Patents Examined by Scott A Richmond
  • Patent number: 11318746
    Abstract: A modular inkjet printhead includes a plurality of printhead modules arranged end on end in a row. Each printhead module includes: a substrate having a plurality of longitudinal ink supply channels; a plurality of print chips mounted on a first face of the substrate, each print chip receiving ink from a respective ink supply channel; and a plurality of fingers extending longitudinally from opposite ends of each printhead module, each finger having an ink port extending away from a second face of the substrate opposite the first face, each ink port being in fluid communication with a respective ink supply channel Each ink supply channel is connected to a respective pair of ink ports at opposite ends of each printhead module and the fingers of neighboring printhead modules are interdigitated such that the ink ports of neighboring printhead modules overlap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Inventors: Jason Mark Thelander, David Oliver Burke
  • Patent number: 11318756
    Abstract: A method of printing on a plurality objects comprises arranging a first plurality of objects on a board having a flat upper surface, the first plurality of objects arranged on the board in a first configuration, and adhering a plurality of rail members to the flat upper surface of the board, the plurality of rail members arranged around a perimeter of each of the first plurality of objects to define borders for each of the first plurality of objects in the first configuration. The method further comprises positioning the board on a printer, printing on the first plurality of objects with the printer, and removing each of the first plurality of objects from the board. The method further comprises subsequently printing a second plurality of objects on the board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Inventor: Kenton Brett
  • Patent number: 11318768
    Abstract: A cleaning device cleans a surface of a sheet conveyance member that conveys a sheet in an image forming apparatus which executes image forming processing, using a liquid recording material. The cleaning device includes a cleaning member having a contact surface configured to be brought into contact with the surface of the sheet conveyance member. A contact angle of the contact surface with the recording material is smaller than a contact angle of the surface of the sheet conveyance member with the recording material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Inventors: Kenichi Satake, Hiroatsu Tamai, Takeshi Watanabe, Hiroki Sakane, Yusuke Tamekuni, Masato Usui, Yuzuru Yuasa, Yasuhiro Michishita, Naoto Miyakoshi, Shunsuke Yamasaki, Shinobu Ohata
  • Patent number: 11292249
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, a controller, a first detector, and a second detector. The controller calculates a viscosity of ink in each of nozzles based on a temperature, a humidity, and an elapsed time. The controller determines, among the nozzles, a nozzle in which the viscosity is equal to or higher than a threshold to be a high-viscosity nozzle. The controller acquires non-ejection information indicating an ejection disabled nozzle that is disabled to eject the ink. The controller acquires a viscosity of the ink in the ejection disabled nozzle. The controller calculates an average value of viscosities of the ink in the plurality of nozzles. The controller compares the viscosity of the ink in the ejection disabled nozzle with the average value of the viscosities of the ink in the nozzles. The controller determines whether or not to change a contribution value based on a comparison result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Yamagishi, Kanako Morimoto, Ryota Okui, Satoshi Ishii
  • Patent number: 11292246
    Abstract: There is provided an image recording apparatus including: a conveyor; a head; a carriage; and a controller. The controller executes: recording of an image; in a case of performing recording of a same image continuously, recording of the same image, while making a setting to be a first setting; calculating of a total ejection amount; and presuming of a point of time at which each of the plurality of nozzles becomes an ejection-defective nozzle having defectiveness in ejection of the liquid. Further, in a case that the controller presumes that a certain nozzle, as any one of the plurality of nozzles, becomes the ejection-defective nozzle before the recording of the same image is completed, the controller changes, before the point of time, the setting to a second setting in which the total ejection amount of the certain nozzle is made greater than that in the first setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tatsuya Shindo
  • Patent number: 11285715
    Abstract: A flexible belt is disclosed for use in a printing system. The belt comprises an endless strip which, in use, travels along a continuous path. Formations are provided along the sides of the strip which are capable of engaging with lateral tracks to place the belt under lateral tension, the lateral tracks further serving to constrain the belt to follow the continuous path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: LANDA CORPORATION LTD.
    Inventors: Benzion Landa, Sagi Abramovich, Aharon Shmaiser, Rami Keller, Itshak Ashkanazi
  • Patent number: 11285734
    Abstract: A compensation method and a device for nozzle abnormality, and a printer are provided. The method includes determining position information of an abnormal nozzle of an inkjet head (S100); acquiring printing parameters, determining first data corresponding to the abnormal nozzle, and based on the position information of the abnormal nozzle and the printing parameters, determining position information of a compensation nozzle for compensating the first data corresponding to the abnormal nozzle (S200); and based on the printing parameters, acquiring second data of the compensation nozzle in a normal printing state which includes ink out data and ink holding data, determining an address of the ink holding data, and generating compensation data by writing the first data into the address of the ink holding data (S300).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: SHENZHEN HOSONSOFT CO., LTD
    Inventors: Yan Chen, Zhongkun Huang, Jianping Ren, Shubo Su
  • Patent number: 11279159
    Abstract: In one example, a method comprises measuring, by a processor, the flow rate of a cleaning fluid to clean at least a portion of a printing apparatus. The measured flow rate is compared to a desired flow rate. When the measured flow rate is outside of a first deviation from the desired flow rate, but within a second deviation from the desired flow rate, then the method in this example comprises changing the operation of a component of a printing apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Yossi Yaacobov, Michel Assenheimer
  • Patent number: 11279149
    Abstract: A liquid discharging apparatus includes a transporting belt having an endless shape stretched over a plurality of rollers and configured to rotate while supporting a medium, to transport the medium in a transport direction, a liquid discharging unit configured to discharge a liquid onto the medium, and a flat plate portion for supporting the transporting belt from a side of a contact face with the roller. the flat plate portion includes an edge extending from one end of the transporting belt to the other end of the transporting belt along an extending direction intersecting the transport direction, the edge being formed by a transporting belt support face for supporting the transporting belt and a face facing upstream in a rotation direction of the transporting belt when transporting the medium in the transport direction. the edge is disposed to abut against the transporting belt along the extending direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenichiro Kaneko, Seijun Horie, Tsuneyuki Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11273653
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a transport roller that transports the recording paper from a paper roll in a transport direction, a print head that ejects ink onto the recording paper, an ink supply portion that supplies the ink to the print head, a cutting mechanism that is provided downstream of the print head in the transport direction of the recording paper and that cuts the recording paper, and a control portion that controls the transport of the recording paper in a direction opposite to the transport direction in such a manner that, after the recording paper is cut, a leading end portion of the recording paper reaches a position of the print head from a position of the cutting mechanism, wherein the ink supply portion extends from a region downstream of the print head in the transport direction of the recording paper and is coupled to the print head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Masubuchi
  • Patent number: 11273657
    Abstract: A cleaning device includes a separation and contact mechanism and a controller. The controller includes a separation and contact control unit, a conveyance roller rotation control unit, and a take-up control unit. The separation and contact control unit controls the separation and contact mechanism so as to allow the web to be pressed to the conveyance roller when the conveyance roller is in a non-conveyable state. The conveyance roller rotation control unit rotates the conveyance roller at a cleaning rotational speed lower than a conveyance-time rotational speed of the conveyance roller in a conveyance state. The take-up control unit allows the take-up roller to perform a take-up operation of taking up the web corresponding to a rotation of a take-up roller plural times at a predetermined time interval within a cleaning time in a state where the conveyance roller is being rotated at the cleaning rotational speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Inventors: Takeshi Watanabe, Hiroatsu Tamai, Kenichi Satake, Hiroki Sakane, Masato Usui, Yuzuru Yuasa, Yusuke Tamekuni, Yasuhiro Michishita, Shinobu Ohata, Naoto Miyakoshi, Shunsuke Yamasaki
  • Patent number: 11267256
    Abstract: A recording device provides, when a first mode that is a recording mode for increasing concentration of black is selected, in a first nozzle row including first nozzles capable of discharging a first ink representing black by a single color or a mixed color, and a second nozzle row including second nozzles capable of discharging a second ink having a lower pigment concentration than a black ink and being an achromatic color, a nozzle unused region by a first nozzle not discharging a first ink and a second nozzle not discharging a second ink, between a first nozzle usage region including the first nozzle discharging the first ink onto the recording medium, and a second nozzle used region including the second nozzle for discharging the second ink onto a region of the recording medium onto which the first ink is discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Tanase, Keisuke Morita, Kentaro Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11267269
    Abstract: A recording-head position adjustment mechanism adjusts a position of a recording head. The recording-head position adjustment mechanism includes a first support, a second support, and an adjuster. The first support supports a first end of the recording head in a longitudinal direction of the recording head. The second support supports a second end of the recording head in the longitudinal direction. The adjuster moves the second support with respect to the first support in a transverse direction intersecting the longitudinal direction to adjust an inclination of the recording head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kengo Tsubaki
  • Patent number: 11260688
    Abstract: A fabric printable medium comprising a fabric base substrate, with an image-side and a back-side, having a water proofing treatment including a water-repellant agent applied thereto; an adhesion promoting layer, applied to the image-side of the fabric base substrate, comprising a polymeric compound and a physical networking component; an ink-receiving coating layer over the adhesion promoting layer, comprising a first and a second crosslinked polymeric network; and a barrier layer applied to the back-side of the fabric base substrate, comprising polymeric binders and filler particles with flame retardancy properties. Also disclosed are the method for making such fabric print medium and the method for producing printed images using said material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Xulong Fu, Xiaoqi Zhou, Fredrick Muya Makau
  • Patent number: 11260656
    Abstract: A fluidic die that includes at least one temperature sensor coupled to at least one zone of the fluidic die, a setpoint register to receive a target temperature setpoint for the fluidic die wherein a detected temperature presented by the at least one temperature sensor is compared to the target temperature setpoint using a comparator module to get a firing pulse adjustment value, and a firing pulse used to convey an amount of fluid within the die is adjusted using the firing pulse adjustment value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: James Michael Gardner, Daryl E. Anderson, Eric Martin
  • Patent number: 11260658
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes a pressure chamber that allows a first liquid and a second liquid to flow inside, a pressure generation element that applies pressure to the first liquid and an ejection port that ejects the second liquid. In a state where the first liquid flows in a direction, crossing a direction of ejection of the second liquid from the ejection port, while being in contact with the pressure generation element and the second liquid flows in the crossing direction along the first liquid in the pressure chamber, the second liquid is ejected from the ejection port by causing the pressure generation element to apply a pressure to the first liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Nakagawa, Akiko Hammura
  • Patent number: 11247492
    Abstract: A first light emitter emits light toward a sheet. A first light receiver receives first reflected light from the sheet. A second light emitter is arranged downstream of the first light emitter in a conveyance direction of the sheet and emits light toward the sheet. A second light receiver receives second reflected light from the sheet. A measuring section measures first and second received light quantities of the first reflected light and the second reflected light. A moisture content calculator calculates a change in a moisture content of the ink in the sheet based on a difference between first and second moisture contents. The first moisture content is based on the first received light quantity and the second moisture content is based on the second received light quantity. A curling amount calculator calculates a curling amount of the sheet based on the change in the moisture content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Satoshi Ishii, Motoki Suzuki, Hiroaki Watanabe, Ryota Okui
  • Patent number: 11247454
    Abstract: A system is disclosed. The system at least one physical memory device to store ink estimation logic and one or more processors coupled with the at least one physical memory device, to execute the ink estimation logic to receive calibrated ink deposition data, receive a first transfer function associated with a printing system, generate a first inverse transfer function based on the first transfer function and generate first uncalibrated ink deposition data based on the calibrated ink deposition data and the first inverse transfer function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Mikel Stanich, Nikita Gurudath
  • Patent number: 11247457
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus is configured to activate a first notification in a case where a liquid level of a tank is less than a threshold. In a case where a cartridge is installed after activating the first notification, a controller determines outflow amount Vcs of the liquid flowing into the tank based on the liquid amount of the installed cartridge, and controls a notification device based on the determined outflow amount Vcs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenta Horade, Mikio Ogawa, Toshiro Ueda
  • Patent number: 11247473
    Abstract: A print head of a continuous ink jet printer comprising: a cavity for the circulation of jets, delimited laterally by a 1st side wall and a 2nd side wall, both at least partially parallel to a direction of flow of the jets in the cavity, at least one nozzle for producing at least one ink jet in the cavity, at least one electrode for sorting drops or segments of one or several of the jets intended for printing from drops or segments that are not used for printing; an outlet slot, open onto the exterior of the cavity and allowing the exiting of the drops or segment of ink intended for printing, at least one gutter for recovering drops or segments not intended for printing, at least one spraying nozzle, arranged in the cavity, for projecting at least one cleaning fluid towards at least one inner portion of the cavity and a motor driving the at least one spraying nozzle in rotation about an axis (x), for example perpendicular to a direction of flow of the jets in the cavity; a supply circuit supplying at least th
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: DOVER EUROPE SÀRL
    Inventors: Damien Bonneton, Camille Gobin, Jean-François Abadie, Jean-Marie Rolland, Niklaus Hugi