Patents by Inventor Toshimitsu Morooka

Toshimitsu Morooka 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: 8368733
    Abstract: A thermal head includes a substrate main body including a flat plate-shaped support substrate and a flat plate-shaped upper substrate which are bonded to each other in a stacked state. A rectangular heating resistor is formed on a surface of the flat plate-shaped upper substrate. A bonding surface of the flat plate-shaped support substrate includes a concave portion that forms a cavity portion in a region opposed to the rectangular heating resistor and the concave portion includes a groove formed in an inner wall thereof and recessed along a depth direction of the concave portion within a range of a width of the rectangular heating resistor. The thermal head is capable of enhancing heat-insulating performance while maintaining mechanical strength of the upper substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro Koroishi, Toshimitsu Morooka, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Patent number: 8339431
    Abstract: Provided is a thermal head including an intermediate layer between a support substrate and an upper substrate, which is capable of suppressing heat dissipation toward the support substrate while maintaining printing quality. Employed is a thermal head (1) including: an upper substrate (5); a support substrate (3) bonded in a stacked state on one surface side of the upper substrate (5); a heating resistor (7) provided on another surface side of the upper substrate (5); and an intermediate layer (6) including a concave portion that forms a cavity portion (4) in a region corresponding to the heating resistor (7), the intermediate layer (6) being provided between the upper substrate (5) and the support substrate (3), in which the intermediate layer (6) is formed of a plate-shaped glass material having a lower melting point than melting points of the upper substrate (5) and the support substrate (3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Norimitsu Sanbongi, Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji
  • Patent number: 8334886
    Abstract: A thermal head has a support substrate, an upper plate substrate having a back surface bonded to a top surface of the support substrate, and a heating resistor provided on the upper plate substrate. A concave portion is formed in a region of at least one of the top surface of the support substrate and the back surface of the upper plate substrate and opposes the heating resistor. A through portion is formed in the upper plate substrate and passes through the upper plate substrate from a top surface of the upper plate substrate to the top surface of the support substrate in a plate thickness direction. The upper plate substrate functions as a heat accumulating layer, and the concave portion functions as a heat insulating layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Norimitsu Sanbongi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi
  • Patent number: 8314822
    Abstract: Provided is a thermal head capable of making good contact to a thermal recording medium or the like to increase heat transfer efficiency while maintaining the number of manufacturing steps and manufacturing cost. Provided is a thermal head (1) including: a flat plate-shaped substrate main body (13); a heating resistor (15) of a substantially rectangular shape formed on a surface of the flat plate-shaped substrate main body (13); and a pair of electrodes (17A, 17B) connected to both ends of the heating resistor (15), for supplying power to the heating resistor (15), in which the pair of electrodes (17A, 17B) respectively include connecting portions (27A, 27B) having a width dimension smaller than a width dimension of the heating resistor (15), and the connecting portions (27A, 27B) are connected to the heating resistor (15) at positions shifted from each other in a width direction of the heating resistor (15).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi, Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi
  • Patent number: 8289354
    Abstract: Provided are a thermal head that has a cavity portion at a position corresponding to heating resistors and is capable of improving thermal efficiency while ensuring strength of the cavity portion, and a printer including the thermal head. The thermal head (1) includes: a supporting substrate (3) including a concave portion (2) in a surface thereof; an upper substrate (5) bonded in a stacked state to the surface of the supporting substrate (3); and a heating resistor (7) provided at a position, which corresponds to the concave portion (2), of a surface of the upper substrate (5), in which a centerline average roughness of at least a region of a back surface of the upper substrate (5) is set to be less than 5 nm, the region being opposed to the concave portion (2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Publication number: 20120224015
    Abstract: Adopted is a thermal head, including: a heating resistor provided on a support substrate; a pair of electrode formed on the heating resistor so as to be spaced apart in a direction along a surface of the heating resistor, the pair of electrodes respectively having inclined surfaces which are spaced apart from each other as a distance from the support substrate increases; a burying film for burying a region between the pair of electrodes; and a protective film formed on the region buried by the burying film and on the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2012
    Publication date: September 6, 2012
    Inventors: Norimitsu SANBONGI, Noriyoshi SHOJI, Toshimitsu MOROOKA, Keitaro KOROISHI
  • Patent number: 8256099
    Abstract: The manufacturing method for a thermal head includes: forming a hollow concave portion and a marking concave portion having a depth larger than a depth of the hollow concave portion on one surface of a thin plate glass; a bonding step of bonding a supporting plate onto the one surface of the thin plate glass, in which the hollow concave portion and the marking concave portion are formed in the concave portion forming step; a thinning step of thinning the thin plate glass onto which the supporting plate is bonded in the bonding step until the marking concave portion extends through the substrate from a side of a back surface opposite to the one surface; and a heating resistor forming step of forming a heating resistor on the back surface of the thin plate glass thinned in the thinning step so as to be opposed to the hollow concave portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi, Yoshinori Sato, Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi
  • Patent number: 8257599
    Abstract: In a thermal head manufacturing method, at least one concave portion is formed on a surface of a first substrate, and a second substrate comprised of a first layer and a second layer that is denser and harder than the first layer is provided. The first and second substrates are bonded to one another so that the second layer of the second substrate covers the concave portion of the first substrate. The first layer of the second substrate is then etched until a surface of the second layer of the second substrate is exposed. At least one heating resistor is formed on the exposed surface of the second layer of the second substrate after the etching step so that the heating resistor is disposed over the concave portion of the first substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Norimitsu Sanbongi, Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Yoshinori Sato
  • Patent number: 8253765
    Abstract: Provided is a thermal head (1) including: a substrate body (12) constituted through bonding a flat supporting substrate (13) and a flat upper substrate (11), which are made of a glass material onto each other in a stacked state; a heating resistor (14) formed on a surface of the upper substrate (11); and a protective film (18) that partially covers the surface of the upper substrate (11) including the heating resistor (14) and protects the heating resistor (14), in which a heat-insulating concave portion (32) and thickness-measuring concave portions (34), which are open to a bonding surface between the supporting substrate and the upper substrate (11) and form cavities are provided in the supporting substrate (13), the heat-insulating concave portion (32) is formed at a position opposed to the heating resistor (14), and the thickness-measuring concave portions (34) is formed in a region that is prevented from being covered with the protective film (18).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi, Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi
  • Publication number: 20120212558
    Abstract: Adopted is a thermal head, including: a support substrate including a concave portion formed in a front surface thereof; an upper substrate, which is bonded in a stacked state to the front surface of the support substrate and includes a convex portion formed at a position corresponding to the concave portion; a heating resistor provided on a front surface of the upper substrate at a position straddling the convex portion; and a pair of electrodes provided on both sides of the heating resistor, in which at least one of the pair of electrodes include: a thin portion, which is connected to the heating resistor in a region corresponding to the concave portion; and a thick portion, which is connected to the heating resistor and is formed thicker than the thin portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Inventors: Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Publication number: 20120212557
    Abstract: Adopted is a thermal head, including: a support substrate including a concave portion formed in a front surface thereof; an upper substrate, which is bonded in a stacked state to the front surface of the support substrate and includes a convex portion formed at a position corresponding to the concave portion; a heating resistor provided on a front surface of the upper substrate at a position straddling the convex portion; and a pair of electrodes provided on both sides of the heating resistor, in which at least one of the pair of electrodes include: a thin portion, which is connected to the heating resistor at a distal end surface of the convex portion in a region corresponding to the concave portion; and a thick portion, which is connected to the heating resistor and is formed thicker than the thin portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Inventors: Toshimitsu MOROOKA, Keitaro Karoishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Patent number: 8212849
    Abstract: There are provided a method of manufacturing a thermal head having a hollow portion at a position opposing a heating resistor, the manufacturing method assuring a sufficient strength to an upper plate substrate of the thermal head. The manufacturing method includes: processing a top surface of the upper plate substrate bonded to a support substrate to thin the upper plate substrate to a thickness T; wherein the processing comprises processing the top surface of the upper plate substrate so that a roughness Ra of the top surface of the upper plate substrate satisfies the following expression: Ra?loge(T2)/(3×106)+6.5×10?6.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro Koroishi, Toshimitsu Morooka, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Publication number: 20120144659
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for a heating resistor element includes a concave portion forming step, a bonding step and a resistor forming step. The concave portion forming step includes forming a concave portion on at least one of bonded surfaces between an insulating substrate and a heat accumulating layer. The bonding step causes the bonded surfaces between the insulating substrate and the heat accumulating layer to adhere to each other to bond the insulating substrate and the heat accumulating layer. The resistor forming step includes forming a heating resistor at a position on the heat accumulating layer. The position is opposed to the concave portion. The concave portion forming step further includes processing an inner surface of the concave portion on a side of the insulating substrate to have surface roughness Ra of 0.2 ?m or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2012
    Publication date: June 14, 2012
    Applicant: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro KOROISHI, Toshimitsu MOROOKA, Noriyoshi SHOJI, Yoshinori SATO, Norimitsu SANBONGI
  • Patent number: 8189022
    Abstract: To improve print quality, a plurality of heating resistors (14) are arranged with spaces therebetween on a heat storage layer (13) laminated on a surface of a supporting substrate (11) via an adhesive layer (12) made of an elastic material. A cavity portion (19) is formed at a region between the supporting substrate (11) and the heat storage layer (13), the region being opposed to a heat generating portion of each of the plurality of heating resistors (14). The elastic material constituting the adhesive layer (12) is arranged so that the elastic material is in a bonded state with respect to at least a part of a surface of the heat storage layer (13) opposed to the cavity portion (19).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Toshimitsu Morooka, Norimitsu Sanbongi, Yoshinori Sato
  • Patent number: 8189019
    Abstract: To improve printing quality and reduce manufacturing cost, a plurality of heating resistors (14) are arranged with spaces therebetween on a heat storage layer (13) laminated on a surface of a supporting substrate (11) via an adhesive layer (12) made of an elastic material. A cavity portion (19) is formed at a region between the supporting substrate (11) and the heat storage layer (13), the region being opposed to a heat generating portion of each of the plurality of heating resistors (14). The adhesive layer (12) includes a first adhesive layer (12a) laminated on the surface of the supporting substrate (11) and a second adhesive layer (12b) laminated on a surface of the heat storage layer (13). The elastic material constituting the second adhesive layer (12b) is arranged so that the elastic material is in a bonded state with respect to at least a part of the surface of the heat storage layer (13) opposed to the cavity portion (19).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Toshimitsu Morooka, Norimitsu Sanbongi, Yoshinori Sato
  • Patent number: 8189020
    Abstract: To improve heat generating efficiency and printing quality, a plurality of heating resistors (14) are arranged with spaces therebetween on a heat storage layer (13) laminated on a surface of a supporting substrate (11) via an adhesive layer (12) made of an elastic material. A cavity section (19) is formed at a region between the supporting substrate (11) and the heat storage layer (13), the region being opposed to a heat generating portion of each of the plurality of heating resistors (14). The cavity section (19) includes a concave portion (20) formed in the surface of the supporting substrate (11) and the heat storage layer (13) in which the concave portion (20) is closed and the surface thereof is exposed to the cavity section (19).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Toshimitsu Morooka, Norimitsu Sanbongi, Yoshinori Sato
  • Patent number: 8189021
    Abstract: A thermal head manufacturing method comprises a concave portion forming step of forming a concave portion on one surface of a supporting substrate, a bonding step of bonding a thin plate glass to the one surface of the supporting substrate where the concave portion has been formed in a manner that hermetically seals the concave portion and forms a hollow portion, a heating step of heating the supporting substrate and the thin plate glass which have been bonded together in the bonding step to thereby soften the thin plate glass and expand gas trapped inside the hollow portion, and a heating resistor forming step of forming a heating resistor on the thin plate glass so as to be opposed to the hollow portion. During the heating step, the thin glass plate undergoes plastic deformation, due to expansion of the gas inside the hollow portion, and rises toward an opposite side from the hollow portion, and a leveling step is carried out to level the outer surface of the plastically deformed thin glass plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi, Yoshinori Sato, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Patent number: 8169452
    Abstract: A thermal head has a heat storage layer bonded onto a surface of the substrate, a heating resistor provided on the heat storage layer, and a pair of electrode portions connected to the heating resistor. The heating resistor has a heating portion which does not overlap the pair of electrode portions. A hollow portion is provided in a region of at least one of the surface of the substrate and a surface of the heat storage layer, the region being opposed to the heating resistor. A center line of the hollow portion is shifted with respect to a center line of a heating portion of the heating resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Toshimitsu Morooka, Keitaro Koroishi, Yoshinori Sato, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Patent number: 8154575
    Abstract: Provided is a heating resistor element, including: an insulating substrate (9); a heat accumulating layer (10) bonded to a surface of the insulating substrate (9); and a heating resistor (11) provided on the heat accumulating layer (10), in which: on at least one of bonded surfaces between the heating substrate (9) and the heat accumulating layer (10), at least one of the insulating substrate (9) and the heat accumulating layer (10) is provided with a concave portion (16) in a region opposed to the heating resistor (11) to form a hollow portion (17); and the concave portion (16) has a curvature radius of 10 ?m or more at each corner thereof. Accordingly, occurrence of stress concentration caused by heat or a load can be suppressed to improve durability, and both a sufficient strength and heating efficiency are realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro Koroishi, Toshimitsu Morooka, Noriyoshi Shoji, Yoshinori Sato, Norimitsu Sanbongi
  • Publication number: 20120073122
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a thermal head, comprising: forming a concave portion opened in one surface of at least one of a support substrate and an upper substrate to be disposed on the support substrate in a stacked state, the support substrate and the upper substrate each being of a plate shape; measuring a width dimension of the concave portion; bonding the support substrate and the upper substrate to each other in the stacked state so as to close an opening of the concave portion; forming a heating resistor on a surface of the upper substrate bonded onto the support substrate, in a region opposed to the concave portion; and forming a protective film for covering and protecting the heating resistor on the upper substrate, at a thickness which is set based on the width dimension of the concave portion and a thickness dimension of the upper substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Publication date: March 29, 2012
    Inventors: Keitaro Koroishi, Noriyoshi Shoji, Norimitsu Sanbongi, Toshimitsu Morooka