Patents by Inventor Minoru Usui

Minoru Usui 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: 6929359
    Abstract: An ink tank cartridge for use in an ink jet recorder has a container having exterior walls, a porous member is stored in the container, an ink supply port that extends through one of the exterior walls of the body to supply ink to the exterior of the cartridge, and a packing member, disposed within the ink supply port and having an opening therethrough and a rib formed on a upper surface. A pressing member may be provided to bias the packing member against an inner surface of the ink supply port. The ink tank cartridge can be assembled to limit the occurrence of air bubbles in the ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Hara, Minoru Usui, Kouichi Toba, Takao Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20050168549
    Abstract: An ink cartridge comprising a container body 3 housing an ink absorbing member 6? so as to absorb ink, a lid member 4, and a spacer 30 pressing the ink absorbing member 6? between the lid member 4 and the ink absorbing member 6?. It is possible to decrease the volume of the ink absorbing member 6? without changing structure in the vicinity of an ink supply port by using the same shape of a container body 3 and a lid member 4.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2005
    Publication date: August 4, 2005
    Inventors: Satoshi Shinada, Minoru Usui, Takahiro Naka, Hisashi Koike, Tomio Yokoyama, Yasuhiko Kamijo, Koichi Toba, Takeo Seino, Yasuhiro Ogura, Takayuki Aizawa
  • Publication number: 20050146576
    Abstract: An ink jet type printing apparatus in which an ink supply needle is located near one side in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocated directions of a carriage, a circuit board is mounted on a wall of an ink cartridge in the vicinity of the side on which an ink supply port is formed and plural contacts for connecting to external control means are formed on the exposed surface of the circuit board.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2005
    Publication date: July 7, 2005
    Inventors: Satoshi Shinada, Fujio Akahane, Minoru Usui, Takao Kobayashi, Makoto Matsuzaki
  • Patent number: 6908184
    Abstract: An ink cartridge for an ink jet printing apparatus having a printhead which ejects ink droplets onto a recording medium and an ink supply needle introducing ink to the printhead, the ink cartridge having a substantially rectangular housing containing ink therein, the housing having a first outer wall and a second outer wall which is substantially perpendicular to the first outer wall; an ink supply port formed in the first wall for directing ink in the housing to the printhead; a valve mechanism arranged in the ink supply port including a valve seat allowing the ink supply needle to pass therethrough; a valve body movable along the axis of the ink supply port; and an elastic member biasing the valve body against the valve seat, and a memory device for storing information relating to ink mounted on the second wall of the housing and substantially in parallel therewith, the memory device being formed in the vicinity of the ink supply port, which wall directing in parallel with a direction along which the ink su
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Satoshi Shinada, Minoru Usui, Takahiro Naka, Takeo Seino, Koichi Toba
  • Patent number: 6902262
    Abstract: Actuator units independently dedicated to nozzles divided into a plurality of groups are fixed to a common flow path unit having the nozzles formed therein with through holes aligned with one another. Heads of various types can be formed by using the actuator units of the same design only by changing the mode of arrangement of the nozzles in accordance with the purpose.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Tanaka, Koji Watanabe, Tomoaki Abe, Takayuki Ishii, Naomi Shirakawa, Koichi Toba, Minoru Usui, Shinri Sakai, Kohei Kitahara, Hideaki Sonehara
  • Patent number: 6899417
    Abstract: An ink cartridge containing a container body 3 housing an ink absorbing member 6? so as to absorb ink, a lid member 4, and a spacer 30 pressing the ink absorbing member 6? between the lid member 4 and ink absorbing member 6?. It is possible to decrease the volume of the ink absorbing member 6? without changing structure in the vicinity of an ink supply port by using the same shape of a container body 3 and a lid member 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Satoshi Shinada, Minoru Usui, Takahiro Naka, Hisashi Koike, Tomio Yokoyama, Yasuhiko Kamijo, Koichi Toba, Takeo Seino, Yasuhiro Ogura, Takayuki Aizawa
  • Patent number: 6893117
    Abstract: Actuator units independently dedicated to nozzles divided into a plurality of groups are fixed to a common flow path unit having the nozzles formed therein with through holes aligned with one another. Heads of various types can be formed by using the actuator units of the same design only by changing the mode of arrangement of the nozzles in accordance with the purpose.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Tanaka, Koji Watanabe, Tomoaki Abe, Takayuki Ishii, Naomi Shirakawa, Koichi Toba, Minoru Usui, Shinri Sakai, Kohei Kitahara, Hideaki Sonehara
  • Patent number: 6886927
    Abstract: An ink cartridge for a printing apparatus providing ink to a print head through a tapered ink supply needle and removably attached to the print head. The ink cartridge includes an ink chamber for containing ink, an ink supply port, a packing member and a valve device. The ink supply port supplies ink from the ink chamber to the print head of the printing apparatus, the ink supply port comprising an external opening. The packing member is provided in the ink supply port and forms an ink channel for allowing a flow of ink. The packing member seals the ink supply needle of the printing apparatus by fitting therewith. The valve device is contained in the ink supply port and elastically abuts against the packing member. The valve device selectively opens and closes the ink channel in conjunction with the ink supply needle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Satoshi Shinada, Takeo Seino, Hisashi Miyazawa, Koichi Toba, Takahiro Naka, Minoru Usui, Atsushi Kobayashi, Hitoshi Hayakawa
  • Patent number: 6874863
    Abstract: A liquid ejection unit is constituted by including a flow path unit comprising a nozzle plate, a flow path forming plate and a sealing plate, the unit is attached to a head holder, at least two of first liquid ejection units are aligned in a direction of nozzle arrays, a second liquid ejection unit having a shorter length in the first direction than the first liquid ejection unit is arranged at a discontinuous portion of the nozzle arrays between the first liquid ejection units by being shifted from an alignment of the first ejection liquid units in a second direction and a single unit is formed by the liquid ejection units such that the nozzle arrays constitute a long nozzle group for ejecting the same kind of a liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Fujio Akahane
  • Patent number: 6874095
    Abstract: The processor, upon fetching a sleep command, stops its own operation and outputs an internal power-down signal. The power-down control circuit outputs, upon receiving the internal power-down signal from the processor, a control signal to put a volatile semiconductor memory connected to the system bus into a self refresh mode. Thus, the processor can simply fetch the sleep command to put the semiconductor memory into the self refresh mode. Since system programs need not include any processing program for putting the semiconductor memory into the self refresh mode, the software processing can be prevented from being complicated. As a result, it is possible to reduce the burden on the program developers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2005
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventor: Minoru Usui
  • Publication number: 20050057626
    Abstract: An ink cartridge (1) for supplying the ink in an ink reserving chamber (3) via an ink supply port (4) into a recording head (21) has a differential pressure valve mechanism (5) disposed between an ink flow port (7) and the ink supply port (4) in the ink reserving chamber (3), whereby the ink is supplied an adequate amount to the recording head (21) by opening or closing the differential pressure valve mechanism (5) in accordance with an ink pressure of the recording head (21). As a result, it is possible to supply the ink at a substantially constant pressure to the recording head without regard to the variation in the amount of ink or the movement of the carriage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2004
    Publication date: March 17, 2005
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Hisashi Miyazawa
  • Publication number: 20050057616
    Abstract: An ink jet recording head has an ink passage unit (1) formed by superposing a nozzle plate (3) with a plurality of nozzles (2) and an ink passage plate (8). The ink passage plate (8) has first and a second surface (8a, 8b), and is provided with a plurality of pressure producing chambers (5) connected to the plurality of nozzles (2), and an ink reservoir (7) communicating with the pressure producing chambers (5) by means of ink inlet ports (6). A cover plate (11) is closely joined to the first surface (8a) of the ink passage plate (8). The cover plate (11) is deformed elastically by piezoelectric vibrators (10) so as to apply pressure to the ink contained in the pressure producing chambers (5). The ink passage plate (8) is a metal sheet (21) having first and second surfaces (8a, 8b) of the ink passage plate (8). A through hole (20) for the ink reservoir (7) is formed from the first surface to the second surface in the metal sheet (21).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2004
    Publication date: March 17, 2005
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Tomoaki Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Publication number: 20050036009
    Abstract: Actuator units independently dedicated to nozzles divided into a plurality of groups are fixed to a common flow path unit having the nozzles formed therein with through holes aligned with one another. Heads of various types can be formed by using the actuator units of the same design only by changing the mode of arrangement of the nozzles in accordance with the purpose.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2004
    Publication date: February 17, 2005
    Inventors: Yuji Tanaka, Koji Watanabe, Tomoaki Abe, Takayuki Ishii, Naomi Shirakawa, Koichi Toba, Minoru Usui, Shinri Sakai, Kohei Kitahara, Hideaki Sonehara
  • Patent number: 6854834
    Abstract: An ink tank cartridge for use in an ink jet recorder has a container having exterior walls, a porous member is stored in the container, an ink supply port that extends through one of the exterior walls of the body to supply ink to the exterior of the cartridge, and a packing member, disposed within the ink supply port and having an opening therethrough and a rib formed on a upper surface. A pressing member may be provided to bias the packing member against an inner surface of the ink supply port. The ink tank cartridge can be assembled to limit the occurrence of air bubbles in the ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Hara, Minoru Usui, Kouichi Toba, Takao Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 6836940
    Abstract: A process for producing a laminated ink-jet recording head including the steps of forming a titanium layer across a surface of a diaphragm, and forming a layer of a piezoelectric material on the titanium layer by a hydrothermal method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Masato Shimada, Masami Murai, Kouji Sumi, Tsutomu Nishiwaki
  • Patent number: 6837575
    Abstract: An angled portion that is concentric with respect to an ink passing port (4) is formed in a central region (7) of a membrane portion (2) to function as an elasticity providing portion, whereby the influence produced when a thick portion is injection molded at the periphery is removed from affecting elasticity of a membrane valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Minoru Usui
  • Publication number: 20040263591
    Abstract: An ink tank cartridge for use in an ink jet recorder has a container having exterior walls, a porous member is stored in the container, an ink supply port that extends through one of the exterior walls of the body to supply ink to the exterior of the cartridge, and a packing member, disposed within the ink supply port and having an opening therethrough and a rib formed on a upper surface. A pressing member may be provided to bias the packing member against an inner surface of the ink supply port. The ink tank cartridge can be assembled to limit the occurrence of air bubbles in the tank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2004
    Publication date: December 30, 2004
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Hara, Minoru Usui, Kouichi Toba, Takao Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20040239737
    Abstract: An ink tank cartridge for use in an ink jet recorder has a container having exterior walls, a porous member is stored in the container, an ink supply port that extends through one of the exterior walls of the body to supply ink to the exterior of the cartridge, and a packing member, disposed within the ink supply port and having an opening therethrough and a rib formed on a upper surface. A pressing member may be provided to bias the packing member against an inner surface of the ink supply port. The ink tank cartridge can be assembled to limit the occurrence of air bubbles in the ink.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2004
    Publication date: December 2, 2004
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Hara, Minoru Usui, Kouichi Toba, Takao Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20040233260
    Abstract: An ink cartridge for a printing apparatus providing ink to a print head through a tapered ink supply needle and removably attached to the print head. The ink cartridge comprises an ink chamber for containing ink, an ink supply port, a packing member and a valve device. The ink supply port supplies ink from the ink chamber to the print head of the printing apparatus, the ink supply port comprising an external opening. The packing member is provided in the ink supply port and forms an ink channel for allowing a flow of ink. The packing member seals the ink supply needle of the printing apparatus by fitting therewith. The valve device is contained in the ink supply port and elastically abuts against the packing member. The valve device selectively opens and closes the ink channel in conjunction with the ink supply needle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2004
    Publication date: November 25, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoshi Shinada, Takeo Seino, Hisashi Miyazawa, Koichi Toba, Takahiro Naka, Minoru Usui, Atsushi Kobayashi, Hitoshi Hayakawa
  • Publication number: 20040226361
    Abstract: A liquid detection device attached on a liquid container for detecting a liquid consumption status of the liquid contained in the liquid container, the liquid detection device including a vibrating section symmetrical about a center thereof, and at least one electrode electrically connecting with said vibrating section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2004
    Publication date: November 18, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Kenji Tsukada, Munehide Kanaya