Patents Examined by Lam Nguyen
  • Patent number: 9909840
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes structures, methods, and functionality for measuring a wind profile with networked anemometers. One method includes receiving real-time wind measurement data from each of one or more anemometer sensor platforms (ASPs) in a network, receiving atmospheric data, and calculating, using the received real-time wind measurement data and the received atmospheric data, at least one of real-time wind measurements, a wind profile, an average wind speed, or a weapon aiming offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: Torrey Pines Logic, Inc.
    Inventor: Leo Volfson
  • Patent number: 9908341
    Abstract: The present invention intends to provide a printing apparatus that can lessen a reduction in ejection performance caused by thickening, solidification, or the like of print liquid in an ejection port of a printing unit even in the case of stopping a print operation by the printing unit to perform a post-process on a print medium. The printing apparatus includes a post-processing part configured to, in a state of stopping the print operation by the printing unit, perform the post-process on a printed print medium as well as including an open/close unit configured to selectively perform a closing operation or an opening operation of the ejection port provided in the printing unit. Further, when the print medium is stopped in the post-processing part, the open/close unit is controlled so as to bring the ejection port into a close state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Finetech Nisca, Inc.
    Inventors: Shizuka Akahori, Kazuki Sakamoto, Noritaka Nakashima
  • Patent number: 9897446
    Abstract: A physical quantity data correcting device accurately and rapidly makes corrections of physical quantity data by appropriately controlling an approximate ellipsoid computing unit and/or a correction coefficient computing unit on the basis of a control parameter group. A physical quantity data acquiring unit acquires physical quantity data output from a physical quantity detecting unit that detects physical quantities. A data selecting unit selects the acquired physical quantity data. An approximate ellipsoid computing unit computes an approximate expression of an n-dimensional ellipsoid indicating a distribution shape obtained by distributing the selected physical quantity data in an n-axis coordinate space. A correction coefficient computing unit computes correction coefficients for correcting the computed n-dimensional ellipsoid to an n-dimensional sphere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation
    Inventors: Toru Kitamura, Munehiro Kitaura
  • Patent number: 9895877
    Abstract: To more appropriately carry out printing at high precision even when a gap distance is large. A printing apparatus includes an inkjet head, a main scan driver, and a controller, where the controller sets a moving speed of the inkjet head according to a gap distance, and sets the moving speed in a main scanning operation so that an entering angle at a time of landing of the ink droplet on a medium becomes smaller than or equal to 45 degrees with respect to at least a position where the gap distance becomes the largest in a region of the medium to become a target of the main scanning operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masaru Ohnishi, Akifumi Seki
  • Patent number: 9889684
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided including a drive source, a switching member, a drive force transmitter, a clutch, a controller, etc. The drive source drives a conveyer to rotate either normally or reversely. The switching member is swingable between an evacuation position and a striking position as a shaft rotates. The drive force transmitter transmits a drive force from the drive source to both the conveyer and the shaft. The clutch transmits the drive force to the shaft when being connected, and holds the switching member at the striking or evacuation position when being disconnected. The controller controls the drive source and the clutch such that the conveyer normally rotates to convey a manually-inserted recording medium from a manual conveyance path to an ejector and that the switching member swings from the evacuation position to the striking position, based on a signal indicating that the set position is wrong.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Suguru Masunaga
  • Patent number: 9894249
    Abstract: A control system for controlling execution of calibration on a printing apparatus includes an acquiring unit configured to acquire, from a printing apparatus to be controlled, first sheet type information representing information regarding a common calibration sheet type used when the most recent common calibration is executed, where a result of common calibration executed using the common calibration sheet type is applied to other sheet types, a determination unit configured to determine whether the state of the printing apparatus for the first sheet type satisfies a predetermined condition in accordance with a print volume of the printing apparatus, and a control unit configured to cause the printing apparatus to execute calibration using the first sheet type if the determination unit determines that the predetermined condition for the first sheet type is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Hashimoto, Kevin F Piazza
  • Patent number: 9889672
    Abstract: An attachment is mounted on a cartridge holder of a printer as a replacement of an ink cartridge. An ink outlet member having a link passage is separably secured to an attachment body. Ink is supplied from the exterior to the ink outlet member through an ink supply tube. When the attachment is mounted on the cartridge holder, a downstream end of the ink outlet member is positioned with respect to and connected to an ink supply needle of the printer. Accordingly, the attachment is easily and quickly installed in a liquid ejection apparatus. This reduces costs and makes it easy to use the attachment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Kobayashi, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 9874440
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for assessing the depth of a crack near the surface of a material, characterized in that said method includes the following steps: heating an area located near the crack using of a heat source (2) that is periodically modulatable into a heat flow at a controllable frequency, a so-called “modulation frequency”, varying the frequency so as to vary the heat diffusion length between an initial value, less than the distance between the heated area and the crack, and a final value that is greater than the distance between the heated area and the crack; determining the variation, depending on the heat diffusion length, in a function on the basis of at least one derivative, relative to a space variable, of the amplitude of the sinusoidal component of the temperature, on the surface of the material and at the modulation frequency, at each point of a set of points of the crack so as to cause a first area of variation in the function to appear, wherein said function increases at a first
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignees: CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE (PARIS 6)
    Inventors: Christine Boue, Gilles Tessier, Jean-Paul Roger, Mihaela Streza
  • Patent number: 9862183
    Abstract: A waveform amplifier for a piezoelectric liquid ejection element. The amplifier provides an amplified waveform to the liquid ejection element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Andrew L. Van Brocklin
  • Patent number: 9861718
    Abstract: A method and system for determining steam sterilant quality of a steam sterilizer where the steam sterilant comprises non-condensable gas(es).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY
    Inventors: Knut Schumacher, Robbert-Jan Hermsen
  • Patent number: 9862186
    Abstract: An inkjet printhead device, fluid ejection device and method thereof are disclosed. The fluid ejection device includes a fluid supply chamber to store fluid, an ejection chamber including a nozzle and a corresponding ejection member to selectively eject the fluid through the nozzle, and a channel to establish fluid communication between the fluid supply chamber and the ejection chamber. The fluid ejection device also includes a pressure sensor unit having a sensor plate to output a voltage value corresponding to a cross-sectional area of an amount of fluid in the at least ejection chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Andrew L. Van Brocklin, Adam L. Ghozeil, Daryl E. Anderson
  • Patent number: 9862210
    Abstract: A sheet transporting apparatus is provided, including a transport mechanism provided with a roller, a motor, a controller, and a measuring input unit, wherein a transport route has a curved area for inverting the sheet, and the controller is constructed such that the control on the motor is executed by a closed loop control system by using a measured value of an control output at an initial stage of the transport of a sheet from a tray, and the control on the motor is switched from the control performed by the closed loop control system to control performed by an open loop control system on condition that a preset phenomenon arises after the sheet is taken out of the tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenji Samoto, Kenta Horade, Mitsuhiro Nozaki, Hirotaka Aoki
  • Patent number: 9857350
    Abstract: In order to evaluate the compatibility of coals used in coke production and to produce cokes with desired strength by blending coals in consideration of the compatibility, the invention provides a technique which evaluates the adhesion strength obtained when two kinds of coals are carbonized based on properties of the coals. Surface tensions of two kinds of semicokes obtained by heat treating two kinds of coals are measured. Based on the difference between the two measured values of surface tension, the quality of the adhesiveness between the two kinds of coals is evaluated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Fukada, Hiroyuki Sumi, Hidekazu Fujimoto, Izumi Shimoyama, Takashi Anyashiki, Tetsuya Yamamoto, Yusuke Dohi
  • Patent number: 9857247
    Abstract: A method determines isotropic stress by means of a Hall element which includes a plate-shaped area made of a doped semiconductor material and comprises four contacts contacting the plate-shaped area and forming corners of a quadrangle, two neighboring corners of the quadrangle defining an edge thereof. At least one van der Pauw transresistance value in at least one van der Pauw measurement set-up of the Hall element is determined, wherein the four contacts of the Hall element form contact pairs, a contact pair comprising two contacts defining neighboring corners of the quadrangle. One contact pair supplies a current and the other contact pair measures a voltage. A relationship between the supplied current and the measured voltage defines the Van der Pauw transresistance value. The method comprises determining a stress signal which depends on the at least one Van der Pauw transresistance value and determining isotropic stress.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: MELEXIS TECHNOLOGIES NV
    Inventors: Samuel Huber, Johan Raman, Pieter Rombouts, Appolonius Jacobus Van Der Wiel
  • Patent number: 9851179
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes structures, methods, and functionality for measuring a wind profile with networked anemometers. One method includes receiving real-time wind measurement data from each of one or more anemometer sensor platforms (ASPs) in a network, receiving atmospheric data, and calculating, using the received real-time wind measurement data and the received atmospheric data, at least one of real-time wind measurements, a wind profile, an average wind speed, or a weapon aiming offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: Torrey Pines Logic, Inc.
    Inventor: Leo Volfson
  • Patent number: 9851280
    Abstract: A diagnosis control method of an air conditioner is provided to clearly inform a user of an air conditioner installation error. The diagnosis control method includes receiving a test run command or a self-diagnosis command for diagnosis of the air conditioner, performing a first test run to diagnose an assembly state of the air conditioner, performing a second test run to diagnose pipe connection of the air conditioner and an amount of refrigerant in the air conditioner, performing a determination including diagnosing a state of the air conditioner based on operation results of the first test run and the second test run, and displaying the diagnosis result through a display device provided at an indoor unit of the air conditioner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kil Soo Son, Jong Kweon Ha, Kwang Sik Han, Young Jin Kim, Beom Seok Seo, Byoung Ok Ahn, Hong Seok Jun
  • Patent number: 9844933
    Abstract: An inkjet printhead includes an inkjet nozzle with a main actuator and at least one peripheral actuator in the same firing chamber. A determination is made as to whether the inkjet nozzle has sat idle, e.g., not firing for a threshold period of time. When the inkjet nozzle has sat idle, both the main actuator and the peripheral actuator are activated to jet at least one ink drop to renew the inkjet nozzle to mitigate decap conditions. When the inkjet nozzle has not sat idle, only the main actuator is activated to jet ink drops.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventors: Brian M. Taff, Erik D. Torniainen, Daniel A. Kearl
  • Patent number: 9844945
    Abstract: A technique of enhancing attachment of a liquid supply unit to a liquid ejection device is provided. A first ink cartridge 100a and a second ink cartridge 100b are attached to a carriage 27 of a printing device 10 via a holder structure 200. Each of the first and the second ink cartridges 100a and 100b includes a circuit substrate 130 having a plurality of terminals 151 to 159 which are electrically connected with a device-side terminal assembly 250 provided on the holder structure 200. Each of the first and the second ink cartridges 100a and 100b also includes a main engagement part 120 configured to engage with a lever member 230 of the holder structure 200 as an engaged part, such as to limit motion of the circuit substrate 130 away from the holder structure 200. The circuit substrate 130 includes a first terminal 151 and a second terminal 152 located on respective ends in an array direction of the terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Shiota, Atsushi Kobayashi, Tadahiro Mizutani, Shun Oya
  • Patent number: 9844943
    Abstract: Provided are a wiping mechanism, a liquid droplet jetting apparatus, and a wiping method capable of preventing infiltration of bubbles into a nozzle when a nozzle surface is wiped by a wiping member. A wiping member (200) comes into contact with a nozzle surface (78) with a nozzle through which liquid droplets are jetted and is formed by weaving weft yarns (220) and warp yarns (210), in which the wiping member (200) in which the weft yarns (220) are further exposed to the nozzle surface (78A) side than the warp yarns (210) is moved relative to the nozzle surface (78A) along the warp yarns (210).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Jun Yamanobe
  • Patent number: 9841463
    Abstract: A method and system includes predicting energy consumption of a vehicle using a statistical model. The method includes obtaining a plurality of input vectors for plurality of points in time, wherein each input vector includes a plurality of variables with a weight vector. Thereafter, the energy level for each input vector is captured for each point in time. Subsequent to capturing the energy level, the method includes predicting a change in energy level of the vehicle using the statistical model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: Invently Automotive Inc.
    Inventor: Stephen J. Brown