Incremental printing of symbolic information – Ink jet
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-10
2004-03-23
Tran, Huan H. (Department: 2861)
Incremental printing of symbolic information
Ink jet
C347S005000, C347S009000, C347S002000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06709080
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lenticular media and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for fabricating lenticular sheets optimally matched to a particular printer's performance characteristics, and for controlling a printer to conform to particularities of and the orientation of the fabricated lenticular sheet.
2. Statement of the Problem
The use of lenticular sheets to transmit images to appear to an observer as three-dimensional, and to appear different from different viewer positions, to give a perception of changing as the observer moves, is known. A summary of certain typical features, and some general examples, are given for convenience.
A lenticular sheet, as it is generally known, includes a plurality of semi-cylindrical lenses, or lenticules, arranged side-by-side, in a plane, each extending in the same direction. The lenticular sheet is typically formed of a substantially transparent plastic and is overlaid onto an ink-supporting substrate or medium on which a plurality of specially formatted images are disposed.
If the lenticular sheet is to transmit images to appear three dimensional, the plurality of images disposed on the underlying medium includes one or more left images and, typically, a corresponding number of right images. Each left image and right image may be of the same scene or arrangement of objects, with the relative position of objects or portions of objects being different in one with respect to the other, to mimic the parallax between the images impinging on an observer's left eye versus that impinging on his or her right eye. It is known in the art of imaging that a person's perception of three dimensions, when viewing a real world scene, is caused, in significant part, by the parallax between the image seen by the person's left eye and that seen by the person's right eye. A typical camera does not capture this parallax, because it has only a single lens. Therefore, when a viewer looks at a photograph taken by a single-lens camera, his or her left eye and right eye see exactly the same image. There is no parallax conveyed. For this reason, a typical photograph does not convey a three-dimensional feel, and flattens the appearance of objects.
A lenticular sheet, though, permits display of an image on a hard copy surface to appear three-dimensional. One method for this displaying is to take a picture of a scene from a first location, and then move the camera a lateral distance to a second location and take a picture of the same scene. The picture taken from the first position may be called the left image and the picture taken from the second position may be called the right image. There is a parallax between the two images, due to the lateral displacement between the respective positions from which the left and right pictures were taken. The parallax is exploited by rasterizing the left and right images or pictures into, for example, sixty-four vertical strips each. The rasterizing can be done by converting the pictures into a digital pixel array and then dividing the array into sixty-four strips, typically in a vertical direction. The left and right images are disposed on a medium, typically by placing the first vertical stripe of the left image next to the first vertical stripe of the right image, and then the second vertical stripe of the left image next to the second vertical stripe of the right image. The arrangement is typically repeated so that, for example, the sixty-four vertical stripes of the left image are interspersed with sixty-four vertical stripes of the right image, in an alternating pattern.
A lenticular sheet having, for example, sixty-four lenticules is placed over the two interspersed rasterized images, such that each lenticule runs parallel to, and extends above, at least one left image raster line and one right image raster line. Because the left and right raster lines have different positions under the lenticules, the light from the left image raster line will have a different angle of refraction passing through the lenticule than does the light from the right image raster line. The different angles of refraction are such that a person's left eye, when at a specific viewing angle and distance with respect to the medium, will see only the left image raster lines and the person's right eye will see only the right image raster lines. The person's left eye and right eye receive different images, the difference between the two being the parallax that the person would have actually observed if looking at the original scene. The person thus “sees” a three dimensional image.
Typically, placing two raster lines under each lenticule limits the viewing positions from which an observer will see a three dimensional image. The reason is that to see three dimensions the viewer must be in the position where only the left image raster lines are refracted to the viewer's left eye, and only the right image raster line are refracted to the viewer's right eye. At other viewing positions the viewer's eyes each receive both the left image and right image raster lines, or both eyes receive only left image raster lines or right image raster lines, which presents as a two-dimensional image.
To increase the number of viewing positions from which the observer will see a three-dimensional image, a greater number of rasterized images are created, and a correspondingly greater number of raster lines are disposed under each lenticule. For example, instead of a left eye and right eye picture taken from a single head-on view, a plurality of left/right pictures can be taken, each from a different view. Picking three views as an example, the above-described head-on view is generated as described, and then a first flank view is generated by taking a left eye picture and a right eye picture, from a position to the left and right, respectively, of a second view position. The second view position may be displaced, for example, 10 degrees left from the head-on position. Next a right flank view is generated by taking a left picture and a right picture, from a position to the left and right, respectively, of a third view position. The third view position is displaced, for this example, 10 degrees to the right of the head-on position.
There are problems with the above-described multiple view method, though, arising from the requirement for more raster lines. For example, the three above-described views require six pictures or images, to be displayed through the lenticular sheet. For such display, each of the six images or pictures must be segmented or rasterized into, for example, sixty-four vertical strips. The sixty-four vertical strips of each picture or image would then be interleaved so that a total of 364 vertical strips, or raster lines, are disposed on the substrate. The lenticular sheet would then be overlaid such that each lenticule covers six vertical strips or raster lines, namely one from each of the left and right pictures taken from each of the three above-described viewing perspectives.
Due to the differing positions of each of the six raster lines under the lenticule, the light from each undergoes a different angle of refraction as it passes through the lenticule. Because of the raster lines from the different images being diffracted differently, there is typically one viewing position at which the observer sees a three-dimensional image of the above-described head-on view. Assuming the raster lines are disposed accurately with respect to the lenticules, there is a second viewing position at which the observer sees a three-dimensional image of the left flank view. Likewise, assuming the raster lines are disposed accurately with respect to the lenticules, there is a third viewing position at which the viewer will see a three-dimensional view from the right flank viewing angle.
There are problems with the multiple viewing angle method, namely that the method requires a greater number of pixel or raster lines. A related problem is that t
DeSie Guido
Karszes William M.
Nims Jerry C.
Peters Paul F.
Vanmaele Luc
Orasee Corp.
Patton & Boggs LLP
Tran Huan H.
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