Patents by Inventor Mitsuru Kurata

Mitsuru Kurata 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: 7150519
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus comprises a recording head including a discharge port for discharging ink, a first liquid chamber at the upstream side in the direction of ink flow toward the discharge port, and a second liquid chamber at the downstream side, an ink tank for containing ink to be supplied to the recording head, an ink supply tube for causing the ink tank to communicate with the recording head, a shut-off valve provided in the ink supply tube and opening or closing the ink supply tube, a cap for covering the discharge port; and a suction pump for forcedly discharging the ink in the recording head from the discharge port when the cap covers the discharge port. The shut-off valve is opened when the first and second liquid chambers are reduced to respectively desired pressures by the suction pump in a state where the cap covers the discharge port and the shut-off valve is closed, whereby the ink in the ink tank is supplied through the ink supply tube to the first and second liquid chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2006
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takeshi Kono, Mitsuru Kurata, Akihiro Yamanaka, Takeaki Shima, Tetsuto Kageyama, Itaru Watanabe, Hiroki Tajima, Toshihiro Sasaki
  • Publication number: 20050151800
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus comprises a recording head including a discharge port for discharging ink, a first liquid chamber at the upstream side in the direction of ink flow toward the discharge port, and a second liquid chamber at the downstream side, an ink tank for containing ink to be supplied to the recording head, an ink supply tube for causing the ink tank to communicate with the recording head, a shut-off valve provided in the ink supply tube and opening or closing the ink supply tube, a cap for covering the discharge port; and a suction pump for forcedly discharging the ink in the recording head from the discharge port when the cap covers the discharge port. The shut-off valve is opened when the first and second liquid chambers are reduced to respectively desired pressures by the suction pump in a state where the cap covers the discharge port and the shut-off valve is closed, whereby the ink in the ink tank is supplied through the ink supply tube to the first and second liquid chambers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2002
    Publication date: July 14, 2005
    Inventors: Takeshi Kono, Mitsuru Kurata, Akihiro Yamanaka, Takeaki Shima, Tetsuto Kageyama, Itaru Watanabe, Hiroki Tajima, Toshihiro Sasaki
  • Patent number: 6805437
    Abstract: The invention prevents drawbacks resulting from the bubble generated at the downstream side of the filter, while minimizing the waste in the ink. The recording head has a sub tank for storing ink supplied from the exterior, and a liquid chamber storing the ink supplied from the sub tank and supplying ink directly to a nozzle for ink discharge. A filter is provided between the sub tank and the liquid chamber. The liquid chamber holds ink of a predetermined amount in such a manner that the ink therein is separated by gas between the filter and the liquid chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2004
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akihiro Yamanaka, Mitsuru Kurata, Yutaka Koizumi, Hiroyuki Maeda, Takeaki Shima, Akira Goto, Takeshi Kono, Tetsuto Kageyama, Itaru Watanabe, Hiroki Tajima, Yasushi Iijima, Toshihiro Sasaki
  • Publication number: 20030227520
    Abstract: The invention is prevent drawbacks resulting from the bubble generated at the downstream side of the filter, while minimizing the waste in the ink.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2002
    Publication date: December 11, 2003
    Inventors: Akihiro Yamanaka, Mitsuru Kurata, Yutaka Koizumi, Hiroyuki Maeda, Takeaki Shima, Akira Goto, Takeshi Kono, Tetsuto Kageyama, Itaru Watanabe, Hiroki Tajima, Yasushi Iijima, Toshihiro Sasaki
  • Patent number: 6631966
    Abstract: A liquid discharge head records by generating thermal energy to discharge ink from a discharge port onto a recording medium. The head is provided with a heat dissipating substrate positioned substantially parallel and adjacent to a discharge portion substrate, and a space, which communicates with the outside air, positioned at a surface of the heat dissipating substrate which is opposite the surface of the heat dissipating substrate facing the discharge portion substrate. The space extends in the scanning direction so as to facilitate air flow through the head during carriage movement in order to dissipate heat generated by the head during recording. A cooling fan may be provided to increase the air flow and the consequent heat dissipation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Itaru Watanabe, Mitsuru Kurata, Hiroki Tajima, Takayuki Ono, Hiroaki Shirakawa
  • Patent number: 6609790
    Abstract: An ink jet head cartridge includes a recording head for ejecting ink; an ink container for containing the ink to be supplied to the recording head; an air venting opening for communication between the container and ambience to allow supply of the ink from the container to the recording head; wherein the air venting opening is constituted by an outside opening and an inside opening and a passage connecting them, the passage has a length larger than a thickness of the ink container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata, Noribumi Koitabashi, Hiromitsu Hirabayashi, Hitoshi Sugimoto, Haruo Uchida
  • Publication number: 20020149655
    Abstract: An ink jet head cartridge includes a recording head for ejecting ink; an ink container for containing the ink to be supplied to the recording head; an air venting opening for communication between the container and ambience to allow supply of the ink from the container to the recording head; wherein the air venting opening is constituted by an outside opening and an inside opening and a passage connecting them, the passage has a length larger than a thickness of the ink container.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2002
    Publication date: October 17, 2002
    Applicant: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata, Noribumi Koitabashi, Hiromitsu Hirabayashi, Hitoshi Sugimoto, Haruo Uchida
  • Patent number: 6435649
    Abstract: An ink jet recording device includes a recording head having a discharge portion which has a discharge port array of discharge ports for discharging ink to a recording medium, a wiping member engageable with the discharge portion to wipe the discharge portion, and a cleaning member engageable with the wiping member to clean the wiping member, wherein a range of the discharge port array is smaller than a width of the wiping member, and the wiping member is equal to or smaller than a width of the cleaning member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2002
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Takahashi, Kazuaki Masuda, Yoshiaki Takayanagi, Akio Suzuki, Mitsuru Kurata, Tsutomu Abe, Seiichiro Karita, Hiroshi Tajika, Noribumi Koitabashi, Haruo Uchida, Kentaro Yano, Hitoshi Sugimoto, Miyuki Matsubara
  • Patent number: 6412931
    Abstract: An ink jet head cartridge includes a recording head for ejecting ink; an ink container for containing the ink to be supplied to the recording head; an air venting opening for communication between the container and ambience to allow supply of the ink from the container to the recording head; wherein the air venting opening is constituted by an outside opening and an inside opening and a passage connecting them, the passage has a length larger than a thickness of the ink container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2002
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata, Noribumi Koitabashi, Hiromitsu Hirabayashi, Hitoshi Sugimoto, Haruo Uchida
  • Patent number: 6398358
    Abstract: An ink jet textile printing method forms an image on cloths in an image forming operation by repeating a step of applying ink on the cloths from an ink discharge port of a recording head, the recording head relatively main-scanning to form the image in a main scan direction, and a step of relatively conveying the cloths in a sub-scan direction. The method includes the steps of forming the image on the cloths by applying ink on the cloths from the recording head based on image data. The method further includes the step of temporarily stopping the image forming operation in accordance with an indication to effect a temporary halt of the image forming operation. When the temporary halt is indicated while the recording head performs a main scan in the image forming operation, the image forming operation by the main scan is completed, and then the temporary halt of the image forming operation is effected by moving the recording head to a standby position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Miyake, Tomohiro Aoki, Kazuyoshi Takahashi, Akio Suzuki, Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata, Yoshihiro Takada, Kunihiko Matsuzawa, Hideyuki Tanaami, Yutaka Udagawa, Masatoshi Ikkatai, Keiju Kuboki, Yasushi Miura, Masahiro Nishio, Yasuyuki Takanaka, Eiichi Takagi, Yoshio Komaki, Nobuhiko Ogata
  • Publication number: 20020057312
    Abstract: The invention provides a liquid discharge recording head adapted to execute recording by moving in opposed relationship to a recording medium and by discharging liquid from a discharge port, the recording head comprising a discharge portion substrate provided with thermal energy generating means capable of generating thermal energy to be used for ink discharge, a heat dissipating substrate positioned substantially parallel and adjacent to the discharge portion substrate, a space communicable with the atmospheric air, at a rear surface of the heat dissipating substrate, opposite to the surface at which the discharge portion substrate is positioned.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2001
    Publication date: May 16, 2002
    Inventors: Itaru Watanabe, Mitsuru Kurata, Hiroki Tajima, Takayuki Ono, Hiroaki Shirakawa
  • Patent number: 6257697
    Abstract: A fluid-ejecting apparatus includes: a wiping device having a wipe member for wiping an ejection surface of a fluid-ejecting head; and a washing bath storing a wash fluid for washing at least the wipe member of the wiping device. Therefore, a stable and uniform washing of the wiping device can be performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2001
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Mitsuru Kurata
  • Publication number: 20010002837
    Abstract: Recording means having integrally a recording head unit having discharge ports for discharging the ink and ink channels communicating to said discharge ports and leading the ink thereto, and an ink tank unit for storing the ink to be supplied to said recording head unit, wherein said recording head unit comprises a device for storing the parameter information concerning the ink discharge characteristics, and a protective member disposed on a side face area adjacent to said discharge port formation face for preventing the ink from flowing around.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2000
    Publication date: June 7, 2001
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Takahashi, Kazuaki Masuda, Yoshiaki Takayanagi, Akio Suzuki, Mitsuru Kurata, Tsutomu Abe, Seiichiro Karita, Hiroshi Tajika, Noribumi Koitabashi, Haruo Uchida, Kentaro Yano, Hitoshi Sugimoto, Miyuki Matsubara
  • Patent number: 6217146
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a discharge portion, the discharge portion having discharge ports arranged for discharging ink to a recording medium, an absorbing member provided in the vicinity of the discharge portion, and a wiping member engageable with the discharge portion and the absorbing member, wherein a range of the discharge port array<a width of the wiping member≦a width of the absorbing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2001
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Takahashi, Kazuaki Masuda, Yoshiaki Takayanagi, Akio Suzuki, Mitsuru Kurata, Tsutomu Abe, Seiichiro Karita, Hiroshi Tajika, Noribumi Koitabashi, Haruo Uchida, Kentaro Yano, Hitoshi Sugimoto, Miyuki Matsubara
  • Patent number: 6206497
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus, such as an ink-jet printing apparatus includes a blade for wiping a surface of a liquid ejecting head for ejecting a liquid and a device for cleaning the blade with achieving expansion of life and permitting efficient process. The apparatus achieves reduction of frequency of scrubbing contact between the blade and the liquid ejecting surface and high efficiency in recovery process associated with wiping operation and so forth. Also, by providing a washing liquid for the blade upon termination of printing, the blade may be maintained in sufficiently wetted condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2001
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasushi Miura, Mitsuru Kurata, Toshiaki Mabuchi, Yasuyuki Takanaka
  • Patent number: 6116728
    Abstract: An ink jet textile printing apparatus for performing printing by reading an original image created by a designer, converting the original image into original data represented by an electric signal, retrieving the original data for processing to be output as image data, and recording data on cloth based on the image data. The ink jet textile printing apparatus has a first ink jet recording head provided upstream of a recording position, and a second ink jet recording head provided downstream thereof, and is provided with a drying unit located between the recording heads, whereby high-quality recorded images with less bleeding can be obtained by recording on a recording area again with the second ink jet recording head after drying the recording area on the cloth recorded by the first ink jet recording head with the drying unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2000
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Miyake, Tomohiro Aoki, Kazuyoshi Takahashi, Akio Suzuki, Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata, Yoshihiro Takada, Kunihiko Matsuzawa, Hideyuki Tanaami, Yutaka Udagawa, Masatoshi Ikkatai, Keiju Kuboki, Yasushi Miura, Masahiro Nishio, Yasuyuki Takanaka, Eiichi Takagi, Yoshio Komaki, Nobuhiko Ogata
  • Patent number: 6086192
    Abstract: An ink jet head cartridge includes a recording head for ejecting ink; an ink container for containing the ink to be supplied to the recording head; an air venting opening for communication between the container and ambience to allow supply of the ink from the container to the recording head; wherein the air venting opening is constituted by an outside opening and an inside opening and a passage connecting the openings, the passage has a length larger than a thickness of the ink container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2000
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata, Noribumi Koitabashi, Hiromitsu Hirabayashi, Hitoshi Sugimoto, Haruo Uchida
  • Patent number: 6068374
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes conveying device for conveying a printing medium in the substantially horizontal direction in the printing range where a printing agent is applied to the printing medium while a printing plane of the printing medium orients in the upward direction, a printer section including a plurality of printing heads located opposite to a platen portion of the printing range for applying the printing agent to the printing medium in the downward direction so as to form printed images on the printing medium by activating the printing heads, and supporting device for slidably displacing the printer section relative to the platen portion in the conveying direction of the printing medium conveyed by the conveying device, between the position where the printer section is located opposite to the platen portion and the non-opposing position spaced away from the preceding position. With such construction, a maintenance service can easily be conducted for the conveying device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2000
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata, Yasushi Miura, Yasuyuki Takanaka, Kazunari Nishimoto, Yoshiko Miyashita, Takeshi Irizawa
  • Patent number: 6017111
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus avoids the influence of mist generated by ejection from a liquid ejecting head without reference to the size of the printing width and the duration of the working time. A suction device for removing the ink mist generated and floating in a frame body is connected to the frame body surrounding the maximum scanning range of the liquid ejecting head with the exception of the recording medium side. The suction device includes an exhausting fan for exhausting air from the frame body, pipes for connecting the exhausting fan to the frame body, and a filter disposed at the intermediate part of the pipes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2000
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Mitsuru Kurata
  • Patent number: 6007177
    Abstract: An image formation apparatus comprises a cap to cover the discharge ports of a recording head for discharging ink for the formation of images; rinsing liquid supply means for supplying rinsing liquid for rinsing the cap; and a rinsing liquid receptacle arranged to surround the cap for receiving and retaining the rinsing liquid. With the structure thus arranged, the image formation apparatus is able to prevent ink from being dried in the recording head, and at the same time, to rinse out ink and other dust particles adhering to the discharge port surface of the recording head, and to the cap, a member constituting the device to recover the discharging condition of the apparatus, thus preventing the adhesion of extracted substance resulting from the evaporation of water content in ink for the maintenance of stable ink discharges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1999
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuyuki Takanaka, Mitsuru Kurata, Tokihide Ebata