Patents Examined by Matthew Luu
  • Patent number: 11951746
    Abstract: A device (1) for controlling user access to at least one container (4) for dispensing printing material housed by a printing apparatus (5), the device (1) comprising an openable and closable barrier (2) corresponding to the container (4) and a lock for locking the barrier (2) in a closed position. The lock is overlapped by at least a portion of the barrier (2) both when the barrier (2) is in the closed position and when the barrier (2) is in an open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: James R. Pryde, Mark Smith, Robert Hargreaves
  • Patent number: 11951748
    Abstract: A print liquid supply interface structure is provided, to fluidically connect a fluid supply container to a receiving station, comprising a liquid channel having at least one liquid channel wall, the liquid channel including a liquid interface, and at least one key pen next and parallel to the needle receiving portion of the liquid channel. In another example a key pen structure is provided. In yet another example an interface structure for receiving a separate key pen is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Judson M. Leiser, Miquel Boleda Busquets, Bernd Karlsboeck, David Olsen, Michael E. Peterschmidt
  • Patent number: 11938744
    Abstract: A device for providing a marking arranged or arrangeable around an object includes: a mechanical interface for releasably or irreversibly mounting the device to a printer; a material interface for receiving a print medium, which is printed by the printer using a print head, as a printed product in a longitudinal direction; at least one eccentric supported at the material interface to be pivotable about a pivot axis; and at least one print head actuator for moving the at least one eccentric to a first pivot position and to a second pivot position different from the first pivot position to provide the marking originating from the printed product. The eccentric, in a state of the device mounted to the printer using the mechanical interface, moves the print head and the print medium towards each other into a printing position for printing the print medium when the eccentric moves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: PHOENIX CONTACT GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventor: Kilian Klages
  • Patent number: 11919315
    Abstract: The cartridge includes a liquid containing portion containing a liquid, a liquid supply portion, an arrangement portion having a bottom wall in which an opening through which the liquid introduction portion is inserted is formed, and a film peelably attached to the arrangement portion while covering the opening portion, in which the arrangement portion further has a mounting element cooperating with the printing apparatus, and the film is arranged at a position where the film is interposed between the printing apparatus and the mounting element when a mounting process is performed in a state in which the film is attached to the arrangement portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tadahiro Mizutani, Yoshihiro Koizumi, Shun Oya, Takumi Nagashima
  • Patent number: 11912039
    Abstract: A liquid discharging apparatus, having a head, a reservoir section including a liquid reservoir chamber and an atmosphere communication path, a liquid flow path connecting the head with the liquid reservoir chamber, a switching assembly to switch states of the atmosphere communication path between a connecting state and a disconnecting state, and a controller, is provided. The controller is configured to control the switching assembly to switch the states of the atmosphere communication path from the connecting state to the disconnecting state; after switching the states of the atmosphere communication path, control the head to discharge the liquid; and after switching the states of the atmosphere communication path, and in response to a predetermined connection condition being satisfied, control the switching assembly to switch the states of the atmosphere communication path from the disconnecting state to the connecting state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Fumio Nakazawa, Yoshinori Osakabe, Taichi Shirono, Sosuke Kuroyanagi
  • Patent number: 11912038
    Abstract: A liquid cartridge includes: a housing including first and second protrusions; and a circuit board including an electrode. The first protrusion is positioned rearward but the second protrusion is positioned forward relative to the circuit board. When viewed in a width direction crossing a gravitational direction, an outline of the liquid cartridge between a first point and a second point is lower than an imaginary line. The imaginary line passes through the first point on the first protrusion and the second point on the second protrusion. A distance between a front edge of the electrode and the first point is smaller than a distance between the front edge and the second point. A dimension between a front end and a rear end of the second protrusion is greater than a distance between a frontmost end of the housing and the front end of the second protrusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Akinari Ishibe
  • Patent number: 11897269
    Abstract: A print material storage container has: a substrate on which an electric circuit having terminals is provided; a fixing portion on which the substrate can be mounted by re-fixing; and a fixing member that fixes the fixing portion and a non-terminal portion, which is formed by excluding the terminals from the substrate, to each other. The non-terminal portion includes a re-fixed portion, which can be re-fixed to the fixing portion by the fixing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koji Kudo, Noriyuki Fukasawa, Hiroyuki Kawate
  • Patent number: 11890875
    Abstract: A liquid cartridge configured to be inserted into a cartridge-attachment section in an insertion direction includes a casing, and a lever supported by the casing. The lever is pivotable about a pivot axis between a first position and a second position. The lever includes a light-blocking portion configured to block or attenuate light traveling in a widthwise direction crossing the insertion direction and a gravitational direction, and a force-receiving portion positioned closer to a front wall of the casing than the light-blocking portion is to the front wall in the insertion direction. The light-blocking portion is positioned lower at the second position than at the first position. The pivot axis is positioned frontward of the light-blocking portion and rearward of the force-receiving portion in the insertion direction. The lever pivots from the second position to the first position upon application of an external force to the force-receiving portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroaki Takahashi, Takahiro Miyao, Akihito Ono, Tetsuro Kobayashi, Fumio Nakazawa, Kosuke Nukui
  • Patent number: 11884089
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer member (ITM) for use in a printing system to transport an ink image from an image forming station to an impression station for transfer of the ink image from the ITM onto a printing substrate, wherein the ITM is an endless flexible belt of substantially uniform width which, during use, passes over drive and guide rollers and is guided through at least the image forming station by means of guide channels that receive formations provided on both lateral edges of the belt, wherein the formations on a first edge differ from the formations on the second edge by being configured for providing the elasticity desired to maintain the belt taut when the belt is guided through their respective lateral channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: LANDA CORPORATION LTD.
    Inventors: Benzion Landa, Aharon Shmaiser, Itshak Ashkanazi
  • Patent number: 11878535
    Abstract: A cartridge includes: a liquid containing body including a liquid containing portion containing the liquid and a liquid supply portion; and an adapter attached to the liquid containing body and including a terminal arrangement portion which is located on one end side of the adapter in a longitudinal direction and in which a cartridge-side terminal electrically coupled to the apparatus-side terminal is arranged, and an insertion opening portion through which the liquid introduction portion is inserted, in which the adapter has a notch located between the terminal arrangement portion and the insertion opening portion in the longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takumi Nagashima, Yoshihiro Koizumi, Shun Oya
  • Patent number: 11878532
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to an inkjet printing platform. The inkjet printing platform is utilized for fabrication of optical films and optical device structures. The inkjet printing platform includes a transfer chamber, one or more inkjet chambers, a plurality of auxiliary modules, a substrate flipper, and load ports. The inkjet printing platform is operable to perform an inkjet printing process on a substrate to form an optical film and/or an optical device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Daihua Zhang, Ludovic Godet, Michael David-Scott Kemp, Kang Luo, Kazuya Daito, Kenneth S. Ledford, Bahubali S. Upadhye, Hemantha Raju, John Rusconi, Elsa Massonneau, Mahendran Chidambaram, Alexey Stepanov, Visweswaren Sivaramakrishnan
  • Patent number: 11878548
    Abstract: A method is provided for manufacturing a printed paper layer. The method may involve providing the paper layer with a printed pattern. Providing the printed pattern may involve depositing water based inks using a digital inkjet printer. The water based inks may be pigment containing inks. The dry weight of the deposited pigment containing inks may be lower than 9 grams per square meter. The paper layer may include an inkjet receiver coating, such that the inks are deposited on the inkjet receiver coating. The inks may be of at least four colors including black, cyan, red, and yellow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Flooring Industries Limited, SARL
    Inventor: Benjamin Clement
  • Patent number: 11878533
    Abstract: A liquid supplying apparatus having a tank with a hole, a reservoir chamber to store a portion of liquid in the tank, and a flow path to store another portion of the liquid in the tank, is provided. The flow path connects the reservoir chamber and the hole. The flow path has a first funnel section to reduce a cross-sectional area of a part of the flow path. The first funnel section is located at a position equal to or higher than a surface of a predetermined maximum amount of the liquid storable in the tank in a usable posture. The first funnel section creates a meniscus with the liquid stored in the tank in an X1-rotated posture, in which the tank is rotated about a first axis by a first angle from the usable posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshinori Osakabe, Taichi Shirono, Fumio Nakazawa, Sosuke Kuroyanagi
  • Patent number: 11878534
    Abstract: A supply unit configured to which a liquid container is detachably attached includes a support member that extends along a guiding route crossing a vertical line and that includes a distal region in which a starting end of the guiding route is positioned and a proximal region in which a termination end of the guiding route is positioned, a pivot shaft that is arranged in the proximal region and that has an axis crossing both the vertical line and guiding route, and a liquid inlet that is arranged below the support member and that is configured to be coupled to the liquid container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akihiko Maruyama, Tomoyuki Miyazawa
  • Patent number: 11872808
    Abstract: A cartridge reduces a movement amount of a center of gravity of a cartridge accompanied by the progress of the winding of an ink ribbon. The cartridge to be installed in a tape printing device includes a platen roller, a paying-out core on which an ink ribbon is wound, and a winding core that winds up the ink ribbon paid out from the paying-out core. When seen from a rotational axis direction parallel to a rotational axis of the paying-out core and a rotational axis of the winding core, the paying-out core and the winding core are arranged to at least partially overlap an imaginary line that passes through a center of the platen roller and extends in a longitudinal direction of the cartridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akio Ishimoto, Taishi Sasaki
  • Patent number: 11865843
    Abstract: A fluid cartridge having a plastic fluid body, a bottom wall having a fluid supply opening therein. A metal insert is adhesively attached to the bottom wall. The metal insert has a fluid supply slot therein corresponding to the fluid supply opening in the bottom wall, a die bond surface adjacent to the fluid supply slot for adhesively attaching an ejection head chip thereto, and a plurality of air vents adjacent to the die bond surface. An ejection head chip is adhesively attached to the die bond surface of the metal insert.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Inventors: Masaki Nakatani, Richard L. Warner, Sean T. Weaver
  • Patent number: 11865844
    Abstract: A liquid cartridge includes a housing, a circuit board including an electrode, and a liquid supply portion extending from the housing in a depth direction. The housing includes a top wall, and first and second protrusions protruding upward from the top wall. The first protrusion is positioned rearward but the second protrusion is positioned frontward relative to the circuit board. The first protrusion is higher than an upper edge of a front end of the second protrusion. No part of the liquid cartridge is positioned higher than an imaginary plane in a height direction in a region between a first point on the first protrusion and a second point on the second protrusion (the upper edge of the front end of the second protrusion) in the depth direction. The imaginary plane passes through the first and second points, and extends perpendicularly to the depth direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Akinari Ishibe
  • Patent number: 11866600
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for forming a coating film including a step 1 of applying a liquid composition I containing a solvent A, a solvent B, and a polymer C to a base material; and a step 2 of applying droplets of a liquid II containing water to the liquid composition I on the base material as applied in the step 1, wherein a boiling point of the solvent A is lower than 99° C., and a distance Ra of the Hansen solubility parameter of the solvent A to water is 36 or less; a boiling point of the solvent B is 150° C. or higher, and a distance Ra of the Hansen solubility parameter of the solvent B to water is 40 or more; and the solvent B is compatible with the solvent A, the polymer C is soluble in the solvent Abut insoluble in the solvent B, and an average diameter d of the droplets applied in the step 2 is 0.01 ?m or more and 50 ?m or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: KAO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Teruyuki Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11865836
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes: a nozzle; a flow path member in which a flow path communicating with the nozzle is formed and which has an inner wall surface defining the flow path and an outer wall surface that faces away from the flow path with respect to the inner wall surface; and a temperature sensor disposed on a part of the outer wall surface and configured to detect a temperature of the liquid in the flow path. The flow path includes a narrowed region having a narrow width in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction in a direction in which the flow path extends, and the temperature sensor is disposed on a portion of the outer wall surface that forms the narrowed region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Inventors: Kentaro Murakami, Hiroaki Okui
  • Patent number: 11865849
    Abstract: A first ink storage unit, a second ink storage unit, a discharging head configured to discharge the ink, a carriage configured to move the discharging head and the second ink storage unit in a first direction and a second direction, a tube that couples the first ink storage unit and the second ink storage unit, and a case provided with a first opening portion located vertically above a home position and a second opening portion located vertically above a first printing position, and including a beam located between the first opening portion and the second opening portion, are provided. The beam is an edge of the second opening portion, and when the carriage is located at the home position, the first ink storage unit and the second ink storage unit are located in the same direction with respect to the beam and the tube is supported by the beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Koki Fukasawa, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Tomosuke Gomi