Patents by Inventor Yasuaki HIRAI

Yasuaki HIRAI 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: 10889124
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid accommodated in a liquid container, a detection unit that detects a remaining amount of the liquid accommodated in the liquid container, and a control unit that operates in a normal mode and a special mode. In the normal mode, the control unit prohibits ejection of the liquid from the liquid ejecting head when the detection unit has detected that the remaining amount of the liquid accommodated in the liquid container has become smaller than a predetermined threshold value. In the second mode, the control unit allows ejection of the liquid from the liquid ejecting head with an instruction from a user as a requirement when the detection unit has detected that the remaining amount of the liquid accommodated in the liquid container has become smaller than the predetermined threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Inventors: Ryo Oguchi, Yasuaki Hirai
  • Patent number: 10737518
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a placement portion on which a medium is placed, a feeding portion that feeds the medium that is placed on the placement portion, a recording portion that has a liquid discharge portion that discharges liquid onto the medium that is fed by the feeding portion, a processing portion that executes pre-processing of the liquid discharge portion, and a control portion that performs control of the feeding portion and the processing portion or control of the feeding portion and the recording portion such that feeding of the medium and pre-processing are performed in parallel in a case where a recording start command is received in a state in which the processing portion faces the liquid discharge portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Atsushi Takei, Yasuo Sunaga, Yasuaki Hirai
  • Publication number: 20200070509
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid accommodated in a liquid container, a detection unit that detects a remaining amount of the liquid accommodated in the liquid container, and a control unit that operates in a normal mode and a special mode. In the normal mode, the control unit prohibits ejection of the liquid from the liquid ejecting head when the detection unit has detected that the remaining amount of the liquid accommodated in the liquid container has become smaller than a predetermined threshold value. In the second mode, the control unit allows ejection of the liquid from the liquid ejecting head with an instruction from a user as a requirement when the detection unit has detected that the remaining amount of the liquid accommodated in the liquid container has become smaller than the predetermined threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2019
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Inventors: Ryo OGUCHI, Yasuaki HIRAI
  • Publication number: 20190118567
    Abstract: A recording apparatus includes a placement portion on which a medium is placed, a feeding portion that feeds the medium that is placed on the placement portion, a recording portion that has a liquid discharge portion that discharges liquid onto the medium that is fed by the feeding portion, a processing portion that executes pre-processing of the liquid discharge portion, and a control portion that performs control of the feeding portion and the processing portion or control of the feeding portion and the recording portion such that feeding of the medium and pre-processing are performed in parallel in a case where a recording start command is received in a state in which the processing portion faces the liquid discharge portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2018
    Publication date: April 25, 2019
    Inventors: Atsushi TAKEI, Yasuo SUNAGA, Yasuaki HIRAI
  • Publication number: 20180326731
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a wiping portion which wipes a nozzle forming surface by relatively moving in a main scanning direction with respect to a recording head; and a controller which moves at least one of the recording head and the wiping member. The controller selects and performs at least one of first wiping processing for wiping the nozzle forming surface until the wiping portion is separated from the nozzle forming surface in the main scanning direction, and second wiping processing for separating the wiping portion from the nozzle forming surface in a retracting direction different from the main scanning direction after wiping the nozzle forming surface until the wiping portion comes into contact with a defined position of the nozzle forming surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2018
    Publication date: November 15, 2018
    Inventors: Shigenori FUKASAWA, Yasuaki HIRAI, Yuta KOMATSU, Seiji TOJO