Patents by Inventor Masatomo YAMAGUCHI

Masatomo YAMAGUCHI 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: 20240010012
    Abstract: A roll medium is accommodated in a medium cassette. The roll medium has a configuration where a continuous medium is rolled in a roll shape. The roll medium rotates in a direction that the roll medium is unrolled as the continuous medium unrolled from the roll medium is conveyed in a conveying direction away from the roll medium. The medium case includes a supporter which rotatably supports the roll medium in contact with an outer peripheral surface of a lower part of the roll medium in at least one support position on each of both sides between which a lower end of the roll medium is sandwiched, and a passage through which the continuous medium unrolled from the roll medium passes. The passage is formed below at least the support position located on a most downstream side with respect to the conveying direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2023
    Publication date: January 11, 2024
    Inventor: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI
  • Patent number: 11806991
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a feeding tray inserted into and pulled out from the housing, an image forming unit, and first and second guide members. The feeding tray includes a first accommodation part in which a roll body having a configuration where a sheet-shaped medium is rolled in a roll shape is accommodated and a second accommodation part in which stacked sheet-shaped media are accommodated. The first guide member guides a sheet-shaped medium to a conveying path. The second guide member guides a roll medium unrolled from the roll body to the conveying path. The second guide member is movable between a guide position for guiding the roll medium to the conveying path, and a retreat position further distant from the first guide member than the guide position and where the second guide member does not interfere with a sheet-shaped medium accommodated in the second accommodation part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masatomo Yamaguchi, Satoshi Miyase, Yuya Tatematsu, Hideaki Yoshimune, Gakuro Kanazawa
  • Publication number: 20230286300
    Abstract: An image recording apparatus includes a conveyer configured to convey a sheet-like medium in a conveying direction along a conveying path, a recorder configured to record an image on the sheet-like medium conveyed by the conveyer, a cutter unit including a cutter and configured to cut the sheet-like medium in the conveying path, a carriage to which the cutter unit is detachably attached, and a lever swingably attached to the carriage. The lever is configured to swing between a fixing position for fixing the cutter unit to the carriage and a releasing position for releasing the fixing of cutter unit to the carriage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI, Hideaki YOSHIMUNE
  • Publication number: 20230286296
    Abstract: An image recording apparatus includes a conveyer, a cutter, a recording engine, a jam handling detector, and a controller. The conveyer includes a roller pair disposed downstream of the cutter in a conveying direction, configured to nip the recording medium, and configured to rotate in a forward rotation direction to convey the recording medium in the conveying direction. The controller conveys the recording medium such that a leading edge moves from upstream to downstream of the roller pair in the conveying direction after the jam handling detector detecting that a jam handling has been executed, cuts the recording medium conveyed to a position where the leading edge is downstream of the roller pair with the cutter while nipping the leading edge with the roller pair, and does not execute a skew correction when executing the post-jam conveyance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Inventors: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI, Yuya TATEMATSU
  • Publication number: 20230286771
    Abstract: An image recording apparatus includes a conveyer configured to convey a sheet-like medium along a conveying path in a conveying direction, a recorder configured to record an image on the sheet-like medium conveyed by the conveyer, a cutter unit including one or more cutters and configured to cut the sheet-like medium in the conveying path, and a scanning mechanism configured to move at least one of the one or more cutters included in the cutter unit in a scanning direction parallel to the sheet-like medium lying along the conveying path and intersecting with the conveying direction. The scanning mechanism includes a support member extending in the scanning direction and configured to support the cutter unit. The conveyer includes a path member fixed to the support member and defining a portion of the conveying path upstream of the cutter unit in the conveying direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2023
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI, Yuya TATEMATSU
  • Patent number: 11738577
    Abstract: A roll medium is accommodated in a medium cassette. The roll medium has a configuration where a continuous medium is rolled in a roll shape. The roll medium rotates in a direction that the roll medium is unrolled as the continuous medium unrolled from the roll medium is conveyed in a conveying direction away from the roll medium. The medium case includes a supporter which rotatably supports the roll medium in contact with an outer peripheral surface of a lower part of the roll medium in at least one support position on each of both sides between which a lower end of the roll medium is sandwiched, and a passage through which the continuous medium unrolled from the roll medium passes. The passage is formed below at least the support position located on a most downstream side with respect to the conveying direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masatomo Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 11701902
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a housing, a tray detachably attachable to the housing and having a storage to store a sheet-formed medium, an image forming device to form an image on the sheet-formed medium, a conveyer assembly to convey the sheet-formed medium from the storage along a conveyer path, and a cutter to cut the sheet-formed medium at a predetermined position in the conveyer path, is provided. The conveyer assembly includes a feeder roller to feed the sheet-formed medium from the storage to the conveyer path, and an intermediate roller pair arranged in the conveyer path between the feeder roller and the image forming device. The intermediate roller pair is supported by the housing and is configured to nip the sheet-formed medium. The predetermined position is located in the conveyer path between the feeder roller and the intermediate roller pair.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masatomo Yamaguchi
  • Publication number: 20230191809
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a conveyor to convey a sheet medium, a print engine to form an image on the sheet medium, a cutter to cut the sheet medium, a signal output device, and a controller. The cutter includes a first blade, a second blade, and a moving device to move at least one of the first and second blades. The controller receives, from the signal output device, a signal indicating a variation over time in a value correlated with a moving load for the at least one blade, and determines, based on the received signal, which state the sheet medium is in among a plurality of states including a first state where the sheet medium is cut normally, a second state where there is an abnormality in cutting the sheet medium, and a third state where there is a different abnormality in cutting the sheet medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2022
    Publication date: June 22, 2023
    Inventors: Hideaki YOSHIMUNE, Masatomo YAMAGUCHI, Yuya TATEMATSU, Takashi SUZUKI, Yuto CHIBA
  • Publication number: 20230129092
    Abstract: A recording apparatus including: an apparatus main body; a conveyance mechanism; a recorder; two first contact portions disposed in different positions in a conveyance direction of the recording medium and contactable with one surface of the recording medium; a cut mechanism configured to cut the recording medium, the cut mechanism being disposed between the two first contact portions and including a first blade, a second blade, and a second contact portion contactable with the other surface of the recording medium; and a cover configured to take an open position and a closed position in which a conveyance path of the recording medium is formed between the cover and the apparatus main body, the cover being formed with a groove, and the first blade being located in the groove when the cover is located in the closed position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Publication date: April 27, 2023
    Inventor: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI
  • Patent number: 11602936
    Abstract: A controller extracts an image resolution in a first direction of image data stored in a memory; determines, based on the image data, whether a code image is included in an image to be printed on a recording medium, the code image being formed with a plurality of print regions and a plurality of non-print regions; in response to determining that the code image is included, determines whether a print resolution in the first direction is lower than the extracted image resolution in the first direction; in response to determining that the print resolution is lower than the extracted image resolution, updates the print resolution in the first direction with a value equal to or higher than the extracted image resolution in the first direction; and controls a print engine to perform printing on the recording medium with the updated print resolution in the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masatomo Yamaguchi, Shoko Kodama
  • Patent number: 11427019
    Abstract: A recording apparatus including: an apparatus main body; a conveyance mechanism; a recorder; two first contact portions disposed in different positions in a conveyance direction of the recording medium and contactable with one surface of the recording medium; a cut mechanism configured to cut the recording medium, the cut mechanism being disposed between the two first contact portions and including a first blade, a second blade, and a second contact portion contactable with the other surface of the recording medium; and a cover configured to take an open position and a closed position in which a conveyance path of the recording medium is formed between the cover and the apparatus main body, the cover being formed with a groove, and the first blade being located in the groove when the cover is located in the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masatomo Yamaguchi
  • Publication number: 20220204299
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a feeding tray capable of being inserted into and pulled out from the housing, a feed roller, and one or more detection units. The feeding tray includes a first accommodation part in which a roll body having a configuration where a sheet-shaped medium is rolled in a roll shape is accommodated and a second accommodation part in which a plurality of sheet-shaped media are accommodated in a state of being stacked. The feed roller feeds a sheet-shaped medium from the feeding tray toward a conveying path. The image forming unit forms an image on a sheet-shaped medium provided in the conveying path. The one or more detection units detect whether a sheet-shaped medium is arranged in a predetermined position in the feeding tray.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventors: Masatomo Yamaguchi, Yuya Tatematsu, Hironori Takasaki
  • Publication number: 20220203710
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a feeding tray inserted into and pulled out from the housing, an image forming unit, and first and second guide members. The feeding tray includes a first accommodation part in which a roll body having a configuration where a sheet-shaped medium is rolled in a roll shape is accommodated and a second accommodation part in which stacked sheet-shaped media are accommodated. The first guide member guides a sheet-shaped medium to a conveying path. The second guide member guides a roll medium unrolled from the roll body to the conveying path. The second guide member is movable between a guide position for guiding the roll medium to the conveying path, and a retreat position further distant from the first guide member than the guide position and where the second guide member does not interfere with a sheet-shaped medium accommodated in the second accommodation part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventors: Masatomo Yamaguchi, Satoshi Miyase, Yuya Tatematsu, Hideaki Yoshimune, Gakuro Kanazawa
  • Publication number: 20220204290
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a housing; a feed tray insertable into and removable from the housing and accommodating a sheet-shaped medium; a feed roller feeding the sheet-shaped medium; an image forming device; and a movement mechanism. The feed tray includes: a first accommodation portion accommodating a roll body, a first sheet-shaped medium being rolled in a roll shape as the roll body; and a second accommodation portion accommodating a second sheet-shaped medium which is shorter than the first sheet-shaped medium. The movement mechanism moves to a first position where the feed roller contacts the first sheet-shaped medium unrolled from the roll body accommodated in the first accommodation portion and a second position where the feed roller contacts the second sheet-shaped medium accommodated in the second accommodation portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventors: Yuya Tatematsu, Masatomo Yamaguchi, Satoshi Miyase, Kengo Noda, Gakuro Kanazawa, Nao Morimoto
  • Publication number: 20220169051
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, having a housing, a tray detachably attachable to the housing and having a storage to store a sheet-formed medium, an image forming device to form an image on the sheet-formed medium, a conveyer assembly to convey the sheet-formed medium from the storage along a conveyer path, and a cutter to cut the sheet-formed medium at a predetermined position in the conveyer path, is provided. The conveyer assembly includes a feeder roller to feed the sheet-formed medium from the storage to the conveyer path, and an intermediate roller pair arranged in the conveyer path between the feeder roller and the image forming device. The intermediate roller pair is supported by the housing and is configured to nip the sheet-formed medium. The predetermined position is located in the conveyer path between the feeder roller and the intermediate roller pair.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Publication date: June 2, 2022
    Inventor: Masatomo Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 11286126
    Abstract: A sheet conveyer, including a body with a conveyer path, a first roller, a second roller, a roller holder supporting the second roller rotatably, an urging member urging the roller holder, and a guide member, is provided. The guide member is supported rotatably by the body at a position on a side opposite to the first roller across the second roller is pivotable between a closed position and an open position. The roller holder is movable between a first position, where the second roller contacts the first roller, and a second position, where the second roller is separated from the first roller and in which the roller holder contacts the guide member located at the open position. The roller holder located at the second position is restricted by the guide member from moving farther from the first position. The urging member urges the roller holder toward the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masatomo Yamaguchi, Hirotaka Aoki
  • Patent number: 11235569
    Abstract: A controller determines: based on image data, whether both a code image and a non-code image are included in an image to be recorded in a passing region of a recording medium; and in response to determining that both images are included, during a first relative movement of a head, performs first separate recording processing of controlling the head and a motor to record at least part of a portion of the code image included in the passing region without recording a portion of the non-code image included in the passing region; and during a second relative movement which is performed after the first relative movement, performs second separate recording processing of controlling the head and the motor to record at least part of the portion of the non-code image included in the passing region without recording the portion of the code image included in the passing region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masatomo Yamaguchi
  • Publication number: 20210300090
    Abstract: A roll medium is accommodated in a medium cassette. The roll medium has a configuration where a continuous medium is rolled in a roll shape. The medium cassette has a supporter including two sets of support roller pairs which rotatably support the roll medium. The two sets of the support roller pairs are in contact with an outer peripheral surface of a lower part of the roll medium at each of end positions, where a lower end of the roll medium is sandwiched between the support roller pair, of the roll medium in a direction of a rotation axis of the roll medium, and are not in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the lower part of the roll medium at a central portion of the roll medium in the direction of the rotation axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2021
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Inventor: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20210300091
    Abstract: A roll medium is accommodated in a medium cassette. The roll medium has a configuration where a continuous medium is rolled in a roll shape. The roll medium rotates in a direction that the roll medium is unrolled as the continuous medium unrolled from the roll medium is conveyed in a conveying direction away from the roll medium. The medium case includes a supporter which rotatably supports the roll medium in contact with an outer peripheral surface of a lower part of the roll medium in at least one support position on each of both sides between which a lower end of the roll medium is sandwiched, and a passage through which the continuous medium unrolled from the roll medium passes. The passage is formed below at least the support position located on a most downstream side with respect to the conveying direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2021
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Inventor: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20210300083
    Abstract: A recording apparatus including: an apparatus main body; a conveyance mechanism; a recorder; two first contact portions disposed in different positions in a conveyance direction of the recording medium and contactable with one surface of the recording medium; a cut mechanism configured to cut the recording medium, the cut mechanism being disposed between the two first contact portions and including a first blade, a second blade, and a second contact portion contactable with the other surface of the recording medium; and a cover configured to take an open position and a closed position in which a conveyance path of the recording medium is formed between the cover and the apparatus main body, the cover being formed with a groove, and the first blade being located in the groove when the cover is located in the closed position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2021
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Inventor: Masatomo YAMAGUCHI