Nec Corporation

Sony Corporation

Shinya Kubo

Tetsuichiro Yamamoto

Hiroaki Narisawa

Keitaro Endo

Tetsuya Yamamoto

Masanori Hosomi

Yutaka Higo

Kazuhiro Bessho

Kazuhiko Hayashi

Hiroshi Kano

Kazuhiro Ohba

Tetsuya Mizuguchi

Takeyuki Sone

Yasushi Matsumoto

Kazuyuki Sumida

A scanner has an imaging device which is constituted by a cold-cathode tube, includes a light source for irradiating light to a reflection surface of a reference white plate and a plurality of pixels arranged in one line, and detects light reflected on the reflection surface by the respective pixels, and has a light source stability determination unit which determines whether or not light amounts obtained by the one line of pixels from the light source are approximately uniform. Only in a case where the light source stability determination unit determines that the light amounts obtained by the one line of pixels from the light source are approximately uniform, the scanner reads the reference white plate to calculate correction values for the respective pixels and reads a manuscript.

Image reading apparatus and light source stability determination method

In a magnetoresistive effect element using a ferromagnetic tunnel junction having a tunnel barrier layer sandwiched between at least a pair of ferromagnetic layers, a magnetization free layer comprising one of the ferromagnetic layers is composed of a single layer of a material having an amorphous or microcrystal structure or a material layer the main portion of which has an amorphous or microcrystal structure. The magnetoresistive effect element can produce excellent magnetic-resistance characteristics, and a magnetic memory element and a magnetic memory device using the magnetoresistive effect element as a memory element thereof can improve both of write and read characteristics at the same time.

Magnetoresistive effect element, magnetic memory element magnetic memory device and manufacturing methods thereof

The color image processing apparatus of the present invention selects, on the basis of a moving average number n of pixels calculated by a predetermined numerical formula with respect to any notable pixel i, n number of reference pixels j located before and after the notable pixel i, and calculates an absolute value of a difference between an output of respective of the selected reference pixels j and that of the notable pixel i. Then, a moving average processing is executed by using only some reference pixels j of which the absolute value of the difference between each of their output levels and the output level of the notable pixel i is smaller than a threshold value.

Color image processing apparatus executing moving-average processing for noise reduction in color image signals

The scanner includes the switch that is closed when a document is read, the boosted-voltage conversion circuit that boosts a DC voltage of 12 volts (V) supplied from a power source (not shown) and then converts it into a high-frequency signal b of 50 KHz, the temperature detection circuit formed of the thermistor for ambient temperature detection and correction circuit , and the dimmer control circuit that varies the high-frequency signal b from the boosted-voltage conversion circuit according to a temperature detected by the thermistor and produces a drive signal c to vary the luminance of the cold-cathode-tube light source

Scanner having cold-cathode-tube light source and method of controlling a drive signal for illuminating a cold-cathode-tube light source

A USB device comprises a USB connector for connecting it to a USB or HUB of a host and a serial interface engine (SIE) serving as an interface. The USB connector and the SIE are interconnected by four signal lines defined in a USB. Of these signal lines, a 5-V power supply line for supplying 5-V power to the SIE is provided with a switch for electrically on-off switching it. The user can readily control the power supply from the host to the USB switch by operating the switch. Thus, when the USB device is not used, the power supply from the host can be stopped to reduce power consumption of the host.

USB device and USB connecting system

A manufacturing method of a magnetic memory device, wherein the inventive method does not require any special technique for forming pattern, but bilaterally ensures precision for processing a tunnel magneto-resistive effect element (called TMR element) and self-matching formation of connecting elements. The manufacturing method of a magnetic memory device comprises a processing step of forming a tunnel magneto-resistive effect film sandwiching a tunnel barrier layer between a magnetic pinned layer and a memory layer into a predetermined elementary configuration by applying a mask layer, wherein the mask layer is formed by applying a plating process.

Manufacturing method of magnetic memory device

An image reader including a light source irradiating light to a reading object, a reading device reading an image on the reading object based on the radiated light; and a lens focusing the image onto the reading device and having a characteristic by which a distortion rate is increased from the central part to the end part. The distortion rate of the end part is set to a value in which there is no need to complement the read image.

Image reader which can shorten focal length in optical system having optical lens while keeping predetermined image reading width

The present invention provides a video data reading method comprising steps of: inputting a video data from a video input device; inputting a key-in data from a key switch; adding said key-in data to a packet of said video data; and transmitting said video data and said key-in data in the same packet via a USB interface to a host computer.

Apparatus for transmitting key-in data and video data in one packet in real time via USB interface

When the scanner moves over the subject copy, the first reading elements of a close contact type image sensor (1) read the copy. As the movement causes a platen roller (5) to rotate, an encoder ring (4), having a prescribed distinguishing pattern (10) printed within, rotates. Second reading elements configured outside the copy reading range of the close contact type image sensor (1) read the distinguishing pattern, which moves over the reading face as the encoder ring (4) rotates. The second reading elements which read the distinguishing pattern are driven independently of the first reading elements for reading the subject copy, and their reading period is shorter than that of the first reading elements. This configuration enables the moving speed to be accurately detected even when the scanner moves faster than the copy reading speed.

Scanner

An image reading device, particularly a hand scanner, capable of setting a reading position in the main scanning direction accurately at all times. A stage glass is affixed to the reading surface of the hand scanner. A reference line is printed on the stage glass outside of the valid reading range of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image scanner. For the adjustment of the valid reading range, the image sensor and a lens are roughly adjusted such that data representative of the reference line appears at the edge of the valid reading range. Subsequently, the valid reading range is electrically shifted in the main scanning direction such that the reference line disappears.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Shinya Kubo