Patents by Inventor Tsuyoshi Kitahara

Tsuyoshi Kitahara 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: 6478411
    Abstract: A first surface of an elastic plate is bonded onto one surface of a channel forming substrate. A first face of a supporting base formed with a through hole therein is bonded onto a second surface of the elastic plate which is opposite to the first surface. A first face of a resin casing formed with an accommodation space therein is bonded onto a second face of the supporting base which is opposite to the first face of the supporting base. At least one vibrator unit including a fixation base, and piezoelectric vibrators arranged on a first face of the fixation base such that first ends of the piezoelectric vibrators are fixed thereon and opposite free ends overhang a second face of the fixation base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Publication number: 20020158553
    Abstract: Common internal electrodes 27 and segment internal electrodes 28 are laminated alternately with a piezoelectric material 29 between and a common external electrode 30 and a segment external electrode 31 are provided on the surface, forming a drive vibrator 24. A free end part 24a of the drive vibrator 24 is formed with an active region L and can be expanded and contracted in the length direction of the vibrator. A piezoelectric material 29 of the outermost layer in the free end part 24a can be operated based on the potential difference between the external and internal electrodes and a portion of the active region L in the external electrode is used as a trimming portion with an effective length x varied by trimming.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2002
    Publication date: October 31, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Patent number: 6460981
    Abstract: A pressurizing chamber 1 is formed as a recess by half etching of a silicon single-crystal substrate 2. A nozzle communicating hole 6 through which the pressurizing chamber 1 is connected to a nozzle opening 5 is formed as a through hole which is smaller in width than the pressurizing chamber 1. The pressurizing chamber 1 is connected to the nozzle opening 5 in the other face via the nozzle communicating hole 6 while reducing the volume of the pressurizing chamber 1 to a degree as small as possible. The silicon single-crystal substrate is used as a member constituting a spacer so that an ink drop of a reduced ink amount suitable for high density printing flies with high positioning accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2002
    Inventors: Shinji Yasukawa, Minoru Usui, Takahiro Naka, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Noriaki Okazawa, Hideaki Sonehara
  • Publication number: 20020140782
    Abstract: A pressurizing chamber 1 is formed as a recess by half etching of a silicon single-crystal substrate 2. A nozzle communicating hole 6 through which the pressurizing chamber 1 is connected to a nozzle opening 5 is formed as a through hole which is smaller in width than the pressurizing chamber 1. The pressurizing chamber 1 is connected to the nozzle opening 5 in the other face via the nozzle communicating hole 6 while reducing the volume of the pressurizing chamber 1 to a degree as small as possible. The silicon single-crystal substrate is used as a member constituting a spacer so that an ink drop of a reduced ink amount suitable for high density printing flies with high positioning accuracy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2002
    Publication date: October 3, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinji Yasukawa, Minoru Usui, Takahiro Naka, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Noriaki Okazawa, Hideaki Sonehara
  • Patent number: 6417600
    Abstract: Connection electrodes are formed to be located on the same plane as discrete internal electrodes, and to be exposed to the rear face while being insulated from the discrete internal electrodes. With the conductive relationship between the connection electrodes and common electrodes, the resistance of the common internal electrodes is reduced, and the size of the fixed area is also reduced accordingly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Patent number: 6408513
    Abstract: One side face of a piezoelectric vibrator is fixed to a fixing substrate. A first conductive layer which conducts to a common internal electrode exposed on the side face in the side of the fixing substrate is formed on the front face of the piezoelectric vibrator which is an unfixed face. A second conductive layer which conducts to an individual internal electrode is formed on the front face. A flexible cable is connected to the front face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Minoru Usui, Satoru Hosono
  • Patent number: 6398350
    Abstract: A piezoelectric vibrator unit (4) provided with a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators each having internal electrodes (32, 33) and piezoelectric material layers (31) laminated alternately, a free end part of an outermost layer of a piezoelectric vibrator is trimmed to form a partial recess, thereby adjusting a natural vibration period of the piezoelectric vibrator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Patent number: 6386672
    Abstract: An ink jet recording head including a flow path unit having pressure generating chambers, a piezoelectric vibrator for pressurizing the pressure generating chambers, a semiconductor integrated circuit for supplying a drive signal to the piezoelectric vibrator, and a member for absorbing the heat produced by the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hitotoshi Kimura, Ryoichi Tanaka, Tomoaki Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Noriaki Okazawa, Kenji Otokita, Hidenori Usuda, Noboru Tamura, Tsutomu Miyamoto, Kaoru Momose
  • Patent number: 6382754
    Abstract: An ink jet printing device supplies first and second signals to cause a pressure generating chamber to jet out ink droplets. A third signal is applied to the pressure generating chamber to effectively attenuate the kinetic energy of the meniscus and to hold the meniscus at a position suitable for jetting out the next ink droplet to provide a stable print output. Also, an ink-jet recording apparatus is provided with a control means for controlling the timing of the start of the second signal and the timing of the start of the third signal according to the environmental temperature. In the ink-jet recording apparatus, the discharge speed of ink drops is made constant by regulating the start time of the second signal so as to make constant the drawing position of a meniscus when the ink drops are discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Morikoshi, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Kaoru Momose, Noriaki Okazawa, Masahiko Yoshida, Kazunaga Suzuki, Takahiro Katakura, Toshiki Usui
  • Patent number: 6382778
    Abstract: An ink jet recording head having a head body for ejecting ink and ink supply channels for introducing ink supplied from an ink tank to the head body is disclosed. The recording head inventively and uniquely includes a channel forming plate having grooves and a sealing plate fastened to the channel forming plate for closing the openings of the grooves in a sealing fashion to form the channels. The resultant recording head is easy in working and assembling, and reduced in size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Iijima, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Noriaki Okazawa
  • Publication number: 20020047880
    Abstract: A first surface of an elastic plate is bonded onto one surface of a channel forming substrate. A first face of a supporting base formed with a through hole therein is bonded onto a second surface of the elastic plate which is opposite to the first surface. A first face of a resin casing formed with an accommodation space therein is bonded onto a second face of the supporting base which is opposite to the first face of the supporting base. At least one vibrator unit including a fixation base, and piezoelectric vibrators arranged on a first face of the fixation base such that first ends of the piezoelectric vibrators are fixed thereon and opposite free ends overhang a second face of the fixation base.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2001
    Publication date: April 25, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Publication number: 20020044179
    Abstract: In a vibrator unit, at least one piezoelectric vibrator is fixed on a base member in a cantilevered manner, such that a first region of the piezoelectric vibrator is fixed on a first face of the base member. A resin case is formed with a housing space extending through a first end face to a second end face thereof. The housing space includes a first housing part which opens to the first end face of the case, a second housing part which continues to the first housing part, and a third housing part which continues to the second housing part. In the first housing part, a part of the piezoelectric vibrator except for the first region is housed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2001
    Publication date: April 18, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noriaki Okazawa, Hiroshige Owaki, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Tomoaki Takahashi, Takayuki Iijima
  • Publication number: 20020044180
    Abstract: One side face of a piezoelectric vibrator 2 is fixed to a fixing substrate 11. A first conductive layer 8 which conducts to a common internal electrode 3 exposed on the side face in the side of the fixing substrate 11 is formed on the front face of the piezoelectric vibrator 2 which is an unfixed face. A second conductive layer 10 which conducts to an individual internal electrode 4 is formed on the front face. A flexible cable 12 is connected to the front face.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2001
    Publication date: April 18, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Minoru Usui, Satoru Hosono
  • Publication number: 20020036669
    Abstract: After assembling an ink jet recording head which includes a plurality of nozzle orifices forming at least one nozzle row, pressure chambers each communicated with the associated nozzle orifice, pressure generating elements each generating pressure fluctuation in ink provided in the associated pressure chamber to eject an ink droplet from the associated nozzle orifice, a natural period of the ink pressure fluctuation in the pressure chamber of the assembled recording head is measured. Then the assembled recording head is classified into a plurality of ranks, based on the measured natural period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2001
    Publication date: March 28, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoru Hosono, Tomoaki Takahashi, Tomohiro Sayama, Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Hirofumi Teramae, Kenji Otokita
  • Patent number: 6357846
    Abstract: In order to prevent a viscosity of ink near each nozzle orifice of a recording head from increasing, a time to eject an ink drop therethrough is analyzed based on print data. Dot pattern data is generated by determining the printing period where the fine vibration should be applied to the meniscus of ink in each nozzle in accordance with analysis of the print data. Accordingly, remarkable suppression of the viscosity increase, stabilization of the flying path of the ink drop, and efficient flushing may be achieved without complexity of the whole machine construction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Publication number: 20020017142
    Abstract: A piezoelectric vibrator unit comprises: at least one piezoelectric vibrator including: common internal electrode layers and segment internal electrode layers arranged alternately; piezoelectric layers, each interposed between adjacent pair of the common and segment internal electrode layers; and external electrodes formed on an exterior of the piezoelectric vibrator and electrically connected respectively to the common internal electrode layers and the segment internal electrode layers; and a fixing member to which a surface of the piezoelectric vibrator is fixed. The piezoelectric vibrator is displaceable in a direction perpendicular to a lamination direction in which the internal electrode layers and piezoelectric layers are laminated. The magnitude of electric fields applied to the piezoelectric layers is non-uniform.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2001
    Publication date: February 14, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Publication number: 20020008742
    Abstract: In order to simplify a step of forming a conductive layer for external connection and improve the reliability thereof, at least either internal individual electrodes or internal common electrodes, which compose of a piezoelectric vibrator, are connected with each other at through holes situated inner than a end face of the piezoelectric vibrator and connected to either a segment electrode or a common electrode, which are formed on one surface in a longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric vibrator. Accordingly, it is not necessary to form a conductive layer on the end face or a corner portion where such a layer is hardly formed. Furthermore, even if such portions are slightly broken, the conductivity can be maintained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2001
    Publication date: January 24, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Publication number: 20020005879
    Abstract: A nozzle plate (8) having a nozzle opening (10) formed thereon, a passage forming substrate (70) having a pressure chamber (12), an ink supply port (13) and a common ink chamber (11) formed sequentially to communicate with the nozzle opening (10), and a vibrating plate (9) for being deformed to pressurize the pressure chamber (12) are provided and laminated to constitute a passage unit (30). The passage forming substrate (70) is fabricated by an insert molding using a reinforcing plate (72) as a core and a portion to be an ink passage is partitioned and formed by a resin (71).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2001
    Publication date: January 17, 2002
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Patent number: 6338554
    Abstract: An ink lyophilic layer 6c is formed on the upstream face of a filter member 6, so that an air bubble B1 will form a contact angle that is larger than one that is formed at the downstream face and that is substantially a right angle, and so that the retention force of meniscuses M formed at small holes 6b in the filter member 6 is reduced, enabling an air bubble B1 to more easily pass through the filter member 6.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kitahara
  • Patent number: 6338549
    Abstract: One side face of a piezoelectric vibrator is fixed to a fixing substrate. A first conductive layer which conducts to a common internal electrode exposed on the side face in the side of the fixing substrate is formed on the front face of the piezoelectric vibrator which is an unfixed face. A second conductive layer which conducts to an individual internal electrode is formed on the front face. A flexible cable is connected to the front face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2002
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kitahara, Minoru Usui, Satoru Hosono