Patents by Inventor Hideki Kojima

Hideki Kojima 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: 12606940
    Abstract: A fiber processing method includes performing defibration processing on a coarse fragment of a fabric containing a thread in which a plurality of fibers are twisted to produce a first defibrated material; and performing garnetting processing on the first defibrated material to produce a second defibrated material. The fiber processing method may further include, before performing the defibration processing, coarsely fragmenting the fabric to produce the coarse fragment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2025
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2026
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hideaki Mizuhashi, Hideki Kojima, Hideki Tanaka, Masahiko Nakazawa
  • Patent number: 12533679
    Abstract: There is provided a refining device in which a first rotor portion has a plurality of first blades radially installed around a rotation shaft, a second rotor portion has a plurality of second blades radially installed around the rotation shaft, in a state where a rotor is rotating, a raw material charged from a charging port is refined when sequentially passing between a liner and an end portion on an outer peripheral side of the first blade and between the liner and an end portion on an outer peripheral side of the second blade, and is discharged from the discharge port, and D1>D2, where a separation distance between the liner and the end portion on the outer peripheral side of the first blade is D1, and a separation distance between the liner and the end portion on the outer peripheral side of the second blade is D2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2026
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hideki Kojima, Sotaro Oana
  • Patent number: 12508601
    Abstract: There is provided a refining device including: a casing; a rotor having a rotation shaft, a first rotor portion positioned on a charging port side, a second rotor portion positioned on a discharge port side, and a partition wall, and disposed on an inside of the casing; and a liner disposed on an inner surface of the casing along an outer periphery of the rotor, in which the first rotor portion has a plurality of first blades radially installed around the rotation shaft through a gap portion which is open on the charging port side and blocked by the partition wall, the second rotor portion has a plurality of second blades radially installed around the rotation shaft, and in a state where the rotor is rotating, the raw material charged from the charging port is refined when sequentially passing between the gap portion and the adjacent first blades and when sequentially passing between the first blade and the liner and between the second blade and the liner, and is discharged from the discharge port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2025
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hideki Kojima, Sotaro Oana
  • Publication number: 20250270742
    Abstract: A fiber processing method includes performing defibration processing on a coarse fragment of a fabric containing a thread in which a plurality of fibers are twisted to produce a first defibrated material; and performing garnetting processing on the first defibrated material to produce a second defibrated material. The fiber processing method may further include, before performing the defibration processing, coarsely fragmenting the fabric to produce the coarse fragment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2025
    Publication date: August 28, 2025
    Inventors: Hideaki MIZUHASHI, Hideki KOJIMA, Hideki TANAKA, Masahiko NAKAZAWA
  • Publication number: 20240190037
    Abstract: A thermally fused board manufacturing apparatus includes: a fiberizing section that produces a fiber material by fiberizing a raw material containing fabric; a material supply pipe section that carries the fiber material; a humidifying section configured to humidify the fiber material; a carriage pipe section that adds a material different from the fiber material to the fiber material and carries the material and the fiber material; a mixing section that produces a deposition fiber material by mixing the material and the fiber material, at part of the carriage pipe section; a depositing section that forms a fiber aggregate by depositing the deposition fiber material; a thermal fusing section that forms a thermally fused board by applying heat and pressure to the fiber aggregate; and a controller that controls the humidifying section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2023
    Publication date: June 13, 2024
    Inventors: Toshiaki YAMAGAMI, Hideki KOJIMA, Akio ITO
  • Publication number: 20240024885
    Abstract: There is provided a refining device including: a casing; a rotor having a rotation shaft, a first rotor portion positioned on a charging port side, a second rotor portion positioned on a discharge port side, and a partition wall, and disposed on an inside of the casing; and a liner disposed on an inner surface of the casing along an outer periphery of the rotor, in which the first rotor portion has a plurality of first blades radially installed around the rotation shaft through a gap portion which is open on the charging port side and blocked by the partition wall, the second rotor portion has a plurality of second blades radially installed around the rotation shaft, and in a state where the rotor is rotating, the raw material charged from the charging port is refined when sequentially passing between the gap portion and the adjacent first blades and when sequentially passing between the first blade and the liner and between the second blade and the liner, and is discharged from the discharge port.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Inventors: Hideki KOJIMA, Sotaro OANA
  • Publication number: 20240024886
    Abstract: There is provided a refining device in which a first rotor portion has a plurality of first blades radially installed around a rotation shaft, a second rotor portion has a plurality of second blades radially installed around the rotation shaft, in a state where a rotor is rotating, a raw material charged from a charging port is refined when sequentially passing between a liner and an end portion on an outer peripheral side of the first blade and between the liner and an end portion on an outer peripheral side of the second blade, and is discharged from the discharge port, and D1>D2, where a separation distance between the liner and the end portion on the outer peripheral side of the first blade is D1, and a separation distance between the liner and the end portion on the outer peripheral side of the second blade is D2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Inventors: Hideki KOJIMA, Sotaro OANA
  • Patent number: 11865560
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: a nozzle including a nozzle opening through which a liquid is ejected; a liquid transfer tube through which the liquid is transferred to the nozzle; and a first tube with the nozzle and the liquid transfer tube being provided therein, having a first end and a second end, and having a first opening at the first end, in which the nozzle opening is positioned closer to a second end side than the first opening of the first tube, and when a position where the liquid ejected from the nozzle becomes a droplet is set as a droplet formation position, and a distance from the nozzle opening to the droplet formation position is set as a droplet formation distance, a distance between the nozzle opening and the first opening is equal to or greater than the droplet formation distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Inventors: Yuji Saito, Hirokazu Sekino, Takeshi Seto, Hideki Kojima, Takahiro Matsuzaki
  • Patent number: 11826767
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: a nozzle through which a liquid is ejected; a liquid transporting pipe coupling to the nozzle; a pulsation generator configured to change a volume of a liquid chamber coupling to the liquid transporting pipe; a pump configured to send a liquid to the liquid transporting pipe; and a control unit configured to control driving of the pulsation generator and the pump. The control unit drives the pulsation generator and the pump such that Vf/Q is 0.3 or more, in which V [mm3] is a volume change amount of the liquid chamber, Q [mL/min] is a flow rate of a liquid to the liquid transporting pipe by the pump, and f [kHz] is a frequency at which the pulsation generator applies a pulsation to a liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Seto, Hirokazu Sekino, Hideki Kojima
  • Patent number: 11780221
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: an ejecting unit configured to eject a liquid from a nozzle in a first direction; and a light source unit configured to emit light in a first optical path and a second optical path which are arranged such that the first optical path and the second optical path intersect on an extension line in the first direction from the nozzle. With the liquid ejection device having such a configuration, it becomes easy to eject the liquid at a position having a preferable interval with respect to an object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuji Saito, Yasuyoshi Hama, Hideki Kojima
  • Patent number: 11745211
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid ejection device that includes a nozzle that ejects a liquid, a liquid conveying tube that conveys the liquid to the nozzle, an outer tube that is internally provided with the nozzle and the liquid conveying tube, and a first vibration applying unit that applies vibration to the nozzle or the liquid conveying tube. The first vibration applying unit is provided between the nozzle and the outer pipe or between the liquid conveying tube and the outer pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Inventors: Takahiro Matsuzaki, Hirokazu Sekino, Hideki Kojima, Takeshi Seto, Yuji Saito
  • Patent number: 11701886
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: a nozzle through which a liquid is ejected; a liquid transfer tube through which the liquid is transferred to the nozzle; and a vibration generation unit configured to generate vibration, in which the vibration generation unit is in contact with one of the liquid, the nozzle, and the liquid transfer tube, and when the liquid ejected from the nozzle flies as a plurality of droplets in a state where the vibration generation unit does not generate vibration, and the number of the droplets passing through a predetermined position in a unit time is defined as a droplet frequency, a frequency of the vibration generated by the vibration generation unit is equal to or less than the droplet frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Inventors: Hirokazu Sekino, Takeshi Seto, Hideki Kojima, Takahiro Matsuzaki, Yuji Saito
  • Patent number: 11454756
    Abstract: A plastic optical fiber for a medical device lighting decreases the cost of a lens and simplify the design of a lighting apparatus, wherein the plastic optical fiber for a medical device includes a core composed of a (co)polymer containing methyl methacrylate as a main component and is characterized by including a cladding material composed of a copolymer having a fluorine weight composition ratio of 60 to 74%, and by having a theoretical numerical aperture, NA, of 0.48 to 0.65 and, thus, the plastic optical fiber has a high numerical aperture and also has excellent translucency and flexibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Hideki Kojima, Hironobu Maeda, Shinji Sato, Hidekazu Kunieda, Satoshi Matsuba
  • Publication number: 20220097375
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: a nozzle through which a liquid is ejected; a liquid transfer tube through which the liquid is transferred to the nozzle; and a vibration generation unit configured to generate vibration, in which the vibration generation unit is in contact with one of the liquid, the nozzle, and the liquid transfer tube, and when the liquid ejected from the nozzle flies as a plurality of droplets in a state where the vibration generation unit does not generate vibration, and the number of the droplets passing through a predetermined position in a unit time is defined as a droplet frequency, a frequency of the vibration generated by the vibration generation unit is equal to or less than the droplet frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2021
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Inventors: Hirokazu SEKINO, Takeshi Seto, Hideki Kojima, Takahiro Matsuzaki, Yuji Saito
  • Patent number: 11287566
    Abstract: A plastic optical fiber is excellent in translucency, heat resistance, resistance to environment and the like, and has highly excellent flexibility. The plastic optical fiber contains a core and at least one layer of cladding, wherein the bending elastic modulus of the innermost layer of the cladding is 20 to 70 MPa, the glass transition temperature of the innermost layer of the cladding is 10° C. or lower, and the storage elastic modulus of the innermost layer of the cladding at 30° C. is 1×106 Pa to 4×107 Pa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Toray Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Satoshi Matsuba, Masaaki Umehara, Shinji Sato, Hideki Kojima, Yasushi Sawamura
  • Patent number: 11235576
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: a nozzle through which a liquid is ejected; a liquid transfer tube through which the liquid is transferred to the nozzle; and a vibration generation unit configured to generate vibration, in which the vibration generation unit is in contact with one of the liquid, the nozzle, and the liquid transfer tube, and when the liquid ejected from the nozzle flies as a plurality of droplets in a state where the vibration generation unit does not generate vibration, and the number of the droplets passing through a predetermined position in a unit time is defined as a droplet frequency, a frequency of the vibration generated by the vibration generation unit is equal to or less than the droplet frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Inventors: Hirokazu Sekino, Takeshi Seto, Hideki Kojima, Takahiro Matsuzaki, Yuji Saito
  • Publication number: 20210283635
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: a nozzle through which a liquid is ejected; a liquid transporting pipe coupling to the nozzle; a pulsation generator configured to change a volume of a liquid chamber coupling to the liquid transporting pipe; a pump configured to send a liquid to the liquid transporting pipe; and a control unit configured to control driving of the pulsation generator and the pump. The control unit drives the pulsation generator and the pump such that Vf/Q is 0.3 or more, in which V [mm3] is a volume change amount of the liquid chamber, Q [mL/min] is a flow rate of a liquid to the liquid transporting pipe by the pump, and f [kHz] is a frequency at which the pulsation generator applies a pulsation to a liquid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Inventors: Takeshi SETO, Hirokazu SEKINO, Hideki KOJIMA
  • Publication number: 20210237430
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: an ejecting unit configured to eject a liquid from a nozzle in a first direction; and a light source unit configured to emit light in a first optical path and a second optical path which are arranged such that the first optical path and the second optical path intersect on an extension line in the first direction from the nozzle. With the liquid ejection device having such a configuration, it becomes easy to eject the liquid at a position having a preferable interval with respect to an object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Inventors: Yuji SAITO, Yasuyoshi HAMA, Hideki KOJIMA
  • Publication number: 20210031223
    Abstract: A liquid ejection device includes: a nozzle including a nozzle opening through which a liquid is ejected; a liquid transfer tube through which the liquid is transferred to the nozzle; and a first tube with the nozzle and the liquid transfer tube being provided therein, having a first end and a second end, and having a first opening at the first end, in which the nozzle opening is positioned closer to a second end side than the first opening of the first tube, and when a position where the liquid ejected from the nozzle becomes a droplet is set as a droplet formation position, and a distance from the nozzle opening to the droplet formation position is set as a droplet formation distance, a distance between the nozzle opening and the first opening is equal to or greater than the droplet formation distance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Yuji SAITO, Hirokazu SEKINO, Takeshi SETO, Hideki KOJIMA, Takahiro MATSUZAKI
  • Publication number: 20210031225
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid ejection device that includes a nozzle that ejects a liquid, a liquid conveying tube that conveys the liquid to the nozzle, an outer tube that is internally provided with the nozzle and the liquid conveying tube, and a first vibration applying unit that applies vibration to the nozzle or the liquid conveying tube. The first vibration applying unit is provided between the nozzle and the outer pipe or between the liquid conveying tube and the outer pipe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Publication date: February 4, 2021
    Inventors: Takahiro MATSUZAKI, Hirokazu SEKINO, Hideki KOJIMA, Takeshi SETO, Yuji SAITO