Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet – Medium and processing means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-29
2002-11-19
Barlow, John (Department: 2853)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
Medium and processing means
C347S104000, C347S055000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06481844
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus, method and medium for providing an optical effect using a series of lenticules placed on a medium. In a more particular embodiment, the present invention relates to an apparatus, method and medium for providing an optical effect using a series of spherical-like lenticules printed on a medium using a printer.
Different technologies may be used to create two-dimensional media that provides “special” optical effects, such as the illusion of a three-dimensional presentation, or the illusion of an animated presentation. Parallax barrier displays, for instance, provide an opaque screen positioned over an image-bearing medium. The image-bearing medium includes a series of stripes of image information arranged in interleaved fashion. The screen includes a plurality of slits that serve as windows for viewing the stripes of information in the image presentation. In one configuration, a viewer may perceive different selections of stripes depending on his or her orientation with respect to the display. This effect allows the designer of the display to provide various types of animation effects. That is, a viewer may perceive that the display is “changing” its image presentation as he or she walks by the display. In another configuration, a viewer's left eye may perceive a different selection of stripes than the viewer's right eye. This effect allows the designer to provide various stereoscopic effects.
Another technology for providing optical effects uses lenticular display sheets. As shown in
FIG. 1
, a typical lenticular arrangement
100
includes an array of narrow cylindrical lenses
102
(also referred to as “lenticules”) coupled to an image bearing-medium
104
. Like the parallax barrier displays discussed above, the image-bearing medium
104
includes a series of stripes of image information arranged in interleaved fashion. In one configuration, the cylindrical lenticules on the lenticular sheet
102
focus the image information from the stripes in such a fashion that a viewer may perceive a first subset of strips (corresponding to a first scene) when positioned at a first orientation, and perceive a second subset of stripes (corresponding to a second scene) when positioned at a second orientation. This creates the illusion that the arrangement is “changing” its image presentation as the viewer walks by the arrangement. In another configuration, a viewer's left eye perceives a first subset of stripes (corresponding to a first scene), and a viewer's right eye perceives another subset of stripes (corresponding to a second scene). This creates the illusion of depth.
FIGS.
2
(
a
) and
2
(
b
) explain the physical mechanism which enables lenticular arrangements to function in the above-described manner. More specifically, FIG.
2
(
a
) shows how a lenticular arrangement achieves the illusion of changing scenes. In this exemplary embodiment, the image-bearing medium
202
(shown in cross section) presents three different scenes, namely scenes “A,” “B,” and “C.” These scenes are “sliced” into thin vertical stripes. The stripes are then interleaved so that a slice of scene “A” is positioned adjacent to a slice of image “B,” and a slice of scene “B” is positioned adjacent to a slice of image “C.” The thus formed image-bearing medium is coupled to the flat side of a lenticular sheet
204
. In an alternative embodiment, it is known to print the image information directly on the flat side of the lenticular sheet
204
.
In the case of FIG.
2
(
a
), the lenticular sheet
204
focuses the light reflected from the image-bearing medium
202
so that a viewer perceives different scenes when positioned at different orientations with respective to the lenticular arrangement (or alternatively, the arrangement is tilted about axis “x” shown in
FIG. 1
, while the viewer remains stationary). Namely, the viewer may perceive the stripes corresponding to image “C” when stationed at position (
1
). The viewer may perceive the stripes corresponding to image “B” when stationed at position (
2
). And the viewer may perceive the stripes corresponding to image “A” when stationed at position (
3
).
Additional scenes may be included by interleaving additional stripes corresponding to respective additional scenes. The arrangement in FIG.
2
(
a
) can accordingly create different effects depending on the content of the different scenes. The different scenes (e.g., “A,” “B,” and “C”) may represent different “snap shots” in a motion sequence. Accordingly, the arrangement may create the illusion of motion as the user walks by the arrangement. Alternatively, the different scenes may have unrelated content.
FIG.
2
(
b
) shows how a lenticular arrangement can achieve the illusion of a three dimensional presentation. Again, the image medium
262
(shown in cross section) presents three different scenes, namely scenes “A,” “B,” and “C.” These scenes are “sliced” in thin vertical stripes. The stripes are then interleaved so that a slice of scene “A” is positioned adjacent to a slice of image “B,” and a slice of scene “B” is positioned adjacent to a slice of image “C.” The thus formed image medium is coupled to the flat side of a lenticular sheet
264
In the case of FIG.
2
(
b
), the lenticular sheet
264
focuses the light reflected from the image-bearing medium
262
so that, at a particular orientation, a viewer's left eye perceives scene “C,” while the viewer's right eye perceives scene “B.” The thus commingled image creates the perceived effect of a three dimensional presentation (when “processed” by the viewer's brain).
The optical effects produced by the lenticular arrangement
100
shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
are observable when the viewer changes his or her orientation with respect to the normal of any lenticule. For instance, with reference to
FIG. 1
, a viewer will observe the optical effects when the viewer changes his or her position in the “horizontal” direction. This is equivalent to tilting the arrangement
100
about the axis “x.” However, a viewer will typically not observe the special optical effects when he or she changes position in the “vertical” direction of the arrangement (where the “vertical” direction corresponds to movement along the axes of the lenticules, such as axis “x”).
FIG. 3
shows another type of lenticular arrangement, referred to in the art as an “integram” or “integral photograph.” This arrangement replaces the sheet of cylindrical lenticules with a sheet
302
containing a regular array of spherical lenses on its surface
304
. This sheet
302
is coupled to an image-bearing medium
306
. This type of lens configuration has the potential of allowing a user to view optical effects when the viewer changes his position in both the “horizontal” and “vertical” directions relative to the surface of the arrangement. Exemplary patents disclosing the use of spherical lenses to create an optical effect include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,683,773 and 5,933,276. Also note FIG.
6
and the accompanying discussion of Michael Halle, “Autosteroscopic Displays and Computer Graphics,” Computer Graphics, ACM SIGGRAPH, 31(2), May 1997, pp. 58-62.
There are shortcomings with respect to known lenticular-type arrangements. For instance, misalignment of the lenticular sheet with the underlying image-bearing medium may create visual artifacts in the perceived image. More specifically, alignment artifacts may result when the image-bearing medium is angularly skewed relative to the lenticular array. Alignment artifacts may also result when the spacing of the lenticules does not precisely match the spacing of the image stripes. Alignment artifacts may also result when the spacing between the lenticules or between the interlace stripes vary slightly from region to region. Generally speaking, alignment artifacts limit the resolution (granularity) in the resultant perceived image. Further, the additional care that must be taken to ensure proper alignment may increase the cost of production of these lentic
Barlow John
Hunton & Williams
Nortel Networks Limited
Shah Manish S
LandOfFree
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