Patents by Inventor Takaki Kato

Takaki Kato 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: 9056493
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a conveyance roller configured to convey recording sheets; a brush motor configured to drive the conveyance roller to rotate; and a control unit configured to control a rotational speed of the brush motor, wherein while the conveyance roller conveys a recording sheet, (i) the control unit applies voltage to an outer circumferential surface of a commutator of the brush motor to drive the brush motor to rotate by a predetermined rotation amount, so as to perform a cleaning operation to remove a film deposited on the outer circumferential surface, and (ii) the control unit reduces the rotational speed of the brush motor while not performing the cleaning operation, so as to correct a conveyance distance of the recording sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Yuji Kobayashi, Takaki Kato, Yuta Tachibana, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Satoshi Teshima
  • Publication number: 20150028533
    Abstract: A sheet feeder picking up and transporting sheets includes a transport unit transporting sheets along a sheet transport path one by one, a gap occurrence detection unit detecting, within a predetermined section of the sheet transport path, occurrence of a gap between sheets, and a controller controlling a timing of the transport of sheets according to a result of the detection. The gap occurrence detection unit includes a first detection unit and a second detection unit. The first detection unit is configured to detect light that is emitted toward the predetermined section, reaches a converging surface thereof across the predetermined section, and converged on a receiving element thereof. The second detection unit is configured to detect light reflected by a sheet passing through the predetermined section. The occurrence of the gap is detected based on outputs from the first detection unit and the second detection unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2014
    Publication date: January 29, 2015
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Takaki KATO, Yuji KOBAYASHI, Yuta TACHIBANA, Hiroshi YAMAGUCHI, Satoshi TESHIMA
  • Patent number: 8899581
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes: a transport roller for transporting a sheet subjected to image processing; a motor that drives the transport roller to rotate; and a speed reduction unit that performs a speed reduction control on the motor to temporarily stop the sheet, the speed reduction control being performed in a manner that a stopping time and a stopping distance each satisfy a corresponding target range, wherein the speed reduction control includes: a first control that is a control of reducing a rotation speed of the motor to a reference speed through at least two operations from among a braking operation, a powering operation, and a free running operation; and a second control that is a control of, after a rotation amount of the motor from the start of the speed reduction control reaches a reference value, continuously performing the braking operation until the stop of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Takaki Kato, Yuta Tachibana, Yuji Kobayashi, Satoshi Teshima
  • Publication number: 20140205340
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes: a transport roller for transporting a sheet subjected to image processing; a motor that drives the transport roller to rotate; and a speed reduction unit that performs a speed reduction control on the motor to temporarily stop the sheet, the speed reduction control being performed in a manner that a stopping time and a stopping distance each satisfy a corresponding target range, wherein the speed reduction control includes: a first control that is a control of reducing a rotation speed of the motor to a reference speed through at least two operations from among a braking operation, a powering operation, and a free running operation; and a second control that is a control of, after a rotation amount of the motor from the start of the speed reduction control reaches a reference value, continuously performing the braking operation until the stop of the motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Publication date: July 24, 2014
    Applicant: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Hiroshi YAMAGUCHI, Takaki KATO, Yuta TACHIBANA, Yuji KOBAYASHI, Satoshi TESHIMA
  • Publication number: 20130279960
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a conveyance roller configured to convey recording sheets; a brush motor configured to drive the conveyance roller to rotate; and a control unit configured to control a rotational speed of the brush motor, wherein while the conveyance roller conveys a recording sheet, (i) the control unit applies voltage to an outer circumferential surface of a commutator of the brush motor to drive the brush motor to rotate by a predetermined rotation amount, so as to perform a cleaning operation to remove a film deposited on the outer circumferential surface, and (ii) the control unit reduces the rotational speed of the brush motor while not performing the cleaning operation, so as to correct a conveyance distance of the recording sheet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 18, 2013
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Applicant: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventors: Yuji KOBAYASHI, Takaki Kato, Yuta Tachibana, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Satoshi Teshima