Patents by Inventor Kuniyuki Takao
Kuniyuki Takao 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: 7869151Abstract: A color wheel comprises sectorial color filter segments and a support member. Protrusions are disposed at the support member and engaged with either through-holes or cavities as segment fixing mechanisms formed at the color filter segments, whereby the color filter segments are fixedly positioned with respect to the support member in the radial direction. Consequently, the color filter segments can be surely prevented from getting scattered off when the color wheel spins at high speed.Type: GrantFiled: April 21, 2008Date of Patent: January 11, 2011Assignee: Mineba Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 7486455Abstract: A color wheel comprises sectorial color filter segments and a support member. Protrusions are disposed at the support member and engaged with either through-holes or cavities as segment fixing mechanisms formed at the color filter segments, whereby the color filter segments are fixedly positioned with respect to the support member in the radial direction. Consequently, the color filter segments can be surely prevented from getting scattered off when the color wheel spins at high speed.Type: GrantFiled: October 8, 2004Date of Patent: February 3, 2009Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20080247071Abstract: A color wheel comprises sectorial color filter segments and a support member. Protrusions are disposed at the support member and engaged with either through-holes or cavities as segment fixing mechanisms formed at the color filter segments, whereby the color filter segments are fixedly positioned with respect to the support member in the radial direction. Consequently, the color filter segments can be surely prevented from getting scattered off when the color wheel spins at high speed.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 21, 2008Publication date: October 9, 2008Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 7399087Abstract: A color wheel includes a plurality of color filter segments disposed so as to form a disk configuration, and a support member to fixedly set the plurality of color filter segments in place. Each of the color filter segments has a circular outer circumference, an inner circumference measuring shorter than the outer circumference, and two sides each connecting between the outer circumference and the inner circumference. In the color wheel described above, a chamfer is provided at the innermost portion of at least one of the two sides. The chamfer provides a clearance between opposing sides of any two adjacent color filter segments, so as to house burrs that are often formed at the sides, and therefore the opposing sides are fitted closely to each other even when burrs are formed at the sides. Consequently, spokes generated between two adjacent color filter segments can be minimized.Type: GrantFiled: November 1, 2005Date of Patent: July 15, 2008Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 7333278Abstract: A method of manufacturing a color wheel with filter sectors. A resist film formed on a disk-like substrate of the color wheel is shaped into a mask pattern by photo processing, a metal mask which has openings configured similar to the filter sectors but having a slightly larger area than those is set on the substrate, and optical interference filters of a dielectric multi-layer film are formed by an evaporation method or a sputtering method, whereby the optical interference filters are formed so as to cover very limited portions of the mask pattern so that at lift-off process, resist remover can penetrate into the mask pattern from most portions of the mask pattern thus enabling the mask pattern to be removed easily and quickly.Type: GrantFiled: April 22, 2004Date of Patent: February 19, 2008Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventor: Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 7268961Abstract: In a color wheel comprising a plurality of color filter segments arranged so as to form a disk and a support member fixed to the color filter segments, the color filter segments are each outlined only by a circular arc and two straight lines passing through the center of the disk. Consequently, each of the color filter segments is prepared by cutting the material only to the circular arc and the two straight lines, thereby simplifying the production process. And, the support member can be duly and surely positioned such that the center of the support member is set to coincide with the intersecting point of the two straight lines. Thus, the positional accuracy, the component cost reduction, and the production cost reduction can be achieved at the same time.Type: GrantFiled: February 10, 2005Date of Patent: September 11, 2007Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 7199952Abstract: There is provided a color wheel including a plurality of color filters arranged so as to form a disk, and a retainer member disposed at a center of the disk and formed into a C-ring defining an open mouth portion through which an area of one color filter is exposed. Also, there is provided a color wheel assembly which incorporates the color wheel described above, and which further includes a motor to rotate the color wheel, and a rotational position detector to optically detect a rotational position of the color wheel. Detection light emitted from the detector is set to fall incident on the C-ringed retainer member while the color wheel is rotated thus intermittently impinging on the open mouth portion, namely on the one color filter, which causes the detection light reflected thereby to come out with two different intensities that are sensed by the detector.Type: GrantFiled: March 28, 2005Date of Patent: April 3, 2007Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 7187509Abstract: There is provided a color wheel which includes: a color filter disk having a side surface; and a rotary member having a circumferential surface and adhesively attached to the center portion of the color filter disk. In the color wheel described above, a portion of an adhesive for fixing the rotary member to the color filter disk sticks out on the side surface of the color filter disk along the circumferential surface of the rotary member, and the portion of the adhesive sticking out, when hardened, functions as a barrier to prevent uncured portions, if any, of the adhesive present between the two components from getting scattered out in the radial direction on the side surface of the color filter disk when the color wheel is rotated at a high speed during the inspection process, thus improving the production yield rate.Type: GrantFiled: February 6, 2006Date of Patent: March 6, 2007Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshinori Chino, Jiro Omori, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 7113353Abstract: A color wheel is attached to a hub of a motor before the hub is built in the motor. In this process, portions of the hub which do not impact the rotation accuracy of the motor are held by appropriate clamping means and attaching means so that excessive stress and heat are not applied to bearings of the motor. Then, the hub with the color wheel attached thereto is assembled to the rest of components of the motor.Type: GrantFiled: November 5, 2004Date of Patent: September 26, 2006Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20060176593Abstract: There is provided a color wheel which includes: a color filter disk having a side surface; and a rotary member having a circumferential surface and adhesively attached to the center portion of the color filter disk. In the color wheel described above, a portion of an adhesive for fixing the rotary member to the color filter disk sticks out on the side surface of the color filter disk along the circumferential surface of the rotary member, and the portion of the adhesive sticking out, when hardened, functions as a barrier to prevent uncured portions, if any, of the adhesive present between the two components from getting scattered out in the radial direction on the side surface of the color filter disk when the color wheel is rotated at a high speed during the inspection process, thus improving the production yield rate.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 6, 2006Publication date: August 10, 2006Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshinori Chino, Jiro Omori, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20060126198Abstract: There is provided a color wheel including a plurality of color filters arranged so as to form a disk, and a retainer member disposed at a center of the disk and formed into a C-ring defining an open mouth portion through which an area of one color filter is exposed. Also, there is provided a color wheel assembly which incorporates the color wheel described above, and which further includes a motor to rotate the color wheel, and a rotational position detector to optically detect a rotational position of the color wheel. Detection light emitted from the detector is set to fall incident on the C-ringed retainer member while the color wheel is rotated thus intermittently impinging on the open mouth portion, namely on the one color filter, which causes the detection light reflected thereby to come out with two different intensities that are sensed by the detector.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 28, 2005Publication date: June 15, 2006Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20060119801Abstract: A color wheel includes a plurality of color filter segments disposed so as to form a disk configuration, and a support member to fixedly set the plurality of color filter segments in place. Each of the color filter segments has a circular outer circumference, an inner circumference measuring shorter than the outer circumference, and two sides each connecting between the outer circumference and the inner circumference. In the color wheel described above, a chamfer is provided at the innermost portion of at least one of the two sides. The chamfer provides a clearance between opposing sides of any two adjacent color filter segments, so as to house burrs that are often formed at the sides, and therefore the opposing sides are fitted closely to each other even when burrs are formed at the sides. Consequently, spokes generated between two adjacent color filter segments can be minimized.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 1, 2005Publication date: June 8, 2006Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20060103813Abstract: In a color wheel comprising a plurality of color filter segments arranged so as to form a disk and a support member fixed to the color filter segments, the color filter segments are each outlined only by a circular arc and two straight lines passing through the center of the disk. Consequently, each of the color filter segments is prepared by cutting the material only to the circular arc and the two straight lines, thereby simplifying the production process. And, the support member can be duly and surely positioned such that the center of the support member is set to coincide with the intersecting point of the two straight lines. Thus, the positional accuracy, the component cost reduction, and the production cost reduction can be achieved at the same time.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 10, 2005Publication date: May 18, 2006Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20060044526Abstract: A color wheel is attached to a hub of a motor before the hub is built in the motor. In this process, portions of the hub which do not impact the rotation accuracy of the motor are held by appropriate clamping means and attaching means so that excessive stress and heat are not applied to bearings of the motor. Then, the hub with the color wheel attached thereto is assembled to the rest of components of the motor.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 5, 2004Publication date: March 2, 2006Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20060044656Abstract: A color wheel assembly includes a color wheel and a driving motor. The color wheel is attached directly to a hub of the driving motor. Consequently, no additional components are required to fix the color wheel to the driving motor, thereby reducing the number of components and the number of manufacturing processes. Thus, the color wheel assembly as a time-share light dispersing device can be inexpensively manufactured with a high degree of precision.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 5, 2004Publication date: March 2, 2006Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 6999253Abstract: A color wheel assembly includes a color wheel and a driving motor. The color wheel is attached directly to a hub of the driving motor. Consequently, no additional components are required to fix the color wheel to the driving motor, thereby reducing the number of components and the number of manufacturing processes. Thus, the color wheel assembly as a time-share light dispersing device can be inexpensively manufactured with a high degree of precision.Type: GrantFiled: November 5, 2004Date of Patent: February 14, 2006Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20060028746Abstract: A color wheel comprises sectorial color filter segments and a support member. Protrusions are disposed at the support member and engaged with either through-holes or cavities as segment fixing mechanisms formed at the color filter segments, whereby the color filter segments are fixedly positioned with respect to the support member in the radial direction. Consequently, the color filter segments can be surely prevented from getting scattered off when the color wheel spins at high speed.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 8, 2004Publication date: February 9, 2006Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 6963457Abstract: In a color wheel comprising plurality of color filter segments, one of the filter segments consists of a sector portion, and a circular core portion which is formed intergrally at the inner circumferential area of the sector portion, and which is located at the center of the wheel assembled. The inner circumferences of the remaining filter segments are fitted directly to the outer perimeter of the circular core portion of the one segment, whereby the geometric accuracy of the color wheel can be achieved. Also, the alignment process of the filter segments for preventing the color wheel from generating vibrations and noises at the time of spinning at high speed can be simplified or even eliminated thus preventing the number of manufacturing processes from increasing.Type: GrantFiled: December 3, 2004Date of Patent: November 8, 2005Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinichi Niwa, Toshiaki Asakawa, Shigeyuki Adachi, Kuniyuki Takao
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Publication number: 20040246218Abstract: A method of manufacturing a color wheel with filter sectors is disclosed. A resist film formed on a disk-like substrate of the color wheel is shaped into a mask pattern by photo processing, a metal mask which has openings configured similar to the filter sectors but having a slightly larger area than those is set on the substrate, and optical interference filters of a dielectric multi-layer film are formed by an evaporation method or a sputtering method, whereby the optical interference filters are formed so as to cover very limited portions of the mask pattern so that at lift-off process, resist remover can penetrate into the mask pattern from most portions of the mask pattern thus enabling the mask pattern to be removed easily and quickly.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 22, 2004Publication date: December 9, 2004Applicant: MINEBEA CO., LTD.Inventor: Kuniyuki Takao
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Patent number: 5901017Abstract: The pattern of wiring 11 itself has an elasticity. That is, the pattern of wiring 11 as an electric signal exchanging means functions also as a load giving means. Accordingly, comparing the case where the electric signal exchanging means and the load giving means are separated, the number of the parts can be reduced. And, since the process of assembling conventional every part can be reduced, deletion of the number of processes can be carried out.In addition, a snapping of a wire during assembling is avoided and prevented a product from being deteriorated.Type: GrantFiled: October 14, 1997Date of Patent: May 4, 1999Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.Inventors: Akinobu Sano, Kuniyuki Takao, Kozo Bun