Patents Assigned to Seiko Instruments Inc.
  • Patent number: 9721197
    Abstract: A control device comprises: a movement control unit configured to control movement of an object; a detecting unit configured to optically detect, at a specific position, the object moving through control by the movement control unit, to thereby output a detection voltage; and a movement amount determining unit configured to determine a movement amount of the object to be moved through the control by the movement control unit, based on a tendency of a change in the detection voltage when the object is moved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventor: Yohei Ishidoya
  • Patent number: 9709962
    Abstract: A time correction system includes a timepiece, and an electronic device that corrects the time of the timepiece. The electronic device includes a display unit, a time data acquisition unit, a control unit that causes the display unit to display an instruction time of the electronic timepiece, based on the current time, and that calculates a time correction amount from a difference between the current time and the instruction time, and a light source that transmits the time correction amount to the electronic timepiece. The electronic timepiece includes an input unit that receives an operation input for correcting the time displayed by a display unit, a solar cell that receives the time correction amount from the electronic device, and a control circuit that corrects the time displayed by an indicating hand of the display unit, based on the time correction amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Kenji Ogasawara, Akira Takakura, Kazuhiro Koyama, Tamotsu Maesawa
  • Patent number: 9711707
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an electronic device includes a through electrode forming step of forming a through electrode on an insulating base substrate; an electronic element mounting step of mounting an electronic element on one surface of the base substrate; a cover body placing step of bonding a cover body accommodating the electronic element; a conductive film forming step of forming a conductive film on the other surface of the base substrate and on an end face of the through electrode exposing on the other surface; an electrode pattern forming step of forming an electrode pattern on the end face of the through electrode and on the surface of the periphery of the end face while leaving the conductive film; and an external electrode forming step of forming an external electrode by accumulating an electroless plated film on the surface of the electrode pattern by an electroless plating method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventor: Atsushi Kozuki
  • Patent number: 9678477
    Abstract: A mechanical component configured to rotate with a shaft member includes a component main body having a through-hole through which the shaft member is passed, and one or more shaft support portions formed on the inner surface of the through-hole to fix the shaft member to the component main body. The one or more shaft support portions protrude from the inner surface of the through-hole and are capable of retaining the shaft member due to an elastic force. The one or more shaft support portions are made of material having a larger elongation percentage than that of the material of the component main body thereby preventing breakage of the mechanical component due to stress created when the shaft member is forced through the through-hole in the component main body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Sachiko Tanabe, Takashi Niwa, Masahiro Nakajima
  • Publication number: 20170131168
    Abstract: A pressure sensor which detects variation in pressure, the pressure sensor including a cantilever which bends according to a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of a cavity in a sensor main body, and a first gap, a second gap, and a third gap which are formed on a proximal end portion of the cantilever. The first to third gaps electrically partition the proximal end portion of the cantilever into a first support portion, a second support portion, a first displacement detection portion, and a second displacement portion in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction in which the proximal end portion and a distal end portion of the cantilever are connected to each other in plan view. The first and second displacement detection portions detect displacement according to the bending of the cantilever between the first and second support portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Publication date: May 11, 2017
    Applicants: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC., THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
    Inventors: Isao SHIMOYAMA, Kiyoshi MATSUMOTO, Hidetoshi TAKAHASHI, Minh-Dung NGUYEN, Takeshi UCHIYAMA, Manabu OUMI, Yoko SHINOHARA
  • Patent number: 9645117
    Abstract: A piezoelectric unit 1 includes a piezoelectric element that causes thickness shear vibration, a first electrode provided on one surface of the piezoelectric element, a second electrode and a third electrode which are provided on an opposite surface to the one surface which is provided with the first electrode of the piezoelectric element and are electrically insulated from each other, and a switching portion that is connected to the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode, in which the switching portion can switch measurement modes between a mass/viscoelasticity measurement mode for measuring mass of a substance which is in contact with the piezoelectric element or viscoelasticity by vibrating the piezoelectric element, and an electrical characteristic measurement mode for measuring electrical characteristics between the second electrode and the third electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Sachiko Tanabe, Masayuki Suda, Hiroshi Muramatsu
  • Patent number: 9645115
    Abstract: A QCM sensor for detecting a physical quantity of a sample includes a quartz crystal vibrator for measurement, a quartz crystal vibrator for reference, and a housing accommodating the quartz crystal vibrator for measurement and the quartz crystal vibrator for reference. The quartz crystal vibrator for measurement has a first electrode that is contacted by a measurement sample to be detected, and a first quartz substrate provided with a surface on which the first electrode is formed. The quartz crystal vibrator for reference has a second electrode that is contacted by a reference sample as a reference when detecting a physical quantity of the measurement sample, and a second quartz substrate provided with a surface on which the second electrode is formed. A confining portion connects to the housing to confine the reference sample in a state of contacting the second electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Sachiko Tanabe, Masayuki Suda, Hiroshi Muramatsu
  • Patent number: 9636030
    Abstract: There is provided a portable electronic apparatus including an apparatus main body that includes electronic components built therein, a fixation belt that is used to attach the apparatus main body to a living body surface, a connector that is provided at an end of the fixation belt in a belt longitudinal direction, and has an engagement protrusion that is detachably stored in an engagement recess formed at the apparatus main body, and a biasing body that is provided in the engagement recess, and biases the engagement protrusion stored in the engagement recess so as to maintain an engagement state between the engagement recess and the engagement protrusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Teruo Kato, Hideki Okuda, Dai Terasawa
  • Patent number: 9628281
    Abstract: A long-term signature verification server receives long-term signature data configured using signing target data, verification information for verifying the signing target data, and long-term verification information for verifying the authenticity of original data from a verifier terminal. The server verifies the signing target data and the verification information for a predetermined period of time, forms long-term verification information forming information by extracting predetermined information included in the long-term signature data, and transmits the long-term verification information forming information to the verifier terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Shinichi Murao, Masakazu Uehata, Koichi Shibata
  • Patent number: 9623672
    Abstract: A printing unit comprises: a main body frame; a platen roller removably mounted to the main body frame; a lock mechanism pivotably supported by the main body frame between a lock position at which the platen roller is rotatably held by the main body frame and an unlock position at which the platen roller is removable from the main body frame; a thermal head to be brought into pressure contact with an outer circumferential surface of the platen roller; a head support body configured to support the thermal head, the head support body being pivotably supported by the main body frame in such directions that the thermal head and the platen roller are brought closer to and away from each other; an urging member interposed between the lock mechanism and the head support body, the urging member being configured to urge the lock mechanism toward the lock position and urge the head support body in such a direction that the thermal head is brought closer to the platen roller; and a head pressing member configured to pre
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventor: Kazuyuki Aizawa
  • Patent number: 9621008
    Abstract: A power generator has a power generation unit for generating electric power, a rotary unit and a power transmission unit. The power generation unit includes a stator having a stator core and a rotor disposed in the stator. The rotor has a rotor shaft and a driven gear disposed on the rotor shaft and is configured to be driven to rotate the rotor shaft. The rotary unit has a driving gear for undergoing rotational movement to rotate the rotor shaft via the driven gear to generate electric power. The power transmission unit has an intermediate gear for transmitting a rotational force of the driving gear of the rotary unit to the driven gear of the rotor shaft. The intermediate gear has at least one rotary shaft disposed inside of the stator core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Makoto Suzuki, Fumiharu Iwasaki, Jun Shinohara, Shinji Kinoshia, Toru Ozaki, Norimasa Yanase
  • Patent number: 9604474
    Abstract: A printing unit comprises: a head unit; and a platen unit to be combined with the head unit. The platen unit includes: a pair of shaft support portions configured to individually support both end portions of the platen roller; and a coupling portion configured to bridge the pair of shaft support portions. The head unit includes an abutment portion provided to the head unit, which is configured to come into abutment against the coupling portion of the platen frame when the platen frame is located at the mounting position. A pressure-applying mechanism is provided between the platen frame and the subframe, which is configured to apply a pressure to the platen frame toward the abutment portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventor: Tomohiro Murata
  • Patent number: 9606756
    Abstract: A printing unit comprises: a communication unit configured to be connected to a communication line to which a plurality of print data transmission devices are connectable; a memory unit configured to store print data received by the communication unit; a printing unit including a roller mechanism for sending recording paper and being configured to drive a printing mechanism based on the print data stored in the memory unit to print on the recording paper; and a control unit configured to determine, in response to receiving a connection request from a first print data transmission device by the communication unit, whether or not the printing apparatus is connected to another print data transmission device for communication, cause the communication unit to send as a reply a first response for causing the first print data transmission device to wait to start transmission of print data when the printing apparatus is connected to the another print data transmission device for communication, and cause the communica
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventor: Ryuichi Oka
  • Patent number: 9600006
    Abstract: Provided is a voltage regulator having a simple circuit configuration in which a protection circuit is not erroneously operated, and delay time of activation of the protection circuit is short. The voltage regulator includes: a protection circuit configured to control an output transistor when an abnormality of the voltage regulator is detected; a first constant current circuit configured to supply operating current to the protection circuit; and a detection circuit configured to detect output current flowing through the output transistor, to thereby control the first constant current circuit. The detection circuit is further configured to detect the output current with a predetermined reference current value. The protection circuit is further configured to control the output transistor so that the output current does not fall below the reference current value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Tadashi Kurozo, Takao Nakashimo, Michiyasu Deguchi
  • Patent number: 9582227
    Abstract: A printing control system, including a printer control apparatus and a host control apparatus, the printer control apparatus including: a first communication unit configured to transmit to the host control apparatus a reception request signal, which is for prompting the host control apparatus to transmit a transmission request signal; and a second communication unit configured to transmit data to the host control apparatus when receiving the transmission request signal, the host control apparatus including: a third communication unit configured to receive the reception request signal; and a fourth communication unit configured to, when receiving the reception request signal, transmit the transmission request signal, which is for prompting the printer control apparatus to transmit the data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventor: Seiichi Jimbo
  • Patent number: 9581968
    Abstract: The present invention improves the weathering performance of a stopper structure preventing inadvertent rotation or a rotated body accommodated in a case. An operation member having a head portion rotated outside the case and a shaft portion inserted into a pipe so as to be movable between a first position and a second position that is outer than the first position. A stopper structure is provided inside the case to prevent rotation of the head portion when the operation member is positioned at the second position, whereas the stopper structure allows rotation of the head portion when the operation member is positioned at the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Haruki Hiranuma, Masahiro Ishida
  • Patent number: 9568887
    Abstract: To provide an operation stabilizing mechanism, a movement, and a mechanical timepiece allowing a reduction in size while achieving an enhancement in rate precision. An operation stabilizing mechanism includes: an outer carriage and an inner carriage provided so as to be mutually rotatable; a constant-force spring provided between the outer carriage and the inner carriage and configured to impart a rotational force to the inner carriage such that the inner carriage rotates with respect to the outer carriage; a stop wheel provided on the outer carriage; and a stopper configured to perform engaging and releasing operations on the stop wheel upon the rotation of the inner carriage, wherein the rotational axis of the outer carriage and the rotation axis of the inner carriage cross each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Takuma Kawauchiya, Masahiro Nakajima, Takashi Niwa, Masayuki Koda
  • Patent number: 9554769
    Abstract: The apparatus for assessing the risk of cerebrovascular diseases comprises a sensor part 1, a circuit part 2, a computation part 3 and an output part 4, where the circuit part 2 is a functional part for driving the sensor part 1 and transmitting a signal detected at the sensor part 1 to the computation part 3 and comprises a transmission circuit 21, a first receiving circuit 22, a second receiving circuit 23 and the like. The transmission circuit 21 is in connection with a transmission device 111 and a transmission device 121, for driving these devices to generate a continuous wave. A rate wave form computation part 31 is in connection with the first receiving circuit 22 and the second receiving circuit 23 to obtain the frequency of the reflected continuous wave as detected with the receiving units 112 and 122. Comparing the frequency with the frequency from the transmission circuit 21, the variation of the frequency is detected. Based on these values, blood flow rate ā€œvā€ can be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Tsutomu Kamei, Kohji Murata, Takahiko Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9551621
    Abstract: A pressure sensor includes a sensor body which has a first surface and a cavity with an opening in the first surface, a cantilever which has a base end portion supported on the first surface and a distal end portion provided to form a gap from a peripheral edge of the opening inside the opening, is flexurally deformed according to a pressure difference between an inside and an outside of the cavity, and is formed of a semiconductor material, and a displacement measurement unit which measures a displacement of the cantilever vibrating according to the pressure difference at a frequency larger than a lower limit frequency fLOW (Hz) defined by Expression (1), where a width (?m) of the gap is represented by G, a volume (ml) of the cavity is represented by V, and a proportional constant is represented by k.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignees: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC., THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
    Inventors: Isao Shimoyama, Kiyoshi Matsumoto, Hidetoshi Takahashi, Minh-Dung Nguyen, Yoko Shinohara, Takeshi Uchiyama, Manabu Oumi, Masataka Shinogi
  • Patent number: D785084
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventor: Hitoshi Azegami