Patents by Inventor Tomohisa Higuchi

Tomohisa Higuchi 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: 20130235128
    Abstract: An ink jet printer may include an ink jet head, a cam member, a cam follower, and a valve operation mechanism. The ink jet head may comprise an ink chamber, an exhaust passage communicating with the ink chamber, and an exhaust valve disposed at the exhaust passage. The cam member may comprise a cam groove and be configured to rotate. The cam groove may comprise first, second and third grooves. The second groove and the third groove may branch from one end of the first groove. The cam follower may be configured to be guided along the cam groove. The valve operation mechanism may be coupled to the cam follower. In a state where the cam follower is present in a predetermined position in the third groove, the valve operation mechanism may make contact with the exhaust valve, and the exhaust valve may be in an opened state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2013
    Publication date: September 12, 2013
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Jun Hatta, Tomohisa Higuchi, Nobuo Hiraki, Yoshinori Kato, Shin Manabe
  • Patent number: 8379997
    Abstract: An image signal processing device 1 comprises an encoding part 10, a delay part 20, a difference calculation part 30, a decoding part 40, a quantization error determination part 50 and a corrected image data output part 60.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Thine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Patent number: 8289348
    Abstract: An image signal processing device 1 comprises a delay part 10, a basic correction value output part 20, and a corrected image data output part 30. To the basic correction value output part 20, data G1[7:4] of high order 4 bits of image data G1[7:0] of a first frame to be output from the delay part 10 is input and data G2[7:4] of high order 4 bits of image data G2[7:0] of a second frame to be input to the delay part 10 is input, and the basic correction value output part 20 outputs basic correction values D1 to D4 corresponding to the data. To the corrected image data output part 30, G1[7:0], G2[7:0] and D1 to D4 are input, and the corrected image data output part 30 performs when “G1[7:4]=G2[7:4]” holds and performs different processing when “G1[7:4]?G2[7:4]” holds, and acquires corrected image data G2?[7:0] corresponding to data (G1[7:0], G2[7:0]) by interpolation calculation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Thine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Patent number: 8197026
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus is provided. The inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head including a nozzle formation surface, the nozzle formation surface including a plurality of nozzles formed thereon for discharging ink to record an image on a recording medium conveyed to a position opposing the nozzle formation surface; a wiper blade configured to contact the nozzle formation surface to wipe the nozzle formation surface; and an introducing portion formed on a side surface of the recording head intersecting the nozzle formation surface, the introducing portion configured to introduce ink attached to the wiper blade or the nozzle formation surface to the side surface to hold the introduced ink at the side surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Kato, Nobuo Hiraki, Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Patent number: 8033639
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus, method and computer readable medium are provided. The inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head comprising a nozzle formation surface having a plurality of ink discharging nozzles formed thereon; a wiper which has elasticity and wipes the nozzle formation surface by pressingly contacting against the nozzle formation surface of the recording head; and a moving unit which moves at least one of the recording head and the wiper to wipe the nozzle formation surface at a first relative speed and moves the at least one of the recording head and the wiper to separate from each other at a second relative speed, which is less than the first relative speed. The method includes moving at least one of the inkjet recording head and the wiper relative to each other so that the wiper wipes the nozzle formation surface at a first relative speed; and separating the wiper from the inkjet recording head at a second relative speed, which is less than the first relative speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Kato, Nobuo Hiraki, Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20110243608
    Abstract: There is provided an opening/closing device for an upper unit case, including a pair of guide members formed of lower and upper guide members provided on lower and upper unit cases respectively, at least one of the lower and upper guide member being configured to be swingable in an up and down direction; a movable body which is connected movably to the lower and upper guide members and which has a rotary body installed in the movable body while being fitted rollably with respect to the lower and lower guide members; and a regulating mechanism which regulates swinging amount in the up and down direction of the at least one guide member configured to be swingable in the up and down direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2011
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoichiro NISHIMURA, Kumiko KURIKI, Yukio SHIOHARA, Kazuhito ISHIDA, Masahisa KATO, Tomohisa HIGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20110241511
    Abstract: The opening and closing apparatus includes a lower unit case, an upper unit case, a hinge, a lower guide member, an upper guide member and an opening/closing linking unit. The upper unit case is configured to open and close with respect to the lower unit case. The lower guide member is disposed in the lower unit case, and the upper guide member is disposed in the upper unit case. The opening/closing linking unit includes a first rotating member, a second rotating member and a linking portion. As the upper unit case is closed, the opening/closing linking unit moves from the base end side toward the distal end side along the upper guide member and the lower guide member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2011
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoichiro NISHIMURA, Kumiko KURIKI, Yukio SHIOHARA, Kazuhito ISHIDA, Masahisa KATO, Tomohisa HIGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20110240668
    Abstract: The opening and closing apparatus includes a lower unit case, an upper unit case, a hinge, a lower guide member, an upper guide member and an opening/closing linking unit. The upper unit case is configured to open and close with respect to the lower unit case. The lower guide member is disposed in the lower unit case, and the upper guide member is disposed in the upper unit case. The opening/closing linking unit includes a first rotating member, a second rotating member and a linking portion. As the upper unit case is closed, the opening/closing linking unit moves from the base end side toward the distal end side along the upper guide member and the lower guide member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2011
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoichiro NISHIMURA, Kumiko KURIKI, Yukio SHIOHARA, Kazuhito ISHIDA, Masahisa KATO, Tomohisa HIGUCHI
  • Patent number: 7878621
    Abstract: An ink-jet printer including a carriage carrying recording heads, air collecting chambers, and discharging passages communicating with the respective air collecting chambers; opening and closing valves provided in the respective discharging passages; opening and closing bars which open and close the respective valves; an air discharge cap which has a bottom wall, a side wall, and a suction hole, wherein an upper end surface of the side wall is closely contactable with a lower surface of the carriage to cover respective openings of the discharging passages; a suction device which sucks air through the suction hole; and an air-flow generating device which causes an air flow inlet to open at a position distant from the suction hole, so that when air is sucked through the suction hole, the air flows from the air flow inlet toward the suction hole. An ink sucking method is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuo Hiraki, Takaichiro Umeda, Noritsugu Ito, Hikaru Kaga, Tatsuya Shindo, Wataru Sugiyama, Katsunori Nishida, Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20100302309
    Abstract: An ink jet printer may be provided with an ink jet head, a cam member, a cam follower, and a valve operation mechanism. The ink jet head may comprise an ink chamber, an exhaust passage communicating with the ink chamber, and an exhaust valve disposed at the exhaust passage. The cam member may comprise a cam groove. The cam member may be configured to rotate. The cam groove may comprise a first groove, a second groove, and a third groove. The second groove and the third groove may branch from one end of the first groove. The cam follower may be configured to be guided along the cam groove. The valve operation mechanism may be coupled to the cam follower. In a state where the cam follower is present in a predetermined position in the third groove, the valve operation mechanism may make contact with the exhaust valve, and the exhaust valve may be in an opened state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Publication date: December 2, 2010
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Jun HATTA, Tomohisa HIGUCHI, Nobuo HIRAKI, Yoshinori KATO, Shin MANABE
  • Publication number: 20100245226
    Abstract: An image signal processing device 1 comprises a delay part 10, a basic correction value output part 20, and a corrected image data output part 30. To the basic correction value output part 20, data G1[7:4] of high order 4 bits of image data G1[7:0] of a first frame to be output from the delay part 10 is input and data G2[7:4] of high order 4 bits of image data G2[7:0] of a second frame to be input to the delay part 10 is input, and the basic correction value output part 20 outputs basic correction values D1 to D4 corresponding to the data. To the corrected image data output part 30, G1[7:0], G2[7:0] and D1 to D4 are input, and the corrected image data output part 30 performs when “G1[7:4]=G2[7:4]” holds and performs different processing when “G1[7:4]?G2[7:4]” holds, and acquires corrected image data G2?[7:0] corresponding to data (G1[7:0], G2[7:0]) by interpolation calculation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2008
    Publication date: September 30, 2010
    Applicant: THINE ELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventor: Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20100220938
    Abstract: An image signal processing device 1 comprises an encoding part 10, a delay part 20, a difference calculation part 30, a decoding part 40, a quantization error determination part 50 and a corrected image data output part 60.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2008
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Applicant: THINE ELECTONICS, INC.
    Inventor: Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20100214488
    Abstract: An image signal processing device 1 comprises a delay part 10, a motion detection part 20, an intermediate frame generation part 30 and an output part 40. The motion detection part 20 detects a motion of an image of a second frame with respect to an image of a first frame based on image data G1 of the first frame to be output from the delay part 20 and image data G2 of the second frame to be input to the delay part 20. The intermediate frame generation part 30 generates image data GC of an intermediate frame based on the image data G1 and G2 of the first frame and the second frame, respectively. An edge in the image of the intermediate frame is located between edges in the images of the first frame and the second frame, respectively. The output part 40 inserts the image data GC of the intermediate frame before the image data G2 of the second frame and outputs the data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2008
    Publication date: August 26, 2010
    Applicant: Thine Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Tomohisa Higuchi, Yoshinori Takao
  • Publication number: 20090085969
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus is provided. The inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head including a nozzle formation surface, the nozzle formation surface including a plurality of nozzles formed thereon for discharging ink to record an image on a recording medium conveyed to a position opposing the nozzle formation surface; a wiper blade configured to contact the nozzle formation surface to wipe the nozzle formation surface; and an introducing portion formed on a side surface of the recording head intersecting the nozzle formation surface, the introducing portion configured to introduce ink attached to the wiper blade or the nozzle formation surface to the side surface to hold the introduced ink at the side surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2008
    Publication date: April 2, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshinori KATO, Nobuo HIRAKI, Tomohisa HIGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20090051732
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus, method and computer readable medium are provided. The inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head comprising a nozzle formation surface having a plurality of ink discharging nozzles formed thereon; a wiper which has elasticity and wipes the nozzle formation surface by pressingly contacting against the nozzle formation surface of the recording head; and a moving unit which moves at least one of the recording head and the wiper to wipe the nozzle formation surface at a first relative speed and moves the at least one of the recording head and the wiper to separate from each other at a second relative speed, which is less than the first relative speed. The method includes moving at least one of the inkjet recording head and the wiper relative to each other so that the wiper wipes the nozzle formation surface at a first relative speed; and separating the wiper from the inkjet recording head at a second relative speed, which is less than the first relative speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2008
    Publication date: February 26, 2009
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshinori Kato, Nobuo Hiraki, Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Patent number: 7467270
    Abstract: When there is access to a non-contact type IC, the access is controlled, and external access is notified. A control unit of a non-contact type IC detects access from an external apparatus in response to variation in a load of an antenna, and notifies the detection as access information to a signal judging unit. The signal judging unit refers to history information recorded in a storing unit on the basis of the notified access information, determines whether or not to permit the external apparatus the access, and then notifies a result of the determination to a CPU. On the basis of the notified result of the determination, the CPU controls a display unit, a speaker, a light generating unit, or a vibration generating unit to generate a predetermined stimulus in order to notify the external access. The present invention is applicable to transmission apparatus including a non-contact type IC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.
    Inventor: Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20070296754
    Abstract: An ink-jet printer including recording heads; a carriage carrying the recording heads; ink flow passages which supply ink from ink tanks to the recording heads; air collecting chambers which are provided on the carriage and each of which collects air bubbles produced in a corresponding one of the ink flow passages; discharging passages which are provided on the carriage and each of which communicates with a corresponding one of the air collecting chambers; opening and closing valves each of which is normally closed and is provided in a corresponding one of the discharging passages such that the opening and closing valves are arranged in a first direction; opening and closing bars which arranged in a second direction parallel to the first direction, and each of which opens and closes a corresponding one of the opening and closing valves; an air-tight-space defining device including an air-discharge cap which has a bottom wall, a side wall projecting upward from a periphery of the bottom wall, and a suction hol
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2007
    Publication date: December 27, 2007
    Inventors: Nobuo Hiraki, Takaichiro Umeda, Noritsugu Ito, Hikaru Kaga, Tatsuya Shindo, Wataru Sugiyama, Katsunori Nishida, Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Patent number: 7210678
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a metal feed roller driven by a drive source and a plastic pinch roller pressed against the feed roller. A sheet is held between the feed roller and the pinch roller, to convey the sheet to a recording unit. An elastic ring having a high wear resistance is fitted over a part of an outer surface of the pinch roller in a width direction of the pinch roller. Accordingly, the elastic deformation of the elastic ring reduces or absorbs load (impact) that causes a rear end of the sheet to flick or spring and the improper sheet feeding, when the rear end of the sheet passes through a nip portion between the feed roller and the pinch roller. Thus, variances in the sheet feeding amounts and the poor image formation are prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2007
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Teruo Deshimaru, Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20040181629
    Abstract: When there is access to a non-contact type IC, the access is controlled, and external access is notified. A control unit of a non-contact type IC detects access from an external apparatus in response to variation in a load of an antenna, and notifies the detection as access information to a signal judging unit. The signal judging unit refers to history information recorded in a storing unit on the basis of the notified access information, determines whether or not to permit the external apparatus the access, and then notifies a result of the determination to a CPU. On the basis of the notified result of the determination, the CPU controls a display unit, a speaker, a light generating unit, or a vibration generating unit to generate a predetermined stimulus in order to notify the external access. The present invention is applicable to transmission apparatus including a non-contact type IC.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2004
    Publication date: September 16, 2004
    Applicant: SONY ERICSSON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS JAPAN, INC.
    Inventor: Tomohisa Higuchi
  • Publication number: 20040070143
    Abstract: A sheet conveying device includes a metal feed roller driven by a drive source and a plastic pinch roller pressed against the feed roller. A sheet is held between the feed roller and the pinch roller, to convey the sheet to a recording unit. An elastic ring having a high wear resistance is fitted over a part of an outer surface of the pinch roller in a width direction of the pinch roller. Accordingly, the elastic deformation of the elastic ring reduces or absorbs load (impact) that causes a rear end of the sheet to flick or spring and the improper sheet feeding, when the rear end of the sheet passes through a nip portion between the feed roller and the pinch roller. Thus, variances in the sheet feeding amounts and the poor image formation are prevented.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2003
    Publication date: April 15, 2004
    Applicant: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Teruo Deshimaru, Tomohisa Higuchi