| 45th week of 2008 patent applcation highlights part 26 |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20080273723 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIRECTIONALLY RADIATING SOUND - A method of operating an audio system that provides audio radiation to a plurality of listening positions includes providing at least one source of audio signals. At each listening position, at least one array of speaker elements is provided. A filter is provided between the at least one source and at least one of the speaker elements at a first listening position. The filter is optimized so that the filter reduces acoustic energy radiated from the first array to at least one other listening position of the plurality of listening positions, compared to acoustic energy radiated from the first array to the first listening position. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273724 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIRECTIONALLY RADIATING SOUND - An audio system for a vehicle having a plurality of seat positions includes a plurality of sources of audio signals. Respective directional loudspeaker arrays are mounted at the seat positions. Any of the sources are selectable to any of the seat positions through control circuitry in response to an input from an occupant of the vehicle. Processing circuitry is coupled to the control circuitry and is between the plurality of sources in each respective directional loudspeaker array. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273725 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIRECTIONALLY RADIATING SOUND - An audio system for a vehicle has at least one source of audio signals. At least one array of speaker elements is located at each seat position that radiates within a range of bass frequencies. For each at least one array, the speaker elements receive a common audio signal, and a respective filter is disposed between the common audio signal and each of the speaker elements. Each respective filter processes magnitude and phase of the common audio signal independently of each other respective filter to thereby define a directional audio radiation from the at least one array. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273726 | DIGITAL HEARING AID ADAPTIVE TO STRUCTURES OF HUMAN EXTERNAL EAR CANALS - The present invention relates to a digital hearing aid, which models the structures of external ear canals, sizes and shape characteristics of which differ between respective persons, obtains resonance gains generated due to the structural characteristics of the external ear canals, and performs digitization and signal processing to allow the resonance gains to be used as the gain factors of the digital hearing aid, and thus applies the gain factors to digital signal processing units. Further, the present invention proposes a gain obtainment unit capable of taking both resonance gains, generated due to the structural characteristics, and gains, obtained through a hearing test, into account, thus reducing the time required for gain fitting and possible errors, and optimizing the performance of the digital hearing aid for each individual. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273727 | HEARING ASSITANCE SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING SECOND-ORDER GRADIENT DIRECTIONAL SIGNALS - Abstract of the Disclosure Systems, devices and methods are provided for diotically presenting second-order gradient directional hearing aid signals. The present subject matter provides an improved signal-to-noise ratio, and presents a desired directional signal to each ear. One aspect is a hearing aid system. In one embodiment, the system includes a first microphone system in a first device and a second microphone system in a second device. The first microphone system has a first output signal, and the second microphone system has a second output signal. Each output signal includes a first-order directional signal. The system further includes a first receiver circuit and a second receiver circuit. The combination of the first output signal and the second output signal provides a diotic presentation of a second-order gradient signal to both the first receiver circuit and the second receiver circuit. Other aspects are provided herein. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273728 | HEARING AID WITH FEEDBACK MODEL GAIN ESTIMATION - A hearing aid includes an input transducer for transforming an acoustic input signal into an electrical input signal, a processor for generating an electrical output signal by amplifying the electrical input signal with a processor gain, an output transducer for transforming the electrical output signal into an acoustic output signal, an adaptive feedback suppression filter for generating a feedback cancellation signal, and a model gain estimator generating an upper processor gain limit and for providing a control parameter indicating a possible misadjustment of the model. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273729 | Assembly Method For Custom Hearing Aids - A hearing aid and appertaining method of assembly are provided in which a receiver assembly is placed within a shell of the hearing aid, the receiver assembly comprising a left and right stud. A receiver tube is connected to the receiver assembly and extends through a hole in a supporting plate and shell tip respectively. A permanent latch is provided comprising a cavity into which the first stud of the receiver assembly is located when the receiver assembly is in its designated position. An external rail latch slides on the external rail and secures the receiver assembly in its designated position by interfacing with the second stud. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273730 | Hearing device to be worn behind an ear - For individual coloring of the housing of the hearing device, a hearing device containing electromechanical and/or electronic components is provided. The components are accommodated in a divided housing, with the housing being constructed from an upper shell, a first lower shell and a second lower shell which can be releasably fastened to the first lower shell. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273731 | Osseous conduction acoustic transducer - Transducer substantially comprising a hollow housing, a device located inside the hollow housing to transform the electrical signals output by a vibration pickup microphone, a generally discoid shaped element for acoustical coupling with the mastoid bone, having one face directed to the outside of the housing and one face arranged onto the inside of the housing itself, and a coupling element for connection between the vibrating unit and the acoustic coupling element. The acoustic coupling element comprises one soft material headset apt to close and seal one opening made on one face of the hollow housing, and to hold the vibrating element freely hanging into said housing, by means of the coupling element. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273732 | Connecting element for a carrying hook of a hearing device - In order to connect a hearing device to a carrying hook, a connecting element is used, which has to satisfy high demands with regards to its precision and stability. To ensure this, the connecting element is designed as a powder injection molded part, in particular as a ceramic injection molded part or metal part, which is manufactured in a ceramic injection molding process or a metal injection molding process. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273733 | HEARING AID SYSTEM - An exemplary hearing aid system includes a receiver unit configured and positioned within the user's ear canal so as to minimize insertion loss and/or occlusion effect. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273734 | COMBINED POWER AND AUDIO DOCK FOR HANDHELD DEVICE - A combined power and audio dock for a handheld electronic device provides an integrated solution to the multiple uses of multifunction devices such as mobile telephones with built-in music players. The dock is configured with a recess into which the handheld device is docked so that all four exterior edges of the device are surrounded by the dock. This enables the dock to engage with any controls, jacks and ports along any edge of the device, and includes loudspeakers that can amplify the audio output of the device. The device is docked in an intentional assembly sequence that enables power and audio connectors to engage corresponding jacks on common, adjacent or opposing edges of the handheld device. Removal is accomplished in a reverse sequence. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273735 | Voice tube antenna for wireless headset - A voice tube antenna for a wireless headset for use in telecommunications, telephony, and/or multimedia applications is disclosed. The voice tube may generally include a flexible (e.g., gooseneck) or rigid tubular member having an open end and an opposing end coupled to a microphone, a lumen defined by the tubular member extending between the open end and the opposing end for acoustic transmission between the open end and the microphone, and an antenna formed in the voice tube and configured to be coupled to a transmitter and/or receiver for wirelessly transmitting and/or receiving signals via the antenna. The tubular member may be nonmetallic such that the antenna may be a metallic wire extending through the nonmetallic tubular member or the tubular member may be metallic such that the tubular member also serves as the antenna. The metallic antenna may be, for example, generally straight or spiral wound. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273736 | Electrostatic microphone - An electrostatic microphone has a capsule housing and a diaphragm, a rigid electrode, and an electrical circuit on a printed circuit board arranged in the capsule housing. The diaphragm is connected to a ring shoulder provided on the front side of the capsule housing. Preferably, the capsule housing is divided into a housing bottom and a capsule lid, and the ring shoulder is provided on the capsule lid. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273737 | Headphone - A headphone including a housing that includes a speaker unit, and a protruding portion, provided at a specified area of one surface of the housing, that outputs playback sound generated from the speaker unit. When being worn on the head, the one surface of the housing comes in to contact with an outward facing surface of an auricle surrounding a cavity of a concha, and the protruding portion is inserted in to the cavity of the concha. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273738 | Inflatable Loudspeaker Enclosure - An inflatable loudspeaker enclosure ( | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273739 | Ribbon transducer with improved excursion and dispersion characteristics - “Ribbon tranducer with improved excursion and dispersion characteristics” | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273740 | Speaker - The speaker according to the present invention comprises: a magnetic circuit; a diaphragm, a part of which is located in a magnetic gap formed in the magnetic circuit; a ring-shaped first voice coil formed on a first vibrating surface of the diaphragm; a ring-shaped second voice coil which is formed on a second vibrating surface of the diaphragm, the second vibrating surface being an opposite surface to the first vibrating surface, and which is electrically conducted with the first voice coil; and an edge firmly fixed on an outer margin of the first vibrating surface and operable to support the diaphragm in such a manner that enables vibration. The first voice coil is formed so as to be located inside of an inner circumference of the edge and also within the magnetic gap. The second voice coil is formed so as to have at least a part of an outermost circumference thereof is located outside of the inner circumference of the edge and within the magnetic gap. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273741 | Electronic Watermark Embedding Method, Electronic Watermark Detecting Method, Electronic Watermark Detecting Apparatus and Program - An electronic image into which an electronic watermark is to be embedded is divided into a plurality of image regions spatially, and pixels each having a property of being difficult to visually recognize a variation in a pixel value are extracted as adaptive pixels from each of the plurality of image regions. A variation between the pixel values of the adaptive pixels in one of the plurality of image regions and those of the adaptive pixels in an adjacent one of the plurality of image regions is produced, and the pixel values of the adaptive pixels of the plurality of image regions are varied in a time direction according to the value of an embedded bit set of the electronic watermark. An electronic-watermark-embedded image is then generated by making the variation in the pixel values of the adaptive pixels vary step by step at a boundary between the two of the plurality of image regions and/or in the time direction so that the variation makes a slow transition. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273742 | Watermark Embedding - Disclosed are methods and systems for embedding watermarks in information signals to obtain a watermarked information signal. The method of embedding a watermark comprises the steps of determining a predetermined first property of a first part of the information signal, said predetermined first property being indicative of whether at least a predetermined first part of the watermark signal is detectable in the first part of the information signal; embedding the at least first part of the watermark in the first part of the information signal to obtain the watermarked information signal, if the at least first part of the watermark signal is determined not to be detectable in the first part of the information signal; otherwise generating the watermarked information signal to include the first part of the information signal. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273743 | Synthesis of databases of realistic, biologically-based 2-D images - A method and computer program product to create an unlimited number of synthetic but realistic, biologically-based, 2-D images like irises and magnetic resonance images (MRIs), as well as other images is presented. New metrics for measuring the mathematical distance of such synthetic images from a source (original) image have also been proposed. These metrics and the synthesis procedure are applicable to the development of image retrieval systems. The presented method can be extended to synthetic images of non-biological origins too. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273744 | DIGITAL WATERMARKING METHOD AND APPARATUS - A digital watermark embedding apparatus including a first scaling unit to scale an input image signal to one of enlargement and reduction, an extraction unit extracting a specific frequency component signal from the scaled image signal, a digital watermark signal generator to generate a digital watermark signal based on the specific frequency component signal and watermark information, a second scaling unit to scale the digital watermark signal to the other of the enlargement and reduction, and a compositor to combine the scaled digital watermark signal with the input image signal to generate a watermarked image signal. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273745 | Device including a lens array - An evaluation device includes more than three images showing at least two different appearances of keratinous materials, each of the images including an identifier; and an optical system that is configured to make the different images appear in succession as a result of a change in the angle of observation of the device. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273746 | Image Processing Apparatus - An image processing apparatus which is able to make a copy whose character information is clearly readable for a predetermined document registered as a special document is provided. A fixed-format document including the character information written in a predetermined format is determined as the special document and the special document identification information for identifying the special document is stored. An original document determining unit compares document color distribution information (color distribution information relating to a sample area of a special document) retained as the special document identification information with original document color distribution information (color distribution information of an area corresponding to the sample area of the special document) and, when the both of them match, the original document is determined to be a special original document. When the original document corresponds to the special document, image data acquired by reading out the original document is converted into monochrome image data and is recorded on a recording sheet. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273747 | Controlling Use of Audio or Image Content - The present invention relates generally to controlling use of audio or image content (e.g., which may comprise video). In one claim, a method is provided including: receiving information, the information having been obtained from analyzing data representing audio elements or image picture elements to derive the information there from, accessing a database with the information to obtain permitted usage rights for audio or image content associated with the data; and providing the information to a remote device to allow control of the audio or image content in accordance with the permitted usage rights. Of course, other combinations are provided and claimed as well. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273748 | Image And Part Recognition Technology - A system and method for recognition of images may include the use of alignment markers. The image recognized may be a pattern from an array, a character, a number, a shape, and/or irregular shapes. The pattern may be formed by elements in an array such as an identification marking and/or a sensor array. More particularly, the system and method relate to discriminating between images by accounting for the orientation of the image. The size and/or location of alignment markers may provide information about the orientation of an image. Information about the orientation of an image may reduce false recognitions. The system and method of image recognition may be used with identification markings, biosensors, micro-fluidic arrays, and/or optical character recognition systems. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273749 | IMPLICIT VIDEO CODING CONFIRMATION OF AUTOMATIC ADDRESS RECOGNITION - A method for sorting mail that may include performing an automatic address recognition process on a digitized image of a mail piece and generating a plurality of conditional address recognition results and a plurality of confirmation values each associated with one of the plurality of conditional address recognition results. The method can include sending the digitized image, the plurality of conditional address recognition results and the plurality of confirmation values to a video coding system, and selecting a video coding task corresponding to one or more of the plurality of confirmation values. The method can include comparing a video coding result with each of the plurality of confirmation values and, if one of the plurality of confirmation values matches the video coding result, then selecting a confirmed address recognition result from the plurality of conditional address recognition results, the confirmed address recognition result being associated with the confirmation value matching the video coding result. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273750 | Apparatus and Method For Automatically Detecting Objects - A device automatically detects boundary lines on the road from an image captured by a camera mounted on the vehicle. The device includes a controller that performs image processing on the image to compute the velocity information for each pixel in the image, and, on the basis of the computed velocity information for each pixel in the image, extracts the pixels that contain velocity information, detects the oblique lines formed by the extracted pixels, and detects the boundary lines on the road on the basis of the detected oblique lines. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273751 | Detection and Tracking of Moving Objects from a Moving Platform in Presence of Strong Parallax - Among other things, methods, systems and computer program products are described for detecting and tracking a moving object in a scene. One or more residual pixels are identified from video data. At least two geometric constraints are applied to the identified one or more residual pixels. A disparity of the one or more residual pixels to the applied at least two geometric constraints is calculated. Based on the detected disparity, the one or more residual pixels are classified as belonging to parallax or independent motion and the parallax classified residual pixels are filtered. Further, a moving object is tracked in the video data. Tracking the object includes representing the detected disparity in probabilistic likelihood models. Tracking the object also includes accumulating the probabilistic likelihood models within a number of frames during the parallax filtering. Further, tracking the object includes based on the accumulated probabilistic likelihood models, extracting an optimal path of the moving object. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273752 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VEHICLE DETECTION AND TRACKING - A method for vehicle detection and tracking includes acquiring video data including a plurality of frames, comparing a first frame of the acquired video data against a set of one or more vehicle detectors to form vehicle hypotheses, pruning and verifying the vehicle hypotheses using a set of course-to-fine constraints to detect a vehicle, and tracking the detected vehicle within one or more subsequent frames of the acquired video data by fusing shape template matching with one or more vehicle detectors. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273753 | System for Detecting Image Abnormalities - An image capture system for capturing images of an object, the image capture system comprising a moving platform such as an airplane, one or more image capture devices mounted to the moving platform, and a detection computer. The image capture device has a sensor for capturing an image. The detection computer executes an abnormality detection algorithm for detecting an abnormality in an image immediately after the image is captured and then automatically and immediately causing a re-shoot of the image. Alternatively, the detection computer sends a signal to the flight management software executed on a computer system to automatically schedule a re-shoot of the image. When the moving platform is an airplane, the detection computer schedules a re-shoot of the image such that the image is retaken before landing the airplane. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273754 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DEFINING AN AREA OF INTEREST FOR IMAGE SENSING - A method for defining an area of interest or a trip line using a camera by tracking the movement of a person within a field of view of the camera. The area of interest is defined by a path or boundary indicated by the person's movement. Alternatively, a trip line comprising a path between a starting point and a stopping point may be defined by tracking the movement of the person within the camera's field of view. An occupancy sensor may be structured to sense the movement of an occupant within an area, and to adjust the lighting in the area accordingly if the occupant enters the area of interest or crosses the trip line. The occupancy sensor includes an image sensor coupled to a processor, an input facility such as a pushbutton to receive input, and an output facility such as an electronic beeper to provide feedback to the person defining the area of interest or the trip line. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273755 | CAMERA-BASED USER INPUT FOR COMPACT DEVICES - A camera is used to detect a position and/or orientation of an object such as a user's finger as an approach for providing user input, for example to scroll through data, control a cursor position, and provide input to control a video game based on a position of a user's finger. Input may be provided to a handheld device, including, for example, cell phones, video games systems, portable music (MP3) players, portable video players, personal data assistants (PDAs), audio/video equipment remote controls, and consumer digital cameras, or other types of devices. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273756 | POINTING DEVICE AND MOTION VALUE CALCULATING METHOD THEREOF - A pointing device is provided. A sensor generates a motion detection signal by sensing motion. A calculator receives the motion detection signal, calculates a motion value based on the motion detection signal, calculates a conversion motion value base on an angle of the motion value, and outputs the conversion motion value. An interface outputs the motion conversion value inputted from the calculator. By limiting a motion angle, the pointing device can provide a positioning operation suitable for a motion intended by a user. The user can optionally use a motion control method in all directions according to need. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273757 | Image Recognizing Apparatus and Method, and Position Determining Apparatus, Vehicle Controlling Apparatus and Navigation Apparatus Using the Image Recognizing Apparatus or Method - There is provided e.g. an image recognizing apparatus which can increase the recognition rate of the image of a recognition target even when the recognition rate in the image recognition operation would deteriorate otherwise due to inability of obtaining good image information on the recognition target, if the operation relied solely on picked up image information. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273758 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MONITORING A SPATIAL AREA, IN PARTICULAR FOR SAFEGUARDING A HAZARDOUS AREA OF AN AUTOMATICALLY OPERATED INSTALLATION - An apparatus for monitoring a spatial area, in particular for safeguarding a hazardous area of an automatically operated installation, comprises an illumination device which at least temporarily emits light signals into the spatial area. A first image recording unit records a first image of the spatial area. The first image recording unit comprises an image sensor having a plurality of pixels. An evaluation unit determines a distance value for at least one spatial area point, which is located in the spatial area and is imaged on at least one pixel, by means of a propagation type measurement. The propagation type measurement suffers from a limited unambiguity range. Therefore, a test device is designed to check the distance value by means of a reference distance value determined from a second image of said spatial area. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273759 | Geospatial Modeling System Providing Non-Linear Inpainting for Voids in Geospatial Model Terrain Data and Related Methods - A geospatial modeling system may include a geospatial model database and a processor. The processor may cooperate with the geospatial model database for inpainting data into at least one void in geospatial model terrain data based upon propagating contour data from outside the at least one void into the at least one void. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273760 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LIVESTOCK ASSESSMENT - A method and apparatus for capturing a three-dimensional representation of livestock involves simultaneously imaging the reflections of a light source from various portions of the animal on a two-dimensional pixel array and deriving range data for each pixel. The range data from the plurality of pixels is used to generate a three-dimensional representation of the animal for phenotype or other conformation assessments. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273761 | Image Recognition Device, Image Recognition Method, and Program for Causing Computer to Execute the Method - An average face-image is created from images belonging to a face-image group and sample points are specified on the average face-image. Sample points are detected on images in the face-image group corresponding to sample points on the average face-image thereby creating recognition subspaces of feature vectors. Sample points are detected on registered images and an input image corresponding to the sample points on the average face-image by using the recognition subspaces. A degree of similarity between the feature vectors in the recognition subspaces of the registered images and the input image is calculated at the detected sample points. Finally, a person is verified based on the degree of similarity. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273762 | Image Determination Device, Image Determination Method, and Program - An image determination device according to the present invention includes: an extraction means for extracting a figuration pattern of an identification subject in a finger reflected on an image; a detection means for detecting a joint line in the finger; and a determination means for determining the image as an image to be registered or an image to be collated with a registration subject when a joint line exists in a first range which is set in one of respective regions obtained when separating the image with the center line that corresponds to a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the finger and that is set as the border, and a blood vessel amount which is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value exists in a second range which is set in the other region different from the region in which the first range is set. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273763 | Method and device for locating a human iris in an eye image - The present disclosure relates to a method for locating the iris in an image of an eye, comprising steps of locating the pupil in the image, of detecting positions of intensity steps of pixels located on a line passing through the pupil and transition zones between the iris and the cornea, on either side of the pupil, and of determining the center and the radius of a circle passing through the detected positions of the transitions. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273764 | Personal Gesture Signature - The present invention relates to a system and a method of verifying the identity of a user and based thereon controlling access to user specific data or actions, said method verifies said identity by receiving an identification key, and based on a comparison with a pre stored reference identification key access to said user specific data or action is controlled, said identification key being obtained by the steps of: visually recording a gesture by recording the trajectory of a hand of said user when the user uses said hand for performing a gesture, extracting gesture characteristics from said visually recorded gesture, performing said verification by comparing an identification key comprising said gesture characteristics with a pre stored reference identification key comprising reference gesture characteristics. An advantage of the gesture signature over “static” approaches like iris scans or face recognition is reliability. The dynamic data inherent in a gesture signature strongly increases the verification confidence. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273765 | IMAGE STORAGE DEVICE, IMAGING DEVICE, IMAGE STORAGE METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An image storage device includes a facial-expression-correlation estimator configured to estimate a facial expression correlation representing a degree of correlation between a facial expression in a face image and a predetermined reference facial expression, the face image being included in time-varying image data; a facial-expression estimator configured to detect, through estimation based on transition of the facial expression correlation, a situation where the facial expression in the face image and the predetermined reference facial expression are expected to come to have a predetermined correlative relationship within a predetermined period; and an image-storage controller configured to exercise control so that the image data in the predetermined period from the detection is maintained in an image-data storage unit. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273766 | FACE RECOGNITION SYSTEM AND METHOD BASED ON ADAPTIVE LEARNING - A face recognition system based on adaptive learning includes a specific person detection and tracking unit for detecting and tracking a specific person from a moving image. A facial feature extraction unit extracts a plurality of facial feature vectors from the detected and tracked specific person. A face recognition unit searches for a given registration model by comparing the extracted facial feature vectors with facial feature vectors of the registration models previously stored in a user registration model database. A learning target selection unit selects a facial feature vector to be added to a record of the given registration model from among the extracted facial feature vectors. A registration model learning unit adds and updates the selected facial feature vector to the record of the given registration model. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273767 | ITERATIVE PRINT MATCHING METHOD AND SYSTEM - A print identification system performs the following: comparing a primary search print to each of a plurality of file print to generate a primary sorted match report having a first set of file IDs each associated with a first match score; applying a decision logic to the first match scores to determine a status of the corresponding file prints a strong match, a possible match or no match to the search print; for each file print identified as a strong match, compare that file print against file prints identified as a possible match or no match to generate a sub-match report including at least a portion of the first set of file IDs each associated with a second match score; and modifying the primary sorted match report based on at least one of the second match scores to generate a final sorted match report. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273768 | BIOMETRIC SENSOR APPARATUS AND METHOD - A biometric sensor apparatus uses an infra red light source and a CMOS image sensor. A platen receives a body part and the image sensor receives light transmitted through the body part. A processor determines from the detected through-transmitted light whether the body part is live or is a spoof body part. This determination is based upon a detected variation of the opacity of the body part due to blood flow through the body part. Digital processing of the collected image signal data is performed, such as by smoothing. The sensor may further function as a pattern (such as a fingerprint) sensor for detecting surface patterns on the presented body part and identifying an individual from those sensed patterns. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273769 | PRINT MATCHING METHOD AND SYSTEM USING DIRECTION IMAGES - A system includes an interface receiving a search print record including a first direction image of a search print and a file print record including a second direction image of a file print, and a processing device. The processing device performs a method and a computer-readable storage medium stores code for programming a computer to perform the method, which includes: aligning the first and second direction images to identify an overlapping and a non-overlapping area; comparing block direction between the first and second direction images within the overlapping area; performing a rationality analysis on the aligned direction images to at least determine whether one of the direction images and the non-overlapping area of the other direction image are from a different finger; and generating a similarity score based on the block direction comparison and the rationality analysis, which indicates a measure of similarity between the search and file prints. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273770 | Fast Fingerprint Identification And Verification By Minutiae Pair Indexing - For each minutia in the fingerprint, a set of surrounding “neighborhood” minutiae is identified. In each neighborhood, each minutiae pair of central and neighboring minutiae is described by several features including (but not limited to) the spacing between the two minutiae in a pair, the difference of orientations of two minutiae and the angle between the orientation of the central minutia and a line connecting the two minutiae. From these minutiae pair features, a minutiae pair index is constructed. The minutiae pair indices of enrolled fingerprints are compared to those of a proffered fingerprint. Identification of match can be by way of sufficient matching indices, sufficient matching neighborhoods identified from matching indices, and can be verified by a detailed comparison of corresponding minutiae pairs. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273771 | APPARATUS FOR CAPTURING A HIGH QUALITY IMAGE OF A MOIST FINGER - An apparatus for capturing the image of a wet/moist fingerprint. The apparatus includes: a prism having an imaging plane on which a finger having valleys and ridges is place, a bottom plane parallel to the imaging plane and a reflective plane intercepting the imaging plane and intercepting the bottom plane at an angle α; a light source for generating a light with an incident angle of approximately 0° with respect to a surface normal of the imaging plane; and a lens for capturing light reflected from the reflective plane. The apparatus further includes an image sensor for generating an image of the valleys and ridges of the finger, wherein the reflective plane is arranged in such a way to meet the equation of α>45 +(a sin(n | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273772 | Component Labeling - Disclosed herein are methods, computer systems and computer program products for labeling components. One method includes the step of labeling ( | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273773 | Three-dimensional modeling of the oral cavity - A method for creating three-dimensional models of intra-oral scenes and features. The intra-oral scene is illuminated by a two-dimensional array of structured illumination points, with anti-aliasing achieved by using stored two-dimensional patterns of pixels for anti-aliasing. Using a single camera to form images reduces the amount of apparatus necessary to introduce into the patient's mouth. Three-dimensional models are obtained from the single image by triangulation with a stored image of the structured illumination onto a reference surface such as a plane. Alternative methods include the use of “bar-coded” one-dimensional patterns. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273774 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR CAPTURING A MEDICAL DRAWING OR SKETCH FOR GENERATING PROGRESS NOTES, DIAGNOSIS AND BILLING CODES - A system and methods are provided that allows an end user such as a doctor to draw a picture representation of a patient physical findings such as symptoms, treatments, imaging results or other procedures so that the rendering is captured and translated to a textual description as progress notes, diagnosis, or for inclusion with an electronic medical record, for example. The captured rendering (“sketch-to-text”) is storable and recallable for future annotations as needed. The translated description may be used for automated billing. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273775 | CARTESIAN HUMAN MORPHO-INFORMATIC SYSTEM - The present invention is a three dimensional Cartesian coordinate system for the human body, having three perpendicular and intersecting planes. The present invention is based upon the use of the three cardinal planes, in the universally recognized orientations. The cardinal planes in accordance with the present invention are: Sagittal: midsagittal plane, Transverse: upper-most extent of the iliac crests, and Coronal: anterior-most aspect of the vertebral canal. The point at which these planes intersect defines the 0,0,0 location in the human body. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273776 | Apparatus and Method for Rapid Microscopic Image Focusing - A method of capturing a focused image of a continuously moving slide/objective arrangement is provided. A frame grabber device is triggered to capture an image of the slide through an objective at a first focus level as the slide continuously moves laterally relative to the objective. Alternatingly with triggering the frame grabber device, the objective is triggered to move to a second focus level after capture of the image of the slide. The objective moves in discrete steps, oscillating between minimum and maximum focus levels. The frame grabber device is triggered at a frequency as the slide continuously moves laterally relative to the objective so multiple images at different focus levels overlap, whereby a slide portion is common to each. The image having the maximum contrast value within overlapping images represents an optimum focus level for the slide portion, and thus the focused image. Associated apparatuses and methods are also provided. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273777 | Methods And Apparatus For Segmentation And Reconstruction For Endovascular And Endoluminal Anatomical Structures - Methods and apparatus for generating network of endoluminal surfaces by defining a set of medial axes for a tubular structure, defining a series of cross sections along medial axis in the set of medial axes, generating a connectivity graph of the medial axes, defining multiple surface representations based upon the graph of the medial axes and the cross sections, computing a volume defined by a first one of the surface representations, defining a partition of the medial axis, cross-sections, surface and/or volume representations, and outputting the network of endoluminal surfaces. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273778 | Image Reconstruction Method and Tomograph - A weighting function is created according to an arbitrary bio-movement correction range and a projection data angle for back-projection (width in the view direction used for reconstruction), set by a user, by considering the degree of the bio-movement and redundancy. By using this weighting function, an image reconstruction is performed. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273779 | Elastic Image Registration Functionality - A current diagnostic image (A) and an archived diagnostic image (B) of a common region of a patient are loaded into a first memory ( | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273780 | Methods and systems for attenuation correction in medical imaging - Methods and systems for imaging a patient are provided. The method includes scanning a patient and acquiring a plurality of frames of cine computed tomography (CT) images during one complete respiratory cycle. In one embodiment, a method is provided that includes selecting a value for each pixel that represents the maximum density measurement for the pixel throughout the cine acquisition. In one embodiment, an attenuation correction image of a volume of interest is constructed by weighting a combination of the maximum pixel intensity value and an average pixel intensity value. Undesirable motion artifacts can be removed from positron emission tomography (PET) images by utilizing the CT attenuation correction image. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273781 | Electronic Stool Subtraction in Ct Colonography - A method for processing CT colonography input image voxel data representative of 3-dimensional images of a colon having gas and stool tagged with stool tagging agent, to remove the stool from the images. The input image voxel data is generated by an imaging instrument having a characteristic point spread function representative of instrument blurring. The point spread function of the instrument can be empirically determined, and the image data processed as a function of the point spread function to accurately identify and remove the tagged stool. In one embodiment of the invention, portions of the image data representative of the tagged stool and colon tissue are dilated as a function of the point spread function. In another embodiment, portions of the image data representative of the tagged stool are convolved with the point spread function to determine the fractional amount of stool present in the image portions, and the tagged stool subtracted by reducing the intensities of the associated portions of the image by an amount proportional to the fractional amount of stool present. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273782 | X-RAY CT APPARATUS, MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION INFORMATION GENERATING SYSTEM, X-RAY DIAGNOSTIC METHOD AND MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION INFORMATION GENERATING METHOD - An X-ray CT apparatus has an image generating unit and a blood flow information acquiring unit. The image generating unit acquires projection data at rest and at non-rest from a myocardial part of an object into which contrast medium is injected continuously in a state in which each concentration of the contrast medium can be considered to be constant and reconstructs contrast CT image data at the rest and at the non-rest using the acquired projection data. The blood flow information acquiring unit obtains third blood flow information based in first blood flow information derived from the contrast CT image data at the rest and second blood flow information derived from the contrast CT image data at the non-rest. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273783 | Methods, Systems and Computer Program Products For Mixed-Density Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Imaging - Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for acquiring an image set using optical coherence tomography (OCT). A first portion of a defined volume is scanned at a low-density sampling rate to obtain a plurality of low-density frames. A second portion of the defined volume is scanned at a high-density sampling rate, higher than the low-density sampling rate, to obtain at least one high-density frame. The low-density frames and the at least one high-density frame are combined to provide a complete mixed-density image set. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273784 | Image system for retaining contrast when merging image data - The invention relates to a method for the joint of registering, archiving, contrast-retaining merging, and visualizing of 2D x-ray images and reconstructed 2D projections or 3D views of generated image data in minimally invasive medical interventions or operations performed under x-ray control on internal organs, areas of tissue, lesions, or pathological structures in a patient's body. A first image and the image data of a second image being mixed over the first image are mutually linked, co-registered, and merged using an alpha-channel-based mixing technique, whereby the color values or gray-scale values of the individual pixels of the first image are prior to being mixed-over with the segmented foreground of the second image brightened through the application of a color-value or gray-scale-value for compensating or lessening the reduction in contrast that occurs during mix-over in the first image before being displayed graphically on a monitor terminal. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273785 | Methods and systems for retrospective internal gating - The present invention, in one form, is a method for deriving respiratory gated PET image reconstruction from raw PET data. In reconstructing the respiratory gated images in accordance with the present invention, respiratory motion information derived from individual voxel signal fluctuations, is used in combination to create usable respiratory phase information. Employing this method allows the respiratory gated PET images to be reconstructed from PET data with out the use of external hardware, and in a fully automated manner. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273786 | Cell Culture Device, Image Processing Device and Cell Detecting System - In a container of a cell culture device, a light source and a camera are arranged on both sides of an incubator, and the camera or incubator can be moved in relation to each other. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273787 | Automated Selection of Image Regions - A method for automated selection of image regions (“tiles”) in an overall image includes computing a gray-level co-occurrence matrix and entropy of a green plane of the overall image, applying morphological closing to the matrix and thresholding the matrix and entropy image to provide binary masks. The matrix and entropy masks are combined with a vignette mask, the combination indicating areas of acceptable tissue from which tiles are selected randomly. For cancer grading; image data is transformed to Hue, Saturation and Value; for steroid/protein expression analysis it is transformed to cyan and a Sobel of cyan is computed. A feature measure is computed for each tile based on colour and texture, and is carried out randomly but influenced by feature measure. Finally, from the further selection, tiles are chosen which combine high feature measure with low overlap. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273788 | System and Method for Quality Assurance in Pathology - Systems and methods for improving quality assurance in pathology using automated quality assessment and digital image enhancements on digital slides prior to analysis by the pathologist are provided. A digital pathology system (slide scanning instrument and software) creates, assesses and improves the quality of a digital slide. The improved digital slide image has a higher image quality that results in increased efficiency and accuracy in the analysis and diagnosis of such digital slides when they are reviewed on a monitor by a pathologist. These improved digital slides yield a more objective diagnosis than reading the corresponding glass slide under a microscope. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273789 | Acceptor Device for Sheet Objects - An acceptor device for sheet objects such as banknotes, comprises a sensor to derive data corresponding to a spatial array of data samples from a face of a sheet object, said data being configured in a sampling frame that lies within a range of positional relationships to a reference frame. The acceptor device also comprises a processor operable to process the data to determine the relationship between the reference frame and the sampling frame for the sensed data, and being operable to transform pre-selected regions of the sensed data from the sampling frame so as to correspond to data in the reference frame, and to make a comparison of the transformed data with reference data corresponding to the pre-selected regions in the reference frame and to the sheet object depending on the outcome of the comparison. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273790 | MEASUREMENT DEVICE FOR MEASURING THE PARAMETERS OF A BLADE ROTOR AND MEASUREMENT PROCESS FOR MEASURING WITH SAID DEVICE - The invention relates to a measurement device for measuring the parameters of a blade rotor and a measurement process for measuring with said device, consisting of an element ( | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273791 | Apparatus, method, and medium for dividing regions by using feature points and mobile robot using the same - An apparatus, method, and medium for dividing regions by using feature points and a mobile robot cleaner using the same are provided. A method includes forming a grid map by using a plurality of grid points that are obtained by detecting distances of a mobile robot from obstacles; extracting feature points from the grid map; extracting candidate pairs of feature points, which are in the range of a region division element, from the feature points; extracting a final pair of feature points, which satisfies the requirements of the region division element, from the candidate pairs of feature points; forming a critical line by connecting the final pair of feature points; and forming a final region in accordance with the size relationship between regions formed of a closed curve which connects the critical line and the grid map. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273792 | Image file processing method including color conversion and corresponding image file processing apparatus - An image file processing method adopted in an image file processing apparatus, includes steps for: inputting from the outside an image file containing at least color information corresponding to each of pixels defined by a color space used in the image file, a color space identification tag indicating whether or not the color space used in the image file is a first color space and a color space information tag providing color space information related to the color space used in the image file; making a decision as to whether or not the color space used in the image file is the first color space based upon the color space identification tag; and referencing the color space information tag in the image file if the color space used in the image file is determined not to be in the first color space. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273793 | SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD, NOISE REDUCTION APPARATUS AND METHOD, AND PROGRAM THEREFOR - A signal processing apparatus including: a first noise reduction processing means that performs first noise reduction processing on an image, in which each of multitudes of pixels has one of a plurality of color components and the color components are distributed regularly, based only on pixel arrangement to obtain a first processed image; a color component separation means that separates the first processed image into each of the color components to obtain a plurality of color component images; and a signal classification means that compares a signal value of a target pixel for processing with a signal value of each pixel included in a predetermined range of area around the target pixel and classifies each pixel within the predetermined range of area into one of a plurality of groups based on the comparison result. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273794 | USER ADJUSTABLE GAMUT MAPPING AND CONVERSION OF IMAGES FROM A SOURCE COLOR SPACE TO A DESTINATION COLOR SPACE INCLUDING PRIMARY AND REDUNDANT COLORS - A method and software for converting a digital representation of a reference image to a preferred representation having higher chroma in selected subject areas. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273795 | FLEXIBLE MATCHING WITH COMBINATIONAL SIMILARITY - Computer-readable media, systems, and methods for flexible matching with combinational similarity are described. In embodiments, an object image is received, a query image is received, and the query image is compared with the object image. In various embodiments matching information is determined based upon combinational similarity and the matching information is presented to a user. In various embodiments, comparing the query image with the object image includes dividing the object image into agents, creating a gradient histogram for the agents, determining map areas for the query image, creating a gradient histogram for the map areas, and creating a similarity array for each of the agents. Further, in various embodiments, determining matching information includes creating a combinational array by combining the similarity arrays for each agent and determining whether the combinational array includes a peak value. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273796 | Image Text Replacement - Image text enhancement techniques are described. In an implementation, graphically represented text included in an original image is converted into process capable text. The process capable text may be used to generate a text image which may replace the original text to enhance the image. In further implementations the process capable text may be translated from a first language to a second language for inclusion in the enhanced image. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273797 | Editing System with Digital Pen, Editing Method, and Program Thereof - An editing system is provided which is configured to include a paper | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273798 | Image processing device, image processing method, and program - There is provided an image processing device that includes a facial image extraction portion, a positivity computation portion, and a selected image update portion. The facial image extraction portion specifies a facial region of an imaged subject within at least one sequentially input selection-eligible image and extracts from the selection-eligible image a facial image that corresponds to the facial region. The positivity computation portion computes for the selection-eligible image, using the corresponding facial image, a positivity of the imaged subject toward a person who acquired the selection-eligible image. The selected image update portion compares the selection-eligible image for which the positivity was computed in the positivity computation portion to a selection candidate image that has the greatest positivity among selection-eligible images for the same imaged subject for which the positivities have already been computed, and makes the image with the greater positivity the new selection candidate image. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273799 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, PROGRAM, AND PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM - An information processing apparatus including a function of processing images is provided. The information processing apparatus includes a bitmap data obtaining unit configured to obtain bitmap data; a pixel extracting unit configured to extract, from the bitmap data obtained by the bitmap data obtaining unit, pixels on the basis of circumference of circles of a predetermined radius that would be drawn from the center of graphic pixels constituting a character or an image, and regard the pixels as extracted pixels; a pixel value giving unit configured to give a predetermined pixel value to the pixels extracted by the pixel extracting unit; and a first combining unit configured to combine the extracted pixels to which the pixel value has been given by the pixel value giving unit and the bitmap data obtained by the bitmap data obtaining unit so as to obtain bitmap data with an effect. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273800 | Template Matching Method, Template Matching Apparatus, And Recording Medium That Records Program For It - There is provided a template matching method having a small amount of calculation and high detection accuracy. The amount of calculation is reduced while minimizing the degradation of the detection accuracy by calculating the similarity between a template image region and a reference image region at rough position intervals and estimating by interpolation of the similarity at a position where it is not calculated from the similarity calculated at a peripheral position. At the time, even if the gradient of a similarity greatly changes at the minimal point, estimation can be realized with high accuracy by executing estimation making use of the directional gradients of the similarity obtained in plural different directions independently. Additionally, occurrence of wrong detection is avoided by the restriction to disable the difference between the estimated similarity and adjacent similarity to exceed a threshold, which is defined based on the similarity between the template image region and the image region obtained by moving the template image region in the same direction as or in the opposite direction to the direction of estimation. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273801 | Method and System for Searching a Database of Graphical Data - A method and system for searching a database of graphical data are described. Embodiments of the invention use accelerated image-comparing techniques based on application of the Levenshtein algorithm for matching or searching one-dimensional data strings to recognizing pre-selected targets in graphical contents of 2D images. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273802 | Program and apparatus for forms processing - A form processing program which is capable of automatically extracting keywords. When the image of a scanned form is entered, a layout recognizer extracts a readout region of the form image, a character recognizer recognizes characters within the readout region. A form logical definition database stores form logical definitions defining strings as keywords according to logical structures which are common to forms of same type. A possible string extractor extracts as possible strings combinations of recognized characters each of which satisfies defined relationships of a string. A linking unit links the possible strings according to positional relationships, and determines a combination of possible strings as keywords. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273803 | System, method and article of manufacture for decompressing digital camera sensor data - The present invention includes a system, method, and article of manufacture for decompressing a bit stream of compressed data representing a plurality of image blocks. This includes a two-step method of processing both a DC code and a plurality of AC codes. With respect to the processing of the AC codes, a plurality of bits of compressed input data relating to the AC codes are first retrieved from the bit stream. A first decoding operation is then executed based on the obtained compressed input data in order to generate first output data. It is then determined whether sufficient space is available for the first output data. If it is determined that there is sufficient space for the first output data, the first output data is outputted. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is insufficient space for the first output data, an alternate second decoding operation is executed in order to generate second output data. In order to carry out the foregoing decoding operations, a data structure is provided in a look-up table for being employed by the AC decoder during use. Such data structure includes a plurality of data segments each having a payload and a pointer. The payload includes a plurality of bits in one of a plurality of coding schemes. Further, the pointer corresponds to a routine which is capable of processing the coding scheme of the payload associated with the pointer. The first decoding operation first includes the step of performing a look-up in the look-up table based on the obtained compressed input data. The pointer is then retrieved from one of the data segments that corresponds to the obtained compressed input data. Next, the routine corresponding to the retrieved pointer is executed. The payload is then processed in the executed routine in order to generate the first output data. The foregoing routine that processes the payload of the data segment in order to generate the first output data may take many forms. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273804 | Image Transformation - A method of decoding an encoded image represented by a plurality of data chunks, the method comprising retrieving a run length indicator and a colour signifier from a data chunk and adding to a pixel map a run of pixels of a colour value determined by the colour signifier and of a length indicated by the run length indicator, in which the colour signifier comprises an index to a look-up table containing information relating to a palette of colour values used in the image. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273805 | Semiconductor device and an image processor - An apparatus for encoding a plurality of image data series and decoding a plurality of encoded image data series includes an interface control circuit for executing data read/write operation from and to a memory area, an encoding/decoding circuit for selectively executing encoding of image data of one series written into the memory area or decoding of encoded image data of one series, and a plurality of registers for giving an instruction of processing to the encoding/decoding circuit wherein the encoding/decoding circuit executes encoding and decoding on a time division basis and in a series unit for image data of a plurality of series in accordance with the instruction from the plurality of registers. The apparatus for executing encoding and decoding of multi-stream image data can be rendered compact in size. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273806 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INITIALIZING TEMPLATES OF MOVING OBJECTS - A method for tracking a moving object in a sequence of images is provided, comprising: partitioning each of said images of said sequence into blocks, identifying blocks which have moved between consecutive images of said sequence, grouping adjacent blocks, which have moved in a same direction by a same distance, into a first group of blocks, initializing an initial template for said moving object with said first group of blocks and tracking said template in said sequence of images. A corresponding system for tracking moving objects is presented as well. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273807 | COMPRESSION OF DIGITAL IMAGES OF SCANNED DOCUMENTS - A first aspect of the invention relates to a method for creating a binary mask image from an a inputted digital image of a scanned document, comprising the steps of creating a binarized image by binarizing the inputted digital image, detecting first text regions representing light text on a dark background, and inverting the first text regions, such that the inverted first text regions are interpretable in the same way as dark text on a light background. A second aspect of the invention relates to a method for comparing in a binary image a first pixel blob with a second pixel blob to determine whether they represent matching symbols, comprising the steps of detecting a line in one blob not present in the other and/or determining if one of the blobs represents an italicized symbol where the other does not. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273808 | FASTER TRANSFORMS USING EARLY ABORTS AND PRECISION REFINEMENTS - Fast transforms that use early aborts and precision refinements are disclosed. When to perform a corrective action is detected based upon testing the incremental calculations of transform coefficients. Corrective action is then performed. The corrective action includes refining the incremental calculations to obtain additional precision and/or aborting the incremental calculations when the resulting numbers are sufficient. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273809 | Method and System for Improving Compressed Image Chroma Information - Methods, systems, and computer programs for improving compressed image chroma information. In one aspect of the invention, a resolution for a red color component of a color video image is used that is higher than the resolution for a blue color component of the color video image. Another aspect includes utilizing a lower or higher value of a quantization parameter (QP) for one or more chroma channels as compared to the luminance channel. Another aspect is use of a logarithmic representation of a video image to benefit image coding. Another aspect uses more than two chroma channels to represent a video image. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273810 | VIDEO CODING MODE SELECTION USING ESTIMATED CODING COSTS - This disclosure describes techniques for coding mode selection using estimated coding costs. To provide high compression efficiency, for example, an encoding device may attempt to select a coding mode for coding blocks of pixels that codes the data of the blocks with high efficiency. To this end, the encoding device may perform coding mode selection based on estimates of coding cost for at least a portion of the possible modes. In accordance with the techniques described herein, the encoding device estimates the coding cost for the different modes without actually coding the blocks. In fact, in some aspects, the encoding module device may estimate the coding cost for the modes without quantizing the data of the block for each mode. In this manner, the coding cost estimation techniques of this disclosure reduce the amount of computationally intensive calculations needed to perform effective mode selection. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273811 | Image Processing Method and Apparatus - Disclosed is an edge sharpening method using maximum and minimum filters. In an embodiment of the present invention, the edge region of an input image signal is detected, minimum and maximum signals are generated for the detected edge region, the input signal of the detected edge region is compared with the average signal of the minimum and maximum signals, and the average of the input signal and the maximum signal is output if the input signal is larger than the average signal, the average of the input signal and the minimum signal is output if the input signal is smaller than the average signal, and the input signal is output if the input signal is equal to the average signal. Meanwhile, median filtering, using a window perpendicular to the direction in which the edge sharpening is performed, is performed on the region on which the edge sharpening has been performed. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273812 | Image-Correction Method and Image Pickup Apparatus - An image correcting method capable of performing highly accurate shading correction using a table having a small storage area without causing any deterioration of performance even when the shading characteristics vary dynamically. The image correcting method comprises a step for calculating the distance between the coordinates of a pixel constituting an image and a predetermined reference coordinates, a step for calculating a distance correction value by inputting the distance calculated at the distance calculating step to the variable of an N-order function (N is an integer of 1 or above), a step for calculating a correction coefficient corresponding to the distance correction value calculated at the distance correction value calculating step based on a table representing the correspondence between the distance correction value and the correction coefficient, and a step for correcting the signal of the pixel based on the correction coefficient calculated at the correction coefficient calculating step. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273813 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE COMBINING OF ORIGINAL IMAGE DATA AND CODED IMAGE DATA - An information processing device is provided that combines original image data and coded image data in a mutually non-overlapping manner. The information processing device generates coded image data to be combined with original image data. Next, the information process device determines whether or not the object region within the original image data and the generated coded image data region are overlapping. If it is determined that an overlap occurs, the information processing device modifies the shape of the coded image data region in accordance with instructions from a user. Next, the information processing device combines and prints the changed coded image data and the original image data. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273814 | SCALING OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DATA IN A HYBRID DOMAIN - At least a system and data structure for the scaling of data is provided. An exemplary use of the disclosed embodiments involves the scaling up in size or the scaling down in size of computer images. n-dimensional transformed data representing some original n-dimensional real data is received. An m-dimensional inverse transform on the n-dimensional transformed data is performed to produce hybrid data, where 1≦m| 2008-11-06 | |
| 20080273815 | Method and device for retrieving a test block from a blockwise stored reference image - The invention relates to retrieving a test block at a freely selectable position from a blockwise stored reference image. A method for retrieving a test block from a blockwise stored reference image is described. Said method comprises the steps of retrieving a reference block and generating from the reference block a first corona block. Then, the test block is composed using a subsection of the reference block and a subsection of the first corona block. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273816 | OPTICAL RECOGNITION DEVICE AND OPTICAL RECOGNITION DISPLAY COMPRISING THE SAME - An optical recognition device is provided. The optical recognition device includes a transparent substrate, a patterned infrared reflective film formed thereon, and an infrared anti-reflective film sheltering a gap in a recognition pattern of the patterned infrared reflective film, wherein the patterned infrared reflective film reflects the recognition pattern by reflection of infrared light and transmission of visible light. The invention also provides a display incorporating the optical recognition device. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273817 | BAG FOR PACKAGING FOOD PRODUCTS - Bag for packaging food products, particularly fruit and vegetable products, which comprises a flexible tubular body, the central portion of which is designed to house the products contained in the bag and the longitudinal ends of which are closed, a flexible oblong element, such as a strip, which is considerably shorter than the tubular body of the bag, being solidly joined to both closed ends, which acts as a handle whereby to suspend said bag, the tubular body being overdimensioned in relation to the volume of the products housed therein, so that when the bag is suspended from the strip that acts as a handle, it is U-shaped, with its end portions empty and in a vertical position and with its central portion filled with products. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273818 | Easy open - easy load - easy grip bag - A four wall flat bottom bag made with an additional gusset at each corner that extends outside the walls of the bag, making the bag much easier to grip and carry when filled by gripping the outward facing corner gussets as handles. The outward facing gussets make the bag easier to open, by gripping the gussets to pull the bag open when tall bags cannot be reached from the inside bottom to push open. The outward facing gussets help to keep the bag open by providing additional expansion and support at the corners. The outward facing gussets give the bag more stability, making it less likely to tip over when filled. The gussets make the bag less likely to tear at the mouth when being filled by creating a larger opening, making the bag much easier to fill and increasing its capacity. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273819 | Compression Resistant Closure - A closure device is provided having an upper seal member with at least one tongue having a forward facing tip and a reverse facing tip configured to interlock with a matingly configured lower seal member. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273820 | Films, Packages Prepared Therefrom, and Methods of Use - The invention relates to perforated films comprising at least one layer, and to packages prepared from the same. Such packages contain a combination of perforation sizes and perforation densities that allows for effective air removal, during a filling, conveying, and palletizing process, and especially during the pressurized filling of fine powder substances. In particular, the invention provides a perforated film, comprising at least one layer, and wherein the at least one layer comprises perforations that are individually of a size less than, or equal to, 100 microns (μm), and wherein the ratio of the total perforation area to the total film surface area is from 400,000 to 2,000,000 square micron per square inch of film (μm | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273821 | Method and Apparatus for Laser Scored Packaging - A package formed via a vertical-form-fill-and-seal process includes a web material with edge portions sealed to create a vertical sleeve. The package also includes a first sealed end and a second sealed end at either end of the vertical sleeve to create a sealed package. The package includes a laser scribed ablation pattern extending across the web material with ablated portions having an about one to about three millimeter length separated by non-ablated portions of about 0.25 and about 0.75 millimeter length. The package has increased tensile strength to avoid breaking during the vertical-form-fill-and-seal process and provides a high likelihood that an outer edge and vertical seal of the package include ablated portions to provide an easy-to-start tear area to open the package. Also, the short spaces between ablated portions increase the likelihood of tear propagation along the ablation pattern, all the way across the package. | 2008-11-06 |
| 20080273822 | Method And System For Withstanding A Shock Event For A Fluid Dynamic Bearing Motor - A system, method and means is provided for withstanding mechanical shock for use with fluid dynamic bearings. A sealing system is provided that withstands 1000 G shock events. In an aspect, a grooved pumping seal employed between a thrust plate and a shield, a thrust plate having spiral grooves, a fluid recirculation passageway, and a reservoir creates an asymmetric pressure gradient. In an aspect, fluid is retained and air is purged utilizing an enlarged fluid reservoir, axial channels and an angled fill hole. In an aspect, a shaft is attached to a top cover supplying radial stiffness, and an enlarged single-sided thrust plate improves dynamic parallelism. | 2008-11-06 |
