Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Matsushita Refrigeration Company

Matsushita Electric Industrial

Yoshio Kishimoto

Wataru Shimotsuma

Masaaki Suzuki

Takashi Hashida

Takayoshi Ueno

Yoichi Sekine

Fumihiro Inagaki

Nobuo Sonoda

Masa-aki Suzuki

Tomiharu Hosaka

Mamoru Soga

Shuji Yamamoto

Masahiro Mitsuda

Shu Hotta

Hideo Nakamoto

Tomohisa Tenra

Hideho Shinoda

Kazunori Ishii

Tsukasa Takushima

Junichi Hibino

Susumu Maruno

Mikiko Matsuo

Hisanori Sugiura

Ritsuo Inaba

Tetsuya Satou

Seishi Terakado

Hitoshi Hisada

Masami Nakagawa

Kumiko Moriyama

Takeshi Hayashi

A planar optical waveguide includes a layered film formed on a substrate, and an optical waveguide core formed in the layered film. A cross section of the optical waveguide core is substantially quadrilateral, and a dopant layer including refractive index-lowering molecules is provided around the optical waveguide core. The refractive index-lowering molecules included in the dopant layer are unevenly distributed in the optical waveguide core with a concentration that is higher toward outer sides and corners of the optical waveguide core, whereby a graded-index optical waveguide is constituted.

Planar optical waveguide, method for manufacturing the same and polymer optical waveguide

The light-wave circuit module includes a substrate having a spot of substantially circular concave shape, an optically reflective film formed along an inner surface of the spot, and a planar optical waveguide passing through the spot. Light in the optical waveguide is reflected and focused obliquely upward by the optically reflective film in the spot.

Light-wave circuit module and method for manufacturing the same

Organic material for electroluminescent device and electroluminescent device using the same

An electroluminescent device includes a transparent substrate, a transparent anode, a thin film electrode and a light emitting organic polymer layer. Both of the surface of the transparent substrate and the surface of the transparent anode are imparted hydrophobicity so that an excellent electroluminescent device which hardly causes change in luminance with a lapse of time and has few dark spots can be obtained. Also a new polymer film is used as the transparent substrate so that a thin and flexible electroluminescent device, which hardly causes change in luminance with a lapse of time and has few dark spots, can be obtained. Also a new construction color electroluminescent display panel is described, which can be made flexible and reduced in thickness, long life, superior in resolution and easily produced.

Electroluminescent device

A polyurethane foam is constituted by using a blowing agent selected from the group consisting of iodofluorohydrocarbons, perfluoroalkenes and hydrogen-containing fluoromorpholine derivatives. These blowing agents have a low thermal conductivity and a short life in the air, and thus impose no or very small load such as ozone layer depletion potential (ODP) and global warming potential (GWP) on the environment. The iodofluorohydrocarbon, in particular, can give an incombustibility and self-extinguishing property to the conventionally used inflammable substance such as cyclopentane or the like, and thus is also advantageous from the viewpoint of safety of the thermal insulating material.

Method for producing a thermal insulating foamed material

Thermal insulating foamed material, method for producing the same, and

Thermal insulating foamed material and method for manfacturing the same

The present invention provides a thermal insulating foamed material with excellent thermal insulating properties and a method of manufacturing the same. The method comprises the steps of: concurrently mixing and blowing a polyurethane material to produce a foamed polyurethane resin composition with a multiplicity of closed cells, the polyurethane material including a reactive blowing agent, a volatile compound having a boiling point of not higher than 150.degree. C. and a molecular weight of not less than 70, an epoxy compound, and a carbon dioxide fixation catalyst, wherein the closed cells are filled with the volatile compound and carbon dioxide produced by a reaction of the reactive blowing agent with a polyisocyanate; and allowing the carbon dioxide to chemically react with epoxy groups of the epoxy compound in the presence of the carbon dioxide fixation catalyst to form a solid or liquid cyclic carbonate. The method gives a foamed material with the closed cells substantially filled with vapor of the volatile compound at a partial pressure of at least 5 mmHg at 25.degree. C.

Thermal insulating foamed material and method of manufacturing the same

A thermal insulator of the present invention includes a foam containing solidified CO.sub.2 gas. A method for producing the thermal insulator includes the steps of: mixing a metal compound selected from the group consisting of a metal oxide and a metal hydroxide, water, a polyol component, and an isocyanate component to generate a mixture; foaming the mixture in a container to generate closed-cells made of a water-foamed polyurethane; and allowing CO.sub.2 gas generated during the foaming step to react with the selected metal compound to solidify the CO.sub.2 gas, thereby depressurizing the closed-cells in the closed-celled foam.

Thermal insulator and method for producing the same

The present invention provides a self-metabolic functional material including a functional ferromagnetic particles dispersed in a fluid, each of the particles including a functional component and a chemically reactive ferromagnetic component with a characteristic of losing a ferromagnetism thereof by a chemical reaction proceeding with time, the functional ferromagnetic particles losing the ferromagnetism by the chemical reaction of the ferromagnetic component with time. The self-metabolic functional material has a desired function and gradually loses its function by being used. The degradation or loss of the function of the material can be detected by degradation or loss of ferromagnetism. By using such a material in the self-metabolic functional apparatus including a carrying device and a supply device, the self-metabolic functional material is self-metabolized as follows: The function of the self-metabolic functional material is degraded or lost, and at the same time the ferromagnetism is degraded or lost; and then the self-metabolic functional particles can not be carried on the carrying device. Fresh self-metabolic functional material including self-metabolic functional particles by either ferromagnetism and functionality, is carried on the carrying device by the supply device.

Self-metabolic functional material

A rewritable recording medium which can perform multi-color recording is provided. The recording medium comprises an optical absorption layer and an optically selective absorption layer sequentially stacked on a substrate, wherein the optically selective absorption layer includes a plurality of colored segments and a reversible thermosensitive recording matrix in contact with the colored segments, the reversible thermosensitive recording matrix being formed so as to cover the colored segments and so as to come in contact with the optical absorption layer, and changing in light transmittance in a reversible manner by application of heat.

Rewritable recording medium and a method of recording in the same

The reversible thermal recording medium of the invention is composed by forming on a substrate a porous reversible thermal recording layer which reversibly shows transparent states and opaque states by cooling after two modes of heating, by means of organic crystal particles dispersed in matrix polymer. One method for manufacturing a reversible thermal recording medium of the invention includes a coating step for applying a paint in which a matrix polymer, organic crystal particles and pore forming particles are contained and at least one of matrix polymer and organic crystal particles is dispersed in a granular form on a substrate to form a coating layer; plus a solvent contact step of eluting the pore forming particles by causing the coating layer to come into contact with a solvent in which the pore forming particles are soluble; and a drying step. Another method for manufacturing the reversible thermal recording medium of the invention includes a coating step of applying a paint in which a matrix polymer and organic crystal particles are contained and at least one of matrix polymer and organic crystal particles is dispersed in a granular form on a substrate to form a coating layer; plus a solvent contact step of causing the coating layer to come into contact with a solvent capable of dissolving the matrix polymer and organic crystal particles; and a drying step.

Reversible thermal recording medium, and method and apparatus for

A polymer electric device including a conductor and an electrically insulating polymer layer in contact with the conductor, wherein the electrically insulating polymer layer is a self-recovering and electrically insulating polymer layer which chemically reacts under the electric field of the conductor and recovers the electrically insulating properties of the polymer layer in the vicinity of the conductor which deteriorate with time.

Polymer electric device

The present invention provides a novel photochromic material which is capable of forming two kinds of aggregates, each having a sharp absorption peak at a different wavelength. The photochromic material comprises a spiropyran compound represented by the following general formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently alkyl groups each containing 1 to 30 carbon atoms, and R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.5, and R.sup.6 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an amino group, an alkoxy group with 1 to 5 carbon atoms, and an alkylamino group with 1 to 5 carbon atoms with the proviso that at least one of R.sup.3, R.sup.4, R.sup.5, and R.sup.6 is an amino group, an alkoxy group or an alkylamino group.

Photochromic material

The present invention provides a self-metabolic functional material comprising a functional ferromagnetic particles dispersed in a fluid, each of the particles comprising a functional component and a chemically reactive ferromagnetic component with a characteristic of losing a ferromagnetism thereof by a chemical reaction proceeding with time, the functional ferromagnetic particles losing the ferromagnetism by the chemical reaction of the ferromagnetic component with time. The self-metabolic functional material has a desired function and gradually loses its function by being used. The degradation or loss of the function of the material can be detected by degradation or loss of ferromagnetism. By using such a material in the self-metabolic functional apparatus comprising a carrying device and a supply device, the self-metabolic functional material is self-metabolized as follows: The function of the self-metabolic functional material is degraded or lost, and at the same time the ferromagnetism is degraded or lost; and then the self-metabolic functional particles can not be carried on the carrying means. Fresh self-metabolic functional material comprising self-metabolic functional particles by either ferromagnetism and functionality, is carried on the carrying device by the supply device.

Growing community of inventors

Hirakata, Japan

Yoshio Kishimoto