Patents Examined by Mark R. Milia
  • Patent number: 11372603
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device, a memory, and a processor. The processor is configured to exert control in such a manner that, when the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device is notified of deleted file data and a trim command is to be executed, even if an operation on file data stored in the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device is performed in the state in which the operation state of the image forming apparatus is set to the power-saving state, the trim command is not executed on the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device in accordance with the operation performed on file data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventors: Akiyoshi Osugi, Shungo Nakayama
  • Patent number: 11368601
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes; a plurality of network interfaces; a storage area for storing data; and a memory section that stores regulation information that defines a network interface permitted as an output path of data stored in the storage area in association with the storage area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventor: Tatsuyuki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11303773
    Abstract: Various embodiments disclose a method for operating a printer apparatus that includes a print head. The method includes causing a media hub to retract a media in a retract direction along a media path. Further, the method includes causing a first media sensor to generate a first signal during retraction of the media. Furthermore, the method includes monitoring the first signal to detect at least one of a leading edge or a trailing edge of a label of the plurality of labels. Upon detecting the at least one of the leading edge or the trailing edge of the label, causing the media hub to retract the media by at least a predetermined distance, wherein the predetermined distance is a distance between the print head and the first media sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: DATAMAX-O'NEIL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ramanathan Alaganchetty, Boon Kheng Lim, Rajan Narayanaswami, Qibao Yu, Jian Zeng, Hongqiang Liu, Quanjin Shi, Zhiyong Zhu, Yun Huang, Xiaoming Yuan
  • Patent number: 11283938
    Abstract: A first communication apparatus includes a communication unit configured to communicate with a second communication apparatus, an image processing unit, and a control unit. The control unit generates the first image data from the RAW image data received from the second communication apparatus. In a case where the control unit determines that a performance of the second communication apparatus is equal to or higher than a predetermined performance, the control unit transmits the first image data to the second communication apparatus. In a case where the control unit determines that a performance of the second communication apparatus is lower than the predetermined performance, the control unit generates the second image data from the first image data, and transmits the generated second image data to the second communication apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoto Yoneda, Takahiro Kitsunai
  • Patent number: 11265436
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a display panel, a sheet conveying passage, a reading unit, a light source, a chassis, and a controller. The reading unit includes a light transmitting plate and a conveying image sensor. The conveying image sensor reads a conveyed sheet, which is a sheet to print on. The chassis has a cleaning hole in which to insert a cleaning rod for rubbing the light-transmitting plate. In a maintenance mode, the controller turns on the light source, and makes the display panel display a graph showing the pixel values of the pixels included in conveyed-and-read image data acquired by reading with the conveying image sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Patent number: 11265439
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is used in a post-payment system based on a customer's electronic money, and includes an image forming section, a communication section, and a controller. The image forming section performs a printing operation of forming an image on a sheet. The communication section performs communication so as to acquire settlement information including information that identifies the customer. The controller controls the image forming section and the communication section. As to the printing operation performed after acquisition of the settlement information, the controller settles a printing fee with a discount in a unit price per sheet in a situation where a printed sheet count is a predetermined number or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Jun Nishimura
  • Patent number: 11252286
    Abstract: In the case where a voice control device can communicate with a printing apparatus and a display apparatus, a user is provided with visual presentations of notifications on the display apparatus where print processing instructions are provided to the printing apparatus based on user instructions issued to the voice control device by voice.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akira Okamoto, Takuho Taguchi, Ryohei Saito
  • Patent number: 11231886
    Abstract: An editing application implemented in a PC obtains image data and print parameter and transmits, to a supporting program, a processing request of processing the image data based on the print parameter. The supporting program is implemented in the PC, and is activated also when a printing instruction to a general-use printing program implemented in an OS is inputted. The supporting program processes the image data in accordance with the processing request. The editing application obtains the processed image data and causes the PC to display the same through an UI.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazutaka Yamada
  • Patent number: 11226779
    Abstract: A relay apparatus transmits information corresponding to a registered photograph to the print management apparatus based on an event being specified when the first option is selected, wherein the event that is specified is registration of the photograph in the Web service, and transmits an instruction to print the game contents to the print management apparatus when the second option is selected and a speech instruction in a predetermined phrase spoken toward the speech recognition terminal is specified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koji Yamada, Yu Tomioka
  • Patent number: 11227200
    Abstract: The systems and methods presented here completely separate a non-user pattern from the user jobs being printed. In fact, depending on the number of images in the job and the number of patterns provided by the manufacturer or press operator, the patterns may appear on different images of the job each time the job is printed. This is because the image marks are generated and processed according to the configuration of ROUS, independent of the user jobs being printed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING, INC.
    Inventors: Scott Crosby, Haresh Joshi
  • Patent number: 11216708
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes a presentation unit, a receiver, a storage, and a controller. The presentation unit is configured to present at least one piece of information on image quality for each of plural models of image forming apparatuses. The receiver is configured to receive a setting value related to image quality from the information on the image quality presented by the presentation unit. The storage is configured to store the setting value related to the image quality received by the receiver for each of the models of the image forming apparatuses. The controller is configured to control the image forming apparatus of a corresponding model according to the setting value related to the image quality stored by the storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventors: Masayuki Iwasawa, Shingo Kato, Sawako Umeda
  • Patent number: 11212415
    Abstract: Disclosed is an image processing apparatus including: a derivation unit configured to derive a target luminance characteristic based on a viewing condition of an image and a print luminance characteristic predicted based a reflection characteristic corresponding to data thereon; a unit configured to generate print image data on an image by converting input image data by using a tone conversion characteristic that is set based on these characteristics, in which the derivation unit derives, in a case where a reproduction range of an illumination intensity in the print luminance characteristic is different, the target luminance characteristic so that a liner area of an output luminance in a case where the reproduction range is relatively large becomes large.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomokazu Yanai, Hisashi Ishikawa, Satoshi Wada, Takeshi Yazawa, Tetsuya Suwa, Hidetsugu Kagawa
  • Patent number: 11212414
    Abstract: An image reading apparatus includes a first reading section configured to read a first plane of the document, a second reading section configured to read a second plane which is a back side of the first plane, a first controller stops the reading of the first reading section after causing the first reading section to read a last line before the reading of the first reading section is stopped and transmits a reading stop instruction to a second controller earlier than a timing when the first reading section reads the last line by a time difference corresponding to a delay generated in communication between the first and second controllers. The second controller stops reading of the second reading section after causing the second reading section to read one line in response to the reading stop instruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tomokazu Shimizu
  • Patent number: 11184492
    Abstract: An apparatus includes: an operation panel that displays an operation screen and accepts an operation from a user; a hardware processor that accepts an operation from a user by voice, turns off the operation panel in a case where an interval between operations received by the operation panel exceeds a first set time, and resets a setting content stored in the storage in a case where an interval between operations received by the operation panel or the hardware processor exceeds a second set time; a storage that stores a setting content corresponding to an operation received by the operation panel or the hardware processor; and a changer that changes a set time of a timer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Takeo Katsuda
  • Patent number: 11172082
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes circuitry that receives, via a communication network, a first user request input in voice to a terminal, and reflects the first user request in a type or setting of a job. When a second user request input in voice to the terminal after the first user request is received via the communication network during the reflection of the first user request, the circuitry displays, on a display, information of the type or setting of the job reflecting a previous user request preceding the second user request. The previous user request includes the first user request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Shun Yoshimi
  • Patent number: 11172079
    Abstract: A maintenance management apparatus for managing maintenance on one or more devices, includes: circuitry to: obtain self-maintenance information indicating time at which self-maintenance has been performed on a device; obtain maintenance information indicating maintenance scheduled to be performed on the device from a memory, the maintenance information including time information indicating scheduled execution time of maintenance; update the time information indicating scheduled execution time of maintenance based on the self-maintenance information; and send a notification for prompting maintenance of the device when the time indicated by the time information having been updated is reached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Katsumasa Shimma, Yuji Takiya
  • Patent number: 11157218
    Abstract: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores computer-readable instructions for an information processing apparatus including: a processor; a display; and a memory storing at least one set of printer information. First and second type printers transmit status information to the information processing apparatus. The status information from the first type printer includes first information. The status information from the second type printer includes second information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroaki Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11151431
    Abstract: A printer includes an input device for receiving an input operation to the printer from a user, a memory, a printing device, and a controller. The controller is configured to: receive print data from a terminal; in a case where the controller determines that the print data received from the terminal is raster data, determine whether a particular condition is met; in a case where the controller determines that the particular condition is met, send, to the terminal, request information that requests the terminal to send page description language (PDL) data; and, in a case where the controller receives the PDL data from the terminal after sending the request information to the terminal, allow the printing device to execute printing on a basis of the PDL data. The PDL data specifies types of drawing objects and drawing positions with commands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tsutomu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11134169
    Abstract: An information processing device is provided with a provision unit, a reception unit, and a control unit. The provision unit provides a service. The reception unit receives a billing destination of a fee with respect to a use of the service from among multiple destinations including a first organization that manages the service and a second organization different from the first organization. The control unit forwards, to an external device, a request to use the service including a request for verification of the billing destination received by the reception unit, controls the provision of the service by the provision unit in accordance with a response from the external device regarding the forwarded request, and causes a usage history of the service to be stored in association with the billing destination received by the reception unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventor: Hironori Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11106411
    Abstract: A file management apparatus includes a generation part that generates a coded file having a content processed not to be browsed in a user terminal from a file using key information associated with identification information of the file in a case where the identification information of the file is received from the user terminal before an expiry of the file in a storage device, and a control part that performs control for transmitting the coded file generated by the generation part to the user terminal as a transmission source of the identification information of the file and, in a case where the identification information of the file is received from an information processing apparatus after the expiry of the file, causing the content of the coded file input into the information processing apparatus to be browsed using the key information by transmitting the key information associated with the identification information of the file to the information processing apparatus as a transmission source of the identi
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventor: Yusaku Awatsu