Patents by Inventor Tatsuya Kura

Tatsuya Kura 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).

  • Photovoltaic device including plural interconnected photoelectric cells, and method of making the same
    Patent number: 5639314
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a three-dimensionally shaped photovoltaic device involves first forming a photovoltaic element on a flexible substrate, preferably while it is flat, and then deforming the substrate to achieve the three-dimensional shape. Preferably a crystalline photovoltaic conversion layer is first formed on the flat substrate, then the layer is cut or divided while leaving the substrate uncut to form a plurality of separate adjacent photovoltaic elements on the substrate, and finally the substrate is deformed into the three-dimensional shape. The cutting can be carried out by laser irradiation. The deforming can be carried out by providing a shape memory member as the substrate, or bonding a shape memory member onto the substrate, and then restoring the shape memory member to its previously memorized three-dimensional shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 17, 1997
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Kura, Seiichi Kiyama, Yasuaki Yamamoto
  • Method of fabricating a photovoltaic device having a three-dimensional shape
    Patent number: 5538902
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a three-dimensionally shaped photovoltaic device involves first forming a photovoltaic element on a flexible substrate, preferably while it is flat, and then deforming the substrate to achieve the three-dimensional shape. Preferably a crystalline photovoltaic conversion layer is first formed on the flat substrate, then the layer is cut or divided while leaving the substrate uncut to form a plurality of separate adjacent photovoltaic elements on the substrate, and finally the substrate is deformed into the three-dimensional shape. The cutting can be carried out by laser irradiation. The deforming can be carried out by providing a shape memory member as the substrate, or bonding a shape memory member onto the substrate, and then restoring the shape memory member to its previously memorized three-dimensional shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 23, 1996
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Izu, Takahisa Sakakibara, Tatsuya Kura, Seiichi Kiyama, Wataru Shinohara, Yasuaki Yamamoto