Patents by Inventor Mariko Kojima

Mariko Kojima 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: 20140192121
    Abstract: An inkjet recording method includes forming an image on a coated layer provided at least one side of the substrate of a recording medium with ink containing a colorant; and then applying a post-processing fluid comprising a resin to the image; wherein the application amount per unit area of the post-processing fluid to the image is controlled to be less than the application amount per unit area of the ink to form the image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 10, 2014
    Publication date: July 10, 2014
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Akiko Bannai, Hidefumi NAGASHIMA, Mariko KOJIMA, Michihiko NAMBA
  • Patent number: 8752947
    Abstract: An ink jet recording method including attaching a liquid dispersant in which an amphoteric polymer containing a core portion having an anion group and a shell portion having a cation group that covers the core portion is dispersed in a dispersing medium to a recording medium and discharging and attaching anionic ink containing a coloring material and water to the surface of the recording medium to which the liquid dispersant is attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Mariko Kojima
  • Patent number: 8744100
    Abstract: The user's personal intention is conveyed to a hearing aid using a method that does not place heavy physical and psychological loads. A hearing aid to be worn by a user for auditory compensation comprises: at least one microphone which converts a sound to an input signal; a hearing-aid signal processing unit configured to generate an output signal from the input signal; a receiver which outputs, as a sound, the output signal generated by the hearing-aid signal processing unit; and a hearing-aid processing control unit configured to generate control information for controlling signal processing, based on a non-audible sound which is made by the user and is hard to hear from outside, wherein, when the hearing-aid processing control unit generates the control information, the hearing-aid signal processing unit is configured to generate the output signal according to the generated control information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Mariko Kojima
  • Patent number: 8675901
    Abstract: A howling suppression device includes: a subtractor which generates an error signal; an adaptive filter which applies filtering to the error signal; and a coefficient update control unit which controls an update rate of a filter coefficient and includes: a convergence analysis unit which determines whether or not a condition that the degree of convergence of filter characteristics is higher than a criterion value is satisfied; a change amount analysis unit which determines whether or not a condition that the degree of convergence has turned out to be higher is satisfied; and an update rate control unit which sets the update rate to a first rate when both the conditions are satisfied and to a second rate when at least one of the conditions is not satisfied. The adaptive filter updates the filter coefficient at the update rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Takefumi Ura
  • Patent number: 8651650
    Abstract: An inkjet recording ink containing a colorant, a surfactant A, a surfactant B, a water soluble organic solvent, and water, wherein the surfactant A is expressed by any one of Structural Formula (1) and Structural Formula (2), and the surfactant B is expressed by Structural Formula (3): in Structural Formula (1), R1 represents hydrogen, an alkyl group, or an acyl group; Rf represents —CF3 or —CF2CF3; and m, n and p are natural numbers; in Structural Formula (2), M represents alkali metal, ammonium, phosphonium, or alkanolamine; Rf represents —CF3 or —CF2CF3; and q is a natural number; in Structural Formula (3), R3 and R4 each represent hydrogen or an alkyl group; and r, s, t and u are natural numbers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihiko Matsuyama, Ichiroh Fujii, Yuuki Yokohama, Kiyofumi Nagai, Akihiko Gotoh, Mariko Kojima, Masaki Kudoh, Tomohiro Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 8608306
    Abstract: An inkjet recording ink including at least a pigment, fine resin particles, a water soluble organic solvent, and water, wherein a polymer chain is grafted onto a surface of the pigment, and the polymer chain is composed of at least one monomer unit, which is selected from the monomers represented by the following Chemical Formulas (1) to (4): Chemical Formula (1) where R1 represents H or CH3, and “n” represents the number of carbon atoms; Chemical Formula (2) where R2 and R3 each represent H or CH3, and “m” represents the number of units repeated; Chemical Formula (3) where R4 and R5 each represent H or CH3, and “p” is the number of units repeated; and Chemical Formula (4) where R6 and R7 each represent H or CH3, and “k” and “l” each represent the number of units repeated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Kiyofumi Nagai
  • Publication number: 20130307912
    Abstract: An inkjet recording method, containing: applying a stimulus to an inkjet recording ink to jet the ink, to form an image on a recording medium, wherein the ink contains water, a water-soluble organic solvent, a colorant, and a surfactant, and has a predetermined surface life time as measured by a maximum bubble pressure method and a predetermined static surface tension, wherein the recording medium contains a support, and a recording layer provided at least one surface of the support, where the recording layer contains a cationic resin in a predetermined amount, and is a medium for a concealing postcard where the recording medium is folded to bond a surface of the recording layer to face each other with an adhesive after information is recorded on the surface of the recording layer, in which the surface of the recording layer has a predetermined 10-sec Cobb size degree.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2013
    Publication date: November 21, 2013
    Inventors: Kiminori MASUDA, Mariko KOJIMA, Tsutomu MAEKAWA, Akiko BANNAI, Takashi TAMAI
  • Patent number: 8586647
    Abstract: The present invention provides a recording ink set containing a black ink, a cyan ink, a magenta ink, and a yellow ink, each of which contains water, a water-insoluble color material, a water-soluble organic solvent, and a surfactant, wherein the black ink and at least one of the inks other than the black ink respectively contain a different water-soluble organic solvent; and the surface tension of the water-soluble organic solvent(s) used only for the inks other than the black ink is higher than that of the water-soluble organic solvent used only for the black ink; and the present invention also provides a recording method using the recording ink set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Akihiko Gotoh, Michihiko Namba, Kiyofumi Nagai, Naoya Morohoshi, Tohru Ohshima
  • Publication number: 20130272533
    Abstract: A howling suppression device includes a subtractor which subtracts a pseudo feedback signal from an input signal; an adaptive filter which produces a pseudo feedback signal for a next input signal; and a coefficient update control unit which controls an update rate of a filter coefficient of the adaptive filter and includes: a level calculation unit which calculates a signal level of the input signal; a signal-rising-edge detection unit which detects a rising-edge point; a reverberation section detection unit which detects a reverberation section; and an update rate control unit which sets the update rate to a first rate in the reverberation section and to a second rate in other sections. The adaptive filter updates the filter coefficient at the update rate set by the update rate control unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Publication date: October 17, 2013
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Takefumi Ura
  • Patent number: 8556405
    Abstract: There is provided an ink for recording, which contains: a coloring agent; a water-dispersible resin; a wetting agent; a surfactant; and water, wherein a total solid content of the coloring agent and the water-dispersible resin is 10% by mass to 30% with respect to a total mass of the ink, a ratio B/C is 0.1 to 1.6 where B is a solid content of the coloring agent in the ink, and C is a solid content of the water-dispersible resin in the ink, a viscosity of the ink is 5 mPa·s to 20 mPa·s at 25° C., and a surface tension of the ink is 35 mN/m or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hisashi Habashi, Michihiko Namba, Mariko Kojima, Akihiko Gotoh, Tamotsu Aruga, Kiyofumi Nagai
  • Publication number: 20130259277
    Abstract: A howling suppression device includes: a subtractor which generates an error signal; an adaptive filter which applies filtering to the error signal; and a coefficient update control unit which controls an update rate of a filter coefficient and includes: a convergence analysis unit which determines whether or not a condition that the degree of convergence of filter characteristics is higher than a criterion value is satisfied; a change amount analysis unit which determines whether or not a condition that the degree of convergence has turned out to be higher is satisfied; and an update rate control unit which sets the update rate to a first rate when both the conditions are satisfied and to a second rate when at least one of the conditions is not satisfied. The adaptive filter updates the filter coefficient at the update rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Publication date: October 3, 2013
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Takefumi Ura
  • Patent number: 8517527
    Abstract: The present invention provides an inkjet recording inkset including a black ink; and at least one color ink, wherein the black ink and the color ink respectively contains a coloring material, water, a water-soluble organic solvent and a surfactant, and wherein the black ink contains, as the coloring material, a water-dispersible carbon black having a hydrophilic group on its surface, which can be dispersed without using a dispersing agent, and only the color ink contains, as the surfactant, a fluorine surfactant expressed by Chemical Formula 1: Chemical Formula 1 where Rf represents a fluorine-containing alkyl group; R1 represents an anionic group; R2 represents a cationic group; and q represents a positive integer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Akihiko Gotoh
  • Patent number: 8486185
    Abstract: An inkjet recording ink containing: water; a water-soluble organic solvent; a colorant; and at least one fluorochemical surfactant having a formula selected from the group consisting of (b), (a), (a?), and (h): [(RfSO2)2]N?M+??(a), [(RfSO2)(RSO2)]N?M+??(a?), [(FSO2)2]N?M+??(h), wherein M+ is Li+, Na+, K+, or NH4+, Rf is CF3, C2F5, C3F7, or C4F9, and R is C1-C10 alkyl group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Kudoh, Mariko Kojima, Akiko Bannai, Keita Katoh
  • Patent number: 8303099
    Abstract: The object of the invention to provide a recording ink with excellent discharge stability and storage stability, which rapidly penetrates into a recording medium and forms a coating, and which will never generate smearing upon high-speed printing or double-sided printing, and which excels in marker resistance, and which enables high quality image recording with less bleeding, and the ink cartridge, the ink record, the inkjet recording apparatus, and the inkjet recording method using the recording ink. The recording ink containing at least water, a colorant, a resin fine-particle, a water-soluble organic solvent and a penetrant, in which the penetrant is a diol compound whose carbon number is 7 to 11 and the resin fine-particle is a silicone modified acrylic resin not containing a hydrolyzable silyl group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Tomohiro Inoue, Akihiko Gotoh, Michihiko Namba, Hisashi Habashi, Akiko Bannai, Kiyofumi Nagai
  • Patent number: 8304043
    Abstract: There is provided an inkjet recording ink and recording media set, which contains: an inkjet recording ink; and a recording medium, wherein the inkjet recording ink comprises at least: water; a water-soluble organic solvent; and a colorant containing carbon black, and having a volume average particle diameter of 40 nm to 100 nm, wherein the recording medium contains: a substrate; and a coating layer on at least one side of the substrate, and wherein an amount of pure water transferred to the recording medium, as measured with a dynamic scanning absorptometer at 23 C and 50% RH, at a contact time of 100 ms is 2 ml/m2 to 35 ml/m2 while an amount of pure water transferred to the recording medium at a contact time of 400 ms is 3 ml/m2 to 40 ml/m2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hidefumi Nagashima, Kiyofumi Nagai, Michihiko Namba, Mariko Kojima
  • Patent number: 8192009
    Abstract: An ink set for ink-jet recording which includes multiple inks having different colors. Each of the multiple inks includes a colorant, a water-soluble organic solvent, a fluorine-based surfactant, and water. The viscosity difference among the multiple inks is 2.0 mPa·s or less at a temperature of 25° C. and a shearing speed of 230 1/s, and the viscosity difference among the multiple inks is 0.5 mPa·s or less at a temperature of 25° C. and a shearing speed of 100,000 1/s.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuuki Yokohama, Akihiko Gotoh, Mariko Kojima, Hisashi Habashi
  • Publication number: 20120133702
    Abstract: An ink jet recording method including attaching a liquid dispersant in which an amphoteric polymer containing a core portion having a cation group and a shell portion having an anion group that covers the core portion is dispersed in a dispersing medium to a recording medium and discharging and attaching cationic ink containing a coloring material and water to the surface of the recording medium to which the liquid dispersant is attached.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Publication date: May 31, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Mariko KOJIMA
  • Publication number: 20120133703
    Abstract: An ink jet recording method including attaching a liquid dispersant in which an amphoteric polymer containing a core portion having an anion group and a shell portion having a cation group that covers the core portion is dispersed in a dispersing medium to a recording medium and discharging and attaching anionic ink containing a coloring material and water to the surface of the recording medium to which the liquid dispersant is attached.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2011
    Publication date: May 31, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Mariko KOJIMA
  • Publication number: 20120121831
    Abstract: An inkjet recording ink containing: water; a water-soluble organic solvent; a colorant; and at least one fluorochemical surfactant having a formula selected from the group consisting of (b), (a), (a?), and (h): [(RfSO2)2]N?M+??(a), [(RfSO2)(RSO2)]N?M+??(a?), [(FSO2)2]N?M+??(h), wherein M+ is Li+, Na+, K+, or NH4+, Rf is CF3, C2F5, C3F7, or C4F9, and R is C1-C10 alkyl group.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Inventors: Masaki Kudoh, Mariko Kojima, Akiko Bannai, Keita Katoh
  • Publication number: 20110316947
    Abstract: An inkjet recording ink including at least a pigment, fine resin particles, a water soluble organic solvent, and water, wherein a polymer chain is grafted onto a surface of the pigment, and the polymer chain is composed of at least one monomer unit, which is selected from the monomers represented by the following Chemical Formulas (1) to (4): Chemical Formula (1) where R1 represents H or CH3, and “n” represents the number of carbon atoms; Chemical Formula (2) where R2 and R3 each represent H or CH3, and “m” represents the number of units repeated; Chemical Formula (3) where R4 and R5 each represent H or CH3, and “p” is the number of units repeated; and Chemical Formula (4) where R6 and R7 each represent H or CH3, and “k” and “l” each represent the number of units repeated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2010
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Inventors: Mariko Kojima, Kiyofumi Nagai