Patents by Inventor Hirofumi Kubota

Hirofumi Kubota 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: 6429914
    Abstract: The polymer dispersion type liquid crystal display panel comprises a pair of substrates 10, 11, a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal layer 12 comprising a liquid crystal 18 and a liquid crystalline polymer 17, a driving electrode 7 and an opposite electrode 8. The driving electrode 7 and the opposite electrode 8 are formed on the lower substrate 11, and an electric field is applied approximately in parallel with the above-mentioned lower substrate 11. Under no application of voltage, the above-mentioned liquid crystal 18 and the polymer 17 adjacent to the liquid crystal, which composes an interface, are aligned in approximately the same direction on a plane parallel with the substrates according to an alignment treatment of the substrates, and thereby a transparent state is obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Kenji Nakao, Seiji Nishiyama
  • Publication number: 20020090470
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display element in which liquid crystal droplets are dispersed and held in polymer composition sandwiched between a pair of substrates each having an electrode at the inside thereof, the liquid crystal droplets are formed to have substantially the same shape and size with minimized variations in particle size so that the liquid crystal droplets can be stably kept in the bipolar-form orientation pattern within a wide temperature range, to minimize hysteresis of transmittance of light to a voltage applied across the electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2002
    Publication date: July 11, 2002
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Shinya Kosako, Kenji Nakao, Noriko Naito, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Masao Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6401022
    Abstract: A vehicle drive power control apparatus and method control the speed ratio of a transmission based on a speed shift line that is set so that, within a practical region, the speed shift line is in a low revolution speed side of an optimal fuel consumption line determined based on the efficiency of the engine and the efficiency of the transmission. Therefore, the width of increase in revolution speed from the speed occurring at the beginning of the practical region is curbed. Hence, the fuel consumption resulting from inertia torques caused by fluctuations in engine revolution speed, that is, fluctuations in the revolution speed of the input shaft of the transmission and a fluidic power transfer mechanism, is reduced, so that the efficiency as a whole increases and the fuel economy improves in comparison with the case where the optimal fuel consumption line is used as a control basis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Zenichiro Mashiki, Isao Takagi, Hiroya Tanaka, Shinichi Mitani
  • Patent number: 6400430
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device of the invention comprises a transparent substrate 2 a transparent electrode 6 formed on the inner surface of the transparent substrate 2, an alignment layer 7 formed over the transparent electrode 6, a composite 5 formed over the alignment layer 7, and a transparent electrode 8 on the upper surface of the composite 5. The composite 5 comprises a transparent polymer 4 and a liquid crystal droplet 3. The liquid crystal droplet 3 is configured in a substantially hemispherical shape such that a bottom surface of the droplet is in contact with the alignment layer and the remaining surface excluding the bottom surface bulges towards an upper surface of the composite 5. The polymer 4 constitutes the other surface of the composite 5 such that the polymer 4 covers the hemispherical liquid crystal droplets 3. Thus, the invention achieves a liquid crystal display device in which one of the pair of substrates is eliminated and thereby the weight of the device is significantly reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenji Nakao, Seiji Nishiyama, Hirofumi Kubota, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Masao Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6389348
    Abstract: A target driving force is calculated by an ECU on the basis of an accelerator opening and a vehicle speed, and a rounded target driving force value (or a corrected target driving force), as gradually changed from the driving force, is determined in the course to reach the target driving force. On the other hand, a rounded target power value (or a corrected target power) is determined on the basis of the rounded target driving force value. Moreover, the gear ratio of a CVT is controlled according to a target power calculated on the basis of the target driving force, and the load on an engine is controlled on the basis of the rounded target power value, so that the reduction in the power characteristics or the physical discomfort, as might otherwise be caused by the difference in the response between the engine and the CVT, is loosened.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Isao Takagi, Zenichiro Mashiki, Hirofumi Kubota, Hiroya Tanaka, Shinichi Mitani, Yasushi Ito
  • Patent number: 6368680
    Abstract: A method of making a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal display element including a phase separation step. The method calls for placing a liquid crystal polymer precursor compatible solution having a liquid crystal and a polymer precursor between a pair of substrates, each having an inside electrode, and irradiating a substrate surface with ultraviolet. The radiation causes a phase separation of the liquid crystal and the polymer precursor as well as polymerization and curing of the precursor. The method forms a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal having liquid crystal droplets dispersed and held in a continuous matrix phase or a three-dimensional network matrix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Shinya Kosako, Kenji Nakao, Noriko Naito, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Masao Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6365239
    Abstract: A polymer dispersion type liquid crystal display element having a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates, each having an inside electrode, is disclosed. The liquid crystal has liquid crystal droplets dispersed and held in either a polymer compound-containing continuous phase matrix or a three dimensional network of such a matrix. In one embodiment, the capacitance hysteresis, defined as Chys=(C2−C1)/Cmax, does not exceed 1.5%. C1 is the capacitance for an applied voltage that is in the process of rising a voltage-capacitance characteristic; C2 is the capacitance of an applied voltage in the process of dropping; and C2 is the capacitance of a maximum applied voltage. In another embodiment, the Chys value does not exceed 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Shinya Kosako, Kenji Nakao, Noriko Naito, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Masao Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6355315
    Abstract: A method of forming a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal display element having a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates, each having an inside electrode, is disclosed. The droplets either are dispersed and held in a continuous matrix phase of the polymer or held in a three dimensional network of a matrix containing the polymer. In the method, the value of (V90×R/d is at least 0.7 where V90 is that voltage required for transmittance of a voltage-transmittance characteristic of the display element to be 90% when the element is at 30° C., d is the interval between the substrate pair, and R is the average particle size of the liquid crystal droplets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Shinya Kosako, Kenji Nakao, Noriko Naito, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Masao Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6355314
    Abstract: A polymer dispersion type liquid crystal display element is disclosed. The element has a polymer dispersion type liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates, each having an inside electrode. Liquid crystal droplets are dispersed either in a polymer matrix continuous phase or in a three-dimensional matrix-containing polymer. When no voltage is applied to the electrodes, the liquid crystal molecules in the droplets present a bipolar-form orientation pattern having at least two poles in the vicinity of the interfaces between the liquid crystal droplets and the polymer. When a clear point transition temperature of the liquid crystal is Tni, the pattern of bipolar-form orientation is maintained at least when the element is operating at a temperature in the range of 5° C. to (Tni−5)° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Shinya Kosako, Kenji Nakao, Noriko Naito, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Masao Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6352491
    Abstract: A fuel supply amount control apparatus for an internal combustion engine uses an idling control amount QISC obtained by reducing an idling control amount Qa by an idling control amount correction value KQISC, when determining the amount of fuel injected for the lean combustion when the vehicle is running. Therefore, during the lean combustion with the D range is selected, there is substantially no difference between the road load amount of fuel injected during the idling state and the road load amount of fuel injected during a low-speed running of the vehicle. Hence, an increase in the amount of fuel injection during the low-speed running of the vehicle based on the lean combustion achieved upon a fuel increase request does not result in an excessively great output torque of the engine, so that the low-speed running of the vehicle becomes stable and good drivability can be maintained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2002
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Zenichiro Mashiki, Isao Takagi, Hirofumi Kubota, Hiroya Tanaka, Shinichi Mitani
  • Publication number: 20020014363
    Abstract: A vehicle drive power control apparatus and method control the speed ratio of a transmission based on a speed shift line that is set so that, within a practical region, the speed shift line is in a low revolution speed side of an optimal fuel consumption line determined based on the efficiency of the engine and the efficiency of the transmission. Therefore, the width of increase in revolution speed from the speed occurring at the beginning of the practical region is curbed. Hence, the fuel consumption resulting from inertia torques caused by fluctuations in engine revolution speed, that is, fluctuations in the revolution speed of the input shaft of the transmission and a fluidic power transfer mechanism, is reduced, so that the efficiency as a whole increases and the fuel economy improves in comparison with the case where the optimal fuel consumption line is used as a control basis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2001
    Publication date: February 7, 2002
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Zenichiro Mashiki, Isao Takagi, Hiroya Tanaka, Shinichi Mitani
  • Publication number: 20020001053
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device of the invention comprises a transparent substrate 2, a transparent electrode 6 formed on the inner surface of the transparent substrate 2, an alignment layer 7 formed over the transparent electrode 6, a composite 5 formed over the alignment layer 7, and a transparent electrode 8 on the upper surface of the composite 5. The composite 5 comprises a transparent polymer 4 and a liquid crystal droplet 3. The liquid crystal droplet 3 is configured in a substantially hemispherical shape such that a bottom surface of the droplet is in contact with the alignment layer and the remaining surface excluding the bottom surface bulges towards an upper surface of the composite 5. The polymer 4 constitutes the other surface of the composite 5 such that the polymer 4 covers the hemispherical liquid crystal droplets 3. Thus, the invention achieves a liquid crystal display device in which one of the pair of substrates is eliminated and thereby the weight of the device is significantly reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 1999
    Publication date: January 3, 2002
    Applicant: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: KENJI NAKAO, SEIJI NISHIYAMA, HIROFUMI KUBOTA, TSUYOSHI UEMURA, MASAO YAMAMOTO
  • Publication number: 20010054867
    Abstract: An organic electroluminescence display panel includes a plurality of organic electroluminescence elements, each comprised of a first display electrode, one or more organic functional layers including a light emitting layer made of an organic compound, and a second display electrode, laminated in order on a substrate, and a plurality of ramparts disposed between the organic electroluminescence elements on the substrate and protruding from the substrate. The display panel further includes a sealing film for covering the organic electroluminescence elements and at least both side surfaces of the ramparts, and an inorganic passivation film made of an inorganic material for covering the sealing film. The sealing film includes a top surface having an inclined surface which is inclined at an inclination angle smaller than a right angle in a region extending from a top edge of each rampart to a center peak of an adjacent one of the electroluminescence elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2001
    Publication date: December 27, 2001
    Inventor: Hirofumi Kubota
  • Publication number: 20010045207
    Abstract: A fuel supply amount control apparatus for an internal combustion engine uses an idling control amount QISC obtained by reducing an idling control amount Qa by an idling control amount correction value KQISC, when determining the amount of fuel injected for the lean combustion when the vehicle is running. Therefore, during the lean combustion with the D range is selected, there is substantially no difference between the road load amount of fuel injected during the idling state and the road load amount of fuel injected during a low-speed running of the vehicle. Hence, an increase in the amount of fuel injection during the low-speed running of the vehicle based on the lean combustion achieved upon a fuel increase request does not result in an excessively great output torque of the engine, so that the low-speed running of the vehicle becomes stable and good drivability can be maintained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2001
    Publication date: November 29, 2001
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Zenichiro Mashiki, Isao Takagi, Hirofumi Kubota, Hiroya Tanaka, Shinichi Mitani
  • Publication number: 20010044687
    Abstract: An engine output for bringing the drive power of a motor vehicle to a requested value is determined as a target output. One of the lean burn and the stoichiometric burn is selected as a combustion form that achieves a best fuel consumption performance in terms of the control of the actual engine output to the target output. That is, an output value that serves as a criterion for determining whether to switch the combustion force is determined based on the minimum fuel consumption rate during the stoichiometric-burn operation and the minimum fuel consumption rate during the lean-burn operation in which the fuel consumption involved in the rich spike control is taken into account. If the target output is less than the output value, the lean-burn operation is performed. If the target output is greater than the output value, the stoichiometric-burn operation is performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 17, 2001
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinichi Mitani, Zenichiro Mashiki, Isao Takagi, Hirofumi Kubota, Hiroya Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20010044358
    Abstract: A speed change control system for a continuously variable transmission, for controlling a gear ratio by deciding an abrupt acceleration demand of a driver, to effect an abrupt speed change when it is decided that the driver demands an abrupt acceleration. The speed change control system comprises: a drive state decider for deciding that the vehicle has changed from a driven state to a drive state, when said abrupt acceleration is demanded at the driven state; and a speed change controller for controlling said continuously variable transmission to effect said abrupt speed change, after said drive state decider decides that the vehicle has changed from the driven state to the drive state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2001
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroji Taniguchi, Katsumi Kono, Kenji Matsuo, Hideki Yasue, Tadashi Tamura, Daisuke Inoue, Yoshiaki Yamamoto, Hiroki Kondo, Isao Takagi, Zenichiro Mashiki, Hirofumi Kubota, Hiroya Tanaka, Shinichi Mitani
  • Patent number: 6297589
    Abstract: An organic EL full color display panel includes a plurality of transparent electrode lines formed in parallel on a base plate; an insulating layer formed on the base plate, the insulating layer covering respective edges of the transparent electrode lines and having openings formed correspondingly to pixel regions on the transparent electrode lines; at least one organic EL material layer formed so as to correspond to the pixel regions and having any light-emitting function of R, G and B, and a plurality of metallic electrode lines arranged in parallel perpendicularly to the transparent electrode lines, each of the metallic electrode entirely covering the pixel regions of the three pixels of R, G and B. The insulating layer insulates the transparent electrode lines and metallic electrode lines from each other in other regions than the pixel regions. In this configuration, the organic full color display panel can emit a specified color surely at low cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2001
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Satoshi Miyaguchi, Hirofumi Kubota, Shinichi Ishizuka, Kenji Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20010021683
    Abstract: A control system for a vehicle including a continuously variable is constructed: such that a target output of a prime mover for achieving a target driving force is determined on the basis of the target driving force; such that a target output speed is determined on the basis of the target output; such that a gear ratio of the continuously variable transmission is controlled so that an output speed of the prime mover may be the target output speed; such that a target output torque of the prime mover for achieving the target driving force is determined on the basis of the target driving force; and such that a load of the prime mover is controlled on the basis of the target output torque. The control system further comprises a corrector for correcting a control quantity to control the load of the prime mover so that the output torque of the prime mover may have the sum of the target output torque and an output torque for keeping the idle run of the prime mover.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2001
    Publication date: September 13, 2001
    Applicant: TOTOYA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Isao Takagi, Hirofumi Kubota
  • Patent number: 6221443
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display element in which liquid crystal droplets are dispersed and held in polymer composition sandwiched between a pair of substrates each having an electrode at the inside thereof, the liquid crystal droplets are formed to have substantially the same shape and size with minimized variations in particle size so that the liquid crystal droplets can be stably kept in the bipolar-form orientation pattern within a wide temperature range, to minimize hysteresis of transmittance of light to a voltage applied across the electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kubota, Shinya Kosako, Kenji Nakao, Noriko Naito, Tsuyoshi Uemura, Masao Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6222315
    Abstract: A luminescent display panel includes a substrate (106), a plurality of first electrodes (102) formed on the substrate (106), and a plurality of insulating films (109) formed on the substrate (106) to cover edge portions of each first electrode (102) and having the central portion thereof exposed. A luminescent layer (103) is formed on exposed portions of the first electrodes (102) and on the insulating films (109), and a plurality of second electrodes (101) are formed on the luminescent layer (103). Each of the plurality of insulating films (109) has a thickness which becomes gradually smaller toward a center line of each adjacent first electrode (102).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: Pioneer Electronic Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Yoshizawa, Hirofumi Kubota, Kenji Yoshida, Taizo Ishida