1. An image scanning apparatus that simultaneously scans a face-side image and a back-side image of an original with respect to two types of originals of a booklet type and a tablet type, the apparatus comprising:
a face-side scanning unit configured to perform main scanning in a first direction along a main scanning direction and perform sub scanning in a predetermined direction along a sub scanning direction, thereby scan an image of a predetermined size at a time with respect to the face-side image of the original, and output the image of the predetermined size as a face-side image element having a predetermined data width;
a back-side scanning unit configured to perform main scanning in a second direction parallel to the first direction and perform sub scanning in the predetermined direction along the sub scanning direction, thereby scan an image of the predetermined size at a time with respect to the back-side image of the original, and output the image of the predetermined size as a back-side image element having the predetermined data width;
a face-side address calculating unit configured to calculate a memory address at which each of the face-side image elements should be stored according to the original type, with respect to each of the face-side image elements outputted from the face-side scanning unit;
a back-side address calculating unit configured to calculate a memory address at which each of the back-side image elements should be stored according to the original type, with respect to each of the back-side image elements outputted from the back-side scanning unit; and
an image data storage unit configured to store each of the face-side image elements and the back-side image elements to the memory address at which each element should be stored, and thereby store the face-side image and the back-side image;
wherein the face-side scanning unit and the back-side scanning unit scan the image of the predetermined size synchronously with a synchronizing signal and simultaneously with each other; and
the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit calculate the memory address at which each of the face-side image elements and each of the back-side image elements should be stored according to the original type, in such a manner that the face-side image and the back-side image to be stored in the image data storage unit have the same up-down direction and the same left-right direction.
2. The image scanning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit configured to accept setting with respect to whether the original type is the booklet type or the tablet type, and setting of size of the original.
3. The image scanning apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
a total number of times of access calculating unit configured to calculate a total number of times of access in the main scanning direction by dividing the length of the original in the main scanning direction by the width of the predetermined size that is scanned at a time in the main scanning direction, in accordance with the size of the original, and to calculate a total number of times of access in the sub scanning direction by dividing the length of the original in the sub scanning direction by the width of the predetermined size in the sub scanning direction; and
a reference address calculating unit configured to calculate a reference address that is to be a memory address at which a first scanned image of the predetermined size should be stored, in accordance with the original type, the total number of times of access in the main scanning direction, the total number of times of access in the sub scanning direction, leading address in a memory area of the image data storage unit where each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored, and the predetermined data width.
4. The image scanning apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a calculation formula deciding unit configured to provide a calculation formula for calculating the memory address at which the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored in accordance with the original type, to the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit,
wherein the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit calculate the memory address at which each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored in accordance with the original type, on the basis of the calculation formula.
5. The image scanning apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a memory control unit configured to store each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element received from the face-side scanning unit and the back-side scanning unit into the image data storage unit in such a manner that each of the elements is stored at the memory address calculated by the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit.
6. The image scanning apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:
a counter configured to store, every time the face-side scanning unit scans an image of the predetermined size, a number of times of main scanning access that indicates how many times a forward movement has been made in the first direction along the main scanning direction to reach the scanned image from the first scanned image of the predetermined size, and a number of times of sub scanning access that indicates how many times a forward movement has been made in the predetermined direction along the sub scanning direction to reach the scanned image; and
a counter control unit configured to update the number of times of main scanning access and the number of times of sub scanning access stored in the counter;
wherein the counter control unit receives the synchronizing signal and updates the number of times of main scanning access and the number of times of sub scanning access.
7. The image scanning apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a calculation formula storage unit configured to store the calculation formula for calculating the memory address at which the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored, in accordance with the original type,
wherein the calculation formula deciding unit acquires the calculation formula for calculating the memory address by searching the calculation formula storage unit in accordance with the information of the original type.
8. An image forming apparatus that simultaneously scans a face-side image and a back-side image of an original with respect to two types of originals of a booklet type and a tablet type, the apparatus comprising:
a scanner unit; and
an image forming unit configured to print image scanned by the scanner unit, onto a recording paper,
the scanner unit comprising:
a face-side scanning unit configured to perform main scanning in a first direction along a main scanning direction and perform sub scanning in a predetermined direction along a sub scanning direction, thereby scan an image of a predetermined size at a time with respect to the face-side image of the original, and output the image of the predetermined size as a face-side image element having a predetermined data width;
a back-side scanning unit configured to perform main scanning in a second direction parallel to the first direction and perform sub scanning in the predetermined direction along the sub scanning direction, thereby scan an image of the predetermined size at a time with respect to the back-side image of the original, and output the image of the predetermined size as a back-side image element having the predetermined data width;
a face-side address calculating unit configured to calculate a memory address at which each of the face-side image elements should be stored according to the original type, with respect to each of the face-side image elements outputted from the face-side scanning unit;
a back-side address calculating unit configured to calculate a memory address at which each of the back-side image elements should be stored according to the original type, with respect to each of the back-side image elements outputted from the back-side scanning unit; and
an image data storage unit configured to store each of the face-side image elements and the back-side image elements to the memory address at which each element should be stored, and thereby store the face-side image and the back-side image;
wherein the face-side scanning unit and the back-side scanning unit scan the image of the predetermined size synchronously with a synchronizing signal and simultaneously with each other; and
the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit calculate the memory address at which each of the face-side image elements and each of the back-side image elements should be stored according to the original type, in such a manner that the face-side image and the back-side image to be stored in the image data storage unit have the same up-down direction and the same left-right direction.
9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising an operation unit configured to accept setting with respect to whether the original type is the booklet type or the tablet type, and setting of size of the original.
10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:
a total number of times of access calculating unit configured to calculate a total number of times of access in the main scanning direction by dividing the length of the original in the main scanning direction by the width of the predetermined size that is scanned at a time in the main scanning direction, in accordance with the size of the original, and to calculate a total number of times of access in the sub scanning direction by dividing the length of the original in the sub scanning direction by the width of the predetermined size in the sub scanning direction; and
a reference address calculating unit configured to calculate a reference address that is to be a memory address at which a first scanned image of the predetermined size should be stored, in accordance with the original type, the total number of times of access in the main scanning direction, the total number of times of access in the sub scanning direction, leading address in a memory area of the image data storage unit where each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored, and the predetermined data width.
11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a calculation formula deciding unit configured to provide a calculation formula for calculating the memory address at which the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored in accordance with the original type, to the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit,
wherein the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit calculate the memory address at which each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored in accordance with the original type, on the basis of the calculation formula.
12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a memory control unit configured to store each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element received from the face-side scanning unit and the back-side scanning unit into the image data storage unit in such a manner that each of the elements is stored at the memory address calculated by the face-side address calculating unit and the back-side address calculating unit.
13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising:
a counter configured to store, every time the face-side scanning unit scans an image of the predetermined size, a number of times of main scanning access that indicates how many times a forward movement has been made in the first direction along the main scanning direction to reach the scanned image from the first scanned image of the predetermined size, and a number of times of sub scanning access that indicates how many times a forward movement has been made in the predetermined direction along the sub scanning direction to reach the scanned image; and
a counter control unit configured to update the number of times of main scanning access and the number of times of sub scanning access stored in the counter;
wherein the counter control unit receives the synchronizing signal and updates the number of times of main scanning access and the number of times of sub scanning access.
14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a calculation formula storage unit configured to store the calculation formula for calculating the memory address at which the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored, in accordance with the original type,
wherein the calculation formula deciding unit acquires the calculation formula for calculating the memory address by searching the calculation formula storage unit in accordance with the information of the original type.
15. An image scanning method in which a face-side image and a back-side image of an original are simultaneously scanned with respect to two types of originals of a booklet type and a tablet type, the method comprising:
scanning the face-side comprising performing main scanning in a first direction along a main scanning direction and performing sub scanning in a predetermined direction along a sub scanning direction, thereby scanning an image of a predetermined size at a time with respect to the face-side image of the original, and outputting the image of the predetermined size as a face-side image element having a predetermined data width;
scanning the back-side comprising performing main scanning in a second direction parallel to the first direction and performing sub scanning in the predetermined direction along the sub scanning direction, thereby scanning an image of the predetermined size at a time with respect to the back-side image of the original, and outputting the image of the predetermined size as a back-side image element having the predetermined data width;
calculating a memory address at which each of the face-side image elements should be stored according to the original type;
calculating a memory address at which each of the back-side image elements should be stored according to the original type; and
storing each of the face-side image elements and the back-side image elements to the memory address at which each element should be stored, and thereby storing the face-side image and the back-side image into an image data storage unit;
wherein the scanning the face-side and the scanning the back-side execute scanning the image of the predetermined size synchronously with a synchronizing signal and simultaneously with each other; and
in the calculating the memory address at which each of the front-side image elements should be stored and in the calculating the memory address at which each of the back-side image elements should be stored, the memory addresses are calculated according to the original type, in such a manner that the face-side image and the back-side image to be stored in the image data storage unit have the same up-down direction and the same left-right direction.
16. The image scanning method according to claim 15, further comprising acquiring setting with respect to whether the original type is the booklet type or the tablet type, and setting of size of the original, as these settings are inputted by an operation unit.
17. The image scanning method according to claim 16, further comprising:
calculating a total number of times of access in the main scanning direction by dividing the length of the original in the main scanning direction by the width of the predetermined size that is scanned at a time in the main scanning direction, in accordance with the size of the original, and calculating a total number of times of access in the sub scanning direction by dividing the length of the original in the sub scanning direction by the width of the predetermined size in the sub scanning direction; and
calculating a reference address that is to be a memory address at which a first scanned image of the predetermined size should be stored, in accordance with the original type, the total number of times of access in the main scanning direction, the total number of times of access in the sub scanning direction, leading address in a memory area of the image data storage unit where each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored, and the predetermined data width.
18. The image scanning method according to claim 17, further comprising acquiring a calculation formula for calculating the memory address at which the face-side image element and the back-side image element should be stored in accordance with the original type;
wherein in the calculating the memory address at which each of the front-side image elements should be stored and in the calculating the memory address at which each of the back-side image elements should be stored, the memory addresses are calculated in accordance with the original type, on the basis of the calculation formula.
19. The image scanning method according to claim 18, further comprising storing each of the face-side image element and the back-side image element into the image data storage unit in such a manner that each of the elements is stored at the calculated memory address.
20. The image scanning method according to claim 19, further comprising:
acquiring, every time an image of the predetermined size is scanned in the scanning the face-side, a number of times of main scanning access that indicates how many times a forward movement has been made in the first direction along the main scanning direction to reach the scanned image from the first scanned image of the predetermined size, and a number of times of sub scanning access that indicates how many times a forward movement has been made in the predetermined direction along the sub scanning direction to reach the scanned image; and
updating the number of times of main scanning access and the number of times of sub scanning access that are acquired;
wherein in the updating the synchronizing signal is received and the number of times of main scanning access and the number of times of sub scanning access are updated thereafter.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A component of an earth-boring tool, comprising:
a particle-matrix composite material comprising:
a metal matrix material; and
a plurality of encapsulated diamond particles embedded within the metal matrix material, the encapsulated diamond particles comprising:
a plurality of diamonds; and
one or more layers of encapsulant material surrounding the diamonds of the plurality of diamonds;
wherein the diamonds of the plurality of diamonds comprise less than about 25% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material, the metal matrix material comprises less than about 50% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material, and the one or more layers of encapsulant material at least substantially comprise a remainder of the volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
2. The component of claim 1, wherein the metal matrix material comprises less than about 40% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
3. The component of claim 2, wherein the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles have a multi-modal particle size distribution.
4. The component of claim 1, wherein the metal matrix material comprises between about 10% and about 25% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
5. The component of claim 1, wherein the one or more layers of encapsulant material have an average total thickness greater than about fifty percent (50%) of an average diameter of the diamonds.
6. The component of claim 5, wherein the average total thickness of the one or more layers of encapsulant material is greater than about one hundred percent (100%) of the average diameter of the diamonds.
7. The component of claim 6, wherein the particle-matrix composite material has a diamond concentration of about 4.4 carats per cubic centimeter (cm3) or less.
8. The component of claim 7, wherein the particle-matrix composite material has a diamond concentration of about 3.5 carats per cubic centimeter (cm3) or more.
9. The component of claim 1, wherein the particle-matrix composite material is at least substantially free of any additional hard particles.
10. The component of claim 1, wherein the one or more layers of encapsulant material comprises a layer of metal carbide material.
11. The component of claim 10, wherein the one or more layers of encapsulant material comprises a layer of sintered metal carbide material.
12. The component of claim 11, wherein the one or more layers of encapsulant material comprises a layer of sintered tungsten carbide.
13. The component of claim 1, wherein the one or more layers of encapsulant material comprises:
a relatively thicker outer layer of encapsulant material; and
a relatively thinner intermediate layer of encapsulant material disposed between each respective diamond of the plurality of diamonds and the relatively thicker outer layer of encapsulant material.
14. The component of claim 13, wherein the relatively thinner intermediate layer of encapsulant material comprises a layer of a metal material, and the relatively thicker outer layer of encapsulant material comprises a layer of a carbide of the metal material.
15. An earth-boring tool for drilling subterranean formations, at least a portion of the earth-boring tool comprising:
a body having a formation-engaging surface and at least one cutting structure, at least a portion of the body comprising the formation-engaging surface comprising a particle-matrix composite material comprising:
a metal matrix material; and
a plurality of encapsulated diamond particles embedded within the metal matrix material, the encapsulated diamond particles comprising:
a plurality of diamonds; and
one or more layers of encapsulant material surrounding the diamonds of the plurality of diamonds;
wherein the diamonds of the plurality of diamonds comprise less than about 25% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material, the metal matrix material comprises less than about 50% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material, and the one or more layers of encapsulant material at least substantially comprise a remainder of the volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
16. The earth-boring tool of claim 15, wherein the metal matrix material comprises less than about 40% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
17. The earth-boring tool of claim 16, wherein the metal matrix material comprises between about 10% and about 25% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
18. The earth-boring tool of claim 15, wherein the one or more layers of encapsulant material have an average total thickness greater than about fifty percent (50%) of an average diameter of the diamonds.
19. The earth-boring tool of claim 15, wherein the particle-matrix composite material is at least substantially free of any additional hard particles.
20. The earth-boring tool of claim 15, wherein the one or more layers of encapsulant material comprises a layer of metal carbide material.
21. The earth-boring tool of claim 15, wherein the earth-boring tool comprises a diamond impregnated rotary drill bit having a crown region comprising the particle-matrix composite material.
22. The earth-boring tool of claim 15, wherein the earth-boring tool comprises a diamond impregnated rotary drill bit having a crown region comprising at least one post or blade comprising the particle-matrix composite material.
23. A method of forming a component of an earth-boring tool, the method comprising:
encapsulating diamonds having a selected average particle size with one or more layers of encapsulant material to form a plurality of encapsulated diamond particles having a selected average encapsulant thickness;
embedding the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles in a selected volume of metal matrix material to form a volume of particle-matrix composite material; and
selecting the average particle size of the diamonds, the average encapsulant thickness of the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles, and the selected volume of metal matrix material to cause the diamonds to comprise less than about 25% of the volume of the particle-matrix composite material, the metal matrix material to comprise less than about 50% of the volume of the particle-matrix composite material, and the one or more layers of encapsulant material to at least substantially comprise a remainder of the volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein embedding the encapsulated diamond particles in the selected volume of metal matrix material comprises:
melting the metal matrix material;
infiltrating the encapsulated diamond particles with the molten metal matrix material; and
cooling and solidifying the molten metal matrix material.
25. The method of claim 23, wherein embedding the encapsulated diamond particles in the selected volume of metal matrix material comprises:
mixing the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles with a plurality of particles comprising the metal matrix material to form a powder mixture;
pressing the powder mixture to form a green body; and
sintering the green body to a desired final density.
26. The method of claim 23, wherein encapsulating diamonds having a selected average particle size with one or more layers of encapsulant material comprises encapsulating diamonds having a selected average particle size with one or more layers of metal carbide material.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein encapsulating diamonds having a selected average particle size with one or more layers of metal carbide material comprises encapsulating diamonds having a selected average particle size with one or more layers of sintered tungsten carbide.
28. The method of claim 23, further comprising selecting the average particle size of the diamonds, the average encapsulant thickness of the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles, and the selected volume of metal matrix material to cause the metal matrix material to comprise less than about 40% of the volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
29. The method of claim 23, further comprising selecting the average particle size of the diamonds, the average encapsulant thickness of the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles, and the selected volume of metal matrix material to cause the metal matrix material to comprise between about 10% and about 25% by volume of the particle-matrix composite material.
30. The method of claim 23, further comprising selecting the average encapsulant thickness to be greater than about fifty percent (50%) of the selected average particle size of the diamonds.
31. The method of claim 30, further comprising selecting the average encapsulant thickness to be greater than about one hundred percent (100%) of the selected average particle size of the diamonds.
32. The method of claim 23, further comprising selecting the average particle size of the diamonds, the average encapsulant thickness of the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles, and the selected volume of metal matrix material to cause the particle-matrix composite material to comprise a diamond concentration of about 4.4 carats of diamond per cubic centimeter (cm3) or less.
33. The method of claim 23, further comprising selecting the average particle size of the diamonds, the average encapsulant thickness of the plurality of encapsulated diamond particles, and the selected volume of metal matrix material to cause the particle-matrix composite material to comprise a diamond concentration of about 3.5 carats of diamond per cubic centimeter (cm3) or more.