modulated in accordance with a modulation signal representing an image to be projected, and a beam deflection section for deflecting the laser beam two-dimensionally such that the image is produced by repeatedly scanning a screen with the laser beam in a predetermined pattern. The predetermined pattern has a repetitive frequency that is lower than a frame rate of the image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2007
    Publication date: April 9, 2009
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Corporation Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akira Kurozuka, Hironori Tomita