Patents Examined by Sarah Al-Hashimi
  • Patent number: 9450526
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a light source; a polygon mirror; a brushless motor rotating a rotary polygon mirror; a light receiver configured to receive the light beam reflected by the polygon mirror; and a controller configured to perform driving control; detect a value related to an induced voltage; and perform a phase switching process. In a start-up period, the controller performs a control switching process of performing switching from rotation speed control based on the induced voltage to rotation speed control based on the light receiving timing of the light beam in a specific range in which a length from a start timing of an interruption period of the power to a timing when the detected value reaches the reference value does not become shorter than a length of a reference-disabled period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hironori Hirata
  • Patent number: 9446600
    Abstract: Novel methods for calibrating a thermal printer by adjusting a look up table comprising the steps of receiving a test pattern to be printed on a receiver medium, printing the test pattern on the receiver medium, using a sensor to measure a depletion amount of donor material, and using a processor to adjust the lookup table based on the measured depletion amount are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Kodak Alaris Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory James Garbacz, Robert Fredric Mindler, Marcus M. Townsend
  • Patent number: 9440468
    Abstract: A method of measuring a wetting property of a nozzle plate in a droplet expelling device having a number of nozzles formed in the nozzle plate, and an actuator system for expelling a droplet of a liquid from each of the nozzles includes applying an amount of liquid onto a surface of the nozzle plate, capturing a digital image of the nozzle plate with the liquid applied thereon, and analyzing the digital image for determining the wetting property from a distribution of the liquid on the nozzle plate. The amount of liquid is applied onto the nozzle plate by expelling liquid through the nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: OCE-TECHNOLOGIES B.V.
    Inventor: Desie A. C. M. Van Den Heuvel
  • Patent number: 9442410
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a latent image forming unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a detector, an adjustment unit, and a controller. The latent image forming unit concentrates a beam emitted from a light source onto a surface of a photoconductor and forms a latent image on the surface of the photoconductor. The developing unit develops the latent image on the surface of the photoconductor to form a toner image. The transfer unit transfers the toner image on the surface of the photoconductor onto a transferred-image receiving member. The detector detects a potential of the latent image or a density of the toner image. The adjustment unit adjusts a focusing state of the concentrated beam on the photoconductor. The controller controls the adjustment unit in accordance with a result of detecting the potential of the latent image or the density of the toner image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yoshinori Makishima
  • Patent number: 9440435
    Abstract: A liquid discharge control apparatus includes a discharge control unit that controls the discharge of the liquid through the nozzle. In the case that the discharge control unit allocates, to a first nozzle, the pixel of a first ratio in a pixel column that represents one raster line, and allocates, to a second nozzle, the pixel of a second ratio in the pixel column, and in the case that one nozzle of the first nozzle and the second nozzle is an abnormal nozzle, and the ratio of the pixel in the pixel column allocated to the one nozzle is more than or equal to a predetermined ratio with respect to a total of the first ratio and the second ratio, the discharge control unit increases the ratio of the pixel in the pixel column allocated to the other nozzle of the first nozzle and the second nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tomohiro Yuda
  • Patent number: 9440462
    Abstract: The present invention provides an image forming device having: a conveying mechanism that pulls and conveys a recording medium onto which liquid drops have been applied; and a suction plate that is provided with a plurality of suction holes that suck the recording medium conveyed by the conveying mechanism, and at which, when the suction holes are projected in a conveying direction of the recording medium, the suction holes are disposed such that any one of the suction holes exists in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the recording medium, and the suction holes are disposed so as to overlap one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Takayuki Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9442411
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including: a photosensitive member; a light source configured to emit a light beam; a deflecting unit configured to deflect the light beam to scan the photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image and having a rotary polygon mirror and a motor configured to rotate the rotary polygon mirror; a housing provided with the photosensitive member, the light source, and the deflecting unit; a temperature detecting unit configured to detect a temperature; and a control unit configured to pre-rotate the rotary polygon mirror before a start signal for image formation and to rotate, after the start signal, the rotary polygon mirror at a rotation speed higher than a rotation speed for pre-rotation of the rotary polygon mirror, wherein the control unit sets a target value of the rotation speed for the pre-rotation based on a result of detection by the temperature detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirohisa Kato
  • Patent number: 9440464
    Abstract: The disclosure discloses a print label producing apparatus including a controller. The controller is configured to execute a print contents acquisition process, a cut pattern acquisition process, a coordination control process, and a display control process. In a cut pattern acquisition process, specification of a cut pattern related to formation of a full-cut position and a half-cut position in producing a print label is acquired. In a coordination control process, print contents acquired are formed on a print-receiving tape, and the half-cut position or the full-cut position are formed in accordance with the cut pattern acquired. In a display control process, a display device is controlled to display an appearance image of a print label together with an identification display of all cut positions of the full-cut position and the half-cut position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Keigo Kako
  • Patent number: 9442412
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a forming unit and a controller. The forming unit includes a developing unit and a multi-beam scanning unit. The multi-beam scanning unit includes an N number of light sources for the developing unit. The controller causes the multi-beam scanning unit to form marks on a surface of at least one photosensitive body. The controller adjusts an interval between an electrostatic latent image and another electrostatic latent image based on a level of a signal outputted from the sensor according to the endmost scan lines of each of the marks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuji Goto, Kentaro Murayama
  • Patent number: 9399344
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting unit that ejects an ink from a nozzle to a sheet transported, an adjustment mechanism that adjusts the height position of the liquid ejecting unit by moving the liquid ejecting unit, a cap capable of tightly closing a space that the nozzle faces, and a moving mechanism that moves the cap between a tightly closing position and a non-tightly closing position. The adjustment mechanism includes a pivot shaft provided along a width direction, a plurality of cams that moves the liquid ejecting unit by pivoting together with the pivot shaft and contacting the liquid ejecting unit, and an engaging portion capable of pivoting together with the pivot shaft and engaging with an engaged portion that is provided on the liquid ejecting apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Toru Tanjo
  • Patent number: 9397697
    Abstract: A communication apparatus includes a serializer configured to convert parallel data into serial data and output the serial data; and a deserializer configured to convert the serial data output from the serializer into parallel data and output the parallel data. The serializer is configured to add first data used for detecting unique data in the parallel data before the unique data, add second data used for detecting the unique data after the unique data, and add third data whose length is variable to each of the first data and the second data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Tatsuya Miyadera, Satoshi Ohmiya, Tatsuo Ohyama, Masahiko Oikawa, Yuichiro Shukuya, Makoto Higashiyama, Yasuhiro Abe
  • Patent number: 9395537
    Abstract: The optical scanning apparatus according to the present invention includes a deflection unit that deflects a light flux, a plurality of incident optical systems that cause light fluxes to enter the deflection unit at different incident angles in a sub-scanning cross section, and an imaging optical system that guides a plurality of light fluxes deflected by the deflection unit onto a scanned surface. The imaging optical system has a first optical functional portion and a second optical functional portion arranged in a sub-scanning direction and connected to each other by a connecting portion. In a plane including the connecting portion, at least incident surfaces or exit surfaces of the first and second optical functional portions overlap with each other at least at one point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuyuki Ishihara
  • Patent number: 9370956
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a device and a laser, eye-safe method for laser marking slides for use in conjunction with a light microscope. The device is an attachment for a light microscope that allows the operator to make marks on preparations of biological tissues or other materials placed on a glass slide or between a glass slide and a cover slip. The marks can be used to indicate or highlight a microscopic structure or feature of interest. The marking on the slide is performed as the specimen is examined, without having to remove it from the microscope stage. In this way the invention has application in a biomedical or pathology laboratory for diagnostic, research, archival, and teaching or training purposes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Inventors: Juan C. Troncoso, William E. Torruellas, David M. Brown, Andrea M. Brown
  • Patent number: 9372431
    Abstract: In a scanning optical apparatus including a light source, a light deflector having a reflecting surface, and a single scanning lens, a light flux deflected in a main scanning direction is focused on an image surface. The reflecting and image surfaces are conjugate to each other with respect to a sub scanning direction, BmaxĂ—Bmin>0, and DmaxĂ—Dmin<0 where Bmax and Bmin are a maximum value and a minimum value, respectively, of paraxial focal points, Dmax and Dmin are a maximum value and a minimum value, respectively, of midpoints of focal depth in the sub scanning plane, the values being determined with reference to the image surface, wherein the value of the image surface is 0 and the values on a farther-from-the-scanning-lens side behind the image surface have positive values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hitoshi Fujino, Yoshifumi Nakamura, Hiroyuki Ominato, Hidetaka Hoshino
  • Patent number: 9361549
    Abstract: A method including providing a first image on a label printer user interface, wherein said first image is representative of at least one of at least one label to be printed and at least one object to which a label is to be applied; and providing a second image on said user interface associated with the first image, the second image representative of a dimension of the first image; enabling a user to modify a dimension of the second image; wherein as the dimension of the second image is modified, the dimension of the first image is correspondingly updated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: SANFORD, L.P.
    Inventors: Ron Jacobs, Stephen Charles Gohde, Stephen Spencer, Bram Boot, Latha Airodi, Nancy Elaine Taylor, David G. Nesfeder, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9360792
    Abstract: An optical writing controller controls emission of a light source device including multiple light emitting element rows each constituted by multiple light emitting elements arranged in a sub-scanning direction to form an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor. The optical writing controller includes an image information acquisition unit to acquire image information on an image to be formed as the electrostatic latent image; a light source control unit to sequentially control emission of the multiple light emitting elements on the basis of information on pixels generated on the basis of the acquired image information; an error information acquisition unit to acquire information indicating an error of a direction in which the light emitting elements are arranged with respect to the sub-scanning direction; and an adjustment value generation unit to generate an adjustment value for adjusting a light quantity of each light emitting element on the basis of the error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Masatoshi Murakami, Masayuki Hayashi, Motohiro Kawanabe, Yoshinori Shirasaki, Yuusuke Kohri, Akinori Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 9358808
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for controlling a laser marking machine and a laser marking machine. The laser marking machine includes an interface module, a processing module, a laser control module and a galvanometer control module. The interface module receives marking data packets and transfers the marking data packets to the processing module. The processing module parses the marking data packets to obtain marking instructions and control parameters, extracts laser control instruction(s) and galvanometer control instruction(s) from the marking instructions, extracts laser control parameter(s) and galvanometer control parameter(s) from the control parameters, transfers the laser control instruction(s) and the laser control parameter(s) to the laser control module, and transfers the galvanometer control instruction(s) and the galvanometer control parameter(s) to the galvanometer control module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: Maxphotonics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jun Song, Gaofeng He, Feng Jiang
  • Patent number: 9354379
    Abstract: A laser line generator system that utilizes a light guide element to convert high energy coherent light generated by a high fill-factor laser diode bar into homogenous light, and utilizes one or more slow-axis relay lenses to image the homogenous light such that it forms a homogenous line illumination pattern on an illumination plane. The light guide utilizes parallel or down-tapered side walls to mix received coherent light in the slow-axis direction by way of total internal reflection. A Keplerian telescope including two cylinder lenses is optionally used in place of the slow-axis relay lens. Optional fast-axis lenses are used to assist in focusing the homogenous light at the illumination plane. The laser light generator forms, e.g., a single-pass imaging system for a scanning/printing apparatus in which the homogenous line illumination pattern is directed onto a linearly arranged series of spatial light modulators, such as Digital Micromirror Devices (DMDs).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated
    Inventors: Patrick Y. Maeda, Timothy David Stowe
  • Patent number: 9346263
    Abstract: Upon driving a driver to perform an ejection drive of each of ink chambers subjected to the ejection drive, a controller drives the driver to supply a drive signal having a corrected waveform which increases an ejection amount and an ejection speed of ink compared with those of a normal waveform, when a correction condition is satisfied. The correction condition includes that at least one of the ink chambers arranged next to the ink chamber subjected to the ejection drive is not subjected to the ejection drive in an immediately preceding time slot, and that both the ink chambers arranged next to the ink chamber subjected to the ejection drive in a same group are subjected to the ejection drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: RISO KAGAKU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Asayo Shimoda
  • Patent number: 9341978
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a light scan head having a plurality of LED elements disposed along a main-scanning direction of a photoreceptor drum and configured to expose the photoreceptor drum with light, a developing device disposed to face the photoreceptor drum in the main-scanning direction and including a development roller configured to supply a developer to the photoreceptor drum, and a non-uniform density correction unit configured to control an intensity of light emitted from the plurality of LED elements of the light scan head based on correction data that corresponds to a tendency pattern of an expected non-uniform image density so as to correct the non-uniform density of an image that is to be formed on a recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yoji Sato