Patents Examined by Justin Olamit
  • Patent number: 9329637
    Abstract: A configurable keyboard. The configurable keyboard includes a base with a top face, and a first edge. A position adjustable panel containing keyboard keys. The position adjustable panel is attached to the base by a position adjustment device. The position adjustment device includes a shaft and a first connector. The shaft is attached, towards a bottom end, to the base. The first connector connects the position adjustable panel to the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gary I. Dickenson, Richard Hutzler
  • Patent number: 9329638
    Abstract: A configurable keyboard. The configurable keyboard includes a base with a top face, and a top edge. A position adjustable panel containing keyboard keys. The position adjustable panel is attached to the base by a position adjustment device. The position adjustment device includes a shaft and a first connector. The shaft is attached, towards a bottom end, to the base. The first connector connects the position adjustable panel to the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gary I. Dickenson, Richard Hutzler
  • Patent number: 9327534
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, a return-sheet conveyer unit to convey a recording sheet carried from the image forming unit along a return-sheet path to return to the image forming unit, an upper frame unit including a pair of side frames to support the image forming unit in a position there-between, and a pair of lower frames arranged to have a predetermined amount of clearance there-between to have the return-sheet conveyer unit in the clearance, and configured to be less rigid than the upper frame unit and to support lower sections of the pair of side frames. A vertical position of the return-sheet conveyer unit with respect to the image forming unit is defined with reference to the upper frame unit by having a part of the return-sheet conveyer unit aligned to be in contact with the upper frame unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Makoto Souda
  • Patent number: 9323201
    Abstract: A sheet processing apparatus includes: a main body accommodating a controller; an opening and closing member including an electrical part and pivotable about a pivot axis with respect to the main body between a closed position and an open position is exposed; a hinge disposed between the main body and the opening and closing member and at least partly constituting the pivot axis; and a flexible cable connecting between the electrical part and the controller. The opening and closing member includes a side wall for covering the electrical part from a hinge side of the electrical part. The side wall has an opening formed at a position opposite the flexible cable extending from the opening and closing member to the main body. The hinge includes a cover portion configured to cover a portion of the flexible cable which is exposed through the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takashi Fujiwara
  • Patent number: 9302511
    Abstract: A sheet cutting apparatus includes a cutting unit configured to cut a sheet, a discharge unit configured to discharge a fragment of the sheet cut by the cutting unit, a blowing unit configured to blow air on the fragment discharged from the discharge unit, and a storage unit configured to store the fragment discharged from the discharge unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masahito Yoshida, Hikaru Watanabe
  • Patent number: 9291980
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus (100) includes a discharge section (210), a paper receiving tray (93), a first detecting section (211), a lever (220), a second detecting section (230) and a decision section (240). The first detecting section (211) is disposed in the discharge section (210), and detects a paper jam. The second detecting section (230) detects a swinging state of the lever (220) from a first position at which the lever (220) is not in the process of receiving an action of the paper sheet to a second position. The decision section (240) judges an occurrence factor in a paper jam to be a user-induced factor when the second detecting section (230) detects a state in which the lever is at the first position in a state where the first detecting section (211) detects the paper jam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Norichika Katsura, Kohji Aoki, Masaharu Kimura, Yasuaki Fukada
  • Patent number: 9283778
    Abstract: An image recording device is provided, having a recording unit configured to record an image on a sheet, and a tray disposed below the recording unit. The tray includes a sheet holding surface configured to hold the sheet. Additionally, the image recording device includes a sheet feeder disposed between the recording unit and the tray. The sheet feeder includes a roller for feeding the sheet from the tray. The roller is configured to move between a first roller position in which the roller contacts the sheet holding surface of the tray and a second roller position in which the roller is separated from the sheet holding surface. A return guide, disposed between the recording unit and the sheet feeder, defines a second conveying path to guide the sheet having an image recorded on one side thereof back to the feed guide. The return guide has a first opening configured to accommodate the roller of the sheet feeder when the roller is in the second roller position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo Asada, Hirotaka Aoki, Satoru Nakakita, Shota Iijima, Kenji Samoto, Yuji Koga
  • Patent number: 9256184
    Abstract: A rotating member provided on an end of a stretching member is rotatable around a rotating axis inclined with respect to the shaft of the stretching member. In order that, when a belt end winds around the rotating member, the belt end winds around an outer side of an entry position where the belt end enters the rotating member, an outer circumferential surface of the rotating member in an area in contact with an inner circumferential surface of the belt is inclined with respect to a belt contact surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Iwakoshi, Atsushi Ogata, Hiroshi Kato
  • Patent number: 9254640
    Abstract: A flexible manufacturing system for an article of footwear includes a printing system for printing graphics onto the footwear. The flexible manufacturing system also includes a projection system for aligning a projected graphic with a predetermined portion of the article prior to printing the graphic to the article. The graphic can include a masked portion that corresponds to a design element on the article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: NIKE, Inc.
    Inventor: Todd W. Miller
  • Patent number: 9256183
    Abstract: A sheet storing portion is maintained in a state in which a sheet stacking portion on which sheets are stacked is electrically insulated, when the sheet storing portion is contained in a containing portion of an image forming apparatus body at the time of formation of an image. The sheet stacking portion is switched from the insulation state to a grounding state in which the sheet stacking portion is grounded through a ground portion by a switching portion through an operation of drawing the sheet storing portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takateru Ohkubo, Keita Nakajima, Kentarou Tomoe, Akira Matsushima
  • Patent number: 9248669
    Abstract: An image recording device is provided, having a recording unit configured to record an image on a sheet, and a tray disposed below the recording unit. The tray includes a sheet holding surface configured to hold the sheet. Additionally, the image recording device includes a sheet feeder disposed between the recording unit and the tray. The sheet feeder includes a roller for feeding the sheet from the tray. The roller is configured to move between a first roller position in which the roller contacts the sheet holding surface of the tray and a second roller position in which the roller is separated from the sheet holding surface. A return guide, disposed between the recording unit and the sheet feeder, defines a second conveying path to guide the sheet having an image recorded on one side thereof back to the feed guide. The return guide has a first opening configured to accommodate the roller of the sheet feeder when the roller is in the second roller position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo Asada, Hirotaka Aoki, Satoru Nakakita, Shota Iijima, Kenji Samoto, Yuji Koga
  • Patent number: 9250594
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for implementing an asynchronous buffering module and/or scheme employing an integrated registration function, particularly for in-line printing in an image forming system. Multiple simplex marking engines are arranged in series and provided with a mechanism that includes an asynchronous buffering module with the capacity to modify the timing of individual sheets of image receiving media passing between the in-line marking engines. The buffering module is augmented with an integrated registration function for the in-line duplex printing. The combined mechanism provides a capacity between the multiple marking engines to effect timing synchronization and re-registration for the sheets exiting the first serial marking engine allowing them to be properly timed and registered for feeding to the second serial marking engine. An asynchronous nature of the combination of media marking engines is synchronized in the feed of the sheets between the media marking engines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas K. Herrmann, Mark S. Amico
  • Patent number: 9248664
    Abstract: A flexible manufacturing system for an article of footwear includes a printing system for printing graphics onto the footwear. The flexible manufacturing system includes a first display device that is transparent and which may be used to superimpose graphics over an article to align the article with the printing system. An optical device and a second display device provide a fixed viewing angle for a user aligning the article under the first display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: NIKE, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd W. Miller, Eli R. Troyke
  • Patent number: 9250598
    Abstract: Disclosed is an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a paper jam in an arc-shaped sheet passing path for turning around a sheet and transporting the sheet in a double-sided transporting path. In this apparatus, a double-sided sheet passing path is formed so as to include: an arc-shaped interval that causes the sheet to turn around and to be transported to a registration sensor on an upstream side in the transport direction of a sheet and that includes the registration sensor as one end point; and an interval that transports the sheet having passed between ADU transport rollers, obliquely downward. A single-sided sheet passing path is formed so as to include an interval that transports the sheet having passed over the registration sensor in a substantially horizontal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazunori Matsuo, Shunichi Itai
  • Patent number: 9248682
    Abstract: A method of making a bas relief from a two-dimensional image includes converting a two-dimensional image to a gray-scale image that comprises a plurality of shades of gray. Each shade of gray corresponds to a respective elevation of a three dimensional representation of the two-dimensional image. The gray-scale image is then converted to a half-tone bitmap image that is etched onto a print screen stencil. Meltable powder is forced through the open mesh areas of the print screen stencil to form a three-dimensional pattern of powder on a substrate positioned beneath the print screen stencil in spaced-apart relationship therewith. The three-dimensional pattern of the powder corresponds to the three-dimensional representation of the two-dimensional image. The three-dimensional pattern of powder is then heated to fuse the powder together to form a bas relief.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: Identity Group Holdings Corporation
    Inventor: William M. Stecker
  • Patent number: 9168773
    Abstract: A printing apparatus sequentially prints a plurality of images on a first surface of a sheet, and then sequentially prints a plurality of images on a second surface that is a back surface of the first surface. When a state of a printing unit is determined not to be normal when printing on the first surface, the printing apparatus executes processing for maintenance by using a sheet different from the sheet used for printing on the first surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akiteru Naka, Kazunari Shishido, Sho Nakamura, Ruriko Mikami, Atsushi Hirahara, Takayoshi Noguchi, Tatsuhiko Tomita
  • Patent number: 9150039
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus that can detect a leading edge of a tabbed sheet after skew correction with high accuracy and without increasing a size of the apparatus. A transfer unit transfers a toner image to the sheet, the skew of which having been corrected based on a detection result of a first skew detection unit, while the toner image is controlled to be synchronized with the sheet based on the detection result of the first skew detection unit and a detection result of a second skew detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masaaki Moriya
  • Patent number: 9139388
    Abstract: A device is provided for curling side edges of a sheet of media to be held down by a hold down system in an image production system. The device has a first shaped element having an outer section, the outer section of the first shaped element pointing in a first direction; a second shaped element having an outer section, the outer section of the second shaped element pointing in a second direction opposite the first direction; a first pinching element adjacent to the first shaped element, a first pathway being formed between the first pinching element and the first shaped element; and a second pinching element adjacent to the second shaped element, a second pathway being formed between the second pinching element and the second shaped element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Lloyd A. Williams, Ruddy Castillo, Joannes N. M. deJong
  • Patent number: 9138984
    Abstract: An apparatus includes an input unit and a printing control unit to cause a printing unit to execute printing on a continuous sheet. The input unit inputs an instruction for printing by the printing unit. The printing control unit causes the printing unit to execute printing according to a second job subsequent to printing on a first surface of the continuous sheet based on a first job, wherein the instruction input by the input unit may include a first job that is a two-sided printing and a second job that is a one-sided printing, or a first job that is a one-sided printing and a second job that is a two-sided printing. A supplying unit is controlled to supply the printed continuous sheet to a reversal unit which reverses the continuous sheet to execute printing on a second surface after executing printing on a first surface of the continuous sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takayoshi Noguchi, Kazunari Shishido, Sho Nakamura, Atsushi Hirahara, Tatsuhiko Tomita
  • Patent number: 9116496
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes print engine portion, paper sheet detectors, and control portion. Control portion stop paper sheet conveyance, when detecting occurrence of jam. Control portion determines fixing nip position which is position of the fixing nip portion on fixing stop paper sheet, on basis of outputs of paper sheet detectors. When fixing nip position is located at leading end side half of fixing stop paper sheet in paper sheet conveying direction, control portion rotates fixing motor in reverse direction to convey fixing stop paper sheet to upstream side in paper sheet conveying direction. When fixing nip position is located at rear end side half of fixing stop paper sheet in paper sheet conveying direction, control portion rotates fixing motor in a forward direction to convey fixing stop paper sheet toward a downstream side in paper sheet conveying direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Kenji Miyamoto, Takahiro Honda, Mari Kokomoto