Patents by Inventor Seiji Hoshino

Seiji Hoshino 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: 11946226
    Abstract: Provided is a work machine capable of achieving both low fuel consumption and ensuring of workability. The work machine is configured to, in a state where an output of an engine or hydraulic pump has increased to an increase threshold (S12: Yes) with the rotational speed being at a first rotational speed (S11: Yes), raise the rotational speed from the first rotational speed to a second rotational speed (S13); in a process of raising the rotational speed to the second rotational speed, output, to a regulator, a signal instructing reduction in the discharge rate (S14) so as to keep the output of the engine or hydraulic pump constant; and after the rotational speed has reached the second rotational speed, output, to the regulator, a signal instructing increase in the discharge rate (S16) so as to make the output of the engine or hydraulic pump have a value corresponding to a request load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masatoshi Hoshino, Seiji Hijikata, Yasutaka Tsuruga, Ryou Yagisawa, Shou Furukawa
  • Patent number: 11946224
    Abstract: The object of the present invention resides in provision of a construction machine in which a hydraulic cylinder can be driven in a high efficiency by an accumulator. To this end, the construction machine including: a hydraulic cylinder; a first accumulator that accumulates return fluid from the hydraulic cylinder with a first set pressure; a tank that stores hydraulic fluid therein; a first hydraulic pump that delivers the hydraulic fluid sucked from the tank; a hydraulic actuator that is driven by the first hydraulic pump; and a second accumulator that accumulates return fluid from the hydraulic actuator with a second set pressure, includes a first control valve placed in a first hydraulic line that connects the first accumulator and the hydraulic cylinder to each other, and a second control valve placed in a second hydraulic line that connects the second accumulator and the hydraulic cylinder to each other. The second set pressure is set to a value higher than that of the first set pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiji Hijikata, Yasutaka Tsuruga, Kenji Hiraku, Masatoshi Hoshino
  • Patent number: 11946492
    Abstract: A work machine includes: a hydraulic actuator that is driven by a hydraulic fluid from a hydraulic pump; an open-center directional control valve that is arranged on a center bypass line, and controls a flow of the hydraulic fluid to be supplied to the hydraulic actuator; a CB cut valve arranged between a directional control valve and a hydraulic working fluid tank on the center bypass line; and a machine controller that controls an opening of the CB cut valve. The machine controller restricts the opening of the CB cut valve when operation on the hydraulic actuator is in a fine operation state in which the operation on the hydraulic actuator is within a predetermined range representing a region of fine operation, and the fine operation state is continued longer than a predetermined period, and fully opens the CB cut valve otherwise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masatoshi Hoshino, Seiji Hijikata, Yasutaka Tsuruga
  • Publication number: 20240068203
    Abstract: A work machine includes a hydraulic pump that is driven by an engine and delivers a pressurized fluid, a hydraulic actuator that is operated by the pressurized fluid delivered by the hydraulic pump, a hydraulic accumulator device that accumulates the pressurized fluid discharged from the hydraulic actuator, a differential pressure control valve that is disposed between the hydraulic actuator and the hydraulic accumulator device and generates a differential pressure across the differential pressure control valve between a pressure of the hydraulic actuator and a pressure of the hydraulic accumulator device, a pressure sensor that senses the pressure of the hydraulic accumulator device, and a controller that controls the differential pressure control valve on the basis of a sensing result of the pressure sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2022
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Inventors: Seiji HIJIKATA, Yasutaka TSURUGA, Masatoshi HOSHINO, Ryou YAGISAWA
  • Patent number: 11691442
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a stage on which a recording medium is placed, a head configured to discharge a liquid onto the recording medium on the stage, an inclined wall adjacent to the recording medium, the inclined wall configured to cover a part of the stage, and a height adjuster configured to adjust a height of one end of the inclined wall to be equal to or lower than a thickness of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Seiji Hoshino
  • Publication number: 20220288955
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a stage on which a recording medium is placed, a head configured to discharge a liquid onto the recording medium on the stage, an inclined wall adjacent to the recording medium, the inclined wall configured to cover a part of the stage, and a height adjuster configured to adjust a height of one end of the inclined wall to be equal to or lower than a thickness of the recording medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2022
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Seiji HOSHINO
  • Patent number: 11376873
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a stage on which a recording medium is placed, a head configured to discharge a liquid onto the recording medium on the stage, an inclined wall adjacent to the recording medium, the inclined wall configured to cover a part of the stage, and a height adjuster configured to adjust a height of one end of the inclined wall to be equal to or lower than a thickness of the recording medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventor: Seiji Hoshino
  • Publication number: 20210162782
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a stage on which a recording medium is placed, a head configured to discharge a liquid onto the recording medium on the stage, an inclined wall adjacent to the recording medium, the inclined wall configured to cover a part of the stage, and a height adjuster configured to adjust a height of one end of the inclined wall to be equal to or lower than a thickness of the recording medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Publication date: June 3, 2021
    Inventor: Seiji HOSHINO
  • Patent number: 8770686
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including an image forming device forming an image on a surface of a recording material; a recording material passage; a treatment liquid applicator including a tray containing a treatment liquid, a first roller applying the treatment liquid to the surface of the recording material, and a second roller drawing the treatment liquid from the tray to supply the treatment liquid to the first roller; a liquid level inclination detector detecting whether the surface of the treatment liquid is inclined; a treatment liquid supplying device supplying the treatment liquid to the tray; and a controller connected with liquid level detector and the treatment liquid supplying device. The controller stops the operation of the treatment liquid supplying device when determining according to the detection result of the liquid level detector that the surface of the treatment liquid is inclined in a predetermined amount or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyoshi Komaba, Shinji Imoto, Satoshi Kitaoka, Seiji Hoshino, Shozo Sakura
  • Patent number: 8573732
    Abstract: A treatment-liquid application device includes a treatment-liquid container, a liquid supply unit, a liquid chamber unit, a treatment-liquid carrier, a transport unit, a treatment-liquid applicator, and a partition. The partition is disposed in an area of the chamber unit defined by an imaginary entry plane, an imaginary exit plane, a carrying surface of the carrier, and a bottom face of the chamber unit. The entry plane includes an entry line at which the carrying surface enters treatment liquid in the chamber unit, and vertically extends from the entry line. The exit plane includes an exit line at which the carrying surface exits from the liquid in the chamber unit, and vertically extends from the exit line. The partition extends in a longitudinal direction of the carrier and has an edge portion adjacent to the carrying surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiji Hoshino, Satoshi Kitaoka, Shinji Imoto, Hiroyoshi Komaba, Shozo Sakura
  • Patent number: 8540337
    Abstract: A disclosed image forming apparatus is capable of solving the problems of deterioration of a foam application function and driving systems caused by the dried and fixed foam remaining without being applied. The image forming apparatus includes a foam forming section forming foam, a reservoir section supplying foam formed by the foam forming section to an application roller, a discharge channel through which extra foam is collected from the reservoir section, and a heating unit for heating the extra foam to return the extra foam to a liquid form. The discharged liquid prepared by defoaming the foam discharged through the discharge channel is returned to a container containing the defoamed liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company
    Inventors: Shinji Imoto, Kazuyoshi Matsumoto, Minori Ichimura, Manabu Izumikawa, Yasuhisa Kato, Yasuo Katano, Seiji Hoshino, Masaaki Tsuda
  • Patent number: 8538310
    Abstract: A load torque variation upon entry or exit of a sheet into a nipping portion is reduced while a nipping force necessary for image formation is provided. An image transfer apparatus, an image fixing apparatus, or a registration apparatus comprises an opposite roller, a transfer roller, and a compression spring for pressing the opposite roller onto the transfer roller. A sheet of transfer material is transported into a nipping portion between the opposite roller and the transfer roller, where an image on the opposite roller is transferred to the transfer material. The apparatus includes a retaining unit configured to retain a certain distance between the first rotating body and the second rotating body as long as the thickness of the transfer material that passes through the nipping portion remains the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiromichi Matsuda, Toshiyuki Andoh, Takashi Hashimoto, Takashi Hodoshima, Tatsuhiko Oikawa, Hidetaka Noguchi, Seiji Hoshino, Makoto Komatsu
  • Patent number: 8422037
    Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, a distance adjusting unit adjusts an inter-unit distance between a contact unit and an image carrier by moving the image carrier or the contact unit by applying an opposing force to the image carrier or the contact unit against a biasing force applied by a biasing unit based on thickness information of a recording sheet acquired by a thickness-information acquiring unit and data indicating a relationship between the thickness information and an inter-unit distance change amount stored in a data storage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Hodoshima, Toshiyuki Andoh, Takashi Hashimoto, Hidetaka Noguchi, Seiji Hoshino, Tatsuhiko Oikawa, Tetsuo Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8385762
    Abstract: A transfer roller lies opposite to a supporting roller across an image carrying belt and abuts against the outer surface of the image carrying belt to form a transfer nip. A driving force transmission unit transmits driving force from a driving source to a driving roller. A drive control unit performs drive control of the driving source. A feedforward control unit performs feedforward control on the driving source via the drive control unit. An entry detecting unit detects entry of a sheet in the transfer nip. The feedforward control unit considers an entry detection signal output by the entry sensor as a trigger for performing feedforward control after a predetermined time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hidetaka Noguchi, Toshiyuki Andoh, Takashi Hodoshima, Seiji Hoshino, Takashi Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 8364071
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a pair of upstream rollers and a pair of downstream rollers each including a drive roller and a driven roller, a calculating unit, and a control unit. The upstream rollers include a measuring unit that obtains speed information of the upstream rollers. The calculating unit calculates a target value based on the speed information. The control unit controls the speed of the drive roller of the downstream rollers based on the target value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hidetaka Noguchi, Toshiyuki Andoh, Seiji Hoshino, Takashi Hodoshima, Tatsuhiko Oikawa, Hiromichi Matsuda, Makoto Komatsu, Takashi Hashimoto
  • Publication number: 20120262519
    Abstract: A treatment-liquid application device includes a treatment-liquid container, a liquid supply unit, a liquid chamber unit, a treatment-liquid carrier, a transport unit, a treatment-liquid applicator, and a partition. The partition is disposed in an area of the chamber unit defined by an imaginary entry plane, an imaginary exit plane, a carrying surface of the carrier, and a bottom face of the chamber unit. The entry plane includes an entry line at which the carrying surface enters treatment liquid in the chamber unit, and vertically extends from the entry line. The exit plane includes an exit line at which the carrying surface exits from the liquid in the chamber unit, and vertically extends from the exit line. The partition extends in a longitudinal direction of the carrier and has an edge portion adjacent to the carrying surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Publication date: October 18, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Seiji HOSHINO, Satoshi Kitaoka, Shinji Imoto, Hiroyoshi Komaba, Shozo Sakura
  • Publication number: 20120249627
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including an image forming device forming an image on a surface of a recording material; a recording material passage; a treatment liquid applicator including a tray containing a treatment liquid, a first roller applying the treatment liquid to the surface of the recording material, and a second roller drawing the treatment liquid from the tray to supply the treatment liquid to the first roller; a liquid level inclination detector detecting whether the surface of the treatment liquid is inclined; a treatment liquid supplying device supplying the treatment liquid to the tray; and a controller connected with liquid level detector and the treatment liquid supplying device. The controller stops the operation of the treatment liquid supplying device when determining according to the detection result of the liquid level detector that the surface of the treatment liquid is inclined in a predetermined amount or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2012
    Publication date: October 4, 2012
    Applicant: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyoshi KOMABA, Shinji Imoto, Satoshi Kitaoka, Seiji Hoshino, Shozo Sakura
  • Patent number: 8254811
    Abstract: An image-carrier driving unit drives an image carrier. An image forming unit forms an image on the image carrier. A moving-member driving unit drives a moving member that is movable towards and away from the image carrier. A detecting unit detects a position of the moving member at predetermined sampling times while the moving member is moving. A movement control unit performs a feedback control on the moving-member driving unit such that a detection result of the detecting unit follows a target value corresponding to each of the predetermined sampling times when the moving member moves while the image forming unit is forming the image on the image carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limitied
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Andoh, Takashi Hashimoto, Takashi Hodoshima, Hidetaka Noguchi, Seiji Hoshino, Tatsuhiko Oikawa, Tetsuo Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8175467
    Abstract: An apparatus, method, system, computer program, and product, each capable of detecting a state of an apparatus. The apparatus includes a plurality of devices. When at least one of the plurality of devices is determined to be in a first state, a second state of at least one of the plurality of devices is determined. When a state of the apparatus is determined to be in the first state, the second state of another apparatus is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hisashi Shoji, Masaichi Sawada, Osamu Satoh, Yasushi Nakazato, Seiji Hoshino, Hitoshi Shimizu, Takenori Oku, Noboru Tsukude
  • Patent number: 8165498
    Abstract: An image forming device is disclosed that is able to enlarge a gap of a nipping portion with a simple and inexpensive structure, and able to reduce impact when a front end of a recording sheet runs into or a back end of the recording sheet passes through the nipping portion. The image forming device includes an image carrying unit, an image forming unit, a transfer unit, a conveyance unit, a determination unit that determines whether a thickness of the recording sheet is greater than a threshold value, and a cam member that rotates to enlarge or reduce the gap of the nipping portion between the image carrying unit and the transfer unit according to rotational positions of the cam member. When the thickness of the recording sheet is greater than the threshold, the cam member rotates so that the gap of the nipping portion is enlarged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiji Hoshino, Toshiyuki Andoh, Takashi Hodoshima, Takashi Hashimoto, Hidetaka Noguchi, Tatsuhiko Oikawa