Patents Examined by Fan Zhang
  • Patent number: 10666831
    Abstract: Example implementations relate to substrate permeability assessment. Some examples may determine whether voids are shown in an image of a substrate and whether there is a repeating pattern in the image. Some examples may also determine whether printing fluid would pass through the substrate during printing based on the determinations of whether voids are shown in the image and whether there is a repeating pattern in the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Carlos Felip, Xavier Domingo Reguant, Oriol Moliner Rafa
  • Patent number: 10649382
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a processor and a memory to control a system having an image forming apparatus and a sheet discharge apparatus. Executing a memory store program causes the control apparatus to receive configuration information of the system and generate a system configuration image, receive stacking state information and generate a sheet bundle image, display a screen, receive job identification information of an image forming job of sheets to be picked up, and display a thumbnail image. The stacking state information includes a stacking amount of sheets stacked on a sheet stacking tray. The sheet bundle image represents the sheets stacked on a sheet stacking tray based on the stacking state information. The system configuration image and the sheet bundle image are combined in the screen. The thumbnail image is based on receiving the job identification information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toru Shinnae, Jerome Guermont, Nobuaki Miyahara, Ryo Fujita, Yoshitaka Oba
  • Patent number: 10642552
    Abstract: A non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions realizing a printer driver causing, when executed, a controller to output driver-executable information indicating a driver-executable drawing process executable by the printer driver designatable by an operating system to the operating system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazutaka Yamada
  • Patent number: 10628112
    Abstract: An array of adjacent panels forms a display sign. Each panel has a frame that holds a display sheet showing a cellular portion of the sign. The display sheet covers a front of the frame. A border of the display sheet wraps around the sides of the frame and is trapped in a backside channel in each side member of the frame. Retainers pushed into the channel trap the border in the channel. Each frame may be quickly attached and released from a respective base attached to a wall or other support structure, allowing quick changes to all portions or selected portions of the sign. A mobile app may be provided that configures the sign in a camera image of the support structure, divides the sign into panels, and generates printer output in a selected printer page size for each panel, including the border.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: Wall Yak, LLC
    Inventor: Tom L. Hofmeister
  • Patent number: 10630850
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a document reading unit 110 allowing input of image data generated from a read document, a paper feed unit 140 containing recording paper, an image forming unit 120 forming an image on the recording paper based on the image data, and a touch-panel display 132 displaying a preview image representing a state of image formation. The touch-panel display displays a preview image in a designated orientation for a document of a prescribed size, and displays a preview image in accordance with size and orientation of recording paper fed from the paper feed unit, for a document not of the prescribed size. Thus, for documents of a prescribed size, preview images in a prescribed orientation can be displayed regardless of the direction of arrangement of the recording paper, and easier confirmation of expected finish of the formed image becomes possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinsaku Tohki, Kumiko Ogino, Toshihiro Shoji
  • Patent number: 10613803
    Abstract: Systems and methods relating generally to on-demand printing are disclosed. In such a system, a client device has an ordering application. A mothership has a container vending machine, a container loader, a printer, an unmanned aerial vehicle (“drone”), and a communications server. The communications server is in communication with a network and configured to receive a print order from the ordering application via the network. The communications server is in communication with the printer to provide a print job to the printer responsive to the print order. The printer is configured to generate and provide a printed result for the print job into a container. The drone is configured to obtain and hold the container for airborne delivery of the printed result to an address associated with the print order.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Dilinur Wushour, Jacek Joseph Matysiak
  • Patent number: 10594893
    Abstract: There is provided a scanner that combines images read by a first sensor array and a second sensor array, in which the first sensor array and the second sensor array have read regions which are overlapped partially, and includes a combining section that deforms and combines an image in a region read in an overlapped manner in a main scanning direction in at least any one of a first read image read by the first sensor array and a second read image read by the second sensor array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kiyoharu Momose
  • Patent number: 10564905
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image data generator, a conveyor conveying a print medium, a determiner, a print medium cutter, a printing section, and a printing controller. The image data generator performs, sequentially on a page basis, conversion of print data corresponding to pages included in a print job into image data. The determiner determines a specified number of pages. The print medium cutter cuts the print medium into media for each of the specified number of pages. The printing section performs, on the print medium, printing of an image-data-based image. The printing controller causes the printing section to start the printing of the image corresponding at least to the specified number of pages, after the conversion of the print data into the image data corresponding at least to the specified number of pages and before that into the image data corresponding to all of pages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Oki Data Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Honda
  • Patent number: 10558899
    Abstract: A wireless IC tag (11) is mounted to a toner cartridge (1), and a reader writer (2) reads and writes data from and to the wireless IC tag (11). The toner cartridge (1) includes plural cartridge contact terminals (12), and a load (13) arranged between the cartridge contact terminals (12). The load (13) corresponds to a type of the wireless IC tag (11). The reader writer (2) includes an antenna coil (21) for wireless communication with the wireless IC tag (11), and plural reader writer contact terminals (22) that contact to the plural cartridge contact terminals (12) respectively when the toner cartridge (1) is mounted to this image forming apparatus. Further, a wireless transmission characteristic of the reader writer (2) is adjusted in accordance with the load (13) electronically connected to the reader writer contact terminals (22).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Kyocera Document Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Ryo Takayama
  • Patent number: 10558404
    Abstract: A printing apparatus manages the number of communications for printing requests to prevent the number of communications using the predetermined protocol from reaching an upper limit, in a case where a print job is received by using a predetermined protocol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shigeto Sakai
  • Patent number: 10552717
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus uses a first rendering processor that performs rendering of a first area within a page based on print data and a second rendering processor that performs rendering of a second area within the page based on the print data. The image processing apparatus includes a controller, having a processor which executes instructions stored in a memory or having circuitry, being configured to acquire image data arranged across the first area and the second area based on the print data, cause the first rendering processor having accessed the image data to acquire all pixels of the image data and to perform rendering with pixels within the first area of all the pixels of the image data, and cause the second rendering processor having accessed the image data to acquire all the pixels of the image data and to perform rendering with pixels within the second area of all the pixels of the image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tatsunori Suzuki
  • Patent number: 10506123
    Abstract: Provided is technology reducing the capacity required to store actual parameter information by establishing conditions enabling providing actual parameter information to the device that uses the actual parameter information. A control device 5 has label information storage 321 storing label information relationally to combinations of printer 3 models and print media; and actual content storage 322 storing, relationally to the label information, actual parameter information that is used by printers 3 to print to print media. When a combination of printer 3 model and print medium is identified and actual parameter information corresponding to that combination is requested, the control device 5 references the label information storage 321, identifies the label information corresponding to that combination, and acquires actual parameter information from the actual content storage 322 based on the identified label information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kohei Iwamoto, Masahiko Hirasawa
  • Patent number: 10496337
    Abstract: An information processing device includes a memory to store a print job to be executed with an image forming apparatus and a specific printing rule, and circuitry. The circuitry acquires from an external device the specific printing rule according to a specific condition. The acquired specific printing rule is stored in the memory. The external device stores printing rules including the specific printing rule. Each printing rule defines at least a part of printing settings applied in executing the print job. The circuitry acquires from the memory the specific printing rule according to an attribute of printing associated with the print job in executing the print job, and executes the printing job while applying the acquired specific printing rule.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Shinya Mori
  • Patent number: 10440221
    Abstract: A system of tracking a location of a print device in an environment. For each of one or more users of a print device during a time period, the system identifies an event that is initiated at the print device over a network where the event is associated with the user and a print job, and determines whether the user is registered with the location tracking system. In response to determining that the user is registered with the location tracking system, the system determines a login location of the user, determines whether the login location is current, and in response to determining that the login location is current, stores the one or more location coordinates in a data store such that they are associated with the print device. The system estimates a location of the print device, and provides the location of the print device to an asset management system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Fritz Francis Ebner
  • Patent number: 10430133
    Abstract: An image forming system includes: a server accepting a print job from a client apparatus; and an image forming apparatus receiving an order for the print job from the server, the image forming apparatus including: a sheet feeding tray accommodating a sheet; a hardware processor determining to receive an order for a print job accepted by the server when a first and second conditions are satisfied; and an image former forming a page image based on the print job accepted by the server and a page image based on the print job being accepted specifying the sheet of the same size as that of the sheet specified, by allocating the page images in parallel to the sheet of twice the size of the sheet specified, when it is determined by the hardware processor that the order for the print job accepted by the server is received.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventor: Yoshifumi Wagatsuma
  • Patent number: 10425548
    Abstract: A multi-function print server administration service implemented on a server computer receives a request, by a user associated with either a vendor-administrator user account or a system administrator account, to modify a first set of one or more application services enabled on one or more multi-function print devices associated with the vendor-administrator user account. In response to receiving the requests, the multi-function print server generates a modified first set of one or more application services, which implements a modification to the one or more application services based on the received request to modify the first set of one or more application services. The multi-function print server administration service enables the modified first set of one or more application services on the one or more multi-function print devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jayasimha Nuggehalli, Bhushan Nadkarni, Srikrishan Narasimhan, Zhenyu Lu
  • Patent number: 10412240
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a document reading unit 110 allowing input of image data generated from a read document, a paper feed unit 140 containing recording paper, an image forming unit 120 forming an image on the recording paper based on the image data, and a touch-panel display 132 displaying a preview image representing a state of image formation. The touch-panel display displays a preview image in a designated orientation for a document of a prescribed size, and displays a preview image in accordance with size and orientation of recording paper fed from the paper feed unit, for a document not of the prescribed size. Thus, for documents of a prescribed size, preview images in a prescribed orientation can be displayed regardless of the direction of arrangement of the recording paper, and easier confirmation of expected finish of the formed image becomes possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shinsaku Tohki, Kumiko Ogino, Toshihiro Shoji
  • Patent number: 10399801
    Abstract: A medium transport device includes a base frame which includes an outer edge forming portion which configures an outer edge of a device top surface, a medium support tray which is capable of switching between a horizontal posture, and a sub-tray which is capable of being displaced between a storage position and a pulled-out position, and supports the medium at the pulled-out position, in which the sub-tray includes a convex portion which configures a portion of the flat device top surface together at the storage position, and in which the sub-tray is capable of being displaced along a direction that is parallel to the device top surface in a state in which the medium support tray takes the horizontal posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Katsumi Yamada, Kohei Kozaki, Shintaro Miyamoto
  • Patent number: 10387758
    Abstract: A printing device tracks characteristics regarding duplex print jobs received and printed at the printing device. The print device adjusts the start time of a duplex print engine of the printing device following receipt of a new duplex print job at the printing device to print the new duplex print job, based on the tracked characteristics, to optimize a balance between print job performance and print engine wear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Suzanne L. Dustin, Brian C. Mayer
  • Patent number: 10365872
    Abstract: A print instruction apparatus includes an acquiring unit that acquires basis weight class information from multiple image forming apparatuses to be selected, the basis weight class information representing information on basis weight class of recording paper set for each of the multiple image forming apparatuses, and a generating unit that generates a common basis weight classification from the acquired basis weight class information, the common basis weight classification including a basis weight class common to the multiple image forming apparatuses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirofumi Ogawa, Nobuki Hagiwara, Koichi Naito, Makoto Kondo