Patents Examined by Anh T. N. Vo
  • Patent number: 10016993
    Abstract: Mechanisms for adjusting the position of one or more print heads at an extremely fine resolution (e.g., less than 10 ?m) are described herein. The adjustment mechanisms include a differential screw and an indexing wheel through which the differential screw extends. One threaded segment of the differential screw is connected to a threaded feature of a flexible body that is coupled to the print head(s), while another threaded segment of the differential screw is connected to a threaded feature of a rigid body that is coupled to a printer assembly. As the indexing wheel and differential screw rotate, the space between the flexible body and the rigid body changes based on the difference between the pitches of the threaded segments. The adjustment mechanisms described herein utilize the accurate, consistent motion of the flexible body upon experiencing pressure to effect predictable changes in the position of the print head(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING, INC.
    Inventor: John A. Weismantel
  • Patent number: 10016981
    Abstract: An aqueous ink set for ink jet recording includes an aqueous pigment ink containing water and a pigment as a coloring agent and an aqueous dye ink containing water and a dye as a coloring agent, in which the concentration of the divalent metal ions of the pigment ink is 10 ppm or more, and the potassium ion concentration of the dye ink is 50 ppm or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shintaro Hama, Ryosuke Teramoto, Yuho Miyake, Tetsuya Aoyama
  • Patent number: 10011665
    Abstract: A photocurable composition containing a photopolymerizable compound and a photoinitiator, wherein the photopolymerizable compound is a radically polymerizable monomer and the photoinitiator is a photoradical initiator. The photocurable composition is characterized by additionally contains a metal chelate compound, wherein the center metal element in the metal chelate compound is selected from metal elements belonging to Group 2, Group 4, Group 8 and Group 13 and the metal chelate compound is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 5% by mass inclusive relative to the whole mass of the photocurable composition. Thus, it becomes possible to provide: a photocurable composition which has sustained adhesiveness and does not undergo shrinking upon curing; and a photocurable inkjet ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Masashi Miyano, Takayuki Toeda
  • Patent number: 10011125
    Abstract: There is provided a recording system including: a first linking portion which regulates a position of a housing with respect to the other housing and links the housing and the other housing; and a second linking portion which regulates a position of the housing with respect to the other housing, applies a load received from the other housing to the housing, and links the housing and the other housing to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yuichi Segawa, Hirohisa Adachi
  • Patent number: 10011127
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a housing, a conveying unit configured to unwind a portion of a rolled sheet and convey the unwound sheet, a printing unit configured to print an image on the unwound sheet, a cutter configured to cut off a portion of the unwound sheet, and a sheet sensor configured to detect a portion of the unwound sheet conveyed out of the housing and, upon detecting the portion, output a detection signal that causes the cutter to cut off the unwound sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takashi Goto
  • Patent number: 10000078
    Abstract: A printer apparatus includes a printer main body having a platen roller and a print head to print on recording paper, a cutter unit configured to cut the recording paper, and a presenter unit connected to the cutter unit, wherein the recording paper on which the print head has printed enters the presenter unit through the cutter unit, and comes out from a discharge slot of the presenter unit, wherein the presenter unit includes a first roller and a second roller configured to convey the recording paper placed therebetween, and a flapper disposed along a transportation path of the recording paper between the cutter unit and both the first roller and the second roller, and configured to be flipped open to an outside of the presenter unit to expose the transportation path, wherein an angle at which the flapper is open is selectively set to one of a plurality of different angles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: FUJITSU COMPONENT LIMITED
    Inventors: Tetsuhiro Ishikawa, Sumio Watanabe, Yukihiro Mori, Masahiro Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 9994013
    Abstract: A composite apparatus includes a recording device, a reading device that is disposed on the recording device and is able to read an image, a recording portion that is disposed within the recording device and is able to perform printing by ejecting ink on a paper sheet P, and a liquid accommodating portion that is disposed on a side portion of the recording device and which accommodates the ink to be supplied to the recording portion, in which the reading device is disposed such that a part of the reading device protrudes from the recording device to above the liquid accommodating portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Nakazawa, Yoshikane Tsuchihashi
  • Patent number: 9996774
    Abstract: A method of controlling a printer to print a pattern using a number of print head dies, each print head die including a number of nozzle trenches wherein each one of the number of nozzle trenches is associated with a different color, wherein the nozzles of neighboring dies overlap in respective overlap zones, the method comprising applying masks to the nozzles of neighboring dies in the respective overlap zones to distribute, in the overlap zones, the pattern to be printed between the nozzles of the respective neighboring dies, wherein the masks, in the overlap zones, retain the order in which the nozzles of selected nozzle trenches associated with a selected one of the colors are fired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Leticia Rubio, Isabel Borrell, Montserrat Solano
  • Patent number: 9994040
    Abstract: The liquid ejection apparatus includes a circulation unit configured to circulate a liquid along a circulation passage extending from a liquid supply source to the liquid supply source through a liquid ejection head. Further, the liquid ejection apparatus includes a deaeration unit configured to perform a deaeration operation of decreasing a dissolved gas amount of the liquid, a recovery unit configured to recover ejection performance of an ejection opening, and a control unit configured to control an operation of driving the circulation unit and the deaeration unit. The control unit starts the deaeration operation and circulates the liquid having been deaerated by the deaeration operation inside a circulation path after the recovery operation and before an initial printing operation after the recovery operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiichiro Karita, Shuzo Iwanaga, Kazuhiro Yamada, Takatsuna Aoki, Shingo Okushima, Akio Saito, Akira Yamamoto, Zentaro Tamenaga, Noriyasu Nagai, Tatsurou Mori
  • Patent number: 9994053
    Abstract: A user defines the real costs for each of the individual inks used in printer and also defines a tolerance level for visual acceptance, defined in CIE units of DeltaE2000. Then, an algorithm performs a search through all nodes of the device link profile and for each node it tries to find an ink combination that creates less costs and is still within the given visual tolerance (<dE2000).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING, INC.
    Inventor: Holger Schuppan
  • Patent number: 9988541
    Abstract: An aqueous ink for ink jet including a resin particle. The resin particle has a first layer and a second layer in this order from the inside toward the outside of the resin particle. The first layer is formed of a first resin in which the proportion of a unit derived from a cycloaliphatic-group-containing ethylenically unsaturated monomer is 10% by mass or less. The tetrahydrofuran-insoluble fraction of the second layer is 15% by mass or more. The second layer is formed of a second resin having the unit derived from the cycloaliphatic-group-containing ethylenically unsaturated monomer and a unit derived from an ionic-group-containing ethylenically unsaturated monomer. The proportion of the unit derived from the ionic-group-containing ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the second resin is 3% by mass or more to 70% by mass or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Naofumi Shimomura, Takayuki Horiuchi
  • Patent number: 9987864
    Abstract: A first score line camera captures an image of one sides of a plurality of tablets being conveyed by a conveyor drum. During transfer from the conveyor drum to a first conveyor belt, all the tablets are turned upside down while their directional properties are maintained. A second score line camera captures an image of opposite side of the tablets being conveyed by the first conveyor belt. Based on image data about both the front sides and back sides of the tablets acquired by the first and second score line cameras, a first ink-jet head performs front-side printing process on a front side of a tablet to conform to a predetermined direction relative to a score line in this front side. The second ink-jet head performs back-side printing process on a back side of a tablet to conform to a direction on the back side same as the predetermined direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Nakano, Takashi Gama
  • Patent number: 9982152
    Abstract: An active energy ray curable composition is provided. The active energy ray curable composition includes a polymerizable monomer (A) and a polymerization initiator (B). The polymerization initiator (B) includes a skin-sensitizing polymerization initiator (B1) in an amount less than 1.0% by mass but not less than 0.1% by mass of the active energy ray curable composition, and 99.0% by mass or more of the active energy ray curable composition consists of non-skin-sensitizing constituents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroaki Yamada
  • Patent number: 9975340
    Abstract: In a printing apparatus including a circulation system circulating a liquid, a volatile component included in the liquid evaporates from an ejection opening and thus characteristics of the liquid involving with concentration, viscosity and the like change. The invention provides a printing apparatus including: a page wide type liquid ejection head that includes an ejection opening ejecting a liquid, a print element generating energy for ejecting a liquid, and a pressure chamber having the print element provided therein; a cap that covers the ejection opening; and a circulator configured to circulate the liquid so that the liquid passes through the pressure chamber, wherein a circulation of the liquid is started after the cap is opened and the circulation of the liquid is stopped in a case where an image forming operation of ejecting the liquid from the ejection opening on the basis of a job is ended.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Seiichiro Karita, Shuzo Iwanaga, Kazuhiro Yamada, Akio Saito, Zentaro Tamenaga, Shingo Okushima, Yumi Komamiya, Tatsurou Mori, Takatsuna Aoki, Noriyasu Nagai, Akira Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9975333
    Abstract: A liquid discharging apparatus includes a liquid discharging head that discharges a liquid from a nozzle, a control circuit that controls a discharge operation of the liquid discharging head, a nozzle omission detection mechanism that detects a discharge fault of the nozzle, a maintenance mechanism that performs a maintenance operation, which ejects the liquid from the nozzle of the liquid discharging head, and a display device that displays a setting screen relating to the discharge operation of the liquid discharging head. The control circuit executes the discharge operation of the liquid discharging head on the basis of the operation mode selected by a user using the operation mode selection screen for selecting a plurality of operation modes in which a situation in which a transition to the maintenance operation is performed in a case in which the discharge fault is detected, differs, on the display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Takano, Satoshi Shimizu
  • Patent number: 9975327
    Abstract: A direct-to-object printer includes a plurality of imaging devices that generates image data of an object secured in a holder before the holder and the object pass a plurality of printheads for printing an ink image on the object. A controller receives the image data and converts it to an object profile. The controller operates ejectors in the printheads with reference to the object profile to attenuate inconsistent ink image density and ink image distortion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Xin Yang, Paul J. McConville, Christine A. Steurrys, David R. Stookey, Martin L. Frachioni, Dale R. Breed
  • Patent number: 9975363
    Abstract: Devices and methods are provided for mitigating printer damage risks. In examples a presence of a set of damage risk indicator signals at a printer is identified. A time period during which the damage risk indicator signals of the set are concurrently present is tracked, and a power supply is cut off if the time period exceeds a predetermined threshold time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: David Soriano Fosas, Javier Gonzalez Bruno, Marc Soler Jauma
  • Patent number: 9975359
    Abstract: A system for controlling an operation of feeding recording media from a plurality of physical medium containers of an output apparatus includes at least one memory to store output-related media/container information including logical information, property information of the recording media, and information of the plurality of physical medium containers by associating the logical information and the property information of the recording media, and associating the logical information and the information of the plurality of physical medium containers, and circuitry configured to generate an output instruction including logical information, extract the logical information from the output instruction, and identify one or more physical medium containers each containing a specific recording medium to be used in performing an image forming operation by referring the property information of the recording media and the information of the plurality of physical medium containers each associated with the extracted logical
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Itoh, Manabu Kurashina
  • Patent number: 9969174
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid ejection device including a liquid container tray that can suppress change in orientation and position of a liquid container on a support surface due to the difference in size of the liquid container. The liquid ejection device includes: a casing including a guide wall: a liquid container tray configured to support a liquid container: and a recording head that ejects liquid supplied from the liquid container that is supported by the liquid container tray to a medium. The liquid container tray is configured to be inserted to or removed from a casing along the guide wall, and includes a support surface that supports the liquid container and a movable wall configured to move in at least one direction on the support surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Manabu Yamaguchi, Tadahiro Mizutani, Hiroyuki Kawate, Hiroyoshi Ozeki, Kotoya Aruga
  • Patent number: 9969168
    Abstract: A printer includes a printing unit which records (prints) on a recording medium (a rolled paper), and a control unit which controls a maintenance operation of the printing unit. The control unit displays maintenance timing information about timing at which the maintenance operation is to be performed on a display unit (an operation panel).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Noriyuki Takahashi