Patents Examined by Huan H. Tran
  • Patent number: 11173729
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes an apparatus main body including a recording portion, a media receiving portion configured to be displaced along a discharge direction in which the first medium and the second medium are discharged, and that is displaced between a storage position in which the media receiving portion is stored in the apparatus main body and stacking positions in which the media receiving portion protrudes from the storage position and receives the media, a drive source that drives the media receiving portion, at the stacking positions, discharges the second medium after having received the first medium at a first position, the media receiving portion is displaced to a second position downstream of the first position in the discharge direction at a timing at which a downstream end portion of the to-be-discharged second medium in the discharge direction overlaps the first medium at the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Satoshi Tamai, Yasuo Sunaga, Keisuke Niwa
  • Patent number: 11167567
    Abstract: A printing device includes a medium holding portion a medium holding portion on which a medium is placed, a discharge unit, a holding portion, a first displacement mechanism, a second displacement mechanism, and a contacting portion of the medium holding portion. The discharge unit is configured to discharge an object to the medium placed on the medium holding portion. The holding portion is configured to hold the discharge unit. The first displacement mechanism is configured to displace a relative position of the medium and the discharge unit along a placement surface of the medium. The second displacement mechanism is configured to displace the medium holding portion along a height direction. The contacting portion configured to come in contact with a contacted portion located at a surface of the medium holding portion, the medium placed on the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Satoshi Ueno
  • Patent number: 11161356
    Abstract: The transporting device includes a transporting path on which a medium recorded by the recording portion is transported in a transporting direction, and a contact portion that comes in contact with a front end of the medium, which is transported through the transporting path, to adjust a transporting state of the medium is adjusted. The transporting path has a guide portion that guides the medium to be transported to the contact portion, the guide portion has a first guide portion that is configured to swing, and a second guide portion that faces the first guide portion and is configured to swing, and the first guide portion and the second guide portion are disposed at a standby position when the medium is not transported through the transporting path, and are configured to move in directions away from each other from the standby position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Kodama, Hirohisa Adachi, Namiki Hashiguchi
  • Patent number: 11155109
    Abstract: A processing device includes a medium supporting portion having a support surface for supporting at least a front end portion of a transported medium, an aligning portion for aligning the medium supported by the medium supporting portion, a stacking portion provided below the medium supporting portion in a vertical direction, having a stacking surface on which the medium dropped from the medium supporting portion is stacked, and configured to move up and down, and a pressing portion having a pressing surface facing the support surface, the pressing surface being configured to move between a first position and a second position closer to the support surface than the first position, in which the pressing portion is disposed at the first position when the medium is transported to the medium supporting portion, and is disposed at the second position after the aligning portion aligns the medium on the medium supporting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Chiaki Shimada, Tsuyoshi Furumido, Kenji Uchibori, Hirohisa Kodaira
  • Patent number: 11155108
    Abstract: An image recording apparatus includes: a casing having an internal space; a conveying passage formed inside the casing; a first roller pair positioned in the conveying passage, having a driving roller and a driven roller, and configured to pinch a sheet and to convey the sheet in a conveying orientation; a platen positioned on a downstream side in the conveying orientation of the first roller pair, and having a supporting surface supporting the sheet; a recording part positioned above the platen and configured to record an image on the sheet supported by the platen; a second roller pair which is located on the downstream side in the conveying orientation of the supporting surface of the platen, and which is configured to pinch the sheet and to convey the sheet; and a moving mechanism configured to move the platen to a printing position and to a release position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yuta Arakawa
  • Patent number: 11155081
    Abstract: A liquid discharge head includes an actuator and a drive circuit. The actuator is configured to expand and contract a pressure chambers. The drive circuit is configured to apply a first drive waveform to cause the actuator to discharge a liquid droplet at a first speed, and then a second drive waveform after the first drive waveform to cause the actuator to discharge a liquid droplet at a second speed slower than the first speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shota Ito
  • Patent number: 11155096
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting unit includes: a first chamber; a second chamber; a third chamber; a fourth chamber; a first liquid passage for supplying a first type of liquid to the first chamber and the third chamber; a second liquid passage for supplying a second type of liquid to the second chamber and the fourth chamber, the second type of liquid differing from the first type of liquid; a first fluid passage for supplying fluid to the first chamber and the second chamber; and a second fluid passage for supplying the fluid to the third chamber and the fourth chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiko Sato, Hiroyuki Hagiwara, Hironori Matsuoka, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Takahiro Kanegae
  • Patent number: 11148440
    Abstract: A printing device includes a first blade configured to move between an advanced position and a retracted position, a second blade for cutting recording paper together with the first blade, and a driving mechanism including a gear that drives the first blade, a protruding member that protrudes from a first surface of the gear, a covering member that covers at least a part of the protruding member and includes a passage route of the protruding member, and an optical sensor provided on the covering member and having a light emitting portion for emitting light in a direction intersecting the protruding member and a light receiving portion for receiving light, in which a width of the passage route is larger than a width of the protruding member, and is equal to or smaller than a distance between the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Takeshi Tokuda
  • Patent number: 11148441
    Abstract: Various embodiments illustrated herein disclose a printing apparatus comprising a media supply spool configured to supply print media along a media path. The printing apparatus further comprises a first media sensor positioned in a first plane in the printing apparatus. Further, the printing apparatus comprises a second media sensor positioned in a second plane in the printing apparatus. Additionally, the printing apparatus comprises a first media guide defining a section of the media path, wherein extremities of the first media guide are positioned to be at a negative offset from the second plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: DATAMAX-O'NEIL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Sebastien d'Armancourt, Han Tiong Tong, Chin Young Wong
  • Patent number: 11148432
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes a liquid ejection head and a liquid supply unit configured to supply liquid to the liquid ejection head. The liquid ejection head includes a plurality of liquid discharge holes, individual passages configured to individually supply the liquid to the respective liquid discharge holes, and a common passage configured to supply the liquid to the individual passages. The liquid supply unit includes a pressure chamber capable of storing the liquid, a first supply passage allowing communication between the liquid storage container and the pressure chamber, a second supply passage allowing communication between an upstream side of the common passage and the pressure chamber, a return passage allowing communication between a downstream side of the common passage and the pressure chamber, and a pump mechanism capable of circulating the liquid at least through the second supply passage, the common passage and the return passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Daisuke Eto
  • Patent number: 11141986
    Abstract: A liquid housing body includes a bag that is flexible and that houses a liquid therein, a liquid lead-out member that is attached to an end of the bag and that includes a liquid lead-out portion for leading the liquid in the bag to a liquid ejecting apparatus, a spacer member disposed in the bag, and a filter unit that has a thickness smaller than the spacer member, that is disposed between the liquid lead-out member and the spacer member in the bag, and that supplies the liquid to the liquid lead-out member through a filter, in which, in a use state of the liquid housing body, the liquid lead-out member, the filter unit, and the spacer member are aligned in a horizontal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kiyoteru Katsuki
  • Patent number: 11142004
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an imaging apparatus (100) comprising a scanning printer carriage (110), a carriage motor (120), a transmission belt (130) between the carriage motor (120) and the scanning printer carriage (110), a data control unit (140) to provide print data (200) to the carriage motor (120) and the scanning printer carriage (110), and a power source (150) to provide power (300) to the carriage motor (120), and the scanning printer carriage (110). The data control unit (140) transmits print data (200) to the scanning printer carriage (110) by wireless data transfer (201), and the power source (150) transmits power (300) to the scanning printer carriage (110) through an electrically conductive element (302) in the transmission belt (130).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jaime Abel Blanco Gabella, Sergio Villar Garcia, Alvaro Ponce Arevalo
  • Patent number: 11141998
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a printing unit configured to perform printing onto a printing medium, a driving roller configured to provide a transporting force to the printing medium, a plurality of driven rollers configured to press the printing medium, which is transported by the driving roller, and configured to rotate in conjunction with a movement of the printing medium, a plurality of support members each being configured to support a roller shaft serving as a rotation axis about which each of the plurality of driven rollers rotates, a base body to which the plurality of support members are attached, and an attachment/removal mechanism configured to cause the plurality of support members to be removably attachable individually to the base body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryosuke Ban, Daisuke Hiruma, Kiyoto Komuro
  • Patent number: 11141989
    Abstract: An electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing apparatus or system may include circulation of printing fluid to minimize or eliminate clogging in a nozzle. An exemplary nozzle comprises at least two ink channels—one allowing flow to a droplet emitting opening and one allowing flow away from the droplet emitting opening—configured for circulating ink. The nozzle may transfer ink to a substrate with an EHD technique involving voltage or current modulation. For example, an electric field may be applied between the nozzle and printing substrate such that the ink meniscus changes shape and releases ink from the tip of the liquid cone. A multi-channel nozzle may take a variety of configurations, including two co-axially aligned capillaries, side-by-side parallel capillaries, or capillaries arranged at an angle with respect to one another but converging at a single point where the conical meniscus is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Daren Chen, Hong Zhao
  • Patent number: 11142424
    Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus includes a sheet conveying path, conveying members, a switching unit, a receiving unit, and a control unit. The sheet conveying path includes a first conveying path and a second conveying path having a conveying load for a sheet larger than the first conveying path. The switching unit selectively switches the sheet conveying path between the first conveying path and the second conveying path. The control unit determines whether the sheets are first sheets or second sheets thicker than the first sheets, based on sheet thickness information received by the receiving unit. If the sheets are the first sheets, the switching unit switches the sheet conveying path between the first conveying path and the second conveying path alternately. If the sheets are the second sheets, the switching unit switches to fix the sheet conveying path to the first conveying path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Masayuki Kakuta, Sachio Izumichi, Risa Hibino
  • Patent number: 11135858
    Abstract: A printer includes a medium supplier including a shaft support, to which a supply shaft of a roll medium is detachably attached, a medium temporary placement support located below the shaft support of the medium supplier and that receives and supports the roll medium prior to being attached to the medium supplier, and a conveyor that conveys a medium in a conveyance direction that is perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to an axial direction of the supply shaft, the medium being unwound from the supply shaft. The medium temporary placement support includes a support bar that extends in the axial direction, and a placement seat supported by the support bar. The placement seat includes a placement surface on which the roll medium is placed and that extends in the conveyance direction, and a curved portion that includes a convex curve in an upstream end portion of the placement surface in the conveyance direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: ROLAND DG CORPORATION
    Inventor: Chihiro Sakai
  • Patent number: 11124005
    Abstract: With a conventional method of estimating an application amount of a clear recording material from a color of a patch, it is difficult to realize high accuracy, similar colors are sometimes exhibited in measurement results even if there is a significant difference in the application amount of a clear ink. In contrast, with a disclosed configuration of estimating an application amount of a clear recording material from a reflection intensity of a patch, measurement results that exhibit a one-dimensional increase of a relationship between the application amount of the clear recording material and the reflection intensity are acquired, so that the accuracy of application amount estimation increases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Naoko Baba
  • Patent number: 11124004
    Abstract: A printing apparatus comprises a main body, an operation panel configured to pivot about a pivot shaft, a stopper that has one end pivotably connected to the operation panel, and has a cam face on a surface thereof; a guide member that is provided on the main body and is configured to guide the stopper such that the stopper is slidable in a longitudinal direction of the stopper; and a pressing member that has a contact portion that comes into contact with the cam face, wherein the cam face has a plurality of divided cam faces that are provided in a shorter direction of the stopper, and the contact portion of the pressing member has a width that spans the plurality of divided cam faces in the shorter direction of the stopper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kosuke Umehara, Yasuhito Tsubakimoto, Yasuhiro Ota, Kaneto Tokuyama
  • Patent number: 11124007
    Abstract: An ink jet recording method includes an ink attachment step, in which an aqueous ink composition is ejected from a recording head and attached to a recording medium, and a treatment liquid attachment step, in which a treatment liquid containing a flocculant is ejected from a recording head and attached to the recording medium. The recording head for ejecting the treatment liquid has a circulation channel in which the treatment liquid is circulated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Inventor: Kenichi Seguchi
  • Patent number: 11123991
    Abstract: In an example, a method includes ejecting a print agent drop from a printhead, and determining an indication of velocity of the print agent drop. A weight parameter of the print agent drop may be determined from the indication of velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Antonio Gracia Verdugo, Diana Pilar Pascual Soldevilla, Sara Echevarria Benito, David Toussaint, Mauricio Seras Franzoso