Patents Examined by Prasad V Gokhale
  • Differential apparatus
    Patent number: 10859151
    Abstract: A differential apparatus including a rotating body configured to rotate around a rotation axis to transmit power to a differential mechanism, and a groove formed on the rotating body and configured to guide an oil scooped up by rotation of the rotating body inward in a rotation radial direction of the rotating body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akira Kito, Noriyasu Hakuta, Koji Ono, Atsushi Saito
  • Image forming apparatus
    Patent number: 10858208
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a housing; an image forming unit; a conveyor; a curved guide disposed downstream of the conveyor and configured to move between a near position where the curved guide in the housing guides the sheet and a far position farther from the conveyor than the near position; and a guide member extending from the conveyor toward the curved guide and configured to guide the sheet to the curved guide when the curved guide is located at the near position. The guide member has one end portion coupled to the conveyor and the other end portion movable with respect to the curved guide. When the curved guide is moved from the near position to the far position, the other end portion is moved in a direction from a downstream end toward an upstream end of the curved guide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kakeru Hayashi, Sachie Hayashi
  • Actuator
    Patent number: 10837531
    Abstract: An actuator includes a housing member configured for connection with a first component, a drive screw connected to the housing member, a rod disposed at least partially in the drive screw and at least partially in the housing member, a retaining nut connected to the rod, a mounting member configured for connection with the first component, and a drive nut engaged with the drive screw and configured for connection with a second component. If the drive screw mechanically disconnects or is fractured, the rod may be configured to translate to engage one or more friction surfaces to restrict back driving of the drive screw.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited
    Inventors: Tyler Q. Curtis, Aaron M. Klap
  • Multidirectional locomotive module with omnidirectional bending
    Patent number: 10828772
    Abstract: A multidirectional locomotive module with omnidirectional bending that is compliant along multiple axis is provided. The locomotive module includes, (A) a first part that includes (i) one or more circular rigid components which are coupled using a two degree of freedom joint, (ii) bending actuator that actuates the two degree of freedom joint enabling bending of the multidirectional locomotive module to an angle ranging from 0 to 90 degrees about a Z-axis in a direction to achieve surface compliance with an external surface, and (B) a second part that is elongated in shape with circular cross-section along a surface length and hemispherical in shape an end portion with a surface that is formed by a power transmission sprocket chain and an arrangement of curved components enabling sideways rolling of the multidirectional locomotive module, also enabling wheeled and legged locomotion in vertical position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, HYDERABAD
    Inventors: Akash Singh, Enna Sachdeva, Vinay Rodrigues, Madhava Krishna
  • Sheet feed apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same
    Patent number: 10815084
    Abstract: A sheet feed apparatus includes a sheet separation unit, and the sheet separation unit includes a separation roller that is provided so as to be brought into contact to an outer peripheral surface of a sheet feed roller, and separates a sheet fed by the sheet feed roller into one. The sheet separation unit comprises a hook for rotatably supporting the sheet separation unit in a main body casing of the sheet feed apparatus and an engaging claw that makes the sheet separation unit engage with the main body casing. Therefore, the sheet separation unit is held in the main body casing detachably.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Suto, Yasumasa Morimoto, Hironori Ogasawara, Toshiki Ohgita
  • Card stacker
    Patent number: 10807823
    Abstract: A card stacker includes a stack support that supports a stack of card substrates, a card lift mechanism, a card feed mechanism, and a retraction mechanism. The card lift mechanism is configured to support the card substrate in a lift position below the stack support, and drive the card substrate to a raised position, in which the card substrate is supported on the stack support at the bottom of the stack. The card feed mechanism includes a first transport roller having a feed position, in which the first transport roller engages a top surface of the card substrate in the lift position, and a retracted position when the card substrate is in the raised position, in which the first transport roller is on the bottom side of the stack support. The retraction mechanism is configured to move the first transport roller between the feed and retracted positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: ASSA ABLOY AB
    Inventors: Ted M. Hoffman, Tanya Snyder, John Skoglund
  • Fluid line guard
    Patent number: 10801185
    Abstract: An embodiment provides a hydraulic fluid line guard, including: a main guard formed with an open bottom and enclosed top and sides; the main guard having a length dimension that is larger than a width dimension; and an arm attached to the main guard; the arm comprising an attachment mechanism that attaches the main guard about a hydraulic fluid line such that a detachable junction point of the hydraulic fluid line is housed within and under the main guard and is accessible from below. Other embodiments are described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Inventor: Jason Ramous
  • Hydraulic operating device
    Patent number: 10800480
    Abstract: A hydraulic operating device comprises a base member, an operating member, a piston, and a mounting member. The base member includes a cylinder bore, a first hose-attachment hole, and a second hose-attachment hole. The first hose-attachment hole is configured to be in fluid communication with the cylinder bore. The second hose-attachment hole is configured to be in fluid communication with the cylinder bore. The operating member is pivotally coupled to the base member about a pivot axis. The mounting member is configured to couple the base member to a handlebar. The mounting member includes a mount opening through which the handlebar is to extend. The first hose-attachment hole, the second hose-attachment hole, and the mount opening are provided on a reference plane perpendicular to the pivot axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: SHIMANO INC.
    Inventors: Yusuke Nishikawa, Takuma Sakai, Nobuyoshi Fujii, Yoshimitsu Miki, Masahiro Nakakura
  • Media skew correction
    Patent number: 10800625
    Abstract: Media skew correction is performed by determining a leading edge skew value for the media and selecting a respective media model from a memory for a media type, each media model including a paired slope and an intercept. Based on the paired slope and intercept for the respective media model, differential velocity of a pair of aligned media feed rollers in a media feed mechanism is adjusted to correct a trailing edge skew for the media to within a desired operational window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Saurabh Bhide, Rafael Gonzalez, Luke P Sosnowski, Joseph Emery
  • Sheet conveyance apparatus and image forming apparatus including the same
    Patent number: 10787332
    Abstract: A sheet conveyance apparatus that conveys a sheet along a curved path shorter than the sheet and corrects skew of the sheet, includes: a conveyance roller that sends the sheet into the curved path; a guide that guides the sheet along the curved path; and a gate that is hinders advance of the leading end, generates a moment about a normal of the sheet passing through the leading end, and allows advance of the leading end by being pushed away by the leading end, wherein the guide includes a projection projecting toward a movement space for the sheet on a surface facing the movement space, and the projection abuts a center portion of the sheet in a longitudinal direction and generates a moment about an axis parallel to an advance direction of a portion that has come into contact with the projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Naoki Matsui, Koji Soda, Yasuaki Tomoda
  • Sheet feeding device, image forming apparatus, image forming system, and sheet processing apparatus
    Patent number: 10787329
    Abstract: A sheet feeding device includes a sheet stacker configured to stack a sheet bundle; a blower configured to float a sheet on an upper portion of the sheet bundle; a conveyor configured to convey the sheet floated by the blower; a lift configured to lift up and down the sheet stacker; a first reflective optical sensor configured to detect the sheet floated by the blower; a second reflective optical sensor configured to detect the sheet bundle and a side face of the sheet stacker, the side face including a detection region to be detected by the second reflective optical sensor and a non-detection region not to be detected by the second reflective optical sensor; and circuitry configured to control the lift based on a detection result of the first reflective optical sensor and a detection result of the second reflective optical sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Sugawara, Hideaki Takahashi, Hikaru Fukasawa
  • Medical examination or treatment facility, comprising a C-arm
    Patent number: 10779781
    Abstract: A medical examination or treatment facility includes a C-arm, arranged on a support bracket of a robot configured to move the C-arm in space. In an embodiment, the C-arm is made up of a plurality of arm elements in the form of sheet metal parts and at least one coupling unit including at least one cast metal part for coupling the C-arm to the support bracket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: SIEMENS HEALTHCARE GMBH
    Inventors: Michael Atzinger, Stefan Gross, Berthold Baumann
  • Tensioning assembly for belt-driven linear module and linear module comprising same
    Patent number: 10760656
    Abstract: A belt-driven linear module includes a tensioning assembly and a drive belt. The tensioning assembly includes a support shaft and a bearing. The support shaft is configured to be installed at a driven end of the linear module. The bearing includes an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring is positioned on the support shaft, and the outer ring is configured to be wrapped by the drive belt of the linear module so as to tension the drive belt of the linear module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignees: Bosch Rexroth (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Daniel Senft, Zhilei Ding
  • Sheet conveying device and image forming apparatus
    Patent number: 10752456
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a sheet supporting portion, a first lever pivotable by contact with a sheet supported by the sheet supporting portion, a hook movable together with the first lever, a first cam configured to, when engaging the hook, stop rotating in a rotation direction of the first cam, a spring configured to urge the first cam in a rotation direction, a sector gear rotatable together with the first cam, a drive gear configured to, when engaging the sector gear, transmit a drive force to the sector gear, a feed roller rotatable in contact with the sheet, and a drive mechanism configured to receive a drive force from the sector gear and move one of the feed roller and the sheet supporting portion toward the other of the feed roller and the sheet supporting portion, to increase contact pressure between the feed roller and the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yusuke Ikegami
  • Positioning device having a telescoping element and a supporting element for seat posts
    Patent number: 10752307
    Abstract: A positioning device for a telescoping seat post of a bicycle frame includes a tubular telescopic element having a longitudinal axis, a locking device located on an inner surface of the telescopic element, and a tubular supporting element, which is supported in the telescopic element in a rotationally fixed and slidable manner. At least one locking device having at least one locking element is provided and, which can be brought into engagement with the locking device. The locking device has radial grooves, which are arranged in the inner surface of the telescopic element and are bounded in the circumferential direction. The at least one locking element can be actuated by at least one control element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: Lupaan GmbH
    Inventor: Lukas Eberlberger
  • Method for the production of a connecting rod
    Patent number: 10746221
    Abstract: A method produces a connecting rod from a sintered material, which rod has at least one bore having a center axis, and has a first connecting rod eye in a connecting rod head, and a second connecting rod eye in a connecting rod foot, wherein the connecting rod head is connected with the connecting rod foot with a connecting rod shaft, wherein the bore is configured in the connecting rod shaft, wherein furthermore, the connecting rod is produced from a metallic powder, in accordance with a sintering process, for which purpose the powder is pressed into the corresponding mold to form a green compact, the bore is introduced into the green compact, and the green compact is afterward sintered. The bore is introduced into the green compact as a first and second partial bore, proceeding from the connecting rod foot and from the connecting rod head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: Miba Sinter Austria GmbH
    Inventors: Jose Correa Neto, Daniel Augusto Perugini
  • Printing system and printing method
    Patent number: 10737901
    Abstract: A printing system executes printing of a plurality of copies of a document, and includes first and second paper eject trays. The printing system ejects a plurality of paper sheets of the document to the first or second paper eject tray; detects a full state or a near full state being a predetermined number of paper sheets less than the full state; and ejects the paper sheets of a next copy to the first paper eject tray until the first paper eject tray is full and subsequently to the second paper eject tray, in response to detecting that a total ejectable paper sheet number is greater than or equal to the number of paper sheets of the next copy, the total ejectable paper sheet number being obtained by adding together the numbers of paper sheets that can be ejected to the first and second paper eject trays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hanae Itabashi
  • Sheet feeder, sheet conveyer having the same, and image forming device having the same
    Patent number: 10730710
    Abstract: In a paper cassette, a guide slides on a tray to place a sheet at a proper position. A lift mechanism uses a restoring force of an elastic member to push up the tray and make the sheet on the tray approach a pickup roller. When the paper cassette is pushed by a user from an opened position, which is out of the housing of a printer, to a closed position, which is in the housing, an adjuster mechanism mechanically converts a force of the user pushing the paper cassette to the restoring force of the elastic member from a time the guide reaches a specific point on a trajectory along which the guide travels together with the paper cassette, thus adjusting the strength of the restoring force continuously to a distance by which the guide overruns the specific point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yuki Doshida, Masanobu Tomiyasu, Shigeru Sawano
  • Wheel train mechanism, gear box, driving device, and electronic apparatus
    Patent number: 10731729
    Abstract: In a wheel train mechanism, a first speed reduction gear, a second speed reduction gear, a third speed reduction gear, a fourth speed reduction gear and an output gear are all made of a resin material. The third speed reduction gear and the fourth speed reduction gear are disposed at a rear stage of the second speed reduction gear and made of a material having rigidity higher than that of the first speed reduction gear and the second speed reduction gear. The output gear is disposed at a rear stage of the fourth speed reduction gear and is made of a material having rigidity higher than that of the fourth speed reduction gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: SEIKO INSTRUMENTS INC.
    Inventors: Koichi Masuzawa, Kenichi Kudo
  • Speed reducer with two intermediate lines for a turboprop engine, turboprop engine comprising said reducer
    Patent number: 10731748
    Abstract: A speed reducer includes two intermediate lines for a turboprop engine, the reducer including: an input line including an input shaft bearing an input gear wheel, a first intermediate line including a first intermediate shaft bearing a first intermediate gear wheel, a second intermediate line including a second intermediate shaft bearing a second intermediate gear wheel, a spring held by a frame, the spring surrounding a longitudinal portion of the input shaft in order to allow a movement of the input gear wheel towards an equilibrium position corresponding to an equal distribution of the transmission of the power coming from the input shaft to the first intermediate shaft of the first intermediate line and the second intermediate shaft of the second intermediate line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: SAFRAN TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS
    Inventors: Antoine Mathieu, Benjamin Feraud, Boris Pierre Marcel Morelli