Patents by Inventor Bunji Ishimoto

Bunji Ishimoto 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).

  • Patent number: 9381742
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a first nozzle row in which first nozzles ejecting a first liquid are arranged in a predetermined direction; a second nozzle row in which second nozzles ejecting a second liquid are arranged in the predetermined direction; a movement mechanism moving the first and second nozzle rows in a movement direction intersecting the predetermined direction relative to a medium; a transport mechanism transporting the medium in the predetermined direction relative to the first and second nozzle rows; and a control unit repeating an image forming operation of ejecting the liquids from the first and second nozzles while moving the first and second nozzle rows in the movement direction by the movement mechanism and a transport operation of transporting the medium in the predetermined direction relative to the first and second nozzle rows by the transport mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Bunji Ishimoto, Yumiko Takeda
  • Patent number: 9315024
    Abstract: A droplet discharging method includes: forming a plurality of dots on a first region of a medium, on a second region which is positioned in a ?Y direction from the first region, and on a third region which is positioned in the ?Y direction from the second region. The dots are formed on the first region by using a first head and a second head to cause a second head use ratio to be constant, the dots are formed on the second region by using the first head and the second head so as to cause the second head use ratio to be increased from a value less than a first set value to a value greater than a second set value greater than the first set value in the ?Y direction, and the dots are formed on the third region by using the second head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toru Miyamoto, Tomohiro Yuda, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Patent number: 9272530
    Abstract: A droplet discharging method includes: forming a plurality of dots on a first region of a medium, on a second region which is positioned in a ?Y direction from the first region, and on a third region which is positioned in the ?Y direction from the second region. The dots are formed on the first region by using a first head, the dots are formed on the second region by using the first head and a second head so that a second head use ratio is increased from a value less than a first set value to a value greater than a second set value greater than the first set value in the ?Y direction, and the dots are formed on the third region by using the first head and the second head to cause the second head use ratio to be constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toru Miyamoto, Tomohiro Yuda, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Publication number: 20160031668
    Abstract: A transport apparatus includes a plurality of rollers that transport a medium, a detection unit that detects a rotation amount of each of the rollers, and a control unit that controls driving of each of the rollers. The control unit controls the driving of each of the rollers using a correction value that corresponds to a rotation amount from an origin position of the corresponding roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Publication date: February 4, 2016
    Inventors: Tomohiro Yuda, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Patent number: 9144994
    Abstract: A printing device which prints onto a printing medium comprising: a printing head; a control section which moves the printing head in a scanning direction and relatively moves either of the head or the printing medium in a direction which intersects with the scanning direction; and a discharge control section, wherein the printing head is provided with a plurality of color nozzle rows which are arranged to line up in the intersecting direction and where a plurality of nozzles which discharge the same color of color ink are arranged in the intersecting direction for each of the color nozzles rows, and a black ink nozzle row which is a nozzle row, which is arranged to line up with the color nozzle rows and discharges black ink, and which has a black ink nozzle group of the same number as the number of rows of the color nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Mika Fujimori, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Patent number: 9039121
    Abstract: A printing device includes a required ink amount acquisition part, an ejectable amount acquisition part, and a division printing control part. The required ink amount acquisition part is configured to determine a required ink amount based on print data of a bandwidth over which ink is ejected by driving an ink head in a main scanning direction. The ejectable amount acquisition part is configured to determine an ejectable amount based on a residual amount in an ink cartridge. The division printing control part is configured to determine whether a printing for the bandwidth is performed by one time of a main scanning operation, or the printing is performed by dividing into multiple main scanning operations based on the required ink amount and the ejectable amount, and to perform the printing in accordance with the determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Publication number: 20150054886
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a first nozzle row in which first nozzles ejecting a first liquid are arranged in a predetermined direction; a second nozzle row in which second nozzles ejecting a second liquid are arranged in the predetermined direction; a movement mechanism moving the first and second nozzle rows in a movement direction intersecting the predetermined direction relative to a medium; a transport mechanism transporting the medium in the predetermined direction relative to the first and second nozzle rows; and a control unit repeating an image forming operation of ejecting the liquids from the first and second nozzles while moving the first and second nozzle rows in the movement direction by the movement mechanism and a transport operation of transporting the medium in the predetermined direction relative to the first and second nozzle rows by the transport mechanism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Bunji Ishimoto, Yumiko Takeda
  • Publication number: 20150054869
    Abstract: A droplet discharging method includes: forming a plurality of dots on a first region of a medium, on a second region which is positioned in a ?Y direction from the first region, and on a third region which is positioned in the ?Y direction from the second region. The dots are formed on the first region by using a first head and a second head to cause a second head use ratio to be constant, the dots are formed on the second region by using the first head and the second head so as to cause the second head use ratio to be increased from a value less than a first set value to a value greater than a second set value greater than the first set value in the ?Y direction, and the dots are formed on the third region by using the second head.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Inventors: Toru MIYAMOTO, Tomohiro YUDA, Bunji ISHIMOTO
  • Publication number: 20150054871
    Abstract: A droplet discharging method includes: forming a plurality of dots on a first region of a medium, on a second region which is positioned in a ?Y direction from the first region, and on a third region which is positioned in the ?Y direction from the second region. The dots are formed on the first region by using a first head, the dots are formed on the second region by using the first head and a second head so that a second head use ratio is increased from a value less than a first set value to a value greater than a second set value greater than the first set value in the ?Y direction, and the dots are formed on the third region by using the first head and the second head to cause the second head use ratio to be constant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Inventors: Toru MIYAMOTO, Tomohiro YUDA, Bunji ISHIMOTO
  • Patent number: 8955934
    Abstract: A fluid ejecting apparatus includes first and second rows of nozzles for ejecting first and second fluids respectively, a mechanism that transports the medium in the row direction, a mechanism that moves the nozzle rows in a direction intersecting the direction of the rows, and a controller that repeats an image formation operation while the medium is transported and the rows of nozzles moved. After forming a first image using the first row of nozzles, a second image is formed on the first image using the second row of nozzles in another image formation operation. For normal image formation, the second nozzles are set further downstream in the nozzle row direction than the first nozzles, and for image formation on a lower end portion of the medium, the second nozzles are set further upstream in the nozzle row direction than they are during normal image formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Bunji Ishimoto, Yumiko Takeda
  • Patent number: 8899713
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a first nozzle row in which first nozzles ejecting a first liquid are arranged in a predetermined direction; a second nozzle row in which second nozzles ejecting a second liquid are arranged in the predetermined direction; a movement mechanism moving the first and second nozzle rows in a movement direction intersecting the predetermined direction relative to a medium; a transport mechanism transporting the medium in the predetermined direction relative to the first and second nozzle rows; and a control unit repeating an image forming operation of ejecting the liquids from the first and second nozzles while moving the first and second nozzle rows in the movement direction by the movement mechanism and a transport operation of transporting the medium in the predetermined direction relative to the first and second nozzle rows by the transport mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Bunji Ishimoto, Yumiko Takeda
  • Publication number: 20140292866
    Abstract: A printing device includes a required ink amount acquisition part, an ejectable amount acquisition part, and a division printing control part. The required ink amount acquisition part is configured to determine a required ink amount based on print data of a bandwidth over which ink is ejected by driving an ink head in a main scanning direction. The ejectable amount acquisition part is configured to determine an ejectable amount based on a residual amount in an ink cartridge. The division printing control part is configured to determine whether a printing for the bandwidth is performed by one time of a main scanning operation, or the printing is performed by dividing into multiple main scanning operations based on the required ink amount and the ejectable amount, and to perform the printing in accordance with the determination.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoki SUDO, Bunji ISHIMOTO
  • Patent number: 8714706
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid supplying unit that supplies the liquid, a head unit that has a nozzle row, in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting the liquid is aligned, a control unit that forms a raster area, in which a plurality of ejection dots in units of the nozzle rows is aligned in a main scanning direction, an ejection amount calculating unit that calculates ejection amounts of the liquid needed for forming the ejection dots, and a division scanning unit that divides the raster area so as to be formed by performing a plurality of head scanning operations in accordance with a transitional change in the ejection amounts that is formed by aligning the ejection amounts calculated by the ejection amount calculating unit in the order in which the ejection dots in units of nozzle rows are formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Patent number: 8684485
    Abstract: A printing device includes a nozzle row for chromatic ink comprising K nozzles and a nozzle row for achromatic ink comprising (n·K) nozzles. In a color region, an image-forming operation is performed m times in which the movement direction of the nozzle rows switches alternately between forward and reverse directions, whereby a region of the image having a predetermined width is formed. The image-forming operation performed m times includes the image-forming operation performed once in which both of the nozzle rows for chromatic ink and for achromatic ink are used, and the image-forming operation performed (m?1) times in which only the nozzle row for chromatic ink is used. In a monochrome region, the image-forming operation is performed once in which only the nozzle row for achromatic ink is used, whereby a region of the image having a predetermined width is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akito Sato, Bunji Ishimoto, Takahide Miyashita, Katsuhiko Sugiyama, Yasuhiro Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 8662637
    Abstract: A fluid ejecting apparatus includes first and second rows of nozzles ejecting first and second fluids respectively. A control section repeats an image formation operation ejecting fluid from the first and second nozzles while moving them perpendicularly to the row direction and controls transportation of the medium in the row direction. After formation of a first image layer by the first and second fluids, a second image layer is formed thereon by the second fluid. For normal image formation, the first and second nozzles forming the first image layer are further upstream in the row direction than the second nozzles forming the second image layer, and for image formation of an upper end of the medium, the first and second nozzles forming the first image layer are further downstream in the row direction than the first and second nozzles forming the first image layer in normal image formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Bunji Ishimoto, Yumiko Takeda
  • Publication number: 20130328958
    Abstract: A printing device which prints onto a printing medium comprising: a printing head; a control section which moves the printing head in a scanning direction and relatively moves either of the head or the printing medium in a direction which intersects with the scanning direction; and a discharge control section, wherein the printing head is provided with a plurality of color nozzle rows which are arranged to line up in the intersecting direction and where a plurality of nozzles which discharge the same color of color ink are arranged in the intersecting direction for each of the color nozzles rows, and a black ink nozzle row which is a nozzle row, which is arranged to line up with the color nozzle rows and discharges black ink, and which has a black ink nozzle group of the same number as the number of rows of the color nozzles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2013
    Publication date: December 12, 2013
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki SUDO, Mika FUJIMORI, Bunji ISHIMOTO
  • Patent number: 8590997
    Abstract: A fluid ejecting apparatus includes first and second nozzle groups that eject first and second fluids respectively; a third nozzle group that does not eject any fluid; and a controlling section that performs image formation and transportation operations, including ejecting the first and second fluids while moving the first and second nozzle groups in a movement direction, and transporting the medium relative to the first and second nozzle groups in a predetermined direction. The controlling section performs control for forming a first image using the first nozzle group and for forming a second image on the first image using at least the second nozzle group. Relative to the predetermined direction, the first nozzle group is located upstream of the second nozzle group, and the third nozzle group is located downstream of the first nozzle group and is located upstream of the second nozzle group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Tanoue, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Publication number: 20130257985
    Abstract: A printing device which prints on a printing medium comprising: a printing head; a control section which moves the printing head in a scanning direction and relatively moves either one of the head or the printing medium in a direction which intersects the scanning direction; and a discharge control section, wherein the printing head is provided with a plurality of color nozzle rows which are arranged to line up in an intersecting direction and the plurality of nozzles, which discharge color ink of the same color, are arranged in the intersecting direction for each color nozzle row, and a black ink nozzle row which is a nozzle row, which is arranged to line up with the color nozzle rows and where black ink is discharged, and which has a black ink nozzle group of the same number as the number of rows of the color ink.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2013
    Publication date: October 3, 2013
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mika FUJIMORI, Naoki SUDO, Bunji ISHIMOTO
  • Patent number: 8529008
    Abstract: An apparatus includes: a first nozzles for ejecting a first fluid are lined up in a predetermined direction; a second nozzles for ejecting a second fluid are lined up in the predetermined direction; and a control unit performs an ejecting operation of ejecting fluid from the nozzles, wherein the control unit forms an image on a medium in one of a first mode of forming a main image with the first fluid and a second mode of forming the main image and a background image with the second fluid to be overlapped, forms the main image using a certain nozzle group in the first nozzles when the main image is formed in the first mode, and forms the main image using the same nozzle group as the certain nozzle group when the main image is formed in the second mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hidenori Usuda, Yoshihiko Matsuzawa, Yuji Hatanaka, Bunji Ishimoto, Tsuyoshi Sano, Mitsuaki Yoshizawa
  • Patent number: 8511777
    Abstract: A first and a second nozzle array eject a first and a second fluid, respectively. A control section controls the nozzle arrays while relatively shifting a relative position between the nozzle arrays and a medium. When printing normally, the relative position between the nozzle arrays and the medium is shifted towards one side by a transporting distance. When forming a second image using the second fluid over a first image formed using the first fluid, the second image's nozzles are located towards the one side relative to the first image's nozzles. When printing near an edge of the medium, a non-ejection one of the nozzles is located towards the one side of the first image's nozzles, and is located towards the other side of the second image's nozzles. A length of a region to which the non-ejection nozzle belongs is an integral multiple of the transporting distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Tanoue, Bunji Ishimoto