Patents by Inventor Kouichiro Takashima
Kouichiro Takashima 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).
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Patent number: 9244531Abstract: A touch-sensitive sheet member contains a body having predetermined hardness and a sheet shape and a sense-of-touch-representing unit that represents a sense of touch. The sense-of-touch-representing unit has a predetermined size and is arranged at positions of the body or at a predetermined position of the body. The touch-sensitive sheet member also contains a medium-supplying unit that supplies medium to the sense-of-touch-representing unit.Type: GrantFiled: August 27, 2013Date of Patent: January 26, 2016Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.Inventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Shun Kayama, Takashi Sawada, Yukiko Shimizu, Tsutomu Takahashi
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Patent number: 9223421Abstract: An input device includes an input-sensing unit that contains a capacitive input sensor and a sensitivity-sensing unit that contains a capacitive sensitivity sensor. The input-sensing unit senses position information obtained by touch operation of an operation body to the capacitive input sensor. The sensitivity-sensing unit senses sensitivity information obtained by touch operation of the operation body to the capacitive sensitivity sensor. The input device includes a control unit determining whether or not the output level of the position information from the input-sensing unit is adjusted based on the sensitivity information sensed by the sensitivity-sensing unit and a sensitivity-adjusting unit that adjusts an output level of the position information from the input-sensing unit based on a result of the determination of the control unit. The control unit controls the sensitivity-adjusting unit to adjust the output level of the position information received from the input-sensing unit.Type: GrantFiled: March 2, 2009Date of Patent: December 29, 2015Assignee: Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Shun Kayama, Minoru Tomita, Yukiko Shimizu
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Patent number: 9182860Abstract: A touch panel device including a touch panel unit having transparent electrodes arranged in an X and Y direction; an electrical potential detection unit configured to scan the electrodes and detect electrostatic capacitance values in the X and Y direction; an object type detection unit configured to detect a type of object that has come within proximity to the surface of the touch panel unit on the basis of a distribution shape of the electrostatic capacitance values detected by the electrical potential detection unit; and an operation position detection unit configured to, based on the detected type of object, change a data extraction threshold value used to calculate a touch position of the object, and detect coordinates of a position at which the object has come within proximity to or come into contact with the surface of the touch panel unit based on the changed data extraction threshold value.Type: GrantFiled: December 20, 2012Date of Patent: November 10, 2015Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.Inventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Anatol Ward
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Publication number: 20150138156Abstract: An apparatus, method and computer program product provide a simplified method for unlocking an electronic device that uses soft keys, such as capacitive touch keys, or proximity detection areas and patterns. The keys may be implemented in the form of areas of a sensor, and a processing circuit observes a touch pattern (or proximity pattern, or characteristic pattern such as a capacitance pattern of a user's finger) and compares the same with the registered pattern to determine if there is a likeness. In doing so, the electronic device is operated at a low power state, and in that low power state observes whether a predetermined pattern is observed and when it is, unlocks the electronic device for interaction with a user at a fully operational state. By operating in the low power state while waiting to observe a predetermined pattern before unlocking the user interface, the device does not waste power on false positive detections, and allows for convenient wakeup and accessibility by a user.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 29, 2015Publication date: May 21, 2015Applicants: Sony Mobile Communications Inc., Sony CorporationInventors: Anatol Ward, Kouichiro Takashima
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Patent number: 8988386Abstract: An apparatus, method and computer program product provide a simplified method for unlocking an electronic device that uses soft keys, such as capacitive touch keys, or proximity detection areas and patterns. The keys may be implemented in the form of areas of a sensor, and a processing circuit observes a touch pattern (or proximity pattern, or characteristic pattern such as a capacitance pattern of a user's finger) and compares the same with the registered pattern to determine if there is a likeness. In doing so, the electronic device is operated at a low power state, and in that low power state observes whether a predetermined pattern is observed and when it is, unlocks the electronic device for interaction with a user at a fully operational state.Type: GrantFiled: January 27, 2012Date of Patent: March 24, 2015Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.Inventors: Anatol Ward, Kouichiro Takashima
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Publication number: 20140232686Abstract: A display device equipped with a touch panel may include a device chassis provided with an opening section, a display panel having a display surface disposed accessible through the opening section, a touch panel disposed on the display surface of the display panel and capable at least of selecting a function displayed on the display surface in response to a pressing operation on the touch panel, and a surface sheet for covering the touch panel on the opposite side to the display panel, and closing the opening section to form a substantially the same surface with the device chassis, wherein a reinforcing area for improving resistivity against pressing force applied from the outside may be provided in a predetermined range of the surface sheet.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 29, 2014Publication date: August 21, 2014Applicant: SONY CORPORATIONInventors: Masamichi Kotera, Kouichiro Takashima, Hideki Sato, Minoru Nakano
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Publication number: 20140168115Abstract: A touch-sensitive sheet member contains a body having predetermined hardness and a sheet shape and a sense-of-touch-representing unit that represents a sense of touch. The sense-of-touch-representing unit has a predetermined size and is arranged at positions of the body or at a predetermined position of the body. The touch-sensitive sheet member also contains a medium-supplying unit that supplies medium to the sense-of-touch-representing unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 27, 2013Publication date: June 19, 2014Applicant: Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Shun Kayama, Takashi Sawada, Yukiko Shimizu, Tsutomu Takahashi
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Patent number: 8749492Abstract: A display device equipped with a touch panel may include a device chassis provided with an opening section, a display panel having a display surface disposed accessible through the opening section, a touch panel disposed on the display surface of the display panel and capable at least of selecting a function displayed on the display surface in response to a pressing operation on the touch panel, and a surface sheet for covering the touch panel on the opposite side to the display panel, and closing the opening section to form a substantially the same surface with the device chassis, wherein a reinforcing area for improving resistivity against pressing force applied from the outside may be provided in a predetermined range of the surface sheet.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 2007Date of Patent: June 10, 2014Assignee: Sony CorporationInventors: Masamichi Kotera, Kouichiro Takashima, Hideki Sato, Minoru Nakano
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Patent number: 8547341Abstract: A touch-sensitive sheet member contains a body having predetermined hardness and a sheet shape and a sense-of-touch-representing unit that represents a sense of touch. The sense-of-touch-representing unit has a predetermined size and is arranged at positions of the body or at a predetermined position of the body. The touch-sensitive sheet member also contains a medium-supplying unit that supplies medium to the sense-of-touch-representing unit.Type: GrantFiled: December 19, 2008Date of Patent: October 1, 2013Assignee: Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Shun Kayama, Takashi Sawada, Yukiko Shimizu, Tsutomu Takahashi
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Publication number: 20130194223Abstract: An apparatus, method and computer program product provide a simplified method for unlocking an electronic device that uses soft keys, such as capacitive touch keys, or proximity detection areas and patterns. The keys may be implemented in the form of areas of a sensor, and a processing circuit observes a touch pattern (or proximity pattern, or characteristic pattern such as a capacitance pattern of a user's finger) and compares the same with the registered pattern to determine if there is a likeness. In doing so, the electronic device is operated at a low power state, and in that low power state observes whether a predetermined pattern is observed and when it is, unlocks the electronic device for interaction with a user at a fully operational state.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 27, 2012Publication date: August 1, 2013Applicant: SONY ERICSSON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS JAPAN, INC.Inventors: Anatol WARD, Kouichiro TAKASHIMA
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Patent number: 8493334Abstract: An optical input device has a display screen, a portion of the display screen being shielded from light by an operating member to implement input processing based on a plurality of input modes. The input device includes an input detection unit including a display unit that displays predetermined input information, and a control unit. The input detection unit detects an area and/or brightness of a light-shielded portion formed on the display screen by the operating member by approaching the display unit. The control unit provides display control of the display unit and input control on the basis of the detected area and/or brightness. The control unit compares the detected area and/or brightness with a predetermined threshold value to select a desired input mode from among the plurality of input modes.Type: GrantFiled: July 11, 2008Date of Patent: July 23, 2013Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.Inventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Tsutomu Takahashi, Satoshi Kushima, Hideki Okii, Shun Kayama, Yukiko Shimizu, Takashi Sawada
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Publication number: 20130181938Abstract: A touch panel device including an electrostatic capacitance type touch sensor in which a plurality of transparent electrode units are arranged in X and Y directions; a conductive layer that is connected to predetermined transparent electrode units among the plurality of transparent electrode units forming the electrostatic capacitance type touch sensor unit and that extends outward from an arrangement area of the plurality of transparent electrode units; a position detection unit that detects a position at which an external object contacts a surface near the electronic capacitance type touch sensor or the conductive layer; and a processor that executes a predetermined application program based on the position detected by the IC unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 17, 2012Publication date: July 18, 2013Applicant: Sony Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.Inventors: Kouichiro TAKASHIMA, Mitsuhiro TANIHATA, Fumiyuki ITO
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Patent number: 8436839Abstract: A haptic function-provided input device performs a touch operation to slide on an input detection plane. The device includes an input detection unit, which has the input detection plane, that detects a touching position of an operation body and a sliding speed of the operation body. The device also includes a computation unit that computes a vibration pattern based on the sliding speed detected by the input detection unit. Further, the device includes a vibration unit that vibrates the input detection plane based on the vibration pattern computed by the computation unit. The computation unit computes the vibration pattern further based on a shift in an excitation timing between two actuators of the vibration unit.Type: GrantFiled: March 24, 2005Date of Patent: May 7, 2013Assignee: Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Mikio Takenaka, Shigeaki Maruyama, Hiroto Kawaguchi, Junichi Sekine
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Patent number: 8279373Abstract: A liquid crystal module according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel, a transparent panel member configured to include a display section constituting a display image plane while overlapping the liquid crystal panel, and a step section connected to the display section and lower than an image plane position by one step, at least one light source disposed in the step section of the transparent panel member, and a diffusion mechanism provided in a part other than the display image plane of the display section and a face opposite thereto, and diffusing light from the light source.Type: GrantFiled: June 23, 2010Date of Patent: October 2, 2012Assignee: Sony Mobile Communications ABInventors: Motonori Sano, Kouichiro Takashima
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Patent number: 8264463Abstract: An input device inputs information by a slide operation depending on an operation body. The device contains a housing having an operation surface, a detection unit that is provided in the housing and includes an electrostatic capacitance sheet member which detects a slide position of the operation body to output a position detection signal, and an operation unit that covers an entire surface of the detection unit and is slide-operated along the operation surface of the housing. The operation unit has a convex shape which becomes thicker along a sliding direction from one direction of the operation surface of the housing and also which becomes thinner toward the other direction of the operation surface thereof. The electrostatic capacitance sheet member includes a switch portion that is switched by a press-in operation of the operation body to the operation unit.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 2008Date of Patent: September 11, 2012Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.Inventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Seiji Muramatsu, Tsutomu Takahashi, Shun Kayama, Yukiko Shimizu, Takashi Sawada, Satoshi Kushima, Shinji Kanada, Minoru Tomita
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Patent number: 8223130Abstract: A touch-sensitive sheet member contains a first raw material member having predetermined hardness and a second raw material member that presents sense of touch. The second raw material member is disposed in the first raw material member. The second raw material member has hardness different from the hardness of the first raw material member.Type: GrantFiled: November 12, 2008Date of Patent: July 17, 2012Assignee: Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Shun Kayama, Yukiko Shimizu, Takashi Sawada
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Patent number: 8174495Abstract: An electronic apparatus is provided. The electronic apparatus includes a contact detection section for detecting contact from a user, a vibration output section for outputting an acoustic vibration that can be sensed by the user as a sound and a haptic vibration for stimulating the haptic sense of the user, a pattern generation section for generating an output vibration pattern including the acoustic vibration and the haptic vibration in response to the contact detection section detecting the contact from the user, and a drive section for driving the vibration output section in accordance with the output vibration pattern to make the vibration output section output the acoustic vibration and the haptic vibration.Type: GrantFiled: October 26, 2006Date of Patent: May 8, 2012Assignee: Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Jun Uchida, Yoshikazu Takahashi
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Publication number: 20120062522Abstract: An information input device is provided which is to make input of information by operating a disk-shaped rotating member. The device includes the rotating member (36) which is rotatable with one main side thereof being operated, rotation detecting means (23, 32) for detecting a rotation of the rotating member (36), a central switch activator (26) provided at the center of rotation of the rotating member (36), a central switch (270) which is activated by operating the central switch activator (26), and a plurality of peripheral switches (27) which are turned on when a portion, apart from the center of rotation, of the rotating member (36) is pressed. Rotating the rotating member and pressing the apart portion makes input of information, and operating the central switch activator sets the information thus entered.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 17, 2011Publication date: March 15, 2012Applicants: Omron Corporation, Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Shun Kayama, Yasuhiro Kataoka, Hiroshi Azuma, Yoshihiro Tanabe, Tsuyoshi Uchida
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Patent number: 8125539Abstract: An information-processing apparatus processes information obtained by shooting an image of a subject and by collecting ambient sound of the subject. The apparatus contains an image-and-sound-recording unit that shoots the image of the subject to output image information on the image and collects the ambient sound of the subject to output sound information on the ambient sound and an information output unit that detects living-body information showing emotion of living-body of an operator who operates the image-and-sound-recording unit to output the living-body information. The apparatus also contains an information-processing unit that establishes correspondence between the living-body information outputted from the information output unit and at least one of the image information of the subject and the sound information of the ambient sound of the subject, the image information and the sound information being outputted from the image-and-sound-recording unit.Type: GrantFiled: October 16, 2008Date of Patent: February 28, 2012Assignee: Sony CorporationInventor: Kouichiro Takashima
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Patent number: 8098326Abstract: A connector on an electronic device includes a pair of locking plates, a guide groove, and a space. Each locking plate has, on its edge, a first concave portion, a first convex portion, a second concave portion, and a second convex portion. An intermediate surface for determining a position of an accessory device below the guide groove is provided below the second concave portions and the second convex portions. A contact mounting surface provided with plural contacts is provided below the first convex portions. Guide surfaces for determining a position of the accessory device in the width direction of the guide groove are provided below the first concave portions and the first convex portions.Type: GrantFiled: April 18, 2008Date of Patent: January 17, 2012Assignee: Sony CorporationInventors: Kouichiro Takashima, Yoichi Miyajima, Yoshitake Takahashi, Nobutatsu Takahashi, Yuichiro Nogo, Kiyoshi Miyamori, Masayoshi Iida, Nobuhito Ebine