Patents by Inventor Katsuo Mikashima

Katsuo Mikashima 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: 11724489
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, an endless conveying belt conveying a recording medium and having a plurality of openings through which ink is passed when the recording head performs flushing, a reading sensor for reading, in a first reading mode, information on openings in the conveying belt and, in a second reading mode, information on the recording medium on the conveying belt, an ejection control portion for controlling ejection of the ink from the recording head based on at least one of the information on the openings and the information on the recording medium, and a reading mode switching control portion for switching the reading mode of the reading sensor between the first and second reading modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Katsuo Mikashima, Yuichiro Kurokawa
  • Patent number: 11718091
    Abstract: An ink ejection timing adjustment method on an inkjet recording apparatus includes an information acquiring step of acquiring at least recording medium information with a reading sensor, a printing step of printing a test pattern on a recording medium on a conveying belt, a calculating step of calculating a delay time by adding to a default set time a correction time corresponding to a correction value for ink ejection timing entered based on the printed position of the test pattern, and a setting step of setting the delay time as a predetermined time at the lapse of which after, as a result of the conveying belt turning, an opening passes a reading position a recording head starts to eject ink to the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Katsuo Mikashima, Yuichiro Kurokawa
  • Patent number: 11660884
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a transportation belt, a print engine, and an ejection timing control unit. The transportation belt transports a print sheet. The print engine ejects ink onto the print sheet. The ejection timing control unit adjusts an ink ejection timing of the print engine. The transportation belt includes a flushing opening part. The print engine repeatedly performs ink flushing to the flushing opening part at predetermined timings. Further the ejection timing control unit derives an adjustment amount for the ink ejection timing of the print engine on the basis of: a number of the ink ejection timings in a period from a previous flushing time to a current flushing time, a distance from the flushing opening part for the flushing at the previous flushing time to the flushing opening part for the flushing at the current flushing time, and a print resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Publication number: 20230055061
    Abstract: A print engine physically prints an image to be printed on a print sheet in an inkjet manner. A correction processing unit performs a correction process for a specific image column range corresponding to a configuration or a status of the print engine. Further, when performing duplex printing on first and second surfaces of the print sheet, the correction processing unit performs an image shrinking process for an image to be printed on the second surface in accordance with shrinking the print sheet due to ink ejection to the first surface, and Furthermore, the correction processing unit selects an image column range other than the specific image column range in the image to be printed on the second surface as a target image column range for which the image shrinking process should be performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2022
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Publication number: 20220227144
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a transportation belt, a print engine, and an ejection timing control unit. The transportation belt transports a print sheet. The print engine ejects ink onto the print sheet. The ejection timing control unit adjusts an ink ejection timing of the print engine. The transportation belt includes a flushing opening part. The print engine repeatedly performs ink flushing to the flushing opening part at predetermined timings. Further the ejection timing control unit derives an adjustment amount for the ink ejection timing of the print engine on the basis of: a number of the ink ejection timings in a period from a previous flushing time to a current flushing time, a distance from the flushing opening part for the flushing at the previous flushing time to the flushing opening part for the flushing at the current flushing time, and a print resolution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2022
    Publication date: July 21, 2022
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Patent number: 11265436
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a display panel, a sheet conveying passage, a reading unit, a light source, a chassis, and a controller. The reading unit includes a light transmitting plate and a conveying image sensor. The conveying image sensor reads a conveyed sheet, which is a sheet to print on. The chassis has a cleaning hole in which to insert a cleaning rod for rubbing the light-transmitting plate. In a maintenance mode, the controller turns on the light source, and makes the display panel display a graph showing the pixel values of the pixels included in conveyed-and-read image data acquired by reading with the conveying image sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Publication number: 20220009226
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, an endless conveying belt conveying a recording medium and having a plurality of openings through which ink is passed when the recording head performs flushing, a reading sensor for reading, in a first reading mode, information on openings in the conveying belt and, in a second reading mode, information on the recording medium on the conveying belt, an ejection control portion for controlling ejection of the ink from the recording head based on at least one of the information on the openings and the information on the recording medium, and a reading mode switching control portion for switching the reading mode of the reading sensor between the first and second reading modes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Katsuo MIKASHIMA, Yuichiro KUROKAWA
  • Publication number: 20220009228
    Abstract: An ink ejection timing adjustment method on an inkjet recording apparatus includes an information acquiring step of acquiring at least recording medium information with a reading sensor, a printing step of printing a test pattern on a recording medium on a conveying belt, a calculating step of calculating a delay time by adding to a default set time a correction time corresponding to a correction value for ink ejection timing entered based on the printed position of the test pattern, and a setting step of setting the delay time as a predetermined time at the lapse of which after, as a result of the conveying belt turning, an opening passes a reading position a recording head starts to eject ink to the opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Katsuo MIKASHIMA, Yuichiro KUROKAWA
  • Patent number: 11141971
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance part, an image forming part, a sheet detection sensor, a sensor unit, and a controller. The sheet detection sensor, in which a plurality of sensor blocks each with a plurality of sensor elements mounted thereon at specified intervals are arrayed in a sheet width direction, detects an edge position in the sheet width direction on a basis of scanning image data formed by reading of the sheet. The controller is enabled to execute a calibration of inserting, into the scanning image data, interpolation pixels for compensating an error between an edge position detected by the scanning image data and an actual edge position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Publication number: 20210258441
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a display panel, a sheet conveying passage, a reading unit, a light source, a chassis, and a controller. The reading unit includes a light transmitting plate and a conveying image sensor. The conveying image sensor reads a conveyed sheet, which is a sheet to print on. The chassis has a cleaning hole in which to insert a cleaning rod for rubbing the light-transmitting plate. In a maintenance mode, the controller turns on the light source, and makes the display panel display a graph showing the pixel values of the pixels included in conveyed-and-read image data acquired by reading with the conveying image sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Applicant: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo MIKASHIMA
  • Patent number: 10800164
    Abstract: A first storage portion stores, in advance, first reference voltage values respectively for ink ejection portions, the first reference voltage values corresponding to a predetermined first image density value. A second storage portion stores, in advance, voltage values that are different from each other, and measurement values that indicate image densities respectively corresponding to the voltage values. A voltage value calculating portion, at a predetermined change timing for changing image density, calculates second reference voltage values respectively for the ink ejection portions based on the voltage values and the measurement values, the second reference voltage values corresponding to a second image density value that is different from the first image density value. A voltage switching portion switches driving voltages that are applied to the ink ejection portions, from driving voltages having the first reference voltage values to driving voltages having the second reference voltage values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Katsuo Mikashima, Kenichi Satake
  • Patent number: 10747138
    Abstract: A data acquiring portion acquires a plurality of pieces of second data having different levels depending on amounts of light incident on the light reception portions upon reception of a specific linear light having a specific amount of light. A level acquiring portion acquires a maximum level and a minimum level from among the levels of the plurality of pieces of second data. A characteristic data storage portion preliminarily stores characteristic data that indicates levels of the plurality of pieces of second data. A light amount deriving portion executes a light amount deriving process to derive a set light amount of the linear light based on a threshold, the maximum level, the minimum level, and the characteristic data. A second light emission control portion causes the light emission portion to emit linear light having the set light amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Publication number: 20200247114
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance part, an image forming part, a sheet detection sensor, a sensor unit, and a controller. The sheet detection sensor, in which a plurality of sensor blocks each with a plurality of sensor elements mounted thereon at specified intervals are arrayed in a sheet width direction, detects an edge position in the sheet width direction on a basis of scanning image data formed by reading of the sheet. The controller is enabled to execute a calibration of inserting, into the scanning image data, interpolation pixels for compensating an error between an edge position detected by the scanning image data and an actual edge position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2020
    Publication date: August 6, 2020
    Applicant: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo MIKASHIMA
  • Publication number: 20190317423
    Abstract: A data acquiring portion acquires a plurality of pieces of second data having different levels depending on amounts of light incident on the light reception portions upon reception of a specific linear light having a specific amount of light. A level acquiring portion acquires a maximum level and a minimum level from among the levels of the plurality of pieces of second data. A characteristic data storage portion preliminarily stores characteristic data that indicates levels of the plurality of pieces of second data. A light amount deriving portion executes a light amount deriving process to derive a set light amount of the linear light based on a threshold, the maximum level, the minimum level, and the characteristic data. A second light emission control portion causes the light emission portion to emit linear light having the set light amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Publication number: 20190308410
    Abstract: A first storage portion stores, in advance, first reference voltage values respectively for ink ejection portions, the first reference voltage values corresponding to a predetermined first image density value. A second storage portion stores, in advance, voltage values that are different from each other, and measurement values that indicate image densities respectively corresponding to the voltage values. A voltage value calculating portion, at a predetermined change timing for changing image density, calculates second reference voltage values respectively for the ink ejection portions based on the voltage values and the measurement values, the second reference voltage values corresponding to a second image density value that is different from the first image density value. A voltage switching portion switches driving voltages that are applied to the ink ejection portions, from driving voltages having the first reference voltage values to driving voltages having the second reference voltage values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 3, 2019
    Publication date: October 10, 2019
    Inventors: Katsuo Mikashima, Kenichi Satake
  • Patent number: 10343435
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes a plurality of nozzles, storage, a first reading section, a first computing section, a selection section, and a controller. The storage stores first information and first pattern image data representing a first pattern image. The first reading section scans a sheet to generate sheet data. The first computing section computes positions of both edge portions of the sheet in a main scanning direction based on the sheet data. The selection section selects a plurality of used nozzles. The controller directs the used nozzles to form a second pattern image on the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Patent number: 10262248
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a storage unit, a connector including a power supply terminal, a power supply unit for generating an operating voltage, a switch for turning on and off application of the operating voltage to the power supply terminal, a capacitor connected between the power supply terminal and the switch, and a control circuit configured to start up when a reset signal is changed. When the main power supply is turned on, the switch is temporarily turned on, and the reset signal is changed after the switch is turned off. After a start-up process is started, the control circuit interrupts the start-up process when recognizing that there is a connected device based on a result of comparison between a capacitor voltage and a threshold voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima
  • Publication number: 20180370264
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes a plurality of nozzles, storage, a first reading section, a first computing section, a selection section, and a controller. The storage stores first information and first pattern image data representing a first pattern image. The first reading section scans a sheet to generate sheet data. The first computing section computes positions of both edge portions of the sheet in a main scanning direction based on the sheet data. The selection section selects a plurality of used nozzles. The controller directs the used nozzles to form a second pattern image on the sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2018
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Applicant: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo MIKASHIMA
  • Publication number: 20180082161
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a storage unit, a connector including a power supply terminal, a power supply unit for generating an operating voltage, a switch for turning on and off application of the operating voltage to the power supply terminal, a capacitor connected between the power supply terminal and the switch, and a control circuit configured to start up when a reset signal is changed. When the main power supply is turned on, the switch is temporarily turned on, and the reset signal is changed after the switch is turned off. After a start-up process is started, the control circuit interrupts the start-up process when recognizing that there is a connected device based on a result of comparison between a capacitor voltage and a threshold voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2017
    Publication date: March 22, 2018
    Applicant: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo MIKASHIMA.
  • Patent number: 9693182
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a near field communication portion including a nonvolatile memory and a processing portion, the nonvolatile memory stores information indicating whether or not the output of log information is allowed and when the output of the log information is allowed, the processing portion performs start-up processing while outputting the log information whereas when the output of the log information is not allowed, the processing portion performs the start-up processing without outputting the log information, and a near field communication portion stores the log information output from the processing portion in the nonvolatile memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuo Mikashima