Patents by Inventor Kenta Horade

Kenta Horade 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: 12330423
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes a tank, a recording head, a cover, a monitor, a cover sensor, an operation panel, and a controller. The cover is movable to cover a plurality of injection inlets associated with a plurality of ink chambers and to expose the plurality of injection inlets. The cover sensor outputs signal depending on position of the cover. The controller controls the monitor to display one of inquiry information and notification on the monitor depending on receipt of the signal from the cover sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2024
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2025
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenta Horade, Mana Honoki
  • Patent number: 12330427
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a first container with a first compartment, a second container with a second compartment, a recorder, a display, and a controller, is provided. The controller controls the display to display a first screen and a second screen. The first screen contains a first object having a form that reflects an amount of a colorant in the first compartment and a second object having a form that reflects an amount of the colorant in the second compartment. The second screen contains a third object having a form that reflects one of the amount of the colorant in the first compartment, the amount of the colorant in the second compartment, and a total amount of the colorant in the first compartment and the second compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2025
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shunsuke Minamikawa, Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 12257849
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a cartridge detachably attached to the image forming apparatus and including a first compartment configured to store a colorant, a container configured to be connected with the cartridge and including a second compartment configured to store the colorant flowing from the cartridge, and a display configured to display a first object indicating a first remainder amount and a second object indicating a second remainder amount in a single screen, is provided. The first remainder amount is a remainder amount of the colorant stored in the first compartment, and the second remainder amount is a remainder amount of the colorant stored in the second compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shunsuke Minamikawa, Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 12240256
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes an ink tank, a recording head, a monitor, an operation panel, and a controller. The ink tank forms an ink chamber and including an injection inlet. The recording head ejects ink from the ink chamber to record an image on a sheet. The operation panel receives user input. The controller controls operation of the recording head, the monitor, and the operation panel. The controller performs receiving a completion signal indicating completion of ink injection, decision processing deciding whether an initial processing has been completed, and inquiry processing based on receipt of the completion signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mana Honoki, Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 12166944
    Abstract: An image recording device comprises a conveyance mechanism configured to convey a recording medium in a conveyance direction, a head configured to record an image, a moving mechanism configured to move the head with respect to the conveyance mechanism in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, a sensor configured to detect a position of an orthogonal edge that is an edge of the recording medium in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and a controller. The controller is configured to perform deriving a correction amount for a recording position of the head in the orthogonal direction based on the edge position detected by the sensor, correcting the recording position of the head by driving the moving mechanism to move the head based on the correction amount, and causing the head to record an image based on image data at the corrected recording position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 12138930
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid discharge apparatus including: a liquid discharge head, a carriage, a carriage moving mechanism, a carriage motor, an output unit outputting a discharge determination signal, and a controller configured to carry out a determination of whether or not a liquid is discharged normally from the nozzle, based on the discharge determination signal outputted from the output unit when the liquid discharge head carries out an inspection driving. If a first condition is satisfied, then after a carriage drive in order to move the carriage to a predetermined position, the inspection driving is performed. If a second condition other than the first condition is satisfied, then the inspection driving is performed without performing the carriage drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Zenichiro Sasaki, Kenta Horade, Nobumasa Tanaka, Ryuji Horata, Takafumi Nakase, Masahiro Hayashi
  • Patent number: 12115792
    Abstract: When inspection driving is performed by a liquid ejection head, a signal output circuit outputs a determination signal indicating whether a nozzle is an abnormal nozzle. The inspection driving is driving the liquid ejection head to eject liquid from the nozzle for checking whether the nozzle is the abnormal nozzle. A recovery device performs a recovery operation of discharging liquid from the nozzle. A controller is configured to: in response to receiving a first signal, perform the inspection driving and, in response to determining that the determination signal transmitted from the signal output circuit indicates that the abnormal nozzle exists, store flag information in a memory, the flag information indicating that the recovery operation needs to be performed; and in response to receiving a second signal different from the first signal and determining that the memory stores the flag information, control the recovery device to perform the recovery operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Zenichiro Sasaki, Kenta Horade, Hironori Takasaki, Toshiro Ueda, Tatsuya Shindo, Ryuji Horata
  • Patent number: 12115784
    Abstract: A liquid ejection apparatus includes a first circuit to output a determination signal indicating that ejecting ink is in failure, a second circuit to output a temperature signal indicating a temperature, a recovery device to perform a recovery operation, and a controller. The controller causes a recovery device to perform a first recovery operation based on a first failure-nozzle data in response to determining that a first temperature and a second temperature satisfy a predetermined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toshiro Ueda, Tatsuya Shindo, Ryuji Horata, Zenichiro Sasaki, Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 12076995
    Abstract: When inspection driving is performed by a liquid ejection head, a signal output circuit outputs a determination signal indicating whether a nozzle is an abnormal nozzle. The inspection driving is driving the liquid ejection head to eject liquid from the nozzle for checking whether the nozzle is the abnormal nozzle. A recovery device performs a recovery operation of discharging liquid from the nozzle. A controller is configured to: in response to receiving a first signal, perform the inspection driving and, in response to determining that the determination signal transmitted from the signal output circuit indicates that the abnormal nozzle exists, store flag information in a memory, the flag information indicating that the recovery operation needs to be performed; and in response to receiving a second signal different from the first signal and determining that the memory stores the flag information, control the recovery device to perform the recovery operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Zenichiro Sasaki, Kenta Horade, Hironori Takasaki, Toshiro Ueda, Tatsuya Shindo, Ryuji Horata
  • Patent number: 11964494
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a cartridge detachably attached to the image forming apparatus and including a first compartment configured to store a colorant, a container configured to be connected with the cartridge and including a second compartment configured to store the colorant flowing from the cartridge, and a display configured to display a first object indicating a first remainder amount and a second object indicating a second remainder amount in a single screen, is provided. The first remainder amount is a remainder amount of the colorant stored in the first compartment, and the second remainder amount is a remainder amount of the colorant stored in the second compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shunsuke Minamikawa, Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 11919314
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes a tank, a recording head, a cover, a monitor, a cover sensor, an operation panel, and a controller. The cover is movable to cover a plurality of injection inlets associated with a plurality of ink chambers and to expose the plurality of injection inlets. The cover sensor outputs signal depending on position of the cover. The controller controls the monitor to display one of inquiry information and notification on the monitor depending on receipt of the signal from the cover sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenta Horade, Mana Honoki
  • Patent number: 11884078
    Abstract: In a control device, a controller sets an order condition using a plurality of sets of timing information and a plurality of index values stored in a memory. The plurality of index values is acquired from a recording device under a condition where a first cartridge is mounted in the recording device. The order condition requires that one of a latest index value and a current timing have reached corresponding one of a reference index value and a reference timing, and is set so that a second cartridge is delivered to a predetermined destination at a first timing at which the first cartridge is expected to be out of a printing agent while a tank of the recording device is expected to still accommodate the printing agent. The controller transmits an order command instructing to order the second cartridge to a relevant device after the order condition is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masafumi Miyazawa, Kenta Horade
  • Publication number: 20240007577
    Abstract: An image recording device comprises a conveyance mechanism configured to convey a recording medium in a conveyance direction, a head configured to record an image, a moving mechanism configured to move the head with respect to the conveyance mechanism in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, a sensor configured to detect a position of an orthogonal edge that is an edge of the recording medium in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and a controller. The controller is configured to perform deriving a correction amount for a recording position of the head in the orthogonal direction based on the edge position detected by the sensor, correcting the recording position of the head by driving the moving mechanism to move the head based on the correction amount, and causing the head to record an image based on image data at the corrected recording position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2023
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventor: Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 11850862
    Abstract: A determination signal indicates whether each of a plurality of nozzles of a liquid ejection head is an abnormal nozzle. A controller stores, in a memory, information on a nozzle determined to be the abnormal nozzle among the plurality of nozzles; in response to receiving a particular signal and determining that the memory does not store abnormality flag information and that the number of the abnormal nozzle stored in the memory is larger than a first threshold value, control a recovery device to perform a recovery operation; and in response to receiving the particular signal and determining that the memory stores the abnormality flag information and that the number of the abnormal nozzle is larger than a second threshold value, control the recovery device to perform the recovery operation. The second threshold value is smaller than the first threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 11845285
    Abstract: Aspects of a disclosure relates to a liquid discharge device enables previously disabled liquid discharge through a head after a cartridge including a first liquid chamber is replaced and before the liquid level in a second liquid chamber of a tank reaches a predetermined level or higher. Another aspect of the disclosure relates to a liquid discharge device that deactivates an alarm after a cartridge including a first liquid chamber is replaced and before the liquid level in a second liquid reaches a predetermined level or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenta Horade, Mikio Ogawa, Toshiro Ueda
  • Patent number: 11805217
    Abstract: An image recording device comprises a conveyance mechanism, a head, a sensor configured to detect a position of an orthogonal edge of recording medium in a direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction, and a controller. The controller tentatively determines, for each of a plurality of unit areas aligned in the conveyance direction on the recording medium, a recording position of an image for the unit area based on image data and a size of the recording medium, derives a correction amount for the tentatively determined recording position, and determines whether the correction amount exceeds a first upper limit for each unit area. When it is determined that the correction amount does not exceed the first upper limit, the controller determines the recording position based on the correction amount, and causes the head to record an image at the recording position determined in the determining.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 11794478
    Abstract: A liquid ejection apparatus includes a liquid ejection head having a plurality of nozzles, a determination circuit, a clock, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine whether the clock is in an on or off state. In response to determining that the clock is in an on state, the controller is configured to perform an inspection process at a first time. In the inspection process, the controller drives the liquid ejection head to eject liquid from a nozzle of the plurality nozzles and receive a determination signal that is output from the determination circuit in response to ejection of liquid from the nozzle of the plurality of nozzles. In response to determining that the clock is in an off state, the controller is configured to perform the inspection process at a predetermined time that is a time after the clock is returned to an on state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tatsuya Shindo, Toshiro Ueda, Ryuji Horata, Zenichiro Sasaki, Kenta Horade, Hironori Takasaki
  • Patent number: 11787195
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a cartridge detachably attached to the image forming apparatus and including a first compartment configured to store a colorant, a container configured to be connected with the cartridge and including a second compartment configured to store the colorant flowing from the cartridge, and a display configured to display a first object indicating a first remainder amount and a second object indicating a second remainder amount in a single screen, is provided. The first remainder amount is a remainder amount of the colorant stored in the first compartment, and the second remainder amount is a remainder amount of the colorant stored in the second compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shunsuke Minamikawa, Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 11685168
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a first container with a first compartment, a second container with a second compartment, a recorder, a display, and a controller, is provided. The controller controls the display to display a first screen and a second screen. The first screen contains a first object having a form that reflects an amount of a colorant in the first compartment and a second object having a form that reflects an amount of the colorant in the second compartment. The second screen contains a third object having a form that reflects one of the amount of the colorant in the first compartment, the amount of the colorant in the second compartment, and a total amount of the colorant in the first compartment and the second compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shunsuke Minamikawa, Kenta Horade
  • Patent number: 11673416
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes an ink tank, a recording head, a monitor, an operation panel, and a controller. The ink tank forms an ink chamber and including an injection inlet. The recording head ejects ink from the ink chamber to record an image on a sheet. The operation panel receives user input. The controller controls operation of the recording head, the monitor, and the operation panel. The controller performs receiving a completion signal indicating completion of ink injection, decision processing deciding whether an initial processing has been completed, and inquiry processing based on receipt of the completion signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mana Honoki, Kenta Horade