Patents by Inventor Yoichi Maekawa

Yoichi Maekawa 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).

  • Apparatus and method for manufacturing toner
    Patent number: 8404425
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing toner is provided which includes a pulverizer for pulverizing a material into particles, a classifier for classifying the particles by size, a discharging path for discharging the particles from the pulverizer to the classifier, a returning path for returning relatively coarse particles among the classified particles from the classifier to the pulverizer, and a handling unit for handling particles. A method for manufacturing toner is also provided which includes pulverizing a material into particles in a pulverizer, discharging the particles from the pulverizer to a classifier via a discharging path, classifying the particles by size in the classifier, and returning relatively coarse particles among the classified particles from the classifier to the pulverizer. The handling unit is provided on at least one of the discharging path and the returning path, and includes a mechanism for preventing accumulation of the particles using airflow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Yoichi Maekawa, Tomoyuki Satoh, Hideyuki Santo, Kazunobu Muramatsu
  • APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING TONER
    Publication number: 20100173243
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing toner is provided which includes a pulverizer for pulverizing a material into particles, a classifier for classifying the particles by size, a discharging path for discharging the particles from the pulverizer to the classifier, a returning path for returning relatively coarse particles among the classified particles from the classifier to the pulverizer, and a handling unit for handling particles. A method for manufacturing toner is also provided which includes pulverizing a material into particles in a pulverizer, discharging the particles from the pulverizer to a classifier via a discharging path, classifying the particles by size in the classifier, and returning relatively coarse particles among the classified particles from the classifier to the pulverizer. The handling unit is provided on at least one of the discharging path and the returning path, and includes a mechanism for preventing accumulation of the particles using airflow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2010
    Publication date: July 8, 2010
    Inventors: Yoichi MAEKAWA, Tomoyuki Satoh, Hideyuki Santo, Kazunobu Muramatsu