Patents by Inventor Masanori MIKOSHIBA

Masanori MIKOSHIBA 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: 11878525
    Abstract: A piezoelectric actuator includes, in a first direction in which pressure chambers are arranged side by side, an active portion in which a piezoelectric layer is sandwiched between a first electrode and a second electrode in a first area of a vibration plate corresponding to opposite ends of each pressure chamber and does not include the active portion in a second area of the vibration plate corresponding to a center of the pressure chamber. The vibration plate has, in the first direction, a thick-walled portion with a predetermined thickness in the first area and a thin-walled portion thinner than the thick-walled portion in the second area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Motoki Takabe, Yasuhiro Itayama, Masanori Mikoshiba
  • Patent number: 11872813
    Abstract: when one of two positions in a second direction intersecting the first direction is defined as a first position and the other position is defined as a second position from which the shortest distance to the partition wall is shorter than the shortest distance from the first position to the partition wall, the vibrating plate has a first portion corresponding to the first position and a second portion corresponding to the second position, and a surface of the first portion in the first direction is, in the first direction, closer than a surface of the second portion in the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Mikoshiba, Motoki Takabe, Masaki Mori
  • Patent number: 11794474
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes: an actuator including a piezoelectric element and a vibrating plate; and a pressure chamber substrate including a pressure chamber whose volume changes when the vibrating plate deforms, in which 0.35×FR1?FR2<1.00×FR1, where one position in a longitudinal direction of the pressure chamber is a first position, another position closer than the first position to an end of the pressure chamber in the longitudinal direction of the pressure chamber is a second position, bending rigidity of the actuator in the thickness direction at the first position is FR1, and bending rigidity of the actuator in the thickness direction at the second position is FR2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Mikoshiba, Motoki Takabe, Jingling Wang
  • Publication number: 20230286264
    Abstract: A liquid discharge head including a diaphragm, a pressure chamber substrate that is laminated on the diaphragm, and a piezoelectric element that includes a first active portion and a second active portion, and is laminated on the diaphragm, in which when a direction in which the first active portion and the second active portion are arranged is defined as a second direction when viewed in a lamination direction, and a direction orthogonal to the lamination direction and the second direction is defined as a third direction, and the piezoelectric element includes a first region which is a region in which both the first active portion and the second active portion are provided, and a second region which is a region in which one of the first active portion and the second active portion is provided and the other is not provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Motoki TAKABE, Takanori AIMONO, Yuki ISHII
  • Publication number: 20230249451
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a diaphragm, a pressure chamber substrate including a partition wall partitioning a pressure chamber communicating with a nozzle discharging liquid, a piezoelectric element including a first active portion that overlaps a center of the pressure chamber and a second active portion that overlaps the pressure chamber at a position closer to an outer edge of the pressure chamber than the first active portion, and a drive signal generation portion that generates a discharge signal for discharging the liquid by being supplied to one of the first active portion and the second active portion and a correction signal that is supplied to the other of the first active portion and the second active portion, in which a potential of the discharge signal changes over time and a potential of the correction signal is constant during a discharge period for discharging the liquid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Motoki TAKABE, Takanori AIMONO, Jingling WANG
  • Publication number: 20230249456
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a pressure chamber substrate laminated on a first surface of a diaphragm and including a partition wall partitioning a pressure chamber communicating with a nozzle for discharging liquid, a piezoelectric element laminated on a second surface of the diaphragm and including a first active portion that overlaps a center of the pressure chamber when viewed in a thickness direction of the diaphragm and a second active portion that overlaps the pressure chamber at a position closer to an outer edge of the pressure chamber than the first active portion, and a drive signal generation portion that generates a drive signal, and a shrinkage step is executed in which a first period during which a first shrinkage element is supplied to the first active portion and a second period during which a second shrinkage element is supplied to the second active portion overlap.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2023
    Publication date: August 10, 2023
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Motoki TAKABE, Takanori AIMONO, Jingling WANG
  • Publication number: 20230011057
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head in which a first electrode layer, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode layer of a piezoelectric element are laminated, a pressure chamber, which is partitioned by a partition wall, has an elongated shape, in a structure including the diaphragm and the piezoelectric element including an active portion and a non-active portion lateral direction, a first position is a position on an inner side of the active portion when viewed in the thickness direction, a second position is a position on an inner side of the non-active portion and closest to a boundary between the pressure chamber and the partition wall, and EI1/EI2?40, wherein EI1 is a bending rigidity of the active portion at the first position and EI2 is a bending rigidity of the non-active portion at the second position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2022
    Publication date: January 12, 2023
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Motoki TAKABE, Yasuhiro ITAYAMA, Jingling WANG
  • Patent number: 11458730
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes a diaphragm, a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode in this order in a first direction, and ejects liquid. The second electrode includes a first portion that is next to the piezoelectric layer in the first direction and is electrically conductive. A length in the first direction is defined as a thickness. One position in a second direction intersecting with the first direction is defined as a first position. Another one position is defined as a second position that is closer to an end of the second electrode in the second direction than the first position is. Given the definition, the thickness of the first portion at the second position is less than the thickness of the first portion at the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Motoki Takabe, Masanori Mikoshiba, Masaki Mori
  • Publication number: 20220242120
    Abstract: A piezoelectric actuator includes, in a first direction in which pressure chambers are arranged side by side, an active portion in which a piezoelectric layer is sandwiched between a first electrode and a second electrode in a first area of a vibration plate corresponding to opposite ends of each pressure chamber and does not include the active portion in a second area of the vibration plate corresponding to a center of the pressure chamber. The vibration plate has, in the first direction, a thick-walled portion with a predetermined thickness in the first area and a thin-walled portion thinner than the thick-walled portion in the second area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventors: Motoki TAKABE, Yasuhiro ITAYAMA, Masanori MIKOSHIBA
  • Publication number: 20220203683
    Abstract: when one of two positions in a second direction intersecting the first direction is defined as a first position and the other position is defined as a second position from which the shortest distance to the partition wall is shorter than the shortest distance from the first position to the partition wall, the vibrating plate has a first portion corresponding to the first position and a second portion corresponding to the second position, and a surface of the first portion in the first direction is, in the first direction, closer than a surface of the second portion in the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Motoki TAKABE, Masaki MORI
  • Publication number: 20220194081
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes: an actuator including a piezoelectric element and a vibrating plate; and a pressure chamber substrate including a pressure chamber whose volume changes when the vibrating plate deforms, in which 0.35×FR1?FR2<1.00×FR1, where one position in a longitudinal direction of the pressure chamber is a first position, another position closer than the first position to an end of the pressure chamber in the longitudinal direction of the pressure chamber is a second position, bending rigidity of the actuator in the thickness direction at the first position is FR1, and bending rigidity of the actuator in the thickness direction at the second position is FR2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2021
    Publication date: June 23, 2022
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Motoki TAKABE, Jingling WANG
  • Patent number: 11273642
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head including a diaphragm constituting a portion of a wall surface of a pressure chamber that accommodates a liquid, and a piezoelectric element that vibrates the diaphragm. In the liquid ejecting head, the diaphragm includes a plurality of layers, and the plurality of layers include a compressive film that has compressive stress and a tensile film that has tensile stress. The compressive film and the tensile film are two layers adjacent to each other that have a largest tension difference among the plurality of layers, and an absolute value of the tension difference between the compressive film and the tensile film is 400 [N/m] or smaller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Mikoshiba, Shiro Yazaki, Toshinao Shinbo, Hitoshi Takaai
  • Publication number: 20210268798
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes a diaphragm, a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode in this order in a first direction, and ejects liquid. The second electrode includes a first portion that is next to the piezoelectric layer in the first direction and is electrically conductive. A length in the first direction is defined as a thickness. One position in a second direction intersecting with the first direction is defined as a first position. Another one position is defined as a second position that is closer to an end of the second electrode in the second direction than the first position is. Given the definition, the thickness of the first portion at the second position is less than the thickness of the first portion at the first position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Publication date: September 2, 2021
    Inventors: Motoki TAKABE, Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Masaki MORI
  • Patent number: 10926538
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head including a diaphragm constituting a portion of a wall surface of a pressure chamber that accommodates a liquid, and a piezoelectric element that vibrates the diaphragm. In the liquid ejecting head, the diaphragm includes a plurality of layers, and d/D?0.25 is satisfied where D is a thickness of the diaphragm and d is a distance between a neutral axis of the diaphragm and an interface between two adjacent layers in which a tension difference is the largest in the plurality of layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Mikoshiba, Shiro Yazaki, Toshinao Shinbo, Hitoshi Takaai
  • Patent number: 10814626
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head including a vibration plate that forms a wall surface of a pressure chamber filled with a liquid; and a piezoelectric element that vibrates the vibration plate to eject the liquid in the pressure chamber from nozzles, in which the vibration plate includes a first layer formed of silicon oxide, a second layer formed of zirconium oxide on a side opposite to the pressure chamber when viewed from the first layer, a ratio of a film thickness of the second layer to a film thickness of the first layer is 0.16 or more, and the film thickness of the second layer is 300 nm or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Mikoshiba, Katsutomo Tsukahara
  • Publication number: 20200331267
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head including a diaphragm constituting a portion of a wall surface of a pressure chamber that accommodates a liquid, and a piezoelectric element that vibrates the diaphragm. In the liquid ejecting head, the diaphragm includes a plurality of layers, and the plurality of layers include a compressive film that has compressive stress and a tensile film that has tensile stress. The compressive film and the tensile film are two layers adjacent to each other that have a largest tension difference among the plurality of layers, and an absolute value of the tension difference between the compressive film and the tensile film is 400 [N/m] or smaller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Shiro YAZAKI, Toshinao SHINBO, Hitoshi TAKAAI
  • Publication number: 20200198351
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head including a diaphragm constituting a portion of a wall surface of a pressure chamber that accommodates a liquid, and a piezoelectric element that vibrates the diaphragm. In the liquid ejecting head, the diaphragm includes a plurality of layers, and d/D?0.25 is satisfied where D is a thickness of the diaphragm and d is a distance between a neutral axis of the diaphragm and an interface between two adjacent layers in which a tension difference is the largest in the plurality of layers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Publication date: June 25, 2020
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Shiro YAZAKI, Toshinao SHINBO, Hitoshi TAKAAI
  • Publication number: 20190389215
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head including a vibration plate that forms a wall surface of a pressure chamber filled with a liquid; and a piezoelectric element that vibrates the vibration plate to eject the liquid in the pressure chamber from nozzles, in which the vibration plate includes a first layer formed of silicon oxide, a second layer formed of zirconium oxide on a side opposite to the pressure chamber when viewed from the first layer, a ratio of a film thickness of the second layer to a film thickness of the first layer is 0.16 or more, and the film thickness of the second layer is 300 nm or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2019
    Publication date: December 26, 2019
    Inventors: Masanori MIKOSHIBA, Katsutomo TSUKAHARA
  • Patent number: 9937716
    Abstract: An electronic device includes a plurality of substrates joined together in a stacked state, a space formed in one substrate out of the plurality of substrates, and a movable region configured by one face out of faces bounding the space. The movable region includes a recess indented from a space side to partway along a thickness direction of the movable region. An internal dimension of the recess in a direction perpendicular to a substrate stacking direction is larger than an internal dimension of the space in the direction perpendicular to the substrate stacking direction, and a wall bounding the space in the one substrate, and at least a portion of a bottom face of the recess, are adhered together by an adhesive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Masanori Mikoshiba, Yasuyuki Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 9724917
    Abstract: A MEMS device includes a protective substrate on which is mounted a driving circuit that drives a piezoelectric actuator and on which is formed an interconnect pattern electrically connected to the driving circuit, and a sealing substrate that includes a first opening and that is bonded to the protective substrate using an adhesive so that part of the interconnect pattern is located between the protective substrate and the sealing substrate. The interconnect pattern includes a connection portion that extends from a bonding region where the protective substrate and the sealing substrate are bonded by the adhesive to the first opening, and that has a connection region electrically connected to the driving circuit. A groove is formed in the connection portion between the connection region and a border between the bonding region and the connection portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Yasoshima, Takahiro Kamijo, Koji Aruga, Masanori Mikoshiba