Patents Examined by Huan Tran
  • Patent number: 11920678
    Abstract: A parking pawl assembly having a housing, a parking pawl having a pin bore, a support sleeve fitted in the pin bore, and a pivot pin inserted through the support sleeve. The pivot pin is attached to the housing, thus pivotally attaching the parking pawl to the housing. The parking pawl includes a first end and a second end spaced from the first end. The first end defines the pin bore having an interior bore surface. The support sleeve includes an exterior surface fitted to the interior bore surface of the parking pawl. The exterior surface of the support sleeve may include outer diameter rolled threads or other locking features. The interior bore surface of the parking pawl may include inner diameter rolled threads operable to receive the outer diameter rolled threads of the support sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Lokesh Choudhary, Qigui Wang, Wenying Yang, Marcel Taran, Gregory Melekian, Alexey Rubin
  • Patent number: 10265260
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a printer containing at least one cosmetic ink and designed to allow the formation of a coat of cosmetic ink on a non-flat transfer surface defined by a substrate and intended to transfer the coat of ink by contact onto human keratin materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: L'OREAL
    Inventors: Franck Giron, Henri Samain
  • Patent number: 10265946
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a printing cylinder (17) that holds and transfers a sheet (4), a supply-side transfer cylinder (16 (sheet supply unit)) that supplies the sheet (4) to the printing cylinder (17) at a supply position (P1), and first to fourth inkjet heads (27-30). The printing apparatus includes a transfer mechanism (18) that receives the sheet (4) after printing at a receiving position (P2) and transfers the sheet (4) to one of a discharge route (44) and a reversing route (42). The reversing route (42) employs an arrangement that returns the reversed sheet (4) to the printing cylinder (17) at a return position (P3) located on the downstream side of the receiving position (P2) in the transfer direction of the sheet (4) and on the upstream side of the supply position (P1) in the transfer direction of the sheet (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: KOMORI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masaharu Ito, Hiroyuki Suda
  • Patent number: 10265965
    Abstract: An image recording apparatus, including: a holder on which a cartridge including a liquid chamber storing a liquid is mountable; a liquid-passage defining portion defining a liquid passage including a first end and a second end connected to the head, the first end configured to be connected to the liquid chamber when the cartridge is mounted on the holder; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to divide a region in the liquid chamber occupied by the liquid into a plurality of regions in an up-down direction and determine a viscosity of the liquid in each region, based on a time elapsed from a timing of connection of the liquid chamber and the first end of the liquid passage, and wherein, when the liquid is discharged from the head, the controller updates the viscosity in each region, based on an amount of the liquid discharged from the head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Mikio Ogawa
  • Patent number: 10259210
    Abstract: Methods for fabricating three-dimensional objects by 3D-inkjet printing technology are provided. The methods utilize curable materials that polymerize via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) for fabricating the object. Systems suitable for performing these methods and kits containing modeling material formulations usable in the methods are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: Statasys Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuval Vidavsky, Ira Yudovin-Farber
  • Patent number: 10252556
    Abstract: Examples described herein include examples methods for generating varnish knockouts that include applying a fixer material to a surface of a print medium, selectively applying a print material over the fixer material to form an image, and applying an overcoat material to form a durable coating on areas over the image and a nondurable coating over other areas of the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: HP SCITEX LTD.
    Inventors: Oren Levin, Eldad Manheim, Sharon Regev, Alex Veis
  • Patent number: 10245853
    Abstract: Systems and methods for concentric duct system for a dryer of a printing system. One embodiment includes a dryer of a printing system and a duct system. The dryer includes web conditioners sources to condition a web of print media, intake ports to supply air for the web conditioners, and outlet ports to remove air for the web conditioners. The duct system includes a supply hub and a return hub. The supply hub includes a tubular body with a lower portion and an upper portion, and supply nodes around the lower portion. The return hub includes a body around the upper portion of the supply hub, and return nodes around the body. The duct system further includes supply ducts to connect the supply nodes and the intake ports, and return ducts to connect the return nodes and the outlet ports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Stuart James Boland, Scott Richard Johnson
  • Patent number: 10245837
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus to which a cartridge is attachable includes: a tank including a storage chamber and an outlet port; a recording portion including a damper chamber and a recording head; an ink passage; a pump configured to suck fluid in the damper chamber; a first switch; and a controller. After attachment of the cartridge, the controller is configured to perform an initial ink introduction process to supply the ink from the cartridge to the storage chamber. The initial ink introduction process includes: a first suction process to drive the pump for a first period of time in a state where the first switch is in a first state to allow ink in the storage chamber to be sucked toward the damper chamber; and after performing the first suction process, an open process to switch the first switch to a second state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toshiro Ueda
  • Patent number: 10239320
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes: a first tank; a second tank; a recording portion including a first damper chamber and a second damper chamber; a first switch; a pump; a second switch; and a controller. The first switch is configured to be switched between a first state and a second state. The second switch is configured to be switched between a third state and a fourth state. After attachment of first and second cartridges to the inkjet recording apparatus, the controller performs an initial ink introduction including one of: a first drive process to drive the pump in a state where the first switch is in the first state and the second switch is in the fourth state; and a second drive process to drive the pump in a state where the first switch is in the second state and the second switch is in the third state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toshiro Ueda
  • Patent number: 10240056
    Abstract: An inkjet ink includes a) an aqueous medium; and b) capsules composed of a polymeric shell surrounding a core; wherein the capsules are dispersed in the aqueous medium using a dispersing group covalently bonded to the polymeric shell; wherein the core contains a photoinitiator and one or more chemical reactants capable of forming a reaction product upon application of UV light; wherein the capsules have an average particle size of no more than 4 ?m as determined by dynamic laser diffraction; and wherein the photoinitiator is a diffusion hindered photoinitiator selected from the group consisting of multifunctional photoinitiators, oligomeric photoinitiators, polymeric photoinitiators and polymerizable photoinitiators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: AGFA NV
    Inventors: Johan Loccufier, Luc Decoster
  • Patent number: 10239322
    Abstract: A liquid cartridge includes a first surface, a second surface spaced apart from the first surface, and a third surface extending between the first surface and the second surface, with a liquid outlet through the first surface. A circuit board is mounted on the third surface. A locking mechanism includes a locking surface that extends above the third surface, and a liquid detection mechanism includes a light access portion. The light access portion is disposed between the circuit board and the locking surface, and the circuit board is disposed between the first surface and the light access portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoya Okazaki, Tetsuro Kobayshi, Hiroaki Takahashi, Kosuke Nukui, Akihito Ono, Mikio Hirano, Suguru Tomoguchi, Yutao Wang, Tomohiro Kanbe
  • Patent number: 10239335
    Abstract: A printing apparatus performs printing on a sheet including adhesive label paper and includes a thermal head configured to perform printing on the sheet using heat, a platen roller which is positioned to face the thermal head, and configured to rotate to transport the sheet when the sheet is interposed between the thermal head and the platen roller, a heating unit configured to heat the thermal head, an output device, and a controller. The controller is configured to operate in a cleaning mode, in which the controller causes the thermal head to be heated to a predetermined temperature at which glue of the label paper is softened while the platen roller is in contact with the thermal head and rotating without transporting any sheet, and controls the output device to indicate that the thermal head has been heated up to the predetermined temperature and is ready for cleaning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazunori Kato
  • Patent number: 10232643
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a print head configured to perform printing on a print medium line by line based on print data, a drive motor configured to convey the print medium in accordance with printing of the print data on the print medium, a processor, and a width detecting unit configured to detect a width information of the print medium. In a case where printing is restarted after printing on the print medium by the print head is paused, the processor controls a rotation direction of the drive motor to be a reverse direction opposite to a direction before the pause of the printing and determines a rotation amount of the reverse rotation according to the width information of the print medium detected by the width detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Takeo Ozawa
  • Patent number: 10232651
    Abstract: A thermal printer according to an embodiment includes a communication interface that receives print data from an external device. A thermal print head thermally prints on a sheet, line by line according to the received print data. A motor drives a roller to transport the sheet, line by line according to the received print data. A processor determines, for a current print line, a target transport speed for transporting the sheet, and retrieves one or more intermediate speeds that are defined in advance and are between a current transport speed of transporting the sheet and the target transport speed. The processor controls the motor to transport the sheet at each determined intermediate speed and the target transport speed, sequentially. The thermal print head is heated in accordance with predetermined heating control information corresponding to the determined intermediate speed closest to the current speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Chen Pang Lim, Noriyuki Watanabe
  • Patent number: 10226945
    Abstract: A tape printing device that is vertically long and can be operated by being handheld includes a main key operating portion configured with a plurality of groups of keys 215, 217, and 219 on a front surface, in which, among the plurality of groups of keys 215, 217, and 219, a group of keys 215 having a high frequency of operations is disposed at a position near a gravity center portion in a longitudinal direction, and the groups of keys 217 and 219 having a low frequency of operations are disposed at a position distant from the gravity center portion in the longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Kubota, Taishi Sasaki, Akihiro Shintani, Haruki Sugawara, Naoya Nishimura
  • Patent number: 10220632
    Abstract: A liquid-consuming apparatus includes: a tank including a liquid chamber, an upstanding wall facing a particular direction, and an inlet formed in a surface of the tank; a liquid-consuming unit consuming liquid stored in the liquid chamber; a cover rotatable between a covering position where the upstanding wall is covered with the cover and an exposure position where the upstanding wall is exposed, around a rotation axis extending in a further direction; and a casing including an engaging target part which holds the cover in the covering position, and supporting the tank, liquid-consuming unit, and cover. The cover includes: an engaging part to engage with the engaging target part in the state that the cover is in the covering position; and a tab which is subjected to an operation for releasing an engagement between the engaging part and the engaging target part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshinori Osakabe, Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Patent number: 10220625
    Abstract: In one example, a liquid container includes an expandable and collapsible bag having a first interior chamber and a second interior chamber separated by a barrier; a passage through the barrier for liquid to pass between the chambers; a first opening between the first chamber and an exterior of the bag; and a second opening between the second chamber and the exterior of the bag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Hector Lebron, Juan A. Marrero Cosme
  • Patent number: 10207504
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a medium transport mechanism that transports a recording medium in a transport direction, a print head that ejects a liquid onto the recording medium, a printing section that performs printing by ejecting a liquid from the print head onto the recording medium based on print data, and a controller that controls a suspension and a resumption of a printing operation at a dividing position that has been designated in the print data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Satoru Ono
  • Patent number: 10207523
    Abstract: A receipt printer according to an embodiment includes a sheet roller that transports a sheet from a sheet roll to a receipt issuing port. A printing device prints receipt data on the sheet. A cutter configured performs full cutting so that the sheet is separated from the sheet roll and partial cutting so that the sheet remains partially connected to the sheet roll. A processor controls the cutter to perform the partial cutting after the printing device prints the receipt data on the sheet, and also controls the cutter to perform the full cutting when a predetermined condition is satisfied after the partial cutting is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Yasui
  • Patent number: 10207497
    Abstract: Selecting nozzles can include selecting nozzles of a plurality of nozzles to print a portion of a print job based on content of the print job and assigning firing reservations to the selected nozzles, where a total number of the firing reservations assigned to the selected nozzles is comparatively less than a total number of the plurality of nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventors: Michael W. Cumbie, Garrett E. Clark, Mark H. MacKenzie