Patents by Inventor Katsufumi Ohmuro

Katsufumi Ohmuro 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: 7719646
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device of the present invention is composed of a ?/4 plate 1, a ?/2 plate 2, and a polarizing plate 3 which are provided in this order from the side of a liquid crystal layer 10. Here, an angle formed between an absorption axis of the polarizing plate 3 and an absorption axis of the ?/2 plate 2 is about 45°, an in-plane retardation of the ?/2 plate 2 is set to a value obtained by adding ?/4 to an in-plane retardation of a retardation plate 1, desirably, the ?/4 plate 1, and an optical axis of the ?/4 plate 1 and an optical axis of the ?/2 plate 2 are orthogonal to each other. In this configuration, the optical axis of the ?/4 plate 1 is placed at 150°, the optical axis of the ?/2 plate 2 is placed at 60°, and the absorption axis of the polarizing plate 3 is placed at 15°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kunihiro Tashiro, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Norio Sugiura, Hidefumi Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20100118233
    Abstract: The technology presented herein has a feature of providing a liquid crystal display device of an excellent viewing angle characteristic and high brightness, including: liquid crystals containing polymerizable monomers between a first substrate with a pixel electrode having micro slits and a second substrate facing the first substrate; wherein the monomers are polymerizable with voltage applied to the liquid crystals; and an alignment orientation of the liquid crystals is controllable to a direction of extending the micro slit, wherein the pixel electrode includes: a direct coupling part electrically connected to a switching element; a capacitive coupling part electrically insulated from the switching element, and a space between the direct and capacitive coupling parts, wherein directions in which the micro slits are extended along the direct and capacitive coupling parts are orthogonal to each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2010
    Publication date: May 13, 2010
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazutaka HANAOKA, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Kunihiro Tashiro, Jin Hirosawa, Norio Sugiura, Kengo Kanii, Shota Makimoto, Yasuhiro Ohno, Isao Tsushima, Tomonori Tanose, Takashi Takagi, Tetsuya Fujikawa, Takahiro Sasaki
  • Patent number: 7710523
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is constituted of a TFT substrate and an opposing substrate which are arranged so as to be opposite to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. In addition, in the liquid crystal layer, formed is a polymer into which a polymer component added to liquid crystal is polymerized, and which determines directions in which liquid crystal molecules tilt when voltage is applied. In the TFT substrate, formed are a sub picture element electrode directly connected to a TFT and a sub picture element electrode connected to the TFT through capacitive coupling. In each of these sub picture element electrodes, formed are slits extending in directions respectively at angles of 45 degrees, 135 degrees, 225 degrees and 315 degrees to the X axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yohei Nakanishi, Kunihiro Tashiro, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Kazutaka Hanaoka, Jin Hirosawa, Norio Sugiura, Kengo Kanii, Shota Makimoto, Naoto Kondo, Isao Tsushima, Tomonori Tanose, Takashi Takagi, Tetsuya Fujikawa
  • Publication number: 20100053511
    Abstract: The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device comprising a retardation layer wherein an in-plane slow axis of the retardation layer is within the direction of 90±40 degrees relative to to an absorption axis of the polarizing layer disposed at a closer position to the retardation layer; Re(550) meets following relation, 25 nm?Re(550)?230 nm; R[40°] of the retardation layer which is measured for incident light in a direction tilted by 40 degrees toward the tilt direction of the retardation layer relative to the normal line of the retardation layer meets following relation, 0 nm?R[40°]?300 nm; and R[+40°] of the retardation layer and retardation R[?40°] of the retardation layer meet following relation, 1<R[+40°]/R[?40°].
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2009
    Publication date: March 4, 2010
    Applicant: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventors: Katsufumi OHMURO, Ryuta Takegami, Zemin Shi, Kiyokazu Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 7656474
    Abstract: The technology presented herein has a feature of providing a liquid crystal display device of an excellent viewing angle characteristic and high brightness, including: liquid crystals containing polymerizable monomers between a first substrate with a pixel electrode having micro slits and a second substrate facing the first substrate; wherein the monomers are polymerizable with voltage applied to the liquid crystals; and an alignment orientation of the liquid crystals is controllable to a direction of extending the micro slit, wherein the pixel electrode includes: a direct coupling part electrically connected to a switching element; a capacitive coupling part electrically insulated from the switching element, and a space between the direct and capacitive coupling parts, wherein directions in which the micro slits are extended along the direct and capacitive coupling parts are orthogonal to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazutaka Hanaoka, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Kunihiro Tashiro, Jin Hirosawa, Norio Sugiura, Kengo Kanii, Shota Makimoto, Yasuhiro Ohno, Isao Tsushima, Tomonori Tanose, Takashi Takagi, Tetsuya Fujikawa, Takahiro Sasaki
  • Patent number: 7630039
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device of the present invention is composed of a ?/4 plate 1, a ?/2 plate 2, and a polarizing plate 3 which are provided in this order from the side of a liquid crystal layer 10. Here, an angle formed between an absorption axis of the polarizing plate 3 and an absorption axis of the ?/2 plate 2 is about 45°, an in-plane retardation of the ?/2 plate 2 is set to a value obtained by adding ?/4 to an in-plane retardation of a retardation plate 1, desirably, the ?/4 plate 1, and an optical axis of the ?/4 plate 1 and an optical axis of the ?/2 plate 2 are orthogonal to each other. In this configuration, the optical axis of the ?/4 plate 1 is placed at 150°, the optical axis of the ?/2 plate 2 is placed at 60°, and the absorption axis of the polarizing plate 3 is placed at 15°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kunihiro Tashiro, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Norio Sugiura, Hidefumi Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20090290110
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display apparatus including a pair of substrates having electrodes and vertical alignment layers. A liquid crystal having a negative anisotropy of dielectric is inserted between the substrates. Each substrate has linearly arranged alignment control structures for controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal. The alignment control structures are formed in the form of projections or slits. Each alignment control structure is formed of a plurality of constituent units. In addition, means for forming a boundary of alignment of liquid crystal (singular point in director field) to control the liquid crystal located on the alignment control structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2009
    Publication date: November 26, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro Sasaki, Arihiro Takeda, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Hideo Chida, Yoshio Koike, Kimiaki Nakamura, Kunihiro Tashiro
  • Publication number: 20090290111
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display apparatus including a pair of substrates having electrodes and vertical alignment layers. A liquid crystal having a negative anisotropy of dielectric is inserted between the substrates. Each substrate has linearly arranged alignment control structures for controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal. The alignment control structures are formed in the form of projections or slits. Each alignment control structure is formed of a plurality of constituent units. In addition, means for forming a boundary of alignment of liquid crystal (singular point in director field) to control the liquid crystal located on the alignment control structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2009
    Publication date: November 26, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro Sasaki, Arihiro Takeda, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Hideo Chida, Yoshio Koike, Kimiaki Nakamura, Kunihiro Tashiro
  • Patent number: 7609345
    Abstract: A substrate for a transflective liquid crystal display that is capable of display in both reflective and transmissive modes and a display having the same. One embodiment includes a substrate that sandwiches a liquid crystal in combination with an opposite substrate formed with a common electrode on the opposing surface, a plurality of bus lines on a top surface of the substrate that intersect each other with an insulation film interposed therebetween, and thin film transistors formed near the intersections of the plurality of bus lines. A plurality of pixel regions constituted of a plurality of reflective regions in which reflective electrodes for reflecting incident light from the side of the top surface of the substrate are formed in a matrix and transmissive regions which are provided around the reflective regions and which transmit incident light from the side of a bottom surface toward the top surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsufumi Ohmuro, Norio Sugiura, Kunihiro Tashiro, Yoshio Koike
  • Patent number: 7593081
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display apparatus including a pair of substrates having electrodes and vertical alignment layers. A liquid crystal having a negative anisotropy of dielectric is inserted between the substrates. Each substrate has linearly arranged alignment control structures for controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal. The alignment control structures are formed in the form of projections or slits. Each alignment control structure is formed of a plurality of constituent units. In addition, means for forming a boundary of alignment of liquid crystal (singular point in director field) to control the liquid crystal located on the alignment control structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takahiro Sasaki, Arihiro Takeda, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Hideo Chida, Yoshio Koike, Kimiaki Nakamura, Kunihiro Tashiro
  • Publication number: 20090213305
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate and a second substrate sandwiching a liquid crystal layer therebetween, a first polarizer disposed adjacent to the first substrate at a side opposite to a side of the first polarizer facing the liquid crystal layer, with a first gap between the first polarizer and the first substrate, a second polarizer disposed adjacent to the second substrate at a side opposite to a side of the second polarizer facing the liquid crystal layer, with a second gap between the second polarizer and the second substrate, wherein at least one of the first and second gaps includes therein a first retardation film having a positive optical anisotropy and a second retardation film having a negative optical anisotropy, such that the first retardation film is disposed closer to the liquid crystal layer with respect to the second retardation film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2009
    Publication date: August 27, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Katsufumi Ohmuro, Yoshio Koike, Takahiro Sasaki, Hideaki Tsuda, Hideo Chida
  • Publication number: 20090207360
    Abstract: A vertically alignment mode liquid crystal display device having an improved viewing angle characteristic is disclosed. The disclosed liquid crystal display device uses a liquid crystal having a negative anisotropic dielectric constant, and orientations of the liquid crystal are vertical to substrates when no voltage being applied, almost horizontal when a predetermined voltage is applied, and oblique when an intermediate voltage is applied. At least one of the substrates includes a structure as domain regulating means, and inclined surfaces of the structure operate as a trigger to regulate azimuths of the oblique orientations of the liquid crystal when the intermediate voltage is applied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2009
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Arihiro Takeda, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Yoshio Koike, Shingo Kataoka, Takahiro Sasaki, Takashi Sasabayashi, Hideaki Tsuda, Hideo Chida, Makoto Ohashi, Kenji Okamoto, Hisashi Yamaguchi, Minoru Otani, Makoto Morishige, Noriaki Furukawa, Tsuyoshi Kamada, Yoshinori Tanaka, Atuyuki Hoshino, Shougo Hayashi, Hideaki Takizawa, Takeshi Kinjou, Makoto Tachibanaki, Keiji Imoto, Tadashi Hasegawa, Hidefumi Yoshida, Hiroyasu Inoue, Yoji Taniguchi, Tetsuya Fujikawa, Satoshi Murata, Manabu Sawasaki, Tomonori Tanose, Siro Hirota, Masahiro Ikeda, Kunihiro Tashiro, Kouji Tsukao, Yasutoshi Tasaka, Takatoshi Mayama, Seiji Tanuma, Yohei Nakanishi
  • Patent number: 7570324
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device has been disclosed. The liquid crystal display device provides a display with a high reflectance (high transmittance) and a high color purity while maintaining white balance and adjusts the white balance by changing the occupied area instead of the transmission characteristics of a CF in order to prevent yellowing of the display due to a low-temperature light source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Katsufumi Ohmuro
  • Publication number: 20090190050
    Abstract: A MVA type liquid crystal panel is slow in a response speed when a black state at a drive voltage about 1V is switched to a low brightness halftone state at the drive voltage about 2 to 3V. According to the present invention, in a liquid crystal display device for driving the MVA type liquid crystal panel, when a liquid crystal pixel at a pixel electrode is changed from a first transmittance to a second transmittance greater than the first transmittance, a drive voltage greater than a fist target drive voltage in correspondence with a second transmittance is applied to the pixel electrode in a first frame period of changing to the second transmittance, and the first target display voltage is applied from a second frame period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2009
    Publication date: July 30, 2009
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Katsufumi Ohmuro, Arihiro Takeda, Hideo Chida, Kimiaki Nakamura, Yoshio Koike
  • Publication number: 20090153779
    Abstract: The invention relates to a transflective liquid crystal display capable of display in both of transmissive and reflective modes and a method of manufacturing the same and provides a transflective liquid crystal display which can achieve high display characteristics in both of the transmissive and reflective modes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2009
    Publication date: June 18, 2009
    Applicants: FUJITSU DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, AU OPTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hidefumi Yoshida, Yasutoshi Tasaka, Kunihiro Tashiro, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Tsuyoshi Kamada, Kazuya Ueda, Masakazu Shibasaki
  • Patent number: 7548294
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate and a second substrate sandwiching a liquid crystal layer therebetween, a first polarizer disposed adjacent to the first substrate at a side opposite to a side of the first polarizer facing the liquid crystal layer, with a first gap between the first polarizer and the first substrate, a second polarizer disposed adjacent to the second substrate at a side opposite to a side of the second polarizer facing the liquid crystal layer, with a second gap between the second polarizer and the second substrate, wherein at least one of the first and second gaps includes therein a first retardation film having a positive optical anisotropy and a second retardation film having a negative optical anisotropy, such that the first retardation film is disposed closer to the liquid crystal layer with respect to the second retardation film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsufumi Ohmuro, Yoshio Koike, Takahiro Sasaki, Hideaki Tsuda, Hideo Chida
  • Patent number: 7532183
    Abstract: A MVA type liquid crystal panel is slow in a response speed when a black state at a drive voltage about 1V is switched to a low brightness halftone state at the drive voltage about 2 to 3V. According to the present invention, in a liquid crystal display device for driving the MVA type liquid crystal panel, when a liquid crystal pixel at a pixel electrode is changed from a first transmittance to a second transmittance greater than the first transmittance, a drive voltage greater than a fist target drive voltage in correspondence with a second transmittance is applied to the pixel electrode in a first frame period of changing to the second transmittance, and the first target display voltage is applied from a second frame period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsufumi Ohmuro, Arihiro Takeda, Hideo Chida, Kimiaki Nakamura, Yoshio Koike
  • Patent number: 7511786
    Abstract: The invention provides a reflective liquid crystal display device being low cost, high reflectance, and high contrast in the reflective liquid crystal display device of VA system providing a diffusion reflective plate having uneven shape and using negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal and a substrate using for a reflective liquid crystal display device. Assuming that reflective surface of the reflective plate has plurality of small mirror surfaces, direction of normal vector In of the small mirror is constructed so that standard deviation of probability distribution existing within angle range of azimuth angle from ?n to ?n+1° is 0.1 or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2009
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Norio Sugiura, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Kunihiro Tashiro
  • Patent number: 7486361
    Abstract: The invention relates to a transflective liquid crystal display capable of display in both of transmissive and reflective modes and a method of manufacturing the same and provides a transflective liquid crystal display which can achieve high display characteristics in both of the transmissive and reflective modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignees: Fujitsu Limited, Au Optronics Corporation
    Inventors: Hidefumi Yoshida, Yasutoshi Tasaka, Kunihiro Tashiro, Katsufumi Ohmuro, Tsuyoshi Kamada, Kazuya Ueda, Masakazu Shibasaki
  • Publication number: 20090015772
    Abstract: The present liquid crystal display is obtained by disposing, between two parallel substrates on which a pair of electrodes are formed, two alignment controol films, and a liquid crystal composition comprising a liquid crystal and a polymerizable compound that can be polymerized by light, a heat or a combination thereof, and then polymerizing the polymerizable compound. If the liquid crystal tobe used is one having a negative dielectric constant anisotropy, the alignment control films are vertical alignment control films having been subjected to rubbing processing so that the rubbing directions are parallel to each other, and when voltage is not applied, only liquid crystal molecules in a specific area in a pixel present the splay alignment. According to the present invention, a liquid crystal display device having a high-speed response can be implemented.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 24, 2005
    Publication date: January 15, 2009
    Inventors: Kazutaka Hanaoka, Kunihiro Tashiro, Takashi Sasabayashi, Katsufumi Ohmuro