Patents by Inventor Shuichi Tetsuno

Shuichi Tetsuno 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: 20200358927
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a gradation correction unit configured to perform a correction process on first image data expressing first gradation values, and output second image data expressing second gradation values. The gradation correction unit is configured to determine the second gradation values based on the first gradation values of a plurality of colors of a plurality of pixels in an area including a process target pixel and having a size corresponding to a first color misregistration amount. The gradation correction unit is further configured to determine the second gradation values such that there is no pixel in which a sum of the second gradation values of the plurality of colors exceeds a first threshold value, even when color misregistration within the first color misregistration amount occurs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2020
    Publication date: November 12, 2020
    Inventors: Takayuki Tanaka, Shinji Katagiri, Shuichi Tetsuno, Ken Nakagawa
  • Publication number: 20200319578
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt has a first region and a second region in an outer circumferential surface thereof that is in contact with a blade. The first region has a first dynamic friction coefficient in a belt conveyance direction, and the second region has a second dynamic friction coefficient. The distance of the second region in the belt conveyance direction is less than the distance of the first region and is greater than the distance of a contact portion in which the blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Publication date: October 8, 2020
    Inventors: Keisuke Ishizumi, Shohei Ishio, Shinji Katagiri, Takayuki Tanaka, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shuichi Tetsuno
  • Patent number: 10725402
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt has a first region and a second region in an outer circumferential surface thereof that is in contact with a blade. The first region has a first dynamic friction coefficient in a belt conveyance direction, and the second region has a second dynamic friction coefficient. The distance of the second region in the belt conveyance direction is less than the distance of the first region and is greater than the distance of a contact portion in which the blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Keisuke Ishizumi, Shohei Ishio, Shinji Katagiri, Takayuki Tanaka, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shuichi Tetsuno
  • Patent number: 10649388
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt includes at least two layers which are a base layer and an inner surface layer having electric resistance lower than electric resistance of the base layer, and an end portion of the inner surface layer is positioned on an outside of an end portion of a development opening portion in a width direction as a direction orthogonal to a circumferential direction of the intermediate transfer belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shinji Katagiri, Takayuki Tanaka, Shuichi Tetsuno, Takahiro Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20200133171
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt has a first region and a second region in an outer circumferential surface thereof that is in contact with a blade. The first region has a first dynamic friction coefficient in a belt conveyance direction, and the second region has a second dynamic friction coefficient. The distance of the second region in the belt conveyance direction is less than the distance of the first region and is greater than the distance of a contact portion in which the blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer belt.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 30, 2020
    Inventors: Keisuke Ishizumi, Shohei Ishio, Shinji Katagiri, Takayuki Tanaka, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shuichi Tetsuno
  • Patent number: 10509341
    Abstract: A charged positive toner having a positive polarity that attaches to a charge roller is moved from the charge roller to a photosensitive drum, and the positive toner is transferred to an intermediate transfer belt at a primary transfer portion at which a primary-transfer power supply forms an electric potential having a negative polarity. The primary-transfer power supply forms an electric potential having the positive polarity at the primary transfer portion, and the positive toner transferred to the intermediate transfer belt is moved together with the intermediate transfer belt and is collected by the charge roller in contact with a downstream photosensitive drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takayuki Tanaka, Shinji Katagiri, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shuichi Tetsuno, Takahiro Ikeda
  • Patent number: 10423115
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including an image carrying member, an intermediate transfer belt having conductivity, a toner image on the image carrying member being primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt, a secondary transfer member in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt, the secondary transfer member secondarily transferring the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt to a transfer material, a power supply applying a voltage to the secondary transfer member, the toner image being primarily transferred from the image carrying member to the intermediate transfer belt by having a voltage be applied to the secondary transfer member from the power supply, a contact member in contact with the intermediate transfer belt, and a constant current diode, an anode side thereof being connected to the power supply, and a cathode side thereof being connected to the contact member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shuichi Tetsuno, Shinji Katagiri, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Koji An
  • Patent number: 10401779
    Abstract: A charge roller includes, in a surface thereof, recesses that have sizes that are equivalent to or larger than a volume average particle diameter of a toner accommodated in a developing unit and that are capable of collecting the toner retransferred to a photosensitive drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinji Katagiri, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shuichi Tetsuno, Takayuki Tanaka, Takahiro Ikeda, Satoru Motohashi, Takumi Furukawa
  • Patent number: 10289036
    Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, a peripheral velocity difference is provided between a peripheral velocity of an intermediate transfer belt and a peripheral velocity of an image bearing member, and when a relative moving distance between the image bearing member and the intermediate transfer belt, which is generated in the transfer nip portion because of the peripheral velocity difference, is taken as a shift amount of the toner image, a lower limit value of the shift amount is set to be at least ?, preferably half of an average perimeter calculated from a weight-average particle diameter of the toner, which is measured in advance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ken Yokoyama, Hiroyuki Kadowaki, Kuniaki Kasuga, Shuichi Tetsuno
  • Publication number: 20190113881
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including an image carrying member, an intermediate transfer belt having conductivity, a toner image on the image carrying member being primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt, a secondary transfer member in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt, the secondary transfer member secondarily transferring the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt to a transfer material, a power supply applying a voltage to the secondary transfer member, the toner image being primarily transferred from the image carrying member to the intermediate transfer belt by having a voltage be applied to the secondary transfer member from the power supply, a contact member in contact with the intermediate transfer belt, and a constant current diode, an anode side thereof being connected to the power supply, and a cathode side thereof being connected to the contact member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2018
    Publication date: April 18, 2019
    Inventors: Shuichi Tetsuno, Shinji Katagiri, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Koji An
  • Patent number: 10248043
    Abstract: In a case where a collection mode in which an exposure unit forms a first potential on a photosensitive member and a developing unit collects discharging toner discharged from the developing unit to a position where the first potential is formed is executed, a potential forming unit forms, on an intermediate transfer member, a potential same as a normal charging polarity of toner and an absolute value greater than an absolute value of the first potential, and a charging power supply applies, to a charging member, a voltage having a polarity same as the normal charging polarity and an absolute value greater than an absolute value of the first potential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shuichi Tetsuno, Shinji Katagiri, Takayuki Tanaka, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Takahiro Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20190072880
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt includes a base layer that has ionic conductivity and is a thickest layer out of multiple layers making up the intermediate transfer belt with respect to the thickness direction of the intermediate transfer belt, and an inner layer having electronic conductivity and a lower electrical resistance than the base layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Publication date: March 7, 2019
    Inventors: Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Masaru Shimura, Shinji Katagiri, Eiichi Hamana, Takahiro Ikeda, Takayuki Tanaka, Shuichi Tetsuno
  • Publication number: 20190064726
    Abstract: A charge roller includes, in a surface thereof, recesses that have sizes that are equivalent to or larger than a volume average particle diameter of a toner accommodated in a developing unit and that are capable of collecting the toner retransferred to a photosensitive drum.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Publication date: February 28, 2019
    Inventors: Shinji Katagiri, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shuichi Tetsuno, Takayuki Tanaka, Takahiro Ikeda, Satoru Motohashi, Takumi Furukawa
  • Patent number: 10185239
    Abstract: An exposing unit forms a latent-image electric potential on each photosensitive drum. A detecting toner image of each color is transferred to an intermediate transfer belt using a first potential difference between a latent-image electric potential and the potential of an intermediate transfer belt at each primary transfer portion. When the polarity of voltage to be applied from a transfer power source to a secondary transfer roller is to be switched to an opposite polarity while the detecting toner image of each color is passing through each primary transfer portion, the absolute value of a second potential difference between the potential of the intermediate transfer belt and the background electrical potential of each photosensitive drum is made equal to or greater than the absolute value of the first potential difference by a control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takayuki Tanaka, Shinji Katagiri, Shuichi Tetsuno, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Takahiro Ikeda
  • Patent number: 10168645
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt includes a base layer that has ionic conductivity and is a thickest layer out of multiple layers making up the intermediate transfer belt with respect to the thickness direction of the intermediate transfer belt, and an inner layer having electronic conductivity and a lower electrical resistance than the base layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Masaru Shimura, Shinji Katagiri, Eiichi Hamana, Takahiro Ikeda, Takayuki Tanaka, Shuichi Tetsuno
  • Publication number: 20180329334
    Abstract: A charged positive toner having a positive polarity that attaches to a charge roller is moved from the charge roller to a photosensitive drum, and the positive toner is transferred to an intermediate transfer belt at a primary transfer portion at which a primary-transfer power supply forms an electric potential having a negative polarity. The primary-transfer power supply forms an electric potential having the positive polarity at the primary transfer portion, and the positive toner transferred to the intermediate transfer belt is moved together with the intermediate transfer belt and is collected by the charge roller in contact with a downstream photosensitive drum.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2018
    Publication date: November 15, 2018
    Inventors: Takayuki Tanaka, Shinji Katagiri, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shuichi Tetsuno, Takahiro Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20180253036
    Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, a peripheral velocity difference is provided between a peripheral velocity of an intermediate transfer belt and a peripheral velocity of an image bearing member, and when a relative moving distance between the image bearing member and the intermediate transfer belt, which is generated in the transfer nip portion because of the peripheral velocity difference, is taken as a shift amount of the toner image, a lower limit value of the shift amount is set to be at least ?, preferably half of an average perimeter calculated from a weight-average particle diameter of the toner, which is measured in advance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2018
    Publication date: September 6, 2018
    Inventors: Ken Yokoyama, Hiroyuki Kadowaki, Kuniaki Kasuga, Shuichi Tetsuno
  • Publication number: 20180181051
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt includes at least two layers which are a base layer and an inner surface layer having electric resistance lower than electric resistance of the base layer, and an end portion of the inner surface layer is positioned on an outside of an end portion of a development opening portion in a width direction as a direction orthogonal to a circumferential direction of the intermediate transfer belt.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Publication date: June 28, 2018
    Inventors: Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Shinji Katagiri, Takayuki Tanaka, Shuichi Tetsuno, Takahiro Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20180149993
    Abstract: In a case where a collection mode in which a exposure unit forms a first potential on a photosensitive member and a developing unit collects discharging toner discharged from the developing unit to a position where the first potential is formed is executed, a potential forming unit forms, on an intermediate transfer member, a potential same as a normal charging polarity of toner and an absolute value greater than an absolute value of the first potential, and a charging power supply applies, to a charging member, a voltage having a polarity same as the normal charging polarity and an absolute value greater than an absolute value of the first potential.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2017
    Publication date: May 31, 2018
    Inventors: Shuichi Tetsuno, Shinji Katagiri, Takayuki Tanaka, Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Takahiro Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20180032001
    Abstract: An intermediate transfer belt includes a base layer that has ionic conductivity and is a thickest layer out of multiple layers making up the intermediate transfer belt with respect to the thickness direction of the intermediate transfer belt, and an inner layer having electronic conductivity and a lower electrical resistance than the base layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2017
    Publication date: February 1, 2018
    Inventors: Tsuguhiro Yoshida, Masaru Shimura, Shinji Katagiri, Eiichi Hamana, Takahiro Ikeda, Takayuki Tanaka, Shuichi Tetsuno