Patents by Inventor Kenichi Hirota
Kenichi Hirota 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: 9551966Abstract: Temperature of a printing medium 110 is sufficiently decreased by stopping the printing medium 110 in a discharge path, conveying the printing medium at a low speed, switching a conveyance path, or the like. If the temperature of the printing medium 110 can be sufficiently decreased, the thermochromism phenomenon is suppressed. As a result, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of achieving highly accurate color matching and color stability.Type: GrantFiled: August 21, 2012Date of Patent: January 24, 2017Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kenichi Hirota, Taichi Takemura, Tomohisa Itagaki
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Patent number: 9213293Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form a measurement image on a sheet, a measurement unit configured to irradiate the measurement image with light and measure light reflected from the measurement image, a white reference plate arranged to be movable to a first position opposed to the measurement unit and a second position separated farther from the measurement unit than the first position, a shielding unit arranged to be movable to a third position that blocks the light with which the measurement unit irradiates the white reference plate and a fourth position that does not block the light, and a control unit configured to control positions of the reference plate and the shielding unit. When the measurement unit measures the white reference plate, the control unit moves the shielding unit to the fourth position and the white reference plate to the first position.Type: GrantFiled: December 26, 2013Date of Patent: December 15, 2015Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Hirotoshi Tajima, Kenichi Hirota
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Patent number: 9002216Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes an image forming unit configured to form a reference pattern and a test pattern on a sheet, a measurement unit configured to detect the reference pattern formed on the sheet and to measure the test pattern formed on the sheet, and a control unit configured to control a measurement timing of the test pattern by the measurement unit according to a detection interval between two reference patterns detected by the measurement unit.Type: GrantFiled: February 7, 2014Date of Patent: April 7, 2015Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: So Matsumoto, Kenji Suzuki, Kenichi Hirota
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Publication number: 20140233968Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes an image forming unit configured to form a reference pattern and a test pattern on a sheet, a measurement unit configured to detect the reference pattern formed on the sheet and to measure the test pattern formed on the sheet, and a control unit configured to control a measurement timing of the test pattern by the measurement unit according to a detection interval between two reference patterns detected by the measurement unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 7, 2014Publication date: August 21, 2014Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: So Matsumoto, Kenji Suzuki, Kenichi Hirota
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Publication number: 20140185047Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit configured to form a measurement image on a sheet, a measurement unit configured to irradiate the measurement image with light and measure light reflected from the measurement image, a white reference plate arranged to be movable to a first position opposed to the measurement unit and a second position separated farther from the measurement unit than the first position, a shielding unit arranged to be movable to a third position that blocks the light with which the measurement unit irradiates the white reference plate and a fourth position that does not block the light, and a control unit configured to control positions of the reference plate and the shielding unit. When the measurement unit measures the white reference plate, the control unit moves the shielding unit to the fourth position and the white reference plate to the first position.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 26, 2013Publication date: July 3, 2014Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hirotoshi Tajima, Kenichi Hirota
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Patent number: 8550456Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of high-precision sheet position correction includes a data storage portion that stores, at the time of moving a pair of registration rollers in the width direction, the deficiency quantity of a motion quantity in the width direction and an inclination quantity incurred in the pair of registration rollers with respect to the sheet conveying direction. At the time of correcting a skew feeding of a sheet by a pair of skew feeding correction rollers, a controller adjusts a skew feeding quantity detected by an activation sensor by the inclination quantity stored in the data storage portion, and at the time of moving the pair of registration rollers in the width direction, the controller adjusts the motion quantity by the deficiency quantity of the motion quantity stored in the data storage portion.Type: GrantFiled: July 10, 2012Date of Patent: October 8, 2013Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenichi Hirota, Hiroshige Inoue
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Publication number: 20130243451Abstract: Temperature of a printing medium 110 is sufficiently decreased by stopping the printing medium 110 in a discharge path, conveying the printing medium at a low speed, switching a conveyance path, or the like. If the temperature of the printing medium 110 can be sufficiently decreased, the thermochromism phenomenon is suppressed. As a result, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of achieving highly accurate color matching and color stability.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 21, 2012Publication date: September 19, 2013Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kenichi Hirota, Taichi Takemura, Tomohisa Itagaki
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Patent number: 8400485Abstract: A thermal transfer printer includes a printing unit for thermal transfer printing with a print head via a ribbon having a dye layer; a first bending member having at least one curved surface that is aligned perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward a surface of the ribbon for bending the ribbon after thermal transfer, a second bending member disposed at a distance from the first bending member having at least one acute apex that is aligned perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward the surface of the ribbon, the apex causing a bend line to be formed in the used ribbon conveyed from the first bending member; a folder for folding the ribbon conveyed from the second bending member along the bend line; and a heater for fusing opposing dye layers of the folded ribbon together.Type: GrantFiled: September 23, 2011Date of Patent: March 19, 2013Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.Inventor: Kenichi Hirota
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Publication number: 20130026706Abstract: A sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of high-precision sheet position correction is provided. At the time of moving a pair of registration rollers in the width direction, a data storage portion stores the deficiency quantity of a motion quantity in the width direction and an inclination quantity incurred in the pair of registration rollers with respect to the sheet conveying direction. At the time of correcting a skew feeding of a sheet by a pair of skew feeding correction rollers, a controller adjusts a skew feeding quantity detected by an activation sensor by the inclination quantity stored in the data storage portion, and at the time of moving the pair of registration rollers in the width direction, the controller adjusts the motion quantity by the deficiency quantity of the motion quantity stored in the data storage portion.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 10, 2012Publication date: January 31, 2013Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kenichi Hirota, Hiroshige Inoue
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Publication number: 20120321362Abstract: A heating apparatus includes a film; a film conveying device; a heating device, contactable to a film surface opposite from another film surface where the film is contactable to the recording material, for selectively heating the recording material via the film in a heating region with respect to a direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the recording material; a recording material conveying device for conveying the recording material toward a film contact portion; and a control device for controlling, when a plurality of recording materials are heated by the heating device, the recording material conveying device to convey the recording materials toward the film contact portion so that a heating region of the recording material is contacted to the film and so that at least a part of a region of the recording material other than the heating region overlaps another recording material.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 15, 2012Publication date: December 20, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Kenichi Hirota
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Patent number: 8308158Abstract: A registration portion which conveys a sheet toward an image forming portion forming an image on the sheet includes a controlling portion which regulates a sheet skew feeding correction amount by the skew feeding correcting portion based on the sheet right angle degree detected by the end detection sensor. The controlling portion automatically calculates, from the sheet right angle degree detected by the end detection sensor, a skew feeding regulation amount used for making any one of the two sides, forming the corner of the sheet, parallel to the image and corrects the skew feeding of the sheet by the skew feeding correcting portion with the use of the skew feeding regulation amount so that any one of the two sides forming the corner of the sheet is parallel to the image.Type: GrantFiled: November 1, 2011Date of Patent: November 13, 2012Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Kenichi Hirota
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Publication number: 20120112405Abstract: A registration portion which conveys a sheet toward an image forming portion forming an image on the sheet includes a controlling portion which regulates a sheet skew feeding correction amount by the skew feeding correcting portion based on the sheet right angle degree detected by the end detection sensor. The controlling portion automatically calculates, from the sheet right angle degree detected by the end detection sensor, a skew feeding regulation amount used for making any one of the two sides, forming the corner of the sheet, parallel to the image and corrects the skew feeding of the sheet by the skew feeding correcting portion with the use of the skew feeding regulation amount so that any one of the two sides forming the corner of the sheet is parallel to the image.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 1, 2011Publication date: May 10, 2012Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Kenichi Hirota
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Publication number: 20120105565Abstract: A thermal transfer printer includes a printing unit for thermal transfer printing with a print head via a ribbon having a dye layer; a first bending member having at least one curved surface that is aligned perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward a surface of the ribbon for bending the ribbon after thermal transfer, a second bending member disposed at a distance from the first bending member having at least one acute apex that is aligned perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward the surface of the ribbon, the apex causing a bend line to be formed in the used ribbon conveyed from the first bending member; a folder for folding the ribbon conveyed from the second bending member along the bend line; and a heater for fusing opposing dye layers of the folded ribbon together.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 23, 2011Publication date: May 3, 2012Applicant: DAI NIPPON PRINTING CO., LTD.Inventor: Kenichi HIROTA
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Patent number: 8081201Abstract: A thermal transfer printer according to the invention includes at least one printing unit for thermal transfer printing with a print head via a ribbon having a dye layer; a first bending member for bending the ribbon after thermal transfer, the first bending member having at least one curved surface that is aligned perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward one or the other surface of the ribbon; a second bending member disposed at a distance from the first bending member, the second bending member having at least one acute apex that is aligned perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward the one or the other surface of the ribbon, the apex causing a bend line to be formed in the used ribbon conveyed from the first bending member; a folder for folding the ribbon conveyed from the second bending member along the bend line; and a heater for fusing opposing dye layers of the folded ribbon together.Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2007Date of Patent: December 20, 2011Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.Inventor: Kenichi Hirota
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Patent number: 7973233Abstract: A musical tone control system for a grand-type piano, which not only enables a shutter to be mounted on a hammer without any inconvenience even when a space above the hammer is small, but also is capable of properly controlling musical tones to be sounded. In this system, first to third optical sensors are disposed along the length of a hammer shank. Depression or non-depress of a key and a pivoting direction of an associated hammer are determined based on signals from the first and second optical sensors, respectively. Further, the pivoting speed of the hammer is calculated based on a signal from the third optical sensor. A musical tone to be sounded is controlled based on the determined depression or non-depression of the key and pivoting direction and the calculated speed of the hammer.Type: GrantFiled: February 5, 2010Date of Patent: July 5, 2011Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki SeisakushoInventors: Hisamitsu Honda, Kenichi Hirota, Tetsuya Hirano
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Publication number: 20100236387Abstract: A musical tone control system for a grand-type piano, which not only enables a shutter to be mounted on a hammer without any inconvenience even when a space above the hammer is small, but also is capable of properly controlling musical tones to be sounded. In this system, first to third optical sensors are disposed along the length of a hammer shank. Depression or non-depress of a key and a pivoting direction of an associated hammer are determined based on signals from the first and second optical sensors, respectively. Further, the pivoting speed of the hammer is calculated based on a signal from the third optical sensor. A musical tone to be sounded is controlled based on the determined depression or non-depression of the key and pivoting direction and the calculated speed of the hammer.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 5, 2010Publication date: September 23, 2010Inventors: Hisamitsu Honda, Kenichi Hirota, Tetsuya Hirano
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Publication number: 20100229738Abstract: An emboss device including an emboss roller having a surface on which convexoconcave are formed; and an opposed roller arranged oppositely to the emboss roller. The emboss roller and the opposed roller sandwich a sheet-like print object, thereby to impart convexoconcave to the print object. The spacing d between the protruded part of the surface of the emboss roller and the surface of the opposed roller is set to 50 ?m to 200 ?m.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 16, 2007Publication date: September 16, 2010Applicant: DAI NIPPON PRINTING CO., LTD.Inventors: Kenichi Hirota, Masayuki Nagashima, Mineaki Etou, Tomohiko Anazawa, Satoshi Ueda
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Publication number: 20100147166Abstract: An emboss device (1) includes an emboss roller (21) having a surface on which protrusions and recesses are formed, and a press roller (20) arranged oppositely to the emboss roller (21), wherein a print object (100) is held between these rollers and imparted with protrusions and recesses. Surface of the emboss roller (21) has an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of 4.50-18.55 ?m and kurtosis Rku of 2.12-3.88. Uneven surface of the print object (100) has an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of 0.55 ?m or above and skewness Rsk of ?2.73 to ?0.65.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 28, 2006Publication date: June 17, 2010Inventors: Kenichi Hirota, Masayuki Nagashima, Mineaki Etou, Tomohiko Anazawa, Satoshi Ueda, Daisuke Fukui
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Publication number: 20100003429Abstract: Disclosed is a thermal transfer sheet that can meet demands for increased printing speed in thermal transfer, higher density of thermally transferred images, and higher quality. The thermal transfer sheet comprises a substrate and an adhesive layer and a dye layer provided in that order on one side of the substrate, wherein the adhesive layer comprises a polyvinylpyrrolidone resin and a composition for suppressing hygroscopic properties of the polyvinylpyrrolidone resin.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 10, 2009Publication date: January 7, 2010Applicant: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.Inventors: Tsuaki Odaka, Munenori Ieshige, Mitsuru Maeda, Kenichi Hirota, Masahiro Yuki
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Patent number: 7642219Abstract: Disclosed is a thermal transfer sheet that can meet demands for increased printing speed in thermal transfer, higher density of thermally transferred images, and higher quality. The thermal transfer sheet comprises a substrate and an adhesive layer and a dye layer provided in that order on one side of the substrate, wherein the adhesive layer comprises a polyvinylpyrrolidone resin and a composition for suppressing hygroscopic properties of the polyvinylpyrrolidone resin.Type: GrantFiled: January 20, 2005Date of Patent: January 5, 2010Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.Inventors: Tsuaki Odaka, Munenori Ieshige, Mitsuru Maeda, Kenichi Hirota, Masahiro Yuki