Patents by Inventor Makoto Obayashi

Makoto Obayashi 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: 9335652
    Abstract: An optical writing device having; a plurality of light-emitting points; a plurality of drive circuits for supplying drive currents to the plurality of light-emitting points respectively; a photodetector for outputting signals indicating quantities of light entering thereto from the respective light-emitting points; a gain switch circuit for outputting photodetection signals obtained by amplifying the signals output from the photodetector in regard to the respective light-emitting points with gains preset for the respective light-emitting points; and a control circuit for controlling the drive circuits such that the photodetection signals output from the gain switch circuit in regard to the respective light-emitting points coincide with a value substantially equal to a predetermined reference value. The gains for the respective light-emitting points are preset based on the distances between the photodetector and the respective light-emitting points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Watanabe, Satoshi Masuda, Makoto Obayashi, Masayuki Iijima, So Yano
  • Patent number: 9298306
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a first input unit, a second input unit, and an operation command output unit. The first input unit receives a first manipulation signal indicative of a first manipulation including a first manipulation point and a first manipulation pressure from a first touchpad. The second input unit receives a second manipulation signal indicative of a second manipulation including a second manipulation point and a second manipulation pressure from a second touchpad. The operation command output unit receives the first manipulation signal and the second manipulation signal, and outputs an operation command to a display device based on a combination of the first manipulation and the second manipulation. The first touchpad is arranged to be approachable by a first manipulation finger of a left hand. The second touchpad is arranged to be approachable by a second manipulation finger of a right hand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Makoto Manabe, Toru Nada, Kiyotaka Taguchi, Shinji Hatanaka, Norio Sanma, Akira Yoshizawa, Makoto Obayashi
  • Patent number: 9254678
    Abstract: Optical print head includes: light-emitting elements connected one-to-one to current supply lines branching from first power line at different positions in longitudinal direction; holding elements; signal writing unit writing luminance signal into each holding element, the luminance signal being represented by voltage indicating light emission amount of corresponding light-emitting element; second power line supplying reference voltage to each holding element, the reference voltage being reference when signal writing unit writes luminance signal into holding element; and driving drivers corresponding one-to-one with current supply lines and controlling current supplied to corresponding current supply line from first power line, in accordance with voltage held in corresponding holding element when signal writing unit has written luminance signal into corresponding holding element, wherein power source supplying the reference voltage to second power line is common with power source supplying voltage to signal o
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Watanabe, Satoshi Masuda, Makoto Obayashi, Masayuki Iijima, So Yano, Takaki Uemura
  • Publication number: 20160018755
    Abstract: An optical print head includes: light-emitting elements in line shape; first power line supplying first reference voltage; second power line supplying drive current to each light-emitting element and supplying second reference voltage; DAC outputting first voltage indicating light emission amount of each light-emitting element; first elements for holding first voltage difference between the first reference voltage and the first voltage; second elements each electrically connectable with corresponding first element and for holding second voltage difference between the second reference voltage and second voltage according to the first voltage, and during supply of drive current, controls each first element to hold the first difference by electrically disconnecting the first and second elements, and temporarily suspends supply of the drive current, and controls the second element to hold the second difference by electrically connecting the first and second elements, such that the drive current according to the s
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Publication date: January 21, 2016
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Makoto OBAYASHI, Satoshi MASUDA, Yoshikazu WATANABE, Masayuki IIJIMA, So YANO, Takaki UEMURA
  • Publication number: 20160011535
    Abstract: An optical print head for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive body, including: current-driven light-emitting elements disposed in a line shape; an indicator circuit that outputs indicator current indicating light emission amounts to the light-emitting elements; and for each light-emitting element: a holding circuit that, during a main scanning period, accumulates indicator current during a sample period to generate an indicator potential and holds the indicator potential during a hold period; and a drive circuit that supplies drive current to the light-emitting element according to the indicator potential, wherein each of the sample periods is divided into writing periods, and each of the holding circuits holds the indicator potential corresponding to the holding circuit according to a total of indicator current amounts in the sample period corresponding to the holding circuit, the indicator current amounts each indicative of indicator current during one of the writing periods.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2015
    Publication date: January 14, 2016
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: So YANO, Yoshikazu WATANABE, Makoto OBAYASHI, Masayuki IIJIMA, Takaki UEMURA, Satoshi MASUDA
  • Publication number: 20150317953
    Abstract: An optical writing device includes a plurality of current driven light emitting elements, first and second power source lines, a designation circuit that outputs a designation potential, first driving circuits provided for each of the light emitting elements to supply driving current to the corresponding light emitting element, second driving circuits provided for each of the light emitting elements to supply driving current to the corresponding light emitting element, and a switching control unit that alternately switches respective states of the first and second driving circuits between a state where one of the first and second driving circuits receives the designation potential while the other driving circuit supplies the driving current, and a state where the other driving circuit receives the designation potential while the one driving circuit supplies the driving current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2015
    Publication date: November 5, 2015
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA INC.
    Inventors: Satoshi MASUDA, Makoto OBAYASHI, Yoshikazu WATANABE, Masayuki IIJIMA, So YANO, Takaki UEMURA
  • Patent number: 9153234
    Abstract: A speech recognition apparatus includes: a recognition device that recognizes a speech of a user and generates a speech character string; a display device that displays the speech character string; a reception device that receives an input of a correction character string, which is used for correction of the speech character string, through an operation portion; and a correction device that corrects the speech character string with using the correction character string.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toru Nada, Kiyotaka Taguchi, Makoto Manabe, Shinji Hatanaka, Norio Sanma, Makoto Obayashi, Akira Yoshizawa
  • Publication number: 20150266310
    Abstract: Optical print head includes: light-emitting elements connected one-to-one to current supply lines branching from first power line at different positions in longitudinal direction; holding elements; signal writing unit writing luminance signal into each holding element, the luminance signal being represented by voltage indicating light emission amount of corresponding light-emitting element; second power line supplying reference voltage to each holding element, the reference voltage being reference when signal writing unit writes luminance signal into holding element; and driving drivers corresponding one-to-one with current supply lines and controlling current supplied to corresponding current supply line from first power line, in accordance with voltage held in corresponding holding element when signal writing unit has written luminance signal into corresponding holding element, wherein power source supplying the reference voltage to second power line is common with power source supplying voltage to signal o
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2015
    Publication date: September 24, 2015
    Inventors: Yoshikazu WATANABE, Satoshi MASUDA, Makoto OBAYASHI, Masayuki IIJIMA, So YANO, Takaki UEMURA
  • Publication number: 20150239258
    Abstract: An optical print head performs optical writing onto target, and includes: current-driven light-emitting elements arranged in rows in a predetermined direction; driving transistors that are each electrically series-connected with the light-emitting elements in one-to-one correspondence, and each supply a driving current to a corresponding light-emitting element; a current control unit that controls, for each light-emitting element, a driving current amount in accordance with variation in light-emitting properties of the light-emitting element that indicate relation between the driving current amount and a light amount emitted by the light-emitting element; an application unit that, upon receiving electrical power supplied from an external power source, applies application voltage to circuits each consisting of a light-emitting element and a corresponding driving transistor; and a voltage control unit that suppresses variation in divided voltage applied to each driving transistor by controlling the application
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2015
    Publication date: August 27, 2015
    Inventors: So YANO, Yoshikazu WATANABE, Makoto OBAYASHI, Masayuki IIJIMA, Takaki UEMURA, Satoshi MASUDA
  • Patent number: 9110399
    Abstract: An optical writing device for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor by exposing the photoreceptor to light modulated in accordance with image data. The optical writing device has: a substrate; a light-emitting-element array including a plurality of light-emitting elements supported by the substrate to be arranged in a main-scanning direction; and a light-receiving-element array substantially in parallel to the light-emitting-element array, the light-receiving-element array including a plurality of light-receiving elements supported by the substrate to be arranged in the main-scanning direction. For light-quantity measurement of one of the light-emitting elements, at least an output value output from one of the light-receiving elements of which center is located in a different position, with respect to the main-scanning direction, from a center of the one of the light-emitting elements is used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Satoshi Masuda, Yoshikazu Watanabe, Makoto Obayashi, Masayuki Iijima, So Yano
  • Patent number: 9110537
    Abstract: An in-vehicle apparatus includes a plurality of operations sections, a detection section, and a cancellation section. The operation sections are configured to receive an operation by a user while driving of a vehicle and respectively include distortion detection elements that respectively transmit detection signals in accordance with loads generated due to the operation. The detection section detects the operation to the operation sections based on the detection signals. The cancellation section determines whether loads are generated in the operation sections in a same period based on the detection signals transmitted from the distortion detection elements and cancels the detection signals transmitted from the distortion detection elements in the same period when the loads are generated in the same period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Norio Sanma, Shinji Hatanaka, Toru Nada, Kiyotaka Taguchi, Makoto Manabe, Akira Yoshizawa, Makoto Obayashi
  • Patent number: 9076741
    Abstract: A light-emitting element having a light-emitting section and a light-receiving section provided on a substrate. The light-emitting section includes: an organic compound in which light is emitted; a translucent reflecting portion that transmits the emitted light which has spectral radiance changeable with changes in ambient temperature; and a transparent portion that radiates first part of the light coming through the translucent reflecting portion to outside and total-reflects second part that is light incident to a boundary surface therebetween at angles larger than a critical angle. Wherein, the light-receiving section is capable of receiving the light total-reflected at the boundary surface, the received light having a quantity of light changeable with changes in wavelength of the light passing through the translucent reflecting portion. The light-receiving section further outputs a signal which has an amplitude level in correlation to the quantity of light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Watanabe, Satoshi Masuda, Makoto Obayashi, Masayuki Iijima, So Yano
  • Publication number: 20150103865
    Abstract: An optical writing device having; a plurality of light-emitting points; a photodiode configured to output a signal which represents a quantity of incident light from a predetermined light-emitting point selected from the plurality of light-emitting points; and a calculation section for calculating a temperature of the photodiode based on a magnitude of a photodiode dark current included in the signal output from the photodiode while the predetermined light-emitting point is OFF.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2014
    Publication date: April 16, 2015
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: So YANO, Satoshi Masuda, Makoto Obayashi, Masayuki Iljima, Yoshikazu Watanabe
  • Publication number: 20150106051
    Abstract: An operation position detection apparatus includes: an operation body including front and back side operation surfaces; a casing; three strain generating bodies on each operation surface, wherein each strain generating body includes a connection section connected to the operation body, a fixed section fixed to the casing, and a displacement transmission surface displaceable by a pushing pressure to each operation surface; a distortion detection section arranged on each displacement transmission surface and detecting a distortion of the displacement transmission surface; and an operation position calculation section detecting which of the front side operation surface and the back side operation surface is pushed, the magnitude of the operation force generated by the pushing pressure, and an operation position of the pushing pressure, according to a detected distortion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2013
    Publication date: April 16, 2015
    Inventors: Shinji Hatanaka, Norio Sanma, Toru Nada, Kiyotaka Taguchi, Makoto Manabe, Akira Yoshizawa, Makoto Obayashi
  • Publication number: 20140375743
    Abstract: A light-emitting element having a light-emitting section and a light-receiving section provided on a substrate. The light-emitting section includes: an organic compound in which light is emitted; a translucent reflecting portion that transmits the emitted light which has spectral radiance changeable with changes in ambient temperature; and a transparent portion that radiates first part of the light coming through the translucent reflecting portion to outside and total-reflects second part that is light incident to a boundary surface therebetween at angles larger than a critical angle. Wherein, the light-receiving section is capable of receiving the light total-reflected at the boundary surface, the received light having a quantity of light changeable with changes in wavelength of the light passing through the translucent reflecting portion. The light-receiving section further outputs a signal which has an amplitude level in correlation to the quantity of light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2014
    Publication date: December 25, 2014
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshikazu WATANABE, Satoshi Masuda, Makoto Obayashi, Masayuki Iljima, So Yano
  • Patent number: 8874321
    Abstract: A display control apparatus for a vehicle includes a steering angle detector, an operation detector, a display section, and a setting section. The steering angle detector detects a steering angle of the vehicle. The operation detector detects an operation to an operation unit mounted on a steering wheel of the vehicle. The display section displays an operation image on a display unit located behind the steering wheel in such a manner that the operation image changes according to the operation detected by the operation detector. The setting section sets a display position of the operation image on the display unit according to the steering angle detected by the steering angle detector so that a driver of the vehicle views the operation image at a position adjacent to the operation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toru Nada, Kiyotaka Taguchi, Makoto Manabe, Shinji Hatanaka, Norio Sanma, Akira Yoshizawa, Makoto Obayashi
  • Publication number: 20140267527
    Abstract: An optical writing device for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor by exposing the photoreceptor to light modulated in accordance with image data. The optical writing device has: a substrate; a light-emitting-element array including a plurality of light-emitting elements supported by the substrate to be arranged in a main-scanning direction; and a light-receiving-element array substantially in parallel to the light-emitting-element array, the light-receiving-element array including a plurality of light-receiving elements supported by the substrate to be arranged in the main-scanning direction. For light-quantity measurement of one of the light-emitting elements, at least an output value output from one of the light-receiving elements of which center is located in a different position, with respect to the main-scanning direction, from a center of the one of the light-emitting elements is used.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Satoshi MASUDA, Yoshikazu WATANABE, Makoto OBAYASHI, Masayuki IIJIMA, So YANO
  • Publication number: 20140232805
    Abstract: An optical writing device having; a plurality of light-emitting points; a plurality of drive circuits for supplying drive currents to the plurality of light-emitting points respectively; a photodetector for outputting signals indicating quantities of light entering thereto from the respective light-emitting points; a gain switch circuit for outputting photodetection signals obtained by amplifying the signals output from the photodetector in regard to the respective light-emitting points with gains preset for the respective light-emitting points; and a control circuit for controlling the drive circuits such that the photodetection signals output from the gain switch circuit in regard to the respective light-emitting points coincide with a value substantially equal to a predetermined reference value. The gains for the respective light-emitting points are preset based on the distances between the photodetector and the respective light-emitting points.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2014
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshikazu WATANABE, Satoshi MASUDA, Makoto OBAYASHI, Masayuki IIJIMA, So YANO
  • Publication number: 20130285949
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a first input unit, a second input unit, and an operation command output unit. The first input unit receives a first manipulation signal indicative of a first manipulation including a first manipulation point and a first manipulation pressure from a first touchpad. The second input unit receives a second manipulation signal indicative of a second manipulation including a second manipulation point and a second manipulation pressure from a second touchpad. The operation command output unit receives the first manipulation signal and the second manipulation signal, and outputs an operation command to a display device based on a combination of the first manipulation and the second manipulation. The first touchpad is arranged to be approachable by a first manipulation finger of a left hand. The second touchpad is arranged to be approachable by a second manipulation finger of a right hand.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2013
    Publication date: October 31, 2013
    Inventors: Makoto MANABE, Toru NADA, Kiyotaka TAGUCHI, Shinji HATANAKA, Norio SANMA, Akira YOSHIZAWA, Makoto OBAYASHI
  • Publication number: 20130282240
    Abstract: A display control apparatus for a vehicle includes a steering angle detector, an operation detector, a display section, and a setting section. The steering angle detector detects a steering angle of the vehicle. The operation detector detects an operation to an operation unit mounted on a steering wheel of the vehicle. The display section displays an operation image on a display unit located behind the steering wheel in such a manner that the operation image changes according to the operation detected by the operation detector. The setting section sets a display position of the operation image on the display unit according to the steering angle detected by the steering angle detector so that a driver of the vehicle views the operation image at a position adjacent to the operation unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2013
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Inventors: Toru NADA, Kiyotaka TAGUCHI, Makoto MANABE, Shinji HATANAKA, Norio SANMA, Akira YOSHIZAWA, Makoto OBAYASHI