Patents by Inventor Masahiro Owa

Masahiro Owa 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).

  • Publication number: 20230074947
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a printing head that includes a plurality of nozzles, each of which ejects an ink pushed out from a pressure chamber by driving of an actuator, a display unit, a detector that generates a residual vibration in the pressure chamber by imparting, to the actuator, a predetermined drive signal that prevents the nozzle from ejecting the ink, and, based on the residual vibration, performs, for each of the plurality of nozzles, defective nozzle detection processing of detecting a defective nozzle having ejection failure, and a display control unit that causes the display unit to display defective nozzle information including a position, in the printing head, of the defective nozzle detected by the detector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2022
    Publication date: March 9, 2023
    Inventor: Masahiro OWA
  • Patent number: 8132881
    Abstract: A printing apparatus that measures a consumption of a colorant during printing, includes a shade level measuring unit that measures a print shade level on a print sheet, a range segment counting unit that counts the number of print sheets falling within each of a plurality of print shade range segments based on the measurement results of the shade level measuring unit, and an output unit that outputs the count results of the range segment counting unit on a per print shade range segment basis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Osamu Azami, Koichi Nishiwaki, Masahiro Owa
  • Publication number: 20090201330
    Abstract: A printing apparatus that measures a consumption of a colorant during printing, includes a shade level measuring unit that measures a print shade level on a print sheet, a range segment counting unit that counts the number of print sheets falling within each of a plurality of print shade range segments based on the measurement results of the shade level measuring unit, and an output unit that outputs the count results of the range segment counting unit on a per print shade range segment basis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2009
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Osamu Azami, Koichi Nishiwaki, Masahiro Owa
  • Patent number: 7171131
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes attach/detach sections to/from each of which a developer container for containing developer can be attached/detached, and an image bearing body for bearing a latent image. When a developer container is attached to each of the attach/detach sections, the apparatus is usable as a color image forming apparatus. When a developer container is attached to only one of the attach/detach sections, the apparatus is usable as a single-color image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus has a device ID that is sent to a computer when it communicates with the computer and that is used by the computer to recognize devices capable of communicating therewith. The device ID of the image forming apparatus for when it is being used as the color image forming apparatus matches the device ID of the image forming apparatus for when it is being used as the single-color image forming apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2007
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Maruyama, Osamu Ishibashi, Ken Yoshizuka, Masahiro Owa
  • Patent number: 7113728
    Abstract: An image forming system includes an image forming apparatus with attach/detach sections to/from which a developer container is attachable/detachable and an image bearing body. A driver instructs the apparatus to execute single-color or color-image formation. When a developer container is attached to each attach/detach section, the apparatus is usable as a color image forming apparatus. When a developer container is attached to only one attach/detach section, the apparatus is usable as a single-color image forming apparatus. The apparatus forms an image when the driver instructs the apparatus that is being used as the color image forming apparatus to execute single-color-image formation. The apparatus does not form an image when the driver instructs the apparatus that is being used as the single-color image forming apparatus to execute color-image formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2006
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Owa, Ken Yoshizuka, Akira Maruyama, Osamu Ishibashi
  • Patent number: 7092653
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises: attach/detach sections to/from each of which a developer container for containing developer can be attached/detached; an image bearing body for bearing a latent image; and a displaying section for displaying information thereon. When developer containers are attached to the attach/detach sections, the apparatus is usable as a color image forming apparatus for forming a color image by developing the latent image bore on the image bearing body with the developer in each developer container. When a developer container is attached to only one attach/detach section, the apparatus is usable as a single-color image forming apparatus for forming a single-color image by developing the latent image bore on the image bearing body with the developer in the developer container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2006
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ken Yoshizuka, Akira Maruyama, Osamu Ishibashi, Masahiro Owa
  • Publication number: 20050078983
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes attach/detach sections to/from each of which a developer container for containing developer can be attached/detached, and an image bearing body for bearing a latent image. When a developer container is attached to each of the attach/detach sections, the apparatus is usable as a color image forming apparatus. When a developer container is attached to only one of the attach/detach sections, the apparatus is usable as a single-color image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus has a device ID that is sent to a computer when it communicates with the computer and that is used by the computer to recognize devices capable of communicating therewith. The device ID of the image forming apparatus for when it is being used as the color image forming apparatus matches the device ID of the image forming apparatus for when it is being used as the single-color image forming apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2004
    Publication date: April 14, 2005
    Inventors: Akira Maruyama, Osamu Ishibashi, Ken Yoshizuka, Masahiro Owa
  • Publication number: 20050041995
    Abstract: An image forming system comprises an image forming apparatus including attach/detach sections to/from which a developer container for containing developer is attachable/detachable and an image bearing body for bearing a latent image; and a computer capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus and having a driver capable of instructing the apparatus to execute at least either single-color-image formation or color-image formation. When a developer container is attached to each attach/detach section, the apparatus is usable as a color image forming apparatus for forming color images by developing the latent image on the image bearing body with the developer in each developer container. When a developer container is attached to only one attach/detach section, the apparatus is usable as a single-color image forming apparatus for forming a single-color image by developing the latent image on the image bearing body with the developer in the developer container.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2004
    Publication date: February 24, 2005
    Inventors: Masahiro Owa, Ken Yoshizuka, Akira Maruyama, Osamu Ishibashi
  • Publication number: 20050013625
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus comprises: attach/detach sections to/from each of which a developer container for containing developer can be attached/detached; an image bearing body for bearing a latent image; and a displaying section for displaying information thereon. When developer containers are attached to the attach/detach sections, the apparatus is usable as a color image forming apparatus for forming a color image by developing the latent image bore on the image bearing body with the developer in each developer container. When a developer container is attached to only one attach/detach section, the apparatus is usable as a single-color image forming apparatus for forming a single-color image by developing the latent image bore on the image bearing body with the developer in the developer container.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Publication date: January 20, 2005
    Inventors: Ken Yoshizuka, Akira Maruyama, Osamu Ishibashi, Masahiro Owa
  • Patent number: 6348971
    Abstract: A printer selection device selects an optimum printer for printing a document based on user information indicating such conditions as print commands and specifications, and based on printer information concerning print environments of the printers and causes the optimum printer to print the document. An optimum printer can be selected for each document, or each page of a document.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Owa, Susumu Shiohara, Hikonosuke Uwai
  • Publication number: 20010043357
    Abstract: A printer selection device selects an optimum printer for printing a document based on user information indicating such conditions as print commands, specifications, and the like, and based on printer information concerning print environments of the printers and causes the optimum printer to print the document. An optimum printer can be selected for each document, or each page of a document.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 1998
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: MASAHIRO OWA, SUSUMU SHIOHARA, HIKONOSUKE UWAI