Patents by Inventor Katsuhide Sakai
Katsuhide Sakai 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).
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Patent number: 12291421Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a sheet feeding conveyor that feeds and conveys a recording medium to a conveyance path; an image former that performs image formation on the recording medium; a medium sensor that is disposed on an upstream side of the recording medium from the image former on the conveyance path and measures one or more sheet physical properties regarding the recording medium conveyed; a first hardware processor that determines a type of the recording medium on a basis of the sheet physical properties measured by the medium sensor; a second hardware processor that determines conveyance performance for the recording medium; and a third hardware processor that determines whether or not to perform the image formation on a basis of the conveyance performance in a case where the type of the recording medium determined by the first hardware processor is a type out of product specifications.Type: GrantFiled: June 24, 2022Date of Patent: May 6, 2025Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Yasuhiro Ishihara, Toshikazu Higashi, Masahiro Kamiya, Shigetaka Kato, Katsuhide Sakai
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Patent number: 12276931Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: an image former that forms an image on a recording medium delivered along a predetermined delivery path and outputs the recording medium; a first hardware processor that judges whether or not the recording medium is an envelope; a second hardware processor that acquires a basis weight of the recording medium; a third hardware processor that determines control for when an image is formed on the recording medium on the basis of a judgment result from the first hardware processor and a basis weight acquired by the second hardware processor; and a fourth hardware processor that controls operation of the image former on the basis of a determination result from the third hardware processor.Type: GrantFiled: May 16, 2023Date of Patent: April 15, 2025Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Masahiro Nonoyama, Masahiro Kamiya, Katsuhide Sakai, Junichi Masuda, Taku Kimura
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Publication number: 20250068111Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a detection element and a hardware processor. The detection element includes a receiving section that receives a specific signal and an output section that outputs a predetermined output value based on the specific signal received by the receiving section. The hardware processor determines in accordance with a status of an output from the output section, a state of deterioration that leads to a state in which the detection element needs to be replaced.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 29, 2024Publication date: February 27, 2025Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Katsuhide Sakai, Takeshi Nomura
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Patent number: 11880153Abstract: An image forming device includes: a sheet feeder that feeds a sheet; a controller that: discriminates a sheet type of the sheet, and receives a user input to specify a sheet type; and an image forming device that has two setting modes including an automatic discrimination mode in which an image is formed based on the discriminated sheet type and a user specified mode in which an image is formed based on the sheet type specified by the user input. The controller automatically switches one of the two setting modes to the other based on a defined condition.Type: GrantFiled: March 2, 2022Date of Patent: January 23, 2024Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Masahiro Kamiya, Toshikazu Higashi, Yasuhiro Ishihara, Shigetaka Kato, Katsuhide Sakai
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Publication number: 20230288856Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: an image former that forms an image on a recording medium delivered along a predetermined delivery path and outputs the recording medium; a first hardware processor that judges whether or not the recording medium is an envelope; a second hardware processor that acquires a basis weight of the recording medium; a third hardware processor that determines control for when an image is formed on the recording medium on the basis of a judgment result from the first hardware processor and a basis weight acquired by the second hardware processor; and a fourth hardware processor that controls operation of the image former on the basis of a determination result from the third hardware processor.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 16, 2023Publication date: September 14, 2023Inventors: MASAHIRO NONOYAMA, MASAHIRO KAMIYA, KATSUHIDE SAKAI, JUNICHI MASUDA, TAKU KIMURA
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Patent number: 11703789Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: an image former that forms an image on a recording medium delivered along a predetermined delivery path; a first hardware processor that judges whether or not the recording medium is an envelope; a second hardware processor that acquires a basis weight of the envelope; a third hardware processor that determines, in case the first hardware processor judges that the recording medium is the envelope, control for forming an image on the envelope by the image former on the basis of the basis weight of the envelope acquired by the second hardware processor.Type: GrantFiled: April 8, 2022Date of Patent: July 18, 2023Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Masahiro Nonoyama, Masahiro Kamiya, Katsuhide Sakai, Junichi Masuda, Taku Kimura
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Publication number: 20230009567Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a sheet feeding conveyor that feeds and conveys a recording medium to a conveyance path; an image former that performs image formation on the recording medium; a medium sensor that is disposed on an upstream side of the recording medium from the image former on the conveyance path and measures one or more sheet physical properties regarding the recording medium conveyed; a first hardware processor that determines a type of the recording medium on a basis of the sheet physical properties measured by the medium sensor; a second hardware processor that determines conveyance performance for the recording medium; and a third hardware processor that determines whether or not to perform the image formation on a basis of the conveyance performance in a case where the type of the recording medium determined by the first hardware processor is a type out of product specifications.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 24, 2022Publication date: January 12, 2023Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: YASUHIRO ISHIHARA, TOSHIKAZU HIGASHI, MASAHIRO KAMIYA, SHIGETAKA KATO, KATSUHIDE SAKAI
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Publication number: 20220283532Abstract: An image forming device includes: a sheet feeder that feeds a sheet; a controller that: discriminates a sheet type of the sheet, and receives a user input to specify a sheet type; and an image forming device that has two setting modes including an automatic discrimination mode in which an image is formed based on the discriminated sheet type and a user specified mode in which an image is formed based on the sheet type specified by the user input. The controller automatically switches one of the two setting modes to the other based on a defined condition.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2022Publication date: September 8, 2022Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Masahiro Kamiya, Toshikazu Higashi, Yasuhiro Ishihara, Shigetaka Kato, Katsuhide Sakai
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Patent number: 11402786Abstract: A recording medium conveyance device includes storage that stores a recording medium, a conveyer that takes out the recording medium stored in the storage and conveys the recording medium as a conveyed object, an ultrasonic sensor that outputs a value indicating an attenuation amount of an ultrasonic wave caused by the conveyed object and a hardware processor, wherein the hardware processor executes an overlay detection process of detecting whether the conveyed object is in an overlay state in which a gap is present based on a result of output by the ultrasonic sensor, and prevents execution of the overlay detection process with respect to a first conveyed object that is to be conveyed first by the conveyer.Type: GrantFiled: May 6, 2021Date of Patent: August 2, 2022Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Taku Kimura, Masahiro Nonoyama, Junichi Masuda, Masahiro Kamiya, Katsuhide Sakai
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Publication number: 20220229389Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: an image former that forms an image on a recording medium delivered along a predetermined delivery path and outputs the recording medium; a first hardware processor that judges whether or not the recording medium is an envelope; a second hardware processor that acquires a basis weight of the recording medium; a third hardware processor that determines control for when an image is formed on the recording medium on the basis of a judgment result from the first hardware processor and a basis weight acquired by the second hardware processor; and a fourth hardware processor that controls operation of the image former on the basis of a determination result from the third hardware processor.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 8, 2022Publication date: July 21, 2022Inventors: MASAHIRO NONOYAMA, MASAHIRO KAMIYA, KATSUHIDE SAKAI, JUNICHI MASUDA, TAKU KIMURA
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Patent number: 11334012Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: an image former that forms an image on a recording medium delivered along a predetermined delivery path and outputs the recording medium; a first hardware processor that judges whether or not the recording medium is an envelope; a second hardware processor that acquires a basis weight of the recording medium; a third hardware processor that determines control for when an image is formed on the recording medium on the basis of a judgment result from the first hardware processor and a basis weight acquired by the second hardware processor; and a fourth hardware processor that controls operation of the image former on the basis of a determination result from the third hardware processor.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 2021Date of Patent: May 17, 2022Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Masahiro Nonoyama, Masahiro Kamiya, Katsuhide Sakai, Junichi Masuda, Taku Kimura
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Publication number: 20210405565Abstract: An image formation apparatus includes: an image former that forms an image on a recording medium delivered along a predetermined delivery path and outputs the recording medium; a first hardware processor that judges whether or not the recording medium is an envelope; a second hardware processor that acquires a basis weight of the recording medium; a third hardware processor that determines control for when an image is formed on the recording medium on the basis of a judgment result from the first hardware processor and a basis weight acquired by the second hardware processor; and a fourth hardware processor that controls operation of the image former on the basis of a determination result from the third hardware processor.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 2, 2021Publication date: December 30, 2021Inventors: MASAHIRO NONOYAMA, MASAHIRO KAMIYA, KATSUHIDE SAKAI, JUNICHI MASUDA, TAKU KIMURA
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Patent number: 11186457Abstract: Provided is a sheet conveyance apparatus armored with a housing, the sheet conveyance apparatus includes: a sheet conveyor that feeds a sheet to a downstream side in a direction of conveyance; a conveyance guide that guides the sheet to be conveyed; an ultrasonic sensor that detects the sheet guided by the conveyance guide; and a shield member that is conductive, wherein the ultrasonic sensor includes: a transmitter that transmits an ultrasonic wave having a predetermined frequency; and a receiver that receives the ultrasonic wave, the transmitter and the receiver are arranged along the conveyance guide, and the shield member is disposed between the housing and the receiver in a sheet-face perpendicular direction at an ultrasonic-irradiation position of the sheet being conveyed, the shield member covering an entirety of the receiver in plan view in the sheet-face perpendicular direction.Type: GrantFiled: March 30, 2020Date of Patent: November 30, 2021Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA INC.Inventors: Masahiro Nonoyama, Masahiro Kamiya, Katsuhide Sakai, Junichi Masuda, Taku Kimura
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Publication number: 20210364973Abstract: A recording medium conveyance device includes storage that stores a recording medium, a conveyer that takes out the recording medium stored in the storage and conveys the recording medium as a conveyed object, an ultrasonic sensor that outputs a value indicating an attenuation amount of an ultrasonic wave caused by the conveyed object and a hardware processor, wherein the hardware processor executes an overlay detection process of detecting whether the conveyed object is in an overlay state in which a gap is present based on a result of output by the ultrasonic sensor, and prevents execution of the overlay detection process with respect to a first conveyed object that is to be conveyed first by the conveyer.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 6, 2021Publication date: November 25, 2021Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Taku KIMURA, Masahiro NONOYAMA, Junichi MASUDA, Masahiro KAMIYA, Katsuhide SAKAI
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Publication number: 20200307935Abstract: Provided is a sheet conveyance apparatus armored with a housing, the sheet conveyance apparatus includes: a sheet conveyor that feeds a sheet to a downstream side in a direction of conveyance; a conveyance guide that guides the sheet to be conveyed; an ultrasonic sensor that detects the sheet guided by the conveyance guide; and a shield member that is conductive, wherein the ultrasonic sensor includes: a transmitter that transmits an ultrasonic wave having a predetermined frequency; and a receiver that receives the ultrasonic wave, the transmitter and the receiver are arranged along the conveyance guide, and the shield member is disposed between the housing and the receiver in a sheet-face perpendicular direction at an ultrasonic-irradiation position of the sheet being conveyed, the shield member covering an entirety of the receiver in plan view in the sheet-face perpendicular direction.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 30, 2020Publication date: October 1, 2020Inventors: MASAHIRO NONOYAMA, MASAHIRO KAMIYA, KATSUHIDE SAKAI, JUNICHI MASUDA, TAKU KIMURA
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Patent number: 10768562Abstract: An image forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet, and includes: a rotator used to form the image; a motor that drives the rotator rotationally; a current measurer that measures motor current flowing through a current-carrying path including a winding of the motor, at measurement timing that is timing after the motor starts up; a torque acquirer that acquires a torque value of the motor based on a measured value of the motor current; and a corrector that performs correction for cancellation of an amount of error based on one or both of a variation in characteristic corresponding to motor speed of the motor and a variation in characteristic corresponding to the motor current at the measurement timing, at the acquisition of the torque value by the torque acquirer.Type: GrantFiled: August 7, 2019Date of Patent: September 8, 2020Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Katsuhide Sakai, Yasuhiro Koide, Toshiaki Tanaka, Akihiro Hayashi
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Publication number: 20200159150Abstract: An image forming apparatus has a pad type fixing device in which a lubricant is interposed between a fixing belt for heating a sheet and a pad for holding the fixing belt, and includes: a controller that controls a heater of the fixing belt to maintain a fixing temperature to be set in accordance with printing modes, at a set temperature; an acquisitor that acquires torque of a motor for rotating the fixing belt as acquired torque for each of the set temperatures; a transition predictor that predicts transition of the torque of the motor for each of the set temperatures based on the acquired torque; and a point predictor that predicts a point at which at least two transition curves based on the predicted transition intersect each other as a torque rise point at which the torque of the motor starts rising due to a decrease in the lubricant.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 20, 2019Publication date: May 21, 2020Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.Inventors: Katsuhide SAKAI, Yasuhiro KOIDE, Toshiaki TANAKA, Akihiro HAYASHI
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Patent number: 10642204Abstract: An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet includes: a rotating body that forms the image; a motor that rotationally drives the rotating body; a current measurer that measures a motor current flowing through a current supply path including a winding of the motor at a measurement timing that is a timing after the motor is started; a torque acquisitor that acquires a torque value of the motor, based on a measured value of the motor current; and a corrector that performs correction to cancel a current change amount based on a characteristic change depending on a temperature state of the motor at the measurement timing, in acquisition of the torque value by the torque acquisitor.Type: GrantFiled: January 28, 2019Date of Patent: May 5, 2020Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Katsuhide Sakai, Yasuhiro Ishihara, Satoshi Chikazawa
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Publication number: 20200073301Abstract: An image forming apparatus forms an image on a sheet, and includes: a rotator used to form the image; a motor that drives the rotator rotationally; a current measurer that measures motor current flowing through a current-carrying path including a winding of the motor, at measurement timing that is timing after the motor starts up; a torque acquirer that acquires a torque value of the motor based on a measured value of the motor current; and a corrector that performs correction for cancellation of an amount of error based on one or both of a variation in characteristic corresponding to motor speed of the motor and a variation in characteristic corresponding to the motor current at the measurement timing, at the acquisition of the torque value by the torque acquirer.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 7, 2019Publication date: March 5, 2020Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Katsuhide SAKAI, Yasuhiro KOIDE, Toshiaki TANAKA, Akihiro HAYASHI
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Publication number: 20190265624Abstract: An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet includes: a rotating body that forms the image; a motor that rotationally drives the rotating body; a current measurer that measures a motor current flowing through a current supply path including a winding of the motor at a measurement timing that is a timing after the motor is started; a torque acquisitor that acquires a torque value of the motor, based on a measured value of the motor current; and a corrector that performs correction to cancel a current change amount based on a characteristic change depending on a temperature state of the motor at the measurement timing, in acquisition of the torque value by the torque acquisitor.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 28, 2019Publication date: August 29, 2019Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Katsuhide SAKAI, Yasuhiro ISHIHARA, Satoshi CHIKAZAWA