Spotlight on Panasonic U.S. Patents: From Semiconductors to Complex Computer-Implemented Systems

Last week we profiled recently published  patent applications owned by Panasonic. In today’s edition of the Companies We Follow series, we’re wrapping up our in-depth coverage of Panasonic, one of the many major electronics developers found throughout the country of Japan. This company has been issued dozens of patents in recent weeks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In our new format, we’re taking an extended look at the patents recently issued to this company to gain an even wider view of the type of inventions this corporation has been successful in protecting.

As you will see below, our recent survey of Panasonic patents shows us a great deal of innovation in all electronic fields, from the basic foundation of the semiconductor through complex computer-implemented systems designed to aid human functioning. Although Panasonic may be moving away from manufacturing the semiconductors and integrated circuits which it has designed, many of the issued patents shared below support the fact that this company is still heavily entrenched in this field.

The foundation of Panasonic’s electronics development has allowed the corporation and its subsidiaries to explore a great many applications for their electronics, some of them designed to address some serious health issues. One patent we discuss involves a system of measuring the cognitive ability of a person to determine whether a mental conditions requires that they seek help for scheduling simple and routine events. Other electronics systems protected by Panasonic involve better methods of renting packs of digital content to devices as well as more effective pupil detection in grayscale images for red-eye correction.

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Semiconductor Manufacturing: Memory Devices and Miniaturization

Panasonic’s semiconductor chip manufacturing operations have not been very financially successful in recent years and the company has been trying to divest itself of some of these operations, but the corporation is still taking steps to strengthen its position in this field. Recently, Panasonic announced that it would be partnering with fellow Japanese corporation Fujitsu to create a fabless semiconductor company dedicated to developing system large-scale integration (LSI) chips. These LSI chips would be designed for use in a variety of applications from electronics to automobiles.

This news about Panasonic’s interest in developing new semiconductor products flies in the face of the company’s plans to sell chip manufacturing plants in Japan and assembly plants in Southeast Asia, cited by The Wall Street Journal in the article linked above. However, we’ve noticed a number of patents recently issued to Panasonic which indicate that the company is still heavily involved in research and development for semiconductors, especially regarding memory devices used by portable electronics. U.S. Patent No. 8811078, simply titled Semiconductor Memory Device, protects an improved layout for memory devices which offer read-only memories (ROMs). This new design fabrication for a semiconductor memory device with a ROM section stabilizes the function of the memory array while reducing peripheral dummy cell patterns, minimizing the total area of the memory array while improving access speed for operations.

From U.S. Patent No. 8809975, “titled Semiconductor Pressure Sensor.”

The ability to produce device components which achieve the same level of functionality at smaller sizes than conventional technologies is desirable by any device manufacturer, and we noticed a couple of Panasonic patents protecting methods of manufacturing miniaturized semiconductor devices. A method for manufacturing a memory device is part of the total invention protected by U.S. Patent No. 8811061, entitled Memory Device, Semiconductor Storage Device, Method for Manufacturing Memory Device, and Reading Method for Semiconductor Storage Device. The resistance-change memory device, or ReRAM device, disclosed within this patent is capable of being manufactured at smaller sizes without increasing the risk of damaging the diode elements during operation. Semiconductor miniaturization is also the goal of the innovation protected for Panasonic through U.S. Patent No. 8809975, issued under the title Semiconductor Pressure Sensor. The semiconductor pressure sensor which is protected by this patent achieves both a simplified manufacturing process as well as effective miniaturization. The configuration of this semiconductor pressure sensor, which utilizes piezoresistive elements formed in a Wheatstone bridge circuit, has a reduced manufacturing cost and is less susceptible to thermal stress, which can deteriorate the offset voltage and offset drift of the Wheatstone circuit.

 

More Electronics: Integrated Circuits and Near Field Communications

Not only is Panasonic developing more durable and smaller semiconductor devices, the corporation is heavily involved in applying its advances in this field towards the creation of more complex systems supported by integrated circuits (ICs). Integrated circuits are complex sets of electronic circuitry set within a small semiconductor plate, or chip, and we found a couple of interesting inventions representing improvements in ICs which we wanted to share with our readers today.

From U.S. Patent No. 8811897, which is titled “Near Field Communication Device and Method of Controlling the Same.”

A variety of electronic devices will see improvements to their near field communications (NFC) functions thanks to the innovation protected by U.S. Patent No. 8811897, which is titled Near Field Communication Device and Method of Controlling the Same. This patent, which is assigned to subsidiary Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America in Torrance, CA, protects an NFC device which can detect an NFC terminal, such as a noncontact IC card, to conduct a transaction even when the power source connected to the NFC device is turned off. In this system, radio waves transmitted from the NFC terminal can be used to generate the power needed to run the NFC device communicating with the noncontact terminal. This system is capable of performing firmware updates or other operations on any NFC-enabled device, including home appliances such as air conditioners or microwaves.

From U.S Patent No. 8804348, titled “Flexible Printed Circuit Board and Electronic Device.”

Panasonic has also been pursuing improvements to flexible circuit boards developed by the company, as can be seen in U.S Patent No. 8804348, issued under the title Flexible Printed Circuit Board and Electronic Device. Flexible printed circuit boards used in disk drives or memory devices easily break when handled, and adding dummy wires to reinforce the circuit board often ends up increasing the rigidity of the component, compromising the flexibility of the flexible printed circuit board. The flexible printed circuit board which Panasonic has protected here includes a breakage detection portion which helps to present a warning to a device user that a breakage has occurred while protecting the signal wires that support normal functioning of the device.

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Digital Systems for Electronic Content 

Panasonic is a major developer of electronics in a variety of consumer and business fields and its intellectual property portfolio extends into some very intriguing sectors of consumer media and digital services. Compared to the above inventions which we’ve profiled, these innovations are directed towards electronics applications and away from methods of manufacturing electronic devices. U.S. Patent No. 8813257, entitled Download Terminal, and Content Utilization System, describes a content delivery service that has improved capabilities for renting out packs of digital content, such as multiple episodes or an entire season of a television show. In previous systems, a problem in viewing time limits for rented material would occur during transmission so that time limits would differ among contents in the same pack. The download terminal protected in this patent includes a time limit determination unit and a pack time limit determination unit, both of which communicate with a writing-out license server which sets rental use conditions whenever content is downloaded to an exchangeable media.

From U.S. Patent No. 8810642, which is titled “Pupil Detection Device and Pupil Detection Method.”

Red-eye phenomenon in digital photography is still an issue which often degrades the quality of pictures taken by flash photography. The enhanced digital photography techniques available today, such as grayscale imaging, can create compelling images but may negatively impact other image correction operations performed by the image capture device. For example, U.S. Patent No. 8810642, which is titled Pupil Detection Device and Pupil Detection Method, protects a technology for Panasonic which overcomes the inability for red-eye correction techniques, which typically includes an evaluation of the color saturation of a picture to find a person’s pupils, to work properly in grayscale images. Like the ‘897 near field communication device patent listed above, this patent was also assigned to subsidiary Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America.

 

Medical and Healthcare Technologies

We’ll wrap up today’s in-depth look into the patents recently assigned to Panasonic by the USPTO with a look at some medical technologies that the company has lately added to its intellectual property portfolio. The International Modern Hospital Show 2014 held during July in Japan showcased Panasonic innovations in five different medical fields, including home care, hospital, pharmacy, clinic and healthcare. We found a couple of patents related to these fields which we felt might pique the interests of our readers.

Tools for medical professionals that can help increase the speed with which a medication can be injected into a patient’s body are the central focus of the innovation protected by U.S. Patent No. 8801679, issued under the title Medication Administering Device. Conventional medication administering devices already exist which allow users to quickly inject a patient with a medication contained within a preparation syringe, which is inserted into a syringe cover within the device before injection. The medication administering device described here allows for much quicker attachment and detachment of the preparation syringe while preventing any oozing of medication from the preparation syringe when it is mounted in the syringe cover. This patent was assigned to Japanese subsidiary Panasonic Healthcare Company, headquartered in Ehime.

Panasonic’s American subsidiaries are also involved in the research and development of medical technologies, as we can see in U.S. Patent No. 8803690, titled Context Dependent Application/Event Activation for People With Various Cognitive Ability Levels. Assigned to the Panasonic Corporation of North America, the corporation’s main American subsidiary, this patent protects a computer-implemented system designed to assist those suffering from cognitive disabilities such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. This system is capable of measuring the level of cognitive ability in a patient and inform friends, family and caregivers about appropriate methods of interacting with the patient. For example, the system could detect that a patient will have trouble remembering to take a regularly scheduled medication, and then inform a primary caregiver that a reminder to take the medication must be given. This system can help those with mild cognitive impairments caused by stress or aging as well as with patients experiencing extreme impairments.

 

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