Patents by Inventor Kazuomi Kaneko

Kazuomi Kaneko 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: 11933980
    Abstract: The information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a reflecting surface of conveyance includes: a display configured to display the video information; and a virtual image optical system configured to display a virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting light emitted from the display by means of the reflecting surface. The virtual image optical system includes a concave mirror and an optical element. The optical element is arranged between the display and the concave mirror, and is configured to correct distortion of the virtual image obtained so as to correspond to a viewpoint position of a driver on a basis of a shape of the concave mirror and a shape of the optical element. The information display apparatus further includes a virtual image double image conversion reducer configured to reduce double image conversion of the virtual image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignees: MAXELL, LTD., HITACHI INDUSTRY & CONTROL SOLUTIONS, LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Toshinori Sugiyama, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Publication number: 20240069341
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a head-up display apparatus further reduced in size, the head-up display apparatus having: an image display apparatus including a light source and a display element; and a virtual image optical system in which light emitted from the image display apparatus is reflected by a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle so that a virtual image is displayed in front of the vehicle, wherein the virtual image optical system has a concave mirror and a distortion correcting lens, and the distortion correcting lens is disposed between the image display apparatus and the concave mirror, the concave mirror is disposed in a housing including an outer case along a shape of an effective light path area of the image light from the image display apparatus, and the image display apparatus is attached to part of an outer periphery of the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2023
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Inventors: Akio MISAWA, Nozomu SHIMODA, Kazuomi KANEKO, Koji HIRATA, Toshinori SUGIYAMA
  • Publication number: 20240036313
    Abstract: A head-up display apparatus includes a display panel configured to display an image, and a reflecting mirror configured to reflect light from the display panel. An optical distance between the reflecting mirror and the display panel is changed to continuously change a display position of a virtual image from a distant place to an adjacent position such that a virtual image obtained by being reflected at an upper portion of a windshield is formed farther than a virtual image obtained by being reflected at a lower portion of the windshield when viewed from a viewpoint position of a driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2023
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Inventors: Koji HIRATA, Masahiko YATSU, Toshinori SUGIYAMA, Kazuomi KANEKO, Shigeki HOSHINO
  • Patent number: 11846776
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a head-up display apparatus further reduced in size, the head-up display apparatus having: an image display apparatus including a light source and a display element; and a virtual image optical system in which light emitted from the image display apparatus is reflected by a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle so that a virtual image is displayed in front of the vehicle, wherein the virtual image optical system has a concave mirror and a distortion correcting lens, and the distortion correcting lens is disposed between the image display apparatus and the concave mirror, the concave mirror is disposed in a housing including an outer case along a shape of an effective light path area of the image light from the image display apparatus, and the image display apparatus is attached to part of an outer periphery of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventors: Akio Misawa, Nozomu Shimoda, Kazuomi Kaneko, Koji Hirata, Toshinori Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 11828938
    Abstract: A small information display apparatus capable of displaying video information on a windshield as a virtual image is provided. An information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a windshield of a conveyance includes: a liquid crystal panel arranged as a video display apparatus configured to form the video information; and a virtual image optical system provided with a windshield for displaying the virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting video of the liquid crystal panel by means of the windshield. The virtual image optical system is configured by arranging a concave mirror and an optical element between the concave mirror and the video display apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignees: MAXELL, LTD., Hitachi Industry & Control Solutions, Ltd.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Toshinori Sugiyama, Kazuomi Kaneko, Shigeki Hoshino
  • Publication number: 20230266587
    Abstract: The information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a reflecting surface of conveyance includes: a display configured to display the video information; and a virtual image optical system configured to display a virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting light emitted from the display by means of the reflecting surface. The virtual image optical system includes a concave mirror and an optical element. The optical element is arranged between the display and the concave mirror, and is configured to correct distortion of the virtual image obtained so as to correspond to a viewpoint position of a driver on a basis of a shape of the concave mirror and a shape of the optical element. The information display apparatus further includes a virtual image double image conversion reducer configured to reduce double image conversion of the virtual image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 26, 2023
    Publication date: August 24, 2023
    Inventors: Koji HIRATA, Masahiko YATSU, Toshinori SUGIYAMA, Kazuomi KANEKO
  • Patent number: 11675189
    Abstract: The information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a reflecting surface of conveyance includes: a display configured to display the video information; and a virtual image optical system configured to display a virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting light emitted from the display by means of the reflecting surface. The virtual image optical system includes a concave mirror and an optical element. The optical element is arranged between the display and the concave mirror, and is configured to correct distortion of the virtual image obtained so as to correspond to a viewpoint position of a driver on a basis of a shape of the concave mirror and a shape of the optical element. The information display apparatus further includes a virtual image double image conversion reducer configured to reduce double image conversion of the virtual image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignees: MAXELL, LTD., HITACHI INDUSTRY & CONTROL SOLUTIONS, LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Toshinori Sugiyama, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Patent number: 11571952
    Abstract: A HUD device and an image display apparatus for solving a problem that a HUD image cannot be seen in a HUD device that displays a virtual image when wearing the sunglasses having polarization function are provided. A head up display device for a vehicle is provided with an image display apparatus configured to project an image onto a windshield or a combiner by polarized light and means of converting polarization of polarized light of the image projected from the image display apparatus, the means being provided on a part of a light path from the image display apparatus to the windshield or the combiner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshinori Sugiyama, Koji Hirata, Yasuhiko Kunii, Masahiko Yatsu, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Publication number: 20220365347
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a head-up display apparatus further reduced in size, the head-up display apparatus having: an image display apparatus including a light source and a display element; and a virtual image optical system in which light emitted from the image display apparatus is reflected by a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle so that a virtual image is displayed in front of the vehicle, wherein the virtual image optical system has a concave mirror and a distortion correcting lens, and the distortion correcting lens is disposed between the image display apparatus and the concave mirror, the concave mirror is disposed in a housing including an outer case along a shape of an effective light path area of the image light from the image display apparatus, and the image display apparatus is attached to part of an outer periphery of the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2022
    Publication date: November 17, 2022
    Inventors: Akio MISAWA, Nozomu SHIMODA, Kazuomi KANEKO, Koji HIRATA, Toshinori SUGIYAMA
  • Patent number: 11487115
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a head-up display apparatus further reduced in size, the head-up display apparatus having: an image display apparatus including a light source and a display element; and a virtual image optical system in which light emitted from the image display apparatus is reflected by a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle so that a virtual image is displayed in front of the vehicle, wherein the virtual image optical system has a concave mirror and a distortion correcting lens, and the distortion correcting lens is disposed between the image display apparatus and the concave mirror, the concave mirror is disposed in a housing including an outer case along a shape of an effective light path area of the image light from the image display apparatus, and the image display apparatus is attached to part of an outer periphery of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventors: Akio Misawa, Nozomu Shimoda, Kazuomi Kaneko, Koji Hirata, Toshinori Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 11422367
    Abstract: The light source apparatus has: a light source unit including a plurality of semiconductor light source elements; a collimator including a plurality of collimator elements, each of the plural collimator elements being disposed on a light emission axis of each of the plural semiconductor light source elements; a polarization conversion element disposed on an emission side of the collimator; and a light guide disposed on an emission side of the polarization conversion element, the plural semiconductor light source elements and the plural collimator elements are arranged in a first direction orthogonal to the light emission axis, and the polarization conversion element extends in the first direction, and includes a polarizing beam splitter and a phase plate, which are arranged at symmetrical positions with respect to a plane formed by the first direction and a second direction corresponding to the light emission axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshinori Sugiyama, Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Yasuhiko Kunii, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Publication number: 20220229294
    Abstract: The information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a reflecting surface of conveyance includes: a display configured to display the video information; and a virtual image optical system configured to display a virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting light emitted from the display by means of the reflecting surface. The virtual image optical system includes a concave mirror and an optical element. The optical element is arranged between the display and the concave mirror, and is configured to correct distortion of the virtual image obtained so as to correspond to a viewpoint position of a driver on a basis of a shape of the concave mirror and a shape of the optical element. The information display apparatus further includes a virtual image double image conversion reducer configured to reduce double image conversion of the virtual image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2022
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventors: Koji HIRATA, Masahiko YATSU, Toshinori SUGIYAMA, Kazuomi KANEKO
  • Patent number: 11327303
    Abstract: The information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a reflecting surface of conveyance includes: a display configured to display the video information; and a virtual image optical system configured to display a virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting light emitted from the display by means of the reflecting surface. The virtual image optical system includes a concave mirror and an optical element. The optical element is arranged between the display and the concave mirror, and is configured to correct distortion of the virtual image obtained so as to correspond to a viewpoint position of a driver on a basis of a shape of the concave mirror and a shape of the optical element. The information display apparatus further includes a virtual image double image conversion reducer configured to reduce double image conversion of the virtual image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignees: MAXELL, LTD., HITACHI INDUSTRY & CONTROL SOLUTIONS, LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Toshinori Sugiyama, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Publication number: 20220082826
    Abstract: A small information display apparatus capable of displaying video information on a windshield as a virtual image is provided. An information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a windshield of a conveyance includes: a liquid crystal panel arranged as a video display apparatus configured to form the video information; and a virtual image optical system provided with a windshield for displaying the virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting video of the liquid crystal panel by means of the windshield. The virtual image optical system is configured by arranging a concave mirror and an optical element between the concave mirror and the video display apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Inventors: Koji HIRATA, Masahiko YATSU, Toshinori SUGIYAMA, Kazuomi KANEKO, Shigeki HOSHINO
  • Patent number: 11221480
    Abstract: A small information display apparatus capable of displaying video information on a windshield as a virtual image is provided. An information display apparatus configured to display video information of a virtual image on a windshield of a conveyance includes: a liquid crystal panel arranged as a video display apparatus configured to form the video information; and a virtual image optical system provided with a windshield for displaying the virtual image at a front of the conveyance by reflecting video of the liquid crystal panel by means of the windshield. The virtual image optical system is configured by arranging a concave mirror and an optical element between the concave mirror and the video display apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignees: MAXELL, LTD., HITACHI INDUSTRY & CONTROL SOLUTIONS, LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Toshinori Sugiyama, Kazuomi Kaneko, Shigeki Hoshino
  • Patent number: 11119315
    Abstract: A small-sized information display apparatus capable of displaying, as virtual images, different pieces of video image information at different positions in a wide area of a windshield. An embodiment has a virtual image optical system in which a flat display forming video image information is arranged, and that includes a projected member for causing virtual images to be displayed at a plurality of positions ahead of a vehicle by reflecting a video image on the flat display, thereby forming the virtual images at the plurality of positions so as to correspond to a viewpoint position of a driver. The virtual image optical system is arranged so that video image light fluxes for establishing the respective virtual images are separated from and independent of one another between the flat display and a concave mirror, and is configured by arranging different optical elements so as to correspond to the respective light fluxes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignees: MAXELL, LTD., HITACHI INDUSTRY & CONTROL SOLUTIONS, LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Patent number: 10989929
    Abstract: The head-up display apparatus includes: a vehicle information acquisition unit configured to acquire various kinds of vehicle information which can be detected by a vehicle; a controller configured to control display of a video image based on the vehicle information; a video image display configured to form the video image based on an instruction from the controller; a mirror configured to reflect the video image formed by the video image display to project onto the windshield; a mirror driver configured to change an angle of the mirror based on an instruction from the controller; and a display distance adjusting mechanism configured to adjust a display distance of the virtual image with respect to the driver, and the controller adjusts the angle of the mirror via the mirror driver based on the vehicle information such that the virtual image can be displayed with respect to the driver overlapped with the scenery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuki Nagano, Kazuomi Kaneko, Maki Hanada, Akio Misawa, Kazuyuki Takizawa
  • Patent number: 10983342
    Abstract: Provided is a light source apparatus that is small and lightweight, has high light utilization efficiency, and is easily utilizable as a modularized, planar light source. The light source apparatus 10 has a light source unit including a plurality of LED elements 14, a LED collimator 15 including a plurality of collimator elements each arranged on a light-emitting axis of each of the plural LED elements 14, and a light guide 17 disposed on an emission side of the LED collimator 15. The light guide 17 includes an incidence portion 171 having an incidence surface on which light on the light-emitting axis from the LED elements 14 is incident, and an emission portion 173c having an emission surface emitting light, and has a free-form surface shape for realizing predetermined light distribution control on at least one of the incidence surface and the emission surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshinori Sugiyama, Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Yasuhiko Kunii, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Patent number: 10942353
    Abstract: Provided is a small-sized information display device displaying video image information as a virtual image by use of an eyepiece optical system including a concave mirror having desired reflection characteristics in a specific polarization direction, where a liquid crystal display panel is used as a video image light source. The information display device has a liquid crystal display panel as a flat display forming video image information disposed therein, and includes a virtual image optical system including a member to be projected for displaying virtual images in front of a vehicle by making a video image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel reflect on the member to be projected. The virtual image optical system includes a concave mirror, and a reflective film of the concave mirror has desired reflection characteristics in a specific polarization direction, so that virtual images having uniform brightness and chromaticity can be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignees: MAXELL, LTD., HITACHI INDUSTRY & CONTROL SOLUTIONS, LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Toshinori Sugiyama, Hiroyuki Kajikawa, Kazuomi Kaneko
  • Patent number: 10890763
    Abstract: Provided is an information display apparatus that significantly improves light resistance with respect to sunlight. The information display apparatus, which displays video-image information on a projection surface by a virtual image, includes in a housing partly having an opening: a video-image-light generator that generates video-image light for displaying the video-image information; a video-image-light processor that performs a predetermined optical processing to a video image generated by the video-image-light generator; and a projector that projects, onto the projection surface through the opening of the housing, the video-image light optically processed by the video-image-light processor so that a viewer is capable of virtually recognizing the video-image information as a virtual image in front of the projection surface, wherein a light path in the housing is provided with a suppressor selectively suppressing a P-polarizing component of light in a visible light region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hirata, Masahiko Yatsu, Toshinori Sugiyama, Akio Misawa, Shigeki Hoshino, Kazuomi Kaneko, Tatsuya Nakazawa, Takumi Nakada, Yuki Nagano, Tomoki Yamamoto