Patents by Inventor Chikashi Nakamura

Chikashi Nakamura has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20230294088
    Abstract: To provide a microstructure equipped with a mechanism for selectively detecting marker molecules expressed or secreted by individual cells forming a cell population, a method for fabricating such a microstructure, and specific solutions for detecting and identifying molecules to be detected using such a microstructure, the present invention provides a method for fabricating a hemispherical shell-shaped microstructure made of a thin film of a desired thickness and diameter, in which a material surface capable of fixing a probe for detecting a biomolecule is arranged on the inner surface, and a method for detecting a target biomolecule using such a thin film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2021
    Publication date: September 21, 2023
    Inventors: Hyonchol KIM, Dai KATO, Chikashi NAKAMURA, Man Bock GU, Cheul Min Joe
  • Publication number: 20220212467
    Abstract: A recording unit configured to ejecting liquid onto a medium in a ejecting direction from a nozzle provided at a nozzle surface to perform recording, a cleaning unit including a first pressing unit and a second pressing unit for cleaning the nozzle surface, and a temperature detection unit configured to detect temperature are included, the nozzle surface includes a first surface in which the nozzle opens and a second surface, and the cleaning unit is configured to perform the cleaning with a distance in the ejecting direction from the first surface set to the first pressing unit or the second pressing unit to a first distance when a detected temperature detected by the temperature detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined temperature, and to a second distance shorter than the first distance when the detected temperature is lower than the predetermined temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Tomoki SHINODA, Chikashi NAKAMURA, Takeshi IWAMURO, Yu TSUMURAYA
  • Patent number: 11285724
    Abstract: A waste liquid collecting device is a device which is located to face a nozzle surface in which nozzles of a liquid ejecting portion are disposed, which includes a waste liquid receiving member to receive a liquid to be discharged from the nozzles, and which collects the liquid, and the waste liquid receiving member has dripping waste liquid receiving areas which are provided with through-holes and which receive the liquid to drip down after being discharged from the nozzles and staying on the nozzle surface and flushing receiving areas which are not provided with the through-holes and which receive the liquid to be ejected from the nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Chikashi Nakamura, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20220063282
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting portion that has a common liquid chamber into which liquid flows, a plurality of individual liquid chambers communicating with the common liquid chamber, a nozzle communicating with the individual liquid chamber, a nozzle surface on which a plurality of the nozzles are open, and a discharge element, and that is configured to discharge the liquid from the nozzle toward a medium by driving the discharge element, estimates whether or not the liquid is can be discharged from the nozzle after performing a pressurization discharge operation of discharging the liquid from the nozzle by pressurizing the liquid in the common liquid chamber, and performs a flushing operation of discharging the liquid from the nozzle by driving the discharge element corresponding to the nozzle estimated to be able to discharge the liquid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Publication date: March 3, 2022
    Inventor: Chikashi NAKAMURA
  • Patent number: 11135849
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejector that ejects a liquid from a nozzle, a wiping mechanism that wipes a nozzle surface on which a plurality of nozzles is disposed with a wiping member, and a wiping-liquid supply mechanism that supplies a wiping liquid to the wiping member. The liquid ejecting apparatus is configured to perform wet-wiping of wiping the nozzle surface in a state where the wiping member has absorbed the wiping liquid and is configured to change a supply amount of the wiping liquid when the wiping member wipes the nozzle surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroki Matsuoka, Chikashi Nakamura, Shunsuke Kuramata, Shuhei Harada, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20210138790
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting portion configured to eject a liquid from a nozzle disposed on a nozzle surface, a liquid receiving portion that receives the liquid discharged from the nozzle, a wiping mechanism that includes a wiping portion configured to wipe the nozzle surface, an external force applying mechanism configured to apply an external force in a direction along the nozzle surface to the liquid adhering to the nozzle surface in a non-contact manner, and a control portion that drives the external force applying mechanism to apply the external force to the liquid adhering to the nozzle surface, and then causes the wiping portion to perform a wiping operation of wiping the nozzle surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2020
    Publication date: May 13, 2021
    Inventors: Chikashi NAKAMURA, Hitotoshi KIMURA
  • Publication number: 20200398572
    Abstract: A waste liquid collecting device is a device which is located to face a nozzle surface in which nozzles of a liquid ejecting portion are disposed, which includes a waste liquid receiving member to receive a liquid to be discharged from the nozzles, and which collects the liquid, and the waste liquid receiving member has dripping waste liquid receiving areas which are provided with through-holes and which receive the liquid to drip down after being discharged from the nozzles and staying on the nozzle surface and flushing receiving areas which are not provided with the through-holes and which receive the liquid to be ejected from the nozzles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2020
    Publication date: December 24, 2020
    Inventors: Chikashi NAKAMURA, Hitotoshi KIMURA
  • Patent number: 10780702
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head unit includes a liquid ejecting head having a nozzle forming portion in which a nozzle that ejects a liquid to a medium is formed, a shutter that has an opening portion exposing the nozzle and that is movable between a cover position in which a recessed portion including the nozzle is covered and an exposure position in which the nozzle is exposed, and a first communication portion that communicates with an inside of the recessed portion and that is capable of supplying a fluid into the recessed portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Chikashi Nakamura, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20200009871
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejector that ejects a liquid from a nozzle, a wiping mechanism that wipes a nozzle surface on which a plurality of nozzles is disposed with a wiping member, and a wiping-liquid supply mechanism that supplies a wiping liquid to the wiping member. The liquid ejecting apparatus is configured to perform wet-wiping of wiping the nozzle surface in a state where the wiping member has absorbed the wiping liquid and is configured to change a supply amount of the wiping liquid when the wiping member wipes the nozzle surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2019
    Publication date: January 9, 2020
    Inventors: Hiroki Matsuoka, Chikashi Nakamura, Shunsuke Kuramata, Shuhei Harada, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 10464326
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head having nozzles for ejecting a liquid, and an attachment section to which a maintenance unit to be used for maintenance of the liquid ejecting head is to be detachably attached. If the maintenance unit having a maintenance mechanism for performing the maintenance by driving force transmitted from the attachment section is a first unit and the maintenance unit having no maintenance mechanism is a second unit, one of a plurality of the maintenance units including the first unit and the second unit and having different structure is interchangeably attached to the attachment section, and the attachment section includes an identification section configured to identify the structure of the attached maintenance unit and a driving-force transmission section configured to transmit the driving force to the attached first unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryoji Fujimori, Takeshi Iwata, Chikashi Nakamura, Shuhei Harada, Kazutoshi Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20190270311
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head unit includes a liquid ejecting head having a nozzle forming portion in which a nozzle that ejects a liquid to a medium is formed, a shutter that has an opening portion exposing the nozzle and that is movable between a cover position in which a recessed portion including the nozzle is covered and an exposure position in which the nozzle is exposed, and a first communication portion that communicates with an inside of the recessed portion and that is capable of supplying a fluid into the recessed portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Publication date: September 5, 2019
    Inventors: Chikashi NAKAMURA, Hitotoshi KIMURA
  • Patent number: 10399342
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head unit includes a liquid ejecting head having a nozzle forming portion in which a nozzle that ejects a liquid to a medium is formed, a shutter that has an opening portion exposing the nozzle and that is movable between a cover position in which a recessed portion including the nozzle is covered and an exposure position in which the nozzle is exposed, and a first communication portion that communicates with an inside of the recessed portion and that is capable of supplying a fluid into the recessed portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Chikashi Nakamura, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 10308027
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus performs first contact of an absorption member with a nozzle surface in which nozzles for liquid ejection are arranged, and performs second contact of the absorption member with the nozzle surface after the first contact. Pressure applied to, of the nozzle surface, a nozzle neighborhood area (a nozzle peripheral area) including the nozzles due to contact of the absorption member in the first contact is lower than pressure applied to the nozzle neighborhood area (a nozzle peripheral area) due to contact of the absorption member in the second contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Chikashi Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20190023017
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head having nozzles for ejecting a liquid, and an attachment section to which a maintenance unit to be used for maintenance of the liquid ejecting head is to be detachably attached. If the maintenance unit having a maintenance mechanism for performing the maintenance by driving force transmitted from the attachment section is a first unit and the maintenance unit having no maintenance mechanism is a second unit, one of a plurality of the maintenance units including the first unit and the second unit and having different structure is interchangeably attached to the attachment section, and the attachment section includes an identification section configured to identify the structure of the attached maintenance unit and a driving-force transmission section configured to transmit the driving force to the attached first unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Publication date: January 24, 2019
    Inventors: Ryoji FUJIMORI, Takeshi IWATA, Chikashi NAKAMURA, Shuhei HARADA, Kazutoshi SHIMIZU
  • Publication number: 20180244049
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head unit includes a liquid ejecting head having a nozzle forming portion in which a nozzle that ejects a liquid to a medium is formed, a shutter that has an opening portion exposing the nozzle and that is movable between a cover position in which a recessed portion including the nozzle is covered and an exposure position in which the nozzle is exposed, and a first communication portion that communicates with an inside of the recessed portion and that is capable of supplying a fluid into the recessed portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2018
    Publication date: August 30, 2018
    Inventors: Chikashi NAKAMURA, Hitotoshi KIMURA
  • Publication number: 20180178523
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus performs first contact of an absorption member with a nozzle surface in which nozzles for liquid ejection are arranged, and performs second contact of the absorption member with the nozzle surface after the first contact. Pressure applied to, of the nozzle surface, a nozzle neighborhood area (a nozzle peripheral area) including the nozzles due to contact of the absorption member in the first contact is lower than pressure applied to the nozzle neighborhood area (a nozzle peripheral area) due to contact of the absorption member in the second contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Publication date: June 28, 2018
    Inventor: Chikashi NAKAMURA
  • Patent number: 9174449
    Abstract: Ratchets which regulate a rotation of either a reeling-out roller around which one end of a long wiping member which wipes ink attached to a recording head which ejects ink is wound, or a winding-up roller around which the other end of the wiping member is wound to which tension is applied due to a friction force which acts on the wiping member when performing wiping are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Chikashi Nakamura, Keiji Matsumoto, Toshihiko Wakabayashi, Jun Ushiama
  • Patent number: 9175255
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for discriminating and separating only specific cells in cell samples is provided. The cell separation operation includes inserting a needle-shaped body, on which a substance that selectively binds to a marker substance within each target cell has been immobilized, into each of the cell samples on a substrate, thereby causing the marker substance within each target cell in the cell samples to bind to the needle-shaped body through the substance that selectively binds to the marker substance, and then, pulling up the needle-shaped body. The binding force between the needle-shaped body and each target cell when the marker substance within each target cell has bound to the needle-shaped body is made greater than an adhesion force of each of the cell samples to the substrate, so that only target cells each containing the marker substance are pulled up and separated from the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventor: Chikashi Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20140139588
    Abstract: Ratchets which regulate a rotation of either a reeling-out roller around which one end of a long wiping member which wipes ink attached to a recording head which ejects ink is wound, or a winding-up roller around which the other end of the wiping member is wound to which tension is applied due to a friction force which acts on the wiping member when performing wiping are provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2014
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chikashi NAKAMURA, Keiji MATSUMOTO, Toshihiko WAKABAYASHI, Jun USHIAMA
  • Patent number: 8672447
    Abstract: Ratchets which regulate a rotation of either a reeling-out roller around which one end of a long wiping member which wipes ink attached to a recording head which ejects ink is wound, or a winding-up roller around which the other end of the wiping member is wound to which tension is applied due to a friction force which acts on the wiping member when performing wiping are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Chikashi Nakamura, Keiji Matsumoto, Toshihiko Wakabayashi, Jun Ushiama