Patents by Inventor Hiroshi Mukai

Hiroshi Mukai 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: 9447296
    Abstract: An ink set includes a recording ink and a displacement ink. The recording ink contains a pigment, a resin, water, and a first surfactant and is substantially free of alkyl polyols with a normal boiling point of 280° C. or more. The displacement ink contains water, a second surfactant, an aprotic polar solvent, and an alkyl polyol with a normal boiling point of 280° C. or more. Each of the first surfactant and the second surfactant includes a silicone surfactant and/or a fluorosurfactant. The resin includes a water-soluble resin and/or a resin emulsion. The recording ink has a higher surface tension than that of the displacement ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mukai, Akira Mizutani, Toshihiro Shinbara, Hironori Sato
  • Publication number: 20160251528
    Abstract: An ink composition includes a color material, water, and polymer particles, in which the polymer particle has a core-shell structure having a core polymer and a shell polymer, a glass transition temperature of the core polymer is 30° C. or higher, a glass transition temperature of the shell polymer is 50° C. or higher, the glass transition temperature of the shell polymer is more than 10° C. higher than the glass transition temperature of the core polymer, and the core polymer includes an aromatic monomer as a constituent unit and does not substantially include an alkyl polyol having a standard boiling point of 280° C. or higher.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2015
    Publication date: September 1, 2016
    Inventors: Akira MIZUTANI, Takayoshi KAGATA, Masahiro YATAKE, Hiroshi MUKAI
  • Publication number: 20160244626
    Abstract: An ink composition includes a pigment; polymer particles; and a polar solvent with a boiling point of 150° C. or higher, in which the polymer particles include a core polymer and a shell polymer that covers at least a portion of the core polymer, a glass transition point of the polymer that configures the core polymer is more than 30° C. lower than the glass transition point of the polymer that configures the shell polymer, the polymer that configures the shell polymer includes a polymer having a (meth)acrylate monomer unit and a carboxylic acid monomer unit, the content (solid content conversion) of the polymer particles is 1.0 mass % to 10 mass % with respect to the total amount of the ink composition, and the content of the polar solvent is 10 mass % to 40 mass % of the total amount of the ink composition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Publication date: August 25, 2016
    Inventors: Takayoshi KAGATA, Masahiro YATAKE, Hiroshi MUKAI
  • Patent number: 9353276
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an ink composition, including: a color material; water; and a polymer particle, in which the polymer particle has a core-shell structure including a core polymer and a shell polymer, in which the polymer particle has an average particle diameter of 10 nm to 80 nm, in which the core polymer has a glass transition temperature of lower than 60° C. and the shell polymer has a glass transition temperature of higher than or equal to 60° C., and in which the core polymer includes an aromatic monomer having at least a vinyl group as a constitutional unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Yatake, Takayoshi Kagata, Hiroshi Mukai, Akira Mizutani
  • Patent number: 9309421
    Abstract: An inkjet recording method for printing by ejecting droplets of a water-based ink composition onto a recording medium having a recording surface which is a plastic film and by causing the droplets to adhere to the recording surface, including: using, as the water-based ink composition, a water-based ink composition including at least colorant, between 0.1 wt % and 1.5 wt % of a silicon-based surfactant, alkanediol, pyrrolidone derivative, thermoplastic resin, and water; and heating the water-based ink composition that has adhered to the recording surface to a temperature of 40° C. or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mukai, Katsuko Aoki
  • Patent number: 9309426
    Abstract: An ink composition contains a pigment, first wax particles, second wax particles, and a resin emulsion, in which the first wax particles have a melting point of 120° C. or higher and 170° C. or lower, the second wax particles have a melting point of 70° C. or higher and less than 120° C., the resin emulsion has a glass transition point of 50° C. or higher and 150° C. or lower, the first wax particles contain one or more kinds of wax particles selected from the group consisting of polyethylene wax particles or polypropylene wax particles, and the second wax particles contain one or more kinds of wax particles selected from the group consisting of polyethylene wax particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mukai, Toshihiro Shinbara
  • Patent number: 9254676
    Abstract: This invention provides a treatment liquid for an ink jet recording medium having a recording face of a plastic film, wherein the treatment liquid including at least a specific cyclic ester compound or a specific cyclic amide compound, a primer liquid for printing, and an ink composition. According to the present invention, a plastic recorded matter possessing excellent adhesion and waterfastness can be formed on a recording medium having a recording face of a plastic film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mukai, Kiyohiko Takemoto
  • Publication number: 20150354537
    Abstract: To provide a radial piston pump capable of displacement control without using an electronic control valve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2015
    Publication date: December 10, 2015
    Inventors: Hiroshi MUKAI, Norihito KOBATA
  • Publication number: 20150274998
    Abstract: An ink composition that performs recording by being attached on a heated non-absorbent recording medium or a heated low absorbency recording medium, the ink composition including a pigment; a core polymer and a shell polymer that covers at least a portion of the core polymer, and polymer particles in which the glass transition point of the polymer that configures the core polymer is more than 10° C. lower than the glass transition point of the polymer that configures the shell polymer, and in which the polymer that configures the shell polymer includes a polymer having a (meth)acrylate monomer unit and a carboxylic acid monomer unit, and the content of the polymer particles is 3.0 mass % or more with respect to the total amount of the ink composition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Inventors: Takayoshi KAGATA, Masahiro YATAKE, Hiroshi MUKAI
  • Publication number: 20150274999
    Abstract: There is provided an ink jet ink composition, which is used in a recording method including ejecting the ink jet ink composition from a recording head of head temperature C (unit: ° C.) onto a recording medium to adhere the ink jet ink composition thereonto and drying the recording medium, on which the ink jet ink composition is adhered, at drying temperature D (unit: ° C.), including water; and a polymer particle, in which the polymer particle has a core polymer containing a polymer of glass transition temperature A (unit: ° C.) and a shell polymer containing a polymer of glass transition temperature B (unit: ° C.) and formed on the surface of the core polymer, and in which the A, B, C, and D satisfy predetermined relations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2015
    Publication date: October 1, 2015
    Inventors: Kenji KITADA, Masahiro YATAKE, Hiroshi MUKAI, Takayoshi KAGATA
  • Publication number: 20150252200
    Abstract: An ink composition includes: a color material; water; and a polymer particle, in which the polymer particle has a core-shell structure including a core polymer and a shell polymer, in which the core polymer has a glass transition temperature of lower than 60° C., and the shell polymer has a glass transition temperature of higher than or equal to 60° C., in which the polymer particle has an acid value of greater than or equal to 50 mgKOH/g, and in which the shell polymer includes an aromatic monomer as a constitutional unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2015
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Inventors: Takayoshi KAGATA, Masahiro YATAKE, Hiroshi MUKAI, Masashi KAMIBAYASHI
  • Publication number: 20150247045
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an ink composition, including: a color material; water; and a polymer particle, in which the polymer particle has a core-shell structure including a core polymer and a shell polymer, in which the polymer particle has an average particle diameter of 10 nm to 80 nm, in which the core polymer has a glass transition temperature of lower than 60° C. and the shell polymer has a glass transition temperature of higher than or equal to 60° C., and in which the core polymer includes an aromatic monomer having at least a vinyl group as a constitutional unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2015
    Publication date: September 3, 2015
    Inventors: Masahiro YATAKE, Takayoshi KAGATA, Hiroshi MUKAI, Akira MIZUTANI
  • Patent number: 9120324
    Abstract: An ink jet recording method using ink selected from a group including (A) black ink containing black pigment, (B) mixed color black ink containing black and color pigments, and (C) color ink containing color pigment, in which an ink glossiness at 60° is increased in the order of black ink (A), mixed color black ink (B), and color ink (C), the target recording surface glossiness at 60° in a target recording medium is 40 or more, and at least one of the following is satisfied: (1) A black image is formed using at least a plurality of types of the color ink of (C) and a color image is formed using the color ink of (C), and (2) A black image is formed using the mixed color black ink of (B) and a color image is formed using the color ink of (C).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshiko Azami, Takashi Koase, Hiroshi Mukai
  • Patent number: 9079418
    Abstract: This invention provides a treatment liquid for an ink jet recording medium having a recording face of a plastic film, wherein the treatment liquid including at least a specific cyclic ester compound or a specific cyclic amide compound, a primer liquid for printing, and an ink composition. According to the present invention, a plastic recorded matter possessing excellent adhesion and waterfastness can be formed on a recording medium having a recording face of a plastic film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mukai, Kiyohiko Takemoto
  • Patent number: 9067415
    Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member and the nozzle surface relative to each other with a force of 50 to 500 gf. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member. The absorbing member contains an impregnation liquid during the cleaning operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masako Fukuda, Keiji Matsumoto, Masato Murayama, Hiroshi Mukai, Keiichiro Yoshino, Hiroki Nakane, Akira Shinoto, Toshihiko Wakabayashi, Shoki Kasahara
  • Patent number: 9018627
    Abstract: In semiconductor surface inspection apparatus, foreign matter that sticks to the wafer can reduce the quality of the wafer. The present invention is directed to improving the internal cleanliness of the apparatus. Specifically, during rotation of a semiconductor wafer, foreign matter suspended in an atmosphere surrounding the wafer is attracted to a central section of the wafer, and that while heading from the central section of the wafer, towards an outer edge thereof, the foreign matter is most likely to stick to the wafer. In conventional techniques, sufficient consideration is not given to such likelihood of foreign matter sticking. This invention supplies a medium from two directions to an inner circumferential section of a substrate. In accordance with the invention, foreign matter that sticks to a wafer can be reduced more significantly than in the conventional techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Kanda, Hiroshi Mukai, Masatoshi Watanabe, Kazuyuki Sugimura, Katsuyasu Inagaki, Yuichirou Iijima
  • Publication number: 20140240393
    Abstract: An ink set includes a recording ink and a displacement ink. The recording ink contains a pigment, a resin, water, and a first surfactant and is substantially free of alkyl polyols with a normal boiling point of 280° C. or more. The displacement ink contains water, a second surfactant, an aprotic polar solvent, and an alkyl polyol with a normal boiling point of 280° C. or more. Each of the first surfactant and the second surfactant includes a silicone surfactant and/or a fluorosurfactant. The resin includes a water-soluble resin and/or a resin emulsion. The recording ink has a higher surface tension than that of the displacement ink.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2014
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi MUKAI, Akira MIZUTANI, Toshihiro SHINBARA, Hironori SATO
  • Publication number: 20140232782
    Abstract: An ink composition contains a pigment, first wax particles, second wax particles, and a resin emulsion, in which the first wax particles have a melting point of 120° C. or higher and 170° C. or lower, the second wax particles have a melting point of 70° C. or higher and less than 120° C., the resin emulsion has a glass transition point of 50° C. or higher and 150° C. or lower, the first wax particles contain one or more kinds of wax particles selected from the group consisting of polyethylene wax particles or polypropylene wax particles, and the second wax particles contain one or more kinds of wax particles selected from the group consisting of polyethylene wax particles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2014
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroshi Mukai, Toshihiro Shinbara
  • Patent number: 8764146
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a head having a nozzle through which ink that contains thermoplastic resin particles and whose viscosity at 50° C. is equal to or greater than 2.1 mPa·s is discharged, a pressure chamber, and a driving element; an ink non-absorptive medium; a heating unit; and a control unit that applies driving signals to the driving element. In the printing apparatus, a discharge waveform generated by the driving signal includes a first expansion-element that expands the pressure chamber, a contraction-element that contracts the pressure chamber having been expanded by the first expansion-element, a second expansion-element that expands the pressure chamber having been contracted by the contraction-element, a third expansion-element that further expands the pressure chamber having been expanded by the second-expansion element, and a connection-element that connects an end terminal of the second expansion-element with a start terminal of the third expansion-element at the same potential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masako Fukuda, Tomohiro Sayama, Hironori Sato, Nagatoshi Kasahara, Hiroshi Mukai, Toshihiro Shinbara
  • Publication number: 20140152739
    Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member and the nozzle surface relative to each other with a force of 50 to 500 gf. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member. The absorbing member contains an impregnation liquid during the cleaning operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Publication date: June 5, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masako Fukuda, Keiji Matsumoto, Masato Murayama, Hiroshi Mukai, Keiichiro Yoshino, Hiroki Nakane, Akira Shinoto, Toshihiko Wakabayashi, Shoki Kasahara