Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Hewlett-packard Company

Richard Alan Irwin

Richard Lynn Gardner, Jr

Kelly John Reasoner

Gregg S Schmidtke

Robert L Mueller

Paul Clinton Coffin

Curtis C Ballard

Robert Wesley Luffel

Joseph M White

Thomas W Holmquist

Duane L Harmon

Matthias A Lester

Joe A Eccher

Jonathan C Baiardo

Jonathan Baiardo

System and method for illuminating a target area with a desired illumination pattern. According to preferred embodiments of the invention, a cartridge-engaging assembly may be positioned adjacent a data cartridge, light may be emitted from at least one light source on the cartridge-engaging assembly, and a portion of the emitted light may be attenuated so that the unblocked light illuminates the target area with the desired illumination pattern.

Illumination systems and methods

An element handling system utilizes an element retrieval device and a decoder. The element retrieval device is configured to retrieve and transport a movable element in response to control data. The decoder is coupled to the element retrieval device. The decoder is configured to filter a combined power and control signal to recover an encoded control signal. The decoder is further configured to decode the control signal to recover the control data.

System and method for providing power and control signals to an element retrieval device

An apparatus and method for detecting a data cartridge in a cartridge engaging assembly. A signal emitter may be positioned adjacent the cartridge engaging assembly to emit a signal. A signal detector mounted to the cartridge engaging assembly may detect the signal. The signal detector generates output to indicate whether the data cartridge is present in the cartridge engaging assembly based on the detected signal.

Data cartridge detector

An imaging apparatus and method in which the focus of the imaging apparatus can be adjusted.

Adjustable focus imaging device

A method and apparatus that allows the adjustment of the intensity of the illumination source in a barcode reader, using the barcode reader as the measuring device, to give a predetermined amount of light from a known target. The adjustment of the intensity of the illumination source in the barcode reader compensates for the manufacturing tolerances of the barcode reader.

Method and apparatus for illumination control to increase the manufacturing yield for a bar code and position reference reader in a mass storage auto-changer

An electrical system for measuring humidity which is capable of measurements accurate to &plus;/&minus;6 percent from board to board. The accuracy provided by this electrical system makes it possible to correlate errors in data on backup magnetic tapes to variations in humidity. The electrical system consists of an oscillator whose frequency is dependent on the capacitance of a capacitor used in the circuit. The capacitance value of the capacitor is dependent on the relative humidity. The frequency of the oscillator is translated to a humidity value by an electronic counter and a microprocessor.

Method for sensing humidity in a tape library

An alignment system for an imaging apparatus is disclosed. The alignment system aligns the image beam associated with the imaging apparatus relative to predetermined reference points, such as the vertex and base of a right triangle. The base of the right triangle may be normal to the image beam and the vertex of the right triangle may be located at a fixed and predetermined location relative to the imaging apparatus. The image beam may intersect a hypotenuse point on the hypotenuse of the right triangle and the image beam may intersect a base point on the base of the right triangle. The alignment system measures the distance between the base point and the hypotenuse point. The distance between the base point and the hypotenuse point corresponds to a single location on the base relative to the vertex. The alignment systems, thus, references the transverse position of the image beam relative to the vertex. The alignment system also references the vertical position of the image beam relative to the location on the image beam where the image beam intersects the base.

Imaging apparatus alignment system and method

A system to guide a media handler used by an automated media exchanger is disclosed. The automated media exchanger is of the type that uses an imaging apparatus to identify media located in the automated media exchanger. The imaging apparatus images a guidance target that is affixed to a predetermined location relative to media within the automated media exchanger. The guidance target comprises a first edge and a second edge, wherein the first edge and the second edge define boundaries of reflective difference. A first axis intersects the first edge at a first point and the second edge at a second point. The distance between the first point and the second point corresponds to a location on a second axis. The system measures the distance between the two points to correlate the location, relative to the second axis, where the target was imaged. The location of the imaging apparatus and, thus, the media handler, may, be readily determined relative to the media.

Guidance system and method for an automated media exchanger

Methods and apparatus for quantifying the amount of backlash in drive trains. Using two optical transducers techniques are disclosed that lend themselves to self diagnosis of backlash in drive train systems. The techniques are useful in autochanger drive systems, but are also applicable to all systems involving the driven motion of devices.

Method and apparatus for optically measuring drive train backlash

An automated object detection system and method is disclosed. The automated detection system uses an imaging apparatus, such as a bar code reader, to determine if an object is located at a predetermined location. The automated object detection system has a reference surface with a target located on the reference surface. The imaging apparatus is positioned relative to the reference surface so as to image the target. The automated object detection system is adapted to have objects located in a light path between the target and the imaging apparatus so as to block the target from being imaged. If the imaging apparatus is able to image the target, the automated optical detection system may determine that no object is located between the target and the imaging apparatus. If the imaging apparatus is unable to image the target, the automated optical detection system may determine that an object is located between the target and the imaging apparatus.

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Fort Collins, CO, United States of America

Richard Alan Irwin