Patents by Inventor Kenjiro Murakami

Kenjiro Murakami 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: 8931817
    Abstract: An aspect of the invention provides a robot hand that performs an action for gripping an object between plural finger sections provided to be capable of changing a distance between the finger sections. Between the plural finger sections, a palm section movable along a direction in which a base side of the plural finger sections and a distal end side of the plural finger sections are connected is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro Murakami, Kazuto Yoshimura
  • Patent number: 8899648
    Abstract: An aspect of the invention provides a robot hand that performs an action for gripping an object between plural finger sections provided to be capable of changing a distance between the finger sections. Between the plural finger sections, a palm section movable along a direction in which a base side of the plural finger sections and a distal end side of the plural finger sections are connected is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro Murakami, Kazuto Yoshimura
  • Patent number: 8897918
    Abstract: A robot hand has a plurality of fingers including a contact sensing finger that senses contact with an object. A base provided with the fingers detects a resultant reaction force that is the combination of reaction forces from the fingers. When no resultant reaction force is detected, the plurality of fingers are moved toward the object, and when the contact sensing finger comes into contact with the object, a force that drives the fingers is switched to a force corresponding to a grasp force. When the contact sensing finger has not come into contact with the object but a resultant reaction force is detected, the driving of the fingers is terminated and the position of the base is corrected by moving the base in a direction in which the resultant reaction force having acted thereon is not detected any more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshinobu Goto, Kenjiro Murakami, Kazuto Yoshimura
  • Publication number: 20140239655
    Abstract: A robot hand that changes a space between finger members provided apart from each other includes: moving members on which the finger members are vertically provided; a palm member including a moving mechanism for moving the moving members in a predetermined axial direction; and guide members that guide the movement of the moving members in the predetermined axial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2014
    Publication date: August 28, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Daisuke KIRIHARA
  • Patent number: 8794685
    Abstract: A robot hand includes a palm section provided between a plurality of finger sections. The palm section may be brought into contact with an object while the object is gripped by the finger sections. The robot hand also includes a contact member that is detachably mounted on the palm section. The contact member may be brought into contact with the object instead of the palm section. Accordingly, even if an object is too small to be contacted by the palm section, it is possible to stably grip the small object since the contact member can be brought into contact with the object gripped by the finger sections instead of the palm section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro Murakami, Kazuto Yoshimura, Yoshinobu Goto
  • Publication number: 20140175817
    Abstract: An aspect of the invention provides a robot hand that performs an action for gripping an object between plural finger sections provided to be capable of changing a distance between the finger sections. Between the plural finger sections, a palm section movable along a direction in which a base side of the plural finger sections and a distal end side of the plural finger sections are connected is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Publication date: June 26, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Kazuto YOSHIMURA
  • Patent number: 8752874
    Abstract: A robot hand that changes a space between finger members provided apart from each other includes: moving members on which the finger members are vertically provided; a palm member including a moving mechanism for moving the moving members in a predetermined axial direction; and guide members that guide the movement of the moving members in the predetermined axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro Murakami, Daisuke Kirihara
  • Publication number: 20140138970
    Abstract: Four fingers forming a first finger pair and a second finger pair are driven in such a way that the four fingers move closer to or away from an object simultaneously at the same speed to grip the object. This eliminates the need to drive the fingers independently, which makes it possible to simplify the structure and control of the robot hand. Moreover, one of the two fingers forming the second finger pair is a deformable finger. Therefore, even when the second finger pair grasps the object before the first finger pair grasps the object, the deformable finger is deformed, and eventually it is possible to grasp the object with the four fingers. This allows the robot hand to grip various objects even though the robot hand has a simple structure and is controlled with ease.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2014
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Kazuto YOSHIMURA, Yoshinobu GOTO
  • Patent number: 8408619
    Abstract: An aspect of the invention provides a robot hand that performs an action for gripping an object between plural finger sections provided to be capable of changing a distance between the finger sections. Between the plural finger sections, a palm section movable along a direction in which a base side of the plural finger sections and a distal end side of the plural finger sections are connected is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro Murakami, Kazuto Yoshimura
  • Publication number: 20120290133
    Abstract: A robot hand has a plurality of fingers including a contact sensing finger that senses contact with an object. A base provided with the fingers detects a resultant reaction force that is the combination of reaction forces from the fingers. When no resultant reaction force is detected, the plurality of fingers are moved toward the object, and when the contact sensing finger comes into contact with the object, a force that drives the fingers is switched to a force corresponding to a grasp force. When the contact sensing finger has not come into contact with the object but a resultant reaction force is detected, the driving of the fingers is terminated and the position of the base is corrected by moving the base in a direction in which the resultant reaction force having acted thereon is not detected any more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshinobu GOTO, Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Kazuto YOSHIMURA
  • Publication number: 20120286535
    Abstract: A robot hand includes a palm section provided between a plurality of finger sections. The palm section may be brought into contact with an object while the object is gripped by the finger sections. The robot hand also includes a contact member that is detachably mounted on the palm section. The contact member may be brought into contact with the object instead of the palm section. Accordingly, even if an object is too small to be contacted by the palm section, it is possible to stably grip the small object since the contact member can be brought into contact with the object gripped by the finger sections instead of the palm section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Kazuto YOSHIMURA, Yoshinobu GOTO
  • Publication number: 20120286536
    Abstract: Four fingers forming a first finger pair and a second finger pair are driven in such a way that the four fingers move closer to or away from an object simultaneously at the same speed to grip the object. This eliminates the need to drive the fingers independently, which makes it possible to simplify the structure and control of the robot hand. Moreover, one of the two fingers forming the second finger pair is a deformable finger. Therefore, even when the second finger pair grasps the object before the first finger pair grasps the object, the deformable finger is deformed, and eventually it is possible to grasp the object with the four fingers. This allows the robot hand to grip various objects even though the robot hand has a simple structure and is controlled with ease.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2012
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Kazuto YOSHIMURA, Yoshinobu GOTO
  • Publication number: 20120175903
    Abstract: A robot hand that changes a space between finger members provided apart from each other includes: moving members on which the finger members are vertically provided; a palm member including a moving mechanism for moving the moving members in a predetermined axial direction; and guide members that guide the movement of the moving members in the predetermined axial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Publication date: July 12, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Daisuke KIRIHARA
  • Publication number: 20120175904
    Abstract: An aspect of the invention provides a robot hand that performs an action for gripping an object between plural finger sections provided to be capable of changing a distance between the finger sections. Between the plural finger sections, a palm section movable along a direction in which a base side of the plural finger sections and a distal end side of the plural finger sections are connected is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2012
    Publication date: July 12, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenjiro MURAKAMI, Kazuto YOSHIMURA
  • Patent number: 6336758
    Abstract: A printer wherein a drive roller of a pair of sheet discharge rollers is made of rubber and a driven roller of the pair of sheet discharge rollers is made of synthetic resin; the leading end of a sheet is guided so as to be abutted against the drive roller earlier than the driven roller; the sheet that is in the course of being discharged is guided by a sheet discharge tray so as to come in slidable contact with an edge portion that is on a print head side of a sheet discharge opening. As a result, the printer can provide satisfactory printing conditions quickly with a simple structure and reduce noise leaking from the sheet discharge opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ishida, Shigeki Mizuno, Kenjiro Murakami, Toshikazu Kotaka, Tatsumi Tsuboki, Motoyuki Niimura, Norio Horaguchi, Yoshiaki Nakayama
  • Patent number: 6322191
    Abstract: A printing apparatus arranged to perform printing while a monochrome printing head and a color printing head are moved in a direction in which the two heads are moved, the printing apparatus being arranged to print a plurality of patterns in which the relative quantity of deviation of printing timings of the two heads is changed in a stepped manner to cause a user to select a pattern having the smallest quantity of deviation among the plural patterns. Then, the selected pattern is used as a central value when a plurality of patterns in which the relative quantity of deviation of the printing timings of the two heads is changed in a stepped manner are furthermore printed to cause the user to select a pattern having a smallest quantity of deviation from the plural patterns. The above-mentioned process is repeated as necessary. As a result, the operation which is performed by the user to adjust the printing position can simply and easily be performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2001
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tatsuya Seshimo, Hitoshi Igarashi, Yukihiro Uchiyama, Kenjiro Murakami
  • Patent number: 5913626
    Abstract: A printer wherein a drive roller of a pair of sheet discharge rollers is made of rubber and a driven roller of the pair of sheet discharge rollers is made of synthetic resin; the leading end of a sheet is guided so as to be abutted against the drive roller earlier than the driven roller; the sheet that is in the course of being discharged is guided by a sheet discharge tray so as to come in slidable contact with an edge portion that is on a print head side of a sheet discharge opening. As a result, the printer can provide satisfactory printing conditions quickly with a simple structure and reduce noise leaking from the sheet discharge opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 22, 1999
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ishida, Shigeki Mizuno, Kenjiro Murakami, Toshikazu Kotaka, Tatsumi Tsuboki, Motoyuki Niimura, Norio Horaguchi, Yoshiaki Nakayama
  • Patent number: 5874970
    Abstract: The present invention provides a serial printer and a printing method using the serial printer. In the serial printer, assuming that the number of driven nozzles arranged in a secondary scanning direction on a print head is n and a nozzle pitch is a k-dot pitch, k is set to an integer which is no greater than n and has no prime factors greater than one in common with n. Further, secondary scanning is performed at least once at each of the start of printing and the termination of printing using a paper feeding distance of an m-dot pitch. On the other hand, secondary scanning other than the at least once secondary scanning is performed using an interlaced printing paper feeding distance of an n-dot pitch. In this case, m is an integer which is less than n and has no prime factors greater than one in common with k. Preferably, m=k.+-.j, wherein j is an integer no less than 1 and less than n.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1999
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuo Saito, Kenjiro Murakami
  • Patent number: 5524994
    Abstract: A paper skew removal apparatus including a single paper feed roller for feeding a paper in a state that the paper feed roller is in contact with the central part of the paper as viewed in the paper width direction, and a paper feed roller and gate roller for contacting the leading edge of the paper, the portions of the rollers that contact the leading edge of the paper are disposed in a direction orthogonal to the advancing direction of the paper fed by the paper feed roller. A printer is also disclosed which incorporates the disclosed paper skew removal apparatus. The inventive and unique construction provides reduction of paper feed time and size reduction in the overall printer, as well as ensuring a reliable skew removal from the paper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 11, 1996
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Seiichi Hirano, Kenjiro Murakami, Hiroshi Ishida, Kenichi Miyazaki, Satoshi Fujioka
  • Patent number: 5494364
    Abstract: A printer which is compact, can accurately supply paper and has reduced noise characteristics. Additionally, the printer enables easy correction of paper jams and can be selectively operated in various modes according to the user's preference. The printer includes a paper feed roller which is pivotable between a paper feed position and a non-feeding position, a drive force transmitting mechanism for transmitting a drive force to the paper feed roller, a carriage reciprocatively movable along the width of the paper fed by the paper feed roller, and an intermediate transmission mechanism attached to the side of the carriage. Only when the carriage is in a stand-by position, the intermediate transmission mechanism couples with the drive force transmitting mechanism to transmit to the paper feed roller a paper-feed directional rotating force so as to rotate the paper feed roller to the paper feed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 27, 1996
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kenjiro Murakami, Toshikazu Kotaka, Hiroshi Ishida, Kiyoto Komura, Yoshiaki Nakayama, Nobuhito Takahashi, Satoshi Takehana