Patents by Inventor Takeshi Sowa

Takeshi Sowa 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: 20240107200
    Abstract: A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array that is quadrilateral and includes pixels arranged in rows and columns, where each of the pixels accumulates an electric charge resulting from photoelectric conversion. The pixel array includes: a first area including first pixels for obtaining a captured image; and a second area including a second pixel for individually identifying the solid-state imaging device. The second area is provided in the vicinity of at least one corner among four corners of the pixel array, where the vicinity is a range of a predetermined number of pixels away from the at least one corner. The second pixel includes circuit elements or optical elements different from circuit elements or optical elements in each of the first pixels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2023
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Inventors: Yoshihisa FUJIMORI, Yasuhiro KOSAKA, Takeshi SOWA, Kazuaki SOGAWA
  • Patent number: 10379427
    Abstract: A projector includes a light source, light modulation device, first driver, and second driver. The first driver is configured to drive the light modulation device to alternately provide a first polarity period and a second polarity period. The second driver is configured to drive the light source so that timings of switching related to a drive current coincide between the first polarity period and the second polarity period. The timings of switching are different from each other between a first period and a second period. The first period contains one first polarity period and one second polarity period adjacent to the one first polarity period. The second period is adjacent to the first period and contains another first polarity period than the one first polarity period and another second polarity period than the one second polarity period. The another second polarity period is adjacent to the another first polarity period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Osamu Nakajima
  • Publication number: 20190094665
    Abstract: A projector includes a light source, light modulation device, first driver, and second driver. The first driver is configured to drive the light modulation device to alternately provide a first polarity period and a second polarity period. The second driver is configured to drive the light source so that timings of switching related to a drive current coincide between the first polarity period and the second polarity period. The timings of switching are different from each other between a first period and a second period. The first period contains one first polarity period and one second polarity period adjacent to the one first polarity period. The second period is adjacent to the first period and contains another first polarity period than the one first polarity period and another second polarity period than the one second polarity period. The another second polarity period is adjacent to the another first polarity period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeshi SOWA, Osamu NAKAJIMA
  • Patent number: 9507247
    Abstract: A projector includes a discharge lamp and a discharge lamp drive section. The discharge lamp drive section is configured to selectively perform a first drive in which first drive power is supplied and a second drive in which second drive power higher than the first drive power is supplied in a first posture, and supply drive power not lower than third drive power and not higher than fourth drive power in a second posture in which optical axis intersects with horizontal plane, the third drive power is drive power with which one of the electrodes in the second posture is set to temperature corresponding to first temperature in the first drive in the first posture, and the fourth drive power is drive power with which one of the electrodes in the second posture is set to temperature corresponding to second temperature in the second drive in the first posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Yuichiro Iwama
  • Publication number: 20150277216
    Abstract: A projector includes a discharge lamp and a discharge lamp drive section. The discharge lamp drive section is configured to selectively perform a first drive in which first drive power is supplied and a second drive in which second drive power higher than the first drive power is supplied in a first posture, and supply drive power not lower than third drive power and not higher than fourth drive power in a second posture in which optical axis intersects with horizontal plane, the third drive power is drive power with which one of the electrodes in the second posture is set to temperature corresponding to first temperature in the first drive in the first posture, and the fourth drive power is drive power with which one of the electrodes in the second posture is set to temperature corresponding to second temperature in the second drive in the first posture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2015
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Inventors: Takeshi SOWA, Yuichiro IWAMA
  • Publication number: 20140036114
    Abstract: A solid-state imaging device includes: an imaging unit; a row selection circuit; a column circuit unit; and a control unit configured to supply a row address signal which designates a pixel row to be selected to the row selection circuit, in which the imaging unit includes: a valid part including first pixels; and a peripheral part including second pixels, and the control unit includes an output adjustment unit which adjusts an output order of row address signals, the output adjustment unit adjusts the output order of the row address signals so that orders and combinations of the numbers of rows to be outputted per unit row are equal to each other in a first row selection sequence and in a second row selection sequence, and generate the first and second row selection sequences, and the control unit supplies the first and second row selection sequences to the row selection circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2013
    Publication date: February 6, 2014
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koujirou YONEDA, Kenji WATANABE, Takeshi SOWA
  • Patent number: 8405700
    Abstract: An exposure head includes a light emitting element and a imaging optical system having a first region and a second region and contrived such that a slope of a long dimension of a spot diagram formed by light emitted from the light emitting element that passes through the first region is different from a slope of a long dimension of a spot diagram formed by light emitted from the light emitting element that passes through the second region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryuta Koizumi, Takeshi Sowa, Ken Ikuma
  • Patent number: 8355185
    Abstract: Disclosed is an exposure head including a light emitting element array including light emitting elements disposed in a first direction, a light blocking member including an aperture stop through which lights emitted from the light emitting elements pass, and an image forming optical system that makes an image by using the lights having passed through the light blocking member. An absolute value of a magnification in the first direction of the image forming optical system is equal to or more than 0.7 times and is equal to or less than 0.8 times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Ken Ikuma, Ryuta Koizumi, Nozomu Inoue
  • Patent number: 8274741
    Abstract: An exposure head, includes: a lens array that includes lenses that are arranged in a first direction and in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; and a light emitting element substrate that is provided with light emitting elements that emit lights to be imaged by the lenses, wherein a relationship defined by a following formula: 1<L1/L2 is satisfied, where the symbol L1 denotes a length of the lens in the first direction and the symbol L2 denotes a length of the lens in the second direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryuta Koizumi, Yujiro Nomura, Takeshi Sowa
  • Patent number: 8264510
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier having a curvature in a first direction; and an exposure head including a first light emitting element that emits a light having a wavelength ?11 and a light having a wavelength ?12, a first optical system that converges each of the light emitted from the first light emitting element onto the image carrier, a second light emitting element, and a second optical system that converges a light emitted from the second light emitting element onto the image carrier, wherein a position at which the first optical system converges each of the light and a position at which the second optical system converges the light are different from each other with respect to the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Ken Ikuma
  • Patent number: 8253767
    Abstract: A line head includes first to third light-emitting elements arranged in a first direction; and an optical system that forms images by light emitted from the first to third light-emitting elements on an imaging surface to form images of the light-emitting elements, in which the first light-emitting element is arranged between the second light-emitting element and the third light-emitting element in the first direction; the optical system has a first lens surface that has refractive power and is arranged so as to satisfy a relation of H>0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Etsuko Ito, Takeshi Sowa, Ken Ikuma
  • Patent number: 8194112
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier on which a latent image is formed; and a line head. The line head includes light-emitting elements arranged in a first direction; an aperture diaphragm; and an optical system that images light emitted from the light-emitting elements on a latent image carrier. The aperture diaphragm and the optical system are arranged in a second direction that is orthogonal to or substantially orthogonal to the first direction; and among the lenses included in the optical system, a lens located at the position closest to the aperture diaphragm is a multifocal lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Yujiro Nomura, Ryuta Koizumi
  • Patent number: 8184140
    Abstract: An optical system of a line head images light emitted from first and second light emitting elements and includes a rotationally symmetric lens having a lens face. A first region of the lens face includes an intersection point of the lens face with the symmetry axis of the lens, and a second region surrounding a periphery of the first region. The shape of a boundary portion between the first and second regions has the relationship 0.5?<??, wherein ? is a first direction angle that a first chief ray emitted by the first light emitting element makes with a second chief ray emitted by the second light emitting element, and ?? is an angle that a tangent line to the first region at the boundary portion makes with a tangent line to the second region at the boundary portion in a first direction cross-section including the symmetry axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Yujiro Nomura, Ryuta Koizumi
  • Patent number: 8179416
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a line head that performs exposure on a latent image carrier to form a latent image. The line head includes first and second light-emitting elements arranged in a first direction; and an optical system that images light emitted from the first and second light-emitting elements. When a difference between the maximum and minimum values of a longitudinal aberration of the optical system is G, a distance in the first direction between centers of geometry of the first and second light-emitting elements is Pel, and an optical magnification of the optical system is ?, a relation of G>|?|·Pel is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Yujiro Nomura, Ken Ikuma
  • Patent number: 8120635
    Abstract: An exposure head, includes: a lens array that includes a light transmissive substrate whose length in a first direction is greater than a length thereof in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, a first lens that is arranged on the light transmissive substrate, and a second lens that is arranged on the light transmissive substrate at the first direction of the first lens, the first lens and the second lens being connected in the first direction; and a head substrate that is provided with a first light emitting element that emits a light toward the first lens and a second light emitting element that emits a light toward the second lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryuta Koizumi, Yujiro Nomura, Takeshi Sowa
  • Patent number: 8089499
    Abstract: An exposure head, includes: a substrate that is provided with a first light emitting element, a second light emitting element that is arranged at one side of the first light emitting element in a first direction and a third light emitting element that is arranged at the one side of the second light emitting element in the first direction, the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element being arranged at a first distance from each other in the first direction, the second light emitting element and the third light emitting element being arranged at a second distance, which is different from the first distance, from each other in the first direction; and an imaging optical system that images light from the first, the second and the third light emitting elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Yujiro Nomura, Ken Ikuma
  • Patent number: 8089695
    Abstract: A line head includes: a positive lens system having two lenses with positive refractive power; an image-side lens array in which the image-side lens of the two lenses is arrayed in a plural number in first and second directions; an object-side lens array in which the object-side lens of the two lenses is arrayed in a plural number in the first and second directions; a light emitter array in which a plurality of light-emitting elements are arrayed on an object side of the positive lens system for the one positive lens system; and an aperture plate that forms an aperture diaphragm disposed on the object side of the positive lens system so that an image side is telecentric or approximately telecentric.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Yujiro Nomura, Ryuta Koizumi
  • Patent number: 8085470
    Abstract: A line head, includes: a lens array that includes a first lens, a second lens and a light transmissive substrate on which the first lens and the second lens are arranged in a first direction; and a light emitting element substrate on which light emitting elements are arranged in the first direction, wherein the first lens is formed such that, in a cross section in the first direction including an optical axis of an imaging optical system comprised of the first lens, a curvature of the first lens at an outer peripheral portion has a sign opposite to that of a curvature of the first lens on the optical axis or has a smaller absolute value than the curvature of the first lens on the optical axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Nozomu Inoue, Yujiro Nomura
  • Publication number: 20110242262
    Abstract: An exposure head includes a light emitting element and a imaging optical system having a first region and a second region and contrived such that a slope of a long dimension of a spot diagram formed by light emitted from the light emitting element that passes through the first region is different from a slope of a long dimension of a spot diagram formed by light emitted from the light emitting element that passes through the second region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ryuta KOIZUMI, Takeshi SOWA, Ken IKUMA
  • Patent number: 8022975
    Abstract: A line head includes a positive lens system having two lenses, image-side and object-side lens arrays, a light emitter array on an object side of the positive lens system, and an aperture plate that forms an aperture diaphragm. Where the row number of lenses arrayed in a second direction is ‘m’, a gap between effective regions of two image-side lenses adjacent to each other in a first direction is ‘?’, an image-side angle of aperture is ‘?i’, a width of light-emitting elements images in the first direction is ‘Wi’, a focal length of the image-side lens is ‘f2’ and a distance from an image-side principal plane of the image-side lens to an image surface is ‘Si’, the following conditions are satisfied: f2?(mWi??)/(2?i), Wi?2Si?i/(m?1)+?/(m?1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Sowa, Yujiro Nomura, Ryuta Koizumi