Patents by Inventor Asami Hashimoto

Asami Hashimoto has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240051301
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid discharging apparatus including: a main body casing; a head; a maintenance unit including a cap, a suction pump and a waste liquid tube in which a liquid sucked by the suction pump is to flow; and a waste liquid reservoir which has a joint to which the waste liquid tube is connected or to be connected, and which is configured to store the liquid. The maintenance unit is configured to be inserted into and drawn from the main body casing. The waste liquid tube has a length to connect the waste liquid reservoir and the maintenance unit in a state that the maintenance unit has been moved from an installed-position at which the maintenance unit is installed in an inside of the main body casing to a drawn-out-position at which the maintenance unit is drawn out to an outside of the main body casing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2023
    Publication date: February 15, 2024
    Inventors: Shohei ICHIKAWA, Asami HASHIMOTO, Fumiya NAKAMURA, Kazushige SAIGUSA
  • Publication number: 20230311515
    Abstract: A liquid discharging apparatus, having a sheet conveyer path, a liquid discharging head including nozzles for discharging liquid, a cap configured to cover the liquid discharging head, a liquid receiver located at a position different from the cap and configured to receive the liquid discharged from the liquid discharging head, and a waste liquid tank demountably mountable in a housing of the liquid discharging apparatus and configured to store the liquid received by the liquid receiver, is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazushige SAIGUSA, Shohei ICHIKAWA, Fumiya NAKAMURA, Kazuma KOBAYASHI, Masako KAWAGOE, Haruhisa SHIRAI, Asami HASHIMOTO
  • Publication number: 20230311520
    Abstract: A liquid discharging apparatus, having a housing, a liquid discharging head, and a waste liquid tank for storing waste liquid, is provided. The waste liquid tank is demountably mounted in the housing through an opening formed on a sideward face on one side in a widthwise direction, which is parallel to a nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head and intersects orthogonally with a conveying direction to convey a sheet. The opening is formed between a first position and a second position apart from the first position in the conveying direction. The waste liquid tank is mounted in the housing in an arrangement such that a length in the widthwise direction is shorter than a length in the conveying direction. The waste liquid tank is mountable in and demountable from the housing along the widthwise direction of the waste liquid tank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Haruhisa SHIRAI, Kazuma KOBAYASHI, Kazushige SAIGUSA, Fumiya NAKAMURA, Shohei ICHIKAWA, Asami HASHIMOTO, Masako KAWAGOE
  • Publication number: 20230311514
    Abstract: A liquid discharging apparatus, having a sheet conveyer path, a liquid discharging head including nozzles for discharging liquid, a maintenance unit configured to remove the liquid from discharging head, a waste liquid tank demountably mounted in a housing of the liquid discharging apparatus and configured to store the liquid received from the maintenance unit, and a waste liquid flow path for transporting the liquid from the maintenance unit to the waste liquid tank, is provided. The waste liquid tank is located opposite to the maintenance unit across the sheet conveyer path in a horizontal direction, which is parallel to a nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Fumiya NAKAMURA, Shohei ICHIKAWA, Kazushige SAIGUSA, Kazuma KOBAYASHI, Asami HASHIMOTO, Masako KAWAGOE, Haruhisa SHIRAI
  • Publication number: 20230311519
    Abstract: A liquid discharging apparatus, having a housing, a liquid discharging device configured to discharge liquid, a first waste liquid collecting device and a second waste liquid collecting device for collecting the liquid discharged from the liquid discharging device, an intermediate tank having a first waste liquid reservoir and a drainer, and a waste liquid tank having a second waste liquid reservoir, is provided. The first waste liquid reservoir stores the liquid received from the first liquid collecting device and the second waste liquid collecting device. The drainer drains the liquid stored in the first waste liquid reservoir outward from the intermediate tank. The second waste liquid reservoir stores the liquid drained from the drainer. The waste liquid tank is demountably mounted in the housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuma KOBAYASHI, Masako KAWAGOE, Haruhisa SHIRAI, Shohei ICHIKAWA, Fumiya NAKAMURA, Kazushige SAIGUSA, Asami HASHIMOTO
  • Patent number: 11518635
    Abstract: In a transport device, a cover defining a portion of a transport path is pivotable between a closed state and an open state. The cover is movable while in the closed state between a first position and a second position lower than the first position. An urging member urges the cover from the second position toward the first position. The cover includes a main body for guiding the sheet in the transport direction and an engagement portion engaged with a frame when the cover is at the first position to restrict pivoting of the cover from the first position to a third position at which the cover is in the open state. The engagement portion is disengaged from the frame when the cover is at the second position to allow pivoting of the cover from the second position to the third position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo Asada, Asami Hashimoto, Gakuro Kanazawa, Yoichiro Nishimura
  • Patent number: 11352226
    Abstract: A sheet feed device includes a housing, a tray, a feed roller, an arm, a pad, and a protruding portion. The housing has a sheet conveyance path. The tray includes a bottom plate having a sheet support surface that supports a sheet. The sheet conveyance path extends upward from the sheet support surface. The feed roller rotates about a rotational axis and feeds the sheet supported on the sheet support surface in a first direction. The arm rotatably supports the feed roller. The arm swingably moves about an axis parallel to the rotational axis of the feed roller. The pad is disposed on the bottom plate. The pad has a higher friction coefficient than a friction coefficient of the sheet support surface. The protruding portion protrudes upward from the sheet support surface at a position shifted from the pad in a second direction opposite from the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoichiro Nishimura, Asami Hashimoto, Gakuro Kanazawa, Tetsuo Asada
  • Patent number: 11186455
    Abstract: A housing is formed with a first opening and a sheet conveyance path. A tray is inserted into the housing through the first opening in a first direction and pulled out in a second direction opposite from the first direction. The tray supports a sheet. The tray includes a bottom plate, a front plate, and a cover. The bottom plate supports a sheet. The front plate protrudes upward from an end portion of the bottom plate in the second direction. The cover is configured to move between a first position at which the cover closes a second opening and a second position at which the cover opens the second opening. The second opening is defined by an end of a top plate in the second direction and an upper end of the front plate, the top plate covering an upper side of a space that accommodates a sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo Asada, Yoichiro Nishimura, Asami Hashimoto, Gakuro Kanazawa
  • Patent number: 10967656
    Abstract: A front plate is rotatably supported at an end portion of a tray in a pulling direction. The front plate rotatably moves between: a first position at which the front plate extends diagonally upward in the pulling direction from a first end portion at which a rotational axis is located toward a second end portion opposite the first end portion; and a second position at which the second end portion of the front plate is located at a position that is higher than the second end portion at the first position and that is shifted in an insertion direction from the second end portion at the first position. The front plate includes a grip and a surface. The surface of the front plate faces in the pulling direction and downward in a state where the front plate is located at the first position, wherein the surface surrounds the grip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuo Asada, Yoichiro Nishimura, Asami Hashimoto, Gakuro Kanazawa
  • Publication number: 20200307929
    Abstract: A sheet feed device includes a housing, a tray, a feed roller, an arm, a pad, and a protruding portion. The housing has a sheet conveyance path. The tray includes a bottom plate having a sheet support surface that supports a sheet. The sheet conveyance path extends upward from the sheet support surface. The feed roller rotates about a rotational axis and feeds the sheet supported on the sheet support surface in a first direction. The arm rotatably supports the feed roller. The arm swingably moves about an axis parallel to the rotational axis of the feed roller. The pad is disposed on the bottom plate. The pad has a higher friction coefficient than a friction coefficient of the sheet support surface. The protruding portion protrudes upward from the sheet support surface at a position shifted from the pad in a second direction opposite from the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2020
    Publication date: October 1, 2020
    Inventors: Yoichiro NISHIMURA, Asami HASHIMOTO, Gakuro KANAZAWA, Tetsuo ASADA
  • Publication number: 20200299085
    Abstract: In a transport device, a cover defining a portion of a transport path is pivotable between a closed state and an open state. The cover is movable while in the closed state between a first position and a second position lower than the first position. An urging member urges the cover from the second position toward the first position. The cover includes a main body for guiding the sheet in the transport direction and an engagement portion engaged with a frame when the cover is at the first position to restrict pivoting of the cover from the first position to a third position at which the cover is in the open state. The engagement portion is disengaged from the frame when the cover is at the second position to allow pivoting of the cover from the second position to the third position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Publication date: September 24, 2020
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tetsuo ASADA, Asami HASHIMOTO, Gakuro KANAZAWA, Yoichiro NISHIMURA
  • Publication number: 20200171859
    Abstract: A front plate is rotatably supported at an end portion of a tray in a pulling direction. The front plate rotatably moves between: a first position at which the front plate extends diagonally upward in the pulling direction from a first end portion at which a rotational axis is located toward a second end portion opposite the first end portion; and a second position at which the second end portion of the front plate is located at a position that is higher than the second end portion at the first position and that is shifted in an insertion direction from the second end portion at the first position. The front plate includes a grip and a surface. The surface of the front plate faces in the pulling direction and downward in a state where the front plate is located at the first position, wherein the surface surrounds the grip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2019
    Publication date: June 4, 2020
    Inventors: Tetsuo ASADA, Yoichiro NISHIMURA, Asami HASHIMOTO, Gakuro KANAZAWA
  • Publication number: 20200172355
    Abstract: A housing is formed with a first opening and a sheet conveyance path. A tray is inserted into the housing through the first opening in a first direction and pulled out in a second direction opposite from the first direction. The tray supports a sheet. The tray includes a bottom plate, a front plate, and a cover. The bottom plate supports a sheet. The front plate protrudes upward from an end portion of the bottom plate in the second direction. The cover is configured to move between a first position at which the cover closes a second opening and a second position at which the cover opens the second opening. The second opening is defined by an end of a top plate in the second direction and an upper end of the front plate, the top plate covering an upper side of a space that accommodates a sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Publication date: June 4, 2020
    Inventors: Tetsuo ASADA, Yoichiro NISHIMURA, Asami HASHIMOTO, Gakuro KANAZAWA
  • Publication number: 20190263609
    Abstract: A sheet supplier includes: a tray having a support surface; a roller that supplies a sheet supported on the support surface; an arm pivotable about a pivot shaft, extending in a supply direction and toward the support surface, and supports the roller at its pivotal distal end portion; a motor; and a driving-force transmitting mechanism supported by the arm and configured to transmit a driving force supplied from the motor, to the roller. The driving-force transmitting mechanism includes: a rotating member supported by the pivot shaft and configured to be rotated by the driving force supplied from the motor; and a speed changer configured to determine a rotational speed of the roller to a speed different from a rotational speed of the rotating member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2019
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Inventors: Yoichiro Nishimura, Gakuro Kanazawa, Tetsuo Asada, Asami Hashimoto