Patents by Inventor Mutsumi Kimura

Mutsumi Kimura 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: 20040125551
    Abstract: The invention reduces the resistance of a feed line in a display device (electro-optical device), and reduces the loss in the current supply to a light-emitting element, etc. In an electro-optical device including an electro-optical element and a driver circuit to drive the electro-optical element, a wiring board used for the electro-optical device includes a feed line film to supply the driver circuit with current to put the electro-optical element into operation; a signal line film to supply the driver circuit with a level signal to determine intensity of the current to be supplied to the electro-optical element; and an operation line film to supply the driver circuit with an operation instruction signal to instruct whether to put the electro-optical element into operation, and the feed line film constitutes an upper layer among the feed line film, the signal line film, and the operation line film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2003
    Publication date: July 1, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20040114061
    Abstract: To lower the cost of manufacturing a display device, the present invention comprises a step of forming on a first substrate (100) a release layer (101) that releases when subjected to a specific energy (ST1), a step of forming on the release layer (101) a plurality of pixel circuits (102) for driving the pixels of the electro-optical device (ST2), a step of causing at least one of the pixel circuits (102) formed on the first substrate (100) to face the position on a second circuit (200), used for disposing the pixel circuits (102), where the pixel circuits are to be disposed, and electrically connecting that pixel circuit (102) to the second substrate (200) (ST3), and a step of imparting energy to a part of the release layer (101) where the pixel circuits (102) to be released are provided, and releasing the one pixel circuit (102) from the first substrate (100) along with the second substrate (200).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2003
    Publication date: June 17, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Hiroyuki Hara
  • Publication number: 20040089862
    Abstract: The invention reduces or prevents the performance of a driving thin-film transistor of a thin-film-transistor driving and light-emitting display device from deteriorating over time, while maintaining a function of allowing a large current to flow. In a driving thin-film transistor, a lightly doped region is provided only in a drain region (one-sided LDD structure). Alternatively, lightly doped regions are provided in both a source region and the drain region. The lightly doped region in the drain region is longer than the lightly doped region in the source region, resulting in an asymmetrical LDD structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2003
    Publication date: May 13, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20040080032
    Abstract: The present invention aims to manufacture a large size semiconductor device with the inter-substrate transcription technology of thin film circuits. Enlargement is enabled by disposing a plurality of second substrates (21) in a tile shape. As the second substrate (21), a print substrate or flexible print circuit having double-sided wiring or multilayer wiring is employed. The plurality of second substrates (21) is driven independently, and the plurality of second substrates (21) is made to mutually overlap, and a drive circuit (23) is disposed at such overlapping portion. Moreover, the plurality of second substrates (21) is made to mutually overlap, and the mutual circuits are connected at such overlapping portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2003
    Publication date: April 29, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Satoshi Inoue, Sumio Utsunomiya, Hiroyuki Hara, Wakao Miyazawa
  • Publication number: 20040079943
    Abstract: The present invention provides an accurate and high-precision semiconductor device simulation method that is directed toward an electronic device whose physicality is not isotropic because the mobility of an organic thin film transistor, that employs an organic semiconductor, and the like, is highly dependent on field strength. In a semiconductor device simulation method which divides a semiconductor device of a two-dimensional structure or three-dimensional structure into meshes, and solves physical equations such as a potential equation and a carrier transport equation, for the meshes, a drift current resulting from an electric field and a diffusion current caused by a carrier density gradient are handled separately.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2003
    Publication date: April 29, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Patent number: 6723576
    Abstract: An active-matrix type organic EL display which uses transistors with less variation of characteristics (transistors in which active layer is a single crystal semiconductor) is made on a large area of a transparent base board at low cost. Plural unit of fine construction are formed on a silicon wafer in rows. This unit includes a driving element (switching transistor 34, driving transistor 37, capacity 36) of organic EL element (pixel) 35. Unit block 39 is produced by dividing this silicon wafer. This unit block 39 is disposed at a predetermined position of glass base board 52 (display base board). The driving element of each pixel 35 is connected by signal line 31, power supply line 32, scanning line 33, and capacity line 38.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2004
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryoichi Nozawa, Mutsumi Kimura, Satoshi Inoue
  • Publication number: 20030231273
    Abstract: A method for producing an organic EL display device is disclosed. The display device comprises a substrate, a transistor disposed on the substrate, a flattened inter-layer insulation film covering the transistor, a pixel electrode, and an organic EL layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2003
    Publication date: December 18, 2003
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Tomoyuki Itoh
  • Publication number: 20030209713
    Abstract: In a semiconductor device made by forming functional elements on a first substrate, transferring the element chip onto a second substrate, and connecting first pads on the element chip to second pads on the second substrate, the area or the width of the first is increased. The first pads can be securely connected to the second pads even when misalignment occurs during the separating and transferring processes. Only the first pads are formed on a surface of the element chip at the second-substrate-side. The functional elements are formed to be farther from the second substrate than the first pads. Alternatively, only the first pads are formed on a surface of the element chip remote from the second substrate, and the functional elements are formed to be closer to the second substrate than the first pads. Alternatively, the first pads are formed on both the surface of the element chip at the second-substrate-side and the surface of the element chip remote from the second substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2003
    Publication date: November 13, 2003
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Sumio Utsunomiya, Hiroyuki Hara, Wakao Miyazawa
  • Patent number: 6642665
    Abstract: The invention provides a method and apparatus to obtain accurate gradation by obtaining an accurate ratio of light emitting parts in a display device which implements gradation by forming a plurality of TFTs and a plurality of OELDs in each pixel, directly connecting the TFTs and OELDs, and switching an on and off state of the TFTs, and controlling a light emitting area of the OELDs. A plurality of OELDs have the same shape, and gradation can be implemented by controlling the number of OELDs that emit light. A plurality of OELDs have a round shape. A plurality of OELDs are arranged at the same interval in a vertical and/or horizontal direction. According to this structure, because the light emitting areas of the plurality of OELDs become equal to each other, by controlling the number of OELDs, a ratio of the light emitting areas can be accurately obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20030169218
    Abstract: A transistor circuit is provided including a driving transistor where conductance between the source and the drain is controlled in response to a supplied voltage, and a compensating transistor where the gate is connected to one of the source and the drain, the compensating transistor being connected so as to supply input signals to the gate of the driving transistor through the source and drain. In a transistor circuit where conductance control in a driving transistor is carried out in response to the voltage of input signals, it is possible to control the conductance by using input signals of a relatively low voltage and a variance in threshold characteristics of driving transistors is compensated. With this transistor circuit, a display panel that can display picture images with reduced uneven brightness is achieved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2003
    Publication date: September 11, 2003
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Yojiro Matsueda, Tokuroh Ozawa, Michael Quinn
  • Publication number: 20030098827
    Abstract: A display apparatus, that includes current driving type luminescent elements, has a driving system that takes the conduction types of TFTs to control the emission of the luminescent elements into consideration. In order to reduce driving voltage and improve display quality simultaneously, the arrangement is provided such that if the second TFT which performs the “on-off” function of the current for the luminescent element is of an N channel type, the potential of the common power supply line (“com”) is lowered below the potential of the opposite electrode (“op”) of the luminescent element to obtain a higher gate voltage (“Vgcur”).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2002
    Publication date: May 29, 2003
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tokuroh Ozawa, Mutsumi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20030090214
    Abstract: The object of the invention is to simultaneously achieve a reduction in the off current of a switching thin-film transistor and an increase in the on current of a current thin-film transistor in a current-drive thin-film transistor display apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2003
    Publication date: May 15, 2003
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Hiroshi Kiguchi
  • Publication number: 20030071772
    Abstract: In a display device in accordance with the present invention, each pixel includes a plurality of luminescent elements having different luminous intensities to represent gray scales by controlling the turning ON/OFF of the luminescent elements. A digital signal is transmitted to each pixel to carry out control by thin film transistors connected in series with the luminescent elements. The luminous intensities of the luminescent elements are the geometric progressions of a common ratio of 2. The ON resistance of the thin film transistors is set to be lower than the ON resistance of the luminescent elements, while the OFF resistance of the thin film transistors is set to be higher than the OFF resistance of the luminescent elements. These features have reduced the nonuniformity in the luminous intensities of the luminescent elements caused by the nonuniformity in the conductance of the transistors, thus achieving improved image quality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2002
    Publication date: April 17, 2003
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20030071771
    Abstract: A reduction in deterioration of a switching element over time in a current driving type emissive apparatus is realized. At the same time, a reduction in power consumption is realized. To this end, an AC voltage or an alternating current is applied between a source and a drain terminal of a switching element, and a DC voltage or a direct current is applied between a first and a second terminal of a luminescent element. This is realized by application of a voltage, which is inverted at predetermined intervals, to two luminescent elements heterogeneously arranged, to a luminescent element and a rectifier arranged in reverse orientation and in parallel, or to a full-wave rectification circuit. At this time, the rectifier is formed by a thin-film transistor, a PN junction, or a PIN junction, and is formed simultaneously with an existing switching element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2002
    Publication date: April 17, 2003
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20030063081
    Abstract: A display apparatus is provided with a current driving type light-emitting device and a driving device for controlling a driving current flowing through the light-emitting device for each pixel of the display apparatus. The display apparatus consists of power source units for supplying power for causing a driving current to flow via the driving device to the light-emitting device via a power source wire, and signal wire driving units for supplying a data signal to the driving device via signal wires. In addition, voltage adjusting units adjust a voltage for the power source units or a data signal from the signal wire driving units so that a quantity of a driving current flowing through the light-emitting device when a data signal of a predetermined voltage is supplied to the driving device via signal wires or a quantity of emitted light emitted from the light-emitting device comes close to a predetermined reference value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2002
    Publication date: April 3, 2003
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Tatsuya Shimoda, Hiroshi Kiguchi
  • Patent number: 6542137
    Abstract: A display apparatus provides a reduction in the off-current of a switching thin-film transistor and an increase in the on-current of a current thin-film transistor in a current-drive thin-film transistor display apparatus. The switching thin-film transistor is formed as a transistor of LDD structure or offset structure while the current thin-film transistor is formed as a transistor of self-alignment structure. Alternatively, each of the switching thin-film transistor and the current thin-film transistor is formed as a transistor of LDD structure or offset structure, and the LDD length or offset length of the switching thin-film transistor is increased relative to that of the current thin-film transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Mutsumi Kimura, Hiroshi Kiguchi
  • Patent number: 6529178
    Abstract: A reduction in deterioration of a switching element over time in a current driving type emissive apparatus is realized. At the same time, a reduction in power consumption is realized. To this end, an AC voltage or an alternating current is applied between a source and a drain terminal of a switching element, and a DC voltage or a direct current is applied between a first and a second terminal of a luminescent element. This is realized by application of a voltage, which is inverted at predetermined intervals, to two luminescent elements heterogeneously arranged, to a luminescent element and a rectifier arranged in reverse orientation and in parallel, or to a full-wave rectification circuit. At this time, the rectifier is formed by a thin-film transistor, a PN junction, or a PIN junction, and is formed simultaneously with an existing switching element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Patent number: 6529213
    Abstract: Luminescent portions correspondent to each gradation are arranged point-symmetrically with one another around a prescribed position provided at the center, thereby forming a unit pixel element including a plurality of luminescent elements. Such a structure allows provision of a display device wherein a luminous center does not shift for each gradation. Accordingly, when the brightness of the displayed images is changed, unfavorable shifting of display positions does not take place. The present invention thus solves defects related to the picture quality, such as flickering of images, or an impression of unnatural display or fatigue caused to the viewer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura
  • Patent number: 6522315
    Abstract: A display apparatus, that includes current driving type luminescent elements, has a driving system that takes the conduction types of TFTs to control the emission of the luminescent elements into consideration. In order to reduce driving voltage and improve display quality simultaneously, the arrangement is provided such that if the second TFT which performs the “on-off” function of the current for the luminescent element is of an N channel type, the potential of the common power supply line (“com”) is lowered below the potential of the opposite electrode (“op”) of the luminescent element to obtain a higher gate voltage (“Vgcur”).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tokuroh Ozawa, Mutsumi Kimura
  • Patent number: 6518941
    Abstract: In a display device in accordance with the present invention, each pixel includes a plurality of luminescent elements having different luminous intensities to represent gray scales by controlling the turning ON/OFF of the luminescent elements. A digital signal is transmitted to each pixel to carry out control by thin film transistors connected in series with the luminescent elements. The luminous intensities of the luminescent elements are the geometric progressions of a common ratio of 2. The ON resistance of the thin film transistors is set to be lower than the ON resistance of the luminescent elements, while the OFF resistance of the thin film transistors is set to be higher than the OFF resistance of the luminescent elements. These features have reduced the nonuniformity in the luminous intensities of the luminescent elements caused by the nonuniformity in the conductance of the transistors, thus achieving improved image quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Mutsumi Kimura