Medium And Processing Means Patents (Class 347/101)
  • Patent number: 10990052
    Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes an image former and a detection sensor. The image former forms an image on paper delivered in a first paper delivery path. The detection sensor includes an irradiator and an acquirer. The irradiator and the acquirer are arranged at positions facing each other through the first paper delivery path. The irradiator irradiates the paper with a predetermined pattern image while the paper is passing through the detection sensor. The acquirer acquires a calculation image including a transmission image formed after the predetermined pattern image has been transmitted through the paper. In the image formation apparatus, the degree of image expansion is calculated from a predetermined area including the transmission image in the calculation image, and printing conditions are adjusted according to the degree of image expansion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takashi Usui
  • Patent number: 10974530
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a water-insoluble pattern on and/or within a substrate is described. Also described, is a substrate obtained by such a method, a product including such a substrate and the use of the substrate in different applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: OMYA INTERNATIONAL AG
    Inventors: Roger Bollström, Patrick A. C. Gane
  • Patent number: 10960692
    Abstract: A printer includes a printer main body that performs printing on a medium, a supporting frame that supports the printer main body from a lower side, a tension applying mechanism including a tension bar that comes into contact with a medium before printing and applies a tension to the medium, and a first roll attaching portion and a second roll attaching portion to which the medium before printing wound into a roll shape is attachable. The roll attaching portion, the tension bar, and the roll attaching portion are disposed on a back side of the supporting frame and are disposed in such order from a supporting frame side; and a medium after printing is wound into a roll shape on a front side of the supporting frame. The tension applying mechanism includes a frame having a guide groove for guiding the tension bar in a vertical direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tomonori Amari
  • Patent number: 10953667
    Abstract: In a printing method, such as inkjet printing, at least one layer, such as a decor, etc. is printed on a surface by actuating a subset of a total number of individually actuatable discharge openings defined in a discharge surface of a printhead to eject defined quantities of one or more liquids onto the surface. All of the discharge openings in the actuated subset are spaced from respective points of impingement of the liquids on the surface between minimum and maximum clearances (B, C) from the respective points of impingement. The minimum clearance (B) is a minimum flight distance that each of the defined liquid quantities respectively requires to transform from a liquid column ejected from the respective actuated discharge opening into a substantially spherical liquid droplet. The maximum clearance (C) exceeds the minimum clearance (B) by a predetermined distance (t).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: FPT ROBOTIK GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventor: Jörg R. Bauer
  • Patent number: 10946685
    Abstract: In one example, a process to solidify a water-based printing fluid printed on a substrate includes flushing nonvolatile solvent in the printing fluid into the substrate with the water in the printing fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Yubai Bi, Alex Veis, Gregg A. Lane, Jon A. Crabtree
  • Patent number: 10933677
    Abstract: Provided are a head unit, feeding rollers configured to feed a medium, a carriage configured to cause the head unit to perform scanning, and a control unit configured to control the head unit, the feeding rollers, and the carriage. The control unit performs recording with a first ink and a first reaction solution to form a first layer onto the medium by a first pass operation, performs recording with the first ink to form a second layer on the first layer by a second pass operation, performs recording with a second ink and a second reaction solution to form a third layer on the second layer by a third pass operation, and performs recording with the second ink to form a fourth layer on the third layer by a fourth pass operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kimitaka Kamijo
  • Patent number: 10926415
    Abstract: A robot system including a plurality of manipulation parts used to input a command of the specified character information, configured to send the input command of the specified character information to an information processing device, including a manipulation tool unit capable of manipulating the plurality of manipulation parts of the character input device; a robot arm unit capable of holding and moving the manipulation tool unit; an imaging device; a controller including: an imaging device control section to take an image of the paper document; a character string determiner section to determine an input target of the paper document; a manipulation part position determiner section corresponding to the character string; and a robot control section controlling the arm unit so the manipulation tool unit held by the arm unit moves while manipulating the manipulation part determined by the character string determiner section in an arrangement order of the character string.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Hashimoto, Shuhei Kuraoka, Shogo Hasegawa, Satoru Hibino, Hideshi Yamane, Hiroyuki Mizumoto, Kenji Bando, Daichi Himekawa, Junichi Matsuoka, Tatsuhiro Uto, Hiroki Kokushi, Souichi Tamada, Akihiro Haneda, Yukio Iwasaki
  • Patent number: 10908565
    Abstract: A calculation method includes: acquiring one or more sets of time-series data including a sample u0 of control input u, a sample ym0 of first output ym, and a sample yf0 of second output yf; and calculating a value ?* based on the time-series data, a transfer function C(?), and a model function Td that defines a normative value of the second output yf relative to a desired value r. The value ?* is a value of parameter ? that minimizes a control error and that is to be set to a control system. The control error is one of: an error between yf0 and a normative value of yf, the normative value of yf being calculated from C(?), Td, u0, and ym0; and an error between u0 and a normative value of the control input u, the normative value of u being calculated from C(?), Td, ym0, and yf0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Eisuke Takahashi
  • Patent number: 10906349
    Abstract: A method is provided for manufacturing a printed paper layer. The method may involve providing the paper layer with a printed pattern. Providing the printed pattern may involve depositing water based inks using a digital inkjet printer. The water based inks may be pigment containing inks. The dry weight of the deposited pigment containing inks may be lower than 9 grams per square meter. The paper layer may include an inkjet receiver coating, such that the inks are deposited on the inkjet receiver coating. The inkjet receiver coating may include a pigment having a pore volume of 0.5 to 3 ml/g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: UNILIN BV
    Inventor: Benjamin Clement
  • Patent number: 10875326
    Abstract: A system for printing at least one stretchable ink on a thermoformable substrate including an unwinder arranged to feed the thermoformable substrate from a first roll into a web drive subsystem, a surface energy modification device arranged to alter a substrate surface energy to enhance wetting and adhesion of the at least one stretchable ink to the thermoformable substrate, at least one printhead array arranged to deposit the at least one stretchable ink on the thermoformable substrate, at least one radiation curing device arranged to cure the at least one stretchable ink on the thermoformable substrate, a sensor array arranged to monitor the at least one stretchable ink on the thermoformable substrate, and a rewinder arranged to receive the thermoformable substrate and to form the thermoformable substrate into a second roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Steven R. Moore, Xin Yang, Alexander J. Fioravanti, Paul J. McConville, Vincent M. Williams, David P. Lomenzo, Michael F. Leo, Jason O'Neil, Wayne A. Buchar
  • Patent number: 10857798
    Abstract: A cap is positioned to contact a printhead when the printhead is not ejecting liquid ink. The cap and the printhead create a sealed space adjacent printhead nozzles when contacting each other. A heated evaporator is connected to the cap and is adapted to evaporate an ink-compatible liquid to form a water and/or solvent vapor and supply the water and/or solvent vapor to the sealed space to protect the liquid ink in the nozzles. An insulator thermally insulates the heated evaporator from the printhead. This prevents the ink in the nozzles from drying and prevents the nozzles from clogging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Paul J. McConville, Jason M. LeFevre, Michael J. Levy, Seemit Praharaj, Chu-heng Liu, David A. VanKouwenberg, Linn C. Hoover, Douglas K. Herrmann
  • Patent number: 10850532
    Abstract: To allow printing through a more appropriate method when carrying out printing using a two-liquid type ink. A fixing agent amount setting method of setting a usage amount of a fixing agent, which is liquid for fixing an ink, which is a colored ink, on a medium, where a fixing agent density, which is an amount of the fixing agent to eject per unit area is made to correspond with a colored ink density, which is an amount of the ink to eject per unit area, and set to a value smaller than or equal to an upper limit value of a fixing agent density corresponding to a maximum fixing agent density at which color unevenness does not occur on the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Misaki Watanabe
  • Patent number: 10850537
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid ejecting apparatus including a liquid ejecting unit configured to eject a liquid onto a medium (sheet) being transported in a transport direction, and a medium supporting unit arranged to face the liquid ejecting unit and configured to support the sheet being transported, wherein the medium supporting unit includes, in a width direction intersecting the transport direction, a plurality of first ribs arranged in parallel with the transport direction at an upstream side of a region (print region), where the liquid ejecting unit performs ejection onto the sheet. In addition, the liquid ejecting apparatus further includes a suction mechanism, and the medium supporting unit includes, at the upstream side, a recessed portion sectioned by the first ribs, the recessed portion including a suction hole for causing a suction force by the suction mechanism to be applied onto the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru Shiohara, Takehito Washizawa
  • Patent number: 10843477
    Abstract: A makeup fluid is added to an ink liquid of an inkjet printer to reduce the viscosity of the ink liquid, the makeup fluid including a fluorescent color material in a solvent. An inkjet printer apparatus employing a makeup fluid is provided with a makeup fluid tank to which a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are attached, and detects the presence or absence of the makeup fluid by irradiating ultraviolet light from the light-emitting element, causing visible light to be emitted from the fluorescent color material in the makeup fluid, and detecting the visible light with the light-receiving element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takuya Otowa, Masahiko Ogino, Hiroshi Sasaki, Takahiro Arima, Keisuke Nagai, Hiromichi Takeyama, Shengnan Hua
  • Patent number: 10843456
    Abstract: A printer drying device includes a first drying unit having a first row of energy emitting elements to dry a printing substance on a printing medium, the energy emitting elements connected in series along a medium transport direction of the printing medium; and a second drying unit having a second row of energy emitting, the energy emitting elements of the second row being connected in series along the medium transport direction and being located downstream in the medium transport direction from the first row of energy emitting elements. The first and second drying units are electrically connected in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: HP SCITEX LTD.
    Inventors: Semion Birger, Alex Veis
  • Patent number: 10843495
    Abstract: A power supply device includes a power supply line, control circuitry, and a first switch. The power supply line supplies voltage from a first power supply unit to a load. The control circuitry controls voltage supply from the first power supply unit. The first switch is connected between a second power supply unit and the control circuitry. The control circuitry causes the first power supply unit to start the voltage supply on condition that the first switch is in a closed state and a voltage of the power supply line is not greater than a first threshold voltage, and causes the first power supply unit to start the voltage supply on condition that the voltage of the power supply line is not greater than a second threshold voltage higher than the first threshold voltage when the first switch changes from an open state to the closed state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Kobayashi, Hirohito Murate, Seiichi Ishiduka
  • Patent number: 10821478
    Abstract: Printed transactional documents are enclosed in a document size-inclusive envelope that gives the appearance of being a traditional windowed envelope in which the send address shows through from the address vehicle page inside, but actually has the address printed on an adhered patch that shows through the window, keeping the data inside more protected and allowing production processes to be more efficient, and the patch or envelope has a serialized identifier that ensures the address printed on the patch and seen in the window corresponds with the document on the inside.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: Broadridge Customer Communications, LLC
    Inventor: Frank W. Delfer
  • Patent number: 10821731
    Abstract: A cap is positioned to contact a printhead when the printhead is not ejecting liquid ink. The cap and the printhead create a sealed space adjacent printhead nozzles when contacting each other. A heated evaporator is connected to the cap and is adapted to evaporate an ink-compatible liquid to form a water and/or solvent vapor and supply the water and/or solvent vapor to the sealed space to protect the liquid ink in the nozzles. An insulator thermally insulates the heated evaporator from the printhead. This prevents the ink in the nozzles from drying and prevents the nozzles from clogging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Paul J. McConville, Jason M. LeFevre, Michael J. Levy, Seemit Praharaj, Chu-heng Liu, David A. VanKouwenberg, Linn C. Hoover, Douglas K. Herrmann
  • Patent number: 10814639
    Abstract: To allow printing through a more appropriate method when carrying out printing using a two-liquid type ink. A fixing agent amount setting method of setting a usage amount of a fixing agent, which is liquid for fixing an ink, which is a colored ink, on a medium, where a fixing agent density, which is an amount of the fixing agent to eject per unit area is made to correspond with a colored ink density, which is an amount of the ink to eject per unit area, and set to a value smaller than or equal to an upper limit value of a fixing agent density corresponding to a maximum fixing agent density at which color unevenness does not occur on the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Misaki Watanabe
  • Patent number: 10807389
    Abstract: A recording device comprising a driving roller configured to be driven by receiving a drive force from a drive source and transport a medium in a transport direction, a frame located below the driving roller and including an attachment surface extending in a device height direction intersecting the transport direction, and a driving roller support member configured to support the driving roller. The driving roller support member is removably attached to the attachment surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Shun Ito
  • Patent number: 10800187
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit to form an image on a recording medium by discharging liquid droplets onto the medium; and a media heater to heat the medium by contacting a rear surface of the medium opposite a surface of the medium on which the image is formed, in which the media heater includes a contact member with a contact surface having a predetermined curvature that the medium contacts, the contact member is a roller member, and the medium closely contacts the contact surface of the contact member across an entire width of the medium in a direction perpendicular to the media conveyance direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Hoshino, Kenji Sato, Hirokazu Ikenoue, Satoshi Kitaoka, Hideaki Nishimura, Yoko Ishii
  • Patent number: 10780719
    Abstract: An inkjet printing device includes an ink container accommodating a non-aqueous clear ink containing a resin and an organic solvent, a discharging head to discharge the non-aqueous clear ink directly or indirectly onto a substrate to form printed matter; and a heating device to heat the substrate, wherein the following relationship is satisfied: Tlow (° C.)>Thigh (° C.), where Tlow represents the temperature of the substrate that the heating device is heating during printing in a low gloss printing mode in which the non-aqueous clear ink is directly or indirectly discharged and attached to the substrate to impart low gloss to the printed matter and Thigh represents the temperature of the substrate that the heating device is heating during printing in a high gloss printing mode in which the non-aqueous clear ink is directly or indirectly discharged and attached to the substrate to impart high gloss to the printed matter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Takahashi, Kiminori Masuda, Mio Akima
  • Patent number: 10781621
    Abstract: A hinge device for opening and closing a relatively lightweight cover, as well as office equipment using such a hinge device. A hinge device includes an attaching part attached to the office equipment side, the supporting part attached to the cover side, a hinge shaft for rotatably coupling the attaching part and the supporting part, a slider provided inside the supporting part so as to be slidable in a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the hinge shaft, a cam portion formed on the attaching part, a cam bearing portion formed on the slider, an urging means for urging the slider toward the attaching member and bringing the cam bearing portion into a pressurized contact with the cam portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: KEM HONGKONG LIMITED
    Inventor: Tetsuo Kondo
  • Patent number: 10766276
    Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus that performs printing by ejecting ink from an ink jet head onto a print medium includes a drying unit for drying a liquid which is contained in the print medium, a table on which the print medium is placed; and a gas flow generating unit for generating a gas flow in a space which is formed between the table and a surface of the print medium toward the side of the table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: RISO KAGAKU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Katsuhiko Matsunaga
  • Patent number: 10759195
    Abstract: In one example, a system for a partially dried inkjet media conditioner includes a heated pressure roller to apply pressure to a first side of partially dried inkjet media and apply heat to a second side of the partially dried inkjet media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Alan Shibata, Matthew Raisanen
  • Patent number: 10759196
    Abstract: A recording device includes a carriage including a recording head configured to discharge liquid onto a medium and being movable in an intersecting direction, the intersecting direction intersecting a transport direction of the medium, a suction platen facing the recording head and being configured to suck the medium, a transport mechanism provided upstream from the suction platen in the transport direction and configured to transport the medium downstream in the transport direction, a drying unit located downstream from the recording head in the transport direction, a medium suction mechanism configured to suck the medium fed to the drying unit, and a controller configured to control the transport mechanism. The controller is configured to form a curved portion by curving between the drying unit and the suction platen in the transport direction, a part of the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shuichiro Nakano, Tomohiro Yoda, Katsuya Asamoto
  • Patent number: 10744540
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods, devices and systems to cause differential evaporation of micro-droplets in a scalable fashion. In some embodiments, an attenuated laser is used to focus an attenuated laser power to the center of an aqueous solution droplet, producing a differential evaporative flux profile that is peaked at the droplet apex. The laser-induced differential evaporation described herein is a breakthrough in the enrichment and focused deposition of water-soluble molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, inks, and other small molecules. Disclosed is a general solution to remove the “coffee-ring effect”, ubiquitous in the drying process of aqueous droplets that causes many adverse outcomes. The disclosed techniques enable new paradigms in liquid biopsy combinational analysis, microarray fabrication, and ink-jet printing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Yu-Hwa Lo, Tony Minghung Yen
  • Patent number: 10745225
    Abstract: A printing apparatus has a conveyance roller and a driven roller disposed upstream of a print head in the first direction, a platen facing the print head and supporting the print medium, a producing unit producing a holding force for holding the print medium at the platen. A conveyance operation includes a first conveyance operation in which the print medium is conveyed without any release from between the conveyance roller and the driven roller and a second conveyance operation in which the print medium is released from between the conveyance roller and the driven roller. A rotation amount of the conveyance roller during the second conveyance operation is increased than that during the first conveyance operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takakazu Ohashi, Kouhei Tokuda
  • Patent number: 10717300
    Abstract: An inkjet printer capable of suppressing temperature unevenness of a drying drum itself as much as possible having a printing part for applying ink to a medium before printing, a drying drum for heating and drying a medium after printing having the ink applied in contact with an outer circumferential face thereof, and a controller capable of individually controlling heating of a plurality of sections obtained by dividing the drying drum along a plane perpendicular to a shaft direction thereof. Each of the respective sections is mounted with a heater part capable of heating the corresponding section, and heating of the heater parts of all of the sections is continuously controlled individually by the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: MIYAKOSHI PRINTING MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hideo Izawa, Seiji Komatsuda, Eiichi Tamura
  • Patent number: 10717303
    Abstract: Inkjet printer (1) operable to print a print substrate (2), and provided with a sliding transfer surface (10) to feed the print substrate (2); a printing device (17) arranged above the transfer surface (10) to define, on the transfer surface (10), a printing station (19); suction device (20) arranged below the transfer surface (10) to maintain the print substrate (2) adhering to and stationary with respect to the transfer surface (10) during sliding; and an adjustment assembly (39) to adjust planarity of the transfer surface (10); the printer further includes masking plates (38) in the lateral parts of the transfer surface (10) for optimising suction efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: ALEPH S.R.L.
    Inventor: Roberto Manes
  • Patent number: 10703096
    Abstract: A detecting device is configured to detect a discharge state of droplets from a discharging head configured to discharge droplets onto a medium. A detecting device includes an irradiation unit configured to irradiate the medium on which a predetermined pattern is recorded with the droplets with irradiation light, and to scan the medium with the irradiation light in a scanning direction, a light-receiving unit configured to receive reflected light which is the irradiation light reflected by the medium, and to output a signal indicating intensity of the reflected light, and a control unit configured to perform determination process for determining a discharge state of the droplets onto the medium by using intensity change of the reflected light in scanning the predetermined pattern in the scanning direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shuji Otsuka, Seiichi Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 10703118
    Abstract: A medium feeding apparatus includes a feeding roller which feeds a medium unwound from a roll body around which the medium is wound, a roll motor which applies torque for rotating the roll body to the roll body, and a roll control portion which controls the roll motor at the time of a feeding operation based on effective tension calculated by acquiring a feeding amount of the medium fed at each of a plurality of acquiring timings included in a pre-feeding operation, which is a feeding operation performed in advance, acquiring tension applied to the medium between the roll body and the feeding roller between a plurality of the acquiring timings, and weighting a plurality of the acquired tensions with the corresponding feeding amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Toru Hayashi
  • Patent number: 10688819
    Abstract: In a printing method, a coating substance is applied onto the recording medium depending on spatially resolved temperature data with regard to the temperature of the surface of a recording medium to be printed to in preparation for printing of a print image. The quality of the print image may thus be increased, in particular given the presence of an inhomogeneous curve of the temperature of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Production Printing Holding B.V.
    Inventor: Thomas Montag
  • Patent number: 10688805
    Abstract: An automated method for depositing colored thermoset resin dots on a metal surface for color coding metal surfaces, such as surfaces on surgical instruments. A liquid one component heat curing thermoset resin is combined with a colored pigment to form a colored liquid thermoset resin. A metal surface is pretreated by spraying with a surface activating agent. Thereafter, one or more drops of the colored thermoset resin are dispensed onto the surface and then heat cured (hardened), thereby forming colored thermoset resin dots. A chemical bond is formed between the colored thermoset resin and the metal, thereby making the thermoset resin dots adhere strongly and permanently to the surface. The method is fully automated with a 3-D colored dot printer and spray dispenser. The colored thermoset resin dots will not flake, peel, or turn up at the edges, thus making them useful for coding surgical instruments. The method does not require any special skill or training.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Inventors: Renato Kurt Gross, Farrell E. Robinson
  • Patent number: 10682868
    Abstract: A heating device includes rollers, a heating belt, a heater and a hardware processor. The heating belt is in partial contact with an image generation face of a recording medium and extends over the rollers and circulating in cooperation with the rollers. The heater heats the heating belt. The hardware processor modifies an area of contact between the recording medium and the heating belt. At least two rollers are disposed along a traveling direction of the heating belt and are urged to the recording medium with intermediation of the heating belt. The hardware processor modifies the area of the contact by modifying a distance between a first roller and a second roller among the at least two rollers, the first and second rollers being respectively disposed most upstream and most downstream in the travelling direction of the heating belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Takanobu Shiki, Masashi Sugano, Takashi Nara
  • Patent number: 10661585
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a pair of support frames, an opening and closing door and a positioning structure. The support doors are arranged oppositely at both sides of an opening. The opening and closing door is supported by one of the pair of support frames via a turning shaft and turns around the turning shaft between a closing position and an opening position. The positioning structure positions the opening and closing door to the pair of support frames by engaging a convex part or a concave part provided in the pair of support frames with a concave part or a convex part provided in the opening and closing door in a state where the opening and closing door is turned to the closing position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Masato Onishi
  • Patent number: 10654291
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a support member including a curved surface that supports a recording medium conveyed in a predetermined conveyance direction, a discharging head that discharges liquid from a nozzle of a nozzle surface disposed in a position facing the support member to print an image on the recording medium on the curved surface, an irradiation section that includes a housing and a light emitting section and that irradiates the recording medium on the curved surface with light emitted from the light emitting section via an irradiation port, and a light-shielding plate disposed between the discharging head and the irradiation section. The housing of the irradiation section is disposed in a position farther from the curved surface than a virtual tangent plane that passes through a portion of the nozzle surface being farthest from the irradiation port and that contacts a lower end of the light-shielding plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kazutoshi Fujisawa
  • Patent number: 10647129
    Abstract: A printing method includes applying a processing fluid to a recording medium and applying an ink to the recording medium, wherein the processing fluid contains a first nonionic resin including the following structure unit a-1, the first nonionic resin having a glass transition temperature of 15 degrees C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsufumi Hanazawa, Hiroshi Gotou, Tsutomu Maekawa, Yukitaka Watarai, Koji Katsuragi, Tomohiro Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 10639911
    Abstract: The ink is discharged to the printing medium F located in the first range R1 from the upstream end Wuu of the upstream winding part Wu where the support roller 26a and the printing medium F are in contact to the downstream end Wdd of the downstream winding part Wd where the support roller 26e and the printing medium F are in contact. The support rollers 26a, 26e located on both ends of the first range R1 are in contact with the printing medium F on the peripheral surfaces 261 having such a concave shape to increase the diameter from the center toward the ends in the width direction Y (axial direction). This causes these support rollers 26a, 26e to suppress the formation of wrinkles in the first range R1 where the ink is discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Kajiya
  • Patent number: 10632744
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus has a recording head, a thermal head, and a heat control portion. The recording head has an ink discharge surface. The thermal head is arranged opposite the ink discharge surface across a recording medium conveyance passage, and heats the recording medium. The thermal head is provided with a plurality of element arrays in the width direction, the element arrays each having a plurality of heating elements arrayed in the recording medium conveyance direction. The heat control portion makes generate heat at least some heating elements in the element arrays corresponding to the ink discharge ports through which ink is discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventors: Mitsuko Miyata, Erika Tanaka
  • Patent number: 10618333
    Abstract: An image forming method, includes: forming a precoat layer by applying a precoat agent onto a front surface of an intermediate transfer body; forming an ink layer by applying an ink onto a front surface of the formed precoat layer, according to an ink jet method; and transferring the formed precoat layer and ink layer to a recording medium, wherein a contact angle of the precoat agent with respect to the front surface of the intermediate transfer body is less than a contact angle of the ink with respect to the front surface of the intermediate transfer body, and a viscosity of the precoat agent is lower than a viscosity of the ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Midori Shimomura, Yusuke Nishisaka, Taiya Munenaka, Yukimasa Azuma, Kuniya Matsuura
  • Patent number: 10611182
    Abstract: Various shielding systems to shield printer heads, extrusion nozzles and extrusion nozzle openings from direct or reflected impingement thereupon of curing radiation so that to prevent undesired inadvertent curing of material residues adhered to the external surface of the printer extrusion nozzle and/or inside the nozzle opening forming cured residues that may compromise the accuracy of the printing process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Massivit 3D Printing Technologies LTD.
    Inventors: Aharon Weiss, Yoav Miller, Yoav Aboudi
  • Patent number: 10611158
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head which performs a printing by ejecting liquid onto a medium from a nozzle, a wiping portion which wipes the liquid ejecting head by moving relative to the liquid ejecting head, a maintenance unit which performs a maintenance to forcibly discharge the liquid from the nozzle, and a preprocessing device which performs a preprocessing on the medium before the printing is performed, in which when the wiping portion and the liquid ejecting head are separated from each other in the wiping not accompanying the maintenance, the wiping portion is displaced in a direction away from the preprocessing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Nakamura, Izumi Nozawa
  • Patent number: 10596838
    Abstract: In a printing apparatus, a platen configured to support a sheet to be printed includes an ink receiver configured to receive ink discharged from a print head. The ink receiver includes a plurality of first ink grooves and a plurality of second ink grooves configured to guide the received ink, the second ink grooves having a tilt angle greater than that of the first ink grooves. The platen includes an absorber configured to absorb the ink received by the ink receiver, the absorber being arranged on a back side of the ink receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masakazu Tsukuda, Atsushi Kohnotoh, Tsuyoshi Yoshida, Yuki Emoto, Koki Shimada, Kuniaki Sato, Yasufumi Tanaami, Kanto Kurasawa, Katsuyuki Yokoi
  • Patent number: 10562294
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus has a recording head, a thermal head, and a heat control portion. The recording head has an ink discharge surface. The thermal head is arranged opposite the ink discharge surface across a recording medium conveying passage and heats a recording medium. In the thermal head, a plurality of element arrays each formed of a plurality of heating elements arrayed in the recording medium conveying direction are provided in the width direction. The heat control portion makes at least part of the heating elements in the element arrays that correspond to the ink discharge ports that discharge ink generate heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Mitsuko Miyata, Erika Tanaka
  • Patent number: 10556449
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a conveyor to repeat conveyance of a recording medium by a predetermined distance and stop of conveyance of the recording medium; a liquid discharge head to discharge a liquid onto the recording medium; an irradiation device disposed downstream from the liquid discharge head in a direction of conveyance of the recording medium, to irradiate, with an electromagnetic wave, the recording medium onto which the liquid has been discharged by the liquid discharge head; and circuitry configured to control the irradiation device to irradiate the recording medium. The circuitry is configured to set a first irradiation amount during the stop of conveyance to a larger value than a value of a second irradiation amount during the conveyance of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Junji Nakai, Masafumi Yamada
  • Patent number: 10556456
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a supporting section configured to support a medium; a first ejecting section capable of ejecting a pretreatment liquid onto the medium supported by the supporting section; a first holding section configured to hold the first ejecting section; and a leveling section provided on the first holding section and being capable of moving between a leveling position in contact with an ejection region to which the pretreatment liquid is ejected and a non-leveling position in non-contact with the ejection region of the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Nobuhiko Hamada
  • Patent number: 10556451
    Abstract: A recording apparatus include a recording head that performs recording by ejecting ink onto paper from a plurality of nozzles, in which both a length of a first curved path in a first reverse path and a length of a second curved path in a second reverse path are longer than a distance of a head surface having a plurality of nozzles from a nip position in the pair of first feed rollers that transports paper toward the recording head to a position on the most downstream side in the medium transport direction. Further, a curvature of the second curved path is configured to be longer than a curvature of the first curved path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Atsushi Sumii
  • Patent number: 10550521
    Abstract: A 1-ply toilet paper includes a leaf bleached kraft pulp and a needle bleached kraft pulp, as constituting fibers, mass % of the needle bleached kraft pulp being 15 to 55 mass %; 0.024 to 0.075 mass %, with respect to a mass of the pulps, of a fatty acid ester series compound; and 0.015 to 0.075 mass %, with respect to the mass of the pulps, of a fatty acid amide series compound, wherein a basis weight is 21.0 to 22.5 g/m2, wherein a paper thickness is 110 to 155 ?m, wherein a degree of elongation is 14 to 25%, wherein an MMD is less than 9.3, wherein dry tensile strength in a longitudinal direction is 245 to 330 cN/25 mm, and wherein dry tensile strength in a lateral direction is 85 to 135 cN/25 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: DAIO PAPER CORPORATION
    Inventor: Takahisa Koroki
  • Patent number: 10543684
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an ink-jet printing apparatus that is capable of obtaining printed materials that are free of occurrence of color migration and have good appearance even when printed on a resin printing medium using a water-based ink, and an ink-jet printing method. The present invention provides an ink-jet printing apparatus including an ink-jet printing head that ejects a water-based ink onto a resin printing medium that is transported in a feeding direction thereof, and an under heater that heats the printing medium from a rear side surface of the printing medium opposed to a front side surface thereof which faces to the ink-jet printing head, in which the under heater is disposed at a position spaced at a distance of from 0.05 to 3.0 mm apart from the rear side surface of the printing medium upon printing, and an ink-jet printing method using the ink-jet printing apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignees: KAO CORPORATION, THINK LABORATORY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuta Matsumoto, Kazuki Watanabe, Yasufumi Ueda, Tatsuo Shigeta