Patents by Inventor Tsutomu Shimano

Tsutomu Shimano 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: 20180329332
    Abstract: Provided is a toner containing a colorant and a binder resin, wherein, in a wettability test of the toner with respect to a methanol/water mixed solvent, the methanol concentration when the transmittance of light at a wavelength of 780 nm is 50% is at least 5.0 volume % and not more than 30.0 volume %, and the interparticle force measured by rupturing a consolidation of the toner formed by compression of the toner with a load of 78.5 N is at least 1.0 nN and not more than 25.0 nN.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2018
    Publication date: November 15, 2018
    Inventors: Tsuneyoshi Tominaga, Akane Masumoto, Toshihiko Katakura, Shiro Kuroki, Kenta Kamikura, Sara Yoshida, Shinsuke Mochizuki, Tsutomu Shimano, Kentaro Yamawaki, Tomonori Matsunaga, Kunihiko Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20180329327
    Abstract: A toner comprising a binder resin and a colorant, wherein the toner has a Martens hardness, as measured at a maximum load condition of 2.0×10?4 N, of from 200 MPa to 1,100 MPa.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2018
    Publication date: November 15, 2018
    Inventors: Kentaro Yamawaki, Akane Masumoto, Tomonori Matsunaga, Kunihiko Nakamura, Sara Yoshida, Shinsuke Mochizuki, Tsuneyoshi Tominaga, Kenta Kamikura, Tsutomu Shimano, Toshihiko Katakura, Shiro Kuroki
  • Patent number: 10114303
    Abstract: A toner including a toner particle that contains a binder resin, a polyester resin A and a wax, wherein the polyester resin A contains a specific amount of an isosorbide unit based on a total number of monomer units constituting the polyester resin A, the content of the polyester resin A is a specific amount, and when observing a cross-section of the toner, twenty toner particle cross-sections are selected that have a major axis R (?m) that satisfies a specific relationship with respect to the weight-average diameter D4 (?m) of the toner, each major axis r that have the largest major axis is measured for those domains composed of wax present in the selected toner particle cross-sections, and the arithmetic mean (r/R)st of the determined r/R satisfies a specific relationship.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Taiji Katsura, Yasushi Katsuta, Katsuyuki Nonaka, Takashi Kenmoku, Shohei Shibahara, Tsutomu Shimano
  • Publication number: 20180210361
    Abstract: A toner including a toner particle that contains a binder resin, a polyester resin A and a wax, wherein the polyester resin A contains a specific amount of an isosorbide unit based on a total number of monomer units constituting the polyester resin A, the content of the polyester resin A is a specific amount, and when observing a cross-section of the toner, twenty toner particle cross-sections are selected that have a major axis R (?m) that satisfies a specific relationship with respect to the weight-average diameter D4 (?m) of the toner, each major axis r that have the largest major axis is measured for those domains composed of wax present in the selected toner particle cross-sections, and the arithmetic mean (r/R)st of the determined r/R satisfies a specific relationship.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2018
    Publication date: July 26, 2018
    Inventors: Taiji Katsura, Yasushi Katsuta, Katsuyuki Nonaka, Takashi Kenmoku, Shohei Shibahara, Tsutomu Shimano
  • Patent number: 9964872
    Abstract: A toner including toner particles containing a binder resin, a pigment, a crystalline resin and an amorphous resin. The adsorption rate A1 of the crystalline resin to the pigment is from 5% to 40%, and the adsorption rate A2 of the amorphous resin to the pigment is from 20% to 60%. The adsorption rates A1 and A2 satisfy relationship (1): A1<A2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenta Kamikura, Kunihiko Nakamura, Tsutomu Shimano
  • Patent number: 9952523
    Abstract: A toner including a toner particle containing a binder resin, a pigment, a pigment dispersant and an amorphous resin, in which the pigment dispersant has a rate of adsorption A1 (%) to the pigment of at least 80% and not more than 100%, the amorphous resin has a rate of adsorption A2 (%) to the pigment of at least 0% and not more than 60%, the binder resin has an Rf value (RfL) of at least 0.50 and not more than 1.00, and the amorphous resin has an Rf value (RfH) of at least 0.00 and not more than 0.35.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tsutomu Shimano, Kunihiko Nakamura, Kenta Kamikura
  • Patent number: 9921501
    Abstract: A toner having a toner particle which contains a binder resin, a fatty acid metal salt, and a resin having an ionic functional group, in which the fatty acid metal salt is a fatty acid metal salt of a polyvalent metal with valency of 2 or higher and a fatty acid with carbon atom number of at least 8 and not more than 28, and the acid dissociation constant pKa of the resin having an ionic functional group is at least 6.0 and not more than 9.0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shinsuke Mochizuki, Kenichi Nakayama, Masashi Kawamura, Tsuneyoshi Tominaga, Kunihiko Nakamura, Tsutomu Shimano, Takayuki Toyoda, Shiro Kuroki
  • Patent number: 9880478
    Abstract: Provided is a method of producing a toner including a toner particle, the method including: a granulation step of mixing a polymerizable monomer composition containing a polymerizable monomer and an aqueous medium to form a suspension of particles of the polymerizable monomer composition; and a polymerization step of polymerizing the polymerizable monomer in each of the particles of the polymerizable monomer composition in the presence of a metal phosphate containing aluminum as a metal element to provide the toner particle, the content ratio of aluminum in the metal phosphate containing aluminum being 1.0 mol % or more and 95.0 mol % or less with respect to all metal elements, the metal phosphate containing aluminum being obtained by adding an aluminum compound to the aqueous medium and/or the suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tsutomu Shimano, Kunihiko Nakamura, Kenta Kamikura, Yuichi Yajima, Kenji Ookubo, Dai Nozaki, Tohru Hiramatsu
  • Patent number: 9835964
    Abstract: The present invention provides a toner that exhibits an excellent colorant dispersibility and hence maintains the formation of a high-quality image, that is capable of low-temperature fixing, and that has a satisfactory heat-resistant storability and a satisfactory durability, in which the toner comprising a toner particle that contains a colorant and a binder resin containing a styrene-acrylic resin and a crystalline resin, wherein a compatibility parameter (V) between the styrene-acrylic resin and the crystalline resin satisfies 0.40?V?1.10.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yu Yoshida, Masatake Tanaka, Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Naoya Isono, Tsutomu Shimano, Shintaro Noji
  • Patent number: 9829816
    Abstract: Provided is a toner for which the heat-resistant storability and the low-temperature fixability are able to co-exist at higher levels and for which the temporal stability of the low-temperature fixability is also excellent. The toner has a toner particle that contains a binder resin and a pigment, and this binder resin contains a polyester resin that has a specific structure and specific properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masatake Tanaka, Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Naoya Isono, Tsutomu Shimano, Shintaro Noji, Yu Yoshida, Takeshi Kaburagi, Shohei Shibahara
  • Patent number: 9785071
    Abstract: The toner comprising a toner particle having a core-shell structure that contains a core containing an amorphous resin A and a crystalline resin and a shell containing an amorphous resin B, wherein the amorphous resin A contains a styrene-acrylic resin, the content of the styrene-acrylic resin is at least 50% by mass based on the total mass of the amorphous resin A, a degree of compatibility A between the amorphous resin A and the crystalline resin is at least 50% and not more than 100%, and a degree of compatibility B between the amorphous resin B and the crystalline resin is at least 0% and not more than 40%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tsutomu Shimano, Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Masatake Tanaka, Naoya Isono, Yu Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20170269488
    Abstract: A toner having a toner particle which contains a binder resin, a fatty acid metal salt, and a resin having an ionic functional group, in which the fatty acid metal salt is a fatty acid metal salt of a polyvalent metal with valency of 2 or higher and a fatty acid with carbon atom number of at least 8 and not more than 28, and the acid dissociation constant pKa of the resin having an ionic functional group is at least 6.0 and not more than 9.0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2017
    Publication date: September 21, 2017
    Inventors: Shinsuke Mochizuki, Kenichi Nakayama, Masashi Kawamura, Tsuneyoshi Tominaga, Kunihiko Nakamura, Tsutomu Shimano, Takayuki Toyoda, Shiro Kuroki
  • Publication number: 20170199474
    Abstract: Provided is a method of producing a toner including a toner particle, the method including: a granulation step of mixing a polymerizable monomer composition containing a polymerizable monomer and an aqueous medium to form a suspension of particles of the polymerizable monomer composition; and a polymerization step of polymerizing the polymerizable monomer in each of the particles of the polymerizable monomer composition in the presence of a metal phosphate containing aluminum as a metal element to provide the toner particle, the content ratio of aluminum in the metal phosphate containing aluminum being 1.0 mol % or more and 95.0 mol % or less with respect to all metal elements, the metal phosphate containing aluminum being obtained by adding an aluminum compound to the aqueous medium and/or the suspension.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2016
    Publication date: July 13, 2017
    Inventors: Tsutomu Shimano, Kunihiko Nakamura, Kenta Kamikura, Yuichi Yajima, Kenji Ookubo, Dai Nozaki, Tohru Hiramatsu
  • Patent number: 9599919
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a toner having a toner particle containing a binder resin containing a styrene acrylic resin and a block polymer, wherein the block polymer has a polyester segment and a vinyl polymer segment and has a melting point of 55° C. to 90° C., the polyester segment has a specific structure and a solubility parameter (SP) value of 9.40 to 9.85, and the vinyl polymer segment has a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 4000 to 15000.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoya Isono, Masatake Tanaka, Tsutomu Shimano, Shintaro Noji, Yu Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20170052465
    Abstract: The toner comprising a toner particle having a core-shell structure that contains a core containing an amorphous resin A and a crystalline resin and a shell containing an amorphous resin B, wherein the amorphous resin A contains a styrene-acrylic resin, the content of the styrene-acrylic resin is at least 50% by mass based on the total mass of the amorphous resin A, a degree of compatibility A between the amorphous resin A and the crystalline resin is at least 50% and not more than 100%, and a degree of compatibility B between the amorphous resin B and the crystalline resin is at least 0% and not more than 40%.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2016
    Publication date: February 23, 2017
    Inventors: Tsutomu Shimano, Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Masatake Tanaka, Naoya Isono, Yu Yoshida
  • Patent number: 9575426
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner capable of being fixed at low energy and forming an image with high resistance to external forces, such as rubbing and scratching. The object is achieved by a toner including toner particles that contain a binder resin and a colorant, a sea-island structure including a sea portion composed of the crystalline resin C serving as a main component and island portions composed of the amorphous resin A serving as a main component is observed at the observation of a cross section of each of the toner particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsutomu Shimano, Shintaro Noji, Hitoshi Itabashi
  • Patent number: 9575424
    Abstract: A toner particle production method has an annealing step that is performed after the preparation of a resin solution by the dissolution or dispersion, in an organic solvent, of a binder resin having a polyester resin as its major component and a block polymer having a polyester segment and a vinyl polymer segment, and the preparation of a resin particle dispersion in which resin particles are dispersed by a dissolution suspension method, wherein, in this annealing step, the temperature of the obtained resin particle dispersion is held for at least 60 minutes in the temperature range from TgA-15 (° C.) to TmA (° C.), and under the conditions of a temperature variation range of not more than 20° C. and a temperature variation rate of not more than 0.35° C./minute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Masatake Tanaka, Naoya Isono, Tsutomu Shimano, Shintaro Noji, Yu Yoshida
  • Patent number: 9500972
    Abstract: A toner that comprises a toner particle that contains a binder resin that contains a styrene-acrylic resin and a block polymer, wherein the block polymer has a polyester segment and a vinyl polymer segment; the polyester segment is obtained by condensation polymerization of: a monomer (a) selected from a group consisting of a prescribed monomer group A; and a monomer (b) selected from a group consisting of a prescribed monomer group B, and the content in the polyester segment of the substructure originating with the monomer (b) as calculated from the following formula is from at least 1.0 mol % to not more than 30.0 mol %: {monomer (b) [mol]/(monomer (a) [mol]+monomer (b) [mol])}×100.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masatake Tanaka, Yoshihiro Nakagawa, Naoya Isono, Tsutomu Shimano, Shintaro Noji, Yu Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20160246195
    Abstract: A toner including a toner particle containing a binder resin, a pigment, a pigment dispersant and an amorphous resin, in which the pigment dispersant has a rate of adsorption A1(%) to the pigment of at least 80% and not more than 100%, the amorphous resin has a rate of adsorption A2(%) to the pigment of at least 0% and not more than 60%, the binder resin has an Rf value (RfL) of at least 0.50 and not more than 1.00, and the amorphous resin has an Rf value (RfH) of at least 0.00 and not more than 0.35.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2016
    Publication date: August 25, 2016
    Inventors: Tsutomu Shimano, Kunihiko Nakamura, Kenta Kamikura
  • Publication number: 20160246193
    Abstract: A toner including toner particles containing a binder resin, a pigment, a crystalline resin and an amorphous resin. The adsorption rate A1 of the crystalline resin to the pigment is from 5% to 40%, and the adsorption rate A2 of the amorphous resin to the pigment is from 20% to 60%. The adsorption rates A1 and A2 satisfy relationship (1): A1<A2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2016
    Publication date: August 25, 2016
    Inventors: Kenta Kamikura, Kunihiko Nakamura, Tsutomu Shimano