Patents by Inventor Mitsuhiro Makihara

Mitsuhiro Makihara 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: 8482843
    Abstract: A MEMS device includes a mirror substrate (200), an electrode substrate (301) arranged so as to face the mirror substrate (200), a mirror (230) serving as a movable member rotatably supported in an opening portion of the mirror substrate (200) via support members, a driving electrode (101) arranged on an insulating film (104) on a surface of the electrode substrate (301) facing the mirror substrate (200) so as to face the mirror (230) across a gap and drive the mirror (230), and a lower electrode (103) made of a metal or a semiconductor and formed under the insulating film (104) exposed to the gap so as to be in contact with the insulating film (104).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2013
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Shingo Uchiyama, Fusao Shimokawa, Tomomi Sakata, Nobuhiro Shimoyama, Mitsuhiro Makihara, Mitsuo Usui
  • Publication number: 20110013256
    Abstract: A MEMS device includes a mirror substrate (200), an electrode substrate (301) arranged so as to face the mirror substrate (200), a mirror (230) serving as a movable member rotatably supported in an opening portion of the mirror substrate (200) via support members, a driving electrode (101) arranged on an insulating film (104) on a surface of the electrode substrate (301) facing the mirror substrate (200) so as to face the mirror (230) across a gap and drive the mirror (230), and a lower electrode (103) made of a metal or a semiconductor and formed under the insulating film (104) exposed to the gap so as to be in contact with the insulating film (104).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2009
    Publication date: January 20, 2011
    Inventors: Shingo Uchiyama, Fusao Shimokawa, Tomomi Sakata, Nobuhiro Shimoyama, Mitsuhiro Makihara, Mitsuo Usui
  • Patent number: 6445845
    Abstract: An optical switch for switching a light path between two optical waveguides is provided. The switch has a slit formed diagonally cutting across the crossing point of crossing optical waveguides and a substance in the slit has a function of transmitting or reflecting an optical signal is selectively held in the slit. The slit is narrower than cores of the optical waveguides, and has a center line formed on a bisection of an interior angle between optical axes of the crossing optical waveguides. Thus, the substance in the slit serves to make optical intensity reflected to each of the optical waveguides uniform. Further, a crossing optical waveguide consists of a reflecting structure having its interior filled with air during reflection and the intersecting angle between the first group of optical waveguides is between 0 to 90 degrees and preferably substantially between 73 and 74 degrees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2002
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Tomomi Sakata, Hiroyoshi Togo, Fusao Shimokawa, Mitsuhiro Makihara
  • Patent number: 6396974
    Abstract: An optical switch of the present invention has a plurality of elements arranged in each of a row and a column direction thereof, where the slits of each element are located at corresponding crossing point between an optical wave guide extending to a row direction and a column direction. A heating element, provided near each of the slits, with a predetermined resistance value, and liquid with predetermined optical characteristic which moves within the slit. The liquid is moved to switch the optical paths at the crossing point between the optical wave-guides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2002
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Makihara, Fusao Shimokawa, Makoto Sato
  • Patent number: 6072924
    Abstract: An optical switch includes a substrate having therein optical waveguides made of silicon and a silicon layer deposited on its top surface. A space is formed in the crossing portion of the optical waveguides which is covered with a lid, preferably made of low alkali borosilicate glass, and which is bonded to the silicon layer by anodic bonding. Preferably, a groove is formed in a surface of the optical waveguide substrate or a bonding surface of the lid. The groove, after the lid has been bonded, makes a passage which communicates between the space and an outside. The passage is a pouring slit for pouring an index-matching liquid and is connected to the space which acts as a driving slit in which the index-matching liquid moves. In one embodiment, the width of the pouring slit is smaller than that of the driving slit. The optical switch can be manufactured by providing an optical waveguide substrate and a lid substrate, one of which is formed with a groove in its surface on which the two substrates are bonded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2000
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Sato, Fusao Shimokawa, Yasuhide Nishida, Mitsuhiro Makihara, Hiroyoshi Togo
  • Patent number: 5204921
    Abstract: In an optical MDF (main distributing frame) for interconnecting external subscriber optical lines (122) with office optical lines (131) through jumpering operation, a matrix waveguide (128, 129, 130) having a plurality of crosspoints coupled with external lines and office lines is used. The matrix waveguide has a groove (235 in FIG. 4A) at each crosspoint so that said crosspoint is switched ON or OFF depending upon whether said groove is filled with matching oil or not, so that one of the external lines is connected to the selected office line. Said matching oil has the same refractive index as that of waveguides. Each crosspoint groove is coupled with a respective oil pool (236), which supplies matching oil which has essentially the same refractive index as that of a waveguide to said groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 1992
    Date of Patent: April 20, 1993
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Tsuneo Kanai, Shigefumi Hosokawa, Kunihiko Sasakura, Syuichirou Inagaki, Shigeru Umemura, Hirobumi Kimura, Akira Nagayama, Mitsuhiro Makihara, Masao Kawachi