Patents by Inventor Shuhei Fukue
Shuhei Fukue 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).
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Patent number: 11977345Abstract: A device includes a rotator having a rotation axis, a belt, a nip forming member surrounded by the belt, a holder holding the nip forming member, a first stay supporting the holder, an urging member urging the first stay toward the rotator, a second stay, and a connector. The nip forming member is configured to, with the rotator, pinch the belt to form a nip. The first stay extends in a width direction parallel to the rotation axis. The second stay is positioned upstream of the first stay in a moving direction of the belt at the nip. The moving direction is perpendicular to the width direction. The connector extends through at least one of the first stay and the second stay to connect the first stay to the second stay.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 2021Date of Patent: May 7, 2024Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kazuna Taguchi, Hiroshi Handa, Shuhei Fukue, Tomonori Watanabe, Kenji Takeuchi, Tatsuo Ogasawara
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Patent number: 11809106Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, a controller causes a first fixing member to heat up to a standby temperature Tr lower than a fixing temperature, through a control process executed from a state in which rotation of the first fixing member is stopped and a nip pressure is set at a second pressure smaller than a first pressure. The control process includes: a first process of activating and controlling a heater to cause the first fixing member to heat up toward a target temperature; a second process of starting the rotation of the first fixing member; a third process of changing the nip pressure from the second pressure to the first pressure; a fourth process of changing the nip pressure from the first pressure to the second pressure; and a fifth process of stopping the rotation of the first fixing member, executed in this sequence.Type: GrantFiled: June 15, 2022Date of Patent: November 7, 2023Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Sadaharu Kato, Shuhei Fukue, Hirotaka Imaeda, Shunsuke Ueki, Yusuke Mizuno
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Patent number: 11783151Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a roller, a heater configured to heat the roller, an endless belt, a nip forming member, a supply roller configured to supply a sheet, and a controller. The sheet is nipped between the endless belt and the roller. The endless belt is nipped between the nip forming member and the roller such that a nip portion is formed. The controller is configured to supply a plurality of first kind of sheets by the supply roller at a first interval when the plurality of first kind of sheets are sequentially conveyed and supply a plurality of second kind of sheets by the supply roller at a second interval greater than the first interval when the plurality of second kind of sheets belonging to a kind in which curl occurs more frequently than the plurality of first kind of sheets are sequentially conveyed.Type: GrantFiled: November 18, 2021Date of Patent: October 10, 2023Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Shuhei Fukue, Shunsuke Ueki, Shintaro Sakaguchi, Yusuke Mizuno
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Patent number: 11693343Abstract: A device includes a rotator having a rotation axis, a belt, a nip forming member surrounded by the belt and configured to, with the rotator, pinch the belt to form a nip, an urging member configured to urge one of the rotator and the nip forming member towards the other in a particular direction perpendicular to the rotation axis, an upstream guide and a downstream guide. The upstream guide includes an upstream guide surface configured to guide an inner peripheral surface of the belt. The nip forming member includes a facing surface which faces the rotator. An upstream edge of the facing surface in the moving direction is located at a position farther from the rotation axis, in the particular direction, than a downstream edge of the upstream guide surface.Type: GrantFiled: March 2, 2021Date of Patent: July 4, 2023Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hiroshi Handa, Mingguang Zhang, Shuhei Fukue, Tokifumi Tanaka, Kenji Takeuchi, Hirotaka Imaeda
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Patent number: 11675293Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a first fixing member, a second fixing member, and a controller. The second fixing member includes a first nip forming member and a second nip forming member each configured to nip an endless belt in combination with the first fixing member to form a nip region. A first end face on a first-fixing-member side of the first nip forming member is located closer, than a second end face on a first-fixing-member side of the second nip forming member, to the first fixing member. The controller is capable of executing a first printing process performed in a nip region formed between each of the first nip forming member and the second nip forming member and the first fixing member, and a second printing process performed in a nip region formed between only the first fixing member and the first fixing member.Type: GrantFiled: July 22, 2021Date of Patent: June 13, 2023Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hirotaka Imaeda, Tomonori Watanabe, Tatsuo Ogasawara, Shuhei Fukue
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Patent number: 11669029Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a sheet tray, a feed roller, a transfer roller, a fuser, a conveying unit, and a controller configured to execute a normal process. The controller executes a particular process, when performing the single sided printing. The particular process is a process in which the controller is configured to execute a non-actual-printing process on a first surface of a first sheet, and then configured to execute the non-actual-printing on a first surface of a second sheet before executing an actual-printing process on a second surface of the first sheet. The non-actual-printing process is a process of conveying the sheet to the fuser without transferring the developer image onto the first surface of the sheet. The actual-printing process is a process of transferring the developer image onto the second surface of the sheet.Type: GrantFiled: November 18, 2021Date of Patent: June 6, 2023Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Shintaro Sakaguchi, Noriaki Kishimoto, Shuhei Fukue, Shunsuke Ueki
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Patent number: 11635716Abstract: A device includes a rotator having a rotation axis, a belt, a nip forming member surrounded by the belt, a first stay surrounded by the belt and extending in a width direction parallel to the rotation axis, a holder holding the nip forming member, and an urging member urging the first stay toward the rotator. The nip forming member is configured to, with the rotator, pinch the belt to form a nip. The first stay includes a first end and a second end. The holder includes a first engaging portion positioned at a first end of the holder, and a second engaging portion positioned at a second end of the holder. The first engaging portion engages the first end of the first stay. The second engaging portion engages the second end of the first stay.Type: GrantFiled: February 28, 2022Date of Patent: April 25, 2023Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hiroshi Handa, Tomonori Watanabe, Shuhei Fukue, Kenji Takeuchi, Kazuna Taguchi, Tatsuo Ogasawara
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Patent number: 11614702Abstract: In a fixing device, an endless belt is nipped between a roller and a nip-forming member, and a sheet is conveyed through a first nip region formed between the endless belt and the roller by the nip-forming member. A pair of conveyor rollers located downstream of the first nip region in a sheet conveyance direction are configured to convey the sheet through a second nip region formed therebetween. A sheet guide located between the roller and the pair of conveyor rollers includes a first guide which in a plane perpendicular to a rotation axis of the roller, intersects with a line tangent to an outer cylindrical surface of the roller at a downstream end of the first nip region, while an extension line of the first guide intersects with a line segment connecting the downstream end of the first nip region to an upstream end of the second nip region.Type: GrantFiled: July 28, 2021Date of Patent: March 28, 2023Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Shuhei Fukue, Tatsuo Ogasawara, Tokifumi Tanaka, Tomonori Watanabe
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Publication number: 20220404745Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, a controller causes a first fixing member to heat up to a standby temperature Tr lower than a fixing temperature, through a control process executed from a state in which rotation of the first fixing member is stopped and a nip pressure is set at a second pressure smaller than a first pressure. The control process includes: a first process of activating and controlling a heater to cause the first fixing member to heat up toward a target temperature; a second process of starting the rotation of the first fixing member; a third process of changing the nip pressure from the second pressure to the first pressure; a fourth process of changing the nip pressure from the first pressure to the second pressure; and a fifth process of stopping the rotation of the first fixing member, executed in this sequence.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 15, 2022Publication date: December 22, 2022Inventors: Sadaharu Kato, Shuhei Fukue, Hirotaka Imaeda, Shunsuke Ueki, Yusuke Mizuno
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Publication number: 20220269200Abstract: A device includes a rotator having a rotation axis, a belt, a nip forming member surrounded by the belt, a first stay surrounded by the belt and extending in a width direction parallel to the rotation axis, a holder holding the nip forming member, and an urging member urging the first stay toward the rotator. The nip forming member is configured to, with the rotator, pinch the belt to form a nip. The first stay includes a first end and a second end. The holder includes a first engaging portion positioned at a first end of the holder, and a second engaging portion positioned at a second end of the holder. The first engaging portion engages the first end of the first stay. The second engaging portion engages the second end of the first stay.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 28, 2022Publication date: August 25, 2022Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hiroshi HANDA, Tomonori WATANABE, Shuhei FUKUE, Kenji TAKEUCHI, Kazuna TAGUCHI, Tatsuo OGASAWARA
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Patent number: 11392067Abstract: A device includes a rotator, a belt facing the rotator and having an outer peripheral surface which contacts the rotator to form a nip therebetween, a first pad configured to press the belt toward the rotator to form one part of the nip, a second pad configured to press the belt toward the rotator, to form another part of the nip, a holder holding the first pad and the second pad, a stay supporting the holder, and an urging member urging the stay toward the rotator in an urging direction. The second pad is located upstream of the first pad in a conveyance direction in the nip orthogonal to the urging direction. At least a portion of a contact area between the stay and the holder is located downstream of a center of the nip and upstream of a front edge of the first pad in the conveyance direction.Type: GrantFiled: February 5, 2021Date of Patent: July 19, 2022Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Kazuna Taguchi, Tomonori Watanabe, Kenji Takeuchi, Hiroshi Handa, Mingguang Zhang, Shuhei Fukue, Hirotaka Imaeda
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Publication number: 20220164614Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a roller, a heater configured to heat the roller, an endless belt, a nip forming member, a supply roller configured to supply a sheet, and a controller. The sheet is nipped between the endless belt and the roller. The endless belt is nipped between the nip forming member and the roller such that a nip portion is formed. The controller is configured to supply a plurality of first kind of sheets by the supply roller at a first interval when the plurality of first kind of sheets are sequentially conveyed and supply a plurality of second kind of sheets by the supply roller at a second interval greater than the first interval when the plurality of second kind of sheets belonging to a kind in which curl occurs more frequently than the plurality of first kind of sheets are sequentially conveyed.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 18, 2021Publication date: May 26, 2022Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Shuhei FUKUE, Shunsuke UEKI, Shintaro SAKAGUCHI, Yusuke MIZUNO
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Publication number: 20220163909Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a sheet tray, a feed roller, a transfer roller, a fuser, a conveying unit, and a controller configured to execute a normal process. The controller executes a particular process, when performing the single sided printing. The particular process is a process in which the controller is configured to execute a non-actual-printing process on a first surface of a first sheet, and then configured to execute the non-actual-printing on a first surface of a second sheet before executing an actual-printing process on a second surface of the first sheet. The non-actual-printing process is a process of conveying the sheet to the fuser without transferring the developer image onto the first surface of the sheet. The actual-printing process is a process of transferring the developer image onto the second surface of the sheet.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 18, 2021Publication date: May 26, 2022Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Shintaro SAKAGUCHI, Noriaki KISHIMOTO, Shuhei FUKUE, Shunsuke UEKI
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Patent number: 11327424Abstract: A fixing device includes: a rotary body; a pressure body; a frame supporting the rotary body; and a pressure varying mechanism for providing a nip pressure to a nip region formed between the rotary body and the pressure body. The pressure varying mechanism includes a first spring and a second spring for urging one of the rotary body and the pressure body. The first spring applies a first urging force, and the second spring applies a second urging force acting in an opposite direction from the first urging force. The pressure varying mechanism can vary the nip pressure between a first nip pressure and a second nip pressure smaller than the first nip pressure. The nip pressure becomes the first nip pressure while only the first urging force is applied, and becomes the second nip pressure while both of the first urging force and the second urging force are applied.Type: GrantFiled: March 24, 2021Date of Patent: May 10, 2022Inventors: Hiroshi Handa, Tokifumi Tanaka, Shuhei Fukue, Tomonori Watanabe
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Patent number: 11300907Abstract: A device includes a rotator having a rotation axis, a belt, a nip forming member surrounded by the belt, a first stay surrounded by the belt and extending in a width direction parallel to the rotation axis, a holder holding the nip forming member, and an urging member urging the first stay toward the rotator. The nip forming member is configured to, with the rotator, pinch the belt to form a nip. The first stay includes a first end and a second end. The holder includes a first engaging portion positioned at a first end of the holder, and a second engaging portion positioned at a second end of the holder. The first engaging portion engages the first end of the first stay. The second engaging portion engages the second end of the first stay.Type: GrantFiled: April 23, 2021Date of Patent: April 12, 2022Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hiroshi Handa, Tomonori Watanabe, Shuhei Fukue, Kenji Takeuchi, Kazuna Taguchi, Tatsuo Ogasawara
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Publication number: 20220035283Abstract: In a fixing device, an endless belt is nipped between a roller and a nip-forming member, and a sheet is conveyed through a first nip region formed between the endless belt and the roller by the nip-forming member. A pair of conveyor rollers located downstream of the first nip region in a sheet conveyance direction are configured to convey the sheet through a second nip region formed therebetween. A sheet guide located between the roller and the pair of conveyor rollers includes a first guide which in a plane perpendicular to a rotation axis of the roller, intersects with a line tangent to an outer cylindrical surface of the roller at a downstream end of the first nip region, while an extension line of the first guide intersects with a line segment connecting the downstream end of the first nip region to an upstream end of the second nip region.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 28, 2021Publication date: February 3, 2022Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Shuhei FUKUE, Tatsuo OGASAWARA, Tokifumi TANAKA, Tomonori WATANABE
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Publication number: 20220035284Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a first fixing member, a second fixing member, and a controller. The second fixing member includes a first nip forming member and a second nip forming member each configured to nip an endless belt in combination with the first fixing member to form a nip region. A first end face on a first-fixing-member side of the first nip forming member is located closer, than a second end face on a first-fixing-member side of the second nip forming member, to the first fixing member. The controller is capable of executing a first printing process performed in a nip region formed between each of the first nip forming member and the second nip forming member and the first fixing member, and a second printing process performed in a nip region formed between only the first fixing member and the first fixing member.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 22, 2021Publication date: February 3, 2022Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hirotaka Imaeda, Tomonori Watanabe, Tatsuo Ogasawara, Shuhei Fukue
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Publication number: 20210240118Abstract: A device includes a rotator having a rotation axis, a belt, a nip forming member surrounded by the belt, a first stay surrounded by the belt and extending in a width direction parallel to the rotation axis, a holder holding the nip forming member, and an urging member urging the first stay toward the rotator. The nip forming member is configured to, with the rotator, pinch the belt to form a nip. The first stay includes a first end and a second end. The holder includes a first engaging portion positioned at a first end of the holder, and a second engaging portion positioned at a second end of the holder. The first engaging portion engages the first end of the first stay. The second engaging portion engages the second end of the first stay.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 23, 2021Publication date: August 5, 2021Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hiroshi HANDA, Tomonori WATANABE, Shuhei FUKUE, Kenji TAKEUCHI, Kazuna TAGUCHI, Tatsuo OGASAWARA
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Publication number: 20210208529Abstract: A fixing device includes: a rotary body; a pressure body; a frame supporting the rotary body; and a pressure varying mechanism for providing a nip pressure to a nip region formed between the rotary body and the pressure body. The pressure varying mechanism includes a first spring and a second spring for urging one of the rotary body and the pressure body. The first spring applies a first urging force, and the second spring applies a second urging force acting in an opposite direction from the first urging force. The pressure varying mechanism can vary the nip pressure between a first nip pressure and a second nip pressure smaller than the first nip pressure. The nip pressure becomes the first nip pressure while only the first urging force is applied, and becomes the second nip pressure while both of the first urging force and the second urging force are applied.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 24, 2021Publication date: July 8, 2021Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hiroshi HANDA, Tokifumi TANAKA, Shuhei FUKUE, Tomonori WATANABE
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Patent number: 11048195Abstract: A fuser is described including a heater, a belt, a rotating member, and a pad. A nip portion is formed between the belt and the rotating member as the pad presses the belt toward the rotating member. The pad is biased toward a restricting member. The biasing may be performed by one or more springs. The spring may be a compression spring, a tension spring, and/or a plate spring among other types of springs.Type: GrantFiled: May 20, 2020Date of Patent: June 29, 2021Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Masahito Kajita, Shuhei Fukue, Kenji Takeuchi, Mingguang Zhang, Tomonori Watanabe