Patents Examined by Peter Vajda
  • Electrostatic image developing toner, developer, and image forming apparatus
    Patent number: 9557671
    Abstract: A toner, including: base particles containing a polyester resin, a colorant, and a release agent, wherein the toner has a glass transition temperature (Tg1st) of 20° C. to 50° C. where the glass transition temperature (Tg1st) is measured in first heating of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the toner, wherein tetrahydrofuran (THF) insoluble matter of the toner has a glass transition temperature [Tg2nd (THF insoluble matter)] of 30° C. or lower where the glass transition temperature [Tg2nd (THF insoluble to matter)] is measured in second heating of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the THF insoluble matter, and wherein 50% or less of the colorant is present within a region of 1,000 nm from a surface of each of the base particles toward a center thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryuta Chiba, Shinya Nakayama, Hiroshi Yamada, Minoru Masuda, Akinori Saitoh, Hideyuki Santo, Shinsuke Nagai, Akihiro Takeyama, Hiroyuki Takeda, Tsuyoshi Sugimoto, Suzuka Amemori, Kohsuke Nagata
  • Method for producing resin particle dispersion, and method for producing toner for electrostatic charge image development use
    Patent number: 9557667
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing a resin particle dispersion, including a step (1) of mixing a polyester resin and a basic aqueous solution to obtain a resin neutralized product; and a step (2) of adding an aqueous medium to the resin neutralized product obtained in the step (1) to emulsify the resin neutralized product, in which a concentration of an ester group in the polyester resin is from 6.3 to 12 mmol/g, a pH of the basic aqueous solution as measured at 25° C. is from 8.5 to 13.5, and a content of an organic solvent in the resin neutralized product is not more than 10% by mass; and a process for producing a toner for development of electrostatic images, including steps of aggregating and coalescing the resin particles in the obtained resin particle dispersion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: KAO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takahiro Yoshikawa, Shoichi Murata
  • Toner set, image forming apparatus, and image forming method
    Patent number: 9557674
    Abstract: Provided is a toner set including at least a first brilliant toner that contains a brilliant pigment, and a second brilliant toner that contains a brilliant pigment and exhibits a different color from the first brilliant toner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sakiko Hirai, Shotaro Takahashi, Masaru Takahashi, Atsushi Sugitate, Shuji Sato
  • Method for manufacturing resin particles and method for manufacturing toner particles
    Patent number: 9556300
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing resin particles, including the step of producing the resin particles by using a liquid which is prepared with a resin having an ionic functional group and a pKa of 6.0 to 9.0, an organic solvent, which can dissolve the resin and which has a solubility parameter of 12.0 or less, water, and a neutralizer, wherein the neutralizer contains an acid having a pKa of 3.0 or less or a base having a pKb of 3.0 or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kunihiko Nakamura, Akane Masumoto, Tsuneyoshi Tominaga
  • Method for producing compound having colorant structure at main chain terminal of polymer, and pigment dispersant, pigment composition, pigment dispersion and toner containing compound obtained by the production method
    Patent number: 9556290
    Abstract: To provide a method for producing a compound that enhances dispersibility of a pigment of respective colors in a water-insoluble solvent, as well as a pigment dispersant, and a pigment composition, a pigment dispersion and a toner having a good tinting power. A method for producing a compound, including the following: (i): subjecting a polymerizable monomer forming a monomer unit represented by formula (1) to radical polymerization in the presence of a radical polymerization initiator and an iodine molecule to provide a polymer; and (ii): binding a colorant to a terminal of a main chain of the polymer: wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom and an alkyl group, and R2 represents a phenyl group, a carboxyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group or a carboxamide group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Chiaki Nishiura, Yuki Hasegawa, Ayano Mashida, Takayuki Toyoda, Masashi Hirose, Waka Hasegawa, Masanori Seki, Yasuaki Murai, Kosuke Mukumoto
  • Toner
    Patent number: 9551947
    Abstract: A magnetic toner is provided that exhibits an excellent dot reproducibility and developing performance after being allowed to stand in a high temperature and high humidity environment and an excellent low-temperature fixability. The magnetic toner has an inorganic fine powder and a magnetic toner particle containing a binder resin, a magnetic body, and a release agent, wherein in a stress relaxation measurement using a rotating plate rheometer, the magnetic toner exhibits a yield value A at 25° C. of at least 3×106 (sec), and the magnetic toner that has been heated to 80° C. and then cooled to 25° C. exhibits a yield value B at 25° C. of not more than 1×105 (sec).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shuichi Hiroko, Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Tomohisa Sano
  • Toner and method of manufacturing the same
    Patent number: 9547247
    Abstract: A toner includes a plurality of toner particles that each include a core and a shell layer disposed over a surface of the core. The shell layer contains a unit derived from a thermoplastic resin and a unit derived from a monomer or prepolymer of a thermosetting resin. A surface of each of the toner particles has a Young's modulus that changes by a proportion of no greater than 20% from 30° C. to 50° C., and changes by a proportion from 50° C. to 70° C. that when divided by the proportion of change from 30° C. to 50° C., yields a value of at least 3.0 and no greater than 10.0. The Young's modulus is measured in a state in which an external additive is not adhered to the toner particle using a scanning probe microscope while raising a cantilever temperature thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshio Ozawa, Noriaki Sakamoto, Ken Maetani
  • Inks for liquid electrophotography
    Patent number: 9547248
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a liquid electrophotographic ink includes: mixing a pigment with a resin powder; and microfluidizing the mixture together with a carrier fluid in a microfluidizer in a number of passes to form a concentrated ink containing composite particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Sivapackia Ganapathiappan, Hou T Ng, Albert Teishev
  • Method for producing ground toner
    Patent number: 9535350
    Abstract: Toner of one aspect of the present invention has a weight average molecular weight Mw of 30,000?Mw?95,263 as determined from a molecular weight distribution based on GPC, includes a THF-insoluble gel component at a weight proportion of less than 5%, and includes components each having a molecular weight of 500 to 1500 which components have an area occupancy of 4% to 10% on a chart of the molecular weight distribution based on GPC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keiichi Kikawa, Tadayuki Sawai, Yoritaka Tsubaki, Keigo Mitamura, Yui Kawano, Shintaro Fukuoka
  • Electrostatic latent image developing toner and manufacturing method of the same
    Patent number: 9535352
    Abstract: An electrostatic latent image developing toner includes toner particles that each include a toner mother particle. The toner mother particle includes a toner core, a shell layer disposed over a surface of the toner core, and inorganic particles. The inorganic particles are located at an interface between the toner core and the shell layer, or within the shell layer. The shell layer contains a thermosetting component. The toner mother particle has a BET specific surface area of at least 0.95 m2/g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Seishi Ojima
  • Image forming method, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge
    Patent number: 9535343
    Abstract: An image forming method satisfies the following Expressions: 0.01<Rmf<0.20??Expression (A1): 0.005<Rmf/Wh<5.000??Expression (B1): 0.002<Rmf/Wl<1.000??Expression (B2): 1.0<Whmax/Whmin<2.5??Expression (C1): 1.0<Wlmax/Wlmin<2.5??Expression (C2): wherein, when a content of the fatty acid metal salt particles with respect to the entire weight of the toner is set as Rmf, an average abrasion rate of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is set as Wh, a maximum abrasion rate of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is set as Whmax, and a minimum abrasion rate of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is set as Whmin, and an average abrasion rate of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is set as Wl, a maximum abrasion rate of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is set as Wlmax, and a minimum abrasion rate of the electrophotographic photoreceptor is set as Wlmin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Katsumi Nukada, Hidekazu Hirose, Tomoya Sasaki, Yuko Iwadate, Kenji Kajiwara, Tatsuki Sano
  • Method for producing toner particles
    Patent number: 9529289
    Abstract: A method is provided for producing toner particles containing an organosilicon polymer, produced by mixing an organosilicon compound and an aqueous medium containing base particles, and polymerizing the organosilicon compound. The organosilicon compound has a particular structure represented by formula (1) or (2). The organosilicon polymer is produced by polymerization at 80.0° C. or more and 105.0° C. or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koji Abe, Toshihiko Katakura, Akane Masumoto, Tsuneyoshi Tominaga, Shiro Kuroki, Sara Inoue
  • Liquid developer and method for manufacturing the same
    Patent number: 9523939
    Abstract: A liquid developer contains an electrically insulating liquid carrier and toner particles dispersed in the liquid carrier. Each toner particle includes a core and a shell layer that is formed on a surface of the core and contains a thermosetting resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Hidetoshi Miyamoto, Katsuki Osanishi, Yoshio Ozawa
  • Magnetic carrier, two-component developer, developer for replenishment, and image forming method
    Patent number: 9513571
    Abstract: A magnetic carrier contains a resin-filled magnetic core particle and a resin covering layer provided on a surface of the resin-filled magnetic core particle. The resin-filled magnetic core particle is a porous magnetic particle containing a resin in pores thereof. The magnetic carrier has a 50% particle diameter (D50) of 30.0 ?m or more and 80.0 ?m or less on a volume basis. An electric current flowing through the magnetic carrier at a voltage of 500 V ranges from 8.0 to 50.0 ?A. A proportion JR1 of a composition that is made up of the resin in a magnetic carrier portion of a region R1 and a proportion JR2 of the composition in a magnetic carrier portion of a region R2 satisfy the following relationship. The region R1 and the region R2 are illustrated in FIG. 1. 1.20?JR2/JR1?2.00.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuyoshi Sugahara, Hironori Minagawa, Yuto Onozaki, Minoru Yoshifuku, Wakashi Iida
  • Compound, dispersant and toner
    Patent number: 9505723
    Abstract: The present invention provides a dispersant excellent in the solubility to a solvent, the adsorption power to a coloring material, and the coloring material dispersibility, and reduced in the self-coloring property, a compound and a polymerizable compound for preparing the dispersant, and a toner using the dispersant. The dispersant has a structure in which a structure represented by the following specific formula (3) or a tautomer thereof is bonded with a polymer, and the toner contains the dispersant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignees: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, CANON FINETECH INC.
    Inventors: Haruko Kubo, Suzuka Ueno, Junko Chizuwa, Tomoya Yamamoto, Hitoshi Itabashi, Yuhei Terui, Yu Yoshida, Yasuaki Murai, Takayuki Toyoda
  • Toner
    Patent number: 9500972
    Abstract: A toner that comprises a toner particle that contains a binder resin that contains a styrene-acrylic resin and a block polymer, wherein the block polymer has a polyester segment and a vinyl polymer segment; the polyester segment is obtained by condensation polymerization of: a monomer (a) selected from a group consisting of a prescribed monomer group A; and a monomer (b) selected from a group consisting of a prescribed monomer group B, and the content in the polyester segment of the substructure originating with the monomer (b) as calculated from the following formula is from at least 1.0 mol % to not more than 30.0 mol %: {monomer (b) [mol]/(monomer (a) [mol]+monomer (b) [mol])}×100.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masatake Tanaka, Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Naoya Isono, Tsutomu Shimano, Shintaro Noji, Yu Yoshida
  • Electrophotographic photosensitive member, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus, and gallium phthalocyanine crystal
    Patent number: 9500965
    Abstract: Provided are an electrophotographic photosensitive member capable of outputting an image having less image defects due to the ghost phenomenon not only under a normal-temperature and normal-humidity environment but also under a low-temperature and low-humidity environment as a particularly severe condition, and a process cartridge and an electrophotographic apparatus each including the electrophotographic photosensitive member. The electrophotographic photosensitive member is an electrophotographic photosensitive member including a photosensitive layer, in which the photosensitive layer includes a gallium phthalocyanine crystal in which a compound represented by the following formula (1) or the following formula (2) is contained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masato Tanaka
  • Triarylamine derivative and electrophotographic photosensitive member
    Patent number: 9494881
    Abstract: A triarylamine derivative is represented by general formula (1) shown below. In general formula (1), each R1 independently represents a halogen atom, an optionally substituted alkyl group having a carbon number of 1-6, an optionally substituted alkoxy group having a carbon number of 1-6, or an optionally substituted aryl group having a carbon number of 6-12. Each k independently represents an integer of 0-4, and each m independently represents an integer of 1-3. Each R2 independently represents a halogen atom, an optionally substituted alkyl group having a carbon number of 1-6, an optionally substituted alkoxy group having a carbon number of 1-6, or an optionally substituted aryl group having a carbon number of 6-12. Each p independently represents an integer of 0-4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Hideki Okada, Fumio Sugai, Kensuke Kojima
  • Electrophotographic photosensitive member, method of producing electrophotographic photosensitive member, process cartridge, and electrophotographic apparatus
    Patent number: 9494880
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive member including an undercoat layer containing metal oxide particles, a binder resin, and an organic acid metal salt having at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of bismuth, zinc, cobalt, iron, nickel, and copper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunori Noguchi, Daisuke Tanaka, Kazumichi Sugiyama, Yota Ito, Michiyo Sekiya, Kunihiko Sekido, Atsushi Okuda, Nobuhiro Nakamura, Yuka Ishiduka
  • Liquid toner dispersion and use thereof
    Patent number: 9482979
    Abstract: A liquid toner dispersion provided with marking particles comprising a pigment and a polyester based resin. The dispersion includes a nonpolar organic solvent and a hyperdispersant including a graft copolymer provided with an anchor group including an amine-functionalized polymer onto which at least one stabilizing group is grafted. The stabilizing group includes a hydroxylated fatty acid oligomer. The amine-functionalized polymer has a weight-average molecular weight of less than 1000 g/mol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: Xeikon IP BV
    Inventors: Werner Jozef Johan Op de Beeck, Lode Erik Dries Deprez, Geert Gaston Paul Deroover