Patents by Inventor Yujiro Nomura

Yujiro Nomura 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: 20090135312
    Abstract: An image forming method which generates a video signal corresponding to an image forming command based on a video clock signal, modulates a light beam according to the video signal, and scans the modulated light beam along a main scanning direction by means of an oscillation mirror which resonates based on a drive signal, so as to form a latent image in an effective image region of a latent image carrier, the method includes: synchronizing the drive signal with the video clock signal to synchronize a detection signal with the video clock signal, the detection signal being output from a detector which detect the light beam scanned in the main scanning direction in a region away from an effective scan region which corresponds to the effective image region; controlling a resonant frequency of the oscillation mirror based on the detection signal so that the resonant frequency of the oscillation mirror almost coincides with the frequency of the drive signal; and adjusting a position, at which the latent image is w
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2008
    Publication date: May 28, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasumasa ISHIHARA, Yujiro NOMURA, Akihiro GOMI, Ken IKUMA
  • Patent number: 7538784
    Abstract: In a line head, a plurality of element arrays arranged in a first direction. Each array includes a plurality of light emission elements arrayed in a second direction which is perpendicularly to the first direction. The light emission elements emit light for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive surface of an image carrier. A switcher activates the light emission elements in at least one of the element arrays while deactivating the others. A developer develops the latent image as a visible image with toner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Katsunori Yamazaki, Yujiro Nomura, Kiyoshi Tsujino
  • Publication number: 20090129818
    Abstract: An exposure head includes a substrate having a plurality of light emitting element rows each having a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a first direction, the light emitting element rows being arranged in a second direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and an imaging optical system adapted to image light beams from the light emitting elements on an exposed surface to form respective light-collected sections, and two of the light emitting elements forming the light-collected sections adjacent to each other in the first direction are respectively disposed in the light emitting element rows different from each other, and one of the light emitting element rows is disposed so as to match or substantially match with the meridian plane of the imaging optical system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nozomu INOUE, Yujiro NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20090129819
    Abstract: An exposure head includes an imaging optical system arranged in a first direction, and first and second light emitting elements disposed in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction that emit light beams to be imaged by the imaging optical system to form light-collected sections adjacent to each other in the first direction. A first wiring is electrically connected to and extended out from the first light emitting element to one side in the second direction. A second wiring is electrically connected to and extended out from the second light emitting element to the one side in the second direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2008
    Publication date: May 21, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nozomu INOUE, Yujiro NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20090122129
    Abstract: At least one light emission array includes a plurality of light emitting elements arrayed in a first direction. Each of the light emitting elements is an organic electroluminescence element. A monitor quantitatively monitors a light emitting state of at least one of the light emitting elements to obtain a monitored amount. A comparator compares the monitored amount and a reference amount. A controller performs a constant current control with respect to at least one of the light emitting elements in accordance with a result of the comparison performed by the comparator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2009
    Publication date: May 14, 2009
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kiyoshi TSUJINO, Yujiro Nomura, Ken Ikuma
  • Publication number: 20090116970
    Abstract: An exposure head, includes: imaging optical systems which are arranged in a first direction; light emitting elements which are arranged in a second direction orthogonal to or substantially orthogonal to the first direction and emit lights to be imaged by the imaging optical systems; a first wiring which is connected with the light emitting element located at a first side in the second direction; and a second wiring which is connected with the light emitting element located at a second side in the second direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2008
    Publication date: May 7, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nozomu Inoue, Yujiro Nomura
  • Publication number: 20090103947
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes: a latent image carrier that moves in a moving direction; and an exposure head that includes a light emitting element which emits a light and an imaging optical system which images the light emitted from the light emitting element, and is adapted to form a spot on the latent image carrier, wherein a pitch in the moving direction of the latent image carrier between the spots formed by the different imaging optical systems is an integral multiple of a pixel pitch in the moving direction of the latent image carrier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2008
    Publication date: April 23, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nozomu INOUE, Yujiro NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20090091611
    Abstract: A line head includes: a positive lens system having two lenses with positive refractive power; an image-side lens array in which the image-side lens of the two lenses is arrayed in a plural number in first and second directions; an object-side lens array in which the object-side lens of the two lenses is arrayed in a plural number in the first and second directions; a light emitter array in which a plurality of light-emitting elements are arrayed on an object side of the positive lens system for the one positive lens system; and an aperture plate that forms an aperture diaphragm, the aperture plate being disposed between the image-side lens array and the object-side lens array so that an image side is telecentric or approximately telecentric.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Publication date: April 9, 2009
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi SOWA, Yujiro NOMURA, Ryuta KOIZUMI
  • Patent number: 7515166
    Abstract: A line head includes a plurality of the light emitting element columns which has a main light emitting element column exposing a light amount necessary for exposure to an image carrier and an auxiliary light emitting element column exposing the image carrier so as to obtain the light amount necessary for exposure even when a light emitting element having a pixel defect is existed in the main light emitting element column. Also, a line head includes a plurality of the light emitting element columns. The light emitting element columns includes a main light emitting element column exposing an image carrier and an auxiliary light emitting element column exposing the image carrier when a light emitting element having a pixel defect is existed in the main light emitting element column.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2009
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Tsujino, Yujiro Nomura
  • Publication number: 20090086328
    Abstract: A line head includes: a positive lens system having two lenses with positive refractive power; an image-side lens array in which the image-side lens of the two lenses is arrayed in a plural number in first and second directions; an object-side lens array in which the object-side lens of the two lenses is arrayed in a plural number in the first and second directions; a light emitter array in which a plurality of light-emitting elements are arrayed on an object side of the positive lens system for the one positive lens system; and an aperture plate that forms an aperture diaphragm disposed on the object side of the positive lens system so that an image side is telecentric or approximately telecentric.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2008
    Publication date: April 2, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeshi SOWA, Yujiro NOMURA, Ryuta KOIZUMI
  • Publication number: 20090078854
    Abstract: A plurality of photo emitters are arrayed on a transparent substrate in a first direction to form at least one photo emitter array. An electrode is provided on the substrate and electrically connected to the photo emitters in common. A dimension of the electrode in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction is smaller than a dimension of the substrate in the second direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2008
    Publication date: March 26, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kiyoshi TSUJINO, Yujiro NOMURA, Ken IKUMA
  • Patent number: 7508407
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes: a latent image carrier whose surface includes an effective image region spanning across a predetermined width in a main scanning direction and is driven in a sub scanning direction approximately orthogonal to the main scanning direction; a latent image former which has a light source and a deflection mirror oscillating, and deflects a light beam from the light source using the deflection mirror so as to scan the effective image region with the deflected light beam; and a scanning mode controller which switches selectively between a single-side scanning mode and a double-side scanning mode, the single-side scanning mode being a mode in which the light beam is scanned only in a first direction included in the main scanning direction, the double-side scanning mode being a mode in which the light beam is scanned in both the first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction, wherein a condition to form latent images on the latent image carrier in the singl
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2009
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroshi Toyama, Yujiro Nomura, Ken Ikuma
  • Publication number: 20090074464
    Abstract: An exposing device includes a light-emitting element array including plural light-emitting elements disposed in a first direction and a second direction orthogonal to or substantially orthogonal to the first direction, a lens array including plural lenses that focus lights from the light-emitting elements, a supporting member that supports the light-emitting element array and the lens array, and an exposure-position adjusting mechanism including a rotation adjusting unit that rotates the supporting member around or substantially around an axis in the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2008
    Publication date: March 19, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenjiro YOSHIOKA, Yujiro NOMURA, Ken IKUMA
  • Publication number: 20090074438
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes: a latent image carrier that moves in a first direction; an exposure head that includes a light emitting element and an imaging optical system row which is arranged in the first direction and which is made up of imaging optical systems which are arranged in a second direction different from the first direction and image light emitted from the light emitting element on the latent image carrier; a developing unit that develops a latent image formed on the latent image carrier by the exposure head; and two detectors that detect an image obtained by developing a latent image by the developing unit, the latent image being formed using the same imaging optical system row.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2008
    Publication date: March 19, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWADA, Yujiro NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20090066779
    Abstract: A line head includes a lens array having a plurality of positive lens systems in a first direction. Each positive lens system has a pair of lenses with positive refractive power. A light emitter array disposed on an object side of the lens array has a plurality of light emitting elements disposed corresponding to the positive lens systems. An aperture plate forms an aperture stop on the object side of the pair of lenses. A focal distance f1 of one of the pair of lenses disposed on the object side satisfies the conditional formula f1?d0/(1+W0/D1).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2008
    Publication date: March 12, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeshi SOWA, Yujiro NOMURA, Ryuta KOIZUMI
  • Publication number: 20090060580
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes: an exposure head that includes a plurality of imaging optical systems which are arranged in a first direction and a plurality of light emitting elements which emit lights to be imaged by the imaging optical systems; a latent image carrier that moves in a second direction orthogonal to or substantially orthogonal to the first direction and carries a latent image formed by the exposure head; a developer that develops the latent image; and a detector that detects an image developed by the developer, wherein the image detected by the detector has a width in the first direction wider than that of an image formed by one imaging optical system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2008
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWADA, Yujiro NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20090060543
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes: an exposure head that includes an imaging optical system which is arranged in a first direction and a light emitting element which emits light to be focused by the imaging optical system; a latent image carrier that moves in a second direction orthogonal to or substantially orthogonal to the first direction and carries a latent image which is formed by the exposure head; a developing unit that develops the latent image formed on the latent image carrier by the exposure head; and a detector that detects an image which is developed by the developing unit and is formed using one imaging optical system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2008
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWADA, Yujiro NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20090060579
    Abstract: An exposure head, includes: a first imaging optical system and a second imaging optical system which are arranged in a first direction; a light emitting element which emits light to be imaged by the first imaging optical system; and a light emitting element which emits light to be imaged by the second imaging optical system, wherein an inter-optical-system distance in the first direction between the first imaging optical system and the second imaging optical system satisfies the following expression: m1·L1+m2·L2>2P1?(m1·dp1+m2·dp2) where m1 represents an absolute value of the optical magnification of the first imaging optical system, L1 represents a width in the first direction of the light emitting element to be imaged by the first imaging optical system, dp1 represents a pitch between the light emitting element in the first direction in the light emitting element to be imaged by the first imaging optical system, m2 represents an absolute value of the optical magnification of the second imaging optical
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2008
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yujiro NOMURA, Ken IKUMA
  • Publication number: 20090060542
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an exposure head including an imaging optical system arranged in a first direction and a light emitting element that emits light to be imaged by the imaging optical system; a latent image bearing member that moves in a second direction and carries a latent image formed by the exposure head; a developing unit that develops the latent image formed by the exposure head; a detector that detects the image developed by the developing unit; and a controller that controls image formation such that a width L1 in the first direction of a latent image formed on the latent image bearing member by one imaging optical system and a width L2 in the first direction of the image detected by the detector has a relationship of L2>L1.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2008
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWADA, Yujiro NOMURA
  • Publication number: 20090060544
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus, includes: an exposure head that includes a first imaging optical system, a second imaging optical system, a first light emitting element which emits light to be focused by the first imaging optical system, and a second light emitting element which emits light to be focused by the second imaging optical system, the first imaging optical system and the second imaging optical system being arranged in a first direction; a latent image carrier that moves in a second direction orthogonal to or substantially orthogonal to the first direction and carries a latent image which is formed by the exposure head; a developing unit that develops the latent image formed by the exposure head; and a detector that detects an image developed by the developing unit, wherein a first latent image that is focused by the first imaging optical system and a second latent image that is focused by the second imaging optical system are connected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2008
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kunihiro KAWADA, Yujiro NOMURA