Patents by Inventor Takeshi Akai

Takeshi Akai 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: 20230302828
    Abstract: A droplet discharge device for discharging a droplet into recess parts of a storage vessel includes a storage vessel, a discharge head configured to insert a discharge surface into a recess part and discharge droplets while moving in two horizontal directions, a mounting table, a vertical position adjusting part configured to change a relative vertical position between the head and table, a vertical position adjustment control part configured to control the adjusting part, a horizontal position detecting part configured to detect a horizontal position of the storage vessel, and a target position detecting part configured to detect, before starting discharge, a distance from a vertical reference height to a discharge target surface, wherein the control part controls, based on the detected distance, the vertical position of the head or table during the discharge such that a discharge height of the discharge surface relative to the discharge target surface stays constant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2023
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi AKAI, Yu YAMAYA, Takahiko MATSUMOTO, Yusuke NONOYAMA, Daisuke ARAI
  • Publication number: 20230211335
    Abstract: A droplet discharge device for discharging a droplet into one or more droplet storage parts of a storage vessel; the droplet discharge device including: a droplet discharge part configured to discharge the droplet in a predetermined amount from a nozzle hole of the droplet discharge part; a storage vessel holding part configured to hold the storage vessel; a mover part configured to move the droplet discharge part relative to the storage vessel that is held by the storage vessel holding part; and a detecting part configured to detect a shape of a surface of the storage vessel that is held by the storage vessel holding part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2022
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Daisuke ARAI, Takahiko MATSUMOTO, Yusuke NONOYAMA, Takeshi AKAI
  • Publication number: 20220274405
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge unit. The liquid discharge unit includes a liquid chamber member defining a liquid holding portion to hold a liquid, a film having a nozzle hole from which the liquid is discharged and a surface facing the liquid holding portion, and a holder supporting the film. The surface of the film has a contact angle with water of less than 90 degrees.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2022
    Publication date: September 1, 2022
    Inventors: Ruki MIDORIKAWA, Takeshi AKAI, Yu YAMAYA, Reo MAEDA, Takahiko MATSUMOTO, Yusuke NONOYAMA, Tatsuya SAMESHIMA, Daisuke ARAI
  • Patent number: 11097544
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid discharging head including: a membranous member including a discharging port through which a liquid is discharged; and a displacement member disposed at membranous member's one side at which the liquid to be discharged through the discharging port is provided and configured to displace a position of the membranous member to cause the liquid to be discharged through the discharging port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Koichi Muramatsu, Takahiko Matsumoto, Shinnosuke Koshizuka, Satoshi Okano, Satoshi Nakazawa, Yuzuru Kuramochi, Ryuya Mashiko, Takeshi Akai, Daisuke Takagi, Tomoaki Nakayama, Hidekazu Yaginuma, Hiroshi Fujie, Manabu Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 11001072
    Abstract: Liquid discharge head comprising: liquid discharge unit, which includes discharge port, liquid retaining section configured to retain liquid to be discharged from the discharge port, and displacement section configured to discharge the liquid retained within the liquid retaining section from the discharge port; a pair of liquid storage sections, which are configured to store the liquid and are each connected to the liquid retaining section in the liquid discharge unit so that the liquid can flow; a pair of liquid feeding sections that are connected to the pair of liquid storage sections and are configured to feed the liquid between the liquid storage section and the liquid retaining section; and a pair of open and close sections that are each disposed at flow path between the liquid feeding section and the liquid storage section and are configured to open and close the flow path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2021
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Manabu Yamanaka, Daisuke Takagi, Shinnosuke Koshizuka, Hiroshi Fujie, Takeshi Akai, Yu Yamaya, Youhei Niitsuma
  • Patent number: 10807372
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid droplet discharging unit including a liquid droplet discharging port, a liquid retaining section including the liquid droplet discharging port, two tubes disposed in communication with the liquid retaining section, and first and second liquid sucking/ejecting members coupled to the two tubes respectively, wherein while the first liquid sucking/ejecting member is in a sucking or ejecting state, the second liquid sucking/ejecting member is in a non-sucking or non-ejecting state correspondingly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Akai, Hiroshi Fujie, Keisuke Sugiyama, Daisuke Takagi, Hiroki Somada, Manabu Yamanaka
  • Publication number: 20200207112
    Abstract: Liquid discharge head comprising: liquid discharge unit, which includes discharge port, liquid retaining section configured to retain liquid to be discharged from the discharge port, and displacement section configured to discharge the liquid retained within the liquid retaining section from the discharge port; a pair of liquid storage sections, which are configured to store the liquid and are each connected to the liquid retaining section in the liquid discharge unit so that the liquid can flow; a pair of liquid feeding sections that are connected to the pair of liquid storage sections and are configured to feed the liquid between the liquid storage section and the liquid retaining section; and a pair of open and close sections that are each disposed at flow path between the liquid feeding section and the liquid storage section and are configured to open and close the flow path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Publication date: July 2, 2020
    Inventors: Manabu YAMANAKA, Daisuke TAKAGI, Shinnosuke KOSHIZUKA, Hiroshi FUJIE, Takeshi AKAI, Yu YAMAYA, Youhei NIITSUMA
  • Publication number: 20200139704
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid discharging head including: a membranous member including a discharging port through which a liquid is discharged; and a displacement member disposed at membranous member's one side at which the liquid to be discharged through the discharging port is provided and configured to displace a position of the membranous member to cause the liquid to be discharged through the discharging port.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Publication date: May 7, 2020
    Inventors: Koichi Muramatsu, Takahiko Matsumoto, Shinnosuke Koshizuka, Satoshi Okano, Satoshi Nakazawa, Yuzuru Kuramochi, Ryuya Mashiko, Takeshi Akai, Daisuke Takagi, Tomoaki Nakayama, Hidekazu Yaginuma, Hiroshi Fujie, Manabu Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 10513404
    Abstract: A sheet-material supply device includes a lift, a sheet-material detector, and a sheet-material retaining conveyor. The lift elevates sheet materials in a stacked state. The sheet-material detector detects that an uppermost sheet material of the sheet materials in the stacked state has reached a predetermined height. The sheet-material retaining conveyor retains and conveys the uppermost sheet material that has reached the predetermined height. The sheet-material supply device stops elevation of the sheet materials in the stacked state when the sheet-material detector detects that the uppermost sheet material has reached the predetermined height. The sheet-material retaining conveyor is disposed to be movable in a direction in which the sheet materials in the stacked state elevate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Takeshi Akai, Hidehiko Fujiwara, Yasuo Niikura, Yousuke Edo, Satoru Takano, Yasunori Hino, Tadashi Matsuoka, Atsunori Yoshida, Ryo Kanno, Hikaru Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 10384897
    Abstract: A sheet-member separation device includes a first air blower, an attractor, a conveyor, a second air blower, and an adjuster. The first air blower blows air onto a front side of a stack of sheet members in a sheet-member conveyance direction. The attractor attracts an uppermost sheet member floated from the stack of sheet members by the air blown from the first air blower. The conveyor conveys, in the sheet-member conveyance direction, the sheet member attracted by the attractor. The second air blower blows air toward a lateral side of the sheet member. The adjuster moves the second air blower and the attractor together to adjust positions of the second air blower and the attractor in the sheet-member conveyance direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoru Takano, Hidehiko Fujiwara, Takeshi Akai, Yasuo Niikura, Yousuke Edo, Yasunori Hino, Tadashi Matsuoka, Atsunori Yoshida, Ryo Kanno, Hikaru Fukasawa
  • Publication number: 20190232661
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid droplet discharging unit including a liquid droplet discharging port, a liquid retaining section including the liquid droplet discharging port, two tubes disposed in communication with the liquid retaining section, and first and second liquid sucking/ejecting members coupled to the two tubes respectively, wherein while the first liquid sucking/ejecting member is in a sucking or ejecting state, the second liquid sucking/ejecting member is in a non-sucking or non-ejecting state correspondingly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2019
    Publication date: August 1, 2019
    Inventors: Takeshi AKAI, Hiroshi Fujie, Keisuke Sugiyama, Daisuke Takagi, Hiroki Somada, Manabu Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 10097720
    Abstract: A sound absorber, which is included in a sheet feeder included in an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, and an electronic device, includes a cavity, a communication portion through which the cavity communicates with an outside of a sheet feeder, and a communication direction changing device configured to change a communication direction of the communicating portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takaya Ochiai, Takeshi Akai, Ikuhisa Okamoto, Takehisa Shimazu, Youhei Niitsuma
  • Patent number: 10065824
    Abstract: A stacking apparatus includes a conveyance unit, a stacking unit, and a separation member supply unit. The conveyance unit conveys sheets for circuit board. The stacking unit stacks the sheets. The separation member supply unit supplies a separation member to separate the stacked sheets at any position. The separation member supply unit places the separation member on the sheet in being conveyed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2018
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yousuke Edo, Yasufumi Takahashi, Yasuo Niikura, Satoru Takano, Hidehiko Fujiwara, Takeshi Akai, Yasunori Hino, Tadashi Matsuoka, Atsunori Yoshida, Ryo Kanno, Hikaru Fukasawa, Hiroshi Komuro, Masaru Yamagishi, Toshihiro Shimada, Satoshi Aizawa, Kenji Ishii
  • Patent number: 9950886
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device, which is included in an image reading device and an image forming apparatus, includes a passage forming body and a sound absorber. The passage forming body is configured to define a sheet conveying passage through which a sheet passes. The sound absorber includes a hollow portion and a communication portion configured to communication the hollow portion and the sheet conveying passage. A position of the communication portion of the sound absorber is changeable in the sheet conveying passage. The sheet conveying device included in the image reading device includes an original document conveying device configured to convey an original document having an image on a surface. The sheet conveying device included in the image forming apparatus includes a recording medium conveying device configured to convey the recording medium accommodated in a recording medium container to the image forming device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Takehisa Shimazu, Takeshi Akai, Keisuke Sugiyama, Takaya Ochiai
  • Patent number: 9938099
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a conveyer to convey a sheet and a primary sheet guide, disposed downstream from the conveyer in a sheet conveyance direction, to guide the sheet conveyed by the conveyer in the sheet conveyance direction. A secondary sheet guide is disposed opposite the primary sheet guide and includes a bending portion to bend the sheet while the sheet slides over the bending portion to change the sheet conveyance direction. A sheet conveyance path is defined by the primary sheet guide and the secondary sheet guide. The primary sheet guide includes a cavity disposed opposite the sheet conveyance path and a communication through-hole communicating with the cavity and the sheet conveyance path. The communication through-hole is disposed opposite the bending portion in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Takeshi Akai, Ikuhisa Okamoto, Takehisa Shimazu, Youhei Niitsuma, Takaya Ochiai
  • Patent number: 9834398
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a primary sheet guide including a bending portion to bend a sheet while the sheet slides over the bending portion to change a sheet conveyance direction and a secondary sheet guide disposed opposite the primary sheet guide with an interval between the primary sheet guide and the secondary sheet guide. A noise attenuator intakes and attenuates slide noise generated by the bending portion while the sheet slides over the bending portion. The noise attenuator includes a resonant cavity disposed opposite an outer face of one of the primary sheet guide and the secondary sheet guide. A sound inlet is disposed in proximity to the bending portion and intakes the slide noise generated by the bending portion. A sound guide communicates with the sound inlet and the resonant cavity to guide the slide noise from the sound inlet to the resonant cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Youhei Niitsuma, Takeshi Akai, Ikuhisa Okamoto, Takehisa Shimazu, Takaya Ochiai
  • Publication number: 20170260015
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device, which is included in an image reading device and an image forming apparatus, includes a passage forming body and a sound absorber. The passage forming body is configured to define a sheet conveying passage through which a sheet passes. The sound absorber includes a hollow portion and a communication portion configured to communication the hollow portion and the sheet conveying passage. A position of the communication portion of the sound absorber is changeable in the sheet conveying passage. The sheet conveying device included in the image reading device includes an original document conveying device configured to convey an original document having an image on a surface. The sheet conveying device included in the image forming apparatus includes a recording medium conveying device configured to convey the recording medium accommodated in a recording medium container to the image forming device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2017
    Publication date: September 14, 2017
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takehisa SHIMAZU, Takeshi AKAI, Keisuke SUGIYAMA, Takaya OCHIAI
  • Publication number: 20170174453
    Abstract: A sheet-material supply device includes a lift, a sheet-material detector, and a sheet-material retaining conveyor. The lift elevates sheet materials in a stacked state. The sheet-material detector detects that an uppermost sheet material of the sheet materials in the stacked state has reached a predetermined height. The sheet-material retaining conveyor retains and conveys the uppermost sheet material that has reached the predetermined height. The sheet-material supply device stops elevation of the sheet materials in the stacked state when the sheet-material detector detects that the uppermost sheet material has reached the predetermined height. The sheet-material retaining conveyor is disposed to be movable in a direction in which the sheet materials in the stacked state elevate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Publication date: June 22, 2017
    Inventors: Takeshi AKAI, Hidehiko FUJIWARA, Yasuo NIIKURA, Yousuke EDO, Satoru TAKANO, Yasunori HINO, Tadashi MATSUOKA, Atsunori YOSHIDA, Ryo KANNO, Hikaru FUKASAWA
  • Publication number: 20170174462
    Abstract: A stacking apparatus includes a conveyance unit, a stacking unit, and a separation member supply unit. The conveyance unit conveys sheets for circuit board. The stacking unit stacks the sheets. The separation member supply unit supplies a separation member to separate the stacked sheets at any position. The separation member supply unit places the separation member on the sheet in being conveyed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Publication date: June 22, 2017
    Inventors: Yousuke EDO, Yasufumi TAKAHASHI, Yasuo NIIKURA, Satoru TAKANO, Hidehiko FUJIWARA, Takeshi AKAI, Yasunori HINO, Tadashi MATSUOKA, Atsunori YOSHIDA, Ryo KANNO, Hikaru FUKASAWA, Hiroshi KOMURO, Masaru YAMAGISHI, Toshihiro SHIMADA, Satoshi AIZAWA, Kenji ISHII
  • Publication number: 20170180586
    Abstract: A sound absorber, which is included in a sheet feeder included in an image reading device, an image forming apparatus, and an electronic device, includes a cavity, a communication portion through which the cavity communicates with an outside of a sheet feeder, and a communication direction changing device configured to change a communication direction of the communicating portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2016
    Publication date: June 22, 2017
    Applicant: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takaya Ochiai, Takeshi Akai, Ikuhisa Okamoto, Takehisa Shimazu, Youhei Niitsuma