Patents by Inventor Makoto Furuhata
Makoto Furuhata 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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Publication number: 20120092084Abstract: A resonator having a base part; and a resonating arm that performs flexing vibration, the resonating arm part has two principal surfaces, a first groove provided on the one principal surface, a second groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove on the other principal surface, a third groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove and provided nearer the base part side than the first groove on the other principal surface, and a fourth groove provided in juxtaposition with the second groove and provided nearer the base part side than the second groove on the principal surface. The sum of a depth of the first and second groove part and a sum of a depth of the third and fourth groove part are larger than a distance between the one principal surface and the other principal surface.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 20, 2011Publication date: April 19, 2012Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Makoto FURUHATA, Takashi YAMAZAKI
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Patent number: 8102103Abstract: A resonator having a base part; and a resonating arm that performs flexing vibration, the resonating arm part has two principal surfaces, a first groove provided on the one principal surface, a second groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove on the other principal surface, a third groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove and provided nearer the base part side than the first groove on the other principal surface, and a fourth groove provided in juxtaposition with the second groove and provided nearer the base part side than the second groove on the principal surface. The sum of a depth of the first and second groove part and a sum of a depth of the third and fourth groove part are larger than a distance between the one principal surface and the other principal surface.Type: GrantFiled: April 11, 2011Date of Patent: January 24, 2012Assignee: Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Makoto Furuhata, Takashi Yamazaki
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Publication number: 20110215680Abstract: A resonator element includes: a base section; and at least one resonating arm formed so as to extend from the base section, and having a flexural vibrating section, wherein the flexural vibrating section includes a pair of principal surfaces formed along a direction in which the resonating arm performs a flexural vibration, and outer side surfaces intersecting with the principal surfaces of the resonating arm, the flexural vibrating section is provided with at least three groove sections, the groove sections are formed on both or either one of the principal surfaces in a direction intersecting with the principal surfaces, and at least a part or the whole of an outer wall formed of the outer side surface and the groove section and at least a part or the whole of an inner wall formed of the groove sections adjacent to each other are electrically vibrated in a flexural manner.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 1, 2011Publication date: September 8, 2011Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Akinori YAMADA, Makoto FURUHATA
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Patent number: 8004165Abstract: A tuning fork oscillating piece includes: a base; a pair of oscillating arms extending from the base in directions substantially parallel with each other; a drive piezoelectric element provided at least on one main surface or side surface of each of the oscillating arms to allow bending oscillation of the oscillating arms by piezoelectric distortion caused by applied charge; a detection piezoelectric element provided on the surface opposed to the surface of each of the oscillating arms on which the drive piezoelectric element is provided to convert the piezoelectric distortion caused by the bending oscillation of the oscillating arms into charge and output the charge. The drive piezoelectric element has a drive piezoelectric section. The detection piezoelectric element has a detection piezoelectric section. The absolute value of the piezoelectric d constant of the drive piezoelectric section is larger than the absolute value of the piezoelectric d constant of the detection piezoelectric section.Type: GrantFiled: September 4, 2008Date of Patent: August 23, 2011Assignee: Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Makoto Furuhata, Masahiro Oshio, Takamitsu Higuchi
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Publication number: 20110198969Abstract: Deterioration of the Q value caused by the thermoelastic effect is suppressed. Since a first depth of a first groove and a second depth of a second groove are smaller than a distance between a surface including a third surface and a surface including a fourth surface, the first and second grooves do not penetrate between the surface including the third surface and the surface including the fourth surface. In addition, the sum of the first depth of the first groove and the second depth of the second groove is greater than the distance between the third and fourth surfaces, a heat transfer path between a first expandable portion (the first surface) and a second expandable portion (the second surface) cannot be formed as a straight line. As such, the heat transfer path between the first expandable portion (the first surface) and a second expandable portion (the second surface) is made to detour to the first and second grooves and and thus be lengthened.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 22, 2009Publication date: August 18, 2011Applicants: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION, EPSON TOYOCOM CORPORATIONInventors: Makoto Furuhata, Takeo Funakawa, Takashi Yamazaki
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Publication number: 20110181156Abstract: A resonator having a base part; and a resonating arm that performs flexing vibration, the resonating arm part has two principal surfaces, a first groove provided on the one principal surface, a second groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove on the other principal surface, a third groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove and provided nearer the base part side than the first groove on the other principal surface, and a fourth groove provided in juxtaposition with the second groove and provided nearer the base part side than the second groove on the principal surface. The sum of a depth of the first and second groove part and a sum of a depth of the third and fourth groove part are larger than a distance between the one principal surface and the other principal surface.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 11, 2011Publication date: July 28, 2011Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Makoto FURUHATA, Takashi YAMAZAKI
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Patent number: 7944132Abstract: A resonator having a base part; and a resonating arm that performs flexing vibration, the resonating arm part has two principal surfaces, a first groove provided on one principal surface, a second groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove on the other principal surface, a third groove provided in juxtaposition with the first groove and provided nearer the base part side than the first groove on the other principal surface, and a fourth groove provided in juxtaposition with the second groove and provided nearer the base part side than the second groove on the principal surface. The sum of a depth of the first and second groove part and a sum of a depth of the third and fourth groove part are larger than a distance between the one principal surface and the other principal surface.Type: GrantFiled: September 28, 2010Date of Patent: May 17, 2011Assignee: Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Makoto Furuhata, Takashi Yamazaki
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Patent number: 7932664Abstract: A resonator includes a base portion and a vibration arm. The vibration arm has first and second main faces opposite each other, the main faces have first and second grooves, the first groove has a plurality of first groove portions which are divided in the longitudinal direction of the vibration arm and arranged to be alternately shifted on both sides with respect to the longitudinal center line of the vibration arm, the second groove has a plurality of second groove portions arranged similar to the first groove portions on an opposite side to the first groove portions with respect to the longitudinal center line. A voltage is applied to excitation electrodes provided at the first and second grooves and second excitation electrodes provided on both side faces of the vibration arm, such that the vibration arm flexural-vibrates in the in-plane direction of the first or second main face.Type: GrantFiled: April 27, 2010Date of Patent: April 26, 2011Assignees: Epson Toyocom Corporation, Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Takashi Yamazaki, Makoto Furuhata
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Publication number: 20110080070Abstract: A resonator element includes: a base part; and a resonating arm part that extends from the base part in a first direction and performs flexing vibration, wherein the resonating arm part has one principal surface and the other principal surface opposed to the one principal surface, a first groove part provided along the first direction of the resonating arm part on the one principal surface, a second groove part provided in juxtaposition with the first groove part in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction in a plan view on the other principal surface, a third groove part provided in juxtaposition with the first groove part in the first direction in the plan view and provided nearer the base part side than the first groove on the other principal surface, and a fourth groove part provided in juxtaposition with the second groove part in the first direction in the plan view and provided nearer the base part side than the second groove on the one principal surface, and wherein a sum of a depth of theType: ApplicationFiled: September 28, 2010Publication date: April 7, 2011Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Makoto FURUHATA, Takashi YAMAZAKI
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Publication number: 20110063041Abstract: A resonator element includes: a base portion; and a resonating arm extending in a first direction from the base portion, wherein the resonating arm includes a first surface, a second surface facing the first surface, a first side surface extending in the first direction so as to connect the first and second surfaces, and a second side surface facing the first side surface, wherein the resonating arm includes a first width portion having a first width and a second width portion provided at a root of the resonating arm so as to have a second width larger than the first width, wherein the resonating arm includes a groove portion provided on at least one of the first and second surfaces so as to extend in the first direction, the groove portion in the second width portion having a width larger than a width of the groove portion in the first width portion, and wherein a sum of the width between the groove portion in the second width portion and the first side surface and the width between the groove portion in theType: ApplicationFiled: September 9, 2010Publication date: March 17, 2011Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Akinori YAMADA, Makoto FURUHATA
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Publication number: 20110057549Abstract: A flexural vibration piece includes a base, and a vibrating arms extending therefrom, each pair of vibrating arms has a first groove formed in the extension direction of the vibrating arm in one main surface following the direction in which the pair of vibrating arms are aligned, and a second groove formed side by side to the first groove in another main surface, the sum of the depths of the first and second groove portions is greater than the interval between the one main surface and the other main surface, and a mass portion is provided on each of the pair of vibrating arms, on the one main surface which is the opening side of the first grooves formed toward the outer sides opposite the inner sides on which the vibrating arms face each other.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 29, 2010Publication date: March 10, 2011Applicants: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION, EPSON TOYOCOM CORPORATIONInventors: Hiroki KAWAI, Makoto FURUHATA, Akinori YAMADA, Yuji HAMAYAMA
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Publication number: 20100277041Abstract: A flexural vibration piece includes: a base portion; and a vibration arm extending from the base portion, wherein the vibration arm has first and second main faces which are arranged to be opposite each other, the first and second main faces respectively have first and second grooves which are formed in the longitudinal direction of the vibration arm, the first groove has a plurality of first groove portions which are divided in the longitudinal direction of the vibration arm and arranged to be alternately shifted on both sides with respect to the longitudinal center line of the vibration arm in the longitudinal direction, the second groove has a plurality of second groove portions which are divided in the longitudinal direction of the vibration arm, and arranged to be alternately shifted on both sides with respect to the longitudinal center line of the vibration arm in the longitudinal direction and on an opposite side to the first groove portions with respect to the longitudinal center line, and a predetermType: ApplicationFiled: April 27, 2010Publication date: November 4, 2010Applicants: Epson Toyocom Corporation, Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Takashi YAMAZAKI, Makoto FURUHATA
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Publication number: 20100244989Abstract: A flexural vibration piece includes: a flexural vibrator that has a first region on which a compressive stress or a tensile stress acts due to vibration and a second region having a relationship in which a tensile stress acts thereon when a compressive stress acts on the first region and a compressive stress acts thereon when a tensile stress acts on the first region, and performs flexural vibration in a first plane; and a heat conduction path, between the first region and the second region, that is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity higher than that of the flexural vibrator and thermally connects between the first region and the second region, wherein when m is the number of heat conduction paths, ?th is the thermal resistivity of the heat conduction path, ?v is the thermal resistivity of the flexural vibrator, tv is the thickness of the flexural vibrator in, a direction orthogonal to the first plane, and tth is the thickness of the heat conduction path, a relationship of tth?(1/m)×tv×(?th/?vType: ApplicationFiled: March 23, 2010Publication date: September 30, 2010Applicants: EPSON TOYOCOM CORPORATION, SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Makoto FURUHATA, Akinori YAMADA, Yuji HAMAYAMA
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Publication number: 20100244973Abstract: A flexural vibration piece includes: a flexural vibrator that has a first region on which a compressive stress or a tensile stress acts due to vibration and a second region having a relationship in which a tensile stress acts thereon when a compressive stress acts on the first region and a compressive stress acts thereon when a tensile stress acts on the first region, and performs flexural vibration in a first plane; and a heat conduction path, in the vicinity of the first region and the second region, that is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity higher than that of the flexural vibrator and thermally connects between the first region and the second region, wherein when m is the number of heat conduction paths, ?th is the thermal conductivity of the heat conduction path, ?v is the thermal conductivity of the flexural vibrator, tv is the thickness of the flexural vibrator in a direction orthogonal to the first plane, and tth is the thickness of the heat conduction path, a relationship of tth?(tv/Type: ApplicationFiled: March 23, 2010Publication date: September 30, 2010Applicants: EPSON TOYOCOM CORPORATION, SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Makoto FURUHATA, Takashi YAMAZAKI, Yuji HAMAYAMA
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Publication number: 20090178260Abstract: A vibrating piece manufacturing method includes: (a) preparing a supporting body having first and second surfaces, the first and second surfaces defining a thickness while being directed toward opposite directions, the supporting body including a base and a plurality of arms, the arms extending side-by-side in a direction orthogonal to a direction of the thickness from the base, a lower electrode film being disposed on the first surface of each of the arms, a piezoelectric film being disposed on the lower electrode films, at least one upper electrode film being disposed on the piezoelectric film, at least a part of the second surface of each of the arms being an exposed area; and (b) etching the exposed area of the second surface so as to reduce the thickness to reduce flexural rigidity of the arms with respect to the thickness direction.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 6, 2009Publication date: July 16, 2009Applicant: EPSON TOYOCOM CORPORATIONInventors: Takashi Yamazaki, Tsukasa Funasaka, Takeo Funakawa, Makoto Furuhata
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Publication number: 20090058226Abstract: A tuning fork oscillating piece includes: a base; a pair of oscillating arms extending from the base in directions substantially parallel with each other; a drive piezoelectric element provided at least on one main surface or side surface of each of the oscillating arms to allow bending oscillation of the oscillating arms by piezoelectric distortion caused by applied charge; a detection piezoelectric element provided on the surface opposed to the surface of each of the oscillating arms on which the drive piezoelectric element is provided to convert the piezoelectric distortion caused by the bending oscillation of the oscillating arms into charge and output the charge. The drive piezoelectric element has a drive piezoelectric section. The detection piezoelectric element has a detection piezoelectric section. The absolute value of the piezoelectric d constant of the drive piezoelectric section is larger than the absolute value of the piezoelectric d constant of the detection piezoelectric section.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 4, 2008Publication date: March 5, 2009Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Makoto Furuhata, Masahiro Oshio, Takamitsu Higuchi
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Patent number: 7400219Abstract: A surface acoustic wave (SAW) device includes at least an IC region and a SAW element region. A semiconductor element layer and wiring layer is located in the IC region, and the semiconductor element layer has a semiconductor element and an element insulating film. The wiring layer is formed by stacking wiring to connect with the semiconductor element and a wiring insulating film extending to the SAW region. The semiconductor element layer further includes a piezoelectric thin film formed above the wiring insulating film, and in the SAW element region, a SAW element is formed on the piezoelectric thin film equipped with an IDT electrode provided with a plurality of electrode fingers, and at least one layer of layer thickness adjusting films having linear shapes and arranged in parallel to and with the same pitch as the electrode fingers of the IDT electrode.Type: GrantFiled: December 1, 2005Date of Patent: July 15, 2008Assignee: Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Makoto Furuhata, Hisakatsu Sato
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Patent number: 7301423Abstract: A surface acoustic wave (SAW) element including a semiconductor substrate on which a semiconductor wiring region and a SAW region are formed alongside in a same plane, a metal wiring formed in the semiconductor wiring region, an insulating layer including the metal wiring and formed throughout on surfaces of the semiconductor wiring region and the SAW region, a most upper layer of the insulating layer formed so as to have a one flat surface throughout the semiconductor wiring region and the SAW region and a uniform thickness from an upper face of the semiconductor substrate, a piezoelectric layer formed on the most upper layer of the insulating layer and an inter digital transducer (IDT) formed on the piezoelectric layer in the SAW region.Type: GrantFiled: November 21, 2005Date of Patent: November 27, 2007Assignee: Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Makoto Furuhata, Kenji Goto, Hisakatsu Sato
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Publication number: 20070228880Abstract: A piezoelectric thin film resonator includes a substrate, and a resonator section formed above the substrate and having a first electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer and a second electrode layer in which acoustic vibration is generated in a thickness direction of the piezoelectric layer by application of an electric field to the piezoelectric layer by the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer, wherein at least one pair of sides of a plane configuration of the resonator section are in parallel with each other, and the shortest distance in a spacing between the parallel sides in the pair is less than a thickness of at least the resonance section.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 28, 2007Publication date: October 4, 2007Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATIONInventors: Takamitsu Higuchi, Makoto Furuhata
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Patent number: RE40709Abstract: A piezoactuator has a diaphragm, and the diaphragm has flat piezoelectric elements that oscillate in a longitudinal oscillation mode and a sinusoidal oscillation mode. A first electrode for detecting oscillation in the longitudinal oscillation mode, and a second electrode for detecting the amplitude of oscillation in the sinusoidal oscillation mode, are disposed on the surface of the diaphragm. When the piezoactuator is driven with a drive signal, the phase difference of a first detection signal output from the first electrode and a second detection signal output from the second electrode is detected. The frequency at which the detected phase difference becomes the maximum phase difference is then obtained, and a drive signal of a matching frequency is applied to the piezoelectric elements.Type: GrantFiled: November 1, 2006Date of Patent: May 12, 2009Assignee: Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Hidehiro Akahane, Akihiro Sawada, Makoto Furuhata