Patents by Inventor Muneharu Kuwata

Muneharu Kuwata 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).

  • Publication number: 20230151958
    Abstract: An air conditioner includes a housing including an illumination opening at a position viewable by a user; a blower provided in an airflow path connecting an inlet and outlet; a light emitter provided in the housing viewable through the illumination opening and including a light incident portion to receive light emitted from a first light source and a first light emission portion to emit first light generated from the light and including light simulating natural light; and at least one light extractor emitting second light that is part of the light received by the light emitter that reaches an edge portion of the light emitter without being emitted as the first light or second light received from the first light source or a second light source different from the first light source without intervention of the light emitter. The at least one light extractor is provided in the airflow path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2020
    Publication date: May 18, 2023
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru OKAGAKI, Yusuke FUJII, Haruka SUZUKI, Muneharu KUWATA, Kuniko KOJIMA
  • Patent number: 11644172
    Abstract: A headlight device includes an optical unit to emit light and a support mechanism to support the optical unit. The optical unit includes supported pins as a first supported part and supported groove parts as a second supported part. The support mechanism includes support groove parts as a first support part that is provided on a first straight line in a predetermined first direction and contacts the supported pins and support pins as a second support part that is provided on a second straight line in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and contacts the supported groove parts. The support mechanism supports the optical unit to be freely rotatable around the first straight line passing through the support groove parts and freely rotatable around the second straight line passing through the support pins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ritsuya Oshima, Masashige Suwa, Muneharu Kuwata
  • Publication number: 20230125330
    Abstract: A rotation adjustment mechanism includes a rotation target module supported by a fixation member to be freely rotatable around a first rotary shaft and an adjustment unit supported by the fixation member and including a slider movable along a slide axis pointing in a direction orthogonal to the first rotary shaft. The adjustment unit is supported to be freely rotatable around a second rotary shaft parallel to the first rotary shaft and provided on the fixation member. The rotation target module includes a connection groove. The fixation member includes a cam member. The cam member has a guide surface in an arc-like shape that maintains constant a rotation angle of a contact point where the connection groove and a projection part of the slider contact each other around the first rotary shaft with respect to a unit movement amount of the slider in a direction parallel to the slide axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2020
    Publication date: April 27, 2023
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Ritsuya OSHIMA, Takeshi INATANI, Muneharu KUWATA
  • Publication number: 20230122607
    Abstract: A rotation adjustment mechanism includes a rotation target module supported to be freely rotatable with respect to a fixation member around a first rotary shaft and an adjustment unit including a slider. Rotation of the rotation target module around the first rotary shaft is regulated by a contact point where a connection groove of the rotation target module and a projection part of the slider contact each other, and a shape of a surface of the connection groove contacting the projection part is a shape formed by a locus that successively connects the contact points of the connection groove and the projection part each of which is obtained each time the rotation target module is moved around the first rotary shaft by a unit angle and simultaneously the projection part fixed to the slider is translated by a constant amount in a direction parallel to the slide axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2020
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Ritsuya OSHIMA, Takeshi INATANI, Muneharu KUWATA
  • Publication number: 20230103239
    Abstract: A light irradiation device includes a light source, a first reflecting surface, a second reflecting surface and a rotation mechanism that rotates the first reflecting surface around a first central axis passing through a center of the first reflecting surface and rotates the second reflecting surface around a second central axis passing through a center of the second reflecting surface. The first central axis is orthogonal to a first reference surface that is 45 degrees inclined with respect to a first plane that is orthogonal to an optical axis of light incident upon the first reflecting surface, the second central axis is orthogonal to a second reference surface parallel to the first reference surface, and the first reflecting surface is inclined with respect to the first reference surface and the second reflecting surface is inclined with respect to the second reference surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2020
    Publication date: March 30, 2023
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Masashige SUWA, Ritsuya OSHIMA, Muneharu KUWATA
  • Publication number: 20220403999
    Abstract: A headlight device includes an optical unit to emit light and a support mechanism to support the optical unit. The optical unit includes supported pins as a first supported part and supported groove parts as a second supported part. The support mechanism includes support groove parts as a first support part that is provided on a first straight line in a predetermined first direction and contacts the supported pins and support pins as a second support part that is provided on a second straight line in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and contacts the supported groove parts. The support mechanism supports the optical unit to be freely rotatable around the first straight line passing through the support groove parts and freely rotatable around the second straight line passing through the support pins.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Publication date: December 22, 2022
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Ritsuya OSHIMA, Masashige SUWA, Muneharu KUWATA
  • Publication number: 20220397254
    Abstract: An illumination device includes a light source unit that emits light, a first optical unit that lets the light enter and changes a divergence angle of the entered light, a second optical unit including an image light formation unit that lets the light with the changed divergence angle enter and emits light including image light having image information, and a drive unit that moves the first optical unit and the second optical unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2019
    Publication date: December 15, 2022
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Ritsuya OSHIMA, Masatoshi NISHIMURA, Akihiro YAMADA, Muneharu KUWATA
  • Publication number: 20220299183
    Abstract: A headlight module includes a first light source that emits first light, and a first optical unit. The first optical unit includes a first optical surface that reflects the first light, and a lens surface that projects illuminating light including the first light reflected by the first optical surface. An edge part of the first optical surface close to the lens surface includes a first edge part and a second edge part differing from each other in a position in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the lens surface, and a position of the second edge part in a direction of the optical axis is closer to the lens surface than a position of the first edge part in the direction of the optical axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2019
    Publication date: September 22, 2022
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Masashige SUWA, Ritsuya OSHIMA, Muneharu KUWATA
  • Publication number: 20220221130
    Abstract: An illumination device includes a frame forming part that is provided at at least one position on an end part of a light-emitting panel having a light emission surface or in a vicinity of the light-emitting panel and includes a bright part region and a dark part region, a light source that emits light to be incident upon the frame forming part, and a light amount regulation part that makes intensity of light heading for a space facing the light emission surface from the dark part region weaker than intensity of light heading for the space from the bright part region in the light entering the frame forming part from the light source, or makes the intensity of the light from the bright part region stronger than the intensity of the light from the dark part region in the light entering the frame forming part from the light source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2019
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru OKAGAKI, Yusuke FUJII, Haruka YAMAZAKI, Muneharu KUWATA, Kuniko KOJIMA
  • Publication number: 20210263301
    Abstract: An illumination device includes a light source, a pair of wedge prisms, and a driving portion. The pair of wedge prisms deflect incident light. The driving portion includes a gear and a gear, and causes the pair of wedge prisms to rotate about a rotation axis by using the gear and the gear. The pair of wedge prisms include a wedge prism held by a barrel and a wedge prism held by a barrel. The barrel is disposed inside the barrel. A gear whose center axis is the rotation axis is provided on an outer periphery of the barrel. A gear whose center axis is the rotation axis is provided on an inner periphery of the barrel. The gear is disposed on an outer peripheral side of the gear and meshes with the gear. The gear is disposed on an inner peripheral side of the gear and meshes with the gear.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Publication date: August 26, 2021
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Ritsuya OSHIMA, Masashige SUWA, Akinori HEISHI, Muneharu KUWATA, Kuniko KOJIMA
  • Publication number: 20210190295
    Abstract: A light irradiation device includes a light source, a projection optical system, wedge prisms, and an aberration correction surface. The projection optical system projects an image formed based on light emitted from the light source. The aberration correction surface corrects an aberration occurring when the image is projected by the projection optical system. The wedge prism deflects the light emitted from the projection optical system. The wedge prism deflects the light deflected by the wedge prism. The wedge prisms are held so that a deflection direction of light emitted from the wedge prism is changed by rotation of at least one of the wedge prisms. The aberration correction surface is on the wedge prism side with respect to an emission surface of the projection optical system, and is located on the projection optical system side, with respect to the wedge prism, including an incidence surface of the wedge prism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Masashige SUWA, Ritsuya OSHIMA, Muneharu KUWATA, Kuniko KOJIMA
  • Patent number: 10883689
    Abstract: The left headlamp (100L) includes first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L) and a light guide member (16L). The first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L) corresponds to partial light distributing patterns (P1L, P2L, and P3L) and have light projection directions parallel to each other. The light guide member (16L) has: first incident surfaces (17L, 18L, and 19L), arranged so as to face the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L) and corresponding to the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L); and an emitting surface (20L), arranged so as to face the first incident surfaces (17L, 18L, and 19L) and shared by the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L). The light guide member (16L) forms a light distributing pattern (PL) by deflecting light projected by the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Muneharu Kuwata, Masashige Suwa, Naoki Sawai, Ryoto Adachi, Naoto Inoue
  • Patent number: 10851957
    Abstract: A headlight module includes a light source, a light distribution control element and a projection optical element. The light source emits light. The light distribution control element forms a light distribution pattern by changing a divergence angle of the light incident therein. The projection optical element projects the light distribution pattern. The light distribution control element includes a first light distribution formation part configured to form a high luminosity region in the light distribution pattern and a second light distribution formation part configured to form a low luminosity region in the light distribution pattern. The low luminosity region is lower in luminosity than the high luminosity region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masashige Suwa, Ritsuya Oshima, Keiji Nakamura, Kuniko Kojima, Muneharu Kuwata
  • Patent number: 10564381
    Abstract: An illumination device including: a light source including a light emitting element that emits light; a first optical element that transmits the light; a second optical element that transmits the light transmitted by the first optical element; a holder that holds the second optical element; and a spring member including at least one spring portion that generates spring force by being deflected, the spring member pressing the second optical element against the holder with the spring force to hold the second optical element against the holder, wherein the first optical element and the second optical element deflect a center portion in a long edge direction of the at least one spring portion with respect to ends in the long edge direction of the at least one spring portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ritsuya Oshima, Masashige Suwa, Keiji Nakamura, Muneharu Kuwata
  • Patent number: 10539287
    Abstract: A headlight module for projecting a light distribution pattern includes: a light source for emitting light; and an optical element including a first reflecting surface for reflecting the light as first reflected light, a second reflecting surface for reflecting, as second reflected light, light passing through a traveling direction side of an edge portion of the first reflecting surface, a first emitting surface for emitting the first reflected light, and a second emitting surface for emitting the second reflected light, the traveling direction side being a side toward which the first reflected light travels. The edge portion is an edge portion on the traveling direction side. The first reflecting surface forms a high luminous intensity region of the light distribution pattern by superposing the first reflected light and light that has not been reflected by the first reflecting surface, and forms a cutoff line of the light distribution pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masashige Suwa, Ritsuya Oshima, Keiji Nakamura, Kuniko Kojima, Muneharu Kuwata
  • Patent number: 10495277
    Abstract: A headlight module for projecting a light distribution pattern includes: a first source for emitting first light; a second source for emitting second light; an element including a first guide for guiding the first light and a second guide for guiding the second light; and a condensing element for concentrating the second light. An emitting surface of the element includes first and second regions. The first light is emitted from the regions. The second light is emitted from the second region. The second region side of the second guide is connected to the first guide. The first light guided by the first guide enters the second guide. The pattern includes a pattern formed at a light concentration position of the condensing element. The second guide includes an incident surface. A focal position of the emitting surface and a focal position of the incident surface coincide with the light concentration position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masashige Suwa, Ritsuya Oshima, Keiji Nakamura, Kuniko Kojima, Muneharu Kuwata
  • Publication number: 20190331309
    Abstract: The left headlamp (100L) includes first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L) and a light guide member (16L). The first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L) corresponds to partial light distributing patterns (P1L, P2L, and P3L) and have light projection directions parallel to each other. The light guide member (16L) has: first incident surfaces (17L, 18L, and 19L), arranged so as to face the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L) and corresponding to the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L); and an emitting surface (20L), arranged so as to face the first incident surfaces (17L, 18L, and 19L) and shared by the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L). The light guide member (16L) forms a light distributing pattern (PL) by deflecting light projected by the first light source modules (13L, 14L, and 15L).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Publication date: October 31, 2019
    Inventors: Muneharu Kuwata, Masashige Suwa, Naoki Sawai, Ryoto Adachi, Naoto Inoue
  • Patent number: 10458611
    Abstract: A headlight module includes a light source, a light guide element, and a projection optical element. The light source emits light. The light guide element has a reflecting surface for reflecting light emitted from the light source and an emitting surface for emitting light reflected by the reflecting surface. The projection optical element projects light emitted from the emitting surface. In a direction of an optical axis of the projection optical element, an end portion on the emitting surface side of the reflecting surface includes a point located at a focal position of the projection optical element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masashige Suwa, Ritsuya Oshima, Kuniko Kojima, Muneharu Kuwata
  • Patent number: D927038
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru Okagaki, Yusuke Fujii, Haruka Yamazaki, Muneharu Kuwata, Kuniko Kojima
  • Patent number: D929012
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru Okagaki, Yusuke Fujii, Haruka Yamazaki, Muneharu Kuwata, Kuniko Kojima