Blocks in pixel images are template matched to select candidate blocks and weights according to a structural similarity and a perceptual distortion of the blocks. The perceptual distortion is a function of a just-noticeable-distortion (JND). A filter outputs a prediction residual between the block and the candidate blocks. The prediction residual is transformed and quantized to produce a quantized prediction residual using the JND. The matching and quantizing is optimized jointly using the perceptual distortion. Then, the quantized prediction residual and the weights are entropy encoded into a bit-stream for later decoding.

1. General Background
In image and video coding, compression efficiency is achieved by exploiting spatial redundancies in input images, to produce a file or bit-stream representing the images using fewer bits than in the uncompressed images. In video coding, both spatial and temporal redundancies are used. Intra coding are coding techniques using only spatial redundancy, i.e., pixels in a block of the current image exploit redundancy from previously-decoded pixels in the same image. Temporal redundancy is leveraged in inter coding, where pixel data from previously-decoded images, other than the current image are used in the compression process.
In the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard and other common standards, the encoder or decoder make decisions on modes and parameters based on a cost function or metric. The cost typically considers the rate, or number of bits needed to code the image or video using a given mode or parameter, and a distortion metric, typically a mean-square error (MSE) or a mean-absolute error.
The distortion or error metrics is typically determined on a pixel-by-pixel basis, e.g., a difference of pixels between two blocks of data. The distortion metrics, however, do not fully consider aspects of human perception that affect the visibility of the distortion. For example, the human visual system is less sensitive to distortion in very bright or very dark areas of an image as compared to distortion in regions of an image that have a medium level of brightness. Taking the mean-square error between two blocks of pixels does not take advantage of these aspects of human perception.
Image and video schemes that incorporate human perception have typically adjusted how quantization is applied after a block of the image undergoes a transformation. For example, a Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) may be applied to a block of pixels, and then the resulting transform coefficients are quantized using quantizers with different levels of coarseness. Variations in very high frequencies are often less perceptible to the human visual system than are the lower frequencies, so high-frequency coefficients may be quantized more coarsely than coefficients corresponding to smooth areas of a block. Similarly, very bright or dark areas may be quantized more coarsely than medium-intensity areas of an image.
HEVC and similar coding systems use prediction to achieve high compression efficiency. Currently, the various prediction modes available to the codec are selected based on minimizing a cost that includes mean-square or absolute errors between blocks of pixels.
To the best of our knowledge, perceptual techniques have not used for computing a prediction.
The result of this non-perceptual prediction is that the predicted block or image does not necessarily appear to resemble the block or image that is being predicted. For example, the predicted image may appear very blurred, or the image may appear to be a combination of disjoint blocks with various directional features or varying intensities.
Because metrics such as mean-square or mean-absolute error do not always correlate with perceptual quality, there is a need for metrics that better incorporate human perception throughout the coding system. In addition to perceptual techniques being used during quantization, there is also a need for such metrics to be used in the prediction process. Methods for jointly optimizing the prediction and quantization process do not presently exist, and are therefore needed as well.
In addition to perceptually-based metrics, the prediction process itself can be performed in a way that considers human perception. For example, to predict a given block of pixels, the current predictor in HEVC interpolates or copies adjacent pixels from neighboring blocks. The standard does not consider pixels that are not immediately adjacent to the current block, so perceptual or structural similarities among the current block and previously-decoded blocks cannot be leveraged.
2. Detailed Background
Therefore, image and video coding is one of the most critical techniques in modern multimedia signal processing. The state-of-the-art image codecs such as JPEG 2000 and JPEG XR, and video codecs such as H.264/AVC and the proposed High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard can compress image or video at considerably low bit rates with good quality. However, the quality and mode-dependent decisions inside the codecs are typically measured using mean-square error, which is related to the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), or mean-absolute error, which are well known metrics that do not necessarily related to the ultimate signal receiver, i.e., human vision system (HVS). For example, a viewer may tolerate more distortion on a dark object in a dark background region than a brighter object on a medium-intensity background. By exploiting the characteristics of human perceptual system, redundant information can be discarded without noticeable distortion, and thus the bit-rate of the coded signal can be significantly reduced. Spatial or frequency component correlations are widely considered with techniques such as motion compensation, template matching, and adaptive prediction, but not perceptually optimized coders. Additionally, the distortion that cannot be perceived by the HVS is usually not measured objectively.
To study HVS, subjective tests, using simple excitation such as uniform luminance blocks, sinusoid gratings and Gabor patches, can be used to determine the detection threshold of distortion or of the signal. These experimental results are related to Just-Noticeable-Distortion (JND) and the results are modeled mathematically in order to be used in the image and video codecs. Theoretically, as long as the distortion or signal level is below JND, it should not be perceived by the HVS (perceptually lossless). In an image or video coding context, ideally the coder only allocates bits for signaling portions of the image for which the distortion that greater or equal to JND, or the so-called Supra-threshold Distortion (StD). JND as used herein is a term of art related to the work of Ernst Heinrich Weber and Gustav Fechner (˜1850).
Human Vision System and Just Noticeable Distortion
The HVS is a very complex, much is not understood. At a lower level, the HVS is known to perform a sub-band decomposition. Also the HVS does not consider different visual information, e.g., intensity and frequency, as having the same importance. Psychophysics studies shows four aspects affect the detection threshold of distortion (or signal) in HVS. They are luminance adaptation, contrast sensitivity, contrast masking and temporal masking.
Luminance adaptation indicates the nonlinear relationship between perceived luminance and true luminance displayed. Luminance adaptation is also called luminance masking because the luminance of the signal masks the distortion. The luminance adaptation is usually tested by showing a patch of uniform luminance as the excitation against the background which has different luminance. The detection sensitivity is modeled by the Weber-Fechner Law, such that when the excitation is just noticeable, the luminance difference between the patch and background divided by luminance of background is a constant. In other words, the brighter the background is, the higher the detection threshold will be, meaning that the sensitivity to distortion is lower. However, due to the ambient illumination of many display devices, the masking in very dark regions is stronger than that in very bright regions.
Contrast sensitivity refers to the reciprocal of the contrast detecting threshold, which is the lowest contrast at which the viewer can just barely detect the difference between the single frequency component, a sinusoidal grating, and the uniform luminance background. Here, contrast means the peak-to-peak amplitude of sinusoidal grating. The sensitivity varies in depending upon the background luminance. Experiment have shown sinusoids of light for different wavelengths (red, green and blue) and different luminance levels to human viewers. When the background luminance is relatively low, e.g., <300 photopic Trolands (Td), the detection threshold obeys de Vries-Rose law with respect to frequency, in which the threshold increases in proportion to the reciprocal of the square root of the luminance. When the background luminance is high (>300 Td), then the detection threshold follows the Weber-Fechner law. The contrast sensitivity function has important impact for perceptual image or video coding.
Contrast masking is the effect of reducing the perceivability of the distortion (or signal) by the presence of a masking signal. For example, many coding artifacts in the complex regions, such as tree leaves and sand, are less visible than those in the uniform regions such as the sky. In this case, the high spatial-frequency components in complex regions mask the high spatial-frequency components in the artifacts. The masker usually has a similar spatial location and spatial-frequency components as the distortion (or signal). Therefore, contrast masking is sometimes called texture masking. When contrast masking is analyzed with sinusoidal gratings having different frequencies and grate widths, the results show that the detection threshold for the high contrast masker follows a power law, and the low contrast masker reduces the detection threshold. By quantitatively measuring the detection threshold for different background luminance of varieties of subjects, the threshold modulation curves, namely the adjusted contrast sensitivity function (CSF) can be plotted.
Temporal masking in video coding refers to the reduction in the perception of distortion (or signal) in the presence of high temporal frequencies. When the motion is fast, details in individual video frames is more difficult to detect. In addition to depending upon the temporal frequency, temporal masking also depends upon a function of spatial frequency. The sensitivity is modeled as a band-pass filter at low spatial frequencies and a low-pass filter at high spatial frequencies.
Perceptual Quality Metrics
In addition to JND, another important technique that can improve perceptual image or video coding is the quality metric which approximates subjective characteristics of a viewer. Instead of considering quality only from the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) point of view, many metrics based on the nature of HVS are known. The model-based perceptual quality metrics use the idea of filter banks similar to HVS, such as the Cortex Transform, Gabor filters, and steerable filters to decompose the image into sub-bands and analyze the perceptual characteristics to quantitatively determine the quality. A good example of a model-based metric is the visible difference predictor (VDP). Because model-based metrics are computationally complex, signal-driven metrics, which do not try to build a HVS model, are preferred. Signal-driven metrics extract only the characteristics or statistics of a signal for evaluation purposes.
Within the category of signal-driven metrics, structural approaches show great success in image processing. The quality is measured in the sense of structural similarity between the original image and the coded version. A good coder can reconstruct totally different images or image blocks in the MSE sense, without effecting the viewing quality. The issue with the MSE or PSNR is that images are strongly locally correlated 2D signals, which information beyond single pixel intensity levels. In fact, the information includes shapes, patterns, colors, edges, and so forth. A good metric should maximize similarities, and be invariant to translation, scaling and rotation. Moreover, the metric should also invariant to light intensity and chroma changes.
A well-known structural similarity metric is SSIM, see Appendix for definitions used herein. SIMM can be used for the spatial domain and applied to sub-bands. The metric SSIM(x, y) between two blocks of pixels or values x and y is defined as
                                                        (                                                2                                                        μ                    x                                                                          μ                    y                                                  +                                  C                  1                                            )                                                  (                                                2                                                        σ                    xy                                                  +                                  C                  2                                            )                                                          (                                                μ                  x                  2                                +                                  μ                  y                  2                                +                                  C                  1                                            )                                                  (                                                σ                  x                  2                                +                                  σ                  y                  2                                +                                  C                  2                                            )                                      ,                            (        1        )
where μx is the mean value of block x, μy is the mean value of block y, σx2 is the variance of block x, σy2 is the variance of block y, σxy is the covariance between blocks x and y, and C1 and C2 are constants.
The input image x (or block) and the predicted output image y (or block) are decomposed into S levels and L orientations using an orientation-selective convolution kernel (steerable filter). As a result, there are S×L sub-bands plus one low-pass band and one high-pass band. The local mean, variance of corresponding sub-bands, and the covariance between x and y in each sub-band are determined using a small sliding window. For each subwindow in each sub-band, the local SSIM score is determined using (1). The overall SSIM score is a floating-point number between 0 and 1, which is an arithmetic average of all scores over all sub-bands and all subwindows. A more complex and accurate metric called structure texture similarity (STSIM) improves on SSIM by using statistics between sub-bands with different orientations and scale. STSIM also discards the σxy term from SSIM. Herein, we use SSIM for simplicity.
Related Work
Many researchers have studied the perceptual distortion visibility model or equivalent CSF model since the 1960s. Data for JND models generally come from psychophysical experiments. Using these models, researchers have proposed variants of coding algorithms. In general the models are classified into spatial domain models, which use local pixel values to determine the detection threshold of distortion, and sub-band domain models which usually adjust the CSF to determine the distortion tolerance in different sub-bands.
Sub-Band Domain JND Model and Perceptual Coding
One model is a contrast masking model in a generalized quadrature mirror filter (GQMF) sub-band domain given a uniform background gray level of 127. The baseline sub-band sensitivity and sensitivity adjustment for different luminance values are measured subjectively and tabulated. The texture masking is determined by the texture energy of each of the sub-bands. The overall sensitivity is the product of the baseline sensitivity, luminance adjustment and texture masking. Each sub-band is then DPCM-coded and quantized using the overall sensitivity as the quantization steps.
A subjective experiment on sensitivity for different colors (RGB) with 8×8 DCT basis functions has shown that the DC sensitivity plot has a "U-shape" vs. the background luminance, and the AC sensitivity logarithmically increases with respect to the basis function magnitude. Based on the experiments, a quantization matrix can be generated that can be used in a visually lossless coding scheme.
Parabolic fitting of 1D contrast sensitivity experimental results can be used to build a 2D CSF by orthogonally combining two 1D CSFs with consideration of the correlation between different dimensions. The CSF is a function of luminance which can be estimated from the image. A parabolic model can be used to determine the CSF in DCT sub-bands and was applied to the quantization matrix, see Ahumada et al., "Luminance-model-based DCT quantization for color image compression," SPIE, Human Vision, Visual Processing, and Digital Display III, vol. 1666, p. 365, September 1992.
Another model is a contrast masking model for HVS. The response of the HVS depends on the excitation of the receptive field and on the inhibitory inputs. The relationship is modeled as excitation divided by inhibition called target threshold vs. masker contrast function (TvC).
A perceptual coder called DCTune uses luminance adaptation and contrast masking to adjust the quantization matrix in DCT sub-bands.
A Visible Difference Predictor (VDP) is an image quality metric considering luminance adaptation, contrast sensitivity and contrast masking. VDP assumes the luminance adaptation occurs locally around a fixation area. A 2D CSF model in the frequency domain is known. A Cortex Transform is used to decompose the image.
The JND model can be modified for a 16 sub-band GQMF decomposition. The model considers the luminance adaptation and inter or intra masking. The base luminance sensitivity is measured numerically without a closed form. The JND measurement is adapted locally without the need for transmitting side information.
A DCT-domain JND model for video coding considers contrast sensitivity, a luminance adaptation model, and texture contrast masking. Those aspects are assisted using edge detection and temporal contrast sensitivity, along with temporal frequency associated with eye movement.
A spatio-temporal JND model considers the eye movement for video in the DCT sub-bands. The model incorporates spatio-temporal CSF, eye movement, luminance adaptation and contrast.
Spatial Domain JND Model and Perceptual Coding
A spatial domain JND model can be used as the maximum of spatial masking and luminance adaption. The model can be relaxed by minimally noticeable distortion (MND), which can be used to control the rate-distortion optimizer. In addition to being used on a single image, JND models can also be applied to sequences.
Perceptual Based Rate-Distortion Optimization
In the HEVC and H.264/AVC standards, the encoder uses rate-distortion optimization (RDO) to output a bit-stream with the best picture quality with a rate R less than a given rate constraint Rc. This process can be expressed asmin{D} subject to R≦RC,  (2)
where D is the distortion measurement, usually based on MSE. In order to incorporate a perceptual quality measurement, D=1−SSIM in H.264/AVC, where SSIM is the structural similarity metric given above in (1). This produces a better perceptual quality than H.264/AVC.
Perceptual Based Template Matching
Template-matching techniques generally use the MSE or Mean Absolute Error (MAE) as the matching criteria. Sparse reconstruction can be used as the constraint to solve the matching problem, or template matching can be used to determine candidates in the reconstructed image, and then use the candidates to train Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT) adaptively for transform coding.
FIG. 1 shows the modules or processing steps in a conventional H.264/AVC or HEVC encoder. Prediction 110 is applied to an input signal, e.g., a next (target) block to be coded in an image or video, followed by a transformation 120, quantization 130, and coding 140 to produce an output signal 109, e.g., a compressed image or video. Feedback from RDO 150 is used for the predition and quantization.
H.264/AVC and HEVC iteratively use RDO to determine the optimal prediction and quantization. Conventional perceptual based image coding methods either focus on adjusting the quantization matrix based on JND metrics, or on using perceptual-based metrics to perform RDO.
Hence, it is desired to develop models and associated coding techniques that maintain the perceptual quality of processed images. It is also desired to develop models and associated coding techniques that jointly optimize multiple elements of the encoder or decoder such as prediction and quantization, using perceptual metrics.

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


.alpha., .omega.-polymethacrylate glycols of the general formula ##STR1## are prepared and a method for their synthesis and their use as only or partial glycol component for the preparation of polyesters and polyurethanes and for the modification of alkyd and epoxide resins are described.

The synthesis of polymethacrylates with terminal functional groups and, in particular, with terminal hydroxyl groups, was attempted in various ways in recent years, since such compounds are of particular interest for the preparation of block copolymers, for example, for the preparation of polyesters or polyurethanes.
In particular, attempts have been made to obtain such polymethacrylate glycols by way of group transfer polymerization. However, extremely high purity of the reagents used and the strict exclusion of air moisture are a prerequisite for carrying out the group-transfer reaction. By using initiators, which are listed in Houben-Weyl, Methoden der organischen Chemie (Methods of Organic Chemistry), volume E 20/Part 1, Table 18, pages 158 ff. and which can be synthesized only at great cost, only monofunctional polymers are obtained, which have a narrow molecular weight distribution. The synthesis of .alpha., .omega. difunctional polymers by means of this, so far, only method is not possible or possible only incompletely at great expense (D. Y. Sogah and O. W. Webster, J. Polym. Sci., Polym. Lett. Ed. 21, 927 (1983)).
Another way of synthesizing .alpha., .omega.-terminated polymethacrylates was recently described using thiuram disulfides, which contain the hydroxyethyl groups. The synthesis was carried out according to the so-called "Iniferter" technique (initiator, transfer agent, terminator). Admittedly, the products obtained had a functionality, which comes close to the desired 2. However, the products, due to their high sensitivity to hydrolytic and thermal effects, can be used only to a limited degree (C. P. Reghunadham et al., J. Polymer Sci., part A: Pol. Chem. 27, 1795 (1989)).
The present invention is concerned with the technical problem of synthesizing such .alpha., .omega.-polymethacrylate glycols readily, the content of polymethacrylates with a functionality of less than 2 or more than 2 being, as far as possible, 0.

.alpha., .omega.-polymethacrylate glycols, methods for their synthesis and their use for the preparation of polymers, particularly polyurethanes and polyesters


The telephone apparatus of the present invention comprises a first voice band expander for generating a voiced signal frequency component by shifting the frequency of the voice signal received, a second voice band expander for generating a voiceless signal frequency component by shifting the frequency of the voice signal received, and a voice composer for composing the voice signal received, the output of the first voice band expander, and the output of the second voice band expander, which is able to output clear voices in aural communication.

The barrier-free society is highly needed recently. From such viewpoint, in audio communication appliances, for the elderly people or others having difficulty in hearing, there is an increasing demand for development of technology for generating a more audible audio signal by expanding apparently the band of audio signal. Usually, the audio signal through telephone line is one of the standards in audio communication mainly by verbal expression. The audio signal by telephone is limited in the frequency band width, and its tone quality is not generally excellent as compared with the original voice. For example, even in the wire telephone line of relatively favorable tone quality, the actual audio frequency band width is limited to about 300 to 3500 Hz, witch is about half of human voice frequency range. The human vocal frequency range is generally composed of fundamental frequencies of 80 Hz to 800 Hz and higher harmonics of several degrees thereof in the Japanese male voice, and is 150 Hz to 1600 Hz and higher harmonics of several degrees thereof in the Japanese female voice. Including the higher harmonics of several degrees and further voiceless sound, the vocal range is as wide as 80 Hz to 16 kHz. It is important, in comprehension of spoken words and pleasant tone quality of spoken words particularly, for the human voice to have the frequency components including harmonics of several degrees higher than 3500 Hz and to have the frequency components including the fundamental frequencies of spoken words lower than 300 Hz. The telephone line and other transmission line of narrow frequency band dissipate not only the majority of these important high and low frequency components of voiced sound but also high frequency components of voiceless sound, so that they deteriorate the tone quality of verbal audio signal in hearing. Narrowed frequency band of audio signal impedes ease of hearing and the comprehension degree (intelligibility). As a result, narrowed frequency band of audio signal is reported to be a serious problem for the elderly people or others having difficulty in hearing (Proceeding of the 1996 Autumn Meeting of Acoustic Society of Japan, Vol.1, 2-6-5, 1996).
To solve such problems, various methods and devices for expanding the frequency band of audio signals have been attempted so far. However, although they require a tremendous quantity of operation steps and memory capacity, but the processed signals are not always satisfactory in the tone quality. For example, one of a typical conventional method is the codebook mapping method, which matches an input voice of telephone frequency band with a recorded voice of wide frequency band by using a codebook, so as to generate high quality voice. But, this method not only requires a lot of matching operation steps and a lot of memories for codebook and for recorded high quality voices, but also tends to be unstable in the matching precision depending on the line status.
Another expansion method of audio frequency is on the synthesis by analysis method, which also requires a detailed and tremendous operation steps for analysis and then for synthesis. The obtained result is not satisfactory as compared with the required cost for installation.
An exceptional method has been proposed to compensate virtually the high frequency signal by using aliasing signal and fixed filter in small operation steps. This method, however, cannot expand sufficiently the high frequency range of voiceless sound, and so it does not improve the clarity and perception of sound, and then results in a dull sound.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An image forming apparatus connectable to a first feed tray and a second feed tray includes an image forming unit, a feed path, and a detecting unit provided on the feed path to sense recording medium jam. An identifying unit identifies a feed path and a feed tray where recording medium jam has occurred as a jammed path and a jamming feed tray. A first determining unit determines whether the image forming apparatus is connected to the second feed tray. A second determining unit determines whether the second feed tray can feed a recording medium to the image forming unit. A feeding unit feeds a recording medium from the second feed tray to the image forming unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for forming an image on a recording medium that is fed from one of a plurality of feed paths in an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a technology for recovering from a paper jam in a feed path.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of the image forming apparatuses including copiers and electrographic printers include a plurality of feed trays on which papers of different sizes are stacked. A paper is picked up from one of the feed trays and conveyed to an image forming unit through a corresponding one of a plurality of feed paths. A paper sensor is arranged in each of the feed paths to sense a paper passing through that feed path. When a sensor detects a paper jam, information about where the paper jam has occurred is displayed on a display unit for a user. Some of the image forming apparatuses additionally display a guidance screen on the display unit to guide the user how to remove the jammed paper.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-62917 discloses a sheet conveyer and an image forming apparatus including the sheet conveyer, from which the user can easily remove a paper jammed near a registration roller. The sheet conveyer includes a registration guide member that is located upstream of the registration roller or a conveyer roller with respect to a sheet conveyer path. The registration guide member is supported in a rotatable manner around a fulcrum that is located upstream. With this configuration, the registration guide member can move between a first position at which the registration guide member works as a part of the sheet conveyer path and a second position at which the registration guide member makes the sheet conveyer path opened. Thus, the registration guide member can be turned easily, the range of movement of the registration guide member is also relatively large so that the sheet conveyer path can be opened widely. Therefore, the user can easily remove the jammed paper from the sheet conveyer.
There are several advantages in usage of multiple feed trays instead of a single feed tray. The first advantage is to decrease frequency of sheet setting by setting various types of recording media on the feed trays. If the single feed tray is used, the user has to set a desired-sized recording medium on a bypass tray each time the user uses. The second advantage is that, even if a paper jam occurs while the recording medium is conveyed from a first feed tray, it is possible to smoothly finish printing by feeding a recording medium from a second feed tray instead of the first feed tray. To improve productivity of the image forming apparatus by immediately recovering from the paper jam, a measure making full use of those advantages with the multiple feed trays will be effective.
The operation of the sheet conveyer disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-62917 must be stopped until the jammed paper is removed. This can lead to decrease in the productivity.

Method, apparatus, and system for forming image


A power supply for supplying power to a load comprises a coupled inductor having a primary winding, at least one secondary winding, and a regulation circuit coupled to the primary winding that allows current or voltage to be supplied to the coupled inductor for a time duration, An error detection circuit is coupled to the secondary winding to compare a voltage or current supplied to the load against at least one threshold. Upon exceeding the threshold, the error detection circuit alters the voltage or current at the secondary winding, which causes a reflected feedback signal to be generated. A reflected feedback regulation circuit coupled to the primary winding provides an information signal to the regulation circuit responsive to the reflected feedback signal. The information signal increases or decreases the time duration to regulate the power supplied to the load.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention pertains to the field of power supplies and among other things to feedback for the regulation of power supplies.
2. Background of the Invention
Power supplies that convert an AC mains or a DC voltage to a DC voltage for use by integrated electronic devices, amongst other devices, are known. The power supplies are required to maintain the output voltage, current or power within a regulated range for efficient and safe operation of the electronic device. Switches that operate to maintain the output voltage, current, or power of the power supply within a regulated range are also known. Example of such switches include pulse width modulated switches. These switches utilize an oscillator and related circuitry to vary the pulse width or switching frequency of the switch, and therefore regulate the power, current or voltage that is supplied by the power supply. A switch that utilizes pulse width modulation control, utilizes feedback from the output of the power supply in order to maintain the output power, voltage or current within the regulated limits by varying its duty cycle.
A known power supply utilizing optocoupler feedback is depicted in FIG. 1. A bridge rectifier 5 rectifies an input AC mains voltage 10, which is smoothed into a substantially DC voltage 15 by power supply capacitor 20. The substantially DC voltage 15 is provided to primary winding 25 of coupled inductor 30 which is also known as a power transformer in power supply circuits. Coupled inductors 30 transfer energy according to the operation of a switch 35, that operates according to pulse width modulated control. When the switch 35 is closed it allows current to flow through primary winding 25. When switch 35 opens, current is induced in secondary winding 40. The current induced in the secondary winding 40 flows in the forward direction of diode 45 and is then filtered by secondary capacitor 50. The voltage at the secondary capacitor 50 is provided to the output of the power supply.
A feedback circuit 52 provides a signal indicative of the output voltage to the switch control circuitry 55 which then varies the duty cycle of the switch 35 with the magnitude of the signal indicative of the output voltage. The feedback circuit 52 includes a Zener diode 60 in series with a resistor 70. The resistor 70 is in series with a light emitting diode 75 of optocoupler 80. The optocoupler 80 also includes a phototransistor 85 that will allow current to flow when a current flows through light emitting diode 75. A bias winding 90, which is connected to a diode 92 and capacitor 94 supplies voltage so that a current can flow to the switch control circuitry 55 when phototransistor 85 is conducting.
The power supply of FIG. 1 or any other power supply that utilizes a coupled inductor can operate in either a continuous conduction mode or a discontinuous conduction mode. Referring to FIG. 2A, the core flux of the coupled inductor of a power supply in continuous conduction mode is depicted. During time period 100 current is flowing through the primary winding and the flux increases in the core of the coupled inductor to some level that is generally below the saturation level of the core. At the beginning of time 102, a switch such as switch 35 is opened and no further current is provided through the primary winding. During time 102 energy is delivered to one or more secondary windings that are coupled through the core with the primary winding. At the end of time 102, the flux in the core is greater than or equal to zero. The actual flux level that is stored at the end of time 102 is a function of the inductance of the core, the flux that was stored in the core during time 100 and the length of time 102. The combined times 100 and 102 are referred to as a cycle of operation of the power supply. Continuous conduction mode is generally utilized for high power consumption applications.
Referring to FIG. 2B, the core flux of the coupled inductor of a power supply operating in discontinuous conduction mode is depicted. During time 104 a current flows in the primary winding and flux in the core is increasing. At the beginning of time 106, a switch such as switch 35 is opened and no further current is provided through the primary winding. During time 106 energy is transferred to one or more secondary windings and the flux stored in the core is reduced. At the end of time 106 all the energy stored in the core has been transferred to the secondary winding and flux in the core is essentially zero. During time 108 no energy is transferred across the coupled inductor and the coupled inductor is idle. Discontinuous conduction mode generally occurs in low power consumption applications. Other power supply configurations can have an idle period of essentially zero flux in the transformer even in high power consumption applications.
A problem associated with the power supply of FIG. 1, regardless of whether it operates in continuous or discontinuous conduction mode, includes the addition of a bias winding 90, diode 92, capacitor 94 and optocoupler 80 which add to the cost and size of the power supply.
An additional problem associated with the power supply of FIG. 1 is that using an optocoupler 80 may result in unreliable isolation between the light emitting diode 75 and phototransistor 85 which are a relatively short distance apart and have a visual path between them. This arrangement of the light emitting diode 75 and phototransistor 85 may cause a short circuit between the light emitting diode 75 and phototransistor 85. If a short circuit occurs in the optocoupler then there is also a short circuit between the primary winding and secondary winding. Under these circumstances, the user of an electronic device which utilizes the power supply may be injured since the potentially lethal voltage at the primary side of the power supply is applied to the secondary side and potentially to the user. This issue is further problematic since it is difficult to test the isolation of an optocoupler once it is in the power supply. Furthermore, the optocoupler's isolation may fail without indication after the power supply leaves the factory. The quality of the isolation provided by the optocoupler is a function of its cost. Therefore, for low cost applications the use of an optocoupler can be problematic and will add to the cost of the electronic device.

Coupled inductor power supply with reflected feedback regulation circuitry


A printing blanket assembly for a blanket cylinder of a rotary printing press includes a dimensionally stable support plate, and a printing blanket fastened to the outside of the support plate. A leading end of the support plate and a trailing end of the support plate are fastened to the blanket cylinder by the provision of an angled or beveled, printing blanket free end. A filler is provided between the beveled end of the support plate and the inner edge of the leading and trailing ends of the printing blanket.

Printing blanket assemblies or units are fastened on a printing blanket cylinder of a printing press and are used in offset printing for transferring the print image from the forme cylinder to the web of material to be imprinted. To provide the required mechanical strength for the printing blanket unit, a support plate which is made, for example, of sheet steel or sheet aluminum, is employed. A printing blanket, which can be configured in the manner of a rubber blanket, for example, is fastened on the outside of the support plate. Folded or angled plate end legs, which are free of the printing blanket, are provided at the leading end and/or the trailing end of the support plate. These legs are used for fixing the printing blanket unit in place on the printing blanket cylinder. These legs can be inserted, for example, into a slit which is provided in the printing blanket cylinder and can be fixed in place in the slit to secure the blanket assembly to the blanket cylinder.
A problem in connection with known printing blanket units is that the printing blanket does not cover the support plate seamlessly. A gap frequently remains between the leading and the trailing ends of the printing blanket and the support plate. No printing ink can be transferred, in the area of the gap, to the web of material to be imprinted. Furthermore, the print image is of reduced quality at the edges of the printing blanket in the direction toward the gap. Therefore, several solutions are known in the prior art, by the use of which solutions the disadvantages caused by the provision of a gap between the ends of the printing blanket have attempted to be avoided.
A printing blanket unit is known from DE 195 47 917 A1. The two ends of the printing blanket overlap each other with a positive connection in order to reduce the gap that typically is located between the ends of the printing blanket.
A printing blanket unit is known from DE 195 21 645 A1. A slide is arranged between the two legs of the support plate. In this prior art arrangement, the outward pointing end of the slide is connected with a filler element. The gap between the ends of the printing blanket is closed by the filler element.
A printing blanket unit is known from DE 195 43 584 C1. In this device the printing blanket is put together from a plurality of layers. A top layer of the plurality of layers covers the front areas of the layers underneath it and in this way forms a protrusion, by the use of which protrusion the gap at the ends is reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,298 discloses a printing blanket unit with a support plate, whose ends are folded. The printing blanket, which is arranged on the support plate, is sealed at the front.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,550 discloses a printing blanket unit with a printing blanket arranged on a support plate. A support element is arranged in the groove in the support plate, which support element supports the projecting end of the printing blanket.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,003 shows a device for producing a printing blanket unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,093 discloses a printing plate with a reinforced end and an associated device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Printing blanket assembly for a blanket cylinder including filler material at blanket ends


A copying machine which has a function to contain sheets, each of which has an image on a first side, in a refeeding unit and refeed the sheets for forming an image on a second side. The refeeding unit has an intermediate tray, a pick-up roller for refeeding the sheets one by one and a containing section for feeding the sheets to the intermediate tray. Each of the sheets is fed into the intermediate tray by a first or a second roller of the containing section. The containing section is movable along a transporting way and set at such a position that the first and the second roller are positioned corresponding to the size of sheets to be contained in the intermediate tray.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus which has a refeeding device which contains a first-imaged sheet (a sheet which has a formed image on a first side) and refeeds the sheet to an image recording section for duplex copying or composite copying in an electrophotographic copy machine, a laser printer or an ink jet printer.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, in copy machines, in order to carry out duplex copying wherein images are formed on a front and a back side of a sheet and a composite copying wherein images are formed overlaid on the same side of the sheet, various refeeding devices for piling up first-imaged sheets in an intermediate tray and refeeding the sheets to an image transferring position have been developed.
In this kind of refeeding devices, usually, a first-imaged sheet is sent by a containing roller into an intermediate tray. In order to contain sheets regulated on the intermediate tray, the containing roller needs to be set corresponding to a trailing edge of a contained sheet. If two or three sizes of sheets are used, the sheets are regulated by setting a plurality of containing rollers corresponding to each size of the sheets and providing diverters which switch a sheet transporting way to the corresponding roller. However, the sheet size is diverse. Since several kinds of A size and B size are used in Japan and several inch sizes are used in the United States and in Europe, it is impossible to accommodate all of these sizes.

Image forming apparatus and method comprising refeeding unit with priority refeeding


Computerized techniques, systems, and computer program products for a structured, hierarchical model for capturing, aggregating, and/or visualizing structural data of architectures of technical equipment (e.g., IT architectures). The techniques, systems and/or computer program products may include at least one data capture engine adapted to capture and aggregate data based on a structured, hierarchical model; a display engine to generate a plurality of different displays of the captured data in dependency of the structured hierarchical model, where the data capture engine includes at least one database to store the data according to the structured, hierarchical model.

The present invention relates to systems and techniques for capturing, aggregating and/or visualizing structural data of architectures of technical equipment (e.g., information technology (IT) architectures).
In general, organizations lack a clear understanding of how their IT architecture is aligned with demands of their business. An IT architecture generally comprises complex, interdependent structures that are in a perpetual state of change and cannot be easily analyzed and/or modified. For example, some desired functionality may be implemented multiple times, while other functions are not implemented. This may occur, for example, because there may be a misconception as to what has been implemented and how that has been implemented. Thus, organizations may be unable to quickly understand the interrelations between multiple entities, analyze the data associated with these interrelationships, and deduce appropriate decisions based on this analysis because of a lack of a correlation between their IT architecture and the demands of their business.
The availability of accurate data for an IT architecture and applications in the architecture for an entire organization may be limited. Much of the information relating to architectural structures may be distributed over a wide range of business units and may exist only in the heads of a group of designers, who might not coordinate information among themselves. Accurate application details may be available only from the individual persons with operational responsibility for them (i.e. data may be available only for limited areas in discrete areas, and might not be interrelated with other areas such that a general overview of the structure, including functional relationships is available). In a few cases where structural overviews are available, the structural overview may be obsolete as soon as they are printed due to a rapid combined rate of change in implemented applications, organizational structures, and business functionality being delivered.
The ability to efficiently plan for, and execute, change programs in complex architectures may be limited by a capacity to adequately develop and analyze alternative approaches to achieving desired goals. Depicting an end goal might not be as much of a problem as not having the means necessary to clearly communicate individual transition steps, and associated impact and costs, along the way. Along with this, the true costs associated with changing the way requirements are fulfilled, even if a correct decision was reached, are often not apparent until the process of change is underway because some significant interdependencies may have been omitted from the analysis. This may result in excessive costs, poorly timed strategies and wasteful investments.

Capture, aggregation and/or visualization of structural data of architectures


A confocal microscope comprises a light source emitting a polarized light beam, an objective lens irradiating the polarized light beam, which is deflected and scanned by the optical scanner, to the sample as an excitation light beam, a wavelength separator detecting a necessary wavelength band from a polarized fluorescence emitted from the sample which is excited by the polarized light beam, and a photodetector unit having a polarization property extractor extracting a fluorescence with a predetermined polarization property from the fluorescence detected with the wavelength separator, a wavelength selector selecting a wavelength of the fluorescence extracted by the polarization property extractor, and a photodetector detecting the fluorescence selected by the wavelength selector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a confocal microscope which excites a sample labeled with a fluorescence dyestuff and a fluorescent protein by use of an excitation wavelength, and detects a fluorescence emitted from the sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, as a confocal microscope, a multi-color confocal microscope in which a multi-wavelength fluorescence detection system is employed has been known (e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,730).
The multi-color confocal microscope irradiates a sample having positions differently dyed with two or more fluorescent colorants with laser beams having wavelengths corresponding to the respective fluorescent colorants, and then detects fluorescent wavelengths, at which excitation occurs to generate the fluorescence, through wavelength separating means such as a dichroic mirror for these fluorescent wavelengths.
A confocal microscope capable of estimating a polarizing direction of the fluorescence dyestuff has also been known. For example, in the confocal microscope disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-254654, a sample is irradiated with laser beams emitted from a laser light source through an objective lens, and then through the objective lens, the fluorescence emitted from the sample is branched into two optical paths by the dichroic mirror. Afterward, the branched beams are passed through polarizers which cross with each other at right angles, to obtain two images in accordance with the polarization of the fluorescence dyestuff.
In recent years, for example, when a target protein of living cells is labeled with a fluorescence to observe distribution or movement thereof, a fluorescent protein such as GFP (green fluorescent protein) has often been utilized as a marker tracer.
A sample labeled with such GFP has polarization properties as described in BIOPHOTONICS International May, 2002, p. 10. Thus, by detecting the fluorescence polarization of the sample using a fluorescent protein such as GFP, it becomes possible to analyze molecular movement of the protein and a fluorescent life. Moreover, a molecular structure of the fluorescent protein changes by light stimulation, chemical reaction, electrical stimulation, pH and temperature variation or the like, so that the polarization properties change. Therefore, the analysis of the polarization properties of the fluorescent protein enables the analysis of a function of the protein.
Additionally, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,730, only a general detecting method of a multi-wavelength fluorescence is disclosed, and the detection of a fluorescence having polarized components is not described. Moreover, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-254654, it is described that two images are acquired in accordance with polarization of a fluorescence dyestuff by the fluorescence from the sample passed through the polarizers which cross with each other at right angles, but only the confocal microscope which emits a wavelength light to generate the fluorescence is described. Moreover, an excitation method for obtaining the fluorescence having the polarized components with the use of the fluorescent proteins such as GFP as the fluorescence label is not described in the Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-254654.


A first mobile application is received. A reversing operation is performed on the first mobile application. A static analysis engine is used to determine a plurality of libraries included in the mobile application. Each library included in the plurality of libraries is categorized. A determination that the first mobile application is similar to a second mobile application based at least in part on a comparison of the respective categorizations of the respective libraries included in the respective first and second mobile applications. Commonality in the libraries of the two mobile applications can be used for a variety of purposes including detecting repackaging and also common authorship.

Individuals are increasingly spending more time using mobile devices and less time using traditional computers. This shift in usage is present both in personal and in business contexts. For example, employees of companies are increasingly using mobile devices for their work related activities. In conjunction with this shift in user behavior, nefarious individuals and organizations are increasingly targeting mobile devices with malicious applications ("malware"). Unfortunately, it can be difficult to protect mobile devices using existing techniques.

Grouping application components for classification and malware detection


In one embodiment, a method includes accessing N electronic media-content items and a plurality of media-content templates, where each of the media-content templates includes a pre-determined number of surface areas for a pre-determined number of media-content items. The method includes scoring, based on one or more features, for each of one or more of the media-content templates, the placement of X of the electronic media-content items in the media-content template, where X equals the lesser of N and the pre-determined number of surface areas of the media-content template. The method includes selecting one of the media-content templates with a highest score and providing the X electronic media-content items in the selected media-content template for display to a user.

Electronic media content includes images (e.g., electronic photos), advertisements, a combination of text and non-text graphics, drawings, graphical renderings, videos etc. Media content may be stored in and accessed from any suitable memory, such as memory in a local device, mobile device, or remote device (such as a server, etc). Media content may be displayed in a layout that specifies the location, size, boundaries, borders and border size, etc. of the media content and of the layout as a whole. Layouts may be automatically generated or may be user generated, such as when a developer manually specifies the location, size, etc. of the media content to be displayed.

Optimizing electronic layouts for media content


A method and apparatus for a multistage plasmatron fuel reformer system having a wide dynamic operational range. In one aspect, the system includes a plasmatron configured for low flow operation followed by a reaction extension cylinder and then by a nozzle section capable of providing additional air and/or fuel inputs. The nozzle section is then followed by another reaction extension region. When high flow rate of the system is needed, the low fuel flow rate provided by the plasmatron followed by the first reaction extension region provides the high temperature used to effectively initiate the partial oxidation reaction in the next section. The initiation of this reaction may also be facilitated by the presence of hydrogen.

Plasmatron fuel converters or reformers ("plasmatrons") reform hydrocarbons to generate a hydrogen rich gas which includes hydrogen and carbon monoxide through the use of plasma discharges. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,757 to Cohn et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,554 to Cohn et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,250 to Rabinovich et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,332 to Rabinovich et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,899 to Bromberg et al, the teachings of all of which are incorporated herein by reference). Plasmatron fuel conversion using low current, high voltage discharges can provide significant advantages. (For a general treatise on plasma physics, see J. Reece Roth, Industrial Plasma Engineering, Vol. 1 and 2, Institute of Physics: Bristol, UK, 1995; for other examples of devices utilizing plasma technology, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,787,730; 3,018,409; 3,035,205; 3,423,562; 4,830,492; 4,963,792; and 4,967,118, the teachings of all of which are incorporated herein by reference).
Applications that require hydrogen onboard vehicles span a large range of flow rates. While at high engine loads, large hydrogen rich gas volumes are required (with corresponding high fuel flow rates through the plasmatron fuel reformer). Because of the infrequent operation of light duty vehicles in this regime, the operational characteristics of a fuel reformer at these high flow rates are less demanding than at lower flow rates. Thus the hydrogen conversion efficiency, defined as ratio of hydrogen flow in the reformate to hydrogen content in the fuel, and reformer power efficiency, defined as power content in the reformate to that in the fuel to the reformer, are not key requirements at these high flow rates. More importantly is the hydrogen conversion efficiency and the reformer power efficiency at low flow rates, where the flows are not large, but where the engine operates a large fraction of the time.
In addition to warm operation at low loads (which requires low fuel flow rates through the plasmatron), it is desirable to have low flow rates through the cold start period of engine operation. In order to minimize hydrocarbon emissions during a cold start period, operation in mainly reformate would be desired. However, because of the short duration of the cold start period, energy efficiency is not particularly important.
Generally, low current plasmatron systems known in the prior art operate at a fuel flow rate on the order of 1 g/s and produce on the order of 40 kW of reformate power. The dynamic range is about a factor of 3, which would be from 13 to 40 kW for a typical plasmatron. In plasmatrons having multiple air inputs (such as plasma stretching air, atomization air and wall protection air), the different requirements for these inputs may further limit the dynamic range. For example, for a fuel flow rate of ˜1 g/s and an Oxygen/Carbon (O/C) ratio of ˜1, the plasma air flow rate is preferably ˜90 liters per minute, the atomization air ˜57 liters/min, and the wall protection air ˜115 liters/min. For a fuel flow rate of ˜0.1 g/s and O/C˜1, the plasma air flow rate is preferably ˜15 liters/min, the atomization air ˜10 liters/min, and the wall protection air flow rate is at zero. At these parameters, fuel atomization and initiation of reforming in the plasmatron can be degraded and soot production increased. By providing a plasmatron fuel reformer system having a wide dynamic range, improvements are possible in fuel injection (at both high and low range), air injection (at both high and low range) and power supply requirements, which ideally may be varied with air/fuel flow rate and conditions.
Accordingly, there is a need for a plasmatron reformer system capable of wide dynamic range operation which is of particular importance for use with vehicular gasoline engines which operate over a wide fuel flow range.

Wide dynamic range multistage plasmatron reformer system


A chat room-based file sharing device includes: a memory; and a processor electrically connected to the memory, wherein the processor receives file sharing request information including information about a target shared file and a shared file recipient, creates a file sharing chat room associated with the target shared file, that is specified by the file sharing request information, and, when the file sharing chat room is rendered on a terminal of the shared file recipient, provides a file object corresponding to the target shared file through the file sharing chat room, wherein the file sharer and the shared file recipient share the target shared file through the file sharing chat room by participating as chat participants in the file sharing chat room.

The present invention relates to a task processing technology, and more particularly, to a technology that creates a sharing group by selecting file-sharing members for each file and manages and keeps a record of file changes, modifications, etc. while performing a task.
In general, an internet messenger is an application that transmits messages containing text or graphics between users, and may come in the form of a chat room which a plurality of users can join. In an exemplary embodiment, the internet messenger may be a mobile messenger that runs in a mobile environment (for example, on a mobile phone), examples of which include KakaoTalk, Line, WeChat, Facebook Messenger. Moreover, such internet messengers are used for a wider variety of applications in regard to managing and performing tasks.

Chat room-based file sharing device and method


A hand-guided treatment device has a motor housing which includes a basic housing body that extends at least on a first housing side, and a remaining housing body, which is connected to the basic housing body and, together with the basic housing body, encloses a housing interior. A drive motor in the housing interior is held on the basic housing body. The basic housing body has a tool-holding device for holding a tool driven by the drive motor. The basic housing body forms a rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure which extends at least on the first housing side and on an adjoining second housing side, forming an L shape, wherein the remaining housing body forms a non-rigid remaining housing structure.

The invention relates to a hand-guided treatment device comprising a motor housing, which comprises a basic housing body that extends at least on a first housing side, and a remaining housing body, which is connected to the basic housing body and, together with the basic housing body, encloses a housing interior. A drive motor in the housing interior is held on the basic housing body. The basic housing body comprises a tool-holding device for holding a treatment tool driven by the drive motor.
The basic housing body is preferably formed as a single part or, alternatively, is assembled from several parts. The remaining housing body completes the basic housing body as the remainder of the housing body, hence the designation remaining housing body, to form the motor housing. The remaining housing body too can preferably be formed as a single part or, alternatively, in several parts.
In the present case, the enclosure of the housing interior by the remaining housing body, together with the basic housing body, is intended to mean that, together with the basic housing body, the remaining housing body forms a complete housing ring, at least in a plane perpendicular to the first housing side, thus ensuring that the motor housing forms for the drive motor and any further device components accommodated therein an enclosure that is closed at least in this plane. In this arrangement, the basic housing body and the remaining housing body complement one another to form this complete ring, i.e. neither the basic housing body nor the remaining housing body alone form this complete ring.
Treatment devices of this kind are common in the areas of gardening and forestry as well as in construction and in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) art, for example, in various embodiments for different treatment purposes, e.g. as power saws, hedging shears or cut-off grinders.
The prior art includes treatment devices of this kind in the form of power saws, in particular of the type with an electric drive motor, in which the basic housing body extends in the form of a plate only on the first housing side and forms a holding plate, consisting of a metal material for example, on the inside of which the drive motor is mounted and on the outside of which a guide rail for holding a saw chain as a treatment tool in a manner which allows circulating rotary movement is mounted. In this case, the remaining housing body can be formed in a hood or pot shape and can be capable of being placed on the basic housing body, with the result that it surrounds the housing interior on all the other housing sides.
German laid-open publication DE 10 2013 212 637 A1 discloses an electric power saw of this kind in which the basic housing body and, for the sake of good heat transfer, also the remaining housing body are formed from a metal material, and the drive motor is held on one side on the basic housing body and on an opposite side on the remaining housing body.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 9,744,685 B2 discloses an electric power saw of this kind which has a brushless DC motor as a drive motor and in which the basic housing body and the remaining housing body are both formed from a light metal material, in particular an aluminium or magnesium material, for the sake of good heat dissipation.
The technical problem addressed by the invention is that of providing a hand-guided treatment device of the type stated at the outset which is distinguished from the abovementioned prior art, particularly in respect of a different implementation of the motor housing.
The invention solves this problem by providing a hand-guided treatment device that comprises a motor housing having a basic housing body that extends at least on a first housing side, and a remaining housing body, which is connected to the basic housing body and, together with the basic housing body, encloses a housing interior. A drive motor in the housing interior is held on the basic housing body. The basic housing body comprises a tool-holding device for holding a treatment tool driven by the drive motor. The basic housing body forms a rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure which extends at least on the first housing side and on an adjoining second housing side, forming an L shape, while the remaining housing body forms a non-rigid remaining housing structure.
The rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure can be formed as a single part or from several parts connected to one another. Depending on requirements, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure extends respectively only on the first and the second housing side as far as a housing corner region, at which the first and the second housing side meet, thereby forming a pure and simple L shape or, alternatively, additionally on a third housing side to form an L shape extended into a kind of U shape or, as a further alternative, on the first and the second housing side not just as far as the housing corner region concerned on both sides but beyond the housing corner region on one side or, in other words, with something of an inward offset, thereby forming an L shape extended into a kind of T shape.
In the present case, the specification that the basic housing body forms a rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure, and the remaining housing body forms a non-rigid remaining housing structure should be interpreted to mean that the basic housing body forms a more rigid structure than the remaining housing body and, for this purpose, is formed, in particular, from a material which has a higher modulus of elasticity than the material chosen for the remaining housing body, which is a different material. In particular, the basic housing body has a rigidity which is great enough to be able to hold the drive motor and the tool thereon with sufficient stability. The remaining housing body is designed for a rigidity which is lower than this and preferably significantly lower, something that can advantageously be used to keep down the weight and material consumption of the treatment device and/or to improve the drop characteristics thereof inasmuch as the remaining housing body can absorb impact energy if the device accidentally falls to the ground. Further contributing to the rigidity of the motor- and tool-supporting structure is the fact that the structure extends at least on two mutually adjoining housing sides, thereby forming the L shape. It is thereby possible to increase the rigidity of the structure relative to a purely plate-shaped structure, even if the same material is used as for the plate-shaped structure. Moreover, this also increases the rigidity of the remaining housing body, which is connected three-dimensionally, i.e. spatially, to the basic housing body, and not just in one plane.
In a development of the invention, the modulus of elasticity of the remaining housing body and that of the basic housing body differ by at least a factor of two, in particular by at least a factor of ten. This results in a correspondingly higher rigidity of the basic housing body in comparison to that of the remaining housing body.
In a development of the invention, the first housing side forms a housing longitudinal side, and the second housing side forms a housing transverse side, and, on the first housing side and on the second housing side respectively, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure of the basic housing body extends over more than half the distance between a device front side and a device rear side. Thus, the comparatively high rigidity of the basic housing body is provided for the relevant housing longitudinal side and the relevant housing transverse side in each case along most of the length between the front and the rear side of the device, as a result of which the motor housing as a whole can have a correspondingly high rigidity, and a high stability for fastening the drive motor and the tool can be achieved. In this context, the device front side should in general be interpreted to mean a front device side which is parallel to the housing transverse side and on which the tool is situated or beyond which a tool part projects forwards. Correspondingly, the device side which faces away from the device front side and on which, for example, there can be a battery well or from which a battery well can project rearwards or on which there can be a rear handle or from which a rear handle can project rearwards should be interpreted as the device rear side.
In one embodiment of the invention, on the first housing side, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure of the basic housing body extends from a device front side to a device rear side. This makes a further contribution to high rigidity of the motor housing and to high stability for holding the drive motor and the tool, wherein the weight of the treatment device can nevertheless be kept low in a desired manner by a correspondingly lightweight embodiment of the remaining housing body. In alternative embodiments, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure extends over more than half but less than the whole length on the first housing side.
In another embodiment of the invention, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure of the basic housing body additionally extends on a third housing side adjoining the first housing side, forming a U shape. In this case, the L shape of the motor- and tool-supporting structure is extended by a further structure side, i.e. a further U leg, to form the U shape, something that can advantageously contribute to increased rigidity of the motor- and tool-supporting structure provided by the basic housing body. Depending on requirements, additional device components can be mounted or held in a correspondingly stable manner on this third side of the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure. In alternative embodiments, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure extends only on the first and the second housing side.
In a development of the invention, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure of the basic housing body comprises the tool-holding device on the outside of the first housing side and comprises a motor-holding device for holding the drive motor on the inside of said first housing side.
In a development of the invention, the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure of the basic housing body extends in the form of a plate on the first housing side and extends in such a way as to form a hollow body structure on the second housing side. The hollow body structure can make a further contribution to high rigidity of the motor- and tool-supporting structure of the basic housing body.
In one embodiment of the invention, the hollow body structure forms a liquid container. Thus, the hollow body structure of the basic housing body can advantageously be used to provide the liquid container. In alternative embodiments, the hollow body structure can be formed by an open hollow profile, for example.
In a development of the invention, the basic housing body is formed from a metal material, and the remaining housing body is formed from a plastics material. This represents a choice of materials that is optimum in many applications for the basic housing body, on the one hand, and the remaining housing body, on the other. Alternatively, both housing parts can be formed from a metal material or a plastics material, for example.
In a development of the invention, the treatment device is configured as a power saw or as a cut-off grinder or as hedging shears. These are advantageous implementations of the treatment device, in which the rigid motor- and tool-supporting structure can be combined well with an embodiment of the remaining housing body that has a low weight in order to provide optimum stability with a low weight for the overall treatment device, making it easier for the user to handle the treatment device.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hand-guided treatment device having a motor housing


There is provided a high resilience polyurethane foam produced from a polydiene diol having a number average molecular weight from 1,000 to 20,000 and a functionality of from 1.6 to 2, an aromatic polyisocyanate, and oil. The polydiene diol foams have excellent processability, producing high resilience foams having small cell size and uniform cell size distributions.

Polyurethane foams having high resilience are typically produced from polyether triol and an isocyanate. The polyether triols typically have a number average molecular weight from 4,500 to 6,000 and an average functionality of from 2.4 to 2.7 hydroxyl groups per molecule. Toluene diisocyanate, diphenyl methane diisocyanate, toluene diisocyanate/diphenyl methane diisocyanate mixtures, and modified toluene diisocyanate or diphenyl methane diisocyanate versions are used to produce foams with broad processing latitude. Isocyanate functionality is typically 2.0, and in most cases not higher than 2.3 isocyanate groups per molecule. The polyether triols form resilient foams when combined with the isocyanates having from 2.0 to 2.3 isocyanate groups per molecule under conditions which promote foaming.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,184 described the production of polyurethane foams from polyisobutylene triols and diols which were prepared cationically. The polyisobutylenes are premixed with an isocyanate, namely an isocyanate which is a mixture of meta- and para- isomers of toluene diisocyanate having a functionality of 2.0. Then water was added as a blowing agent to form the polyurethane foam. Foams obtained were of low resilience and were useful in energy absorbing applications.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/494,640, incorporated herein by reference, described a high resilience polyurethane foam produced from a polydiene diol. The foam's resiliency was achieved by adding an aromatic polyisocyanate having a functionality of from 2.5 to 3.0 isocyanate groups per molecule to assure adequate crosslinking. The polydiene diol foams produced showed excellent humid aging properties in comparison to conventional polyurethane foams.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,192, incorporated herein by reference, described a high resilience, high tear resistance polyurethane foam produced from a polydiene diol. The foam's resiliency was achieved by selecting an appropriate amount of a aromatic polyisocyanate having a functionality of from 1.8 to 2.5 isocyanate groups per molecule to assure adequate crosslinking. The polydiene diol foams produced showed excellent tear resistance and were near white in color.
In the above described foams, difficulty is encountered in both the processability and in the control of cell size and cell distribution. It is desirable to have a highly processable foam with small, uniform cell sizes and distribution while retaining adequate resilient foam properties.

Resilient polyurethane foams of polydiene diols and oil


In a digital data recording and/or reproducing apparatus, the frequency of digital data to be recorded or that has been reproduced is converted so that data blocks formed from the digital data have a time duration that allows for coordination with the timing of data sectors formed from the data blocks and recorded with predetermined timing in respective tracks on a recording medium.

The present invention relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus and is applicable to a digital video tape recorder for recording and/or reproducing, for example, a digital video signal on a magnetic tape.
A known type of recording and reproducing apparatus for recording and/or reproducing a video signal of a high definition television system is the so-called digital video tape recorder (DVTR) in which an input video signal is converted into a digital video signal and recorded on a magnetic tape.
In particular, as shown in FIG. 1, this known digital video tape recorder (DVTR) 1 includes a recording system 2 in which a component video signal SO composed of red, green and blue signal S1, S2 and S3, or a component video signal S4 composed of a luminance signal S5 and R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals S6 and S7, having a bandwidth of, for example, 30 MHz, is supplied to a matrix circuit 3.
In the matrix circuit 3, if the component video signal S4 is the input signal, the luminance signal S5 and the R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals S6 and S7 included in the signal S4 are supplied to an analog to digital converter circuit 4. If the component video signal S0 is the input signal, it is converted into the component video signal S4 including the luminance signal S5 and the chrominance signals S6 and S7 and then supplied to the analog to digital converter circuit 4.
The analog to digital converter circuit 4 samples the luminance signal S5 in response to a first clock signal CK0 supplied thereto and a resulting digital luminance signal D1 having a bandwidth of 74.25 MHz is provided to a one-fourth times expansion circuit 5.
Further, the analog to digital converter circuit 4 samples the R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals S6 and S7 in response to the first clock signal CK0, the resulting R-Y and B-Y digital chrominance signals D2 and D3 each having a bandwidth of one half of 74.25 MHz are multiplexed in a multiplexer circuit 6 and the multiplexed signal is sent to the one-fourth times expansion circuit 5 as a multiplexed digital signal D4.
The one-fourth times expansion circuit 5 converts the digital luminance signal D1 and the multiplexed digital chrominance signal D4 provided to the expansion circuit 5 with a processing rate set by the first clock CK0 signal into a digital video data signal D5 composed of within each channel is a total of eight parallel data channels, four channels for each of the luminance signal and the multiplexed chrominance signal, with the signal in each channel having a processing rate set by a second clock signal CK1 whose frequency is one-fourth the frequency of the first clock signal CK0, so that the rate 18.5625 MHz. The resulting data D5 is sent to an interleave/parity adding circuit 7.
The interleave/parity adding circuit 7 interleave-processes the digital video data signal D5 and adds an outer parity code thereto and the resulting signal is supplied to a shuffling/parity adding circuit 8 as a digital video data signal D6.
The shuffling/parity adding circuit 8 shuffles the digital video data D6 and, after the latter is formed into blocks, adds an inner parity code thereto, and outputs the resulting signal to a SYNC-ID adding/coding circuit 9 as a digital video data signal D7.
The SYNC-ID adding/coding circuit 9 adds a synchronizing pattern and ID information including an identification code and an address to each block of the digital video data signal D7. The circuit 9 then divides the blocks of data into sets containing a predetermined number of blocks and adds a preamble to the end, and a postamble to the beginning of each set. The circuit 9 then codes the resulting signal with a 8--8 modulation system to produce a recording digital video data signal D8 which is sent to a parallel-serial converter circuit 10.
The parallel-serial converter circuit 10 converts the recording digital video data signal D8 into serial recording signals S10-S17 corresponding to eight channels and having a total data rate of 148.5 Mbps. The recording signals S10-S17 are supplied, respectively, to heads 13A-13H corresponding to the eight channels, the heads 13A-13H being mounted on a drum 12 around which a magnetic tape 11 is wound in the shape of an omega (.OMEGA.).
In the recording system 2 of the DVTR 1, the first clock signal CK0 is generated by a clock generator circuit 15 and supplied to the analog to digital converter circuit 4, the one-fourth times expansion circuit 5 and the multiplexing circuit 6.
The second clock signal CK1 is obtained by dividing the first clock CK0 by four by means of a 1/4 frequency divider circuit 16 and supplied to the one-fourth times expansion circuit 5, the interleave/parity adding circuit 8, the SYNC-ID adding/coding circuit 9 and the parallel-serial converter circuit 10 so that the recording signal processing circuits downstream from the one-fourth times expansion circuit 5 operate according to a timing provided by the second clock CK1.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2A, two sectors SEC1 and SEC2 corresponding to respective sectors are recorded in respective tracks on the magnetic tape 11 each of the heads 13A-13H over a period of two revolutions of the drum 12, which rotates at a rate of, 120 Hz so that one field of the input video signal SO (or S4) is recorded during the period of two revolutions.
A preamble P1 and a postamble P2 are attached to each sector SEC to indicate a beginning and an end thereof and a data recording area including 640 data blocks B1-B640 is formed between the preamble P1 and the postamble P2.
Each data block B has a total length of 226 words as shown in FIG. 2B, and includes a synchronizing pattern SYNC of 2 words in length, the identification and address data ID/ADRS of 4 words in length, followed by 220 words of data DT.
On the other hand, in a reproducing system 20 of the DVTR 1, reproduced signals S20 to S27 corresponding respectively to eight channels and at data rate of 148.5 Mbps are provided from the heads 13A-13H mounted on the drum 12 and are converted by a serial to parallel converter 21 into parallel signals which are sent to a TBC/de-shuffling circuit 22 as a reproduced digital video data signal D10 at processing rate of frequency 18.5625 MHz set by the second clock signal CK1.
The TBC/deshuffling circuit 22 performs a time-axis correction for the reproduced digital video data signal D10 supplied thereto to match the clock phase with the second clock signal CK1 and then performs error correction on the basis of the inner parity code. The circuit 22 also performs de-shuffling processing and sends a resulting digital video data signal D11 to an error correction circuit 23.
The error correction circuit 23 performs error correction on the digital video data signal D11 based on the outer parity code and sends a resulting digital video data signal D12 to a de-interleave/error correction circuit 24.
The de-interleave/error correction circuit 24 de-interleaves the digital video data signal D12 and performs interpolation etc. to correct errors which could not be corrected by error correction based on the inner and outer parity codes and outputs a resulting digital video data signal D13 to a time compression video image synthesizer circuit 25.
The time compression video image synthesizer circuit 25 time-compresses the digital video data signal D13 for the eight channels which was provided as mentioned previously and synthesizes the signal to produce a digital luminance signal D14 and a multiplexed digital chrominance signal D15 having bandwidths of 74.25 MHz corresponding to the first clock signal CK0.
The digital luminance signal D14 is supplied directly to a digital to analog converter circuit 26. The multiplexed chrominance signal D15 is divided by a division circuit 27 into R-Y and B-Y digital chrominance signals D16 and D17 each having a bandwidth of one-half of 74.25 MHz and the resulting signals are supplied to the digital to analog converter circuit 26.
The digital to analog converter circuit 26 converts the digital luminance signal D14 and the R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals D16 and D17 into respective analog signals and outputs a luminance signal S30 having a bandwidth of 30 MHz and R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals S31 and S32 each having a bandwidth of 15 MHz to a matrix circuit 28.
In the reproduction system 20 of the DVTR 1, the second clock signal CK1 generated by the 1/4 frequency divider circuit 16 is supplied to the serial to parallel converter circuit 21, the TBC/de-shuffling circuit 22, the error correction circuit 23, the de-interleave/error correction circuit 24 and the time compression video image synthesizer circuit 25 and the operations thereof are performed in response to the second clock signal CK1.
The first clock signal CK0 output from the clock generator circuit 15 is supplied to the time compression video image synthesizer circuit 25, the digital to analog converter circuit 26 and the divider circuit 27 so that those circuits operate in response to the first clock signal CK0.
The matrix circuit 27 is adapted to selectively output the luminance signal S30 and the R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals S31 and S32 directly as a component signal S33 or to produce red, green and blue signals S34, S35 and S36 from the inputted luminance signal S30 and the R-Y and B-Y chrominance signals S31 and S32 and to output the signals S34, S35 and S36 as a component video signals S37, thus reproducing the video signal recorded on the magnetic tape 11.
In the DVTR 1 as described above, the sampling frequency is selected as 4 fsc according to a quantization rule, etc., and, when the amount of data to be recorded is determined on this basis, the number of data block for one field of the video signal is not an integer.
For this reason, in the recording pattern discussed with respect to FIG. 2A, the interval between the block pulses which indicate a border between adjacent blocks B is discontinuous in each sector SEC, causing difficulties in signal processing in the recording system 2 and the reproducing system 20.
This problem becomes more severe with larger numbers of channels as in the above mentioned 8-channel recording and reproducing system.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, consider a DVTR in which four magnetic heads 32A-32D are arranged on a drum around which a magnetic tape 30 is wound in the shape of an omega (.OMEGA.) at intervals of 90.degree.. The magnetic heads 32A-32D rotate at a rate of 60 Hz, and video data corresponding to one field is converted into 4 parallel data channels and recorded as data sectors SD1, SD2, SD3 and SD4 (FIGS. 4B, 4D, 4F and 4H) each composed of a group of blocks, with respect to a vertical reference phase VR representing a border between adjacent fields as shown in FIG. 4A.
Since the number of blocks in each of the data sectors SD1, SD2, SD3, and SD4 in the respective channels within one field is not an integer, the respective block pulses BP1, BP2, BP3 and BP4 for the four channels have different phases as shown in FIGS. 4C, 4E, 4G and 4I. Consequently, circuits such as address circuits in the signal processing system and memories which process data block by block require four different respective circuit arrangements, causing the entire scale of the circuit to be large.
A similar problem occurs in the reproduction system. For example, when variable speed reproduction is to be performed, each of signals S20-S27 reproduced from the heads 13A-13H becomes a signal from another channel as shown in FIG. 6, since the respective heads 13A-13H (corresponding to the eight channels as mentioned previously with respect to FIG. 1) scan recording tracks T1, T2, T3, . . . , T8 on the magnetic tape 11 in an oblique manner as shown in FIG. 5.
Therefore, in this case, it is necessary to provide a channel converter circuit, for example, for exchanging the reproduced signals S20-S27 from the heads 13A-13H so as to provide normal outputs from the heads 13A-13H. Since there are phase difference between the block pulses BP1, BP2, BP3 and BP4 for the respective channels, even if the clock phases of the respective channels are matched with the first clock signal CK1 by means of the previously mentioned TBC/de-shuffling circuit 22, a correction circuit therefor is necessary, resulting in a complicated circuit design.

Digital data recording and/or reproducing apparatus


Extracting, from an identical original image, regions estimated to correspond to a principal portion thereof, respectively, by means of a plurality of mutually different extracting methods for extracting from an original image a region estimated to correspond to a principal portion thereof, and evaluating the extracting methods by comparing with respect to a plurality of original images, on the one hand, the regions estimated to correspond to the principal portion and extracted respectively from the identical original image by the extracting methods and, on the other hand, a region corresponding to the principal portion of the identical original image, or a region having a high probability of being a region corresponding to the principal portion of the identical original image and determined on the basis of the regions estimated to correspond to the principal portion and extracted respectively by the extracting methods; setting in advance a weight with respect to each of the extracting methods in correspondence with a result of evaluation; extracting regions estimated to correspond to a principal portion, respectively, from an original image from which the principal portion is to be extracted, by the extracting methods; weighting each of the extracted regions by the weight set for each of the extracting methods; and determining a region having a high probability of being a region corresponding to the principal portion of the original image, based on a result of the weighting. A region corresponding to a principal portion of the original image is determined appropriately with a high probability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of determining a principal portion of an image and a method of determining a copying condition, and more particularly to a method of determining a principal portion for determining a region having a high probability of being a region corresponding to a principal portion of an image, as well as a method of determining a copying condition in such a manner as to allow a principal portion of an image to be copied appropriately.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the appreciation of photographs, viewers' attention is mostly focused on a particular portion (hereafter referred to as a principal portion) of the image just as the face of a human figure attracts the greatest attention in the case of portraits, for example. Therefore, when an original image recorded on a recording material such as a film is copied onto a copying material such as a photographic printing paper, it is necessary to determine a copying condition in such a manner that the principal portion, such as the face of a human figure, is printed appropriately.
For this reason, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 346332/1992, the applicant proposed a technique wherein a color original image is divided into a multiplicity of pixels, and is spectrally separated into three colors and photometrically measured for each pixel; a histogram on hue values (and saturation values) is determined on the basis of data obtained by the photometry; the determined histogram is divided into ridges; a determination is made as to to which of the divided ridges each pixel belongs, and each pixel is classified into groups corresponding to the divided ridges; the color original image is divided into a plurality of regions for each group; a region corresponding to the face of a human figure serving as the principal portion among the plurality of regions is estimated; and the exposure amount is determined on the basis of the photometric data on the estimated region.
With the above-described technique, however, in a case where a non-human figure region of flesh color, such as the ground or a trunk of a tree, which is present in the original image, is located adjacent to the region corresponding to the face of the human figure, it is difficult to separate the region corresponding to the face of the human figure and the non-human figure region.
In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 160993/1994, a proposal has been made in which, in the above-described technique, to improve the probability of extracting a region corresponding to the face of a human figure, a region abutting against an outer periphery of the image is determined to be a background region and is eliminated, or an extracted region is represented as a diagram, and a determination is made as to whether or not the extracted region is a region corresponding to the face of a human figure, on the basis of the shape of a neighboring region located in the vicinity of the extracted region or the shape of the extracted region.
With the above-described technique, however, a skin-colored region, such as the ground or a trunk of a tree, is present in the original image, in a case where the hue and the saturation of the skin-colored region are similar to the hue and the saturation of the region corresponding to the face of the human figure in the original image, there is a possibility that this skin-colored region is erroneously determined to be a region corresponding to the face of a human figure. In addition, if this skin-colored region is adjacent to the region corresponding to the face of the human figure, the skin-colored region and the region corresponding to the face of the human figure cannot be separated from each other, so that the region corresponding to the face of the human figure cannot be extracted appropriately.
The problem encountered in the above-described methods is attributable to the fact that the contents of images photographic processing of which is requested are indefinite, and that images of various contents are brought in. Namely, the present situation is such that it is difficult to reliably extract a region corresponding to the principal portion of an image in each of the above-described various methods of extracting a principal portion or the methods of extracting a principal portion proposed by the applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 265850/1994 and 266598/1994. In each method, images whose principal portions are possibly extracted erroneously are present. For instance, a non-principal portion is erroneously extracted as a principal portion, or a region in which a non-principal portion and a principal portion are present in a mixed form is erroneously extracted as the principal portion. Conversely, a principal portion is determined to be the region corresponding to a non-principal portion, and is not extracted.
Accordingly, even if an attempt is made to automatically determine the copying condition (exposure amount) by extracting the principal portions according to any one of the above-described methods, the incidence in which an appropriate copying condition cannot be obtained due to the erroneous extraction of the principal portion occurs with a probability exceeding a predetermined value. Hence, it has been difficult to improve the probability of obtaining an appropriate exposure amount.

Method of determining a principal portion of an image and method of determining a copying condition