Patents Examined by Scott A Richmond
  • Patent number: 11840099
    Abstract: Disclosed are an inkjet print system and an inkjet printing method using the same. An inkjet print system according to one embodiment of the disclosure may include a stage on which a printing medium is loaded and which moves the printing medium in a first direction, an inkjet head which moves in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and in which a plurality of nozzles configured to eject an ink on the printing medium are formed, a measurement instrument which moves in the second direction independent of the inkjet head and measures a height for each section of an impacted coating layer on the printing medium, and a processor which allows the nozzles to be opened or closed on the basis of height information of the coating layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: STI CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Ki Woong Park
  • Patent number: 11833815
    Abstract: An example of an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a printhead to dispense drops of print fluid on a media. The drops are to travel along a drop path through air from the printhead. In addition, the apparatus includes a light source to emit light across the drop path. The apparatus also includes a detector to detect an intensity of the light received from the light source. The drop path is to intersect an optical path from the light source to the detector. Furthermore, the apparatus includes a coating disposed on the optical path between the drop path and the detector. The coating is to absorb a threshold amount of the light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jordan David Spangler, Eric Thomas Martin
  • Patent number: 11833848
    Abstract: A method and system for producing reliefs on substrates by digital inkjet printing of drops of a relief material which is deposited on localized areas of the surface of a substrate to obtain a relief surface with a relief determined by the relief material deposited, a coating sheet being incorporated over the relief material deposited, which conforms to said relief surface, the coating sheet being fixed by gluing by means of a glue which is applied together or in combination with the relief material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Inventor: Jesus Francisco Barberan Latorre
  • Patent number: 11833809
    Abstract: Embodiments provide for systems and methods related to kiosks for personalizing a packaged article. The kiosks may also be used for storage, inventory management, retrieval, packaging, and/or personalization of packaged articles. The kiosks discussed herein differ from non-kiosk personalization systems, such as personalization systems installed on a factory or warehouse floor, in that the kiosks are self-contained personalization systems. In some embodiments, the kiosks are portable and can be moved between different sites or events. This portability allows the kiosks to personalize packaged articles for concerts, festivals, conventions, trade shows, and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Hoshino, David Glen Barrett, Scott Timothy Alberstein, Gad Amit, Stanislav Moiseyenko, Yuri Viacheslav Litvinov
  • Patent number: 11833841
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a printing unit to eject a liquid to an object to be printed in a first direction to perform printing, a placement unit on which the object is placed, and a detection unit capable of detecting a position of the object in the first direction in a noncontact manner. A control unit performs a first detection which changes relative positions of the placement unit and the detection unit in the first direction and on a plane intersecting the first direction before the printing on the object to detect, by the detection unit, the object placed on the placement unit, and the control unit performs a second detection which changes the relative positions of the placement unit and the detection unit on the plane during the printing on the object to detect, by the detection unit, the object placed on the placement unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keisuke Arita, Sho Takahashi, Toshiaki Tokisawa, Soma Nakai, Yuka Tani
  • Patent number: 11833845
    Abstract: Provided is a printing apparatus including: a holding unit configured to be held by a user to move the printing apparatus; a printing unit configured to print an image onto a print medium according to a movement of the printing apparatus; a guide unit configured to guide the movement of the printing apparatus; a first detection unit configured to detect a relative moving amount between the printing apparatus and the print medium; a second detection unit provided at a position different from a position of the first detection unit; and a displacement unit configured to displace the first detection unit from a state where the first detection unit and the second detection unit are both in contact with the print medium into a state where the first detection unit is separated from the print medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuyo Ohashi, Hiroshi Nakai
  • Patent number: 11833812
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes: a first conveyor that unspools a rolled-up medium for transport; a print head that prints on the medium; a cutter that cuts off, from the medium, a printed portion on which printing has been performed by the print head; a second conveyor that transports, in a sandwiching manner, the printed portion cut off by the cutter; a drive that drives at least the first conveyor; and a processor that controls the drive, wherein after the printed portion is cut off by the cutter and before printing is started by the print head, the processor controls the drive such that the first conveyor transports the medium in an ejection direction to a position where the medium is sandwiched by the second conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: FUJITSU FRONTECH LIMITED
    Inventors: Hiromu Tanabe, Tsuyoshi Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 11827038
    Abstract: A nail printing apparatus includes a print head that prints an image on a nail, a finger rest that is a rest on which a finger is placed and that is movable in a height direction, and a sensor that is arranged at a position above the finger rest as well as below the print head in the height direction and that is movable in a movement direction and capable of detecting a nail within a detection range. A control unit controls height adjustment in which the sensor is moved in the movement direction so that a first position of a nail area is included in the detection range of the sensor and then the finger rest is moved upward until the sensor detects the nail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirokazu Kameda
  • Patent number: 11820140
    Abstract: A system and method for ejecting one or more fluids from a digital dispense device. The method includes selecting a) fixed target areas and total fluid volumes for the target areas of the substrate; b) a predetermined droplet volume for the target areas; c) calculating a required number of droplets for the target areas; d) determining a maximum number of droplets per pixel based on the target areas; e) calculating a number of droplets per pass of an ejection head over the target areas; f) modifying one or more dimension of the target areas to create modified target areas; g) selecting and centering the modified spot size target areas in the target areas; and h) depositing fluids in the modified target areas while scanning the ejection head over the modified target areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Inventors: Bruce A Deboard, Michael A. Marra, III
  • Patent number: 11813851
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes: a printing head configured to discharge ink onto a recording medium to form an image; a platen including a support surface that supports the recording medium; and a recording medium holding portion being configured to hold a plurality of star wheels configured to hold the recording medium toward the support surface in a direction perpendicular to the support surface. In a case in which a maximum value of a height of the recording medium from the support surface in the direction perpendicular to the support surface is less than 2.2 mm when the recording medium passes between the support surface and the recording medium holding portion, a load of one of the star wheels for holding the recording medium with presence of the recording medium holding portion is equal to or less than 4.5 gf.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Yuki Inoue
  • Patent number: 11813853
    Abstract: To provide a technology capable of appropriately suppressing deterioration in cutting accuracy of a slitter although the rigidity of a print medium changes, a printing apparatus is equipped with: a first conveyance unit configured to convey a print medium; a printing unit configured to print an image by applying ink to the print medium conveyed by the first conveyance unit; a cutting unit disposed on a downstream side in a conveyance direction in which the print medium is conveyed by the first conveyance unit and configured to cut the print medium, which is conveyed by the first conveyance unit, along the conveyance direction; and a second conveyance unit disposed on the cutting unit, and the printing apparatus includes a correction unit configured to correct a parameter related to conveyance of at least one of the first conveyance unit and the second conveyance unit, based on information about the print medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kawafuji, Hiroshi Taira, Kazuhiko Sato, Taku Yokozawa, Noboru Kunimine, Akiko Aichi, Satoshi Azuma, Sae Mogi, Kei Yoshizawa, Shingo Nishioka, Junichi Saito, Hajime Nagai, Naoko Baba, Yuji Konno, Serena Yoshikawa, Satoshi Wada
  • Patent number: 11813848
    Abstract: A printer includes a printer body, a hopper, an open-and-close cover, a paper support, and a support holder. The hopper pushes paper up while supporting the paper. The open-and-close cover is able to be opened from and closed toward the printer body. The paper support is provided in such a way as to be able to be housed inside and drawn away from the open-and-close cover, and is configured to support the paper by being drawn out. The support holder supports the paper, together with the hopper and the paper support. The support holder switches between an upright orientation for being housed into the printer body and a tilted orientation for supporting the paper together with the hopper and the paper support by the opening and closing of the open-and-close cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Inventors: Toshio Miyake, Masaki Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 11813881
    Abstract: Disclosed is a printing device including: a print head; a finger holder that includes a nail rest on which a nail is placed, and a spring which biases the nail rest in a direction of pushing up the nail rest to locate a printing target surface of the nail placed on the nail rest at a printing position by the print head; and a spacer that presses down the nail rest against a biasing force of the spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Daisuke Shimizu
  • Patent number: 11807021
    Abstract: A method of using an automated system to position a fabric piece. A pattern is printed onto a fabric piece with fluorescent ink, and detected with a fluorescence-detecting camera, such as a UV camera. The detected pattern is stored in a controller as a pattern signature and compared to a stored target pattern. The results of the comparing step are used to generate control signals for the automated system to move the piece into the position of the target pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
    Inventors: Stephen Wiedmann, Victoria Wahlen, Branson Brockschmidt
  • Patent number: 11806994
    Abstract: A printing device includes: a pair of conveyer rollers for nipping a printing medium at a nipping position and conveying the printing medium in a conveying direction; a cutter unit positioned downstream of the conveyer rollers; a discharge tray positioned downstream of and below the cutter unit; and a controller. The controller is configured to perform: (a) cutting the printing medium by the cutter unit into first and second printing mediums; and (b) discharging the second conveying medium on top of the first printing medium on the discharge tray. The discharge tray is positioned to satisfy a formula of H1>4×10?7×D14, where H1 represents a distance in a gravitational direction between the nipping position and a mounting surface of the discharge tray; and D1 represents a distance in the conveying direction between the nipping position and a downstream end of the cutter unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroaki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11801675
    Abstract: A controller may detect an elevation of a recording medium that is to be printed to, the elevation may result in the printing element of a printing device being negatively affected. The controller may automatically produce a time-limited printing pause of the printing element in which the printing gap between the printing element and the recording medium is temporarily enlarged in order to direct the detected elevation past the printing element. A negative effect on the printing device given the presence of a damaged recording medium may thus be efficiently and reliably avoided or reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Production Printing Holding B.V.
    Inventors: Bernd Hausmann, Hubert Drexler, Bernhard Holzner, Stephan Pilsl, Ulrich Bäumler, Lucian Petrut, Christian Wallis
  • Patent number: 11794485
    Abstract: A printer and corresponding method of printing an image on a surface of a plurality of food products by providing a system having a printer with an extendable and retractable receiving arm and a rotating food product delivery tray for continuously and automatically providing delivery of unprinted food products which are retracted into the printer, printed on, and returned by the receiving arm to the rotatable delivery tray and the tray further moves to deliver subsequent food products for printing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Primera Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert P. Cummins, Todd Britz, Erick Hagstrom
  • Patent number: 11794496
    Abstract: A printer includes a transport unit, a recording unit, a cutter unit, and a control unit. The transport unit is capable of transporting two pieces of roll paper in parallel. The cutter unit is movable in a width direction intersecting a transport direction, and is capable of cutting the two pieces of roll paper. The cutter unit is capable of cutting roll paper PR in both a forward path and a return path of the movement in a width direction. The control unit is capable of setting a standby position of the cutter unit to a position between the two pieces of roll paper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Keiichi Yato, Atsuhiko Takeuchi, Hitoshi Igarashi
  • Patent number: 11794484
    Abstract: An ink maintenance system for a printer comprising a first tray having a base and a plurality of side walls, the first tray having a first length and an open top along the length and a second tray having a base and a plurality of side walls, the second tray having a second length and an open top along its length. The system also includes a fan and a filter. To use the system, a print head is positioned in a standby or cleaning position within the printer and ink is ejected from one or more print nozzles into an ink maintenance system within the printer such that the ejected ink is collected in at least one of a catch tray or a filter of the ink maintenance system. The system is then removable from the printer for cleaning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Primera Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Erick Hagstrom
  • Patent number: 11787216
    Abstract: A method for producing a relief-like printed image on containers is described in which print layers are layered onto one another by way of jet application of a printing paint, an ink, a varnish, or an adhesive from at least one print head onto a container, thereby producing elevated regions of the printed image. Due to the fact that the print layers are each applied in full tone printing, optical and haptic effects can be created on container surfaces with low equipment complexity and a minimal number of printing steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Krones AG
    Inventors: Peggy Augst, Alexandra Lyashenko