Patents by Inventor Toshihiro SHINBARA

Toshihiro SHINBARA 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).

  • Patent number: 10744780
    Abstract: A printer has a recording head, a relay container from which ink is supplied to the recording head, and to which the ink is supplied from a terminal container, a pressurizing pump and a depressurizing pump for supplying the ink from the terminal container to the relay container, and a control unit. The control unit calculates an estimated consumption amount of the relay container based on the amount of the ink supplied from the relay container to the recording head, and consumed and the amount of the ink supplied from the terminal container to the relay container, and calculates the amount of the ink supplied from the terminal container to the relay container using the minimum value of tolerance of a supply amount of the depressurizing pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shuichi Koganehira, Yasuhiko Kosugi, Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Toshihiro Shinbara, Kaoru Koike, Ryoji Fujimori
  • Publication number: 20200139714
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting section that is capable of ejecting a first liquid from an opening of a nozzle with respect to media; and a two-fluid ejecting apparatus that is capable of ejecting at least one of a gas and a second liquid with respect to the liquid ejecting section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Publication date: May 7, 2020
    Inventors: Takayuki KAWAKAMI, Toshihiro SHINBARA, Kazuhiko HARA, Kazuyuki FUJIOKA, Takeshi YOSHIDA, Hironori SATO
  • Patent number: 10639901
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting section that is capable of ejecting a first liquid from an opening of a nozzle with respect to media; and a two-fluid ejecting apparatus that is capable of ejecting at least one of a gas and a second liquid with respect to the liquid ejecting section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Kawakami, Toshihiro Shinbara, Kazuhiko Hara, Kazuyuki Fujioka, Takeshi Yoshida, Hironori Sato
  • Patent number: 10562309
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting section that is capable of ejecting a first liquid from an opening of a nozzle with respect to media; and a two-fluid ejecting apparatus that is capable of ejecting at least one of a gas and a second liquid with respect to the liquid ejecting section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Kawakami, Toshihiro Shinbara, Kazuhiko Hara, Kazuyuki Fujioka, Takeshi Yoshida, Hironori Sato
  • Patent number: 10562315
    Abstract: In a filling operation of filling liquid in a liquid supply flow path which includes a filter having holes by causing a pressure on a downstream side in the liquid supply flow path to be lower than a pressure on an upstream side, and a maximum pressure difference which occurs between an upstream side of the filter and a downstream side of the filter is larger than a pressure difference for destroying a gas-liquid interface formed in the hole in a case where the upstream side of the filter is the liquid, and the downstream side of the filter is gas, and is smaller than a pressure difference for destroying the gas-liquid interface formed in the hole, in a case where the upstream side of the filter is the gas, and the downstream side of the filter is the liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoki Shinoda, Takeshi Iwamuro, Toshihiro Shinbara
  • Patent number: 10486430
    Abstract: A liquid supplying device includes a first intermediate storage and a second intermediate storage, both of which can supply liquid to a liquid ejecting unit. In a case where a storage amount of one intermediate storage is a first set value, the depressurization of the inside of one intermediate storage is stopped. In a case where a storage amount of the other intermediate storage is a second set value that is smaller than the first set value, first supply control of supplying the liquid from one intermediate storage to the other liquid ejecting unit is performed. In a case where the storage amount of the other intermediate storage is the second set value, second supply control of supplying the liquid from one intermediate storage is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toshihiro Shinbara, Ryoji Fujimori, Kaoru Koike, Tsuyoshi Hayashi
  • Patent number: 10464313
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus includes a liquid droplet ejecting head that includes a pressure chamber to which a liquid is supplied from a liquid supply source, a nozzle that communicates with the pressure chamber, and an actuator that vibrates the pressure chamber, and discharges a liquid droplet from the nozzle by driving of the actuator, a cap designed to make a capping state where the cap is in contact with the liquid droplet ejecting head to form a space where the nozzle opens and a non-capping state where the cap is separated from the liquid droplet ejecting head, and a detection unit designed to detect a state in the pressure chamber, in which in the capping state, the detection unit detects the state in the pressure chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toshihiro Shinbara, Toshio Nakata, Toshiyuki Suzuki
  • Patent number: 10457050
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member, which contains an impregnation liquid, and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroki Nakane, Akira Mizutani, Toshihiro Shinbara, Masako Fukuda
  • Patent number: 10449770
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus includes a liquid droplet ejecting head that includes a plurality of nozzles from which a liquid supplied from a liquid supply source through a liquid supply path is ejected as a liquid droplet, and ejects the liquid droplet from the nozzle to a recording medium to perform a recording process, a first detecting section that detects a vibration waveform of the pressure chamber, which is vibrated when an actuator is driven to cause the pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle to vibrate, to detect a state inside the pressure chamber, and a second detecting section that reads a pattern formed on the recording medium by ejecting the liquid droplet from the nozzle to detect an ejection state of the liquid droplet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Kawakami, Shinsuke Yokote, Toshihiro Shinbara, Tsuyoshi Hayashi, Takeshi Yoshida, Yuji Kanazawa
  • Publication number: 20190111681
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member, which contains an impregnation liquid, and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2018
    Publication date: April 18, 2019
    Inventors: Hiroki NAKANE, Akira MIZUTANI, Toshihiro SHINBARA, Masako FUKUDA
  • Publication number: 20190105902
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member. The absorbing member contains an impregnation liquid having a surface tension of 45 mN/m or less during the cleaning operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Inventors: Akira MIZUTANI, Hiroshi MUKAI, Hiroki NAKANE, Toshihiro SHINBARA, Keiji MATSUMOTO, Masako FUKUDA
  • Patent number: 10195853
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member, which contains an impregnation liquid, and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroki Nakane, Akira Mizutani, Toshihiro Shinbara, Masako Fukuda
  • Patent number: 10189260
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member. The absorbing member contains an impregnation liquid having a surface tension of 45 mN/m or less during the cleaning operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Mizutani, Hiroshi Mukai, Hiroki Nakane, Toshihiro Shinbara, Keiji Matsumoto, Masako Fukuda
  • Publication number: 20190016122
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus includes a liquid droplet ejecting head that includes a pressure chamber to which a liquid is supplied from a liquid supply source, a nozzle that communicates with the pressure chamber, and an actuator that vibrates the pressure chamber, and discharges a liquid droplet from the nozzle by driving of the actuator, a cap designed to make a capping state where the cap is in contact with the liquid droplet ejecting head to form a space where the nozzle opens and a non-capping state where the cap is separated from the liquid droplet ejecting head, and a detection unit designed to detect a state in the pressure chamber, in which in the capping state, the detection unit detects the state in the pressure chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2018
    Publication date: January 17, 2019
    Inventors: Toshihiro SHINBARA, Toshio NAKATA, Toshiyuki SUZUKI
  • Patent number: 10160225
    Abstract: A liquid supplying device includes a first intermediate storage and a second intermediate storage that store liquid and are provided such that the liquid can be supplied from a liquid ejecting unit which ejects the liquid, a liquid supply source holding unit that holds a liquid supply source which accommodates the liquid and that can supply the liquid accommodated in the liquid supply source to the first intermediate storage and the second intermediate storage, and a pressure regulating mechanism that can regulate pressures inside the first intermediate storage and inside the second intermediate storage. In the liquid supplying device, the inside of one intermediate storage, out of the first intermediate storage and the second intermediate storage, is depressurized, and the liquid is supplied from the liquid supply source to the one intermediate storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kaoru Koike, Ryoji Fujimori, Hiroki Matsuoka, Toshihiro Shinbara, Tsuyoshi Hayashi
  • Publication number: 20180361751
    Abstract: In a filling operation of filling liquid in a liquid supply flow path which includes a filter having holes by causing a pressure on a downstream side in the liquid supply flow path to be lower than a pressure on an upstream side, and a maximum pressure difference which occurs between an upstream side of the filter and a downstream side of the filter is larger than a pressure difference for destroying a gas-liquid interface formed in the hole in a case where the upstream side of the filter is the liquid, and the downstream side of the filter is gas, and is smaller than a pressure difference for destroying the gas-liquid interface formed in the hole, in a case where the upstream side of the filter is the gas, and the downstream side of the filter is the liquid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Inventors: Tomoki SHINODA, Takeshi IWAMURO, Toshihiro SHINBARA
  • Publication number: 20180333959
    Abstract: A liquid supplying device includes a first intermediate storage and a second intermediate storage, both of which can supply liquid to a liquid ejecting unit. In a case where a storage amount of one intermediate storage is a first set value, the depressurization of the inside of one intermediate storage is stopped. In a case where a storage amount of the other intermediate storage is a second set value that is smaller than the first set value, first supply control of supplying the liquid from one intermediate storage to the other liquid ejecting unit is performed. In a case where the storage amount of the other intermediate storage is the second set value, second supply control of supplying the liquid from one intermediate storage is performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2018
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Toshihiro SHINBARA, Ryoji FUJIMORI, Kaoru KOIKE, Tsuyoshi HAYASHI
  • Publication number: 20180250938
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus includes a liquid droplet ejecting head that includes a plurality of nozzles from which a liquid supplied from a liquid supply source through a liquid supply path is ejected as a liquid droplet, and ejects the liquid droplet from the nozzle to a recording medium to perform a recording process, a first detecting section that detects a vibration waveform of the pressure chamber, which is vibrated when an actuator is driven to cause the pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle to vibrate, to detect a state inside the pressure chamber, and a second detecting section that reads a pattern formed on the recording medium by ejecting the liquid droplet from the nozzle to detect an ejection state of the liquid droplet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2018
    Publication date: September 6, 2018
    Inventors: Takayuki KAWAKAMI, Shinsuke YOKOTE, Toshihiro SHINBARA, Tsuyoshi HAYASHI, Takeshi YOSHIDA, Yuji KANAZAWA
  • Publication number: 20180170059
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting unit having nozzles able to eject a first liquid to a medium; and a fluid ejecting device having ejection ports able to eject a fluid including a second liquid to the liquid ejecting unit, in which the fluid ejecting device performs, as a maintenance operation of the liquid ejecting unit, a first fluid ejection of ejecting a fluid including small droplets of the second liquid that are smaller than a nozzle opening to an opening region in which the nozzles of the liquid ejecting unit open, and a second fluid ejection of ejecting a fluid including droplets of the second liquid in which the smallest droplets are larger than the small droplets to the liquid ejecting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2018
    Publication date: June 21, 2018
    Inventors: Toshihiro Shinbara, Kazuhiko Hara, Takayuki Kawakami, Kazuyuki Fujioka, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Publication number: 20180086092
    Abstract: A printer 100 has a recording head 22, a relay container 30 from which ink is supplied to the recording head 22, and to which the ink is supplied from a terminal container 60, a pressurizing pump 34 and a depressurizing pump 35 for supplying the ink from the terminal container 60 to the relay container 30, and a control unit 10. The control unit 10 calculates an estimated consumption amount of the relay container 30 based on the amount of the ink supplied from the relay container 30 to the recording head 22, and consumed and the amount of the ink supplied from the terminal container 60 to the relay container 30, and calculates the amount of the ink supplied from the terminal container 60 to the relay container 30 using the minimum value of tolerance of a supply amount of the depressurizing pump 35.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2017
    Publication date: March 29, 2018
    Inventors: Shuichi KOGANEHIRA, Yasuhiko KOSUGI, Tsuyoshi HAYASHI, Toshihiro SHINBARA, Kaoru KOIKE, Ryoji FUJIMORI