Patents by Inventor Yasutomo FURUTA

Yasutomo FURUTA 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: 20240231254
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a light emitting chip and at least one processor. The light emitting chip includes a plurality of light emitting elements, a DAC outputting a voltage corresponding to a setting value, and a circuit unit that supplies a current to the plurality of light emitting elements based on the voltage. At least one processor is configured to set the setting value such that one light emitting element included among the plurality of light emitting elements emits light of a predetermined amount, and correct image data pieces that respectively correspond to the plurality of light emitting elements based on first correction data for correcting amounts of light respectively emitted by the plurality of light emitting elements. The circuit unit supplies a current to each of the plurality of light emitting elements based on the corrected image data pieces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2024
    Publication date: July 11, 2024
    Inventor: YASUTOMO FURUTA
  • Patent number: 11977342
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a light emitting chip and at least one processor. The light emitting chip includes a plurality of light emitting elements, a DAC outputting a voltage corresponding to a setting value, and a circuit unit that supplies a current to the plurality of light emitting elements based on the voltage. At least one processor is configured to set the setting value such that one light emitting element included among the plurality of light emitting elements emits light of a predetermined amount, and correct image data pieces that respectively correspond to the plurality of light emitting elements based on first correction data for correcting amounts of light respectively emitted by the plurality of light emitting elements. The circuit unit supplies a current to each of the plurality of light emitting elements based on the corrected image data pieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Publication number: 20240069463
    Abstract: An image-forming apparatus includes a generating unit that generates correction data for correcting an unevenness in light amount of an exposure head using a read image of a correction chart, and a correction unit that corrects image data for image formation based on the correction data. The exposure head includes light-emitting chips each of which includes light-emitting elements. The correction chart includes a plurality of regions arranged in a direction, a first reference mark located on one side of the regions, and a second reference mark located on the other side of the regions. The generating unit determines partial regions respectively formed by the light-emitting chips within the regions based on positions of the first and second reference marks in the read image of the correction chart, and generate the correction data based on a result of measurement on the partial regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2023
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Inventor: YASUTOMO FURUTA
  • Publication number: 20230350322
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an exposure head including a light emitting portion that includes a first electrode layer including a plurality of electrodes that are two-dimensionally arranged in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction, a light emitting layer stacked on the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer through which light is transmissible; and a controller configured to control a voltage applied to each of the plurality of electrodes in such a way that the light emitting layer emits light, in which the plurality of electrodes for forming an identical pixel are arranged in such a way that the electrodes partially overlap each other when viewed from the rotation direction, and an inter-centroid distance of the plurality of electrodes in the rotational axis direction is equal in the rotational axis direction, and d3 = W1/n (n is a natural number of 2 or more), in which W1 [mm] is a width of the electrode in the rotational axis direction, n is the number of electrodes f
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2023
    Publication date: November 2, 2023
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Publication number: 20230305426
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: at least one processor that is configured to generate second image data corresponding to each of a plurality of light emitting elements based on first image data, the second image data indicating whether to cause each of the plurality of light emitting elements to emit light, and based on correction information, change the first image data indicating that the light emitting elements are to emit light, to the second image data indicating that the light emitting elements are not to emit light, and the circuit unit configured to supply a current to each of the plurality of light emitting elements based on the second image data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2023
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Inventor: YASUTOMO FURUTA
  • Publication number: 20230305427
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a light emitting chip and at least one processor. The light emitting chip includes a plurality of light emitting elements, a DAC outputting a voltage corresponding to a setting value, and a circuit unit that supplies a current to the plurality of light emitting elements based on the voltage. At least one processor is configured to set the setting value such that one light emitting element included among the plurality of light emitting elements emits light of a predetermined amount, and correct image data pieces that respectively correspond to the plurality of light emitting elements based on first correction data for correcting amounts of light respectively emitted by the plurality of light emitting elements. The circuit unit supplies a current to each of the plurality of light emitting elements based on the corrected image data pieces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2023
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Inventor: YASUTOMO FURUTA
  • Publication number: 20230213877
    Abstract: A light emitting device 401 includes a silicon substrate and a light emitting region including a lower electrode, a light emitting layer, and an upper electrode, and an exposure head is provided with a printed board on which light emitting devices 401 are arranged in a staggered form and a circuit portion 602 for controlling, on the basis of image data, a voltage of each of electrodes included in the lower electrode so that the light emitting device layer emits light and is for forming an image with a resolution corresponding to an arrangement interval of the lower electrode with respect to a crossing direction, and the circuit portion 602 is disposed together with the light emitting region on the silicon substrate. Costs on wire bonding and an area of a wiring board can be suppressed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2023
    Publication date: July 6, 2023
    Inventors: Yasutomo Furuta, Takahisa Ono, Hayato Koyama, Hidefumi Yoshida
  • Patent number: 11635703
    Abstract: A light emitting device 401 includes a silicon substrate and a light emitting region including a lower electrode, a light emitting layer, and an upper electrode, and an exposure head is provided with a printed board on which light emitting devices 401 are arranged in a staggered form and a circuit portion 602 for controlling, on the basis of image data, a voltage of each of electrodes included in the lower electrode so that the light emitting device layer emits light and is for forming an image with a resolution corresponding to an arrangement interval of the lower electrode with respect to a crossing direction, and the circuit portion 602 is disposed together with the light emitting region on the silicon substrate. Costs on wire bonding and an area of a wiring board can be suppressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasutomo Furuta, Takahisa Ono, Hayato Koyama, Hidefumi Yoshida
  • Publication number: 20220179335
    Abstract: A second electrode is laminated on a light emitting layer on an opposite side across the light emitting layer from a first electrode laminated on a silicon substrate. The second electrode is capable of transmitting light. A photoconductor drum is exposed to light by using light transmitted through the second electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2022
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: Yasutomo Furuta, Hayato Koyama, Koichiro Nakanishi
  • Publication number: 20220171308
    Abstract: An exposure head includes a plurality of light emitting element array chips. A first distance from a first side which is one of two long sides of each of the plurality of light emitting element array chips to one long side of a sealing area which is parallel to and proximate to the first side is shorter than a second distance from a second side which is another one of the two long sides to another long side of the sealing area which is parallel to and proximate to the second side, and a third distance from the first side to one long side of a light emitting area which is parallel to and proximate to the first side is shorter than a fourth distance from the second side to another long side of the light emitting area which is parallel to and proximate to the second side.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2022
    Publication date: June 2, 2022
    Inventors: Hayato Koyama, Koichiro Nakanishi, Yasutomo Furuta
  • Publication number: 20220146959
    Abstract: A light emitting device 401 includes a silicon substrate and a light emitting region including a lower electrode, a light emitting layer, and an upper electrode, and an exposure head is provided with a printed board on which light emitting devices 401 are arranged in a staggered form and a circuit portion 602 for controlling, on the basis of image data, a voltage of each of electrodes included in the lower electrode so that the light emitting device layer emits light and is for forming an image with a resolution corresponding to an arrangement interval of the lower electrode with respect to a crossing direction, and the circuit portion 602 is disposed together with the light emitting region on the silicon substrate. Costs on wire bonding and an area of a wiring board can be suppressed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Publication date: May 12, 2022
    Inventors: Yasutomo Furuta, Takahisa Ono, Hayato Koyama, Hidefumi Yoshida
  • Patent number: 11079699
    Abstract: An exposure head that exposes a photosensitive member to light includes a plurality of light-emitting element array chips mounted on one surface of a board, a connector mounted on the other surface of the board, and a first driver IC and a second driver IC that are connected to the connector and drive the light-emitting element array chips, wherein the first driver IC is placed on one side of the board with respect to the connector in the longitudinal direction of the board, and the second driver IC is placed on the other side of the board with respect to the connector in the longitudinal direction of the board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Patent number: 11016407
    Abstract: An exposure head includes surface emitting element array chips and a driving voltage generation portion outputting a driving voltage to the surface emitting element array chip. The driving voltage generation portion includes digital analog conversion control circuits (DACs) provided corresponding to each surface light emitting element array chip and output drive voltages, and DACs which output maximum and minimum drive voltages. A CPU controls the DACs and outputs a driving voltage corresponding to the light emission amount of each surface light emitting element array chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Publication number: 20210048761
    Abstract: An exposure head that exposes a photosensitive member to light includes a plurality of light-emitting element array chips mounted on one surface of a board, a connector mounted on the other surface of the board, and a first driver IC and a second driver IC that are connected to the connector and drive the light-emitting element array chips, wherein the first driver IC is placed on one side of the board with respect to the connector in the longitudinal direction of the board, and the second driver IC is placed on the other side of the board with respect to the connector in the longitudinal direction of the board.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2020
    Publication date: February 18, 2021
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Patent number: 10852657
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an exposure head including light emitting elements arranged in an intersecting direction intersecting with a rotation direction of a photosensitive member to form an image at a first resolution corresponding the light emitting elements in the intersecting direction; a data generating unit configured to generate pixel data corresponding to a second resolution higher than the first resolution associating with positions of the pixel data; a correction unit configured to correct associations between the positions and the pixel data to adjust a position of an image in the intersecting direction; a conversion unit configured to convert the pixel data corresponding to the second resolution to pixel data corresponding to the first resolution; and a drive unit configured to drive the light emitting elements based on the pixel data corresponding to the first resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Publication number: 20200150554
    Abstract: An exposure head includes surface emitting element array chips 1 to 29 and a driving voltage generation portion 414 outputting a driving voltage to the surface emitting element array chip. A drive voltage generation portion 414 includes DACs 1111 to 1125 provided corresponding to each surface light emitting element array chip and output drive voltages, and DACs 1100 and 1101 which output maximum and minimum drive voltages. The CPU 400 controls the DACs 1111 to 1125, and outputs a driving voltage corresponding to the light emission amount of each surface light emitting element array chip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Publication number: 20190384205
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including: an exposure head including light emitting elements arranged in an intersecting direction intersecting with a rotation direction of a photosensitive member to form an image at a first resolution corresponding the light emitting elements in the intersecting direction; a data generating unit configured to generate pixel data corresponding to a second resolution higher than the first resolution associating with positions of the pixel data; a correction unit configured to correct associations between the positions and the pixel data to adjust a position of an image in the intersecting direction; a conversion unit configured to convert the pixel data corresponding to the second resolution to pixel data corresponding to the first resolution; and a drive unit configured to drive the light emitting elements based on the pixel data corresponding to the first resolution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Publication date: December 19, 2019
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Patent number: 10409191
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including: a light source configured to emit a light beam; a rotary polygon mirror having a plurality of reflection surfaces configured to deflect the light beam; a beam detector configured to receive the light beam to output a pulse; a pulse interval measurement unit configured to measure a pulse interval of pulses output from the beam detector; a reflection surface identification unit configured to identify each of the plurality of reflection surfaces; a storage portion configured to store a reference pulse interval of each of the plurality of reflection surfaces; a correction amount calculation unit configured to calculate a correction amount based on the pulse interval and the reference pulse interval for each of the plurality of reflection surfaces; and a light source control unit configured to control the light source based on the correction amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasutomo Furuta, Izuru Horiuchi
  • Patent number: 10397437
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, including: a light source including a plurality of light emitting points and configured to emit light beams; a photosensitive member configured to rotate in a rotation direction so that a latent image is formed thereon with the light beams; a rotary polygon mirror configured to rotate around a rotation axis and having a plurality of mirror faces each configured to deflect the light beams so that the photosensitive member is scanned with the light beams; a detector configured to detect temperature; and a correction unit configured to correct image data of an input image by using a deviation amount, in the rotation direction of the photosensitive member, of the light beams deflected by each of the plurality of mirror faces, wherein the correction unit obtains the deviation amount according to the temperature detected by the detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta
  • Patent number: 10317813
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a control unit: starting up a rotary polygon mirror based on a first signal output by a driving unit thereof; causing a light source to emit a laser-beam while controlling a rotational speed of the rotary polygon mirror based on the first signal to acquire a second signal output from a detecting unit of the laser-beam; turning off the light source after acquiring a phase relation between the first and second signals; causing a charging unit to charge a photosensitive member; making the laser-beam to enter onto the detecting unit without exposing the photosensitive member based on the phase relation in response to the rotational speed reaching a target speed; controlling the rotational speed based on the second signal in response to the laser-beam being entered; and starting image formation in response to the rotational speed converging within a predetermined range including the target speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasutomo Furuta