Patents Examined by Jason Uhlenhake
  • Ink formulations for improving printhead lifetime
    Patent number: 9388317
    Abstract: An inkjet ink includes: (i) a disazo dye of formula (I): (ii) sulfolane; (iii) a glycol compound selected from the group consisting of: ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol and pentaethylene glycol; and (iv) water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Memjet Technology Limited
    Inventors: Jognandan Prashar, Michele Shepard, Doreen Bali
  • Inkjet printing apparatus
    Patent number: 9387677
    Abstract: To provide an inkjet printing apparatus that can suppress influence by a backflow of the fluid flowing from the pump to the cap. An inkjet printing apparatus includes: an inkjet printing head including an ejection opening face formed with an ejection opening; a cap being capable of sealing the ejection opening face; a tube pump connected with the cap and configured to be able to generate a negative pressure inside of the cap; and a buffer member provided between the cap and the tube pump and having a volume being capable of storing a fluid flowing from the tube pump to the cap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji Kanome, Hiroyuki Saito
  • Digital printing process
    Patent number: 9381736
    Abstract: A printing process is disclosed which comprises directing droplets of an ink onto an intermediate transfer member to form an ink image, the ink including an organic polymeric resin and a coloring agent in an aqueous carrier, and the transfer member having a hydrophobic outer surface so that each ink droplet in the ink image spreads on impinging upon the intermediate transfer member to form an ink film. The ink is dried while the ink image is being transported by the intermediate transfer member by evaporating the aqueous carrier from the ink image to leave a residue film of resin and coloring agent. The residue film is then transferred to a substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: LANDA CORPORATION LTD.
    Inventors: Benzion Landa, Yehoshua Sheinman, Sagi Abramovich, Galia Golodetz, Gregory Nakhmanovich, Meir Soria
  • Apparatus and process for digital printing on articles
    Patent number: 9375927
    Abstract: An apparatus for digital printing on articles (2), comprises a drum (3) rotatable about a central axis (C), carrying piece-holder elements (4) circumferentially distributed around said central axis (C) and each configured for carrying an article (2) being processed. The drum (3) rotates to transfer the piece-holder element (4) through printing stations (9) carrying printheads (10), each operating according to a printing area (15) of predetermined length (L), to create a printing pattern (M) on a side surface (2a) of each article (2), driven in rotation around its own axis (X). Auxiliary movement devices (21) shift the printhead (10) parallel to the main extension direction (D) of the printing area to allow the articles to be processed having an extension greater than the length of the printing area (15). It is also described a printing process implemented by the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: TAPEMATIC S.P.A.
    Inventor: Luciano Perego
  • Recording device, conveyance device, and conveyance method for conveying conveyance medium
    Patent number: 9375956
    Abstract: A recording device (conveyance device) includes a recording section configured to perform recording on a recording medium (conveyance medium), a medium supporting section configured to be in a state feeding and pulling back the recording medium and support the recording medium, a detecting portion configured to detect a first arrangement state of the recording medium after being fed from the medium supporting section and before being pulled back and a second arrangement state of the recording medium after being pulled back and fed from the medium supporting section, and an adjusting section configured to select whether or not to process for adjusting an arrangement of the recording medium based on the first arrangement state and the second arrangement state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Junya Kato
  • Printing method and printing device
    Patent number: 9370900
    Abstract: A printing device and method for performing high image quality printing on a three-dimensional object at low cost is provided. The method includes a discharging step that discharges ink onto a recording medium 2 from a print head 1, wherein a blocking wall 3 is provided so as to sandwich a printing region that is a target towards which the ink is discharged along a moving direction of the print head 1 by two surfaces extending along a flight path of ink directed toward the recording medium 2 from the print head 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masaru Ohnishi, Akifumi Seki
  • Inspecting chart and printing apparatus
    Patent number: 9370937
    Abstract: Disclosed is an inspecting chart including a reference pattern containing a first line segment group and a second line segment group, a first-side deviation pattern, and a second-side deviation pattern. The first line segment group is formed by a plurality of first line segments printed by a reference printing head at a first given interval. The second line segment is formed by second line segments printed by a printing head on a center between two adjacent first line segments or a center of each of the first line segments, the printing head being spaced away from the reference printing head in a the transportation direction of a print medium. The first-side deviation pattern and the second-side deviation pattern are printed with various deviations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignees: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd., RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuji Kurokawa, Takaharu Yamamoto, Kazuyuki Tanoue, Hiroaki Kishida, Kunio Muraji
  • Print head bit information mapping
    Patent number: 9365034
    Abstract: An apparatus and method support a plurality of print head dies (24, 324, 524) on a print bar (22, 322, 522). The plurality of print head dies (24, 324, 524) comprise a print head die (24, 324, 524) having a circuit (26, 526) forming a series (28, 328) of information bits (30), wherein bit locations in the series (28, 328) are mapped to information type definitions based on a location of the print head die (24, 324, 524) on the print bar (22, 322, 522) relative to other print head dies (24, 324, 524) on the print bar (22, 322, 522).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Garrett E. Clark, Christopher H. Bakker, Yit Hong Tor, Glory J. Abadilla, Andrew Phillips, Glenn D. McCloy
  • System for detecting inoperative inkjets in printheads ejecting clear ink using thermal substrates
    Patent number: 9358820
    Abstract: An apparatus detects inoperative inkjets during printing. The apparatus operates the printhead or printheads in the printer to form test pattern on a thermal substrate. The heat of the materials used to form the test pattern change the optical density of the areas where the materials land. The area where the test pattern is formed is imaged and the image data are analyzed to identify inoperative inkjets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Patricia J. Donaldson, William H. Wayman
  • Image printing using specialty ink
    Patent number: 9346282
    Abstract: An image is printed with an inkjet-printing device using specialty ink (300). The device can use standard cyan ink, standard magenta ink, standard yellow ink, and standard black ink to print full-color images on media. However, the specialty ink is a type of ink other than the types of the standard cyan ink, the standard magenta ink, the standard yellow ink, and the standard black ink. A replacement color ordinarily printed using the standard cyan ink, the standard magenta ink, the standard yellow ink, and/or the standard black ink is determined (306). An image having one or more pixels having the replacement color is printed on the media (316). The pixels that have the replacement color are printed using the specialty ink instead of using the standard cyan ink, the standard magenta ink, the standard yellow ink, and/or the standard black ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Adam F. Page, Corlene Ankrum
  • Ink composition, ink set, and image forming method
    Patent number: 9346968
    Abstract: An ink composition, including: water; a polymerizable compound; a polymerization initiator; and a ?-alkoxypropionamide compound represented by the following Formula (A): wherein, in Formula (A), R1 represents a linear or branched alkyl group having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms; each of R2 and R3 independently represents a hydrogen atom or a linear or branched alkyl group having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms; and R2 and R3 may be the same or different.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Toshihiro Kamada
  • Recording apparatus
    Patent number: 9340045
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes: recording modules; a storage; a receiver; a first path extending from the storage to the plurality of recording modules; 6a second path extending from the recording modules to the receiver; and third paths extending between the first path and the second path via first connection positions and second connection positions. The second path has one end connected to the receiver and the other end connected to a portion of the first path which is located upstream of the first connection positions. When the recording medium having passed through the first path once is conveyed to the first path again via the second path, the conveyor conveys the recording medium in a state in which a first surface and a second surface of the recording medium are reversed when compared with a stain which the recording medium passes through the first path in preceding conveyance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kohei Terada, Shinya Yamamoto
  • Drawing apparatus and method for controlling drawing in drawing apparatus
    Patent number: 9340038
    Abstract: A drawing apparatus detects, as base coat information, a contour of a base coat region which is formed on a surface of a drawing object by applying a first ink used for a base coat on the surface of the drawing object with a drawing tool so as to fill in a design region surrounded with a contour of a design image, before the design image is printed on the surface of the drawing object, and adjusts a size of the design image and generates an adjusted design image which has a size sufficient to cover a whole area of the base coat region, based on the detected base coat information. The drawing apparatus then prints, by a print head, the adjusted design image on the base coat region at a position at which the adjusted design image covers the whole area of the base coat region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shuichi Yamasaki
  • Drawing apparatus and drawing method of drawing apparatus
    Patent number: 9333767
    Abstract: A drawing apparatus and drawing method to perform drawing on a drawing target region are shown. The drawing apparatus includes a drawing unit and a control unit. The drawing target region is a surface of a plurality of nails and the nails include unit regions in contact with each other to be drawn with ink in different colors. The control unit includes a nail specifying unit which judges whether each of the unit regions is a dried unit region, a non-dried unit region, and a non-drawn unit region. Then, the nail specifying unit extracts the non-drawn unit region which is not in contact with the non-dried unit region as a specific unit region. The control unit also includes a drawing control unit which controls the drawing unit to perform the drawing on the specific unit region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shuichi Yamasaki
  • Print masks for multiple pass print modes
    Patent number: 9327535
    Abstract: Print masks for multiple pass print modes are described herein. In at least some examples herein, the print mask includes mask matrices. The mask matrices define a single nozzle actuation pattern. The nozzle actuation pattern is irregular. In at least some examples herein, techniques for printing of an image on a substrate are described. During printing the image on the substrate a print mask is applied such that, for each pass, the inkjet nozzles in the print head are actuated according to the single nozzle actuation pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jaime Fernandez, Yngvar Rossow, Utpal Sarkar
  • Liquid ejection device, inspection method, and program
    Patent number: 9327536
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device comprising a plurality of ejection parts for ejecting liquid in cavities, an inspection part for inspecting the ejection parts. The ejection parts are classified into a plurality of ranks according to a characteristic of each of the ejection parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Suzuki, Osamu Shinkawa
  • Liquid ejecting apparatus and liquid supply apparatus
    Patent number: 9327504
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a carriage having a removable liquid receptacle that holds a liquid or a removable connector connected via a flexible liquid channel to an external liquid receptacle that holds a liquid, an ejecting head, mounted in the carriage, that has a nozzle that ejects the liquid, and a maintenance unit that runs maintenance on the ejecting head; the ejecting head has a filter disposed so as to be capable of contact with a liquid absorption member provided in the liquid receptacle and in the connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Tanaka, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Multipurpose printer
    Patent number: 9308746
    Abstract: A multipurpose printer and techniques for operating the printer are presented. A printer includes first and second print elements. During a first mode of operation for the printer, both the first and second print elements are configured to image both first and second sides of print media passing through the printer. During a second mode of operation, the first print element is prevented from interfacing with at least portions of the first side of the media that include adhesive materials affixed thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: NCR Corporation
    Inventors: Michael J. VanDemark, Mark E. Keeton, Timothy W. Rawlings
  • Ink jet printing device
    Patent number: 9302484
    Abstract: An inkjet printing device including a head unit that includes an inkjet head, a fixed tank for storing ink to be supplied to the inkjet head, and a tank attachment section to which ink tank for storing ink to be replenished to the fixed tank is exchangeably attached. When ink tanks are exchanged, an ink tank attached to the tank attachment section of head unit is removed by an arm section of the tank exchange mechanism, and an ink tank to be used for exchange removed from tank storage unit is attached to the tank attachment section of the head unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2016
    Assignee: FUJI MACHINE MFG. CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masato Suzuki, Masatoshi Fujita, Kazuhiro Sugiyama, Akihiro Kawajiri, Kenji Tsukada, Yoshitaka Hashimoto
  • Inkjet recording that reduces image quality deterioration due to re-adhering ink
    Patent number: 9303142
    Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus for recording on a recording sheet with an ink containing at least a pigment, a resin, and water includes at least two color inkjet heads. The at least two color inkjet heads are arranged in a conveyance direction of the recording sheet. The color inkjet head discharges the ink containing resin-encapsulated pigment particles with a largest number average particle diameter among the at least two color inkjet heads is arranged in a most downstream of the conveyance direction of the recording sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2016
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Masato Usui