Abstract: New can bodies are provided that are stackable after manufacture, during shipment and before use. The new can bodies have slightly tapered sidewalls with small shoulders near open ends, which allow empty cans to stack together in a nested arrangement and to separate easily before filling. The stacking and nesting saves space during storage and transportation. The new structure of the can bodies incorporates small shoulders near the open ends of the can bodies to control depth of insertion of adjacent stacked can bodies and prevent the can bodies from sticking together when nested in a stack and when being separated prior to filling. Thus, cans are separated easily for further processing. The new, small shoulder structure permits a shallower and/or steeper sidewall, thereby maximizing the size of the bottom of the can body and the volume content of the can.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for outline font character generation in dot matrix devices including a point transform engine, a parametric equation generator, an adaptive forward differencing engine, a transition detection engine, a transition processor, an intermediate storage, and a bitmap converter. The point transform engine performs a linear transformation on the input control points to produce a set of control points corresponding to the description of the scaled image. The parametric equation generator computes a set of coefficients used in generating polysegments. The adaptive forward differencing engine generates a set of controlled length vectors representing the image, while the transition detection engine determines the transition pixels by scanning the vectors both horizontally and vertically to determine whether a scanline is crossed by the vector. The transition processor enhances the image quality and alters the number and location of the previously determined transition pixel.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for outline font character generation in dot matrix devices including a point transform engine, a parametric equation generator, an adaptive forward differencing engine, a transition detection engine, a transition processor, an intermediate storage, and a bitmap converter. The point transform engine performs a linear transformation on the input control points to produce a set of control points corresponding to the description of the scaled image. The parametric equation generator computes a set of coefficients used in generating polysegments. The adaptive forward differencing engine generates a set of controlled length vectors representing the image, while the transition detection engine determines the transition pixels by scanning the vectors both horizontally and vertically to determine whether a scanline is crossed by the vector. The transition processor enhances the image quality and alters the number and location of the previously determined transition pixel.