Patents Examined by Sharon A. Polk
  • Patent number: 11325383
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting portion that ejects a liquid, a belt-shaped member absorbs the liquid, a feeding portion that retains the belt-shaped member in a rolled state, a pressing portion presses a contact portion of a portion of the belt-shaped member wound off from the feeding portion and bring the contact portion into contact with the liquid ejecting portion, the contact portion being located in a contact area, a winding portion moves the contact portion in a moving direction by winding up the belt-shaped member, and a control portion that, when it is assumed that a contact length is a length of the contact portion along the direction of movement, causes the winding portion to wind up the belt-shaped member corresponding to a length longer than the contact length after bringing the contact portion into contact with the liquid ejecting portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Kanazawa, Naoki Yokoyama, Masanobu Yamaguchi, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 11325391
    Abstract: A method for operating a printing material processing machine by using a computer includes acquiring print job parameters from print jobs for the printing material processing machine and machine parameters by using the computer, evaluating the acquired parameters to determine the machine state by using the computer, and requesting and providing fluid consumable materials for optimizing the operation of the machine on the basis of the determined machine state by using the computer. Maintenance measures carried out on the machine are optimized on the basis of the determined machine state, by using the computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventors: Steffen Neeb, Nicklas Raymond Norrick, Andreas Henn
  • Patent number: 11325393
    Abstract: A printer includes an ink tank, a print head that performs printing by using ink in the ink tank, a light source that emits light into the ink tank, a sensor that detects light incident from an ink tank side in a period during which the light source emits light and outputs pixel data, and a processing section that determines an ink amount based on an output of the sensor. A pitch of a plurality of lenses is k times a pixel pitch of the sensor, k being an integer of 2 or more, and the processing section detects the ink amount based on a sum of outputs of k continuous pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiro Netsu, Takuma Usuda
  • Patent number: 11318747
    Abstract: The printer includes a transport unit having a support surface for supporting a medium, a line head recording on the medium by ejecting ink from a nozzle provided on an ejecting surface thereof, a head moving portion for moving the line head along a moving direction with respect to the transport unit, and a first maintenance unit movably provided in a first direction for covering the ejecting surface. The moving direction intersects a horizontal plane at an angle of 45 degrees or less, the first direction intersects the horizontal plane at an angle of 45 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees, and a movement amount of the first maintenance unit in the first direction is equal to or larger than a movement amount of the line head in the moving direction when the printer is installed on a horizontal plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takuto Tanaka, Takeshi Aoki, Masaki Shimomura, Yusaku Amano
  • Patent number: 11312141
    Abstract: A recording device includes a recording unit configured to eject a liquid onto a medium to record, a carriage including the recording unit and configured to move in an X direction corresponding to a medium width direction that intersects a Y direction corresponding to a medium transport direction, a liquid reservoir located in the carriage at a position above the recording unit, configured to contain a liquid, and having a fill port through which the liquid is supplied, a fill port unit located in the carriage at a position above the liquid reservoir and including a component for open/close operation of the fill port, and an operation unit through which the device is operated. The fill port unit and the operation unit partly overlap in a device front-rear direction that is parallel to the medium transport direction, when viewed in the X direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Katsumi Yamada, Kazunori Takabayashi, Morio Iwata, Keisuke Sasaki, Satoshi Nakata
  • Patent number: 11312149
    Abstract: A printer includes: a printing section configured to perform printing using a plurality of printing materials contained in corresponding printing material containers, a display section configured to display respective remaining amounts of the individual printing materials contained in the corresponding printing material containers; and a controller configured to control display on the display section, wherein the controller performs display control so as to match the display on the remaining amount of a second container other than the first container with the display on the remaining amount of a first container having a smallest remaining amount among the plurality of the printing material containers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shunichi Hizawa, Yasuaki Hirai, Ryo Oguchi
  • Patent number: 11305544
    Abstract: There is disclosed a method comprising determining, by a processor, if there are consecutive nozzles of a print apparatus that are occluded by a contaminant; and, when a predetermined number of consecutive nozzles are occluded, automatically triggering a cleaning operation to at least partially remove the contaminant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Adria Gallart del Burgo, Alex Campa Coloma, Maria Isabel Borrell Bayona, Jordi Bas Ferrer
  • Patent number: 11305561
    Abstract: A printer that performs printing for a print region of a glass plate includes a conveying unit that includes a plurality of paired rollers adapted to sandwich both side faces of the plate, brings the paired rollers respectively in contact with the both side faces with an urging force, and conveys the plate only by the plurality of the paired rollers; a printing unit that includes a printhead and a swinging unit adapted to swing the printhead between a printing position and a retracting position and shifts the printhead to the printing position so as to come in contact with the print region by the swinging unit when printing, and performs printing for the print region by the printhead; and a suppressing guide unit that regulates floating-up of the plate when printing by coming in contact with the plate only on a neighborhood region of the side face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: PHOENIX CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Akira Hodai
  • Patent number: 11305560
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a feeder, a conveyance section, an image forming section, a light emitter, a light receiver, a measuring section, and a permeation depth calculator. The feeder feeds a sheet. The conveyance section conveys the sheet. The image forming section forms an image on the sheet conveyed by the conveyance section using an ink. The light emitter emits near-infrared light to the sheet with the image thereon. The light receiver receives reflected light of the near-infrared light. The reflected light has been reflected by the sheet with the image thereon. The measuring section measures a received light quantity of the reflected light. The permeation depth calculator calculates a permeation depth of the ink permeating the sheet based on the received light quantity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Satoshi Ishii, Motoki Suzuki, Hiroaki Watanabe, Ryota Okui
  • Patent number: 11305541
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a portable system for cleaning ink jet print heads. Specifically, the disclosure relates to external, portable systems and jig assemblies for cleaning clogged nozzles of ink jet print head under controlled pressure. The jig assembly can be self-contained and detachable, and can be programmed to operate upon receiving various signals indicating clogged nozzle plate or portion thereof, and/or as a routine maintenance operating procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Nano Dimension Technologies, LTD.
    Inventors: Tomer Friedman, Salamon Mekonen
  • Patent number: 11298943
    Abstract: To prevent a printing head not placed on a cleaning placing unit from being cleaned and prevent contamination of an ambient environment by cleaning liquid. An ink jet recording system includes a placement detecting unit configured to detect that a printing head 1 is placed on a cleaning placing unit 200. The placement detecting unit is configured to, when detecting that the printing head 1 is placed, transmit a signal based on placement confirmation for the printing head 1 to a controller connected to the printing head 1 placed on the cleaning placing unit 200.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: KEYENCE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Atsushi Kitamura, Takanori Ando, Minoru Taneda, Mamoru Idaka
  • Patent number: 11298946
    Abstract: A liquid supply apparatus a tank and a cartridge attachable to the tank along an attachment direction crossing a vertical direction. The ink cartridge includes a first storing chamber configured to store liquid therein. The tank includes a second storing chamber configured to store liquid therein, a liquid channel and an air channel, which both communicate with the second storing chamber. When the cartridge is attached to the tank with the first storing chamber of the cartridge communicating with the liquid channel and the air channel, the first storing chamber has a portion located above the liquid channel and the air channel. The second storing portion has a first area located above a lower end of the first storing chamber of the cartridge in the vertical direction and a second area continuous with the first area and located below the first storing chamber of the cartridge in the vertical direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yoshinori Osakabe
  • Patent number: 11285724
    Abstract: A waste liquid collecting device is a device which is located to face a nozzle surface in which nozzles of a liquid ejecting portion are disposed, which includes a waste liquid receiving member to receive a liquid to be discharged from the nozzles, and which collects the liquid, and the waste liquid receiving member has dripping waste liquid receiving areas which are provided with through-holes and which receive the liquid to drip down after being discharged from the nozzles and staying on the nozzle surface and flushing receiving areas which are not provided with the through-holes and which receive the liquid to be ejected from the nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Chikashi Nakamura, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 11279147
    Abstract: A decurling device includes: a first transporter including a transport roller, the first transporter that sandwiches a transported sheet and transports the transported sheet further downstream; and a second transporter including an endless belt that is in contact with the transport roller. The transport roller has an elasticity that, when the belt is pressed against the transport roller, allows the belt to bite into the transport roller by a bite amount corresponding to a pressing force, the second transporter includes an abutting member disposed inside the belt, the abutting member includes an upstream protrusion, an downstream protrusion, the upstream protrusion and the downstream protrusion being provided at positions away from each other at an upstream portion and a downstream portion in a sheet transport direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Business Innovation Corp.
    Inventors: Shingo Akiyama, Nobuyoshi Komatsu, Shogo Kamiya, Seiji Taira
  • Patent number: 11279135
    Abstract: An ink absorption member is provided which effectively prevents ink leakage from occurring even when the container storing the ink absorption member falls over. An ink absorption member is to be used to absorb ink. The ink absorption member includes a water-absorbent resin. In a mixture in which an ink is added to the ink absorption member in a ratio of 12 g of the ink to 0.24 g of the ink absorption member, the mixture has a viscosity of 5 Pa·s or greater and 100 Pa·s or less as measured 25 minutes after preparation of the mixture by using a tuning fork vibro viscometer. It is preferable that the water-absorbent resin be in the form of particles or a fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Yoichi Miyasaka
  • Patent number: 11273654
    Abstract: A roll sheet with a continuous sheet wound in a roll form is rotated in a forward direction to supply the sheet to a printing unit. A sensor whose output is changed in accordance with a distance between the sensor and the sheet is used. A rotation direction of the roll sheet is switched from an opposite direction to the forward direction on the basis of the output of the sensor during rotation of the roll sheet in the opposite direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masato Eiyama, Yuki Igarashi, Masashi Kamada, Masashi Negishi, Ryoya Shinjo, Ryo Kobayashi, Tomohiro Suzuki, Tsutomu Obata
  • Patent number: 11267265
    Abstract: A control device that controls a printing execution unit to execute printing by alternately executing partial printings, which forms the dot using the print head, and print medium conveying, which conveys the print medium using the conveyor, the conveyor including: a first roller; a second roller; and a third roller, wherein a first holding state is a state where the print medium is held by the first roller, is held by the second roller, and is held by the third roller, a second holding state is a state where the print medium is held by the first roller, is held by the second roller, and is not held by the third roller, and a length of the second partial image printed in the first holding state is longer than a length of the second partial image printed in the second holding state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirotoshi Maehira
  • Patent number: 11247472
    Abstract: A cleaning apparatus carries ink ejected from an inkjet head and cleans a transfer body that transfers the ink onto a recording medium at a transfer nip, and the cleaning apparatus includes: a cleaning rotor that contacts the transfer body and rotates in a counter direction opposite to a moving direction of the transfer body to remove a pre-coating agent and an impurity present on the transfer body after transfer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventor: Katsuhiro Umeda
  • Patent number: 11247474
    Abstract: Provided are a liquid jetting device, a liquid jetting head cleaning device, and a liquid jetting head cleaning method, in which a nozzle surface is cleaned without a liquid infiltrating into a gap of a liquid jetting head having a gap between head modules adjacent to each other. After performing pressurization purging for pressurizing an inside of a liquid jetting head (32) that is the liquid jetting head (32), which jets a liquid from a nozzle (202) disposed on a nozzle surface (33), is formed by a plurality of head modules (200), and has a gap (G) between the head modules adjacent to each other, to discharge the liquid from the nozzle (202), a long wiping web (104) in a dry state abuts against the nozzle surface (33) of the liquid jetting head (32) at a pressing force of 0 kPa or more and 15 kPa or less, and the wiping web (104) is transported with respect to the liquid jetting head (32) in a web transporting direction to wipe the nozzle surface (33).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventors: Yuichi Ozaki, Takuma Nakano
  • Patent number: 11241875
    Abstract: In example implementations, a storage apparatus is provided. The storage apparatus includes a sealed reservoir partially filled with a print agent. A float is partially submerged in the print agent. A weight is coupled to a submerged portion of the float. A vent is coupled to the float and an opening in the sealed reservoir. A valve is coupled to an unsubmerged portion of the float.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Christopher John Arnold, Melissa S. Gedraitis, Russell S. Sauer