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:
Jan. 31, 2017
Filed:
Jun. 05, 2014
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
According to an embodiment, a liquid crystal lens device includes an optical element and a voltage controller. The optical element includes: a refractive index modulation layer of which a refractive index distribution changes according to a voltage applied thereto; and electrodes to apply a voltage to the refractive index modulation layer. In a first voltage state, the voltage controller controls voltages applied to the electrodes such that a first refractive index distribution is arranged periodically in the optical element. In a second voltage state, the voltage controller controls voltages applied to the electrodes such that a second refractive index distribution is achieved. In an intermediate voltage state, the voltage controller controls a voltage applied to a first-type electrode, to which a first voltage that is the maximum value among the voltages applied to the electrodes in the first voltage state is applied, to a second voltage lower than the first voltage.