Patents by Inventor Taichi Sato

Taichi Sato 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: 20220334509
    Abstract: Provided is an image forming apparatus, including: an image bearing member; an exposure unit; a developing member which is rotatable at a rotation speed different from the image bearing member; a developer supply member; a developing voltage-applying unit; a supply voltage-applying unit; and a control unit. The control unit controls execution of: an image forming operation in which a developer image is formed by supplying developer on the image bearing member; and a cleaning operation which removes a substance adhered to the image bearing member using the developing member. In the cleaning operation, the control unit controls the developing voltage-applying unit or the supply voltage-applying unit so that the cleaning force using the developing member becomes stronger than that in the image forming operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2022
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Inventors: Yasukazu Ikami, Takashi Mukai, Shuhei Tokiwa, Taichi Sato, Fuka Enokido
  • Publication number: 20220326634
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a developing member that supplies a developer of a regular polarity, a developer supply member that supplies developer to the developing member, and a control unit that applies a first voltage to the developing member and a second voltage to the developer supply member. The control unit executes an image forming operation, and a rotational operation in which the developer supply member rotates in a state in which the first voltage of a regular polarity is applied thereto. The rotational operation includes a first rotational operation in which a potential difference is a first potential difference and a second rotational operation in which the developing member and the developer supply member rotate in a state in which the second voltage having the same polarity as the regular polarity and having a greater absolute value is applied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2022
    Publication date: October 13, 2022
    Inventors: Taichi Sato, Takashi Mukai, Yasukazu Ikami, Shuhei Tokiwa, Fuka Enokido
  • Publication number: 20220317591
    Abstract: A developer used in a developing apparatus equipped with a metal blade includes a toner base particle and external additives, the external additives including a silica particle with a particle diameter of 5 nm or more and 25 nm or less and an inorganic spacer particle with a particle diameter of 50 nm or more and 150 nm or less, and an area occupancy of the silica particle on a surface of the toner base particle is 40% or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2022
    Publication date: October 6, 2022
    Inventors: Kazunari Hagiwara, Taichi Sato, Takahiro Kawamoto, Yasukazu Ikami, Shoko Funaki
  • Patent number: 11453470
    Abstract: A marine vessel electric propulsion system includes an electric motor, a propulsive force generator to be driven by the electric motor to generate a propulsive force, an operator to be operated by a user to adjust the power output of the electric motor, and a controller. The controller is configured or programmed to control the power output of the electric motor based on an operation of the operator, and to change a power output gain characteristic of the electric motor with respect to an operation amount of the operator in response to a gain change command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Taichi Sato
  • Patent number: 11442376
    Abstract: A developer used in a developing apparatus equipped with a metal blade includes a toner base particle and external additives, the external additives including a silica particle with a particle diameter of 5 nm or more and 25 nm or less and an inorganic spacer particle with a particle diameter of 50 nm or more and 150 nm or less, and an area occupancy of the silica particle on a surface of the toner base particle is 40% or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazunari Hagiwara, Taichi Sato, Takahiro Kawamoto, Yasukazu Ikami, Shoko Funaki
  • Publication number: 20220172116
    Abstract: An information processing system includes a first system and a second system which are ready to communicate with each other. The first system transforms first data including specific information into second data not including the specific information and outputs the second data to the second system. The second system performs machine learning using the second data to generate a second learning deliverable and outputs the second learning deliverable to the first system. The first system obtains, based on at least a part of the first data and the second learning deliverable provided by the second system, the first learning deliverable.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2020
    Publication date: June 2, 2022
    Inventor: Taichi SATO
  • Publication number: 20220082957
    Abstract: A developer used in a developing apparatus equipped with a metal blade includes a toner base particle and external additives, the external additives including a silica particle with a particle diameter of 5 nm or more and 25 nm or less and an inorganic spacer particle with a particle diameter of 50 nm or more and 150 nm or less, and an area occupancy of the silica particle on a surface of the toner base particle is 40% or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Inventors: Kazunari Hagiwara, Taichi Sato, Takahiro Kawamoto, Yasukazu Ikami, Shoko Funaki
  • Publication number: 20220055729
    Abstract: A marine vessel propulsion system includes a propulsive force generator to generate a propulsive force, a drive source to drive the propulsive force generator, and a controller configured or programmed to control the drive source to perform marine vessel maneuvering-related functions including at least one limited function. The controller includes an interface, and is further configured or programmed to include a restriction unit to restrict a control operation for the limited function, and a restriction cancellation unit to cancel the restriction effected by the restriction unit to permit the control operation for the limited function if a predetermined keycode is inputted from the interface or is registered in the controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Publication date: February 24, 2022
    Inventors: Masashi MATSUO, Yuki YAMAGUCHI, Taichi SATO
  • Publication number: 20210364937
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can obtain a satisfactory image free from the image defect such as the interference fringes as an electrophotographic photosensitive member, and can achieve high fineness in an output image. The electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a support, an electroconductive layer and a photosensitive layer, in this order, wherein the electroconductive layer comprises a binder resin, a metal oxide particle and a silica particle, a content of the metal oxide particle in the electroconductive layer is 20.0 to 60.0% by volume with respect to total volume of the electroconductive layer, the metal oxide particle has an average primary particle diameter of 50 to 500 nm, and the silica particle has an average primary particle diameter of 10 to 300 nm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Inventors: Jumpei Kuno, Taichi Sato
  • Publication number: 20210364939
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photosensitive member including a support, an intermediate layer, and a photosensitive layer in this order, wherein the intermediate layer comprises a tungsten oxide particle, and the tungsten oxide particle contains a tungsten atom, an oxygen atom, and a cesium atom.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 17, 2021
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Inventors: Taichi Sato, Atsushi Fujii, Hisato Yabuta
  • Publication number: 20210253213
    Abstract: A marine vessel electric propulsion system includes an electric motor, a propulsive force generator to be driven by the electric motor to generate a propulsive force, an operator to be operated by a user to adjust the power output of the electric motor, and a controller. The controller is configured or programmed to control the power output of the electric motor based on an operation of the operator, and to change a power output gain characteristic of the electric motor with respect to an operation amount of the operator in response to a gain change command.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2021
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventor: Taichi SATO
  • Patent number: 11061341
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes, in sequence, a support, a conductive layer, an undercoat layer, a charge generation layer, and a charge transport layer. The conductive layer is a cured film, and the cured film contains titanium oxide particles doped with niobium. The undercoat layer contains a cured product of a composition that contains an electron transport material having a polymerizable functional group and a resin functionalized with a carboxylic acid derivative.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masashi Nishi, Takashi Anezaki, Taichi Sato, Atsushi Fujii, Kunihiko Sekido
  • Patent number: 11036161
    Abstract: A developer bearing member including: a rotational shaft; and an elastic layer on an outer circumference surface of the rotational shaft, developer being borne on a surface of the elastic layer, wherein the elastic layer is configured such that a load per unit area of a contact portion between one surface of a flat glass plate and the surface of the elastic layer is to be 5.8 N/mm2 or more, in a state that the one surface of the flat glass plate being parallel with an axis direction of the rotational shaft and the one surface of the flat glass plate coming into contact with the surface of the elastic layer with a predetermined penetration level, and wherein a ten-point average roughness Rzjis on the surface of the elastic layer is greater than a volume-average particle diameter of a particle of the developer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takashi Mukai, Takayuki Namiki, Taichi Sato, Yuki Yamamoto, Kazunari Hagiwara, Minoru Nakamura, Takahiro Kawamoto, Yasukazu Ikami
  • Patent number: 10948838
    Abstract: There is provided an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can achieve both of an adequately high initial sensitivity as the electrophotographic photosensitive member and reduction in the fluctuation of a light portion potential at the time of repeated use. An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a support, an electroconductive layer and a photosensitive layer in this order, wherein the electroconductive layer contains a binder material and a metal oxide particle; the metal oxide particle has a core material containing a titanium oxide, and a covering layer which covers the core material and contains the titanium oxide; and when the oxygen deficiency ratio of the metal oxide particle is represented by A, the oxygen deficiency ratio of the core material is represented by B, and the oxygen deficiency ratio of the covering layer is represented by C, the Expressions (1) and (2) are satisfied: A?2% (1) and 10×B<C (2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 16, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takashi Anezaki, Taichi Sato, Kunihiko Sekido, Masashi Nishi, Atsushi Fujii
  • Publication number: 20200333726
    Abstract: A developer bearing member including: a rotational shaft; and an elastic layer on an outer circumference surface of the rotational shaft, developer being borne on a surface of the elastic layer, wherein the elastic layer is configured such that a load per unit area of a contact portion between one surface of a flat glass plate and the surface of the elastic layer is to be 5.8 N/mm2 or more, in a state that the one surface of the flat glass plate being parallel with an axis direction of the rotational shaft and the one surface of the flat glass plate coming into contact with the surface of the elastic layer with a predetermined penetration level, and wherein a ten-point average roughness Rzjis on the surface of the elastic layer is greater than a volume-average particle diameter of a particle of the developer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Inventors: Takashi Mukai, Takayuki Namiki, Taichi Sato, Yuki Yamamoto, Kazunari Hagiwara, Minoru Nakamura, Takahiro Kawamoto, Yasukazu Ikami
  • Patent number: 10754267
    Abstract: Provided is an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can achieve both of the suppression of a fluctuation in potential of the photosensitive member at the time of its repeated use, and the prevention of the occurrence of a black spot-like image defect at high levels. The electrophotographic photosensitive member includes in this order: a support; an intermediate layer; and a photosensitive layer, the intermediate layer containing particles each containing titanium oxide, and the particles having a mass increase ratio of 0.005% or more when heated under a nitrogen atmosphere from 300° C. to 900° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kunihiko Sekido, Takashi Anezaki, Taichi Sato, Masashi Nishi, Atsushi Fujii
  • Publication number: 20200232967
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a technique which makes it possible to evaluate a state of a cell aggregation of one or more spheroids. In the culture state determination device according to the present disclosure, a plurality of light sources sequentially illuminate a plurality of cell aggregations put on an image sensor. The image sensor acquires captured images of the plurality of the cell aggregations each time when the plurality of the light sources illuminate the plurality of the cell aggregations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2020
    Publication date: July 23, 2020
    Inventors: YUMIKO KATO, YOSHIHIDE SAWADA, TAICHI SATO, KIYOTAKA TSUJI
  • Publication number: 20200064750
    Abstract: Provided is an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can achieve both of the suppression of a fluctuation in potential of the photosensitive member at the time of its repeated use, and the prevention of the occurrence of a black spot-like image defect at high levels. The electrophotographic photosensitive member includes in this order: a support; an intermediate layer; and a photosensitive layer, the intermediate layer containing particles each containing titanium oxide, and the particles having a mass increase ratio of 0.005% or more when heated under a nitrogen atmosphere from 300° C. to 900° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Inventors: Kunihiko Sekido, Takashi Anezaki, Taichi Sato, Masashi Nishi, Atsushi Fujii
  • Publication number: 20200064749
    Abstract: There is provided an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can achieve both of an adequately high initial sensitivity as the electrophotographic photosensitive member and reduction in the fluctuation of a light portion potential at the time of repeated use. An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a support, an electroconductive layer and a photosensitive layer in this order, wherein the electroconductive layer contains a binder material and a metal oxide particle; the metal oxide particle has a core material containing a titanium oxide, and a covering layer which covers the core material and contains the titanium oxide; and when the oxygen deficiency ratio of the metal oxide particle is represented by A, the oxygen deficiency ratio of the core material is represented by B, and the oxygen deficiency ratio of the covering layer is represented by C, the Expressions (1) and (2) are satisfied: A?2% (1) and 10×B<C (2).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Inventors: Takashi Anezaki, Taichi Sato, Kunihiko Sekido, Masashi Nishi, Atsushi Fujii
  • Publication number: 20200041918
    Abstract: An electrophotographic photosensitive member includes, in sequence, a support, a conductive layer, an undercoat layer, a charge generation layer, and a charge transport layer. The conductive layer is a cured film, and the cured film contains titanium oxide particles doped with niobium. The undercoat layer contains a cured product of a composition that contains an electron transport material having a polymerizable functional group and a resin functionalized with a carboxylic acid derivative.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventors: Masashi Nishi, Takashi Anezaki, Taichi Sato, Atsushi Fujii, Kunihiko Sekido