Patents by Inventor Shige Furuta

Shige Furuta 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: 20130100105
    Abstract: A signal generator circuit of the present invention is a signal generator circuit for use in a display device, the display device including (a) a pixel having a pixel electrode, (b) an electric conductor with which the pixel electrode forms a capacitor, (c) a data signal line driving circuit which outputs a data signal whose polarity is reversed for each n horizontal scanning period(s), where n is a natural number, and (d) a scanning signal line driving circuit which outputs scanning signals corresponding to respective stages, said signal generator circuit generating a drive signal supplied to the electric conductor, wherein: said signal generator circuit comprises flip flops corresponding to the respective stages, each flip flop including a gate circuit and a latch circuit; and in regard to one flip flop corresponding to one of the stages, (i) the gate circuit is supplied with a signal synchronized with a scanning signal corresponding to a preceding stage of the one of the stages, and a signal synchronized w
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2011
    Publication date: April 25, 2013
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shige Furuta, Makoto Yokoyama, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki
  • Patent number: 8395419
    Abstract: A circuit is constituted by a plurality of n-channel-type transistors, the circuit including: among the plurality of transistors, a transistor including a drain terminal for receiving a voltage of VDD, a source terminal, and a gate terminal for receiving an input signal; among the plurality of transistors, a transistor including a drain terminal for receiving the voltage of VDD, a source terminal connected to an output terminal, and a gate terminal connected to the source terminal of the transistor; and a capacitor provided between a node and a clock terminal for receiving a clock signal. In at least one embodiment, the clock signal inputted into the clock terminal has a frequency higher than that of an output signal outputted from the output terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2013
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki, Shige Furuta
  • Publication number: 20120307959
    Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a unit circuit of a shift register includes a bootstrap circuit configured with a transistor T1, a transistor T2 and a capacitor, a transistor T3, a transistor T4, and a reset signal generation circuit. By use of two-phase clock signals and whose high level periods do not overlap with each other, the reset signal generation circuit generates a reset signal which is at a high level in a normal state and changes to a low level when an input signal turns into the high level. During a period that the reset signal is at the high level, transistors T3 and T4 perform discharge of a node and pull-down of an output signal. Thus, it is possible to obtain a power-saving shift register that fixes an output signal at a low level in a normal state without allowing a through current to flow therein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2012
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Applicant: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shige Furuta, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki, Shinsaku Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20120306829
    Abstract: A shift register includes a plurality of stages of unit circuits each including a flip-flop. Each of the unit circuits generates, by obtaining a sync signal in accordance with an output from the flip-flop, an output signal. The flip-flop includes a first switch and a second switch and a latch circuit for latching a signal supplied thereto and outputting the signal as the output from the flip-flop. A first shift direction signal is supplied to the latch circuit via the first switch, and the second shift direction signal is supplied to the latch circuit via the second switch. In each unit circuit other than those of the first and last stages, an output signal from a previous stage is supplied to a control terminal of the first switch, and an output signal from a subsequent stage is supplied to a control terminal of the second switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2011
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shige Furuta, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki, Takahiro Yamaguchi, Seijirou Gyouten
  • Publication number: 20120249499
    Abstract: A one-input and three-output demultiplexer that includes sampling switches for sampling a video signal is provided at one end side of source bus lines, and a one-input and three-output demultiplexer that includes test switches provided corresponding to sampling switches and that uses a test video signal as an input signal is provided at the other end side of the source bus lines. When an any control signal out of three control signals for controlling states of a sampling switch and a test switch is defined as a target control signal, a source bus line connected to the sampling switch which is set to an on state by the target control signal and a source bus line connected to the test switch which is set to an on state by the target control signal are different.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2010
    Publication date: October 4, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Isao Takahashi, Shige Furuta, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki
  • Patent number: 8269713
    Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a unit circuit of a shift register includes a bootstrap circuit configured with a transistor T1, a transistor T2 and a capacitor, a transistor T3, a transistor T4, and a reset signal generation circuit. By use of two-phase clock signals and whose high level periods do not overlap with each other, the reset signal generation circuit generates a reset signal which is at a high level in a normal state and changes to a low level when an input signal turns into the high level. During a period that the reset signal is at the high level, transistors T3 and T4 perform discharge of a node and pull-down of an output signal. Thus, it is possible to obtain a power-saving shift register that fixes an output signal at a low level in a normal state without allowing a through current to flow therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shige Furuta, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki, Shinsaku Shimizu
  • Patent number: 8269714
    Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a unit circuit of a shift register includes a bootstrap circuit configured with a transistor T1, a transistor T2 and a capacitor, a transistor T3, a transistor T4, and a reset signal generation circuit. By use of two-phase clock signals whose high level periods do not overlap with each other, the reset signal generation circuit generates a reset signal which is at a high level in a normal state and changes to a low level when an input signal turns into the high level. During a period that the reset signal is at the high level, transistors perform discharge of a node and pull-down of an output signal. Thus, it is possible to obtain a shift register which performs discharge of a node and pull-down of an output signal and achieves a small area and low power consumption without using an output signal from a subsequent circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shige Furuta, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki, Shinsaku Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20120206510
    Abstract: A display device employing CC driving switches from (i) a first mode in which to carry out a display by converting resolution of a video signal by a factor of 2 in a column-wise direction to (ii) a second mode in which to carry out a display at the resolution of the video signal. During the first mode, signal potentials having the same polarity and the same gray scale are supplied to pixel electrodes included in respective two pixels that correspond to two adjacent scanning signal lines and that are adjacent to each other in the column-wise direction, and a direction of change in the signal potentials written to the pixel electrodes varies every two adjacent rows (2-line inversion driving). During the second mode, the direction of change in the signal potentials written to the pixel electrodes lines varies every single row (1-line inversion driving).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Publication date: August 16, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shige Furuta, Etsuo Yamamoto, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Seijirou Gyouten
  • Publication number: 20120200614
    Abstract: In a display device (i) which carries out a display based on a video signal whose resolution has been converted to higher resolution (high-resolution conversion driving) and (ii) which carries out CC driving, when the resolution of the video signal is converted by a factor of 2 (double-size display), assuming that a direction in which the gate lines extend is a row-wise direction, signal potentials having the same polarity and the same gray scale are supplied to pixel electrodes included in respective two pixels that correspond to two adjacent gate lines and that are adjacent to each other in the column-wise direction (scanning direction), and a direction of change in the signal potentials written to the pixel electrodes from the source lines varies every two adjacent rows according to the polarities of the signal potentials.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2010
    Publication date: August 9, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Etsuo Yamamoto, Shige Furuta, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Seijirou Gyouten
  • Publication number: 20120200549
    Abstract: Provided is a display device which can prevent screen noise caused such that a potential of a common electrode is reversed after a memory mode enters from a refresh period to an entire write-in period, and a method for driving the display device. The memory mode includes (i) an entire write-in period in which a potential of the common electrode (COM) is fixed and the display data is written into all the memory circuits (node (PIX)) in each row and (ii) a refresh period in which the display data which has been written during the entire write-in period is refreshed at least once while the common electrode (COM) is driven. In the memory mode, the potential of the common electrode during the entire write-in period being a potential which the common electrode having been driven had at the end of a refresh period preceding the entire write-in period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Publication date: August 9, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasushi Sasaki, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi
  • Patent number: 8223112
    Abstract: At least one embodiment of the present invention is directed to, even when external noise is applied to a shift register during all-on operation, preventing through-current from flowing in unit circuits and also to prevent increase in load on all-on control signal lines. When a high-level all-on control signal is provided to a unit circuit of a shift register, a transistor T3 is brought into off-state, so that a transistor T2 cannot output an on-voltage to a first output terminal. However, a transistor T24 is brought into on-state, so that the first output terminal outputs an on-voltage to the exterior. On the other hand, a transistor T32 is brought into on-state, so that a second output terminal outputs an off-voltage to a unit circuit 11 in the next stage. At this time, the transistor T3 is kept in off-state, so that no through-current flows to the transistors T24 and T3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Ohkawa, Shige Furuta, Yasushi Sasaki, Yuhichiroh Murakami
  • Publication number: 20120176393
    Abstract: Provided is a memory device that allows an amount of leakage into a first retaining section to which a binary logic level is written to be balanced between different circuit states. A predetermined period is set in which in a state where a first control section turns off an output element, (i) a first retaining section and a second retaining section retain an identical binary logic level, (ii) an electric potential of a voltage supply is set to one of a first electric potential level and a second electric potential level, (iii) the other one of the first electric potential level and the second electric potential level is supplied from a column driver to a fourth wire, and (iv) subsequently the fourth wire is shifted to a floating state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Publication date: July 12, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Ohkawa, Yasushi Sasaki, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi
  • Publication number: 20120179923
    Abstract: A memory device can perform a first operation mode in which a discrete level is supplied to cause the memory cell to retain a logical level, and prevent unnecessary power consumption due to an operation of a power source which is unnecessary in the first operation mode. The memory device includes: a first power source (VDD) for supplying a first potential level; a second power source (VSS) for supplying a second potential level, a third power source (GVDD) for supplying a potential higher than a highest potential of discrete levels; and a fourth power source for supplying a potential lower than a lowest potential of the discrete levels, the first and second potential levels being used to supply the discrete levels, when the first operation is carried out, VDD, VSS, and GVDD being caused to be in operation and the fourth power source being stopped from being in operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2010
    Publication date: July 12, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasushi Sasaki, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi
  • Publication number: 20120176388
    Abstract: In a memory liquid crystal display device, a potential of a storage capacitor line signal (CS) supplied to the CS lines (CSL(i)) are once decreased (?Vcs) while the gate lines (GL(i)) are made simultaneously active (period t4, period t10) in the data holding period (T2), and the potential of the storage capacitor line signal (CS) is made back to its original potential while the gate lines (GL(i)) are made simultaneously inactive and the refresh output control lines (RC(i)) are made active (period t5, period t11). This reduces flicker, thereby allowing for improvement in display quality of the memory liquid crystal display device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2010
    Publication date: July 12, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Makoto Yokoyama, Shige Furuta, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi
  • Publication number: 20120169580
    Abstract: A memory liquid crystal display device includes a transistor (N1), a transistor (N2), a transistor (N3), a transistor (N4), a first storage capacitor (storage capacitor of an overlapping part of a capacitor electrode 37a and a CS line CSL(i)) connected to a pixel electrode (7), and a second storage capacitor (storage capacitor of an overlapping part of a capacitor electrode 37b and a CS extension section 10bb) connected to the pixel electrode (7) via the transistor (N2), the pixel electrode (7) being connected to (a) a source line (SL(j)) via the transistor (N1), (b) a data transfer control line (DT(i)) via the transistor (N4) and the third transistor, (c) a drain electrode (9a) of the transistor (N1) via a contact hole (13), and (d) a source electrode (8b) of the transistor (N2) and to a drain electrode (9c) of the transistor (N4), via a contact hole (14).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shuji Nishi, Seijirou Gyouten, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Yasushi Sasaki
  • Publication number: 20120169579
    Abstract: A transistor (N1) has a gate terminal connected to a word line (Xi(1)) and a first conduction terminal connected to a bit line (Yj). A transistor (N2) has a gate terminal connected to the word line (Xi(2)) and a first conduction terminal connected to a node (PIX). A transistor (N3) has a gate terminal connected to a node (MRY) and a first conduction terminal connected to the word line (Xi(2)). A transistor (N4) has a gate terminal connected to the word line (Xi(3)), a first conduction terminal connected to a second conduction terminal of the transistor (N3), and a second conduction terminal connected to the node (PIX). Capacitors (Ca1), (Cb1), (Cap1) are formed between the node (PIX) and a reference electric potential wire (RL1), between the node (MRY) and the reference electric potential wire (RL1), and between the first conduction terminal of the transistor (N3) and the node (MRY), respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shuji Nishi, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Yasushi Sasaki, Seijirou Gyouten
  • Publication number: 20120169750
    Abstract: Provided are a memory-type display device capable of improving image quality during a normal mode and a method for driving such a display device. Each memory circuit (MR1) includes: a node (PIX) (pixel electrode); a node (MRY) (memory electrode); a switch circuit (SW1); a first data-retention section (DS1) composed of a capacitor (Ca1); a data transfer section (TS1) composed of a transistor (N2); a second data-retention section (DS2) composed of a capacitor (Cb1); and a refresh output control section (RS1) including a transistor (N4). During the normal mode, and the capacitor (Ca1) and the capacitor (Cb1) are both used as auxiliary capacitors with the transistor (N2) in a conductive state and the transistor (N4) in a cutoff state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuhichiroh Murakami, Yasushi Sasaki, Shige Furuta, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi
  • Publication number: 20120169751
    Abstract: In an active matrix display apparatus including: pixels provided in a matrix pattern, the pixels each including a memory circuit which retains data while refreshing the data, a data signal electric potential which is supplied from a source line in a period t1 and written to a node which is connected to a liquid capacitor is higher than a data electric potential of the node, the data electric potential being obtained in a period t14 after a refresh operation of the memory circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Etsuo Yamamoto, Yasushi Sasaki, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi
  • Publication number: 20120169753
    Abstract: A memory device is provided which includes a memory circuit that allows a circuit which carries out a refresh operation to suitably carry out an original operation of the circuit even if an off-leakage current occurs in a transfer element used in a transfer section. A memory cell includes a switching circuit, a first retaining section, a transfer section, a second retaining section, a first control section, and a voltage supply, and the first control section is controlled to be in (i) a state in which the first control section carries out a first operation in which the first control section is in an active state or a non-active state and (ii) a state in which the first control section carries out a second operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Yasushi Sasaki, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi
  • Publication number: 20120169690
    Abstract: Provided are a display device capable of preventing image noise arising from changes in potential of a common electrode and auxiliary capacitor lines at the time of a switch between a normal mode and a memory mode and a method for driving such a display device. In a case where it is necessary to cause the common electrode and the auxiliary capacitor lines to change in potential along with a switch between the normal mode and the memory mode, the change in potential is made while electrically connecting a node of each memory circuit to a corresponding source line with the corresponding source line having its potential fixed and with the memory circuit having its a switch circuit in a conductive state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicant: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasushi Sasaki, Yuhichiroh Murakami, Shige Furuta, Seijirou Gyouten, Shuji Nishi