Patents Examined by Patrick King
  • Patent number: 9186895
    Abstract: A liquid droplet discharge head includes an orifice plate that has a nozzle hole row in which a plurality of nozzle holes is formed in a row by press working. Liquid droplets are discharged to a to-be-landed-on member from the nozzle holes and land on the to-be-landed-on member, and a plurality of dummy pressed points for making uniform opening directions of the nozzle holes is formed on both of end sides of the nozzle hole row in the orifice plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Kazunari Aoki
  • Patent number: 9180670
    Abstract: A liquid ejection apparatus includes a liquid ejection head having a plurality of nozzle units, a plurality of capping devices, a movement mechanism, a plurality of suctioning tubes, a suctioning mechanism, a connection device, and a control device. The control device controls the suctioning mechanism to suction fluid in the capping device corresponding to one of the nozzle units and the capping device corresponding to a different one of the nozzle units. In response to expiration of a predetermined time period, which is a predetermined amount of time that the suctioning mechanism generates a suctioning force, the control device controls to disconnect the capping device corresponding to the one of the nozzle units from the suctioning mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Mikio Ogawa
  • Patent number: 9174439
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes a print element board and an electric wiring board electrically connected to a bump of the print element board using an interconnecting wire. The bump has a first surface and a second surface. The height of the second surface from a surface of a base plate is higher than that of the first surface. The first surface has a protrusion formed therein, and the bump is connected to the interconnecting wire in the second surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Satoshi Ibe, Yoshinori Tagawa, Jun Yamamuro, Hiroto Komiyama, Kouji Hasegawa, Shiro Sujaku
  • Patent number: 9168763
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes: a holding unit that holds a liquid receptacle containing a liquid; a recording head that ejects, onto a recording medium, the liquid supplied from the liquid receptacle held by the holding unit; a heating unit that heats the recording medium; and a suction unit that includes a suction port for sucking air to the heating unit. Here, the suction port is disposed in a location that enables the atmosphere around the liquid receptacle to be sucked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Miho Ota, Mikio Kitagishi
  • Patent number: 9162468
    Abstract: In one example, an ink storage unit for an inkjet printer includes multiple bags to hold ink, a single housing enclosing the bags and configured to fit inside the printer, and an outlet from each bag to connect to an ink flow path external to the housing. In another example, a liquid supply unit includes multiple primary containers each holding liquid, a single secondary container enclosing the primary containers, and an outlet from each primary container. In this example, each outlet is positioned at the middle of a vertical column of liquid in the corresponding primary container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Paul Mark Haines, Anthony D. Studer
  • Patent number: 9156266
    Abstract: An ink jet recorder includes a support unit configured to support a recording medium, and a mobile unit including a plurality of containers containing inks of identical composition and a head configured to eject the ink supplied from any one of the plurality of containers. The ink jet recorder is configured to record an image on the recording medium in such a manner that the head performs main scanning by ejecting the ink while changing positions in a first direction, and the mobile unit performs sub-scanning by moving in a second direction intersecting with the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Keita Ichihara, Atsushi Yoshida, Masaki Uchiyama, Hiroyuki Ito, Mitsuaki Yoshizawa
  • Patent number: 9150033
    Abstract: There is provided a printing apparatus including: a transport unit which transports a medium in a transport direction, a first head, a first light source which is provided further to the downstream side in the transport direction than the first head, a second head which is provided further to the downstream side in the transport direction than the first head and the first light source, and a second light source which is provided further to the downstream side in the transport direction than the second head and which irradiates light with a stronger irradiation energy than the irradiation energy of the first light source, in which the first head ejects ink of one color of any among magenta ink, cyan ink, and black ink onto a medium, and the second head ejects yellow ink onto the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takamitsu Kondo, Hiroshi Wada, Toru Takahashi, Kazuyoshi Tanase, Satoru Miura
  • Patent number: 9150016
    Abstract: A support substrate and a liquid ejecting element substrate are bonded to each other with an adhesive agent to manufacture a liquid ejection head. The support substrate is provided with a liquid supply port and a recess or through-hole in its main surface. The adhesive agent is applied onto the main surface of the support substrate by means of a roller holding the adhesive agent on its peripheral surface by moving the support substrate and the roller relative to each other such that the recess or through-hole faces the roller before the liquid supply port faces the roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shimpei Otaka, Takayuki Ono
  • Patent number: 9150021
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head unit includes: a liquid ejecting head that has a fixing face to be used for attachment and that ejects a liquid from a nozzle; a head fixing member that has stiffness higher than that of the fixing face and that is secured to the fixing face on the liquid ejecting head; and a support member that has an attachment face to which the liquid ejecting head is attached through the head fixing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Ishii, Hiroshige Owaki, Katsuhiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 9132644
    Abstract: In a waste liquid container which is attachable and detachable to a recording portion including a liquid ejecting head which discharges a waste liquid and can store the waste liquid which is discharged from the liquid ejecting head in a state of being mounted on the recording portion, an engagement portion which protrudes from a side wall of the waste liquid container and is disposed lower in a vertical direction than a guide portion which is provided on the recording portion in the state of being mounted on the recording portion is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shuhei Harada, Masanori Nakata, Taisuke Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9120316
    Abstract: A wiper for a maintenance station of an imaging device includes a foundational body and a flexible blade. The body rigidly attaches to the maintenance station. The blade attaches to the body. The blade scrapes fluid and debris from a printhead during use. The blade comprises a flexible material having terminal sections intervened by a central section. Each terminal section connects to the body with a thicker expanse of flexible material, whereas the central section connects to the body with a thinner expanse. The connection provides the terminal sections with a higher wiping force and a shorter effective beam length for wiping an encapsulant of the printhead and gives while the central section a lower wiping force and a longer effective beam length for wiping a nozzle plate of the printhead. The embodiments note curved surfaces with variable radiuses where the expanses of flexible material connect to the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Randal S Williamson, Gregory Leon Hutchison, Jonathan Andrew Wharton, Brian Michael Langness, Lane Thomas Butler
  • Patent number: 9120313
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head unit includes a plurality of liquid ejecting heads each having a liquid ejecting surface provided with a nozzle row in which nozzle openings through which liquid is discharged are aligned in a first direction, and a holding member having a holder to which the liquid ejecting head is attached. Further, in the above liquid ejecting head unit, a positioning reference that specifies relative positions between the liquid ejecting heads is provided to the holder, and the liquid ejecting head is fixed to the holder being positioned in compliance with the positioning reference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshige Owaki, Katsuhiro Okubo
  • Patent number: 9102147
    Abstract: A liquid discharge head includes nozzles discharging liquid droplets; liquid chambers in communication with the nozzles; liquid supply paths in communication with the individual liquid chambers; and a common liquid chamber in communication with the liquid supply paths. Further, liquid is supplied from a direction from the common liquid chamber to the liquid supply paths, the direction crossing a direction of liquid flowing in the liquid supply paths, and in a wall surface of the common liquid chamber on a side closer to the individual liquid chambers, an inclined surface is formed in a direction orthogonal to a nozzle array direction in a manner that the common liquid chamber gradually expands as the common liquid chamber approaches the liquid supply paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Ryohta Yoneta
  • Patent number: 9079400
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, an ink jet head includes an ink pressure chamber, a nozzle hole, a vibrating plate, an actuator, and electrodes. The ink pressure chamber stores ink which is discharged through the nozzle hole. The vibrating plate is formed to surround the nozzle hole. The actuator drives the vibrating plate. The electrodes are formed to be axially symmetrical with respect to the nozzle hole and drive the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryutaro Kusunoki, Chiaki Tanuma, Shuhei Yokoyama, Ryuichi Arai
  • Patent number: 9082978
    Abstract: In order to provide a non-lead piezoelectric film having high crystalline orientation, low dielectric loss, high polarization-disappear temperature, and high piezoelectric constant, the present invention is a piezoelectric film comprising: a NaxM1-x layer 13 having a (001) orientation only; and a (1-?) (Bi, Na, Ba) TiO3-?BiQO3 layer 15 having a (001) orientation only. The (1-?) (Bi, Na, Ba) TiO3-?BiQO3 layer 15 is formed on the NaxM1-x layer 13. M represents Pt, Ir, or PtIr. Q represents Fe, Co, Zn0.5Ti0.5, or Mg0.5Ti0.5. x represents a value of not less than 0.002 and not more than 0.02. ? represents a value of not less than 0.20 and not more than 0.50.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Tanaka, Takakiyo Harigai, Hideaki Adachi, Eiji Fujii
  • Patent number: 9067411
    Abstract: A liquid discharge head includes a first unit configured to supply power, and a second unit including an input unit to which the power is input, a plurality of heaters connected to the input unit via a common power source line and configured to discharge liquid, an energization unit configured to energize the plurality of heaters, and a selection unit configured to select a target heater from the heaters for discharging liquid to be energized in turn by the energization unit for a period corresponding to a time interval at which liquid is discharged, wherein the selection unit further selects non-target heaters from the heaters to be energized different from the heater targeted for use for discharging liquid before and after the target heater is energized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryo Kasai, Nobuyuki Hirayama, Kengo Umeda
  • Patent number: 9056461
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes: a liquid discharge head which includes; a discharge port to discharge a liquid; and a substrate including: an energy generating element for generating thermal energy to discharge the liquid from the liquid discharge port; a pair of electrodes connected to the energy generating element for driving thereof; an insulating layer of an insulating material provided to cover the energy generating element; and a metal layer of a metal material provided corresponding to the energy generating element to cover the insulating layer; and a driver unit which sets a first potential of one of the pair of electrodes substantially equal to the potential of the liquid and a second potential of the other one of the pair of electrodes lower than the first potential to drive the energy generating element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Makoto Sakurai, Hirokazu Komuro, Ichiro Saito, Yuzuru Ishida, Takeru Yasuda
  • Patent number: 9044969
    Abstract: A UV curable gel ink spreading method and system includes setting an ink re-flow drum temperature, jetting UV gel ink onto a substrate using a print head, heating a back side of the substrate to cause re-flow using the re-flow drum, and curing the UV gel ink image using a UV source to produce a cured image. At least one of drawback and line spread may be measured in-line to determine whether to modify a drum temperature, a UV source location, and/or a print process speed to optimize drawback and/or line spread. Acceptable or optimized temperatures and/or UV source locations may be saved as a set point that corresponds to a substrate type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Bryan J. Roof, Anthony S. Condello
  • Patent number: 9039147
    Abstract: A liquid feed valve unit is configured to switch between a releasing mode for forcibly opening a valve and a blocking mode for closing the valve, and the valve can therefore be opened and closed in a short time as needed. Since the releasing mode is implemented by pushing the peripheral part and the pressure-receiving part of the flexible member, the flexible member can be prevented from flexing toward the outside of the liquid accommodating chamber even in the case that the pressure-receiving part is pushed. In this case, since a residual pressure can be prevented from forming in the liquid accommodating chamber, there is no need to suspend operation, and it is possible to immediately proceed to the next operation. A fast-operating liquid feed valve unit can thereby be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kaoru Koike, Toshio Kumagai, Kazutoshi Shimizu
  • Patent number: 9039138
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a conveyer configured to convey a recording medium along a conveying path in a conveying direction, an image forming unit configured to form an image on the recording medium being conveyed, a supporting member arranged in a position to face the image forming unit and configured to support the recording medium, and an aspirator configured to aspirate dust through an aspiration inlet, which is formed in a downstream position along the conveying direction with respect to the image forming unit and in proximity to a downstream end of the supporting member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshihiro Itogawa