Ayumi Oikawa

Title: Ayumi Oikawa: Inventor in Toner Manufacturing

Introduction

Ayumi Oikawa is an inventor associated with Kanagawa, Japan, and Ricoh Company, Ltd. Her patent work focuses on toner manufacturing and image formation. She is credited with 1 patent.

Latest Patents

Oikawa is named on the patent “Method for Manufacturing Toner, Toner and Image Forming Method.” The invention describes a process for producing toner particles by dissolving or dispersing toner materials in an organic solvent within a dispersant-containing aqueous medium, then forming particles and removing the solvent. The particles are washed and heated in an aqueous medium to create voids, after which a charge-controlling agent is added to form toner base particles. An external additive is then applied to produce the toner particles.

The method specifies heating to a temperature between the toner’s glass transition temperature, Tg, and Tg+25°C. It also defines a cross-sectional void fraction of 0.1% to 15.0%, calculated as the cross-sectional area of the voids divided by the cross-sectional area of the toner particles. The patent connects this particle structure with toner production and image-forming methods.

Career Highlights

Oikawa’s listed patent is associated with Ricoh Company, Ltd., a company known for imaging and office technology. The patent reflects work on toner composition and manufacturing processes relevant to image formation.

Collaborations

Kenichi Uehara and Keisuke Tada are identified as Oikawa’s coworkers. The available information does not specify their roles in the patent or the details of their collaboration.

Conclusion

Ayumi Oikawa’s patent documents a toner-manufacturing approach that creates controlled internal voids in toner particles, highlighting her contribution to imaging technology at Ricoh Company, Ltd.