Patents by Inventor Seiji Kawabata

Seiji Kawabata 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: 20120105540
    Abstract: In a printer, a transport mechanism and a waste ink container are arranged in this order from a recording paper accommodating section, the transport mechanism, a recording head, and an ink tank loading section are arranged in order of the recording head and the ink tank loading section from a side of the transport mechanism, the array direction of the recording paper accommodating section, the transport mechanism, and the waste ink container and the array direction of the transport mechanism, the recording head, and the ink tank loading section cross each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2011
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Kondo, Seiji Kawabata
  • Publication number: 20120081490
    Abstract: A recording apparatus according to the invention includes an ink jet recording head that records onto a recording medium; a paper cassette that holds the recording medium in alignment with the vertical direction; an inverting path unit that inverts the transport direction of the recording medium fed out from the paper cassette; and a downstream-side path unit that transports the recording medium from the inverting path unit toward the paper cassette.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2011
    Publication date: April 5, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seiji Kawabata, Katsuyuki Kondo, Sanshiro Takeshita, Shintaro Komuro
  • Publication number: 20120069106
    Abstract: A printing apparatus that is a vertical installation type apparatus having a height direction dimension that is larger than at least one of a width direction dimension and a length direction dimension when the printing apparatus is installed, includes an ink cartridge that can be attached to and detached from a printing apparatus body, and an attachment section to which the ink cartridge is attached. The ink cartridge can be attached to and detached from the attachment section from a top surface side of the printing apparatus. The thus-structured printing apparatus allows a user to easily reach the attachment section for the ink cartridge regardless of which face of the printing apparatus is facing the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Publication date: March 22, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Kondo, Seiji Kawabata, Atsuki Sawata
  • Publication number: 20120042328
    Abstract: There is provided a tray including a tray main body that can be nipped by a driving roller rotatably driven and a plurality of driven rollers driven to rotate by making contact with the driving roller, the tray main body having a plate shape, a concave portion in which a thin plate shaped body can be set, the concave portion being formed in the tray main body, a fitting convex portion that is fitted in a fitting hole formed in the thin plate shaped body, the fitting convex portion being provided in the concave portion, and a plurality of elastic pieces for holding the thin plate shaped body by elastically making contact with an inner edge of the fitting hole, the elastic pieces being provided along an outer edge of the fitting convex portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2011
    Publication date: February 16, 2012
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Narihiro OKI, Hidetoshi KODAMA, Seiji KAWABATA
  • Patent number: 8051437
    Abstract: There is provided a tray including a tray main body that can be nipped by a driving roller rotatably driven and a plurality of driven rollers driven to rotate by making contact with the driving roller, the tray main body having a plate shape, a concave portion in which a thin plate shaped body can be set, the concave portion being formed in the tray main body, a fitting convex portion that is fitted in a fitting hole formed in the thin plate shaped body, the fitting convex portion being provided in the concave portion, and a plurality of elastic pieces for holding the thin plate shaped body by elastically making contact with an inner edge of the fitting hole, the elastic pieces being provided along an outer edge of the fitting convex portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Narihiro Oki, Hidetoshi Kodama, Seiji Kawabata
  • Patent number: 7690784
    Abstract: A plate-shaped main body, has a first face formed with a recess portion defined by a bottom face and side walls and a second face which is opposite to the first face. The plate-shaped main body is formed with a through hole connecting the bottom face and the second face. An overhanging portion, is provided on at least one of the side walls in the vicinity of the first face, and is located so as to at least partially hang over the through hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Nishi, Seiji Kawabata, Kazuhiro Hashii, Kazumasa Harada, Keiichiro Fukumasu, Hirohisa Adachi
  • Publication number: 20100025912
    Abstract: A transport device includes a set section, a sheet sensor, and a feeding member. When a detection member does not retract, the sheet sensor outputs an OFF-detection signal. The feeding member is displaced between a feed position and a non-feed position on the basis of the detection signal. At the feed position, the feeding member comes in contact with the sheet set in the set section from above and feeds the sheet toward the downstream side on a transport path. At the non-feed position, the feeding member is separated upward from the feed position. A method, which detects a sheet in the transport device, includes displacing the feeding member from the non-feed position to the feed position, and detecting that the sheet does not exist in the set section when an OFF-detection signal is output from the sheet sensor while the feeding member is positioned at the feed position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2009
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toshikazu KOTAKA, Yosaku TAMURA, Seiji KAWABATA, Kensuke TAMAI, Hidetoshi KODAMA, Soichiro KII
  • Publication number: 20100025927
    Abstract: A transport device, which transports a sheet set in a set section toward the downstream side on a transport path, includes a restricting member. The restricting member is provided at a set position of the sheet in the set section, and is displaced to restrict the sheet moving toward the downstream side on the transport path. The restricting member includes a restricting section that comes in contact with a front end of the sheet from the downstream side on the transport path, and is rotatable about a shaft extending along the transport path so as to be displaced between a first position where the restricting section protrudes on the transport path and a second position where the restricting section retracts from the transport path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2009
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toshikazu KOTAKA, Yosaku TAMURA, Seiji KAWABATA, Kensuke TAMAI, Hidetoshi KODAMA, Soichiro KII
  • Patent number: 7559742
    Abstract: A prewhirl type inlet casing for inducing a spiral stream in fluid has a suction passage arranged on an upstream side, being orthogonal to a rotary shaft of fluid machinery, and an internal passage connected to the suction passage, the internal passage being formed in a spiral shape so as to induce a swirl stream orthogonal to the rotary shaft in the fluid. A guide vane provided in the fluid passage in the inlet casing has a rectifying function capable of distributing flow rates in the swirl stream of the fluid in the internal passage between the swirl center side and the swirl outer peripheral side, and causing the fluid to deflect into the swirling direction of the swirl stream induced by the internal passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2009
    Assignee: Hitachi Industries Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Inoue, Takashi Aki, Seiji Kawabata, Sadashi Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20090044208
    Abstract: There is provided a tray including a tray main body that can be nipped by a driving roller rotatably driven and a plurality of driven rollers driven to rotate by making contact with the driving roller, the tray main body having a plate shape, a concave portion in which a thin plate shaped body can be set, the concave portion being formed in the tray main body, a fitting convex portion that is fitted in a fitting hole formed in the thin plate shaped body, the fitting convex portion being provided in the concave portion, and a plurality of elastic pieces for holding the thin plate shaped body by elastically making contact with an inner edge of the fitting hole, the elastic pieces being provided along an outer edge of the fitting convex portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Publication date: February 12, 2009
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Narihiro OKI, Hidetoshi KODAMA, Seiji KAWABATA
  • Patent number: 7422319
    Abstract: [Object] To discharge printed paper to a different position on a single discharge tray by providing a changing means for changing a discharge direction of paper conveyed and discharged from a paper discharge part. [Solving Means] A page printer 10 including a paper discharge part for conveying and discharging printed paper 1 onto a discharge tray 11 is provided with an auxiliary roller 23b which is positioned near the outlet of the paper discharge part and guides the paper 1 on its bottom side, and a roller driving part 30 which is brought into sliding contact with or separated from the paper 1 by moving the auxiliary roller 23b so as to be advanced or retreated to/from the bottom surface of the paper 1, so that the discharge positions of the paper 1 on the discharge tray 11 are made different from each other alternately for each printed data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2008
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuo Saito, Hideyuki Kataoka, Seiji Kawabata
  • Publication number: 20070070113
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a recording head that performs recording on a recording medium and a recording medium transporting unit that is disposed on the upstream side of the recording head and transports the recording medium toward the recording head. The recording apparatus also includes a recording medium discharging unit disposed on the downstream side of the recording head and discharges the recording medium on which recording has been performed. A platen faces the recording head, and defines a gap between the recording medium and the recording head by supporting the recording medium. The recording medium transporting unit includes a transport driving roller that rotates, and a plurality of transport driven rollers that are spaced apart from one another in a main-scanning direction by a suitable distance and come in pressure contact with the transport driving roller to be driven to rotate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2006
    Publication date: March 29, 2007
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seiji Kawabata, Hiroshi Hamakawa, Nobuyuki Nishi
  • Publication number: 20070064078
    Abstract: A plate-shaped main body, has a first face formed with a recess portion defined by a bottom face and side walls and a second face which is opposite to the first face. The plate-shaped main body is formed with a through hole connecting the bottom face and the second face. An overhanging portion, is provided on at least one of the side walls in the vicinity of the first face, and is located so as to at least partially hang over the through hole.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2006
    Publication date: March 22, 2007
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Nishi, Seiji Kawabata, Kazuhiro Hashii, Kazumasa Harada, Keiichiro Fukumasu, Hirohisa Adachi
  • Publication number: 20050254941
    Abstract: A prewhirl type inlet casing for inducing a spiral stream in fluid comprising a suction passage arranged on an upstream side, being orthogonal to a rotary shaft of fluid machinery, and an internal passage connected to the suction passage, the internal passage being formed in a spiral shape so as to induce a swirl stream orthogonal to the rotary shaft in the fluid. A guide vane is provided in the fluid passage in the inlet casing. The guide vane has a rectifying function capable of distributing flow rates in the swirl stream of the fluid in the internal passage between the swirl center side and the swirl outer peripheral side and has a rectifying function capable of causing the fluid to deflect into the swirling direction of the swirl stream induced by the internal passage. With these rectifying functions, a rectified swirl stream can be easily created in the in internal passage so as to prevent occurrence of a deviation of a cavitations inducing zone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2005
    Publication date: November 17, 2005
    Applicant: HITACHI INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Inoue, Takashi Aki, Seiji Kawabata, Sadashi Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20030179272
    Abstract: In a recording section, a recording head is reciprocated in a first direction while ejecting ink therefrom onto a recording medium. A transporter is operable to transport the recording medium in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. A discharger includes a curving path in which a transporting direction of the recording medium is inversed such that a first face of the recording medium on which recording has been performed faces inward.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2003
    Publication date: September 25, 2003
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuo Saito, Hideyuki Kataoka, Seiji Kawabata
  • Patent number: 6060807
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a rotating shaft support member which permits a reduced number of parts, simpler assembly operation, and improved dimensional accuracy, and also to provide a small motor equipped with the same. To this end, a rotating shaft support member (1) according to the present invention is constituted by a nearly circular bracket main body (2) wherein an outer peripheral wall (3) is provided on the outer periphery thereof, and a bearing unit (4) which rotatably supports an end of the rotating shaft of a rotor is formed integrally with the bracket main body (2). The bearing unit 4 has a shaft bore (41) in which the rotating shaft is inserted. The shaft bore (41) has an inner peripheral surface (42) in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft and a bottom surface (43) against which an end surface of the rotating shaft is held. Further, a pair of through holes (5) through which lead wires are passed are formed in the bracket main body (2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kohichi Saito, Seiji Kawabata