Patents by Inventor Toru Kakiuchi

Toru Kakiuchi 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: 20200061993
    Abstract: A liquid discharging head includes a channel member having a nozzle surface formed with first nozzles, second nozzles, third nozzles and fourth nozzles. The channel member is formed with: a first distributing channel communicating with a first storage chamber and extending in a first direction, a second distributing channel communicating with a second storage chamber, extending in the first direction, and arranged side by side to the first distributing channel in a second direction, a first common channel communicating with the first nozzles, a second common channel communicating with the second nozzles, a third common channel communicating with the third nozzles, and a fourth common channel communicating with the fourth nozzles. The first to fourth common channels each extend in a third direction crossing the first and second directions, and partially overlaps with the first and second distributing channels in a fourth direction orthogonal to the nozzle surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Inventors: Toru KAKIUCHI, Yasuo KATO, Yuichi ITO
  • Publication number: 20200047496
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head includes: nozzles; a channel member including a plurality of pressure chambers each in communication with a corresponding one of the nozzles; and a plurality of piezoelectric elements corresponding to the pressure chambers. Each piezoelectric element includes: a vibrating film covering the corresponding pressure chamber; a piezoelectric film positioned opposite to the pressure chamber with respect to the vibrating film; a first electrode interposed between the vibrating film and the piezoelectric film; and a second electrode having compressive stress and positioned opposite to the vibrating film with respect to the piezoelectric film. The piezoelectric film has a ratio of (001) orientation to (100) orientation that is equal to or greater than 50%. The vibrating film and the piezoelectric film are deflected convexly toward the corresponding pressure chamber while no potential difference is produced between the first electrode and the second electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2019
    Publication date: February 13, 2020
    Inventors: Toru Kakiuchi, Taiki Tanaka, Yuichi Ito
  • Publication number: 20190366368
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting head includes: a substrate; a first electrode; a piezoelectric layer covering the first electrode; a second electrode positioned on the piezoelectric layer; a plurality of pressure chambers arrayed in a first direction; and a rigid layer. Each pressure chamber has one end portion and another end portion in a second direction. The rigid layer has an edge providing a plurality of convex parts and a plurality of concave parts. Each convex part and each concave part are alternately arrayed with each other in the first direction. Each convex part is positioned outside each pressure chamber and protrudes in the second direction toward the another end portion. Each concave part is positioned at each pressure chamber and is concaved in the second direction away from the another end portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2019
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Inventor: Toru KAKIUCHI
  • Patent number: 10493760
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid jet apparatus including a channel substrate having a plurality of pressure chambers and a film covering the plurality of pressure chambers, a piezoelectric layer, a plurality of individual electrodes, a common electrode, and a trace extending from one of the plurality of individual electrodes to pass through between two adjacent individual electrodes of the plurality of individual electrodes. An opening of the piezoelectric layer is provided between the two adjacent individual electrodes, and a metallic film is formed to cover the trace in such an area of the trace as to overlap with the opening positioned between the two adjacent individual electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Toru Kakiuchi
  • Patent number: 10457045
    Abstract: A liquid ejection apparatus, including: first piezoelectric elements arranged on an element-disposed surface in a first direction; a protective cover covering the first piezoelectric elements and including a top wall portion and two side wall portions connected thereto; first wires drawn respectively from the first piezoelectric elements to an outside of the protective cover in a second direction parallel to the element-disposed surface and orthogonal to the first direction and extending on an outer surface of the top wall portion via an outer surface of a corresponding side wall portion; first terminals disposed on the outer surface of the top wall portion and connected respectively to the first wires; and a driver electrically connected to the first terminals, wherein a distance in the first direction between any adjacent two of the first wires on an outer surface of the protective cover is larger than that on the element-disposed surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Rui Wang, Yasuo Kato, Toru Kakiuchi, Yuichi Ito
  • Publication number: 20190299612
    Abstract: A liquid jetting apparatus includes: first pressure chambers aligned in a first direction; second pressure chambers aligned in the first direction and arranged at a distance from the first pressure chambers in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; a first common channel extending in the first direction and communicating with the first pressure chambers; a second common channel extending in the first direction and communicating with the second pressure chambers; a third common channel extending in the first direction and communicating with the first and second pressure chambers; a substrate having a surface formed with the first and second pressure chambers and a space constituting at least part of the third common channel, vibration plates defining upper surfaces of the first and second pressure chambers, piezoelectric elements overlapping with the vibration plates, and a damper film defining an upper surface of the space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Inventor: Toru Kakiuchi
  • Publication number: 20190291430
    Abstract: A liquid ejection head manufacturing method comprising a step of forming a laminate, a step of connecting and a step of forming a protection film. The laminate includes electrodes and flow paths of liquid. The step of connecting is connecting terminals of a wiring substrate to terminals of the electrodes. The protection film is formed using atomic layer deposition, on a surface of the laminate defining the flow paths after connecting the terminals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2018
    Publication date: September 26, 2019
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toru Kakiuchi, Yasuo Kato
  • Publication number: 20190291437
    Abstract: There is provided a method of manufacturing a liquid discharge head, including: forming a stacked body having a structure and a protective member stacked on the structure, providing a first mask on an upper surface of the protective member to cover a through hole; forming a protective film by an atomic layer deposition on a surface defining a liquid flow channel of the stacked body provided with the first mask; and removing the first mask after forming the protective film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Publication date: September 26, 2019
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toru KAKIUCHI, Yasuo KATO, Yuichi ITO
  • Patent number: 10406815
    Abstract: There is provided a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge apparatus including: forming a photoresist film made of a photoresist on a silicon substrate; exposing the photoresist film; forming a nozzle in the photoresist film by exposing the photoresist film and then developing the photoresist film; forming a channel hole in communication with the nozzle by carrying out an etching process from a surface of the substrate on the opposite side from the photoresist film after forming the nozzle; and joining a channel member to the surface of the substrate on the opposite side from the photoresist film, the channel member including a pressure chamber in communication with the channel hole and a piezoelectric element formed as a film to correspond to the pressure chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Toru Kakiuchi
  • Publication number: 20190263116
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid discharge head including: a channel substrate including a pressure chamber; a support substrate having a through hole; a piezoelectric element disposed between the channel substrate and the support substrate in a thickness direction of the channel substrate; a drive section disposed on a surface of the support substrate on a side opposite to the piezoelectric element; a trace passing through the through hole of the support substrate, extending on the support substrate toward the drive section, and connected to the piezoelectric element and the drive section; and a reservoir member including a channel communicating with the pressure chamber, and joined to the surface of the support substrate with adhesive. A protrusion or a recess is provided on the surface of the support substrate on the side opposite to the piezoelectric element at a position between the trace and the channel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Inventors: Yuichi Ito, Toru Kakiuchi, Yasuo Kato
  • Publication number: 20190237655
    Abstract: An actuator device includes: an actuator including piezoelectric elements arranged in a first direction and first contacts arranged in the first direction; a protector including a first wall opposed to the piezoelectric elements and a second wall coupled to the first wall and joined to a region of the actuator at which the first contacts are disposed; first connection terminals disposed on the first; and first through electrodes formed in the second wall to bring the first contacts and the first connection terminals into conduction with each other. A distance between two of the first through electrodes which respectively correspond to two of the piezoelectric elements which are adjacent to each other in the first direction is greater than a distance in the first direction between the two of the piezoelectric elements which are adjacent to each other in the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2019
    Publication date: August 1, 2019
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toru KAKIUCHI, Yasuo KATO, Rui WANG, Yuichi ITO
  • Patent number: 10357971
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a liquid jetting apparatus includes: a wire formation step of forming a wire so that a part of the wire covers a piezoelectric film; and an electrode formation step of forming a second electrode, after the wire formation step, on a surface of the piezoelectric film on a side far from a vibration film so as to be in electrical conduction with the wire. The liquid jetting apparatus includes: a flow passage formation portion; and a piezoelectric actuator having the vibration film provided on the flow passage formation portion, the piezoelectric film arranged on the vibration film, a first electrode arranged on a surface of the piezoelectric film on a side near to the vibration film, the second electrode arranged on the surface of the piezoelectric film on the side far from the vibration film, and the wire connected to the second electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toru Kakiuchi, Keita Hirai
  • Publication number: 20190157541
    Abstract: An actuator device includes: an actuator including a first contact; and a wire member including a second contact connected to the first contact with a conductive adhesive including a conductive particle. One of the first contact and the second contact is a particular contact. The other of the first contact and the second contact is a specific contact. At least two protrusions and at least one recess are formed on and in the particular contact. The at least two protrusions are arranged in a first direction. The at least one recess is interposed between the at least two protrusions. The particular contact is joined to the specific contact with the conductive adhesive provided in the at least one recess, in a state in which each of the at least two protrusions is in contact with the specific contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Publication date: May 23, 2019
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toru KAKIUCHI
  • Patent number: 10297743
    Abstract: An actuator device includes: an actuator including piezoelectric elements arranged in a first direction and first contacts arranged in the first direction; a protector including a first wall opposed to the piezoelectric elements and a second wall coupled to the first wall and joined to a region of the actuator at which the first contacts are disposed; first connection terminals disposed on the first; and first through electrodes formed in the second wall to bring the first contacts and the first connection terminals into conduction with each other. A distance between two of the first through electrodes which respectively correspond to two of the piezoelectric elements which are adjacent to each other in the first direction is greater than a distance in the first direction between the two of the piezoelectric elements which are adjacent to each other in the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toru Kakiuchi, Yasuo Kato, Rui Wang, Yuichi Ito
  • Publication number: 20190105900
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid jet apparatus including a channel substrate having a plurality of pressure chambers and a film covering the plurality of pressure chambers, a piezoelectric layer, a plurality of individual electrodes, a common electrode, and a trace extending from one of the plurality of individual electrodes to pass through between two adjacent individual electrodes of the plurality of individual electrodes. An opening of the piezoelectric layer is provided between the two adjacent individual electrodes, and a metallic film is formed to cover the trace in such an area of the trace as to overlap with the opening positioned between the two adjacent individual electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Inventor: Toru Kakiuchi
  • Publication number: 20190105899
    Abstract: An actuator device includes: an actuator including a first element contact; and a wire member including (a) a first contact connected to the first element contact and (b) a first wire configured to conduct with the first contact. A first wide portion is formed at a distal end portion of the first wire at an edge portion of the wire member. The first wide portion is disposed beyond the first element contact in a wire direction of the first wire. The first contact is disposed at a basal end portion of the first wire. The basal end portion is located further from the edge portion of the wire member than the first wide portion. The first contact is connected to the first element contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toru KAKIUCHI
  • Publication number: 20190098768
    Abstract: An electrode connecting method includes: producing (i) a first circuit board including first electrodes spaced at a first distance and (ii) a second circuit board having a thermal expansion rate less than that of the first circuit board and including second electrodes spaced at a second distance, such that a difference in dimension between the first distance and the second distance falls within a particular permissible range; dehydrating the first circuit board so as to reduce the first distance; causing the first electrodes and the second electrodes to be respectively opposed to each other, with a thermosetting adhesive interposed between the first circuit board and the second circuit board; heating the thermosetting adhesive and at least the first circuit board of the first circuit board and the second circuit board; and bringing the first circuit board and the second circuit board into pressing contact with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Inventor: Toru Kakiuchi
  • Publication number: 20190097122
    Abstract: A piezoelectric actuator includes: a plurality of discrete electrodes, which is disposed on one side of a piezoelectric element; a common electrode, which is disposed on the other side of the piezoelectric element; a plurality of discrete contacts, which are respectively connected to the plurality of discrete electrodes, and wherein the plurality of discrete electrodes includes; a first discrete electrode; and a second discrete electrode, which is disposed at a position away from a corresponding discrete contact as compared with the first discrete electrode, wherein the common electrode includes: a first common electrode, which faces the first discrete electrode in the thickness direction; and a second common electrode, which is separated from the first common electrode in the surface direction and faces the second discrete electrode in the thickness direction, and wherein a connection wiring is provided to connect the first common electrode with the second common electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Inventors: Toru Kakiuchi, Keita Hirai
  • Patent number: 10236434
    Abstract: An actuator device includes: an actuator including a first contact; and a wire member including a second contact connected to the first contact with a conductive adhesive including a conductive particle. One of the first contact and the second contact is a particular contact. The other of the first contact and the second contact is a specific contact. At least two protrusions and at least one recess are formed on and in the particular contact. The at least two protrusions are arranged in a first direction. The at least one recess is interposed between the at least two protrusions. The particular contact is joined to the specific contact with the conductive adhesive provided in the at least one recess, in a state in which each of the at least two protrusions is in contact with the specific contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toru Kakiuchi
  • Patent number: 10166773
    Abstract: An actuator device includes: an actuator including a first element contact; and a wire member including (a) a first contact connected to the first element contact and (b) a first wire configured to conduct with the first contact. A first wide portion is formed at a distal end portion of the first wire at an edge portion of the wire member. The first wide portion is disposed beyond the first element contact in a wire direction of the first wire. The first contact is disposed at a basal end portion of the first wire. The basal end portion is located further from the edge portion of the wire member than the first wide portion. The first contact is connected to the first element contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toru Kakiuchi