Patents by Inventor Tatsuhito Watanabe
Tatsuhito Watanabe 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).
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Patent number: 11740586Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a fixing unit, a plurality of exterior covers forming an exterior of the image forming apparatus, a fan configured to suck outside air into the image forming apparatus through an air intake port, a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the outside air sucked by the fan, and a partition member disposed upstream the temperature sensor and downstream the air intake port in an airflow generated by the fan, the partition member dividing an air intake path through which the outside air sucked through the air intake port passes into a first path passing through a fixing unit side and a second path passing through a temperature sensor side.Type: GrantFiled: May 3, 2022Date of Patent: August 29, 2023Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 11579552Abstract: A display device usable with an image forming apparatus includes a liquid crystal unit including a liquid crystal screen and a frame supporting the liquid crystal screen; a supporting member of metal supporting the liquid crystal unit; and an insulative spacer providing a space between the frame and the supporting member at a position of the frame corresponding to an outside area of a display area of the liquid crystal screen.Type: GrantFiled: November 30, 2020Date of Patent: February 14, 2023Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Tatsuhito Watanabe, Shingo Hattori
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Publication number: 20220365481Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a fixing unit, a plurality of exterior covers forming an exterior of the image forming apparatus, a fan configured to suck outside air into the image forming apparatus through an air intake port, a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the outside air sucked by the fan, and a partition member disposed upstream the temperature sensor and downstream the air intake port in an airflow generated by the fan, the partition member dividing an air intake path through which the outside air sucked through the air intake port passes into a first path passing through a fixing unit side and a second path passing through a temperature sensor side.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 3, 2022Publication date: November 17, 2022Inventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 11429055Abstract: A metal frame of an image forming apparatus includes a connecting member which is a metal plate and which connects first and second spaced apart support members which are constructed to support an image forming unit of the an image forming apparatus. The connecting member includes a first facing portion which faces a first region of the first support member around a slit portion thereof, and a fitted portion which is supported by an inner peripheral surface of the slit portion and is fitted into the slit portion in a plate thickness direction of the fitted portion. A width of the fitted portion in a direction vertical to a plate thickness direction of the first support member and the plate thickness direction of the fitted portion in the slit portion is less than or equal to a width of the slit portion in the vertical direction.Type: GrantFiled: August 27, 2020Date of Patent: August 30, 2022Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Tatsuhito Watanabe, Takahiro Kobayashi
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Publication number: 20210165354Abstract: A display device usable with an image forming apparatus includes a liquid crystal unit including a liquid crystal screen and a frame supporting the liquid crystal screen; a supporting member of metal supporting the liquid crystal unit; and an insulative spacer providing a space between the frame and the supporting member at a position of the frame corresponding to an outside area of a display area of the liquid crystal screen.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 30, 2020Publication date: June 3, 2021Inventors: Tatsuhito Watanabe, Shingo Hattori
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Publication number: 20210063946Abstract: A metal frame of an image forming apparatus including an image forming unit which forms an image on a sheet includes: a first support member which is a sheet plate supporting the image forming unit and has a slit portion formed therein, the slit portion being a through-hole; a second support member which is arranged with an interval from the first support member and supports the image forming unit together with the first support member; and a beam member which is a sheet metal connecting the first support member and the second support member to each other, wherein the beam member includes: a facing portion which faces a first region of the first support member around the slit portion; and a fitted portion which is supported by an inner peripheral end surface of the slit portion and is fitted into the slit portion in a plate thickness direction of the fitted portion, wherein a width of the fitted portion in a direction vertical to a plate thickness direction of the first support member and the plate thickneType: ApplicationFiled: August 27, 2020Publication date: March 4, 2021Inventors: Tatsuhito Watanabe, Takahiro Kobayashi
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Publication number: 20190094751Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming station configured to form a toner image on a recording material, a fixing portion configured to fix the toner image formed by the image forming station on the recording material, a selector configured to select a correction level for correcting a crease of an envelope by an operator, and a controller configured to control a fixing condition in response to the correction level selected on the selector.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 21, 2018Publication date: March 28, 2019Inventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 10234787Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming station configured to form a toner image on a recording material, a fixing portion configured to fix the toner image formed by the image forming station on the recording material, a selector configured to select a correction level for correcting a crease of an envelope, by an operator, and a controller configured to control a fixing condition in response to the correction level selected on the selector.Type: GrantFiled: July 12, 2017Date of Patent: March 19, 2019Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 10114329Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device, a fixing device including a first rotary member of which a surface layer containing a fluororesin is brought into contact with a sheet surface having an unfixed toner image formed by the image forming device, and a controller. In a case that image formation processing for continuously forming a toner image on a plurality of predetermined sheets is executed, the controller can control conveyance of a sheet so that a portion of the surface layer of the first rotary member which is brought into contact with a trailing edge of a preceding sheet is brought into contact with a margin area on a leading edge side on a next sheet.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 2017Date of Patent: October 30, 2018Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Takuma Tadomi, Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Publication number: 20180017911Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming station configured to form a toner image and a recording material; a fixing portion configured to fix the toner image formed by the image forming station on the recording material; a selector configured to select a correction level for correcting crease of an envelope, by an operator; and a controller configured to control a fixing condition in response to the correction level selected on the selector.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 12, 2017Publication date: January 18, 2018Inventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Publication number: 20170343938Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming device, a fixing device including a first rotary member of which a surface layer containing a fluororesin is brought into contact with a sheet surface having an unfixed toner image formed by the image forming device, and a controller. In a case that image formation processing for continuously forming a toner image on a plurality of predetermined sheets is executed, the controller can control conveyance of a sheet so that a portion of the surface layer of the first rotary member which is brought into contact with a trailing edge of a preceding sheet is brought into contact with a margin area on a leading edge side on a next sheet.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 22, 2017Publication date: November 30, 2017Inventors: Takuma Tadomi, Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 9274467Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a coil; a belt member; a first core and a second core which are provided inside the belt member; a contact member contacting an inner surface of the belt member along a widthwise direction of the belt member; a pressing member configured to press the belt member against the contact member; a core supporting member configured to support the first and second cores; a pressing mechanism configured to generate pressure for forming a nip; and an adjusting portion, provided on the core supporting member, configured to adjust the height of each of the first core and the second core so that the height of a supporting surface configured to support the first core and the height of a supporting surface for supporting the second core are different from each other with respect to a direction perpendicular to the supporting surfaces.Type: GrantFiled: March 16, 2012Date of Patent: March 1, 2016Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Suguru Takeuchi, Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 9256177Abstract: A fixing device causes an eccentric cam to perform a rotation step of 113° to shift from a pressurization releasing mode to a pressurization mode, and causes the eccentric cam to perform a rotation step of 263° to shift from a standby mode to the pressurization mode. A control unit activates a motor by setting a rotational speed of a rotational magnetic field of a stator to 600 rpm in the rotation step of 113° and to 1500 rpm in the rotation step of 263° so as to prevent the eccentric cam from receiving acceleration of a rotational direction from a pressure lever before a rotational speed of a rotor reaches a first rotational speed. Then, the control unit stops the rotational magnetic field of the stator based on an output of a photo interrupter.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 2013Date of Patent: February 9, 2016Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 9052657Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a belt member for heating an image on a recording material; a heater heating the belt member; a supporting portion, provided on an inner surface of the belt member, for detachably supporting the belt member; a temperature detecting member contacted to the inner surface of the belt member and elastically supported by the supporting portion; a controller for controlling energization to the heater on the basis of an output of the temperature detecting member; and an inclined surface, provided to the temperature detecting member, for guiding the temperature detecting member toward an inside of the belt member in contact with the belt member during a mounting operation of the belt member to the supporting portion.Type: GrantFiled: January 19, 2012Date of Patent: June 9, 2015Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Patent number: 8824925Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a heating unit including a rotatable image heating member; an induction heating unit for externally induction heating the image heating member; a nip forming member press-contacting an outer surface of the image heating member to form a nip therewith; a pressing member for pressing the heating unit to the nip forming member; a press releasing member for releasing a pressure of the pressing member to the heating unit; fastening means for fastening the heating unit and the induction heating unit together; and a force receiving portion, provided on the induction heating unit, for contacting the pressing member to move the heating unit away from the nip forming member when the press releasing member releases the heating unit from the pressure of the pressing member.Type: GrantFiled: December 12, 2011Date of Patent: September 2, 2014Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenjirou Sugaya, Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Publication number: 20140064763Abstract: A fixing device causes an eccentric cam to perform a rotation step of 113° to shift from a pressurization releasing mode to a pressurization mode, and causes the eccentric cam to perform a rotation step of 263° to shift from a standby mode to the pressurization mode. A control unit activates a motor by setting a rotational speed of a rotational magnetic field of a stator to 600 rpm in the rotation step of 113° and to 1500 rpm in the rotation step of 263° so as to prevent the eccentric cam from receiving acceleration of a rotational direction from a pressure lever before a rotational speed of a rotor reaches a first rotational speed. Then, the control unit stops the rotational magnetic field of the stator based on an output of a photo interrupter.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 3, 2013Publication date: March 6, 2014Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Publication number: 20120248097Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a coil; a belt member; a first core and a second core which are provided inside the belt member; a contact member contacting an inner surface of the belt member along a widthwise direction of the belt member; a pressing member for pressing the belt member against the contact member; a core supporting member for supporting the first and second cores; a pressing mechanism for generating pressure for forming a nip; and an adjusting portion, provided on the core supporting member, for adjusting a height of each of the first core and the second core so that a height of a supporting surface for supporting the first core and a height of a supporting surface for supporting the second core and different from each other with respect to a direction perpendicular to the supporting surfaces.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 16, 2012Publication date: October 4, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: SUGURU TAKEUCHI, Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Publication number: 20120201558Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a belt member for heating an image on a recording material; a heater means heating the belt member; a supporting portion, provided on an inner surface of the belt member, for detachably supporting the belt member; a temperature detecting member contacted to the inner surface of the belt member and elastically supported by the supporting portion; a controller for controlling energization to the heating means on the basis of an output of the temperature detecting member; and an inclined surface, provided to the temperature detecting member, for guiding the temperature detecting member toward an inside of the belt member in contact with the belt member during a mounting operation of the belt member to the supporting portion.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 19, 2012Publication date: August 9, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Tatsuhito Watanabe
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Publication number: 20120148304Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes a heating unit including a rotatable image heating member; an induction heating unit for externally induction heating the image heating member; a nip forming member press-contacting an outer surface of the image heating member to form a nip therewith; a pressing member for pressing the heating unit to the nip forming member; a press releasing member for releasing a pressure of the pressing member to the heating unit; fastening means for fastening the heating unit and the induction heating unit together; and a force receiving portion, provided on the induction heating unit, for contacting the pressing member to move the heating unit away from the nip forming member when the press releasing member releases the heating unit from the pressure of the pressing member.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 12, 2011Publication date: June 14, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kenjirou Sugaya, Tatsuhito Watanabe