With Particular Non-zero And Non-90 Angle Between Opposite Polarization Axes Patents (Class 349/103)
  • Patent number: 7477330
    Abstract: A protective automatic darkening filter construction 10 includes two low twist liquid crystal cells 26, 30 interspersed between a series of offset polarizers 24, 28, 32. The resulting construction provides improved homogeneity in the dark state as viewed by the user over a large viewing angle. By reducing variations in shade, visibility through the filter may be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2009
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Kristina M. Magnusson, Kenneth Jarefors, Per-Olav Dahlin
  • Patent number: 7443440
    Abstract: A color separator includes a polarization converting section for converting an incoming light ray into a linearly polarized light ray such that the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light ray is selectable from a number of predetermined directions, and a diffracting section, which is arranged so as to receive the linearly polarized light ray that has gone out of the polarization converting section and which produces a zero-order light ray in which one of multiple different wavelength components is selectively weakened according to the polarization direction at least.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiji Nishiwaki, Michiyoshi Nagashima
  • Patent number: 7365721
    Abstract: The present invention provides an inexpensive projection display that allows a pixel grid as ineffective portions of respective pixels of a light valve to be made inconspicuous. The projection display includes a birefringent element (43) for spatially separating light from a transmission liquid crystal light valve (39). The birefringent element (43) includes a first birefringent plate (40) that the light from the liquid crystal light valve (39) enters, a second birefringent plate (41) that light from the first birefringent plate (40) enters, and a third birefringent plate (42) that light from the second birefringent plate (41) enters. A polarization direction of the light entering the first birefringent plate (40) forms an angle of n×45° (n is an integer other than 0) with an optic axis of the first birefringent plate (40) projected on an incident surface of the first birefringent plate (40).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takaaki Tanaka, Atsushi Hatakeyama, Shigekazu Yamagishi
  • Publication number: 20080062358
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display (LCD) and a liquid crystal panel thereof are provided. The LCD includes a backlight module and the liquid crystal panel disposed thereon. The liquid crystal panel has a first substrate, a second substrate, and a positive liquid crystal layer. The first substrate has a plurality of pixel electrodes, and each pixel electrode has a plurality of first strip-shape portions. The second substrate has a common electrode, and the common electrode has a plurality of second strip-shape portions. The positive liquid crystal layer is interposed between the pixel electrodes of the first substrate and the common electrode of the second substrate and is vertically aligned. The corresponding areas of the first and the second strip-shape portions are staggered.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2007
    Publication date: March 13, 2008
    Applicant: WINTEK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chian-Chang Lee, Chin-Chang Liu, Chien-Chung Kuo
  • Patent number: 7319500
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid crystal display which exhibits preferable viewing angle characteristics even in a diagonal viewing angle. Optical retardation films of a first type that satisfy nx>ny, nz and optical retardation films of a second type that satisfy nx?ny>nz are used, and a setting is made to satisfy Rp?t=2×(?0.08×RLC+58 nm+?) (?=±30 nm) and Rt?t=(1.05±0.05)×RLC?47 nm+?(?100 nm???47 nm) where ?nd represents a retardation RLC in the liquid crystal display; Rp?t represents the sum of retardations Rp in in-plane directions of a plurality of optical retardation films; and Rt?t represents the sum of retardations Rt in the direction of the thickness of the plurality of optical retardation films.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2008
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidefumi Yoshida, Takashi Sasabayashi, Yasutoshi Tasaka, Yohei Nakanishi, Kenji Okamoto, Seiji Tanuma, Kazutaka Hanaoka, Takatoshi Mayama, Yuichi Inoue
  • Patent number: 7289173
    Abstract: A polarizing element 20 has a first undulating structure in which a plurality of linear first recesses 22 are formed parallel to one another in one surface of a transparent substrate 21, and a dielectric layer 30 made from silicon dioxide is formed on the surface of the first undulating structure to produce a second undulating structure. The second undulating structure has formed therein second recesses 32 having a width W and a depth H, with second projections 33 having a width d intervening between adjacent second recesses 32. A thin-film-shaped conductive body 13 of width W and depth H is embedded in each of the second recesses 32.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2007
    Assignee: Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuhiro Kawazu, Shinji Kawamoto, Hiroaki Yamamoto, Hideshi Nagata, Vladimir Victrovich Serikov, Hiroyuki Inomata
  • Patent number: 7190416
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display with a touch panel is described. The liquid crystal display includes a front panel including an internal front polarizer, a liquid crystal layer, and a rear panel including a rear polarizer. A touch transparent panel is secured to the front surface of the liquid crystal display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2007
    Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
    Inventors: Michael V. Paukshto, Louis D. Silverstein
  • Patent number: 7023508
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device includes a substrate having a display region on which thin film transistors are formed and a pad region located in a periphery of the display region. The display region has a transparent electrode, the pad region has a pad electrode, and the transparent electrode and the pad electrode formed from a same layer. A barrier metal layer pattern is formed on the transparent electrode, and a reflective electrode is formed on the barrier metal layer. The reflective electrode has a transmission window for exposing a portion of the transparent electrode, wherein the barrier metal layer is comprised of material having an etching rate that is similar to an etching rate of the reflective electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Chun-Gi You
  • Patent number: 6989877
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display device and an electronic apparatus have superior visibility. A transflective reflective liquid crystal device comprises liquid crystals, an upper substrate, an lower substrate, an upper polarizing layer, a reflective polarizing layer, a lower polarizing layer, and a lighting device. A liquid crystal panel comprises the upper substrate, the upper polarizing layer, the liquid crystal, the lower reflective polarizing layer, the lower polarizing layer, and the lower substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2006
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Chiyoaki Iijima
  • Patent number: 6975372
    Abstract: Methods and systems relating to a LCD are disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, the LCD has an active state and an inactive state. The inactive state is configured to produce a desired residual image. The active state is configured to produce a desired non-residual image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2005
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Michael D Long
  • Patent number: 6970214
    Abstract: When an optical element is produced using a liquid crystal film having no supporting substrate film for the purpose of decreasing the weight, the liquid crystal film layer may often pose problems of fine wrinkly deformation of and cracking in a caused by strain occurring during a manufacturing/processing step. The present invention intends to provide an elliptical polarizer having a thinned optical anisotropic element which is free from such deformation and cracking. The elliptical polarizer of the present invention comprises at least a polarizer and an optical anisotropic element wherein said optical anisotropic element comprises a liquid crystalline substance layer with a fixed liquid crystal orientation, a tacky adhesive/adhesive layer, and a stress blocking layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: Nippon Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Haruyoshi Sato, Shinichiro Suzuki, Kenji Hosaki
  • Patent number: 6961104
    Abstract: A transflective liquid crystal display device includes: first and second substrates facing and spaced apart from each other, the first and second substrates having reflective and transmissive portions; a first retardation film on an outer surface of the first substrate, the first retardation film having a first optical axis; a first polarizing plate on the first retardation film, the first polarizing plate having a first transmissive axis; a common electrode on an inner surface of the first substrate; a pixel electrode on an inner surface of the second substrate; a second retardation film on an outer surface of the second substrate, the second retardation film having a second optical axis; a second polarizing plate on the second retardation film, the second polarizing plate having a second transmissive axis; and a liquid crystal layer between the common electrode and the pixel electrode, the liquid crystal layer having a director, wherein the first optical axis has a first angle of ? with respect to the first
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2005
    Assignee: LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Heum-II Baek
  • Patent number: 6873099
    Abstract: An electroluminescent (EL) display apparatus is constructed in such a way that a plurality of EL elements are disposed on one surface of an optically transparent substrate in a matrix so as to be isolated from each other and be powered individually, and at least one of a pair of electrodes is made of an optically transparent electrode, so that, when the EL elements are powered, light is emitted from the light emitting layers, wherein an optical device is provided on the other surface side of the substrate so that at least a portion of an incident light injected into the substrate and forming an angle to cause total reflection at the exit face is scattered and/or diffracted externally, and another portion of the incident light is weakly scattered and/or transmitted externally.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Maeda
  • Patent number: 6853411
    Abstract: A high aperture ratio emissive tiled display comprised of a plurality of tiles including a substrate with discrete layers of integrated drive circuits, thin film transistors, circuit conductor layer and light-emitting pixel array wherein all the electronic circuitry is contained under the pixel array. Vertical interconnects are made between the drive circuits, circuits and pixel electrodes, as necessary, and can include vertical interconnections through the substrate. Large flat panel displays including at least two of said tiles are aligned to maintain pixel pitch from one tile to another to produce a seamless image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2005
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Henry R. Freidhoff, Giana M. Phelan
  • Patent number: 6839103
    Abstract: An elliptically polarizing plate, comprising a polarizer, a first optical anisotropic layer having positive refractive index anisotropy and an optical axis of the anisotropy that is tilted, and a second optical anisotropic layer having negative refractive index anisotropy and an optical axis that is tilted, have accurate retardation compensation of a liquid crystal cell, and the liquid crystal display maintains a display contrast having a sufficient visibility when the viewing angle is changed and which does not generate colorization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2005
    Assignee: Kent State University
    Inventors: Jack Kelly, Tatiana Sergan, Marina Lavrentovich, Yuuichi Nishikouji, Tadayuki Kameyama
  • Patent number: 6603521
    Abstract: A normally white reflection type liquid crystal display includes a polarization plate; a quarter wavelength plate; a transparent substrate; a transparent electrode; and a twisted nematic liquid crystal layer. The polarization plate, the quarter wavelength plate, the transparent substrate, the transparent electrode, and the twisted nematic liquid crystal layer are layered in sequence from a light inputting side, and the angle between the optical axis of the quarter wavelength plate and the transmission axis of the polarization plate is below 65 degrees and above 45 degrees, or below 45 degrees and above 25 degrees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2003
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Teruaki Suzuki, Koichi Yanai
  • Patent number: 6480248
    Abstract: Disclosed are an LCD and a method of illuminating a liquid crystal layer. A protecting sheet is disposed on a reflection polarization film for enhancing the brightness. The protecting sheet is made of polyethylene terephthalate based material manufactured by an extension process to enhance the brightness, to improve visual angle and to prevent a Moire phenomenon. The LCD and the illumination method of the present invention enable high brightness displaying, color modulation depending on the visual angle and a relatively low manufacturing cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jeong-Hwan Lee, Kyu-Seok Kim
  • Patent number: 6034758
    Abstract: A passive dot matrix liquid crystal display having improved visibility comprises plural column electrodes on a first plate interconnected by a plurality of electrode bridges to form groups of interconnected column electrodes, wherein the number of electrodes in each electrode group is equal to or less than the inverse of the multiplex ratio of the display. The display also comprises plural row electrodes interconnected by a plurality of electrode bridges to form groups of interconnected row electrodes, wherein the number of groups of interconnected row electrodes is equal to the multiplex ratio of the display. By grouping the row and column electrodes into such groups, the multiplex ratio of the display can be reduced to levels substantially below the multiplex ratios of conventional passive dot matrix Liquid Crystal Displays, thereby significantly enhancing visibility of the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2000
    Inventor: Michael G. Petera
  • Patent number: 5796378
    Abstract: A color liquid crystal display apparatus comprises an ECB (Electrically Controlled Birifringence) type liquid crystal display device, which has a plurality of dots arranged in a matrix form and displays a plurality of colors in accordance with applied voltages dot by dot, and a driving circuit. The driving circuit includes an image memory, a display controller, a conversion table, a D/A converter and drivers. The display controller reads image data stored in the image memory. This image data defines a display color of a pixel consisting of a plurality of dots and a gradation. The conversion table converts image data to voltage data defining voltages to be applied to a plurality of dots of the liquid crystal display device in order to display the color and gradation defined by the image data. The D/A converter converts this voltage data to an analog voltage and the drivers apply this analog voltage to each dot of the liquid crystal display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 18, 1998
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tetsushi Yoshida, Soichi Sato, Zenta Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 5781265
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display according to this invention has a pair of transparent electrodes, a non-chiral smectic liquid crystal therebetween, a polarizer and an analyzer which are attached to the electrodes. The smectic layers are perpendicular to the electrodes and the liquid crystal has a twisted structure where the twist angle is twice the molecular tilt angle. In this configuration, the molecular director is forced to continuously rotate along the cone surface formed by the requirement that the molecules are tilted with respect to the layer normal and pinned at the surfaces. The basic principles of the optical modulation in the present invention are similar to those in twist nematic liquid crystal structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 14, 1998
    Assignee: Samsung Display Devices Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Sin-Doo Lee
  • Patent number: 5724109
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display panel including at least two liquid crystal layers, and a color filter having two color portions. One of the liquid crystal layers includes solid regions and liquid crystal dispersing regions arranged adjacent to the solid regions. Picture electrodes are arranged on the first plate, on the liquid crystal dispersing regions, and on the solid regions, at positions corresponding to the color portions of the color filter. A common electrode is arranged on the second plate. The picture elements on the liquid crystal dispersing regions and on the solid regions are connected to the conductors on the first plate by connecting members extending through the solid regions. Therefore, the liquid crystal layers can be independently controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 3, 1998
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Kimiaki Nakamura, Hidefumi Yoshida, Kazutaka Hanaoka, Hideaki Tsuda, Hideo Chida, Takahiro Sasaki