Patents by Inventor Yoshinori Nakagawa

Yoshinori Nakagawa 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: 11230096
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a conveyance unit configured to convey a print medium, a printhead for printing an image by discharging ink to the conveyed print medium, a heating unit provided on a downstream side of the printhead with respect to a conveyance direction of the print medium and configured to heat the print medium, and a ventilation unit provided on a downstream side of the heating unit with respect to the conveyance direction and configured to ventilate air in a peripheral space of a conveyance path of the print medium. The printing apparatus controls to delay a start of printing by the printhead so that the print medium dried by the heating unit passes through the conveyance path in a state in which a humidity in the space becomes lower than a predetermined value due to the ventilation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Osamu Iwasaki, Yoshinori Nakagawa
  • Publication number: 20210402792
    Abstract: Ink is circulated through a circulation flow path between a print head and an ink tank. Detection operation for detecting an ink ejection state in an ejection opening in the print head is performed. The ink circulation and the detection operation are simultaneously performed by performing the detection operation in response to a start of the ink circulation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Yuhei Oikawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Atsushi Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11198290
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to bring a print head into a liquid ejectable state while reducing waste ink. The present invention is a printing apparatus including: a tank in which liquid is stored; a print head that comprises an ejection port surface on which an ejection port is formed, the ejection port ejecting the liquid which is supplied from the tank; a cap mechanism that caps the ejection port surface of the print head; a timer that counts a time during which the ejection port surface is capped; and a circulation unit configured to circulate the liquid in a circulation path including the tank and the print head, and in a case where the timer counts a predetermined time, the circulation unit circulates the liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Yoshinori Nakagawa
  • Publication number: 20210362502
    Abstract: Provided are an inkjet printing apparatus and a recovery method capable of suppressing ink thickening in the ejection openings in the suction process for the ejection openings. A vacuum wiper is moved being in contact with the ejection opening surface of the print head to perform a vacuum wiping process for the arrayed ejection openings sequentially. Ink is circulated in flow paths including the flow paths communicating with the ejection openings for which the vacuum wiping process has been finished.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2021
    Publication date: November 25, 2021
    Inventors: Yoshinori Nakagawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 11141990
    Abstract: Ink is circulated through a circulation flow path between a print head and an ink tank. Detection operation for detecting an ink ejection state in an ejection opening in the print head is performed. The ink circulation and the detection operation are simultaneously performed by performing the detection operation in response to a start of the ink circulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Yuhei Oikawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Atsushi Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11117377
    Abstract: Provided are an inkjet printing apparatus and a recovery method capable of suppressing ink thickening in the ejection openings in the suction process for the ejection openings. A vacuum wiper is moved being in contact with the ejection opening surface of the print head to perform a vacuum wiping process for the arrayed ejection openings sequentially. Ink is circulated in flow paths including the flow paths communicating with the ejection openings for which the vacuum wiping process has been finished.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Nakagawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Publication number: 20210276340
    Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus is provided with a tank that stores ink, a print head that performs print operation by ejecting ink supplied from the tank, a circulation unit that establishes a circulating state to circulate ink in a circulation path if print operation is performed and establishes a stopped state to stop circulation of ink if print operation is terminated, and a deaeration unit that performs deaeration operation to deaerate ink inside the circulation path. The apparatus includes an estimation unit that estimates a dissolved gas amount in ink inside the circulation path based on dissolved gas amounts increased in the circulating state and in the stopped state, respectively, and a control unit that causes the deaeration unit to execute deaeration operation after completion of print operation if the dissolved gas amount estimated by the estimation unit exceeds a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2021
    Publication date: September 9, 2021
    Inventors: Takatoshi Nakano, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 11059301
    Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus is provided with a tank that stores ink, a print head that performs print operation by ejecting ink supplied from the tank, a circulation unit that establishes a circulating state to circulate ink in a circulation path if print operation is performed and establishes a stopped state to stop circulation of ink if print operation is terminated, and a deaeration unit that performs deaeration operation to deaerate ink inside the circulation path. The apparatus includes an estimation unit that estimates a dissolved gas amount in ink inside the circulation path based on dissolved gas amounts increased in the circulating state and in the stopped state, respectively, and a control unit that causes the deaeration unit to execute deaeration operation after completion of print operation if the dissolved gas amount estimated by the estimation unit exceeds a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takatoshi Nakano, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Publication number: 20210197555
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a print head provided with a discharge port that discharges liquid and a pressure chamber filled with the liquid to be discharged from the discharge port, and configured to perform a printing operation by discharging the liquid from the discharge port based on print data, includes a circulation unit that performs circulation of the liquid in a circulation passage including the pressure chamber in a state where the printing operation is performed, and includes a control unit that controls the circulation unit to continue the circulation for a predetermined time after the printing operation is completed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2021
    Publication date: July 1, 2021
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Atsushi Takahashi
  • Publication number: 20210070040
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a conveyance unit configured to convey a print medium, a printhead for printing an image by discharging ink to the conveyed print medium, a heating unit provided on a downstream side of the printhead with respect to a conveyance direction of the print medium and configured to heat the print medium, and a ventilation unit provided on a downstream side of the heating unit with respect to the conveyance direction and configured to ventilate air in a peripheral space of a conveyance path of the print medium. The printing apparatus controls to delay a start of printing by the printhead so that the print medium dried by the heating unit passes through the conveyance path in a state in which a humidity in the space becomes lower than a predetermined value due to the ventilation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Publication date: March 11, 2021
    Inventors: Osamu Iwasaki, Yoshinori Nakagawa
  • Publication number: 20210039400
    Abstract: A printing apparatus comprises: a print head comprising, for each of a plurality of types of inks, an ejection opening and pressure chamber, and configured to perform printing operation by ejecting the ink from the ejection opening; a circulation unit capable of circulating the ink of each ink type; a determination unit configured to determine an accumulated time for which a first type of ink is circulated by the circulation unit in the printing operation using the first type of ink and not using a second type of ink different from the first type of ink; and a control unit configured to perform control based on the determined accumulated time to cause the circulation unit to circulate at least the second type of ink among the plurality of types of inks in a case where the accumulated time is longer than a predetermined time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Publication date: February 11, 2021
    Inventors: Takatoshi Nakano, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 10850529
    Abstract: A printing apparatus comprises: a print head comprising, for each of a plurality of types of inks, an ejection opening and pressure chamber, and configured to perform printing operation by ejecting the ink from the ejection opening; a circulation unit capable of circulating the ink of each ink type; a determination unit configured to determine an accumulated time for which a first type of ink is circulated by the circulation unit in the printing operation using the first type of ink and not using a second type of ink different from the first type of ink; and a control unit configured to perform control based on the determined accumulated time to cause the circulation unit to circulate at least the second type of ink among the plurality of types of inks in a case where the accumulated time is longer than a predetermined time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takatoshi Nakano, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 10843479
    Abstract: A liquid supply apparatus comprises: a liquid supply unit to perform an operation to supply liquid from a main tank to a sub tank; a liquid surface detection unit configured to detect a liquid surface of the liquid stored in the sub tank; and a control unit configured to control the liquid supply unit to execute first liquid supply operation to control the liquid supply unit to supply liquid to the sub tank until the liquid surface is detected by the liquid surface detection unit and a second liquid supply operation to supply liquid to the sub tank after the liquid surface is detected by the liquid surface detection unit. The control unit controls, based on at least one of a liquid supply amount and a liquid supply time in the first liquid supply operation, the time during which the second liquid supply operation is executed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Takahashi, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 10843468
    Abstract: Provided is an inkjet printing apparatus and recovery method capable of executing wiping according to the state of ink attached to the ejection opening surface. The inkjet printing apparatus includes: a printing unit to perform printing by ejecting ink from ejection openings; a wiping unit to perform first wiping for an ejection opening surface having the ejection openings and to perform second wiping having higher performance of removing ink from the ejection opening surface than the first wiping; and an obtaining unit to obtain information on a temperature of the ejection opening surface. The control unit, based on the information, causes the wiping unit to perform the first wiping or the second wiping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Nakagawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 10843467
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including: a print head having an ejection opening surface on which an ejection opening array for ejecting a liquid is provided in a first direction; a cap unit for protecting the ejection opening array; a moving unit configured to relatively move the print head and the cap unit; a first positioning portion for locating the print head and the cap unit in a first relative position where the print head and the cap unit come into contact with each other; and a second positioning portion for locating the print head and the cap unit in a second relative position where the print head and the cap unit come into contact with each other, the second relative position being different from the first relative position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Nakai, Noriko Sato, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Takuya Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 10836180
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes: a printing unit configured to eject ink supplied from a storage unit to perform a printing operation; a detection unit configured to detect ink stored in the storage unit; and an acquisition unit configured to acquire a consumption amount of ink consumed in the printing operation from the storage unit. The printing apparatus includes: a calculation unit configured to calculate a decrease amount that is a difference between the ink amount in the storage unit detected by the detection unit prior to the printing operation and the ink amount in the storage unit detected by the detection unit after the printing operation; and a determination unit configured to determine an ink leakage in a case where a difference between the decrease amount calculated by the calculation unit and the consumption amount acquired by the acquisition unit is larger than a threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Takahashi, Yoshinori Nakagawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Takuya Fukasawa, Tsuyoshi Saeki, Toshiaki Tokisawa
  • Publication number: 20200254797
    Abstract: A recording apparatus including: a recording head that includes an ejection component that ejects a liquid; a circulation unit configured to perform a circulation operation of circulating the liquid in a circulation route including the recording head; a cleaning mechanism that performs a cleaning process with respect to the recording head; and a preliminary ejection unit configured to perform a preliminary ejection operation of preliminarily ejecting the liquid from the ejection component. The cleaning mechanism performs the cleaning process in a state in which circulation of the liquid is stopped, and at least one of the circulation operation by the circulation unit and the preliminary ejection operation by the preliminary ejection unit is performed after the cleaning process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2020
    Publication date: August 13, 2020
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Yoshinori Nakagawa
  • Publication number: 20200238693
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to bring a print head into a liquid ejectable state while reducing waste ink. The present invention is a printing apparatus including: a tank in which liquid is stored; a print head that comprises an ejection port surface on which an ejection port is formed, the ejection port ejecting the liquid which is supplied from the tank; a cap mechanism that caps the ejection port surface of the print head; a timer that counts a time during which the ejection port surface is capped; and a circulation unit configured to circulate the liquid in a circulation path including the tank and the print head, and in a case where the timer counts a predetermined time, the circulation unit circulates the liquid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Yoshinori Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 10675898
    Abstract: To normally perform a preliminary ejection after a cleaning process. Provided is a recording apparatus including: a recording head that includes an ejection component that ejects a liquid; a circulation unit configured to perform a circulation operation of circulating the liquid in a circulation route including the recording head; a cleaning mechanism that performs a cleaning process with respect to the recording head; and a preliminary ejection unit configured to perform a preliminary ejection operation of preliminarily ejecting the liquid from the ejection component. The cleaning mechanism performs the cleaning process in a state in which circulation of the liquid is stopped, and at least one of the circulation operation by the circulation unit and the preliminary ejection operation by the preliminary ejection unit is performed after the cleaning process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Yoshinori Nakagawa
  • Patent number: 10654265
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to bring a print head into a liquid ejectable state while reducing waste ink. The present invention is a printing apparatus including: a tank in which liquid is stored; a print head that comprises an ejection port surface on which an ejection port is formed, the ejection port ejecting the liquid which is supplied from the tank; a cap mechanism that caps the ejection port surface of the print head; a timer that counts a time during which the ejection port surface is capped; and a circulation unit configured to circulate the liquid in a circulation path including the tank and the print head, and in a case where the timer counts a predetermined time, the circulation unit circulates the liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuya Fukasawa, Takatoshi Nakano, Atsushi Takahashi, Yoshinori Nakagawa