Patents by Inventor Masaki Kataoka

Masaki Kataoka 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: 20130174436
    Abstract: Provided is an indirectly heating rotary dryer which has achieved enhanced energy-saving performance by reducing heating tubes non-contacting with material to be dried and reducing power required for rotation even when a hold up ratio is increased. Specifically provided is an indirectly heating rotary dryer having four partition walls extended respectively along a shaft center in an inner space of a rotating shell at angle intervals of 90 degrees in the vertical and horizontal directions. The four partition walls partition the inner space of the rotating shell at a lateral section of the rotating shell into four approximately-sector-shaped small spaces respectively extended along the shaft center. Heating tubes are aligned in the rotating shell in three lines extended respectively in parallel to the shaft center of the rotating shell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2011
    Publication date: July 11, 2013
    Inventors: Masaki Kataoka, Satoshi Suwa, Keisuke Matsuda
  • Patent number: 8449087
    Abstract: A liquid circulating apparatus includes a liquid discharging unit for having a nozzle, a supply path, a recovery path, first and second pressure adjusting units, an opening/closing valve and a circulation controlling unit. The circulation controlling unit controls the first and second pressure adjusting units and the opening/closing valve to circulate the liquid by causing a differential pressure between the liquid at a supply side and at a recovery side with respect to the nozzle while the liquid maintains a meniscus in the nozzle. The circulation controlling unit (i) makes a differential pressure between the liquid of the supply path and the recovery path to be lower than the differential pressure in middle of the circulation while the opening/closing valve is closed when the liquid starts circulating, (ii) opens the opening/closing valve, and (iii) changes the differential pressure to the differential pressure in middle of the circulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2013
    Assignees: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Corporation
    Inventors: Masaki Kataoka, Jun Isozaki, Hiroshi Shibata
  • Patent number: 8403439
    Abstract: A flow rate control device includes a pressure generating unit that delivers a liquid to a liquid reservoir unit including an ejecting port; a flow rate control unit that controls a flow rate of the pressure generating unit by performing a first flow rate control and a second flow rate control, the first flow rate control being to raise a pressure inside the liquid reservoir unit up to a target pressure at a first pressure change rate which is sufficiently high to float air bubbles adhering to a wall surface inside the liquid reservoir unit, the second flow rate control being to maintain the target pressure or to lower the pressure inside the liquid reservoir unit from the target pressure at a second pressure change rate lower than the first pressure change rate in order to eject air bubbles floating inside the liquid reservoir unit from the ejecting port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kumiko Tanaka, Jun Isozaki, Masaki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20130000359
    Abstract: Gob producing device with a molten glass feeder having an orifice at its bottom portion and a cutter for cutting the molten glass pushed out through the orifice so as to be suspended and produce a gob. The gob producing device includes a cutter position moving for adjusting the height of the cutter mechanism by moving it, a gob observing device for observing the falling gob in three dimensions, an image processor for obtaining the gob length from spatial position data obtained by the gob observing device to determine acceptance or rejection of the length and calculating correction data for correcting the cutter's height from the difference between measured and set values of the gob length when the obtained length is determined to be inappropriate, and a control device for moving the cutter mechanism by controlling the cutter position moving mechanism's operation on the basis of the correction data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2011
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Inventors: Shinsuke Matsumoto, Masaki Kataoka, Shintaro Oono, Yasuhiro Morimitsu, Takahiro Nishimura
  • Publication number: 20130002772
    Abstract: A liquid supply mechanism includes: a supply pathway that supplies liquid to a plurality of ejection sections each ejecting the liquid from nozzles; a branching path that is branched off from the supply pathway and through which the liquid circulates; a buffer unit that is disposed in the branching path and that lessens pressure fluctuations occurred in the liquid in the branching path; and a changing unit that changes a pathway to the buffer unit so that the changing unit shuts the pathway to the buffer unit during maintenance for discharging the liquid from the nozzles of the ejection sections. The liquid discharged during the maintenance is greater in quantity than the liquid discharged during normal operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2011
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masashi Hiratsuka, Masaki Kataoka, Jun Isozaki
  • Publication number: 20130002774
    Abstract: A degasifier includes a gas chamber, a degasification unit and a resistance applying unit. The gas chamber is separated from a liquid flow path by a transmission member capable of transmitting a gas dissolving in a liquid in the liquid flow path. The degasification unit expels the gas dissolving in the liquid from the liquid by discharging the gas in the gas chamber through a discharge path so that a pressure in the gas chamber is negative. The resistance applying unit applies an inflow resistance to atmosphere which flows into the discharge path so that the gas chamber is maintained at a pressure at which the liquid can be degasified at the time of the discharging by the degasification unit while the discharge path is open to the atmosphere at all times.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2012
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Atsushi Murakami, Masaki Kataoka
  • Patent number: 8308263
    Abstract: A droplet ejection apparatus includes droplet ejection units each including a supply port and an ejection port, a common supply flow path, a common discharge flow path, supply flow paths that connect the supply port to the common supply flow path, openable mechanisms provided at the supply flow paths, discharge flow paths that connect the ejection port to the common discharge flow path, one-way valves provided at the discharge flow paths, a pressure applying unit, and a controller. When performing a maintenance operation of a selected droplet ejection unit, the controller applies a pressure with the pressure applying unit so that the pressure in the plural discharge flow paths at the common discharge flow path side with respect to the respective one-way valves is higher than the other side, and opens only the openable mechanism corresponding to the selected droplet ejection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Murakami, Masaki Kataoka, Masahito Katada, Yuko Katada, legal representative, Natsuki Katada, legal representative, Daichi Katada, legal representative, Tetsuzo Kadomatsu
  • Patent number: 8256861
    Abstract: A droplet ejection apparatus includes a common flow path; droplet ejection units each respectively including a first distribution port; first flow paths that respectively connect each first distribution port to the common flow path; first open/close mechanisms provided respectively at the first flow paths; a first pressurizing unit that applies a positive pressure to the common flow path; a second open/close mechanisms provided at the common flow path at the first pressurizing unit side of connection portions that connect the common flow path and the respective first flow paths; and a controller. When the second open/close mechanism is closed, the controller opens only one or more first open/close mechanisms corresponding to one or more target droplet ejection units, applies positive pressure to a section of the common flow path at the first pressurizing unit side of the second open/close mechanism, and then opens the second open/close mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignees: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Murakami, Masaki Kataoka, Masahito Katada, Yuko Katada, legal representative, Natsuki Katada, legal representative, Daichi Katada, legal representative, Tetsuzo Kadomatsu
  • Patent number: 8240823
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus including: plural liquid droplet ejecting portions; supply-side individual flow paths; discharge-side individual flow paths; a supply-side common flow path; a discharge-side common flow path; first opening/closing mechanisms; second opening/closing mechanisms; a first pressure applying portion; a second pressure applying portion; a first circulating path; a third opening/closing mechanism; a second circulating path including an upstream end portion being connected to the supply-side common flow path further downstream than a connecting portion of a supply-side individual flow path connected to the supply-side common flow path at a furthest upstream side in a liquid circulating direction and a downstream end portion being connected to the discharge-side common flow path, and circulating the liquid between the supply-side common flow path and the discharge-side common flow path; and a fourth opening/closing mechanism, is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignees: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Murakami, Masaki Kataoka, Tetsuzo Kadomatsu, Hiroshi Shibata
  • Publication number: 20120186301
    Abstract: In a glass product forming machine having molds 1A and 1B each composed of a pair of split molds 11 and 12, and a mold cooling device X for cooling the molds 1A and 1B to control the temperatures thereof, in order to prevent the occurrence of a defect such as deformation or cracks in a formed article due to a temperature difference between the split molds 11 and 12, the mold cooling device X is configured to include: cooling mechanisms 3R and 3L provided to the respective split molds, the cooling mechanisms each individually applying cooling air to each of the split molds 11 and 12 of the molds 1A and 1B; valve mechanisms 30R and 30L for individually opening and closing each of paths for introducing cooling air to the respective cooling mechanisms 3R and 3L; temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of at least one of the split molds; and a temperature control device 9 for generating and outputting control signals for controlling the opening and closing operations of the respective valve mecha
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2010
    Publication date: July 26, 2012
    Applicant: Nihon Yamamura Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takahiro Nishimura, Masaki Kataoka, Shintaro Ohno, Takahiro Kotoh
  • Publication number: 20120162331
    Abstract: A liquid circulating apparatus includes a liquid discharging unit for having a nozzle, a supply path, a recovery path, first and second pressure adjusting units, an opening/closing valve and a circulation controlling unit. The circulation controlling unit controls the first and second pressure adjusting units and the opening/closing valve to circulate the liquid by causing a differential pressure between the liquid at a supply side and at a recovery side with respect to the nozzle while the liquid maintains a meniscus in the nozzle. The circulation controlling unit (i) makes a differential pressure between the liquid of the supply path and the recovery path to be lower than the differential pressure in middle of the circulation while the opening/closing valve is closed when the liquid starts circulating, (ii) opens the opening/closing valve, and (iii) changes the differential pressure to the differential pressure in middle of the circulation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Publication date: June 28, 2012
    Applicants: FUJIFILM CORPORATION, FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masaki Kataoka, Jun Isozaki, Hiroshi Shibata
  • Patent number: 8205277
    Abstract: In the upper part and the lower part of a micro-nano bubble generation section 34 in a micro-nano bubble bathtub 1, two kinds of micro-nano bubbles different in a size distribution are generated by first and second micro-nano bubble generators (submerged pump-type micro-nano bubble generator 2 and spiral flow-type micro-nano bubble generator 10) of two kinds, so that bathtub water containing micro-nano bubbles in a wide size distribution can be produced in a large amount. Some of the water containing micro-nano bubbles generated in the lower part is thrown into the first micro-nano bubble generator (spiral flow-type micro-nano bubble generator 10) in the upper part, so that the spiral flow-type micro-nano bubble generator 10 can generate micro-nano bubbles in a smaller size. Therefore, in this bathtub, micro-nano bubbles abundant in size and large in amount can be produced economically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Yamasaki, Kazuyuki Sakata, Kazumi Chuhjoh, Masaki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20120140006
    Abstract: A damping device includes an elastic membrane that serves as a wall of a part of a supply channel between a reservoir unit that contains liquid and a droplet discharging unit that discharges the liquid in the form of a droplet; a wall portion provided outside of the supply channel such that a gas chamber is provided between the wall portion and the elastic membrane; and a resistance unit provided on the wall portion, the resistance unit providing ventilation and generating a resistance force against a movement of the elastic membrane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kousuke YUNOKI, Masaki KATAOKA
  • Patent number: 8176630
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejection head includes: a nozzle plate that has a plurality of nozzles ejecting a liquid droplet; a flow path member that includes: pressure generating chambers that communicate with the nozzles; and liquid supply paths through which liquid is supplied to the pressure generating chambers; and a damper portion that is disposed in at least one part of a region, the region being on the nozzle plate, corresponding to the liquid supply paths, the damper portion reducing a fluctuation of an ejection amount of the liquid droplets to enable stable ejection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Kataoka, Hideki Fukunaga, Hiroshi Inoue, Yuji Nishimura, Susumu Hirakata, Atsumichi Imazeki
  • Patent number: 8136800
    Abstract: In order to provide a device and a method for increasing blood flow and an insulin-like growth factor with use of a large amount of carbonic gas nano bubbles, the device of the present invention includes: a bathtub 1; and a nano bubble-producing section 41 for producing carbonic gas nano bubbles in bath water in the bathtub 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Yamasaki, Takahide Miyamoto, Kazumi Chuhjoh, Masaki Kataoka
  • Patent number: 8118394
    Abstract: A droplet ejecting device including: plural droplet ejecting heads that eject droplets; a transporting body, disposed to face nozzle surfaces of the droplet ejecting heads, that transports a recording medium; and a head holding member that holds the droplet ejecting heads movably along droplet ejecting directions respectively is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tadashi Suzuki, Masaki Kataoka, Atsumichi Imazeki, Yoshihira Rai, Yujiro Fukuda, Takaaki Sekiyama
  • Publication number: 20120033003
    Abstract: A flow rate control device includes a pressure generating unit that delivers a liquid to a liquid reservoir unit including an ejecting port; a flow rate control unit that controls a flow rate of the pressure generating unit by performing a first flow rate control and a second flow rate control, the first flow rate control being to raise a pressure inside the liquid reservoir unit up to a target pressure at a first pressure change rate which is sufficiently high to float air bubbles adhering to a wall surface inside the liquid reservoir unit, the second flow rate control being to maintain the target pressure or to lower the pressure inside the liquid reservoir unit from the target pressure at a second pressure change rate lower than the first pressure change rate in order to eject air bubbles floating inside the liquid reservoir unit from the ejecting port
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Publication date: February 9, 2012
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kumiko Tanaka, Jun Isozaki, Masaki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20120024395
    Abstract: A liquid supplying apparatus includes: a first flow channel configured to be switchable between a state of communication with a liquid supply object and a state of noncommunication with the liquid supply object; a first pressure applying device which applies pressure to liquid in the first flow channel; a first pressure absorbing device which absorbs a pressure fluctuation of the liquid in the first flow channel; a first measuring device which measures a pressure increase value in the first flow channel when the first pressure applying device is operated under a standard operating condition in which pressure in the first flow channel varies relatively moderately in proportion to a liquid feed amount to the first flow channel in the state of noncommunication where the liquid supply object and the first flow channel are not communicated with each other; a comparing device which compares the pressure increase value measured by the first measuring device with a predetermined pressure increase target value; and a
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2011
    Publication date: February 2, 2012
    Inventors: Koji FURUKAWA, Jun Isozaki, Masaki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20120007902
    Abstract: A liquid supply controller includes a liquid circulation controller that includes supply and recovery units of a liquid droplet discharge unit, and that circulates liquid according to a differential pressure between the supply unit and the recovery unit, a back pressure setting unit that sets a back pressure that is a discharge pressure based on supply and recovery pressures set by the liquid circulation controller, a circulation amount obtaining unit that obtains a flow rate of the liquid circulated; a judging unit that judges whether or not the obtained flow rate is a proper value, and a differential pressure adjusting unit that adjusts the differential pressure while maintaining the back pressure within an allowable range when it is judged that the flow rate is not the proper value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2011
    Publication date: January 12, 2012
    Applicant: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masashi Hiratsuka, Masaki Kataoka, Jun Isozaki, Hirotake Sasaki
  • Publication number: 20110316904
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid droplet circulation control apparatus including: a first circulation controller that sets a first circulation mode in which liquid is circulated with pressure control by driving a supply side pressure generator and a return side pressure generator, the supply side pressure generator supplying the liquid to the liquid droplet ejector and the return side pressure generator returning the liquid from the liquid droplet ejector; a second circulation controller that sets a second circulation mode in which the liquid is circulated by driving the supply side pressure generator and/or the return side pressure generator, such that the liquid is made to bypass at least the liquid droplet ejector; a selector that selects one or other circulation modes; and a setting unit that sets a circulation path of the liquid based on the selected circulation mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2010
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Applicants: FUJIFILM CORPORATION, FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jun Isozaki, Masaki Kataoka, Koji Furukawa, Hiroshi Shibata