Patents by Inventor Tomonaga Hasegawa

Tomonaga Hasegawa 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: 20240116291
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid discharge system that controls an operation of a liquid discharge head provided with a first nozzle for discharging a liquid, the liquid discharge system including: an acquisition section that acquires first information indicating a discharge state of the first nozzle; a reception section that receives second information on a determination reference for determining that the discharge state of the first nozzle is abnormal according to an operation of a user; and a determination section that determines presence or absence of a discharge abnormality of the first nozzle based on the first information and the second information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2023
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Inventors: Toshiro MURAYAMA, Nobuaki ITO, Akira MIYAGISHI, Tomonaga HASEGAWA
  • Publication number: 20240116294
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid discharge system that controls an operation of a first liquid discharge head provided with a plurality of nozzles for discharging a liquid, the liquid discharge system including: a determination section that determines presence or absence of a discharge abnormality of a first nozzle among the plurality of nozzles; a reception section that receives designation information indicating complementary processing designated by a user among a plurality of complementary processing for complementing the discharge abnormality of the first nozzle when the first nozzle has a discharge abnormality, that is, among the plurality of complementary processing different from each other, according to an operation of the user; and an execution section that executes the complementary processing indicated by the designation information received by the reception section when the determination section determines that the first nozzle has the discharge abnormality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2023
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Inventors: Toshiro MURAYAMA, Nobuaki ITO, Akira MIYAGISHI, Tomonaga HASEGAWA
  • Patent number: 11932035
    Abstract: There is provided a three-dimensional object printing apparatus including an imaging device fixed to a base and imaging an object located inside an imaging range, a first robot supporting a head having a nozzle for discharging a liquid and changing a position and a posture of the head, and a second robot supporting a three-dimensional workpiece and changes a position and a posture of the workpiece. The three-dimensional object printing apparatus performs a material feeding step of causing the second robot to move the workpiece from an outside to an inside of the imaging range, and a printing step of causing the head to discharge the liquid to the workpiece while at least one of the first robot and the second robot relatively moves the head and the workpiece inside the imaging range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomonaga Hasegawa, Yuichiro Matsuura, Masaru Kumagai, Shinichi Nakamura, Yuki Ishii
  • Patent number: 11840062
    Abstract: A three-dimensional object printing method includes first operation of concurrently performing ejection of liquid toward a workpiece by a head, emission of energy toward the workpiece by an energy emitter, and movement of the head and the energy emitter with respect to the workpiece by a moving mechanism, and second operation of concurrently performing emission of energy toward the workpiece by the energy emitter and movement of the head and the energy emitter with respect to the workpiece by the moving mechanism, without performing ejection of liquid by the head. A first irradiation distance, which is a distance between the workpiece and an emission face during execution of the first operation, and a second irradiation distance, which is a distance between the workpiece and the emission face during execution of the second operation, are different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kohei Utsunomiya, Tomonaga Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 11752778
    Abstract: Provided is a three-dimensional object printing apparatus, in which a printing operation for a workpiece includes: a first pass in which liquid is ejected toward a first region of the workpiece; a second pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a second region that partially overlaps the first region of the workpiece; a third pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a third region of the workpiece; a fourth pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a fourth region that partially overlaps the third region of the workpiece, the curvature of a surface including the first region and the second region is larger than the curvature of a surface including the third region and the fourth region, and an overlapping width between the first region and the second region is smaller than an overlapping width between the third region and the fourth region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tomonaga Hasegawa
  • Publication number: 20230166523
    Abstract: An ink jet system includes a head unit that includes a nozzle discharging ink, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, and a drive element applying pressure fluctuation to the ink in the pressure chamber by supplying a drive pulse, an acquisition portion that acquires output information including one or both of first output information regarding the head unit and second output information regarding the ink used for the head unit, a first coupling portion that is communicably network-coupled to a server, a first output portion that outputs the output information to the server via the first coupling portion, a first input portion to which input information is input from the server via the first coupling portion, and a determination portion that determines a content of image processing for image data based on the input information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2022
    Publication date: June 1, 2023
    Inventors: Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Shunya FUKUDA, Nobuaki ITO
  • Publication number: 20230166501
    Abstract: An ink jet system includes a head unit that includes a nozzle discharging ink, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, and a drive element applying pressure fluctuation to the ink in the pressure chamber by supplying a drive pulse, an acquisition portion that acquires output information including first output information regarding the head unit and/or second output information regarding the ink used for the head unit, a first coupling portion that is communicably network-coupled to a server, a first output portion that outputs the output information to the server via the first coupling portion, a first input portion to which input information is input from the server via the first coupling portion, and a determination portion that determines the number of times of scanning or a scanning direction of the head unit with respect to a unit region on a medium based on the input information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2022
    Publication date: June 1, 2023
    Inventors: Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Shunya FUKUDA, Nobuaki ITO
  • Publication number: 20230166502
    Abstract: An ink jet system includes a head unit that includes a nozzle discharging ink, a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, and a drive element applying pressure fluctuation to the ink in the pressure chamber by supplying a drive pulse, an acquisition portion that acquires output information including one or both of first output information regarding the head unit and second output information regarding the ink used for the head unit, a first coupling portion that is communicably network-coupled to a server, a first output portion that outputs the output information to the server via the first coupling portion, a first input portion to which input information is input from the server via the first coupling portion, and a determination portion that determines a drive timing of the drive element based on the input information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2022
    Publication date: June 1, 2023
    Inventors: Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Shunya FUKUDA, Nobuaki ITO
  • Publication number: 20220410466
    Abstract: A three-dimensional object printing method includes first operation of concurrently performing ejection of liquid toward a workpiece by a head, emission of energy toward the workpiece by an energy emitter, and movement of the head and the energy emitter with respect to the workpiece by a moving mechanism, and second operation of concurrently performing emission of energy toward the workpiece by the energy emitter and movement of the head and the energy emitter with respect to the workpiece by the moving mechanism, without performing ejection of liquid by the head. A first irradiation distance, which is a distance between the workpiece and an emission face during execution of the first operation, and a second irradiation distance, which is a distance between the workpiece and the emission face during execution of the second operation, are different from each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2022
    Publication date: December 29, 2022
    Inventors: Kohei UTSUNOMIYA, Tomonaga HASEGAWA
  • Publication number: 20220266521
    Abstract: There is provided a three-dimensional object printing apparatus including a first robot supporting a head having a nozzle for discharging a liquid and changing a position and a posture of the head, and a second robot supporting a three-dimensional workpiece and changing a position and a posture of the workpiece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2022
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Inventors: Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Yuichiro MATSUURA, Masaru KUMAGAI, Shinichi NAKAMURA, Yuki ISHII
  • Publication number: 20220266529
    Abstract: There is provided a three-dimensional object printing apparatus including an imaging device fixed to a base and imaging an object located inside an imaging range, a first robot supporting a head having a nozzle for discharging a liquid and changing a position and a posture of the head, and a second robot supporting a three-dimensional workpiece and changes a position and a posture of the workpiece. The three-dimensional object printing apparatus performs a material feeding step of causing the second robot to move the workpiece from an outside to an inside of the imaging range, and a printing step of causing the head to discharge the liquid to the workpiece while at least one of the first robot and the second robot relatively moves the head and the workpiece inside the imaging range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2022
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Inventors: Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Yuichiro MATSUURA, Masaru KUMAGAI, Shinichi NAKAMURA, Yuki ISHII
  • Publication number: 20220266530
    Abstract: There is provided a three-dimensional object printing apparatus including a first robot supporting a head having a nozzle for discharging a liquid and changing a position and a posture of the head, a second robot supporting a three-dimensional workpiece and changing a position and a posture of the workpiece, a curing unit that emits energy to cure or solidify the liquid discharged from the head, and a maintenance unit that performs maintenance on the head. The first robot has a first base portion fixed to a base. The second robot has a second base portion fixed to the base. In a plan view of the base, a virtual line segment connecting the first base portion and the second base portion passes between the curing unit and the maintenance unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2022
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Inventors: Masaru KUMAGAI, Shinichi NAKAMURA, Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Yuichiro MATSUURA, Yuki ISHII
  • Publication number: 20220193997
    Abstract: A three-dimensional object printing apparatus includes a head unit and a robot. The head unit includes a head and an energy emission unit. The head has an ejecting surface on which a nozzle is provided. The head is configured to eject ink from the nozzle toward a three-dimensional workpiece. The energy emission unit has an emitting surface from which energy for curing the ink is emitted. The robot changes relative position and relative orientation of the workpiece and the head unit. When a direction in which the head ejects the ink is defined as an ejecting direction, the ejecting surface is located closer to an ejecting direction side, which is a side toward which the ejecting direction goes, than the emitting surface is.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Publication date: June 23, 2022
    Inventors: Shinichi NAKAMURA, Masaru KUMAGAI, Keigo SUGAI, Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Koki HIRATA
  • Publication number: 20220032651
    Abstract: Provided is a three-dimensional object printing apparatus, in which a printing operation for a workpiece includes: a first pass in which liquid is ejected toward a first region of the workpiece; a second pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a second region that partially overlaps the first region of the workpiece; a third pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a third region of the workpiece; a fourth pass in which the liquid is ejected toward a fourth region that partially overlaps the third region of the workpiece, the curvature of a surface including the first region and the second region is larger than the curvature of a surface including the third region and the fourth region, and an overlapping width between the first region and the second region is smaller than an overlapping width between the third region and the fourth region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2021
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Inventor: Tomonaga HASEGAWA
  • Patent number: 10723124
    Abstract: When an overlap image is recorded that includes a first dot group in which first dots are successively formed by a first nozzle group at a predetermined interval in a first direction, a second dot group in which second dots are successively formed by a second nozzle group at the predetermined interval in the first direction, and a third dot group including the first dots and the second dots, which are arrayed at an interval longer than the predetermined interval, the first dot group and the second dot group are arranged at mutually exclusive positions, and the third dot group is arranged at at least one of positions adjacent, in a second direction that intersects with the first direction, to the first dot group and the second dot group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tomonaga Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 10567618
    Abstract: An image processing method for generating printing data includes correcting, in accordance with a degree of reduction in a dot coverage below a predetermined dot coverage in a region that undergoes printing in an overlapped manner by a first nozzle group and a second nozzle group, at least either of a first sharing ratio for the first nozzle group sharing positions of dots to be formed in an overlapping image region and a second sharing ratio for the second nozzle group sharing positions of dots to be formed to allow a total ratio of the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio to exceed 100%, and correcting a color conversion table based on the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio, after the correcting of at least either of the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomonaga Hasegawa, Yasutoshi Takeuchi, Tetsuya Matsumura
  • Publication number: 20190299595
    Abstract: When an overlap image is recorded that includes a first dot group in which first dots are successively formed by a first nozzle group at a predetermined interval in a first direction, a second dot group in which second dots are successively formed by a second nozzle group at the predetermined interval in the first direction, and a third dot group including the first dots and the second dots, which are arrayed at an interval longer than the predetermined interval, the first dot group and the second dot group are arranged at mutually exclusive positions, and the third dot group is arranged at at least one of positions adjacent, in a second direction that intersects with the first direction, to the first dot group and the second dot group.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tomonaga HASEGAWA
  • Publication number: 20190286955
    Abstract: An image processing method for generating printing data includes correcting, in accordance with a degree of reduction in a dot coverage below a predetermined dot coverage in a region that undergoes printing in an overlapped manner by a first nozzle group and a second nozzle group, at least either of a first sharing ratio for the first nozzle group sharing positions of dots to be formed in an overlapping image region and a second sharing ratio for the second nozzle group sharing positions of dots to be formed to allow a total ratio of the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio to exceed 100%, and correcting a color conversion table based on the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio, after the correcting of at least either of the first sharing ratio and the second sharing ratio.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2019
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomonaga HASEGAWA, Yasutoshi TAKEUCHI, Tetsuya MATSUMURA
  • Patent number: 10232608
    Abstract: Droplet ejection amounts are adjusted during a process of generating raster data, and this process is realized by a control circuit. The sum total of droplet ejection amounts exceeds 100% as for three nozzles while the sum total of droplet ejection amount is below 100% as for one nozzle, which is repeated at some nozzle numbers. The sum total of droplet ejection amounts is 100% in a normal portion. As such, in the case where this sum total is taken as a reference amount, the sum total of droplet ejection amounts for each raster in a region where overlap printing is performed is sequentially changed to be equal to or greater than the reference amount in the normal region where the overlap printing is not performed, and to be equal to or smaller than the above reference amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tomonaga Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 9936099
    Abstract: Provided is a print control apparatus that dispenses ink of a plurality of colors through corresponding nozzles according to print data, to print an image on a printing medium. The print control apparatus includes a print data generation unit that generates, according to the image, the print data defining on/off setting of dots in each of pixels with respect to the ink of each of the plurality of colors. The print data generation unit generates the print data for the ink of a specific color having highest brightness among the plurality of colors through first gray scale conversion using a dither mask, and generates the print data for the ink of the plurality of colors except for the color subjected to the first gray scale conversion, through second gray scale conversion using a line screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomonaga Hasegawa, Satoshi Yamazaki