Patents by Inventor Shoichiro Nishimura

Shoichiro Nishimura 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: 20200310281
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a photosensitive drum, a developing roller movable between a contacting position, in which the developing roller contacts the photosensitive drum, and a separated position, in which the developing roller is separated from the photosensitive drum, a moving mechanism to move the developing roller between the contacting position and the separated position, a fuser including a heating member and a pressing member to nip a sheet at a position between the heating member and the pressing member, a nipping-force adjuster to switch a nipping force in the fuser between a first nipping force and a second nipping force being greater than the first nipping force, a motor, and a driving-force transmitter to transmit a driving force from the motor to the developing roller, is provided. The driving-force transmitter transmits the driving force further to the moving mechanism and the nipping-force adjuster.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Publication date: October 1, 2020
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kotaro HARUTA, Masahito SAEKI, Shoichiro NISHIMURA, Tomonori WATANABE
  • Publication number: 20200292959
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having first, second, and third photosensitive drums, a first developing cartridge including a first developing roller, a second developing cartridge including a second developing roller, a third developing cartridge including a third developing roller, an exposure device, a conveyer, and a moving mechanism, is provided. The first developing roller, the second developing roller, and the third developing roller are arranged in the recited order from upstream to downstream in a moving direction for the sheet to be conveyed. When the second developing roller is at the separated position thereof, the second developing cartridge coincides with a light path of the laser beam for scanning the first photosensitive drum. When the third developing roller is at the separated position thereof, the third developing cartridge coincides with a light path of the laser beam for scanning the second photosensitive drum.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Publication date: September 17, 2020
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masahito SAEKI, Toshiyuki SANO, Shintaro SAKAGUCHI, Kotaro HARUTA, Shoichiro NISHIMURA
  • Patent number: 10494210
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus having a duplex conveyer is provided. The duplex conveyer includes a first roller and a second roller arranged in an area closer to a first side surface of a body rather than a second side surface to align along a widthwise direction, a third roller and a fourth roller arranged to contact the first roller and the second roller respectively, an upper guide supporting the first roller and the second roller, and a lower guide arranged to face the upper guide at a position lower than the upper guide. The upper guide has a recessed portion at a position between the first roller and the second roller. The recessed portion recesses from an end of the upper guide on a side facing the first side surface toward the second side surface beyond an axis of the first roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuya Kamikawa, Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20190344986
    Abstract: A sheet conveyer, including a first guide with a guide surface, a second guide arranged on a side of the guide surface toward one end in a widthwise direction, a first roller arranged upstream in a conveying direction from the second guide to rotate about a first axis extending in parallel with the widthwise direction, a second roller arranged downstream in the conveying direction from the first roller to rotate about a second axis inclined with respect to the widthwise direction, and a third roller arranged downstream in the conveying direction from the second roller at a position on a side of the guide surface toward the other end in the widthwise direction outside a widthwise length of the sheet, is provided. The third roller is configured to rotate about a third axis inclined with respect to the widthwise direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Publication date: November 14, 2019
    Inventors: Shoichiro Nishimura, Hikaru Tamura, Kazuya Kamikawa, Yuichiro Ichinose
  • Patent number: 10207884
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including a reference guide, an oblique conveyer roller, and a curve guide, is provided. The reference guide is arranged on one side in a widthwise direction with respect to a widthwise center in a sheet conveyer path and regulates a widthwise position of the sheet. The oblique conveyer roller applies a conveying force acting in a direction toward downstream along a conveying direction and toward the reference guide to the sheet. The curve guide is arranged upstream with respect to the oblique conveyer roller along the conveying direction and forms a curve. The curve guide includes an inner guide and an outer guide. The outer guide has a constant curvature throughout a width regardless of a widthwise position therein. The inner guide has a protrusive portion protruding toward the outer guide at a position on the other side in the widthwise direction with respect to the widthwise center.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuya Kamikawa, Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20180282088
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus having a duplex conveyer is provided. The duplex conveyer includes a first roller and a second roller arranged in an area closer to a first side surface of a body rather than a second side surface to align along a widthwise direction, a third roller and a fourth roller arranged to contact the first roller and the second roller respectively, an upper guide supporting the first roller and the second roller, and a lower guide arranged to face the upper guide at a position lower than the upper guide. The upper guide has a recessed portion at a position between the first roller and the second roller. The recessed portion recesses from an end of the upper guide on a side facing the first side surface toward the second side surface beyond an axis of the first roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Applicant: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuya KAMIKAWA, Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20180282092
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including a reference guide, an oblique conveyer roller, and a curve guide, is provided. The reference guide is arranged on one side in a widthwise direction with respect to a widthwise center in a sheet conveyer path and regulates a widthwise position of the sheet. The oblique conveyer roller applies a conveying force acting in a direction toward downstream along a conveying direction and toward the reference guide to the sheet. The curve guide is arranged upstream with respect to the oblique conveyer roller along the conveying direction and forms a curve. The curve guide includes an inner guide and an outer guide. The outer guide has a constant curvature throughout a width regardless of a widthwise position therein. The inner guide has a protrusive portion protruding toward the outer guide at a position on the other side in the widthwise direction with respect to the widthwise center.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Applicant: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuya KAMIKAWA, Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Patent number: 8653872
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a reset circuit that has a reset IC 12 having a terminal 2 connected to a reset terminal of the microcomputer 30 that is driven by a constant voltage (3.3V) generated by regulating a rectified voltage (V+) by a regulator 24, and a terminal 4 that inputs the constant voltage (3.3V) thorough a register R1, and outputs a reset signal to the microcomputer 30 when an input voltage input to the terminal 4 is lower than a first threshold value; and a transistor Q1 in which a collector is connected to the terminal 4 through a resistor 2 and an emitter is connected to the ground and the transistor is turned on when an output voltage of the switching transformer 21 is lower than a predetermined level, wherein the voltage lower than the first threshold value is input to the terminal 4 when the transistor Q1 is turned on.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20120299628
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a reset circuit that has a reset IC 12 having a terminal 2 connected to a reset terminal of the microcomputer 30 that is driven by a constant voltage (3.3V) generated by regulating a rectified voltage (V+) by a regulator 24, and a terminal 4 that inputs the constant voltage (3.3V) thorough a register R1, and outputs a reset signal to the microcomputer 30 when an input voltage input to the terminal 4 is lower than a first threshold value; and a transistor Q1 in which a collector is connected to the terminal 4 through a resistor 2 and an emitter is connected to the ground and the transistor is turned on when an output voltage of the switching transformer 21 is lower than a predetermined level, wherein the voltage lower than the first threshold value is input to the terminal 4 when the transistor Q1 is turned on.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2012
    Publication date: November 29, 2012
    Applicant: FUNAI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shoichiro NISHIMURA
  • Patent number: 8294828
    Abstract: A television apparatus 100 is so designed as to store into ROM 14 the table that contains image control parameters and tone control parameters used for approximating the image and tone characteristics from different manufacturers wherein a microcomputer 13 reads and uses the image control parameters and the tone control parameters from the ROM 14 to thereby issue a signal processing instruction to a video processing circuit 11 and an audio processing circuit 12 in order to approximate the image and tone of each manufacturer. This allows collective control of image and tone and also allows a user to select collectively controlled image and tone easily.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Patent number: 7468875
    Abstract: A microcomputer 60 takes in voltages output from the sustaining voltage Vsus generation circuit 52, the addressing voltage Vadd generation circuit 53, and the standby voltage generating circuit 54 via A/D input ports 1 through 6 mounted on the microcomputer board, and performs examinations to judge whether abnormal values are detected about the voltages. If there is at least one abnormal value detected, the main power supply is set OFF and after a predetermined time the main power supply is set ON again to perform a reexamination. If the number of times when abnormal values about a certain voltage are detected reaches the number of abnormal value detections N, the main power supply is left OFF. The number of abnormal value detections N for the Vsamp, the Vset, the Ve or the Vscan, is set larger than the number of abnormal value detections set for the Vsus or the Vadd.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2008
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20080068509
    Abstract: A television apparatus 100 is so designed as to store into ROM 14 the table that contains image control parameters and tone control parameters used for approximating the image and tone characteristics from different manufacturers wherein a microcomputer 13 reads and uses the image control parameters and the tone control parameters from the ROM 14 to thereby issue a signal processing instruction to a video processing circuit 11 and an audio processing circuit 12 in order to approximate the image and tone of each manufacturer. This allows collective control of image and tone and also allows a user to select collectively controlled image and tone easily.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2007
    Publication date: March 20, 2008
    Applicant: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20070146949
    Abstract: A microcomputer 60 takes in voltages output from the sustaining voltage Vsus generation circuit 52, the addressing voltage Vadd generation circuit 53, and the standby voltage generating circuit 54 via A/D input ports 1 through 6 mounted on the microcomputer board, and performs examinations to judge whether abnormal values are detected about the voltages. If there is at least one abnormal value detected, the main power supply is set OFF and after a predetermined time the main power supply is set ON again to perform a reexamination. If the number of times when abnormal values about a certain voltage are detected reaches the number of abnormal value detections N, the main power supply is left OFF. The number of abnormal value detections N for the Vsamp, the Vset, the Ve or the Vscan, is set larger than the number of abnormal value detections set for the Vsus or the Vadd.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2006
    Publication date: June 28, 2007
    Applicant: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shoichiro Nishimura
  • Patent number: 4911521
    Abstract: A connecting box for multi-optical fiber cables includes a plurality of container trays each adapted to contain surplus lengths of end portions of optical fibers, the plurality of trays being stacked one upon another. Each of the trays has a pair of receptive guide portions provided respectively at its opposite ends adjacent to one of the lateral sides of the trays so that each of the receptive guide portions can receive the optical fiber. Each tray is hingedly connected to each adjacent tray at the one lateral side thereof in a releasable manner. Each tray is pivotally movable with respect to each adjacent tray about an axis extending in the direction of said one lateral side. With this construction, the portions of the optical fibers extending outwardly from each receptive guide portion are not subjected to slack even when adjacent trays are pivotally moved away from and toward each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 1989
    Date of Patent: March 27, 1990
    Assignees: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., The Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiro Ryuto, Shoichiro Nishimura