The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 18, 2006
Filed:
Dec. 14, 2001
Tetsuyuki Kurata, Hyogo, JP;
Tetsuya Satake, Hyogo, JP;
Takahiro Nishioka, Hyogo, JP;
Yoshihiro Togashi, Aichi, JP;
Toshiaki Maehara, Aichi, JP;
Susumu Sato, Akita, JP;
Tetsuyuki Kurata, Hyogo, JP;
Tetsuya Satake, Hyogo, JP;
Takahiro Nishioka, Hyogo, JP;
Yoshihiro Togashi, Aichi, JP;
Toshiaki Maehara, Aichi, JP;
Susumu Sato, Akita, JP;
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Light from a light sourceis linearly polarized by a polarizerThen it propagates via a half-mirroralmost parallel to the normal to a reflective liquid-crystal paneland falls on the reflective liquid-crystal panelThe reflected light reflected by the reflective liquid-crystal panelis received by a detectorvia the half-mirrorand an analyzerIn this state, the reflective liquid-crystal panelis rotated about an axis almost parallel to the normal to the reflective liquid-crystal paneland an angle (extinction angle) at which the output signal of detectorreaches minimum is measured. Then, the gap of the reflective liquid-crystal panelis detected based on the measured extinction angle. It is also possible to measure the output signals of detectorby arranging the analyzerin a state in which the transmission axis thereof is almost parallel to the polarization direction of the incident light and a state in which it is almost perpendicular thereto and to detect the gap of the reflective liquid-crystal panelbased on the measured signals.