Casio Computer Co., Ltd.

Casio Electronics Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Other

Nec Corporation

Tokyo Seimitsu Co., Ltd.

Casio Computer., Ltd.

Kenji Igarashi

Kenzo Ito

Kenji Kobayashi

Masayuki Ikeda

Kensaku Takeuchi

Satoshi Kimura

Kenji Suyama

Koji Deguchi

Kazutami Noguchi

Masaki Kanazawa

Toshiyuki Kanoh

Satoru Kataoka

Masafumi Tsuchiya

Shigeki Kimura

A grinding machine includes a rotatable spindle having a lower end to which a grindstone for grinding a wafer is attached; linear guides supporting the spindle slidably to a column; a spindle feeding mechanism feeding the spindle in a vertical direction; and constant-pressure feeding mechanism interposed between the spindle feeding mechanism and the column and suspending the spindle feeding mechanism. The constant-pressure feeding mechanism raises the spindle feeding mechanism in the vertical direction when a friction force acting on the grindstone is higher than a predetermined value.

Grinding machine

The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus concerned about global environment, which enables its user to be convinced of his/her commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions accompanying power consumption by letting the user purchase a consumable goods/replacement part to lead the user to join greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The electronic apparatus is configured as a printer, etc. that operates with attached a refill cartridge (consumable goods), which is replaceable in the apparatus body and affixed with information by which a greenhouse gas emission right accordance is identified. The electronic apparatus includes refill cartridge attachment support unit that supports the refill cartridge in the body in attachable/detachable manner, detecting unit that detects the identification information from an attached refill cartridge, evaluating unit that determines identification information accordance and evaluates greenhouse gas reductions by the apparatus based on the identification information, and displaying unit that displays the evaluation of the evaluating unit.

Electronic apparatus contributing to global environmental conservation

A tape cassette is set in a cassette accommodating section of a tape printer. A magnetically affixable printing tape is fed out from a holding reel along with an ink ribbon having a non-magnetic ink layer formed thereon across a cut in the tape cassette and conveyed through between a thermal head and a platen roller while being pressed by those elements. The printing tape comprises a printing layer and a magnetic layer pasted to the printing layer. The magnetic layer is magnetized such that S and N poles are alternately arranged longitudinally of the tape to thereby prevent turns of the tape roll from shifting widthwise. The magnetic layer has a coated fluorine layer formed thereon or has wrinkles formed thereon to thereby prevent blocking from occurring on a printing face of the tape due to its winding. Thus, the printing tape is conveyed in a correct attitude to enable a high quality image to be printed thereon.

Cassette containing magnetically affixable printing tape and tape printer which use the cassette

An identification label is affixed on a top surface of an image forming unit which is detachably installed in a main component of an image forming apparatus. The identification label is made of a thermosensitive paper on which a trademark logo is printed. A logo reader in the main component reads a pattern of the logo mark on the identification label. A control unit compares the read logo pattern with a previously stored pattern to discriminate whether the read logo mark is genuine or not. If the identification label has the genuine logo mark, the control unit executes printing. If the identification label has an irregular logo mark, printing is abandoned and an error message is displayed. When a genuine image forming unit is exhausted, the control unit controls a heating device to apply heat to the identification label in order to wholly or partially discolor the identification label so that the logo mark is transformed to unreadable one. That unit will be regarded as an irregular one thereafter. For authorized activity for reusing such treated unit, a newly prepared genuine label is affixed to the once exhausted image forming unit after refilling toner or replacing a photoconductor drum is done.

Reusable unit displaying a specific pattern and an image forming apparatus using the reusable unit when the specific pattern is displayed and rendering the specific pattern illegible when the reusable unit is exhausted

A printing tape cassette contains a printing medium tape wound around a reel and held so that its coloring layers appear outside. The coloring layers are colored in different colors at corresponding temperatures and fixed by fixing rays of different wavelengths. The cassette is a substantially square box made of a ray cutting material. The cassette is set on a printer and has a slit-like port through which the printing tape is fed out, a window which cuts the fixing rays and through which window the printing tape accommodated in the cassette is confirmable visually. The printer comprises a reel drive shaft, a platen roller, a guide plate, a tape sensor, a thermal head, a ray cutting shutter, a fixing ray irradiator and a cutter.

Tape printers and printing medium containing cassettes

Three ink storage chambers stored into a main body case of an ink cartridge is isolated from four surfaces of this main case body by way of a partition and depressing partition portions projected from this portion. Also, these ink storage chambers are isolated from a bottom portion of the main body case by a stepped portion of a lower cylindrical portion, and is arranged by forming space between a lid and the own ink chambers. Only refilling hole portions of an upper cylindrical portion are communicated with an external portion via holes of the lid. A label on which a trademark &ldquo;ABC&rdquo; is printed is attached onto the upper portions of the three refilling hole portions. A label reading apparatus is provided on the side of an ink-jet printer, and a printing operation by any ink cartridge other than the genuine-labeled in cartridge is not carried out. As a genuine ink refilling member, at least ink bottles and a label are employed as a set of such a genuine ink refilling member. The ink cannot be refilled via a hole formed in any portion of an ink cartridge, except for the refilling hole portion.

Ink-jet recording apparatus capable of limitedly using only genuine ink cartridge, ink cartridge usable in the same, and ink refilling member

A tape cassette which contains a roll of a magnetically affixable printing tape formed around a holding reel and a roll of an ink ribbon formed around a holding reel and having a non-magnetic ink layer formed on the ribbon is set in a cassette accommodating section of a tape printer. The printing tape and the ink ribbon are fed out from their holding reels within the cassette across a cut in the tape cassette and through between a thermal head and a platen roller while being pressed by those elements to thereby perform printing. The printing tape comprises a printing layer and a magnetic layer pasted to the printing layer. S and N poles which extend lengthwise of the tape are alternately arranged widthwise on the magnetic layer. Thus, two overlapping poles of any two adjacent turns of the tape have the same polarity at any peripheral position. Thus, a relatively small force is required to draw the printing tape out from the tape cassette, and stabilized conveyance of the tape and satisfactory printing are achieved.

Cassette containing magnetically affixable printing tape

A contents addressable memory circuit includes an inputting section, a contents addressable memory section and a control section. The inputting section divides an input data into n (n is an integer equal to or larger than 2) data blocks and supplies the n data blocks and an input address. The contents addressable memory section performs a data retrieving operation in units of data blocks to output addresses and coincidence flags corresponding to the data blocks. The coincidence flag is indicative of whether there is a data coincident with the corresponding data block. The control section outputs one of the outputted addresses based on the outputted addresses and the coincidence flags.

Contents addressable memory circuit for retrieval operation in units of

An image forming apparatus includes a paper stacking section for stacking a plurality of paper sheets cut to a given size. In the image forming apparatus, a paper supplying section supplies the paper sheets one by one, an image forming section forms an image which corresponds to received image information on the paper sheet supplied from the paper supplying section, a discharging paper stacking section stacks a paper sheet discharged out of the apparatus after the image is formed on the paper sheet by the image forming section, and a marking section is provided separate from the image forming section and adapted to continuously apply an 'absence of paper' warning mark to the paper sheet remaining in the paper stacking section during a given period of time from a time at which a residual amount of paper sheets on the paper stacking section is lowered below a given level during the supply of paper sheets by the paper supplying section to a given time preceding a time at which the residual amount of paper sheets is all used up to cause the image forming opeation to be stopped. By so doing, the user of the apparatus is informed of a reduced residual amount of paper sheets over the given period of time.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kenji Igarashi