Patents by Inventor Tomoaki Takahashi

Tomoaki Takahashi 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: 20040085411
    Abstract: A plate member constituting a channel unit of an ink jet recording head has a metal plate which is produced by rolling an etchable material, and a polymer film which is laminated onto one face of the metal plate. The long side is perpendicular to the rolling direction of the metal plate. Warpage which easily occurs in the longitudinal direction is suppressed by the rigidity which is large in a direction perpendicular to the rolling direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2003
    Publication date: May 6, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Minoru Watanabe, Atsushi Furuhata
  • Patent number: 6726299
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus is operated under a basic recording mode for recording through use of a basic unit pixel which is associated with a unit recording area corresponding to a unit print cycle, and a high-resolution recording mode for recording through use of a fine unit pixel, a plurality of fine unit pixels being arranged within the unit recording area in a main scanning direction of the recording head. The print data is developed into the jetting data such that each bit therein indicates whether the recording is conducted or not in each associated fine unit pixel, when the high-resolution recording mode is selected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2004
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Noboru Tamura
  • Publication number: 20040066425
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head formed with a nozzle opening from which a liquid droplet is ejected, and having a driving voltage information ID in a reference state specific to each liquid ejecting head, a pressure generating chamber communicating with the nozzle opening, a piezoelectric vibrator, expanding and contracting the pressure generating chamber, a driving signal generator generating a driving signal to displace the piezoelectric vibrator, a switch, selectively applying the driving signal to the piezoelectric vibrator based on liquid ejecting data, and a flexible flat cable transmitting the driving signal to the piezoelectric vibrator. A voltage obtained by adding a correction coefficient to a voltage specified in the driving voltage information ID is used as a reference driving voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2003
    Publication date: April 8, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takayuki Togashi, Tomoaki Takahashi
  • Publication number: 20040056909
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus is operated under a basic recording mode for recording through use of a basic unit pixel which is associated with a unit recording area corresponding to a unit print cycle, and a high-resolution recording mode for recording through use of a fine unit pixel, a plurality of fine unit pixels being arranged within the unit recording area in a main scanning direction of the recording head. The print data is developed into the jetting data such that each bit therein indicates whether the recording is conducted or not in each associated fine unit pixel, when the high-resolution recording mode is selected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2003
    Publication date: March 25, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Noboru Tamura
  • Publication number: 20040051817
    Abstract: A carriage 5 is provided with an injection head 7 to discharge an amount of liquid drops according to the supplied driving pulses and a liquid material sensor 17 to detect the ink amount hit at a filter substrate at each pixel region. A main controller 31 determines a waveform of the driving pulses capable of discharging the short amount of liquid drops according to a level of a detection signal from the liquid material sensor 17 and outputs the determined information on the waveform of the driving pulses to driving signal generator 32. The driving signal generator 32 generates driving pulses according to the received information on the waveform and outputs it to the injection head 7. The injection head 7 adjusts an ink amount at the corresponding pixel region to the target amount of liquid material by injecting the short amount of liquid drops to the corresponding pixel region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 13, 2003
    Publication date: March 18, 2004
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Hirofumi Sakai
  • Publication number: 20040027412
    Abstract: The liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a liquid jet head including a nozzle opening through which a liquid drop is ejected by changing pressure of a liquid in a pressure chamber interconnecting to the nozzle opening; a scanning mechanism including a carriage on which the liquid jet head is loaded, the scanning mechanism moves the liquid jet head in a head scanning direction together with the carriage; a case configured to contain the liquid jet head and the scanning mechanism; and a leading unit for leading a liquid drop, which is ejected from the liquid jet head and not applied to an article to be processed, in a given direction using an air stream generated in the case due to moving of the carriage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2003
    Publication date: February 12, 2004
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Takayuki Togashi
  • Publication number: 20030234826
    Abstract: A pressure generating element is associated with a pressure chamber communicated with a nozzle orifice. The pressure generating element is operable to generate pressure fluctuation in liquid contained in the pressure chamber to eject a liquid droplet from the nozzle orifice, when a drive signal is supplied thereto. An identifier is provided with ID information including a first deviation of an ejected liquid amount from a designed value when a drive signal at a first, regular drive frequency is supplied, and a second deviation of an ejected liquid amount from the designed value when a drive signal at a second, operable maximum drive frequency is supplied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2003
    Publication date: December 25, 2003
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoru Hosono, Hirofumi Teramae, Tomoaki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 6666547
    Abstract: A plate member constituting a channel unit of an ink jet recording head has a metal plate which is produced by rolling an etchable material, and a polymer film which is laminated onto one face of the metal plate. The long side is perpendicular to the rolling direction of the metal plate. Warpage which easily occurs in the longitudinal direction is suppressed by the rigidity which is large in a direction perpendicular to the rolling direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Minoru Watanabe, Atsushi Furuhata
  • Patent number: 6626524
    Abstract: In a vibrator unit, at least one piezoelectric vibrator is fixed on a base member in a cantilevered manner, such that a first region of the piezoelectric vibrator is fixed on a first face of the base member. A resin case is formed with a housing space extending through a first end face to a second end face thereof. The housing space includes a first housing part which opens to the first end face of the case, a second housing part which continues to the first housing part, and a third housing part which continues to the second housing part. In the first housing part, a part of the piezoelectric vibrator except for the first region is housed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Noriaki Okazawa, Hiroshige Owaki, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Tomoaki Takahashi, Takayuki Iijima
  • Publication number: 20030151639
    Abstract: This apparatus has a liquid jet head for ejecting liquid drops from nozzle openings of a nozzle plate, a scanning mechanism for scanning the head in the head scanning direction, a feed mechanism for feeding an object to be processed in the direction perpendicular to the head scanning direction, an absorption member arranged in the area, which is on the rear side of the object during processing and opposite to the head, for absorbing liquid drops ejected in the area outside the object, and a potential difference generation unit for generating a potential difference between at least one of the absorption member and the member neighboring the absorption member and the nozzle plate. According to this apparatus, liquid drops ejected from the head into the area outside the object can be prevented from misting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2003
    Publication date: August 14, 2003
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tomoaki Takahashi
  • Publication number: 20030146742
    Abstract: A first evaluation signal includes a first excitation element adapted to excite pressure fluctuation in liquid contained in the pressure chamber and a first ejection element which follows the excitation element after a first time period to eject a first liquid droplet from the nozzle. A second evaluation signal includes a second excitation element adapted to excite pressure fluctuation in liquid contained in the pressure chamber and a second ejection element which follows the excitation element after a second time period to eject a second liquid droplet from the nozzle which is longer than the first time period. The first evaluation signal is supplied to the pressure generating element to measure a first ejected amount of the first liquid droplet. The second evaluation signal is supplied to the pressure generating element to measure a second ejected amount of the second liquid droplet. An ejected amount ratio of the first ejected amount and the second ejected amount is calculated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2003
    Publication date: August 7, 2003
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keisuke Nishida, Satoru Hosono, Tomoaki Takahashi, Ryoichi Tanaka, Hirofumi Teramae
  • Publication number: 20030085953
    Abstract: A flexible flat cable connects a drive circuit and a liquid jetting head to supply a drive signal to pressure generating elements. The flat cable includes a plurality of laminated layers, each provided with a plurality of first conductive patterns each connecting a positive pole of the drive circuit and a positive pole of one of the pressure generating elements, and a plurality of second conductive patterns each connecting a negative pole of the drive circuit and a negative pole of one of the pressure generating elements. Each of at least one of the first conductive patterns provided in one of the laminated layers faces one of the first conductive patterns provided in adjacent one of the laminated layers. Each of at least one of the second conductive patterns provided in one of the laminated layers faces one of the second conductive patterns provided in adjacent one of the laminated layers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2002
    Publication date: May 8, 2003
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Goki Hiramoto, Tomoaki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 6557985
    Abstract: In an end portion of a common ink reservoir, there is provided a narrowed area having a cross-sectional area decreased as compared with any other portion, inertance of each of ink supply channels communicating with the common ink reservoir in the narrowed area is set smaller than inertance of each of ink supply channels communicating with the common ink reservoir in any other portion than the narrowed area, inertance of each ink supply channel is set smaller as the ink supply channel is positioned at the tip of the common ink reservoir, and the volumes of pressure generating chambers are made uniform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru Hosono, Tomoaki Takahashi
  • Patent number: 6540338
    Abstract: A recording head is provided with a pressure chamber communicated with a nozzle orifice. A pressure generating element generates pressure fluctuation in ink contained in the pressure chamber. A drive signal generator generates a drive signal for driving the pressure generating element such that a main ink droplet and a satellite ink droplet accompanied with the main ink droplet are ejected to form an ink dot on a recording medium. The main ink droplet has a first volume, and the satellite ink droplet has a second volume which is larger than the first volume. Alternatively, the main ink droplet is ejected with a first speed, and the satellite ink droplet is ejected a second speed which is faster than the first speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Hirofumi Teramae
  • Patent number: 6540322
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus in which a nozzle ink jet recording head provided with a nozzle plate provided with apertures for jetting an ink droplet and a capping device provided with a cap unit for sealing the apertures of the nozzle plate when the recording apparatus is not used are mounted, in which in the cap unit of the capping device, in a sealed state, an ink suction port for supplying negative pressure for exhausting ink from a nozzle aperture if necessary is arranged at the bottom and an atmospheric air open port for releasing negative pressure is arranged on one side and in which a porous plate provided with plural through holes for adjusting the distribution of pressure in the longitudinal direction of the cap unit is housed between the inner bottom face and the upper open face of the cap unit and further, an ink suction method of a recording head are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Kenji Tsukada, Takahiro Katakura, Tomoaki Takahashi, Kazuhiko Hara
  • Publication number: 20030048331
    Abstract: A recording head provided with a plurality of nozzles, a plurality of pressure chambers, each communicated with one nozzle, and a plurality of pressure generating elements, each associated with one pressure chamber and actuated to eject ink from one associated nozzle. An ejection controller specifies a nozzle from which an ink droplet having the least weight is ejected as a reference nozzle. A driving signal generator generates a driving signal applied to the respective pressure generating elements. The drive signal has a driving voltage determined such that an ink droplet ejected from the reference nozzle has a predetermined flight velocity or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2002
    Publication date: March 13, 2003
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Tomohiro Sayama, Goki Hiramoto
  • Publication number: 20030029038
    Abstract: An ink jet recording head has an ink passage unit (1) formed by superposing a nozzle plate (3) with a plurality of nozzles (2) and an ink passage plate (8). The ink passage plate (8) has first and a second surface (8a, 8b), and is provided with a plurality of pressure producing chambers (5) connected to the plurality of nozzles (2), and an ink reservoir (7) communicating with the pressure producing chambers (5) by means of ink inlet ports (6). A cover plate (11) is closely joined to the first surface (8a) of the ink passage plate (8). The cover plate (11) is deformed elastically by piezoelectric vibrators (10) so as to apply pressure to the ink contained in the pressure producing chambers (5). The ink passage plate (8) is a metal sheet (21) having first and second surfaces (8a, 8b) of the ink passage plate (8). A through hole (20) for the ink reservoir (7) is formed from the first surface to the second surface in the metal sheet (21).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2002
    Publication date: February 13, 2003
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Tomoaki Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Patent number: 6499836
    Abstract: An ink jet recording head has an ink passage unit (1) formed by superposing a nozzle plate (3) with a plurality of nozzles (2) and an ink passage plate (8). The ink passage plate (8) has first and a second surface (8a, 8b), and is provided with a plurality of pressure producing chambers (5) connected to the plurality of nozzles (2), and an ink reservoir (7) communicating with the pressure producing chambers (5) by means of ink inlet ports (6). A cover plate (11) is closely joined to the first surface (8a) of the ink passage plate (8). The coverplate (11) is deformed elastically by piezoelectric vibrators (10) so as to apply pressure to the ink contained in the pressure producing chambers (5). The ink passage plate (8) is a metal sheet (21) having first and second surfaces (8a, 8b) of the ink passage plate (8). A through hole (20) for the ink reservoir (7) is formed from the first surface to the second surface in the metal sheet (21).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Usui, Tomoaki Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Patent number: 6481834
    Abstract: A passage forming plate (1) is provided with a plurality of pressure chambers (5). A nozzle plate (2) is provided with nozzle holes (6). The nozzle plate (2) is disposed on the front surface (1a) of the passage forming plate (1) so that the nozzle holes (6) communicate with the pressure chambers (5), respectively. Pressure is applied to the ink in the pressure chambers (5) by piezoelectric vibrators (8). A casing member (3) with an ink reservoir (10) for containing the ink to be supplied to the pressure chambers (5) is disposed on the side of the back surface (1b) of the passage forming plate (1). A sealing plate (4) is held between the passage forming plate (1) and the casing member (3). The sealing plate (4) is provided with a plurality of through holes (18) communicating with the plurality of pressure chambers (5), respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoaki Takahashi, Takashi Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20020167569
    Abstract: In an end portion of a common ink reservoir, there is provided a narrowed area having a cross-sectional area decreased as compared with any other portion, inertance of each of ink supply channels communicating with the common ink reservoir in the narrowed area is set smaller than inertance of each of ink supply channels communicating with the common ink reservoir in any other portion than the narrowed area, inertance of each ink supply channel is set smaller as the ink supply channel is positioned at the tip of the common ink reservoir, and the volumes of pressure generating chambers are made uniform.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2000
    Publication date: November 14, 2002
    Inventors: Satoru Hosono, Tomoaki Takahashi