Patents by Inventor Tomoyuki NIWATA

Tomoyuki NIWATA 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: 20240067475
    Abstract: A medium feed apparatus includes a stacking tray, a pick roller located at an upstream side from a feed roller and separation roller in the medium conveyance direction, a first sensor located at an upstream side from the pick roller in the medium conveyance direction, a second sensor located at a downstream side from the feed roller and the separation roller in the medium conveyance direction, and a processor to rotate the pick roller and the feed roller in a medium feed direction to feed a plurality of sheets of the medium stacked on the stacking. The processor stops the pick roller when the second sensor detects a front end of a preceding sheet of the medium and rotates the pick roller again to advance a succeeding sheet of the medium when the first sensor detects a back end of the preceding sheet of the medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2023
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Niwata, Shota Otsuka
  • Publication number: 20240067471
    Abstract: A medium feed apparatus includes a first sensor, a second sensor, a third sensor to detect rotation of the separation roller, and a processor. The processor controls a motor to put the separation roller on hold from when starting the feed of the medium to when the second sensor detects a front end of the medium and generate the drive force from when the second sensor detects the front end of the medium to when the first sensor detects a back end of the medium, and controls the motor to stop the feed roller while generating the drive force if the third sensor detects rotation of the separation roller in the opposite direction to the medium feed direction during feed of the medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2023
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Niwata, Shota Otsuka
  • Patent number: 11560280
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a floating sensor located on an upstream side of a first roller in the medium conveying direction to detect a floating of the medium placed on a medium tray, a skew sensor located on a downstream side of a second roller in the medium conveying direction to detect a skew of the medium conveyed by the second roller, and a processor to determine whether the floating of the medium has occurred based on an output signal from the floating sensor, determine whether the skew of the medium has occurred based on an output signal from the skew sensor, and determine that a conveyance abnormality of the medium has occurred when the processor determines that the floating of the medium has occurred and the processor determines that the skew of the medium has occurred.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Ken Funaki, Tomoyuki Niwata, Hiroyuki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20230014406
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a feed roller to feed a medium, a separation roller opposed to the feed roller, a motor to generate driving force by being supplied with electric power, a cam member rotated in a first direction by the driving force to press the separation roller toward the feed roller, and a driving force transmitting mechanism between the motor and the cam member, the driving force transmitting mechanism being configured to transmit the driving force from the motor to the cam member and provided such that the cam member keeps pressing the separation roller toward the feed roller without rotating the cam member in a second direction opposite to the first direction even if electric power supply to the motor is shut off.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2022
    Publication date: January 19, 2023
    Inventors: Shota Otsuka, Tomoyuki Niwata
  • Patent number: 11472650
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a medium tray, a feed roller, an upper guide, a movement sensor including an arm movably provided by the fed medium on the upper guide and on an upstream side of the feed roller, to generate a movement amount signal corresponding to a movement amount of the arm, a medium sensor to detect a presence of the medium at a predetermined position of the medium tray, a processor to determine whether a feeding abnormality of the medium has occurred based on the movement amount signal, detect a size of the medium placed on the medium tray based on a detection result by the medium sensor, and stop feeding of the medium by the feed roller when the processor determines that the feeding abnormality of the media has occurred and the detected size of the media is equal to or less than a predetermined size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Niwata, Ken Funaki, Hiroyuki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20220204292
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a storage device, a feed roller to feed a medium, and a processor to determine whether a conveyance abnormality of the medium fed by the feed roller has occurred, store in the storage device that the conveyance abnormality has occurred and stop feeding of the medium when the processor determines that the conveyance abnormality has occurred, and notify a user of a cleaning instruction or a replacement instruction of the feed roller based on an occurrence degree of the conveyance abnormality for a plurality of media fed by the feed roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventors: Naoaki Shima, Tomoyuki Niwata
  • Patent number: 11290610
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a processor to determine that a conveyance abnormality of a medium has occurred when a first medium sensor does not detect the medium when a motor is driven by a first predetermined amount after starting feeding of the medium, or when a second medium sensor does not detect the medium when the motor is driven by a second predetermined amount after the first medium sensor detects the medium, and calculate a degree of a slip occurred between the medium and a feed roller from when a front end of the medium passes through a position of the first medium sensor until the front end of the medium passes through a position of the second medium sensor. The processor changes the first predetermined amount or the second predetermined amount based on the degree of the slip of a medium fed in the past.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Niwata, Ken Funaki, Hiroyuki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20210258444
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a processor to determine that a conveyance abnormality of a medium has occurred when a first medium sensor does not detect the medium when a motor is driven by a first predetermined amount after starting feeding of the medium, or when a second medium sensor does not detect the medium when the motor is driven by a second predetermined amount after the first medium sensor detects the medium, and calculate a degree of a slip occurred between the medium and a feed roller from when a front end of the medium passes through a position of the first medium sensor until the front end of the medium passes through a position of the second medium sensor. The processor changes the first predetermined amount or the second predetermined amount based on the degree of the slip of a medium fed in the past.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2021
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Niwata, Ken Funaki, Hiroyuki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20210253387
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a floating sensor located on an upstream side of a first roller in the medium conveying direction to detect a floating of the medium placed on a medium tray, a skew sensor located on a downstream side of a second roller in the medium conveying direction to detect a skew of the medium conveyed by the second roller, and a processor to determine whether the floating of the medium has occurred based on an output signal from the floating sensor, determine whether the skew of the medium has occurred based on an output signal from the skew sensor, and determine that a conveyance abnormality of the medium has occurred when the processor determines that the floating of the medium has occurred and the processor determines that the skew of the medium has occurred.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2021
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventors: Ken Funaki, Tomoyuki Niwata, Hiroyuki Kitano
  • Patent number: 11050890
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a conveyance roller to convey a medium, an imaging sensor, a backing member including an opposing surface, a motor to switch the backing member between an opposing position in which the opposing surface faces the imaging sensor and a non-opposing position in which the opposing surface is deviated from the opposing position, a medium sensor located on an upstream side of the imaging sensor in a medium conveying direction, and a processor to acquire a first image captured by locating the opposing surface in the opposing position and a second image captured by locating the opposing surface in the non-opposing position after a front end of the medium conveyed by the conveyance roller passes through a position of the medium sensor, and determine whether a conveyance abnormality of the medium has occurred based on the first image and the second image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kitano, Ken Funaki, Tomoyuki Niwata
  • Publication number: 20210195036
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a conveyance roller to convey a medium, an imaging sensor, a backing member including an opposing surface, a motor to switch the backing member between an opposing position in which the opposing surface faces the imaging sensor and a non-opposing position in which the opposing surface is deviated from the opposing position, a medium sensor located on an upstream side of the imaging sensor in a medium conveying direction, and a processor to acquire a first image captured by locating the opposing surface in the opposing position and a second image captured by locating the opposing surface in the non-opposing position after a front end of the medium conveyed by the conveyance roller passes through a position of the medium sensor, and determine whether a conveyance abnormality of the medium has occurred based on the first image and the second image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kitano, Ken Funaki, Tomoyuki Niwata
  • Publication number: 20210188581
    Abstract: A medium conveying apparatus includes a medium tray, a feed roller, an upper guide, a movement sensor including an arm movably provided by the fed medium on the upper guide and on an upstream side of the feed roller, to generate a movement amount signal corresponding to a movement amount of the arm, a medium sensor to detect a presence of the medium at a predetermined position of the medium tray, a processor to determine whether a feeding abnormality of the medium has occurred based on the movement amount signal, detect a size of the medium placed on the medium tray based on a detection result by the medium sensor, and stop feeding of the medium by the feed roller when the processor determines that the feeding abnormality of the media has occurred and the detected size of the media is equal to or less than a predetermined size.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Niwata, Ken Funaki, Hiroyuki Kitano
  • Patent number: 10597244
    Abstract: The document conveying apparatus includes a body, a document tray, a guiding tray, a first support member that supports the document tray movably between a open position where a document is placed on the first document stacking face, and a close position where the document tray is closed, and a second support member that supports the guiding tray. The second support member positions the guiding tray at a first distance from the document tray, when the document tray is at the open position. The second support member positions the guiding tray at a second distance from the document tray, when the document tray is at the close position. The second distance is smaller than the first distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: PFU LIMITED
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Niwata, Kiichiro Shimosaka
  • Publication number: 20190185281
    Abstract: The document conveying apparatus includes a body, a document tray, a guiding tray, a first support member that supports the document tray movably between a open position where a document is placed on the first document stacking face, and a close position where the document tray is closed, and a second support member that supports the guiding tray. The second support member positions the guiding tray at a first distance from the document tray, when the document tray is at the open position. The second support member positions the guiding tray at a second distance from the document tray, when the document tray is at the close position. The second distance is smaller than the first distance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2018
    Publication date: June 20, 2019
    Inventors: Tomoyuki NIWATA, Kiichiro SHIMOSAKA