Patents Examined by Scott A. Rogers
  • Patent number: 10447867
    Abstract: A two-sided scanning device includes a first image scanning module, a second image scanning module, a first scanning background component, a first brightness calibration component, a second scanning background component, and a second brightness calibration component. When the second image scanning module moves relative to the first image scanning module to a scanning position, the second image scanning module drives the first scanning background component to move relative to the first image scanning module, so that the first image scanning module and the second image scanning module are aligned with the first scanning background component and the second scanning background component, respectively. Therefore, the first scanning background component and the second scanning background component can be scanning backgrounds for the first image scanning module and the second image scanning module to generate a scanning image of an object with a size corresponding to an actual size of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: AVISION INC.
    Inventors: Te-Hsun Liu, Chi-Yao Chen, Chin-Jung Tu
  • Patent number: 10440230
    Abstract: According to examples, multi-color printing may include generating, based on an analysis of a print job image, a plurality of contone planes that represent the print job image. Multi-color printing may further include generating, based on an analysis of two or more sets of the contone planes determined from the plurality of contone planes, two or more corresponding sets of halftone planes and a fixer plane for each set of the halftone planes. Multi-color printing may further include generating, based on an analysis of the fixer plane for each set of the halftone planes, a combined fixer plane, and generating, based on an analysis of the two or more corresponding sets of halftone planes and the combined fixer plane, print data to print the print job image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Leslie Drogo
  • Patent number: 10440224
    Abstract: In a case where values received indicate a first color scale representing first number of colors and indicate the specific image process, a processor of an information processing apparatus receives first scan data in the first color scale from the scanner, and performs a specific image process on the first scan data. In a case where the values indicate a second color scale representing second number of colors and does not indicate the specific image process, the processor receives and outputs the second scan data. In a case where the values indicate the second color scale and the specific image process, the processor receives third scan data in the third color scale representing third number of colors larger than the second number. The processor performs the specific image process on the third scan data, and converts the processed third scan data to forth scan data in the second color scale.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenju Narita, Hiroya Nojiri, Kenji Tamaki, Akidi Yoshida
  • Patent number: 10440203
    Abstract: A display includes a display unit, an image sensor that takes an image of a predetermined area and outputs the taken image, and a hardware processor that detects the marker in the taken image, generates differential color information between color data of the marker in the taken image and color data of the marker in the print image data, displays a virtual object which reproduces the print image data in the display unit, sets an object adjustment value for adjusting a color tone of the virtual object displayed on the display unit based on the differential color information, and calculates a print adjustment value for adjusting a color tone reproduced by the image forming apparatus based on the object adjustment value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Konica Minolta, Inc.
    Inventor: Shuta Saito
  • Patent number: 10440231
    Abstract: A system includes a memory to store at least one Halftone Area Neugebauer Separation (HANS) look-up table (LUT) that represents a predetermined drop weight for N colorant channels of a printer. The HANS LUT provides a given Neugebauer Primary area coverage in response to a device color input value. Measurement data stored in the memory represents measured drop weight values for the N colorant channels of the printer. A processor executes instructions stored in the memory. The instructions are to compute a calibration element for the HANS LUT that describes a drop-weight deviation with respect to the HANS LUT based on the measured drop weight values. The instructions are to apply the calibration element to at least a portion of the HANS LUT to generate a calibrated LUT.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Peter Morovic, Jan Morovic
  • Patent number: 10432822
    Abstract: A color conversion LUT creation apparatus includes a derivation unit that derives an output value corresponding to a signal value in an input image for a plurality of virtual color materials whose number is smaller than a number of actual color materials used in an image forming apparatus; a setting unit that sets a target number of dots printed per unit area of the actual color material; and a conversion unit that converts an output value of the plurality of virtual color materials into an output value of the actual color material and creates a color conversion LUT in which the input value and the output value of the actual color material are associated with each other. The setting unit sets the target number of dots based on dispersibility of a dot pattern corresponding to each tone level of a dither matrix used for halftone processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Dobashi, Hisashi Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 10430697
    Abstract: A printer including: a receive buffer that receives string information indicating a strong including one or more substrings; a storage storing data defined by a specific rule; a command string generator that generates, for each substring in the string information received by the receive buffer, a command string including a command and the substring based on information stored in the storage indicating the style of each sub string, a command executor that generates image data according to the one or more commands in the one or more command strings generated by the command string generator; a print buffer for storing the image data generated by the command executor; and a printing mechanism that prints based on the image data stored in the print buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hideo Nakamura
  • Patent number: 10425558
    Abstract: A method of processing a document for printing includes receiving a document; for at least one of the plurality of regions, determining a drop size for that region and determining whether the drop size for printing the region meets a threshold criterion and, if so, processing the region using a tile-based screen for halftoning and, if not, processing the region using an error diffusion screen for halftoning; and printing the processed regions. Another method includes additionally considering coverage level to determine whether to use a tile-based screen or error diffusion screen. Yet another method includes determining whether the region is within a threshold range of a drop step change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: GLOBAL GRAPHICS SOFTWARE LIMITED
    Inventor: Daniel J. Cook
  • Patent number: 10425554
    Abstract: To generate a security mark, a system prints test pattern marks of varying frequencies on a first substrate. The system copies the test pattern marks onto a second substrate. The system analyzes the copy to identify a frequency or period range for test patterns that exhibit a high level of contrast as compared to the original. It then uses the identified range to generate an array of cells having pantograph marks of various foreground/background frequencies/periods. The system prints the array and generates polygons that contain cells in which the foreground is visually distinguished from the background. The system identifies the polygon having an inner point having a largest range to edge. It identifies the frequency/period of the background pattern and of the foreground pattern of the cell that contains the inner point. It then generates a pantograph mark having a background and foreground that correspond the identified frequencies or periods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Edward N. Chapman
  • Patent number: 10419642
    Abstract: A system includes a memory to store pre-computed boundary look-up tables (LUTs) for respective drop weight boundary classes of a printer having a plurality of colorants. Each pre-computed boundary LUT provides one Neugebauer Primary area coverage (NPac) for each node of the LUT in response to a device color input value that corresponds to each node. Measurement data stored in the memory represent measured drop weight values for the plurality of different colorants of the printer. A processor executes instructions that interpolate among the pre-computed LUTs based on the measured drop weight values to determine a proportional weighting of each of the pre-computed LUTs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jan Morovic, Peter Morovic
  • Patent number: 10412264
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a scanner that acquires an image, and a processor that changes areas of a plurality of dot patterns in accordance with gradation values in the image using a plurality of dither matrices, and generates a binary image based on the plurality of dot patterns. A change rate of each of the areas differs from each other. The plurality of dither matrices include a first dither matrix and a second dither matrix. A first change rate of a first area of a plurality of first dot patterns formed based on the first dither matrix and a second change rate of a second area of a plurality of second dot patterns formed based on the second dither matrix differ.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., LTD.
    Inventor: Shunsaku Toshihiro
  • Patent number: 10412269
    Abstract: In one example in accordance with the present disclosure a printer cartridge and memory device containing a representation of a compressed multi-dimensional color table is described. The color table includes at least one low dimensional portion of the multi-dimensional color table storing color transformation information at a first resolution and a number of remaining portions of the multi-dimensional color table storing color transformation information at a second resolution. In the color table, the first resolution is greater than the second resolution and the at least one compressed multi-dimensional color table is to generate a high resolution uncompressed multi-dimensional color table the high resolution being at least as great as the first resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jay S. Gondek, Stephen J. Nichols, Jefferson P. Ward
  • Patent number: 10404891
    Abstract: An image reading apparatus according to an embodiment includes an image reading unit that generates reference data by reading a reference surface and generates image data by reading a sheet. A reference plate includes the reference surface for generating the reference data for shading correction of the image reading unit and a background surface for background of a sheet to be read to generate the image data. A control unit controls the positions of the image reading unit and the reference plate to be at a first position relative to each other when the reference data is to be generated and at a second position relative to each other when the image data is to be generated. The second position is different from the first position. A shading correction unit performs the shading correction in the image reading unit based on the generated reference data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Takeshi Ito
  • Patent number: 10404893
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus has a first color conversion unit that converts a signal value at an achromatic grid point in a first color space among achromatic grid points in a color space, the signal value being closer to white than a first predetermined signal value, into a signal value that is even closer to white, and a second color conversion unit that converts a signal value at a grid point among grid points in the color space, the signal value being closer to white than a second predetermined signal value, into white are provided. The image processing apparatus converts a signal value of an input image using the first color conversion unit, and thereafter converting the signal value using the second color conversion unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Asako Sugahara
  • Patent number: 10397416
    Abstract: A document reading device (20) includes a document reading unit (5) that optically reads an image of a source document, a character string recognizer (102) that recognizes a character string included in a designated region in the source image read by the document reading unit (5), and an image storage controller (103) that stores the source image read by the document reading unit (5) in a storage device. The image storage controller (103) generates, when a character string recognized by the character string recognizer (102) in the source image in a designated page of the source document, and a character string recognized by the character string recognizer (102) in the source image in a preceding page are different from each other, one file including the source images up to the preceding page, and stores the file in the storage device (92).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Keiko Morita
  • Patent number: 10375271
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus which performs image processing for print processing, including: a pseudo halftone processing unit configured to perform pseudo halftone processing by dithering with respect to an input image, and generate a halftone image constituted by plural dots, and a threshold matrix holding unit configured to hold a threshold matrix used for the pseudo halftone processing, wherein in the threshold matrix, thresholds are arranged such that the halftone image has a density region in which dots to be formed depending on a density of the input image are not rotational symmetric on a 90° basis, and orientations of the dots differ from each other in the density region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hirokazu Tamura
  • Patent number: 10372944
    Abstract: An anti-counterfeiting serialization method. The method can include receiving an input serial number, locating a seed character at a predetermined position in the input serial number, determining, based on the seed character, a first output position for an incrementing character of the input serial number, determining, based on the incrementing character, at least one second output position for at least one remaining character of the input serial number, and generating an output serial number having the incrementing character in the first output position and at least one remaining character in the at least one second output position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: AVERY DENNISON RETAIL INFORMATION SERVICES, LLC
    Inventors: Paul A. Chamandy, John W. Moliski
  • Patent number: 10367971
    Abstract: A crease detecting unit 13 detects a crease in a document image. A toner peeling detecting unit (a) detects as a toner peeling part a pixel area on the crease, the pixel area (a1) having a width of the predetermined number of pixels in a direction perpendicular to the crease, (a2) having a background color, and (a3) of which both sides are adjacent to at least two pixels in a direction perpendicular to the crease, the at least two pixels having a color other than the back ground color, and (b) corrects a pixel value of the toner peeling part on the basis of pixel values of at least two pixels adjacent to both sides of the pixel area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Kyocera Document Solutions, Inc.
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Kanamaru
  • Patent number: 10362193
    Abstract: An information conversion apparatus includes an extraction unit that extracts attribute information added to an image, an acquisition unit that acquires viewer information indicating a viewer, a determination unit that uses a database indicating a relationship between a subject corresponding to the attribute information and the viewer corresponding to the viewer information, and determines the relationship between the subject and the viewer, and a conversion unit that converts the attribute information based on the determined relationship.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 10356283
    Abstract: Examples analyze a digital image to determine an amount of high-frequencies corresponding to each pixel of the digital image based at least in part on gradients corresponding to a pixel neighborhood of each pixel. Examples analyze the digital image to determine a degree of randomness for each pixel based at least in part on the corresponding gradients. Examples generate an activity mask for the digital image based at least in part on the amount of high-frequencies and the degree of randomness corresponding to each pixel. Examples process the pixels of the digital image by performing gray component replacement to generate a color transformed image based at least in part on the activity mask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: HP Indigo B.V.
    Inventors: Noam Shaham, Liron Itan, Mirta Perlman, Oren Haik, Oded Perry, Tal Framk, Ram Dagan, Gregory Braverman