Patents by Inventor Naoki Sudo

Naoki Sudo 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: 20110316916
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a recording head that has a first column of nozzles, in which nozzles that eject dye ink are provided in line in a sub-scanning direction intersecting a main scanning direction of the recording head and recording paper, and a second column of nozzles, in which nozzles that eject pigment ink are provided in line in parallel to the first column of nozzles, which are disposed side by side in the main scanning direction. The liquid ejecting apparatus also includes a control section that adjusts an ejection amount of at least one of the dye ink and the pigment ink by changing a driving signal in accordance with the landing sequence of the dye ink and the pigment ink on the recording paper.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2011
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junichiro Matsushita, Naoki Sudo
  • Publication number: 20110310150
    Abstract: A printing device performs band printing during two-way printing, wherein the band printing uses black pigment ink and dye ink. In this printing device, in an advancing printed area for which a print head moves in an advancing direction, pigment ink dots are formed first and dye ink dots are formed second. In a retreating printed area for which the print head moves in a retreating direction, dye ink dots are formed first and pigment ink dots are formed second.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoki SUDO, Mai KUBOTA, Akito SATO
  • Patent number: 8070256
    Abstract: An ink jet head includes (A) a first black nozzle column having a plurality of nozzles arranged at a predetermined pitch in a transportation direction of a medium and discharging black ink, (B) a second black nozzle column having a plurality of nozzles arranged at the predetermined pitch in the transportation direction and located at positions shifted from the plurality of nozzles of the first black nozzle column in the transportation direction and discharging the black ink, and (C) a color nozzle column having a plurality of nozzles arranged at the predetermined pitch in the transportation direction and located at the same positions as the plurality of nozzles of the second black nozzle column in the transportation direction and discharging different colors of ink from different groups of nozzles thereof, each group including a predetermined number of nozzles consecutively disposed in the transportation direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Naoki Sudo
  • Publication number: 20110285774
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a printing device, wherein the printing device uses ink including pigment ink and dye ink to form a printed image on a print medium, and discharges an ink quantity according to a voltage value of a drive voltage to form ink dots on the print medium. In this printing device, the voltage value of the drive voltage for creating ink dots is corrected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Publication date: November 24, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mai KUBOTA, Naoki SUDO, Akito SATO
  • Patent number: 8013881
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus for forming a multicolored image on a recording medium includes: a printing head for ejecting a plurality of colors; a head driving section that performs a main scanning for moving the printing head in a main scanning direction; a transporting section that transports the recording medium in a sub-scanning direction crossing the main scanning direction; and a dot control section that controls the head driving section and the transporting section so as to form an image on the recording medium by ejecting the liquids on the recording medium from the nozzle while repeatedly performing the main scanning for moving the printing head in the main scanning direction and a sub-scanning for transporting the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiro Yuda, Bunji Ishimoto, Akito Sato, Takeshi Tanoue, Naoki Sudo
  • Publication number: 20110175958
    Abstract: A fluid ejecting apparatus includes a head that is provided with a first-nozzle-row and a second-nozzle-row, a platen that is provided with a plurality of convex-portions, and a control unit repeats an operation of ejecting fluid from the nozzles moving in two directions of a forward-path and a backward-path. The control unit adjusts the ejecting time such that, at the medium of the convex-portions, an amount-of-deviation in the movement-direction of the dots formed on the forward-path and the backward-path by the first-nozzle-row is less than an amount-of-deviation of the dots formed on the forward-path and backward-path by the second-nozzle-row. In the ejection operation, and such that the position in the movement-direction of the dots formed by the second-nozzle-row is a position opposite to the side on which the head moves in the movement-direction with respect to the position in the movement-direction of the dots formed by the first-nozzle-row.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2011
    Publication date: July 21, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akito Sato, Tomohiro Yuda, Takahide Miyashita, Naoki Sudo, Mai Kubota, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Patent number: 7954923
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a printing head that ejects liquid to form dots on a recording medium; a head driving section that performs a main scanning for the printing head; a transporting section that performs a sub-scanning for the recording medium; an image forming section that forms an image, a first dot formation area and a second dot formation area; an overlap control section that performs overlap control for intermittently forming dots on the first and second dot formation areas so as to make the second dot formation area overlap with the first dot formation area and fill spaces between the dots intermittently formed on the first dot formation area; and a cancellation section that cancel the overlap control when a blank area exists in an image and a nozzle forming at least one of the first dot formation area and the second dot formation area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akito Sato, Bunji Ishimoto, Tomohiro Yuda, Takeshi Tanoue, Naoki Sudo
  • Patent number: 7942487
    Abstract: A remaining amount of liquid contained in each of a plurality of cartridges is detected. When a small remaining amount is detected, information relating to the cartridge with the small remaining amount is transmitted. A substitute cartridge is determined based on the transmitted information, and liquid ejection data for the substitute cartridge is generated. An expected consumption amount of liquid contained in the substitute cartridge is calculated based on the liquid ejection data. A difference between the remaining amounts of liquid in the cartridge with the small remaining amount and in the substitute cartridge is calculated based on the expected consumption amount and information relating to the remaining amount of liquid. It is determined whether the calculated difference is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Hirokazu Nunokawa
  • Publication number: 20110085000
    Abstract: There is provided a technique for suppressing the image quality of a printed image. A printing apparatus including: a first nozzle row in which nozzles ejecting dye ink of a certain color are arranged in a predetermined direction; a second nozzle row in which nozzles ejecting pigment ink of the certain color are arranged in the predetermined direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2010
    Publication date: April 14, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Mai Kubota, Akito Sato, Tomohiro Yuda, Takahide Miyashita, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Patent number: 7922275
    Abstract: A remaining amount detecting step is performed by a first controller, in which a remaining amount of a liquid contained is detected for each of a plurality of cartridges containing the liquid to be ejected from nozzles. An information transmitting step is performed by the first controller, in which when the remaining amount of the liquid in at least one of the cartridges is detected to be equal to or lower than a predetermined amount, information relating to a cartridge with a small remaining amount is transmitted, the cartridge with the small remaining amount corresponding to the at least one of the cartridges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Hirokazu Nunokawa
  • Publication number: 20110063347
    Abstract: A printing apparatus including: first nozzles which discharge a dye ink; second nozzles which discharge a pigment ink of the same color as the dye ink; and a controller which controls the discharge of the inks from the first nozzles and the second nozzles, wherein the controller executes a first discharging operation for discharging the dye ink from the first nozzles and then discharging the pigment ink from the second nozzles at predetermined positions on a medium and executes a second discharging operation for discharging the pigment ink from the second nozzles and then discharging the dye ink from the first nozzles at positions different from the predetermined positions on the medium, and wherein a ratio of the dye ink to the pigment ink in the amount of ink discharged in the second discharging operation per unit area is less than that in the first discharging operation per unit area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2010
    Publication date: March 17, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mai Kubota, Tomohiro Yuda, Takahide Miyashita, Naoki Sudo, Akito Sato, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Publication number: 20110057972
    Abstract: A printing apparatus including a first nozzle that ejects dye ink; a second nozzle that ejects pigment ink of a color that is the same as the dye ink; and a controller that controls ejection of ink from the first nozzle and the second nozzle. The controller performs a first ejection operation, in which the pigment ink is ejected from the second nozzle after the dye ink is ejected from the first nozzle, for a predetermined position on a medium and performs a second ejection operation, in which the dye ink is ejected from the first nozzle after the pigment ink is ejected from the second nozzle, for a second position on the medium. An amount of the pigment ink per unit area that is ejected in the second ejection operation is made smaller than an amount of the pigment ink per the unit area in the first ejection operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2010
    Publication date: March 10, 2011
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mai Kubota, Bunji Ishimoto, Akito Sato, Tomohiro Yuda, Naoki Sudo, Takahide Miyashita
  • Patent number: 7654526
    Abstract: A correction method of a transport amount includes: detecting a movement amount of a medium while transporting the medium using a transport roller, the transport roller being for transporting the medium by rotating, an actual movement amount of the medium, when the transport roller transports the medium by a predetermined transport amount, changing in accordance with a rotational position of the rotating transport roller; specifying the rotational position of the transport roller based on the detected movement amount, and transporting property information of the transport roller, which indicates a change in the actual movement amount according to the rotational position; and correcting the transport amount when the transport roller transports the medium after the rotational position has been specified, based on rotational position information, which indicates the specified rotational position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Hirokazu Nunokawa
  • Patent number: 7645016
    Abstract: A liquid ejection method includes: (A) moving nozzles relative to a medium, (B) ejecting liquid from the nozzles while the nozzles are moving relative to the medium, (C) forming a first pattern on the medium with the liquid ejected from the nozzles at either one of a timing delayed from a certain reference timing by a predetermined interval and a timing preceding the certain reference timing by a predetermined interval while the nozzles are moving in a certain direction with respect to the medium, and (D) when the first pattern has been formed on the medium with the liquid ejected from the nozzles at the timing delayed by the predetermined interval, forming a second pattern on the medium with the liquid ejected from the nozzles at a timing delayed from the certain reference timing by an interval equal to the predetermined interval while the nozzles are moving in a direction opposite to the certain direction with respect to the medium, and when the first pattern has been formed on the medium with the liquid ej
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akito Sato, Naoki Sudo
  • Publication number: 20090284559
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid supplying unit that supplies the liquid, a head unit that has a nozzle row, in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting the liquid is aligned, a control unit that forms a raster area, in which a plurality of ejection dots in units of the nozzle rows is aligned in a main scanning direction, an ejection amount calculating unit that calculates ejection amounts of the liquid needed for forming the ejection dots, and a division scanning unit that divides the raster area so as to be formed by performing a plurality of head scanning operations in accordance with a transitional change in the ejection amounts that is formed by aligning the ejection amounts calculated by the ejection amount calculating unit in the order in which the ejection dots in units of nozzle rows are formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 13, 2009
    Publication date: November 19, 2009
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Bunji Ishimoto
  • Publication number: 20090262375
    Abstract: [Task] To improve the quality of an image formed by a liquid ejecting apparatus capable of performing a bi-direction printing process. [Means for Resolution] A raster (POL raster) formed by a partial overlap (POL) is formed such that pixels (first type of dots) formed upon a going movement and pixels (second type of dots) formed upon a coming movement are alternately arranged. The first type of dots and the second type of dots can be alternately formed by controlling an amount of transport of a print sheet and an amount of feed in a horizontal direction (main scanning direction) of a recording head. In this way, it is possible to alternately form the dots formed in opposing filling directions in the POL raster. By changing the allocation of the POL nozzles in an odd-numbered pass and an even-numbered pass and performing an anomalous feeding process of the print sheet, it is possible to change a combination of the POL nozzles forming the POL raster.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2009
    Publication date: October 22, 2009
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiro Yuda, Bunji Ishimoto, Akito Sato, Takeshi Tanoue, Naoki Sudo
  • Publication number: 20090262157
    Abstract: A forming method of an adjustment pattern is characterized by forming a first adjustment pattern on a medium by ejecting liquid onto the medium from a part of a plurality of nozzles that are arranged along a direction in which the medium is transported and that eject the liquid onto the medium while moving relative to the medium, and subsequently, after transporting the medium, forming a second adjustment pattern on the medium by ejecting the liquid onto the medium from nozzles other than the part of the plurality of nozzles, the second adjustment pattern being lined up in a movement direction of the nozzles with respect to the first adjustment pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2007
    Publication date: October 22, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akito SATO, Naoki SUDO
  • Publication number: 20090251499
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a printing head that ejects liquid to form dots on a recording medium; a head driving section that performs a main scanning for the printing head; a transporting section that performs a sub-scanning for the recording medium; an image forming section that forms an image, a first dot formation area and a second dot formation area; an overlap control section that performs overlap control for intermittently forming dots on the first and second dot formation areas so as to make the second dot formation area overlap with the first dot formation area and fill spaces between the dots intermittently formed on the first dot formation area; and a cancellation section that cancel the overlap control when a blank area exists in an image and a nozzle forming at least one of the first dot formation area and the second dot formation area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Publication date: October 8, 2009
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akito Santo, Bunji Ishimoto, Tomohiro Yuda, Takeshi Tanoue, Naoki Sudo
  • Publication number: 20090244155
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus for forming a multicolored image on a recording medium includes: a printing head for ejecting a plurality of colors; a head driving section that performs a main scanning for moving the printing head in a main scanning direction; a transporting section that transports the recording medium in a sub-scanning direction crossing the main scanning direction; and a dot control section that controls the head driving section and the transporting section so as to form an image on the recording medium by ejecting the liquids on the recording medium from the nozzle while repeatedly performing the main scanning for moving the printing head in the main scanning direction and a sub-scanning for transporting the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2009
    Publication date: October 1, 2009
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiro Yuda, Bunji Ishimoto, Akito Sato, Takeshi Tanoue, Naoki Sudo
  • Patent number: 7484821
    Abstract: Density unevenness caused in an image formed with an overlap portion of nozzles is suppressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Naoki Sudo, Hirokazu Nunokawa