Patents by Inventor Yuji Okugawa

Yuji Okugawa 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).

  • Patent number: 10289029
    Abstract: A developing device includes: a housing that contains a developing agent; a vibrator that vibrates the housing; and a hardware processor that controls the vibrator at a time when no image is being formed, with the housing mounted on an image forming apparatus, to vibrate the housing such that toner adhered inside the housing is dropped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Yuji Okugawa
  • Publication number: 20180024469
    Abstract: A developing device includes: a housing that contains a developing agent; a vibrator that vibrates the housing; and a hardware processor that controls the vibrator at a time when no image is being formed, with the housing mounted on an image forming apparatus, to vibrate the housing such that toner adhered inside the housing is dropped.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Publication date: January 25, 2018
    Inventor: Yuji OKUGAWA
  • Patent number: 9442413
    Abstract: In one aspect of the present invention, exposure timings for a plurality of light beams are adjusted on the basis of a toner concentration of a boundary part between line images formed by one light beam and line images formed by another light beam neighboring the one light beam and a toner concentration of a part except the boundary part in a pattern image. Here, in the pattern image, line images extending in the main-scan direction of a photoreceptor are formed while having a predetermined pitch in the sub-scan direction of the photoreceptor and also the boundary part is arranged so as to be shifted from the sub-scan direction of the photoreceptor, by an image forming section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yuji Okugawa, Katsuyuki Hirata
  • Publication number: 20150346627
    Abstract: In one aspect of the present invention, exposure timings for a plurality of light beams are adjusted on the basis of a toner concentration of a boundary part between line images formed by one light beam and line images formed by another light beam neighboring the one light beam and a toner concentration of a part except the boundary part in a pattern image. Here, in the pattern image, line images extending in the main-scan direction of a photoreceptor are formed while having a predetermined pitch in the sub-scan direction of the photoreceptor and also the boundary part is arranged so as to be shifted from the sub-scan direction of the photoreceptor, by an image forming section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2015
    Publication date: December 3, 2015
    Inventors: Yuji OKUGAWA, Katsuyuki HIRATA
  • Patent number: 8730292
    Abstract: A scanning optical device that scans a photoreceptor with laser light includes a light source, a light outputting section, and a projection. The laser light from the light source is output through the light outputting section so that the photoreceptor is irradiated with the laser light. The projection projects through a partition wall toward the photoreceptor. The light outputting section is disposed in a position separated from the photoreceptor by the partition wall. The projection contains a polygon motor that rotates a polygon mirror to reflect the laser light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Ryo Hasegawa, Shinji Morita, Yuji Okugawa, Shinichi Nagao
  • Publication number: 20120306989
    Abstract: A scanning optical device that scans a photoreceptor with laser light includes a light source, a light outputting section, and a projection. The laser light from the light source is output through the light outputting section so that the photoreceptor is irradiated with the laser light. The projection projects through a partition wall toward the photoreceptor. The light outputting section is disposed in a position separated from the photoreceptor by the partition wall. The projection contains a polygon motor that rotates a polygon mirror to reflect the laser light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2012
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Ryo HASEGAWA, Shinji MORITA, Yuji OKUGAWA, Shinichi NAGAO
  • Patent number: 8279250
    Abstract: A scanning optical device, comprises a light source to emit a light beam; a deflecting section to deflect the emitted light beam so as to scan; an optical element to make the scanning light beam to converge; and a correcting mechanism to correct an attitude of the optical element so as to adjust a convergence position of the scanning light beam; wherein at least a part of the correcting mechanism is arranged between the deflecting section and the optical element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Yuji Okugawa
  • Publication number: 20100289864
    Abstract: A scanning optical device, comprises a light source to emit a light beam; a deflecting section to deflect the emitted light beam so as to scan; an optical element to make the scanning light beam to converge; and a correcting mechanism to correct an attitude of the optical element so as to adjust a convergence position of the scanning light beam; wherein at least a part of the correcting mechanism is arranged between the deflecting section and the optical element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2010
    Publication date: November 18, 2010
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Yuji OKUGAWA
  • Patent number: 7009629
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including a photoreceptor having an image carrying surface, first and second exposing devices to expose the image carrying surface to form first and second latent images, and first and second developing devices to develop the first and second latent images to form first and second toner images on the image carrying surface. The first exposing device has a light source which emits a light beam, a deflector which deflects the light beam on the image carrying surface to form a scanning line, a first optical system to focus the light beam, and a first adjustor which adjusts an alignment between the first optical system and the image carrying surface for correcting variation of lateral magnification in the primary scanning direction of the optical system so that the first toner image and the second toner image are superposed on a recording sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2006
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Okugawa, Naoki Tajima, Masaaki Ikeda, Masahiro Shigetomi
  • Patent number: 6982736
    Abstract: The image forming apparatus has light beam passing from the deflector directly to the image carrying surface. The light beam is not bent to the image carrying surface. The apparatus detects movement of optical system and it uses the detected movement to correct the inclination of the optical system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2006
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Okugawa, Naoki Tajima, Masaaki Ikeda, Masahiro Shigetomi
  • Publication number: 20050078166
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises a photoreceptor having an image carrying surface, an exposing device to imagewise expose the image carrying surface to form a latent image, and a developing device to develop the latent image to form a toner image on the image carrying surface, wherein the exposing device is composed of a light source to emit a light beam, a deflector to deflect the light beam so as to form a scanning line with the light beam on the image carrying surface, a cylindrical lens provided between the deflector and the image carrying surface and to focus the light beam on the image carrying surface, and an adjusting mechanism to adjust an inclination of the scanning line and to adjust variance in magnification of an image on the scanning line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2004
    Publication date: April 14, 2005
    Applicant: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Okugawa, Naoki Tajima, Masaaki Ikeda, Masahiro Shigetomi
  • Publication number: 20030210320
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises a photoreceptor having an image carrying surface, an exposing device to imagewise expose the image carrying surface to form a latent image, and a developing device to develop the latent image to form a toner image on the image carrying surface, wherein the exposing device is composed of a light source to emit a light beam, a deflector to deflect the light beam so as to form a scanning line with the light beam on the image carrying surface, a cylindrical lens provided between the deflector and the image carrying surface and to focus the light beam on the image carrying surface, and an adjusting mechanism to adjust an inclination of the scanning line and to adjust variance in magnification of an image on the scanning line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2003
    Publication date: November 13, 2003
    Inventors: Yuji Okugawa, Naoki Tajima, Masaaki Ikeda, Masahiro Shigetomi
  • Patent number: 6600504
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus has a photoreceptor having a image carrying surface, an exposing device to imagewise expose the image carrying surface to form a latent image, and a developing device to develop the latent image to form a toner image on the image carrying surface. The exposing device has a light source which emits a light beam, a deflector which deflects the light beam to form a scanning line with the light beam on the image carrying surface, a cylindrical lens between the deflector and the image carrying surface which focuses the light beam on the image carrying surface, and an adjusting mechanism which adjusts an inclination of the scanning line and adjusts variance in magnification of an image on the scanning line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2003
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Okugawa, Naoki Tajima, Masaaki Ikeda, Masahiro Shigetomi
  • Publication number: 20020030725
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises a photoreceptor having an image carrying surface, an exposing device to imagewise expose the image carrying surface to form a latent image, and a developing device to develop the latent image to form a toner image on the image carrying surface, wherein the exposing device is composed of a light source to emit a light beam, a deflector to deflect the light beam so as to form a scanning line with the light beam on the image carrying surface, a cylindrical lens provided between the deflector and the image carrying surface and to focus the light beam on the image carrying surface, and an adjusting mechanism to adjust an inclination of scanning line and to adjust variance in magnification of an image on the scanning line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2001
    Publication date: March 14, 2002
    Inventors: Yuji Okugawa, Naoki Tajima, Masaaki Ikeda, Masahiro Shigetomi
  • Patent number: 6249305
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided which includes an image carrying member, a plurality of charging devices for charging the image carrying member, a plurality of laser exposing units for scanning the charged image carrying member with laser beams so as to form latent images at a predetermined position on the image carrying member, a plurality of developing devices for developing the latent images so as to form toner images, and a transfer section for transferring the toner images onto a sheet. The plurality of laser exposing units are vertically arranged and fixed to each other as a single body so that each laser beam of the laser exposing units is parallel to another laser beam with a predetermined interval.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2001
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Miyamoto, Masaaki Ikeda, Yuji Okugawa, Hajime Tanaka, Naoki Tajima, Masahiro Shigetomi