US5036545A — Picture image reading system

Claim 1

Independent Claim 217 words

In a picture image reading system having a scanning system for scanning the surface of a picture image medium with light beams, an optical system for condensing the light beams received from said picture image medium and dividing the light beam into a plurality of light beams, and a plurality of density readers respectively responsive to said plurality of light beams where each density reader reads a predetermined range of density signals different from the ranges read by the remaining density readers, the improvement comprising means for establishing the density signal ranges read by the readers such that adjacent density signal ranges partially overlap one another with a high end of one of the adjacent density signal ranges overlapping a low end of another one of the adjacent density signal ranges; detecting means responsive to the density signals from said plurality of readers for detecting occurrence of density signals in overlapping portions at density signal ranges where the density signal ranges of adjacent readers overlap and providing an overlap signal indicative of said occurrence; and synthesizing means responsive to the density signals read from said plurality of readers and said overlap signal for connecting the density signals from the plurality of readers to synthesize a composite density signal corresponding to the entire density range of the picture.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 217 words

In a picture image reading system having a scanning system for scanning the surface of a picture image medium with light beams, an optical system for condensing the light beams received from said picture image medium and dividing the light beam into a plurality of light beams, and a plurality of density readers respectively responsive to said plurality of light beams where each density reader reads a predetermined range of density signals different from the ranges read by the remaining density readers, the improvement comprising means for establishing the density signal ranges read by the readers such that adjacent density signal ranges partially overlap one another with a high end of one of the adjacent density signal ranges overlapping a low end of another one of the adjacent density signal ranges; detecting means responsive to the density signals from said plurality of readers for detecting occurrence of density signals in overlapping portions at density signal ranges where the density signal ranges of adjacent readers overlap and providing an overlap signal indicative of said occurrence; and synthesizing means responsive to the density signals read from said plurality of readers and said overlap signal for connecting the density signals from the plurality of readers to synthesize a composite density signal corresponding to the entire density range of the picture.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 98 words

The improvement as in claim 1 where said plurality of readers includes at least two readers where the density signal range read by the first of the readers corresponds to a low density (LD) range and the density signal range read by the second reader corresponds to a high density (HD) range adjacent to and partially overlapping said LD range, the HD range being higher than the LD range and where said overlap signal is a function of a differential density (DD) signal corresponding to the difference between the HD and LD signals occurring in said overlapping portions.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 38 words

The improvement as in claim 2 where said overlap signal is a function of the mean of said DD signal over at least a portion of said picture image medium to thus form a mean differential signal (MDD).

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 98 words

The improvement as in claims 2 or 3 where said synthesizing means includes means for adding said overlap signal to one of said HD and LD signals for forming a first partial composite signal, the remaining one of said HD and LD signals being a second composite output signal means for comparing said remaining signal to a threshold; and means for switching one or the other of said partial composite signals to the output of the synthesizing means in response to whether the said remaining signal exceeds said threshold to thus effect the synthesis of the composite signal.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 25 words

The improvement as in claim 4 where said overlap signal is added to said HD signal and said LD signal is compared to said threshold.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 20 words

The improvement as in claim 5 where said threshold is representative of a signal density occurring within said overlapping portion.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 31 words

The improvement as in claim 5 where said first partial composite signal is the sum of the MDD and HD signals and said second partial composite signal is the LD signal.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 16 words

The improvement as in claim 1 detecting means and said synthesizing means include a programmed computer.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 102 words

The picture image reading system of claim 1, wherein the synthesizing means includes means for adding a first value to density signals read by a first reader, and means for comparing density signals read by a second reader to a threshold value; said synthesizing means further including composite forming means for selecting density signals from said second reader when the density signals from said second reader are below the threshold value, and for selecting the sum of the first value and the density signals read from the first reader when the density signals read by the second reader exceed the threshold value.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 36 words

The picture image reading system of claim 9, further including means for calculating said first value by averaging differences between density signals of said first reader and said second reader within the overlapping density range portion.

Claim 12

Independent Claim 117 words

A device for forming a composite density signal comprising: first and second density readers, wherein said readers read different density ranges; adding means for adding a first value to density signals read by said first density reader to provide a partial composite density signal; means for comparing density signals read by said second density reader to a threshold value; and composite selecting means for selecting values for said composite from said partial composite where the signals read by said second density reader exceed the threshold value, and for selecting values for said composite from the density signals read by said second density reader where the signals read by the second density reader are below aid threshold value.

Claim 13

Independent Claim 117 words

A device for forming a composite density signal comprising: first and second density readers, wherein said readers read different density ranges; adding means for adding a first value to density signals read by said first density reader to provide a partial composite density signal; means for comparing density signals read by said second density reader to a threshold value; and composite selecting means for selecting values for said composite from said partial composite where the signals read by said second density reader exceed the threshold value, and for selecting values for said composite from the density signals read by said second density reader where the signals read by the second density reader are below aid threshold value.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 58 words

The device of claim 11, wherein said first and second readers read different ranges of density signals with portions of the respective ranges overlapping, said device further including means for calculating said first value by averaging differences between density signals of said first and second readers over density signal ranges of said first and second readers which overlap.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1994-07-29	1995-01-28	1995-07-30	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1998-07-29	1999-01-28	1999-07-30	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2002-07-29	2003-01-28	2003-07-30	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Picture image reading system

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