Patents by Inventor Takenori HIROTA

Takenori HIROTA 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: 20170053953
    Abstract: A display device in an embodiment according to the present invention includes a first substrate, a second substrate opposing the first substrate, and a transistor provided in the first substrate, a scanning signal line, a video signal line, and a pixel electrode that are electrically connected to the transistor, and a first insulating layer. The thickness of the first substrate is 0.3 mm or less, the first insulating layer contacts the first substrate, and is provided between the first substrate and the transistor, and the first insulating layer includes an organic insulating layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2016
    Publication date: February 23, 2017
    Inventors: Takenori HIROTA, Hidekazu MIYAKE, Toshinari SASAKI, Shinichiro OKA
  • Patent number: 9523897
    Abstract: To take measures against the phenomenon of difficulty for the orientation film material to flow into the through-hole when the diameter of through-holes which connects the pixel electrode and the source electrode becomes small. An interlayer insulating film 109 made of SiN is formed on a counter electrode, and a pixel electrode 110 having a slit 1101 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 109. A through-hole 111 which connects the pixel electrode 110 and the source electrode of a TFT has a large opening on the upper side, a small opening on the lower side, and an inner wall extending between the large opening and the small opening. The pixel electrode 110 covers the through-hole 111 on an inner side of the pixel of the through-hole 111 but does not cover a periphery of the large opening of the through-hole on an outer side of the through-hole 111.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Yosuke Hyodo, Yasushi Tomioka, Noboru Kunimatsu, Hidehiro Sonoda, Yasuo Imanishi, Takenori Hirota
  • Publication number: 20160357040
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device having an alignment film subjected to an optical alignment process, the frame area can be reduced while maintaining the reliability of the sealing portion. To achieve this, in the display area, the alignment process is performed with UV light on the alignment film, to form an area in which the alignment film is not formed in the opposing first and second sides, and to form an area in which the amount of UV light irradiation on the alignment film is one fourth or less of the display area in the opposing third and fourth sides. In the first and second sides, the sealing material overlaps the area in which the alignment film is not formed. In the third and fourth sides, the sealing material overlaps the area in which the amount of UV light irradiation is one fourth or less of the display area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2016
    Publication date: December 8, 2016
    Applicant: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Hidehiro SONODA, Noboru KUNIMATSU, Takenori HIROTA, Yosuke HYODO, Yasuo IMANISHI, Yasushi TOMIOKA
  • Publication number: 20160178943
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal display panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a sealant and a liquid crystal layer. The first substrate includes a switching element and a pixel electrode. The second substrate includes a first organic insulating film in which a first trench portion is formed, a projection formed beneath the first organic insulating film, and a first barrier layer. The first barrier layer is formed continuously from an inside of the first trench portion to under the projection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2015
    Publication date: June 23, 2016
    Applicant: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Yosuke HYODO, Yasushi TOMIOKA, Takenori HIROTA
  • Publication number: 20160085119
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device including an alignment film which has been optically aligned is configured that the liquid crystal has negative dielectric anisotropy, an absolute value of which is equal to or smaller than 5. The alignment film is subjected to an optical alignment process to exhibit the optical alignment property, and includes a first film located at a side in contact with the liquid crystal, and a second film below the first film, which is not optically aligned to have no alignment property. The alignment film is formed by applying a mixture of a first material for forming the first film and a second material for forming the second film to the substrate. The first material for the alignment film accounts for 10 wt. % or more and less than 40 wt. % of a total weight of the first and the second materials.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2015
    Publication date: March 24, 2016
    Inventors: Takenori HIROTA, Yosuke HYODO, Noboru KUNIMATSU, Yasushi TOMIOKA, Hidehiro SONODA
  • Publication number: 20160004130
    Abstract: To prevent dark unevenness at the corner portion of a screen, a provided is a liquid crystal display including a first pixel formed with a pixel electrode at a first angle in a Y-direction, wherein the pixel electrodes of top, bottom, left, and right adjacent pixels to the first pixel are at a second angle in a Y-direction. The absolute value of the first angle is equal to the absolute value of the second angle, and a sign of the first angle is opposite to a sign of the second angle The rotation direction of a liquid crystal when a voltage is applied to the pixel electrode is in the opposite directions between the adjacent pixels. Thus, it is possible to prevent ions included in the liquid crystal from flowing on the peripheral portion of a display region to prevent dark unevenness at the corner portion of the screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2015
    Publication date: January 7, 2016
    Inventors: Takenori HIROTA, Osamu ITOU
  • Publication number: 20150346556
    Abstract: A reliability of seal portion of a liquid crystal display device can be improved by the following structure. A liquid crystal display device includes: a TFT substrate which includes a display region and a terminal part, and has an inorganic insulating film formed on an organic passivation film and an alignment film formed over the inorganic insulating film; a counter substrate, the TFT substrate and the counter substrate bonded together by a sealing material formed at a seal part surrounding the display region; and a liquid crystal sealed inside. At the seal part, a transparent conductive oxide film is formed between the inorganic insulating film and the alignment film. The transparent conductive oxide film exists inside an edge of the TFT substrate and hence, the edge of the TFT substrate is free of the transparent conductive oxide film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2015
    Publication date: December 3, 2015
    Inventors: Takenori HIROTA, Yasuhiro KANAYA, Hidehiro SONODA, Toshiki KANEKO
  • Publication number: 20150212373
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal display device, a TFT substrate and a counter substrate are bonded by a sealing material, with a liquid crystal interposed between the two substrates. An alignment film has a two-layer structure of a lower alignment film not subjected to photo alignment treatment and an upper alignment film subjected to photo alignment treatment and contacting the liquid crystal. A hollow with an increased film thickness is formed in an end portion of the lower alignment film. An end portion of the upper alignment film is determined by the hollow of the lower alignment film. The material, process conditions, or other conditions of the lower alignment film for easy control of outer end dimensions can be selected to easily control the profile of the alignment film as a whole. Thus, it is possible to avoid the reduction of reliability due to the reduction of the bonding strength between the sealing material and the alignment film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2015
    Publication date: July 30, 2015
    Applicant: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventor: Takenori HIROTA
  • Publication number: 20150201172
    Abstract: In a projection type display apparatus, a lighting device includes two reflection type cutoff filters (first cutoff filter and reflective second cutoff filter) which block out ultraviolet range light on an output optical path from a light source. A cut on wavelength of the second cutoff filter on the front side is longer than that of the first cutoff filter on the rear side. The two cutoff filters are formed on planar-shaped first faces of a first integrator lens and a second integrator lens. For this reason, both input faces of the two cutoff filters are orthogonal to an apparatus optical axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Publication date: July 16, 2015
    Inventors: Naoki Tomikawa, Takenori Hirota, Ryuichi Kurosawa
  • Publication number: 20150160493
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal device according to the invention, a pre-tilt angle of a liquid crystal layer is greater on an opposing electrode side than on a pixel electrode side. A high potential and a low potential relative to an opposing electrode potential are alternately applied to pixel electrodes through switching elements; and the opposing electrode potential is higher than a standard potential, the standard potential being a potential in which the average potential between the high potential and the low potential has been shifted by an amount equivalent to the average value of the amount of change in the potential of the pixel electrodes caused by parasitic capacitance in the switching elements when the high potential is applied to the pixel electrodes and the amount of change in the potential of the pixel electrodes caused by parasitic capacitance when the low potential is applied to the pixel electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2015
    Publication date: June 11, 2015
    Inventors: Masakazu NISHIDA, Shohei YOSHIDA, Takenori HIROTA, Tomokazu UMENO, Akinori MASUZAWA
  • Publication number: 20150160516
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a TFT substrate, a counter substrate, a liquid crystal layer, a first alignment film arranged between the TFT substrate and the liquid crystal layer, and a second alignment film arranged between the counter substrate and the liquid crystal layer. The first alignment film has a two-layer structure including a photo-alignment component and a low resistance component whose resistance is lower than that of the photo-alignment component, and the transmittance of the second alignment film is greater than that of the first alignment film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Publication date: June 11, 2015
    Inventors: Emi HIGANO, Toshiyuki HIGANO, Takenori HIROTA
  • Publication number: 20150138476
    Abstract: To take measures against the phenomenon of difficulty for the orientation film material to flow into the through-hole when the diameter of through-holes which connects the pixel electrode and the source electrode becomes small. An interlayer insulating film 109 made of SiN is formed on a counter electrode, and a pixel electrode 110 having a slit 1101 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 109. A through-hole 111 which connects the pixel electrode 110 and the source electrode of a TFT has a large opening on the upper side, a small opening on the lower side, and an inner wall extending between the large opening and the small opening. The pixel electrode 110 covers the through-hole 111 on an inner side of the pixel of the through-hole 111 but does not cover a periphery of the large opening of the through-hole on an outer side of the through-hole 111.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2014
    Publication date: May 21, 2015
    Inventors: Yosuke HYODO, Yasushi TOMIOKA, Noboru KUNIMATSU, Hidehiro SONODA, Yasuo IMANISHI, Takenori HIROTA
  • Patent number: 8634047
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a device substrate that includes a pixel electrode, a counter substrate that is formed opposite the device substrate and that includes a counter electrode, a liquid crystal layer that is formed between the device substrate and the counter substrate, a first alignment layer that is formed on a side of the device substrate which is closer to the liquid crystal layer, and a second alignment layer that is formed on a side of the counter substrate which is closer to the liquid crystal layer. The pixel electrode is made of a material having a work function smaller than that of a material for the counter electrode. The first alignment layer has substantially the same density as that of the second alignment layer, and the thickness d1 of the first alignment layer is greater than the thickness d2 of the second alignment layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takenori Hirota, Tomokazu Umeno
  • Publication number: 20130286480
    Abstract: A retardation plate includes a first substrate, a retardation film disposed on the first substrate, a second substrate larger than the first substrate and covering the retardation film, a third substrate disposed such that the first substrate lies between the second substrate and the third substrate, and an inorganic sealing member air-tightly binding the second substrate and the third substrate together so as to air-tightly enclose the retardation film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2013
    Publication date: October 31, 2013
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Takenori Hirota
  • Publication number: 20130271714
    Abstract: Provided is an electro-optic apparatus including an organic sealant that seals a first substrate and a second substrate, an inorganic sealant that surrounds the organic sealant which seals the first substrate and the second substrate, and an electro-optic material that is enclosed within an area surrounded by the organic sealant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2013
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Takenori Hirota
  • Publication number: 20120188497
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a device substrate that includes a pixel electrode, a counter substrate that is formed opposite the device substrate and that includes a counter electrode, a liquid crystal layer that is formed between the device substrate and the counter substrate, a first alignment layer that is formed on a side of the device substrate which is closer to the liquid crystal layer, and a second alignment layer that is formed on a side of the counter substrate which is closer to the liquid crystal layer. The pixel electrode is made of a material having a work function smaller than that of a material for the counter electrode. The first alignment layer has substantially the same density as that of the second alignment layer, and the thickness d1 of the first alignment layer is greater than the thickness d2 of the second alignment layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2011
    Publication date: July 26, 2012
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takenori Hirota, Tomokazu Umeno
  • Publication number: 20110234960
    Abstract: In a liquid crystal device according to the invention, a pre-tilt angle of a liquid crystal layer is greater on an opposing electrode side than on a pixel electrode side. A high potential and a low potential relative to an opposing electrode potential are alternately applied to pixel electrodes through switching elements; and the opposing electrode potential is higher than a standard potential, the standard potential being a potential in which the average potential between the high potential and the low potential has been shifted by an amount equivalent to the average value of the amount of change in the potential of the pixel electrodes caused by parasitic capacitance in the switching elements when the high potential is applied to the pixel electrodes and the amount of change in the potential of the pixel electrodes caused by parasitic capacitance when the low potential is applied to the pixel electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masakazu NISHIDA, Shohei YOSHIDA, Takenori HIROTA, Tomokazu UMENO, Akinori MASUZAWA
  • Publication number: 20100214245
    Abstract: An input apparatus includes a single light-transmissible substrate, an input unit including a coordinate input surface formed upon one surface of the light-transmissible substrate, and an illumination unit formed upon the other surface of the light-transmissible substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2010
    Publication date: August 26, 2010
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Takenori HIROTA