Patents by Inventor Yasushi Asaoka

Yasushi Asaoka 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).

  • Patent number: 10338426
    Abstract: According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light diffusion member which includes a light diffusion film, a polarizing film, and a retardation film. The light diffusion film includes a first substrate, a light diffusion portion, and a light shielding layer. The polarizing film includes a second substrate and a polarization layer. The retardation film includes a third substrate and a retardation layer. The retardation layer is formed from a birefringence body which has optically-negative uniaxiality. An alignment direction of the birefringence body is different in a thickness direction thereof. A slow axis of the retardation layer is positioned at azimuth between a transmission axis and an absorption axis of the polarization layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasushi Asaoka, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Shohei Katsuta, Emi Yamamoto, Sho Ochi
  • Patent number: 10288781
    Abstract: Provided is a display device including a substrate that has light transmissivity, a plurality of light shielding layers that is formed at a recurring period on one face of the substrate, and a light-diffusing unit that is formed in an area of the one face of the substrate except for the area where the light shielding layers are formed, in which the light-diffusing unit includes a light emitting end face on the substrate side and includes a light incident end face having an area larger than the area of the light emitting end face on the side opposite to the substrate side, the height of the light-diffusing unit from the light incident end face to the light emitting end face is greater than the thickness of the light shielding layer, and the periodic direction at which the light shielding layers are recurrently formed is non-parallel to the direction of a pixel pitch of a display body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasushi Asaoka, Shohei Katsuta, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Tsuyoshi Kamada
  • Publication number: 20190122619
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device of one aspect of the present invention includes a liquid crystal display unit that includes a liquid crystal layer which exhibits vertical alignment and plural picture elements, and a control unit that controls a voltage which is supplied to the liquid crystal display unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2017
    Publication date: April 25, 2019
    Applicants: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA, SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: YASUSHI ASAOKA, TOMOKO UEKI, SHO OCHI, MAKOTO UNO
  • Patent number: 10197712
    Abstract: A light-diffusing-member manufacturing method includes a step of forming a light diffusion portion on one surface side of a base, by developing an exposed negative photosensitive resin layer with an alkali developing solution, and a step of performing an acid treatment on the light diffusion portion with an acid solution, after removing the alkali developing solution which is adhered to the light diffusion portion and suspended matter in the alkali developing solution in the negative photosensitive resin layer, so as to lower an ionization degree of the negative photosensitive resin layer which is in an ionized state due to the alkali developing solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Sho Ochi, Yasushi Asaoka, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Toru Kanno
  • Patent number: 10185171
    Abstract: A light control member includes a light-transmissive first substrate, a light diffusing portion which is defined on a first surface of the first substrate, and a light shielding layer which is defined in a first region other than a second region in which the light diffusing portion is formed on the first surface and includes a light emitting end surface in contact with the first substrate, and a light incident end surface opposite the light emitting end surface and having a first area larger than a second area of the light emitting end surface, and structured such that a height from the light incident end surface to the light emitting end surface is larger than a layer thickness of the light shielding layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Sho Ochi, Yasushi Asaoka, Tsuyoshi Maeda
  • Patent number: 10168569
    Abstract: A light-diffusion member (7) includes: a substrate (39) having light-transmitting properties; a light-diffusion portion (40) on a face of the substrate (39) facing a display medium (6); and a light-blocking layer (41) on a part of the face of the substrate (39) facing the display medium (6) other than where the light-diffusion portion (40) is provided. The light-diffusion portion (40) includes: a light-emitting end face (40a) in contact with the substrate (39); and a light-incident end face (40b) facing, and being larger in area than, the light-emitting end face (40a). The adhesive layer (42) adheres to light-incident end face (40a) and partly (42a) encroaches into a space (43) between the light-diffusion portion (40) and light-blocking layer (41).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shohei Katsuta, Yasushi Asaoka, Sho Ochi, Hideomi Yui, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Emi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 10162214
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel of a vertical alignment mode, and an optical control member disposed on a light-exiting side of the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel includes a plurality of pixels having at least two domains (50a, 50b), in which directors of liquid crystal molecules are in a first direction. An absorption axis of a first polarizing sheet and an absorption axis of a second polarizing sheet are a mutually orthogonal and form angle that is approximately 45°. The optical control member includes a base, a light diffusion part, a light blocking layer and a low refractive index part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shohei Katsuta, Yasushi Asaoka, Sho Ochi, Emi Yamamoto, Hideomi Yui, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Tsuyoshi Kamada, Yuhsuke Tsuda, Katsumi Kondoh
  • Publication number: 20180348412
    Abstract: Provided is a display device including a substrate that has light transmissivity, a plurality of light shielding layers that is formed at a recurring period on one face of the substrate, and a light-diffusing unit that is formed in an area of the one face of the substrate except for the area where the light shielding layers are formed, in which the light-diffusing unit includes a light emitting end face on the substrate side and includes a light incident end face having an area larger than the area of the light emitting end face on the side opposite to the substrate side, the height of the light-diffusing unit from the light incident end face to the light emitting end face is greater than the thickness of the light shielding layer, and the periodic direction at which the light shielding layers are recurrently formed is non-parallel to the direction of a pixel pitch of a display body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Publication date: December 6, 2018
    Inventors: Yasushi ASAOKA, Shohei KATSUTA, Tsuyoshi MAEDA, Tsuyoshi KAMADA
  • Patent number: 10067272
    Abstract: Provided is a display device including a substrate that has light transmissivity, a plurality of light shielding layers that is formed at a recurring period on one face of the substrate, and a light-diffusing unit that is formed in an area of the one face of the substrate except for the area where the light shielding layers are formed, in which the light-diffusing unit includes a light emitting end face on the substrate side and includes a light incident end face having an area larger than the area of the light emitting end face on the side opposite to the substrate side, the height of the light-diffusing unit from the light incident end face to the light emitting end face is greater than the thickness of the light shielding layer, and the periodic direction at which the light shielding layers are recurrently formed is non-parallel to the direction of a pixel pitch of a display body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasushi Asaoka, Shohei Katsuta, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Tsuyoshi Kamada
  • Patent number: 10036837
    Abstract: A light-control member (13) includes a substrate (39); light-shielding layers (40) provided in a first area (A1) on one surface (39a) of the substrate (39); a light-diffusion section (41) provided in an area other than the light-shielding layers (40) in the first area (A1) and formed of light transmitting material; and a support section(45) provided in a second area (A2) positioned on an outer side of the first area (A1) on the one surface (39a), in which the light-diffusion section (41) has a light emitting end surface (41a) in contact with the one surface (39a) of the substrate (39), a light incident end surface (41b) opposing the light emitting end surface (41a) and having an area greater than an area of the light emitting end surface (41a), and a reflective surface (41c) which is in contact with the light emitting end surface (41a) and the light incident end surface (41b) and on which light incident from the light incident end surface (41b) is reflected, and a formation area of the support section (45) pe
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasushi Asaoka, Shohei Katsuta, Hideomi Yui, Sho Ochi, Tsuyoshi Maeda
  • Patent number: 10018755
    Abstract: This light diffusion member includes: a substrate having light transmissivity; a plurality of light shielding layers formed on one face of the substrate; and light diffusion portions formed on the one face of the substrate at regions other than the regions where the light shielding layers have been formed. The light diffusion portions have a light-emitting end surface coming into contact with the substrate, a light incident end surface which faces the light-emitting end surface and has a larger area than the area of the light-emitting end surface, and a reflecting face coming into contact with the light-emitting end surface and the light incident end surface, and reflecting light entering from the light incident end surface. The height from the light incident end surface to the light-emitting end surface of the light diffusion portion is greater than the thickness of the light shielding layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shohei Katsuta, Yasushi Asaoka, Hideomi Yui, Tsuyoshi Maeda
  • Patent number: 9939564
    Abstract: This light-diffusing member includes a light-transmissive substrate, a plurality of wavelength-controlling layers formed on one surface of the light-transmissive substrate, and a light-diffusing portion formed on the one surface of the light-transmissive substrate in a region other than a region where the wavelength-controlling layers are formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Emi Yamamoto, Yuhsuke Tsuda, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Yasushi Asaoka, Shohei Katsuta
  • Patent number: 9904094
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display (1) includes a liquid crystal panel (4), a backlight (2), and a light-diffusing member (7). There exist azimuths in which a transmittance of the liquid crystal panel (4) and a luminance of the backlight (2) are higher than a transmittance and a luminance in a direction of a normal. The azimuth in which the transmittance of the liquid crystal panel (4) is higher coincides with the azimuth in which the luminance of the backlight (2) is higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shohei Katsuta, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Emi Yamamoto, Yasushi Asaoka, Hideomi Yui
  • Publication number: 20170363905
    Abstract: A light-diffusion member (7) includes: a substrate (39) having light-transmitting properties; a light-diffusion portion (40) on a face of the substrate (39) facing a display medium (6); and a light-blocking layer (41) on a part of the face of the substrate (39) facing the display medium (6) other than where the light-diffusion portion (40) is provided. The light-diffusion portion (40) includes: a light-emitting end face (40a) in contact with the substrate (39); and a light-incident end face (40b) facing, and being larger in area than, the light-emitting end face (40a). The adhesive layer (42) adheres to light-incident end face (40a) and partly (42a) encroaches into a space (43) between the light-diffusion portion (40) and light-blocking layer (41).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2015
    Publication date: December 21, 2017
    Inventors: SHOHEI KATSUTA, YASUSHI ASAOKA, SHO OCHI, HIDEOMI YUI, TSUYOSHI MAEDA, EMI YAMAMOTO
  • Patent number: 9846326
    Abstract: A light diffusion member includes a substrate that has optical transparency, a light diffusion portion that is formed with a prescribed height on one surface of the substrate, a light shielding layer that is formed with a thickness less than the height of the light diffusion portion in another region of the one surface of the substrate than the light diffusion portion, and an antiglare layer that is formed on the other surface of the substrate. The light diffusion portion includes a light emission end surface that contacts with the substrate, a light incident end surface that faces the light emission end surface and has a larger area than an area of the light emission end surface, and a side surface that is formed between the light emission end surface and the light incident end surface, and the antiglare layer includes a binder layer and plural light diffusion particles that are dispersedly arranged in the binder layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shohei Katsuta, Yasushi Asaoka, Toru Kanno, Hideomi Yui, Emi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9709496
    Abstract: An inspection device of the present invention is provided with a light source unit which is disposed either one of a base material side and a light diffusing portion side and irradiates light toward a light-regulating film with respect to the light-regulating film which includes a base material, a light diffusing portion, and a light shielding layer, and a light receiver which is disposed on either the other of the base material side and the light diffusing portion side and measures an intensity of transmitted light which is emitted from the light source unit and is transmitted through the light-regulating film, and inspects a state of an inclined surface of the light diffusing portion based on a measurement result of the intensity of the transmitted light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Daisuke Shinozaki, Yasushi Asaoka, Shohei Katsuta, Tsuyoshi Maeda
  • Publication number: 20170115524
    Abstract: A light control member of the invention includes a light-transmissive first substrate, a light diffusing portion which is formed on a first surface of the first substrate, and a light shielding layer which is formed in a region other than a region in which the light diffusing portion is formed on the first surface of the first substrate. The light diffusing portion includes a light emitting end surface being in contact with the first substrate, and a light incident end surface opposite the light emitting end surface and having an area larger than an area of the light emitting end surface, and is configured such that a height from the light incident end surface to the light emitting end surface is larger than a layer thickness of the light shielding layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2015
    Publication date: April 27, 2017
    Inventors: Sho OCHI, Yasushi ASAOKA, Tsuyoshi MAEDA
  • Publication number: 20170082894
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a liquid crystal panel of a vertical alignment mode, and an optical control member disposed on a light-exiting side of the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel includes a plurality of pixels having at least two domains (50a, 50b), in which directors of liquid crystal molecules are in a first direction. An absorption axis of a first polarizing sheet and an absorption axis of a second polarizing sheet are a mutually orthogonal and form angle that is approximately 45°. The optical control member includes a base, a light diffusion part, a light blocking layer and a low refractive index part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2015
    Publication date: March 23, 2017
    Inventors: Shohei KATSUTA, Yasushi ASAOKA, Sho OCHI, Emi YAMAMOTO, Hideomi YUI, Tsuyoshi MAEDA, Tsuyoshi KAMADA, Yuhsuke TSUDA, Katsumi KONDOH
  • Patent number: 9594194
    Abstract: A light diffusion member includes a substrate having light transmissivity, a plurality of light shielding layers, and light diffusion portions. The light diffusion portions have a light-emitting end surface, a light incident end surface which has a larger area than the area of the light-emitting end surface, and a reflecting face. Light which enters from the light incident end surface is anisotropically diffused in an azimuth direction seen from a normal direction of the substrate, and the height from the light incident end surface to the light-emitting end surface of the light diffusion portion is greater than the thickness of the light shielding layers. A hollow portion of the light diffusion portion is formed in the formation region of the light shielding layers, and air is present in the hollow portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasushi Asaoka, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Emi Yamamoto, Toru Kanno, Shohei Katsuta
  • Publication number: 20170038634
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display (1) includes a liquid crystal panel (4), a backlight (2), and a light-diffusing member (7). There exist azimuths in which a transmittance of the liquid crystal panel (4) and a luminance of the backlight (2) are higher than a transmittance and a luminance in a direction of a normal. The azimuth in which the transmittance of the liquid crystal panel (4) is higher coincides with the azimuth in which the luminance of the backlight (2) is higher.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 16, 2015
    Publication date: February 9, 2017
    Inventors: Shohei KATSUTA, Tsuyoshi MAEDA, Emi YAMAMOTO, Yasushi ASAOKA, Hideomi YUI