Patents Examined by Bradley W Thies
  • Patent number: 11104158
    Abstract: A printing method includes applying a foaming agent composition containing a foaming agent to form a foaming agent layer, applying a foaming inhibitor composition containing a foaming inhibitor onto the foaming agent layer, curing the foaming agent layer with irradiation of active energy, and heating the foaming agent layer to foam the foaming agent layer, wherein the foaming agent composition has a viscosity of from 50 to 1,500 mPa·s at 25 degrees C. and the absolute difference between the static surface tension of the foaming agent composition and the static surface tension of the foaming inhibitor composition is 5 mN/m or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Yukio Fujiwara, Yuuma Usui
  • Patent number: 11097550
    Abstract: An electronic data storage device for use with a cartridge for storing and dispending liquid for use with an inkjet printer, the electronic data storage device storing printing data, wherein the printing data comprises at least one of: liquid density data, liquid conductivity data, recirculation data, and printer geometry data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: VIDEOJET TECHNOLOGIES INC.
    Inventor: Robert Smith
  • Patent number: 11097534
    Abstract: When a job does not exactly match the purpose of a printing profile but would benefit from some of the characteristics of a different printing profile, dynamically making the tradeoffs between the printing profiles is desirable. For example, a high-ink, large gamut profile might not be needed for a particular job, but an ink-saving profile would be excessively grainy. An intermediate profile would be recommended. Alternatively, the ink-saving profile can be adequate for everything except the skin tones in the print. Presented here are systems and methods to create a blended representation that could adopt the high-ink rules for a portion of the image, but ink-saving rules elsewhere. For example, the high-ink rules can be applied to the skin colors, but ink-saving rules can be applied in other parts of the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING, INC.
    Inventors: Leon Calvin Williams, Theodore A Olson
  • Patent number: 11090939
    Abstract: A method of printing redundantly in four colors using a pagewide printhead having first and second rows of printhead chips mounted on a common ink manifold and receiving four colors of ink. The method includes the steps of: supplying first and second ink colors from the manifold to the first row of printhead chips; supplying third and fourth ink colors from the manifold to the second row of printhead chips; and printing the inks redundantly from the printhead chips.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Inventors: Jason Thelander, David Burke, Andrew Thomas
  • Patent number: 11084283
    Abstract: Ejection device for fluid, comprising a solid body including: first semiconductor body including a chamber for containing the fluid, an ejection nozzle in fluid connection with the chamber, and an actuator operatively connected to the chamber to generate, in use, one or more pressure waves in the fluid such as to cause ejection of the fluid from the ejection nozzle; and a second semiconductor body including a channel for feeding the fluid to the chamber, coupled to the first semiconductor body, in such a way that the channel is in fluid connection with the chamber. The second semiconductor body integrates a damping cavity over which extends a damping membrane, the damping cavity and the damping membrane extending laterally to the channel for feeding the fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignees: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L., STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Domenico Giusti, Marco Ferrera, Carlo Luigi Prelini, Simon Dodd
  • Patent number: 11077665
    Abstract: A card processing system includes a drop-on-demand card printing system that has at least one drop-on-demand print head with a nozzle plate. An automated cleaning mechanism is provided in the drop-on-demand card printing system that is configured to clean the nozzle plate without the cleaning mechanism physically contacting the nozzle plate. Since the nozzle plate is not physically contacted by the cleaning mechanism, damage to the nozzle plate during cleaning is avoided thereby avoiding degrading the resulting print quality of the print head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Entrust Corporation
    Inventors: Milo B. Squires, Kyle Johnson, Eugene T. Tennis
  • Patent number: 11072190
    Abstract: The invention relates to an ink-jet printer including: a support structure including two side walls; a transfer apparatus slidable for advancing the substrate in a direction x, the transfer apparatus comprising a conveyor belt and a stationary support plane; a print device including a print head operating along a direction y, perpendicular to the direction x; retaining means for maintaining the substrate adhering to the conveyor belt; and adjusting means of the transfer apparatus. The support plane includes two side ends which rest on the side walls. The adjusting means of the transfer apparatus include at least one side adjusting assembly positioned between a side wall and the respective side end of the support plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: Aleph S.R.L.
    Inventors: Roberto Manes, Alessandro Manes, Giovanni Natalis
  • Patent number: 11065888
    Abstract: A fixation/transfer device for control of dye waste in a dye sublimation process. The device comprises a textile inlet, a textile outlet, a heat press or calender, an endless belt for driving the textile from the textile inlet to the textile outlet through the heat press, the heat press being held at a temperature sufficient to cause sublimation of the printing dye, and a cleaning station for cleaning the endless belt, the cleaning station being located downstream of the textile outlet and upstream of the textile outlet. The feed belt may be heated at the cleaning station so that sublimation may assist cleaning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Kornit Digital Ltd.
    Inventors: Allon Shimoni, Alon Feldman
  • Patent number: 11065868
    Abstract: A jetting device configured to jet one or more droplets of a viscous medium through a nozzle may include an acoustic transducer configured to emit an acoustic signal that transfers acoustic waves into at least a portion of the viscous medium located in a viscous medium conduit a viscous medium conduit configured to direct a flow of the viscous medium to an outlet of the nozzle. The acoustic signal may be an ultrasonic signal. The acoustic signal may adjust one or more rheological properties of the viscous medium, based on acoustic actuation. The acoustic transducer may be implemented by an actuator of the device that is configured to move through an eject chamber to cause viscous medium to be jetted through the outlet of the nozzle as one or more droplets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Mycronic AB
    Inventors: Gustaf Martensson, Jesper Sallander
  • Patent number: 11052370
    Abstract: Method for manufacturing microarrays and verifying the quality of said microarrays, wherein the method comprises: a) providing at least one reagent, b) loading said at least one reagent in a dispensing print head, in a predetermined arrangement, c) in a first print pass, generating instructions for the print head and moving said print head with respect to a substrate to print said at least one reagent on the substrate to obtain microarrays, d) obtaining an image of the printed microarrays by means of a camera, e) processing the obtained images of the printed microarrays, to calculate parameters indicative for the quality of the printed microarrays, f) comparing, at the end of the first print pass, the calculated parameters for the printed microarrays with predetermined criteria for the microarrays, to identify possible printing defects, g) comparing, for the printed microarrays, the identified printing defects of step f), h) using the outcome of the comparison of step g) to select a corrective action to impro
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: ARRAYJET LIMITED
    Inventors: Benjamin Mitchell, Joan Salvatella Serra
  • Patent number: 11052679
    Abstract: An apparatus for discharging liquid includes a rotary member, a liquid applier, a conveyance belt, a first heater, and a second heater. The rotary member is configured to convey a sheet material. The liquid applier is configured to apply liquid to the sheet material conveyed by the rotary member. The conveyance belt is configured to convey the sheet material fed from the rotary member. The first heater is configured to heat the sheet material between the rotary member and the conveyance belt. The second heater is configured to heat the sheet material conveyed by the conveyance belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Masato Ogawa
  • Patent number: 11046087
    Abstract: Examples of vacuum operated pumps are described herein. In an example, a vacuum operated pump includes a plurality of fluid ports, such as an inlet port and an outlet port. The vacuum operated pump may also include a communication port and a diaphragm. The communication port may provide for fluid communication among the plurality of fluid ports. The diaphragm may control the plurality of the fluid ports and the communication port. The diaphragm may mate with the communication port in an idle state of the vacuum operated pump to isolate each of the plurality of fluid ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Kundan Singh, Cherng Linn Teo
  • Patent number: 11040527
    Abstract: A droplet ejection apparatus comprising: a droplet deposition head comprising an array of actuating elements and a corresponding array of nozzles; actuating circuitry, configured to apply drive waveforms to said actuating elements, thereby causing the ejection of fluid in the form of droplets through said array of nozzles onto deposition media, which are moved relative to the head; and head controller circuitry, configured to: receive an input set of ejection data; generate a series of sub-sets of ejection data based on the input set; and send said series of sub-sets of ejection data to said actuating circuitry; wherein the actuating circuitry is further configured so as to, for each sub-set of ejection data, apply drive waveforms to said actuating elements such that they repeatedly eject droplets from one or more nozzles, thus depositing successive rows of droplets, the one or more nozzles and the sizes of the droplets ejected therefrom being determined by the current sub-set of ejection data, each of the on
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: Xaar Technology Limited
    Inventors: Nicholas Marc Jackson, Andrew Cox, Michael Reddish
  • Patent number: 11020995
    Abstract: To provide a head leading member with which it is possible to inexpensively lead a head with a high level of accuracy. A head leading member is a head leading member, provided in a printing machine that includes a head to discharge ink toward a working surface, for leading the head in a main travelling direction; and the head leading member comprises; a frame extending in the main travelling direction; a base member fixed to the frame, and having a guiding reference surface that is performed with a manufacture so as to be planar along the main travelling direction, in a state of being fixed to the frame; and a guide member extending in the main travelling direction and being supported on the guiding reference surface of the base member, in order to lead the head in the main travelling direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Toshiki Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 11020965
    Abstract: Ink in a print head is heated to a target temperature by driving heating elements included in a print head. After heating control is completed, operation that is performed using power stored in a power storage unit is started. The target temperature in the heating control is determined in such a manner that the temperature of the print head when the operation is started is a set temperature or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Daisuke Kobayashi, Kenichi Oonuki, Satoshi Seki, Tsukasa Doi
  • Patent number: 11020983
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid ejecting device that includes an ejecting unit configured to eject liquid and a control unit that performs control to apply the liquid to a medium. The ejecting unit is configured to eject, as the liquid, ink, that contains a color material, and inhibitor for inhibiting penetration of the color material into the medium. The control unit is configured to select a first printing mode in which applying the ink to the medium without applying the inhibitor to the medium, and a second printing mode in which applying the inhibitor to the medium and applying the ink to the medium applied with the inhibitor. The control unit causes an amount of the ink applied per unit area in the second printing mode to be smaller than an amount of the ink applied per unit area in the first printing mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Masayuki Murai
  • Patent number: 11007798
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a support member having a curved surface, an ejection head, a housing, a light emitting section, a first light-shielding plate arranged between the ejection head and the irradiation section, and a second light-shielding plate arranged between the first light-shielding plate and the ejection head. The housing is arranged in a position far from the curved surface with respect to a virtual tangent plane that passes through a portion of the nozzle surface being farthest from the irradiation port and is held in contact with a lower end of the first light-shielding plate. The second light-shielding plate is arranged in a position that allows the second light-shielding plate to block at least part of light entering a side surface orthogonal to the nozzle surface of the ejection head among the light that is emitted from the irradiation section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kazutoshi Fujisawa
  • Patent number: 11007795
    Abstract: A unique heat transfer is disclosed for use on specific merchandising articles for a specific event. The heat transfer would be used to promote an event and would be used as a ticket to that event. The heat transfer comprises printed matter applied to a base material. The base material would be part of a clothing article, such as a t-shirt, cap, sweatshirt, garment, accessory etc. The printed matter would be visually recognizable information incorporating text, pictures, numbers, bar codes, and QR codes. The visually recognizable information can be printed with ultraviolet-curable inks, or other suitable inks. Once the heat transfer is applied to the clothing article, user would use the clothing article as a ticket to the event. The heat transfer on the clothing article would be scanned and the unique bar code and/or QR codes would be used to identify the user's seat location and other identifying details.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: Avery Dennison Retail Information Services, LLC
    Inventor: Paulo J. de Castro
  • Patent number: 10994549
    Abstract: In an example, an apparatus includes a container to hold a quantity of a consumable resource. A mechanical drive coupling is attached to the container. The mechanical drive coupling includes a bore and a locking mechanism integrated into the bore. The locking mechanism locks the container to a drive mechanism when the bore and the drive mechanism are rotatably engaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Wayne J. Schmidt, Steve Beutler, Kent S. Takeshita
  • Patent number: 10987925
    Abstract: A first drive waveform includes, in the following order: a first section in which voltage is changed, a second section in which the voltage is maintained, and a third section in which the voltage is changed in a direction opposite to another direction in which the voltage is changed in the first section. A second drive waveform includes, in the following order: a fourth section in which voltage is changed, a fifth section in which the voltage is maintained, and a sixth section in which the voltage is changed in a direction opposite to another direction in which the voltage is changed in the fourth section. The voltage applied to a piezoelectric element in the second section is higher than the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element in the fifth section. The period of the first drive waveform is shorter than the period of the second drive waveform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Shunya Fukuda