Array Patents (Class 347/12)
  • Publication number: 20140285555
    Abstract: Each of M head units of a print head includes a driving signal generator and a plurality of piezoelectric elements. A common control signal is supplied from a control signal supply portion of a control unit to the respective driving signal generators of the M head units. The driving signal generator of each head unit generates a driving signal from the control signal according to characteristics (for example, relationship of a deformation amount with respect to an applied voltage) of each latter stage piezoelectric element and supplies the driving signal to each piezoelectric element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Publication date: September 25, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shuji Otsuka, Tadashi Kiyuna, Toshifumi Asanuma
  • Patent number: 8833891
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a recording head having a first nozzle row and a second nozzle row. One nozzles of the nozzles in a k-th nozzle group (1?k?p?1; p is the number of types of droplets) in the conveying direction and of the first nozzle row and second nozzle row ejects the specific type of droplets, and the other nozzles in a k-th nozzle group ejects droplets other than the specific types of droplets. The control unit controls to eject, in one of directions of the reciprocal movement, droplets other than the specific types of droplets from nozzle groups that do not eject the specific type of droplets and the specific type of droplets from the first and second nozzle groups that eject the specific type of droplets and in other one of the directions of the reciprocal movement, droplets other than the specific types of droplets from nozzle groups that do not eject the specific type of droplets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Takayuki Ito, Naoki Nakano
  • Patent number: 8833892
    Abstract: A printing apparatus comprising: a print head which relatively moves on a printing medium, and a print control unit that controls the print mechanism, a plurality of nozzle columns are formed in the print head, wherein the print control unit is configured to execute printing by using a first nozzle use setting configured such that a first group of a first nozzle column on an upper stream side is used and a second group of a second nozzle column on the downstream side is used, or a second nozzle use setting configured such that an entire third column is used, and a third nozzle use setting configured such that a third group of the second nozzle column on the upper stream side is used, and a fourth group of the first nozzle column on the downstream side is used in order of each first, second, and third nozzle use setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kohei Utsunomiya
  • Patent number: 8827402
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a recording head including first and second head modules, each of the first and second head modules having recording elements arranged to perform a recording operation onto a recording medium, the first head module being arranged in a first orientation on the recording head, the second head module being arranged in a second orientation on the recording head, the second orientation being rotated from the first orientation; a signal processing device configured to select, from print data for one page, print data to be used in one recording operation respectively for the recording elements, and to arrange the selected print data in a prescribed recording element sequence for each of the first and second head modules regardless of the first and second orientations; and a data transfer device configured to transfer the arranged print data for each of the first and second head modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Yuta Sumiyoshi
  • Patent number: 8814299
    Abstract: To reduce the number of nozzles in an unstable state after a nozzle inspection, a fluid discharge device includes a discharge head capable of discharging a fluid from nozzle, a nozzle inspection process for inspecting a state of discharging of the fluid from the nozzle, and a controller for subjecting the nozzle to a pre-process for discharging the fluid under a discharge condition that a nozzle in an unstable state be put into a dot omission state, subsequently discharging the fluid for the sake of inspection, and executing an inspection process by the nozzle inspection part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryoichi Tanaka, Noriaki Yamashita, Teruaki Kaieda, Ryosuke Tsuchihashi, Hirokazu Nunokawa
  • Patent number: 8814301
    Abstract: A controller for printing a single region in which a background image is formed by the upstream background color nozzle row and the downstream background color nozzle row or in which a color image is formed by the upstream color nozzle row and the downstream color nozzle row is printed, among regions in the transporting direction, and an overlapping region in which a background image is formed by the upstream background color nozzle row and a color image is formed by the downstream color nozzle row or in which a color image is formed by the upstream color nozzle row and a background image is formed by the downstream background color nozzle row, among regions in the transporting direction, is provided. Here, the single region and the overlapping region are switched when one medium is printed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Sano
  • Patent number: 8814308
    Abstract: Ink droplets are ejected from a plurality of dot forming elements arranged along an array direction to form dots of at least two sizes on a recording medium. If the dots formed along the array direction are classified into a plurality of groups depending on a plurality of times, the existing ratio of dots of a smaller one of the at least two sizes is higher for one of the groups of an earlier time of the times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Takashi Wakui
  • Publication number: 20140232771
    Abstract: In a printing apparatus capable of printing the same pixel by a plurality of print elements, a print speed is increased, and further, a partial frequency of use of each of the print elements is reduced, so as to prolong the lifetime of the print head. In view of this, dithering is used as a pseudo-halftone representing method, and further, a distribution pattern for use in creating image data to be distributed to each of the plurality of print elements is switched.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2014
    Publication date: August 21, 2014
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Norihiro Kawatoko, Yutaka Kano
  • Patent number: 8807681
    Abstract: In an inkjet head which has nozzle rows having nozzles each of which ejects curable inks cured by imparted activation energy and which are arranged in a first direction at a pitch P, the nozzle rows being N (N?5) nozzle rows of every color which eject, respectively, thick inks of four colors including cyan, magenta, yellow and black, and at least one light ink among light inks similar in color tone to the thick inks, the nozzles in each of the nozzle rows are arranged so as to be shifted by P/N from each other in a first direction, a nozzle of an ink with lowest cure sensitivity is arranged on the most upstream side in a direction of relative movement of a recording medium in the first direction, and further the nozzle of light ink is arranged in between the nozzles of two different thick inks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Saita, Kazuaki Okamori, Yasuhiko Kachi, Kazuo Sanada
  • Patent number: 8807677
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a first part of nozzles that ejects at least one of brilliant ink and white ink to a medium, a second part of nozzles that ejects color ink to the medium, and a control unit that forms a first image by the first part of nozzles and forms a second image on the first image by the second part of nozzles, and deforms, when a part of an edge of the first image and a part of an edge of the second image are overlapped before forming the image on the medium, at least one of the first image and the second image so that a portion of the overlapped edge in the second image is positioned outside a portion of the overlapped edge in the first image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shiki Kumagai, Masaru Kumagai, Tsuyoshi Sano
  • Patent number: 8807680
    Abstract: A method for driving a piezoelectric element of a head, including: a step of increasing a voltage of a power source to a reference voltage level; and a step of charging one electrode of two electrodes interposing the piezoelectric element to the reference voltage level by repeating source-connections and source-disconnections between the power source and the one electrode while keeping the voltage of the power source at the reference voltage level, such that a ratio of a connection time of each of at least one of second and subsequent connections of the source-connections to a disconnection time of a corresponding source-disconnection continued from each of the at least one of the second and subsequent connections is greater than a ratio of a connection time of a first connection of the source-connections to a disconnection time of a source-disconnection continued from the first connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Izumi Takagi
  • Patent number: 8801131
    Abstract: A printing device having a turntable for turning a mounted printing object so that its printed face is directed upward, a printing head having a plurality of nozzles for spouting inks and being able to move toward a center of rotation of the printing object from outside the rotation of the printed face, and a controller provided for controlling a moving speed of the printing head, a rotating speed of the turntable, and spouting of the inks by the plurality of the nozzles, to perform a controlling operation in a manner such that a printing is spirally applied onto the printed face of the printing object by permitting the printing object mounted on the turntable to be rotated and by permitting the printing head to continuously move while allowing the plurality of the nozzles to spout therefrom the inks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: LAC Corporation
    Inventors: Tadashi Kaiba, Shuusei Murai, Koji Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 8801130
    Abstract: An image position inspecting apparatus includes a reading unit, a generating unit and a specifying unit. The reading unit includes light receiving elements arranged with a reading resolution Rs and reads an inspection image. The generating unit generates a profile based on the read inspection image. The specifying unit acquires a position of the center of gravity of the pixels of the inspection image with respect to the light receiving elements from the profile and specifies a position of each of the pixels of the inspection image based on a phase difference which is a deviation of the acquired position of the center of gravity of the pixels with respect to a light receiving center of the light receiving elements. A resolution of the inspection image is Rp. The reading resolution Rs and the resolution Rp satisfy the following equation. And, m is a positive integer. Rp·((m+1)/2)<Rs<Rp·((m+2)/2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Nishida, Takeshi Zengo
  • Publication number: 20140218429
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes an inkjet recording head including a first nozzle having a discharge port, a pressure chamber having therein an element, and a flow path, a second nozzle having a flow resistance lower than that of the first nozzle, and a supply port configured to, after discharge of an ink droplet from at least one of the first nozzle and the second nozzle, supply ink to the nozzle, a storage unit storing a rank value depending on a size of a portion relating to the flow resistance, a reading unit configured to read the rank value, a determination unit configured to determine a number of discharges per unit time of each nozzle based on the rank value read by the reading unit, and a control unit configured to control each nozzle to discharge the ink droplet based on the number of discharges determined by the determination unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2014
    Publication date: August 7, 2014
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Michinari Mizutani
  • Patent number: 8794733
    Abstract: The present invention provides a recording head that has a driving circuit performing driving by dividing a plurality of heaters into a plurality of blocks and supplying electric current on a block-by-block basis based on recording data; a constant current source applying a common bias current to each temperature sensor group obtained by dividing temperature sensors disposed in correspondence to each heater of a plurality of heaters into blocks; a voltage output circuit having a switching element that turns electric current supply to the temperature sensors of the selected temperature sensor group ON and OFF, and obtaining a voltage generated at both terminals of the selected temperature sensor by supplying an electric current to the temperature sensor; and an amplifier circuit amplifying the detection voltages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideo Kanno, Isao Hayashi, Seiichiro Karita, Hiroshi Takabayashi, Takatsuna Aoki
  • Patent number: 8789907
    Abstract: According to one example, a printer includes an inkjet printhead, and the printhead comprises nozzles through which printing fluid is ejectable during a pass of the printhead across a print zone. Processing printhead control data includes obtaining printhead control data describing pixel locations in an image to be printed on a media, and allocating, for a swath of the image, each of the pixel locations to a printhead nozzle and to a print pass of a set of print passes in accordance with a print mask. The print mask defines sections associated different groups of the nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Marc Serra Vall, Eduardo Amela Conesa, Jaime Fernandez Del Rio, Jacint Humet Pous
  • Patent number: 8789904
    Abstract: Printing of spatially-compressed digital image data using a single line of nozzles of a printhead having plural spaced-apart lines of nozzles to form a printed image without the spatial compression.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Bernard Jzexoia Avery, Grant K Garner
  • Patent number: 8783807
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a first nozzle group forming a main image; a second nozzle group ejecting auxiliary ink and lined up with the first nozzle group in a moving direction of the nozzle group; and a third nozzle group ejecting the auxiliary ink and positioned on a downstream side of a medium transport direction relative to the first nozzle group, in which ink is ejected from the first nozzle group on a region where the main image is formed in the image forming region on the medium in a first ejection operation, and auxiliary ink is ejected from the second nozzle group on a region where the main image is not formed in the image forming region, and, in an ejection operation after the first ejection operation, the auxiliary ink is ejected from the third nozzle group over the entire image forming region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshitaka Shimada
  • Patent number: 8777353
    Abstract: A method of printing an image on a receiving medium includes increasing the number of pixels in each row of a part of the image by x pixels, resulting in the part of the image including m by n+x pixels; assigning a printing element to each added pixel; identifying pixels to which a compensating printing element of the defective printing element is assigned; changing the value of at least one identified pixel into an integer value greater than zero; increasing the first printer resolution in the main-scanning direction to a second printer resolution by multiplying the first printer resolution in the main-scanning direction with a factor equal to (n+x)/n; and printing the part of the image according to the second printer resolution in the main-scanning direction and according to the values of the pixels of the part of the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: OCE-Technologies B.V.
    Inventor: Paul Kuiper
  • Patent number: 8777352
    Abstract: To provide technology that can reduce the possibility of an image becoming blurry with a printing device for printing images on a printing medium. A printing device is equipped with an affixing part for affixing on a printing medium ink containing a special glossy ink having reflectance angle dependence as an optical characteristic, and a controller for controlling the operation of the printing device. The controller uses the affixing part to form a base layer by affixing the special glossy ink on the printing medium, and after the base layer is formed, forms an image layer representing an image by affixing on the base layer special glossy ink and, among the inks noted above, ink other than the special glossy ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Hirofumi Sakai
  • Patent number: 8777351
    Abstract: An ink jet printing apparatus, for each level, employs a plurality of density patterns to prevent cancellation of a granularity reduction effect that has been provided by an increase in resolution. Specifically, when determining an arrangement of dot-on areas in the density pattern, the dot-on areas is not located in the areas of a first row of the each of the plurality of density patterns. Thereby, whitish areas appear with the same cycle as a use cycle of the density patterns in a longitudinal direction and thus the whitish areas is not unevenly located. As a result, granularity is prevented from increasing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshitomo Marumoto, Hitoshi Tsuboi
  • Patent number: 8777350
    Abstract: A print area is a print target region by a recording unit on a sheet (recording medium). First, in first lateral scanning, raster lines (white beads) of a base image are printed by moving a recording unit in a main scanning direction by using nozzles arranged in a sub-scanning direction and printing of total M passes is performed while shifting the recording unit for each pass in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Hirotsuna Miura
  • Patent number: 8770694
    Abstract: A printing element substrate, including a printing element, a switching element which drives the printing element based on an input control signal, a first current source which generates a predetermined current, a second current source which generates a current based on an input voltage, and a current generation circuit which generates the control signal by amplifying a current obtained by adding a current generated by the second current source to a current generated by the first current source, and then generates the control signal by amplifying a current generated by the first current source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kengo Umeda
  • Patent number: 8770693
    Abstract: An ink jet printing apparatus and printing method are provided that can, without the addition of a special structure, suppress density imbalance between the print images formed by ink ejected from each of the ejection ports formed on a print head. As for the plurality of ejection ports, one portion of them are established as multiple impact ejection ports that form multiply impacted pixels at which the number of times ink is impacted at the same area is greater than at other pixels of the print area. And, print control is carried out such that more multiply impacted pixels are printed at print areas printed using ejection ports at the ends of the print head than at print areas printed without using ejection ports at the ends of the print head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hirokazu Tanaka, Tetsuya Edamura, Toshiyuki Chikuma, Takatoshi Nakano, Wakako Yamamoto, Kiichiro Takahashi
  • Publication number: 20140184678
    Abstract: In a head chip, a cover plate includes a positioning reference provided at a position facing at least one of nozzle holes through at least one liquid jet channel. The positioning reference can be detected from underneath the nozzle plate through the nozzle hole and the liquid jet channel. A method of manufacturing the head chip includes a positioning step for positioning the nozzle plate by detecting the positioning reference provided in the cover plate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2013
    Publication date: July 3, 2014
    Applicant: SII PRINTEK INC.
    Inventor: Yoshinori DOMAE
  • Publication number: 20140176628
    Abstract: A method of maintaining nozzles of a printhead includes periodically moving a printhead having a plurality of nozzles toward a spittoon, and ejecting a plurality of sets of ink drops from the nozzles of the printhead to the spittoon mode. The method also includes controlling the ejecting of the plurality of sets of ink drops from the nozzles of the printhead to the spittoon by the control module. Consecutive sets of ink drops received by the spittoon are received by different sets of regions of the plurality of sets of regions within the spittoon.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2012
    Publication date: June 26, 2014
    Applicant: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Jay Anderson, Stuart Scofield
  • Patent number: 8757753
    Abstract: The present invention has an object to provide an inkjet printing apparatus that can realize both high quality image formation and improvement of a device life caused by the reduction of a mist amount of a processing liquid. The present invention is provided with a control unit that can independently control an ink ejection condition in an ink ejection unit and a processing-liquid ejection condition in a processing-liquid ejection unit. The control unit controls the ejection condition in each ejection unit so that the mist amount of the processing liquid ejected from the processing-liquid eject unit is smaller than that of the ink ejected from the ink eject unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuo Suzuki, Kazuhiko Sato, Taku Yokozawa, Yosuke Ishii
  • Patent number: 8752927
    Abstract: A printing apparatus is provided in which a position of a joint of a first yellow nozzle group and a second yellow nozzle group in a predetermined direction is offset from a position of a joint of a first magenta nozzle group and a second magenta nozzle group in a predetermined position and a position of a joint of a first cyan nozzle group and a second cyan nozzle group in the predetermined position, and the position of the joint of the first magenta nozzle group and the second magenta nozzle group in the predetermined position is the same as the position of the joint of the first cyan nozzle group and the second cyan nozzle group in the predetermined direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Toru Takahashi, Takamitsu Kondo, Kazuyoshi Tanase, Hiroshi Wada
  • Patent number: 8749840
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: an image processing unit acquiring image data, performing image processing, and generating color image data for respective colors; plural toner image forming units each forming and developing an electrostatic latent image on the basis of the color image data, and forming a color toner image; and a toner image holding member moving while holding each color toner image. Each electrostatic latent image has pixel rows arranged in a slow scan direction, with pixels aligned in a fast scan direction. The image processing unit performs, on the color image data, image processing to add or delete the pixel rows for a position of the electrostatic latent image in the slow scan direction. The number of the pixel rows corresponds to the amount of change in a moving velocity of the toner image holding member when each color toner image formed at the position is held.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tsutomu Udaka
  • Publication number: 20140152727
    Abstract: According to one example, a printer includes an inkjet printhead, and the printhead comprises nozzles through which printing fluid is ejectable during a pass of the printhead across a print zone. Processing printhead control data includes obtaining printhead control data describing pixel locations in an image to be printed on a media, and allocating, for a swath of the image, each of the pixel locations to a printhead nozzle and to a print pass of a set of print passes in accordance with a print mask. The print mask defines sections associated different groups of the nozzles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Publication date: June 5, 2014
    Applicant: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Marc Serra VALL, Eduardo Amela Conesa, Jaime Fernandez Del Rio, Jacint Humet Pous
  • Patent number: 8740333
    Abstract: A printing apparatus that includes printing element substrates which are provided with printing elements that discharge ink. A plurality of temperature sensors, each of which is provided with one of the printing element substrates, measures a temperature of a corresponding printing element substrate. A selection unit selects any one of the temperature sensors, and a determination unit performs a determination operation to determine a state of the printing element substrate based on the temperature measured by the selected temperature sensor in a case when only the printing elements of a substrate that corresponds to the selected temperature sensor are driven. The determination unit performs the determination operation on a first substrate and then on a second non-adjacent substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Minoru Teshigawara, Atsushi Sakamoto, Takeshi Murase, Yoshiyuki Honda, Shinichi Omo, Masahiko Umezawa
  • Patent number: 8740352
    Abstract: An inkjet printing apparatus suppresses air currents heading toward print head faces, and reduces the adherence of ink mist onto the print heads. The apparatus includes a carriage upon which is mounted one or more print heads with ink ejection ports formed thereon, a printing unit that prints an image onto a printing medium by causing ink droplets to be ejected toward the printing medium from the ink ejection ports while also causing the carriage to move with respect to the printing medium, and an airflow control mechanism formed on the surface of the one or more print heads or the carriage that faces the printing medium, the airflow control mechanism controlling air currents flowing into a lateral region extending along the carriage moving direction on either side of the region where the ink ejection ports are formed, and causing the air pressure to rise in the lateral region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahiro Kobayashi, Yaado Sakata, Ryoichi Katano, Hiroyuki Maeda
  • Patent number: 8733874
    Abstract: It is possible to implement a calibration process that corrects density unevenness even in the case where the utilization ratios of the plurality of nozzle arrays used in printing differ. Concretely, making use of a print head provided with a plurality of nozzle arrays ejecting ink of the same color, it is a printing apparatus that performs printing, based on print data, by ejecting ink from the nozzles provided in the nozzle arrays, and has a print density characteristic acquisition unit, which acquires the print density characteristics of each of the nozzle arrays, and a nozzle array contribution ratio establishing unit, which establishes the printing ratios of the nozzle arrays that print a predetermined printing area, and does color shift correction processing of the print data based on each of the print density characteristics of the nozzle arrays and the nozzle array contribution ratios.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Naoko Baba
  • Publication number: 20140139577
    Abstract: A printing apparatus which can form an image formation dot for printing an image defined as an object to be printed on a printing medium, the printing apparatus comprising a line head which includes a nozzle array arraying a plurality of nozzles, by moving at least one of a printing medium and the head, in a direction intersecting a direction relatively changing a position of the printing medium and the head and a control unit which performs a specific operation forming a flushing dot besides the image formation dot by discharging a liquid on the line head, wherein, when a specific condition increasing viscosity of the liquid is satisfied, the control unit performs the specific operation of discharging the liquid to the printing medium and the specific operation of discharging the liquid to a place other than the printing medium.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2013
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akito Sato, Satoshi Yamazaki, Keiko Yamada, Yuko Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 8727493
    Abstract: In an example this disclosure relates to printhead modules arranged to move with respect to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Marian Cofler
  • Patent number: 8727472
    Abstract: With an ink jet head in which color nozzles are aligned with an interval of three times an interval of black nozzles at the right side in a scanning direction of the black nozzles, when an image is recorded by ejecting black ink and color ink superposed on each other, a first unit recording operation is repeatedly executed, in which scanning by ejecting ink from at least one of the black nozzles and color nozzles is repeated three times while moving a carriage in the scanning direction, and a recording sheet is conveyed by a predetermined amount every time scanning is completed. In the first unit recording operation, the carriage is moved to the left side while ink is ejected from both the black nozzles and color nozzles at the first scanning. Moreover, in each of the second and third scanning operations, ink is ejected only from the color nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shotaro Kanzaki
  • Publication number: 20140132657
    Abstract: An ink-jet recording device is capable of correcting a recording position due to a leaning of a printing head and correcting of driving timing between multiple printing heads. Each nozzle row of a printing head is classified into multiple nozzle groups, and the driving timing of the nozzle groups other than the nozzle group serving as a reference of correction of the multiple nozzle groups is adjustable to correct for any leaning of the printing head. Moreover, in the event of performing the driving timing between printing heads, the driving timing of a non-reference printing head is adjustable relative to a reference printing head employed for leaning correction of multiple printing heads.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Publication date: May 15, 2014
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Aya Hayashi, Jiro Moriyama, Hidehiko Kanda, Yuji Hamasaki, Norihiro Kawatoko, Toshiyuki Chikuma, Atsushi Sakamoto, Hirokazu Tanaka, Masashi Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8724157
    Abstract: An object of this invention is to increase the transfer rate of image data from a host computer to a printing apparatus. To achieve this object, a printing apparatus which divides the printing area in the printhead scanning direction into a plurality of regions and prints in each divided region in order to print by scanning the printhead on the printing medium includes a conversion circuit which rearranges image data that is transmitted from the host computer and arranged in a direction perpendicular to the data arrangement of the printhead, into image data in the same horizontal direction as the data arrangement direction of the printhead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Ishizaka, Masahiko Watanabe, Toru Nakayama, Takashi Kasahara, Takuji Katsu, Souhei Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20140125723
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a first piezoelectric element, a first nozzle that ejects a liquid in association with the driving of the first piezoelectric element, a second piezoelectric element, a second nozzle that ejects a liquid in association with the driving of the second piezoelectric element, a driving signal generation unit that generates a driving signal for driving a plurality of piezoelectric elements, and a residual vibration detection unit that detects residual vibration generated by the driving of the piezoelectric element. The first nozzle is adjacent to the second nozzle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2013
    Publication date: May 8, 2014
    Applicant: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kenji OTOKITA
  • Patent number: 8708443
    Abstract: An element substrate capable of independently confirming an electrical connection status with a logic power source without increasing costs due to increasing the number of terminals or the like. The element substrate includes a connection status output circuit that outputs a signal in response to a connection status of a logic power source input terminal, or a connection status of input terminals of each of a print signal, a clock signal, a drive signal, and a latch signal, and a connection status output terminal that outputs an output signal from the connection status output circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kousuke Kubo, Yoshiyuki Imanaka, Koichi Omata, Souta Takeuchi, Takaaki Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 8702204
    Abstract: The invention describes an inkjet printer with a printing bed for displacing a print medium in a forward feed direction and a print head carriage disposed above the printing bed for displacing at least one print head unit in a transverse feed direction, a print head unit with at least one print head being provided for every color to be printed, each print head having at least one nozzle row oriented in the forward feed direction of the print medium. The nozzles of the at least one nozzle row of the print head unit are disposed offset from one another by a nozzle distance D by reference to the forward feed direction. Another print head unit is provided, which has nozzles in at least one nozzle row disposed offset from one another by a second nozzle distance d by reference to the forward feed direction of the print medium, the ratio derived from the nozzle distance D and the second nozzle distance d being a rational number and greater than 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Durst Phototechnik Digital Technology GmbH
    Inventors: Klaus Falser, Peter Duracher, Franz Obertegger
  • Publication number: 20140098151
    Abstract: The present invention preferentially sets an adjustment value of a nozzle array having a deviation amount in a conveyance direction which exceeds a threshold amount, and sets the adjustment value in such a manner that the total of deviation amounts of a plurality of nozzle arrays can be minimized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2013
    Publication date: April 10, 2014
    Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Naoki Uchida
  • Patent number: 8693051
    Abstract: A method for printing on transparent medium using an ink-jet printer. The method includes providing a grayscale image having a plurality of pixels, each pixel having a pixel value corresponding to a brightness of the pixel; converting each pixel value to an ink output value for the ink-jet printer using a conversion function, wherein the conversion function maps the darkest pixel value to an optical density of greater than 2.5 and maps all other pixel values to an appropriate output pixel value such that a resulting printed image is perceived to be linearly bright across the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Carestream Health, Inc.
    Inventor: John D. Szafraniec
  • Patent number: 8684485
    Abstract: A printing device includes a nozzle row for chromatic ink comprising K nozzles and a nozzle row for achromatic ink comprising (n·K) nozzles. In a color region, an image-forming operation is performed m times in which the movement direction of the nozzle rows switches alternately between forward and reverse directions, whereby a region of the image having a predetermined width is formed. The image-forming operation performed m times includes the image-forming operation performed once in which both of the nozzle rows for chromatic ink and for achromatic ink are used, and the image-forming operation performed (m?1) times in which only the nozzle row for chromatic ink is used. In a monochrome region, the image-forming operation is performed once in which only the nozzle row for achromatic ink is used, whereby a region of the image having a predetermined width is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akito Sato, Bunji Ishimoto, Takahide Miyashita, Katsuhiko Sugiyama, Yasuhiro Takeuchi
  • Publication number: 20140085367
    Abstract: A printer includes discharge control devices, a first ID storage device, a control data output device, a connection device, a connection control device, an assigning device, a processor, and a memory. The processor performs outputting print data, which is data to discharge the liquid by the discharge port group connected to the discharge control device, corresponding to the unique ID from the control data output device, by using a communication ID that corresponds to the unique ID, via a connection device controlled by a connection control device, to each of a plurality of discharge control devices, and controlling discharge of the liquid by the discharge port groups to which the plurality of discharge control devices are respectively connected, in accordance with the print data which corresponds to the unique ID of the individual discharge control device and which has been output from the control data output device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2013
    Publication date: March 27, 2014
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shumei Mori, Yohei Kuno
  • Publication number: 20140085366
    Abstract: A printer includes a plurality of discharge control devices, a control data output device, a connection device, a connection control device, a processor and a memory. The processor performs starting output of specified print data, which is used to discharge the liquid by the discharge port group, from the control data output device to a specified discharge control device which is one of the plurality of discharge control devices that are each connected to one of the plurality of second connection ports and which is a target to perform processing that outputs print data, outputting subsequent print data, which relates is to a specified discharge target onto which the liquid is to be discharged by the discharge port group, to the specified discharge control device that is connected to the second connection port, based on the specified print data for which output has been started.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2013
    Publication date: March 27, 2014
    Applicant: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shumei Mori, Yohei Kuno
  • Patent number: 8678532
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a controller forming an image on a printing-medium by repeating an image-forming-operation of allowing a plurality of nozzle-columns to be moved and allowing the plurality of nozzle-columns to eject ink and a transporting-operations of allowing the printing-medium to be transported. The controller forms a first-image by an image-forming-operation where the moving-direction of a nozzle-column is one direction in a second direction by using a first-image-nozzle-group configured with the nozzles included in the first-nozzle-column.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Tamai, Takeshi Tanoue
  • Publication number: 20140078200
    Abstract: A fluid ejecting apparatus repeats an ejecting operation which ejects a fluid from nozzles while a first nozzle row and a second nozzle row move in a movement direction with respect to a medium and a relative movement operation in which the first nozzle row, the second nozzle row and the medium relatively move to the nozzle row direction, and repeatedly performs the ejecting operation so as to include the ejecting operation which does not perform a control which changes the movement distance in the movement direction of the first nozzle row and the second nozzle row according to a position of an end in the movement direction of the image when a main image and a background image are formed to be overlapped on the medium at different ejecting operations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2013
    Publication date: March 20, 2014
    Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hidenori Usuda
  • Patent number: RE44938
    Abstract: A recording apparatus for forming images using a recording head includes a feeding roller, a conveying roller, a conveyance control unit, and a recording control unit. The conveyance control unit performs a conveying operation a number of times after the trailing end of a sheet reaches a predetermined position defined between the feeding roller and the conveying roller such that the trailing end of the sheet is disposed in a predetermined range upstream of the conveying roller in a sheet conveying direction after the conveying operations. At least one of the conveying operations performed a number of times is performed based on a distance from the position of the trailing end of the sheet to the position of the conveying roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kentaro Onuma, Haruyuki Yanagi, Tetsuya Ishikawa, Minoru Teshigawara
  • Patent number: RE45067
    Abstract: The invention concerns a contactless numerical printing machine for products of average fluidity, such as varnish, glue, and conducting or scratchable ink, onto a substrate of variable thickness and dimensions. The machine includes a special device for printing without contact by projection. The projected materials are materials of average fluidity or composed of large-dimension molecules. The process used includes an electro-acoustic device for control of the projection, and a multiplicity of projection nozzles, each controlled individually. The machine also includes a production chain with different work stations, whose printing devices are controlled by a computer management system. The production chain allows printing with a certain precision in given zones located during the processing by an appropriate work station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: MGI France
    Inventors: Edmond Abergel, Raphael Renaud