Abstract: The invention provides a multi-function printer not requiring exclusive components (principally electrical components) for reading the print settings and thus being free from a cost increase, and a control method therefor. For print settings such as a paper size and a print quality in a copying or a direct printing, a lever is provided for each print setting item. Before executing the reading and printing operations of copying or direct printing, position of each lever is read and the setting of each print setting item is analyzed based on the position of each lever, and the reading and printing operations are executed according to thus analyzed settings.

Abstract: Provided is technology for enabling power saving control that allows a change of control content according to a user selection in a power control system that saves power consumed by an information processing apparatus. The power control system of the present invention include an image processing apparatus 102 as an example of the information processing apparatus and a power consumption management apparatus 106 that manages the amount of power consumption of the image processing apparatus 102. The image processing apparatus 102, in power saving control based on a control mode according to the amount of power consumption, if execution of a job instructed by a user is restricted depending on a power saving setting received from the power consumption management apparatus 106, changes control content of the control mode to content that has been determined as a substitution for the control content for allowing the job to be executed.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes: a rotatable belt member; a toner image forming unit which forms a toner image on the belt member; a first detection unit which detects the density of the toner image transferred to the belt member; a plurality of position marks which detects a position in the circumferential direction of the belt member; a second detection unit which detects the position marks; a calculation unit which calculates the position in the circumferential direction of the belt member based on a detection result of the second detection unit; and an adjustment unit which adjusts toner image forming conditions of the toner image forming unit based on the output of the first detection unit and the circumferential direction position calculated by the calculation unit; wherein the shape of each of the plurality of position marks is different at each circumferential direction position.

Abstract: The skew-feeding correcting apparatus of the present invention includes an abutment portion which is disposed to a conveying path to convey a sheet and to which a top end of the sheet is abutted to correct skew feeding of the sheet, a movement portion which moves the abutment portion in a sheet width direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction, and a controller which controls driving of the movement portion to move the abutment portion to a position where a corner part of the sheet is not to be abutted to the abutment portion before the top end of the sheet is abutted to the abutment portion.

Abstract: A method of text extraction in color compound documents is described. The method connects similarly colored pixels of an image of a color compound document into connected components (CCs); classifies each CC as either text or non-text; refines the text CC classification for each text CC using global color context statistics; groups text CCs into text blocks; recovers misclassified non-text CCs into a nearby text block; and removes extraneous CCs from each text block using local color context statistics to thereby provide the extracted text in the text blocks. Also described is a method of locating graphics objects in a color compound document image.

Abstract: A robot with a camera includes a hand with a finger, a camera disposed on the hand, a robot arm including the hand, and a control portion which searches for a work based on an image obtained by the camera and controls the robot arm. In addition, a unit detects a velocity of the camera, and a unit detects a position of the camera relative to a predicted stopping position of the camera. The control portion permits the camera to take the image used for searching for the work, when the velocity of the camera takes a preset velocity threshold value or lower and the position of the camera relative to the predicted stopping position takes a preset position threshold value or lower.

Abstract: The recording of successive frames of raw sensor data depicting a moving scene is provided. The raw sensor data comprises pixel data for an image sensor having pixels arranged in correspondence to a mosaic of plural different colors in a color filter array. A first sampling mosaic pattern for sampling the pixel data at a first resolution is designated. A second sampling mosaic pattern for sampling the pixel data at a second resolution which is lower than the first resolution is designated. One of the first or the second sampling mosaic patterns is selected for a frame by applying a predetermined rule. Pixel data of the frame is sampled using the selected sampling mosaic pattern. The sampled pixel data for the frame is recorded onto a recording medium.

Abstract: A method of exhausting a gas in a chamber of a load-lock system having a first valve defining an opening for supplying a gas and a second valve defining an opening for conveyance of an article. The method includes a gas supplying step for supplying a gas heated by a heater into the chamber through the first valve, while the first valve and the second valve are kept open, a conveying step for conveying the article into the chamber while the second valve is kept open, and an exhausting step to be carried out after the gas supplying step and the conveying step are executed and the first and second valves are closed, to exhaust the gas inside the chamber while the first valve and the second valve are kept closed.

Abstract: A solid-state imaging apparatus includes a photoelectric conversion unit for generating and accumulating an electric charge according to an incident light, a floating diffusion for accumulating electric charges, a transfer transistor for transferring electric charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit to the floating diffusion unit, and a reset transistor for resetting a voltage according to electric charges accumulated in the floating diffusion unit. In addition, a drive circuit intermittently applies to a gate of the transfer transistor a pulse having a first potential which is intermediate between a transfer potential for transferring electric charges and a non-transfer potential for disabling transfer of electric charges and applies to a gate of the reset transistor a second potential lower than the potential of the pulse for resetting voltage of the floating diffusion unit and higher than the first potential, during accumulation of electric charges in the photoelectric conversion unit.

Abstract: A plurality of items of content whose meaning content is the same and quality is different is acquired from a plurality of acquisition routes and managed as a single group. Each item of content in this group is analyzed, an evaluation value of each item of content is calculated from the results of analysis and content to be deleted is determined based upon the evaluation values.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing an image sensor having a plurality of pixels, each pixel having a photoelectric converter including an accumulation region, and a transfer gate, the accumulation region extending under a corresponding transfer gate, the plurality of pixels including a plurality of pixel groups, each pixel group including N adjacent pixels, and the channels of the N adjacent pixels, in each pixel group, being configured to transfer the charges of the N adjacent pixels away from each other, the method comprising a step of forming a resist pattern having one opening corresponding to each pixel group, and a step of forming a charge accumulation region for each of the N adjacent pixels by implanting ions into a substrate through the one opening of the resist pattern along N ion implantation directions so as to implant the ions under the transfer gate of each of the N adjacent pixels.

Abstract: To provide a phase grating capable of acquiring, in photographing of an X-ray phase contrast image by use of X-ray with two wavelengths, an X-ray phase contrast image by a phase grating in the same size as when a single wavelength is used, provided is a phase grating used when an X-ray is directed to take an X-ray phase contrast image, the phase grating including a periodic structure for generating a phase difference between an X-ray transmitted through the structure and an X-ray not transmitted through the structure. The periodic structure has different periods in a plurality of directions in a same surface.

Abstract: A vacuum vessel includes a face plate, a rear plate having an interior surface that opposes the face plate, and a side wall joining the face plate and the rear plate, and a plurality of plate-like spacers provided between the face plate and the rear plate so that lengthwise directions thereof are parallel to each other. In addition, a plurality of linear fixing members are adhered to an exterior surface of the rear plate on the opposite side from the interior surface at mutually prescribed intervals and along the lengthwise direction of the plurality of spacers.

Abstract: An image heating apparatus includes an excitation coil; an image heating member for heating an image on a recording material by heat generated by a magnetic flux of the excitation coil; a core disposed opposed to the coil; a moving device for moving the core between a first position in which the core is opposed to the excitation coil and a second position in which the core is remoter from the excitation coil than the first position; and an air blower for blowing air into a space between the core and the excitation coil, the space being provided by moving the core to the second position.

Abstract: The invention provides a block polymer capable of being used as a molecular wire facilitating injection of carriers between itself and an electrode, and a device in which electrodes are bridged by one molecule. The block polymer has a main chain composed of polyacetylene having a spiral structure, and includes a coating insulating block and a conductive block. The coating insulating block has a polyacetylene unit structure having alkyl chains at its side chains through functional groups, the alkyl chains being arranged in a direction parallel to the major axis of the main chain. The conductive block has a polyacetylene unit structure having hydrogen atoms at its side chains through functional groups, the hydrogen atoms being arranged in a direction parallel to the major axis of the main chain. The device has the above-mentioned block polymer, and two or more electrodes.

Abstract: The present invention provides the technology for burying metal even in a fine concave portion such as trench and via. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a vapor of the metal as the objective material, a gas containing halogen for etching the metal, and a metal halide vapor made up of the metal element and the halogen element are supplied to the substrate, which thus forms a metal halide layer in the concave portion, and thereby deposits the metal under the metal halide layer. The procedure can achieve the above object.

Abstract: When glossiness in an area designated by a user was adjusted, the glossiness adjustment was achieved by exchanging a plurality of toners having different glass transition points. Thus, the user was required to select an appropriate toner when the glossiness in the area designated by the user was adjusted. Further, the user took some time or effort to set the selected toner every glossiness adjustment. In the present invention, how to adjust the glossiness in the area designated by the user is obtained as mode information and on the basis of the obtained mode, control is effected so that a transparent image is selectively formed in the area designated by the user or an image formable area except for the area designated by the user.

Abstract: The present invention provides a printing device optimizing information to be embedded by merging pieces of information of respective pages into a single piece of information in N-up printing. The printing device generates the information to be embedded according to a result of analyzing print parameters in print data when performing embedding printing processing of the information to be embedded for the print data in a machine-recognizable manner. That is, in the printing device, a unit of generating information to be embedded acquires respective pieces of information of M pages (1?M?N), analyzes the acquired respective pieces of information to be embedded, and generates a single piece of information to be embedded merging the respective pieces of information to be embedded based on the analysis result of the respective pieces of information to be embedded, when N-up printing is designated.

Abstract: An image decoding apparatus which decodes externally received encoded image information includes a storage unit which stores the image information. The image decoding apparatus includes a first decoding unit which receives, from the storage unit, image data to be decoded and reference data, and decodes the target image data. The image decoding apparatus includes a second decoding unit which receives the image data decoded by the first decoding unit, receives, from the storage unit, image data to be decoded based on the decoded image data, and decodes the image data received from the storage unit. The image decoding apparatus includes a decoding control unit which controls the first and second decoding units to repetitively execute decoding of image data in parallel.

Abstract: The device comprises a first power supply 204 supplying electric power in the normal mode, a second power supply 203 supplying electric power in the power-saving mode, a first switching unit 211 switching between supplying and stopping the supply of electric power from an external power supply to the first power supply, a second switching unit 502 switching between supplying and stopping the supply of electric power outputted from the first power supply 204, a control unit controlling the first switching unit 211 and second switching unit 501 using electric power supplied from the second power supply. In the power-saving mode, the first switching unit stops the supply of electric power from the external power supply to the first power supply.