1-47. (canceled)
48. A method of making a moulded component, the method comprising placing a core comprising at least one slab of foam material into a mould with LPSMC, closing the mould and applying pressure and heat to render the LPSMC fluid to at least partially envelop the core and thereby produce a LPSMC coated component, wherein the core has a length and a width dimension and at least one cavity which extends through or across the width thereof and which has at least a portion which is inboard of an intended outer edge of the component, thereby causing the LPSMC to flow into said at least one cavity to form a bridge between the sides of the so-formed component.
49. A method according to claim 48, comprising exerting a mould pressure of from 0.1 to 3.04 MPa (1 to 30 bar).
50. A method according to claim 48, comprising moulding at a temperature of from 90 to 130\xb0 C.
51. A method according to claim 48, comprising placing sufficient LPSMC within the mould to completely encapsulate the core in the so-formed product.
52. A method according to claim 48, comprising using a core formed from a single slab of foam material.
53. A method according to claim 52, comprising forming a plurality of cavities in the core prior to placing the core in the mould.
54. A method according to claim 48, comprising forming the core from two or more distinct slabs of foam material.
55. A method according to claim 54, wherein said at least one cavity extends between two adjacent slabs.
56. A method according claim 48, comprising forming the or at least one of the slabs of foam material from a foam material with a density in the range of from 250 to 800 kgm\u22123.
57. A method according to claim 56, wherein the or said at least one of the slabs of foam material has a density of from 300 to 400 kgm\u22123.
58. A method according to claim 54, comprising forming the core comprising a slab of structural-density foam material and a slab of lower-density foam material, the cavity being formed therebetween.
59. A method according to claim 54, comprising forming the core comprising two slabs of structural-density foam material located either side of a slab of lower-density foam material, cavities being formed between the slab of lower-density foam material and the structural-density slabs.
60. A method according to claim 58, comprising moulding the slab of lower-density foam material.
61. A method according to claim 58, wherein the lower-density foam material has a density of from 100 to 200 kgm\u22123.
62. A method according to claim 54, comprising providing in-mould separation of the slabs by forming lugs or other protuberances on one or both of the facing sides of the slabs to ensure the provision of said at least one cavity.
63. A method according to claim 54, comprising providing the core with contours which, subsequent to moulding, are covered with LPSMC to provide corresponding contours on at least one face of the so-formed component.
64. A moulded component in the form of a door formed by the method of claim 48.
65. A moulded component comprising a core of foam material at least partially enveloped in a thermoset plastics material formed from LPSMC, the core having at least one cavity, the cavity having at least a portion which is inboard of an outer edge of the component and which extends from one face to an other face, the at least one cavity containing thermoset plastics material formed from the LPSMC.
66. A component according to claim 65 wherein the core is completely encapsulated with LPSMC.
67. A component according to claim 65, wherein the core is formed from a single slab of foam material.
68. A component according to claim 65, wherein the core comprises a plurality of cavities.
69. A component according to claim 65, wherein the core comprises two or more distinct slabs of foam material.
70. A component according to claim 69, wherein said at least one cavity extends between two adjacent distinct slabs of foam material.
71. A component according to claim 69, wherein at least one of the slabs of foam material is a foam material with a density in the range from 250 to 800 kgm\u22123.
72. A component according to claim 71, wherein the or each slab of foam material has a density of from 300 to 400 kgm\u22123.
73. A component according to claim 69, wherein the core comprises a slab of structural-density foam material and a slab of lower-density foam material, said at least one cavity being formed therebetween.
74. A component according to claim 69, wherein the core comprises two slabs of structural-density foam material located either side of a slab of lower-density foam material, cavities being formed between the slab of lower-density foam material and the structural-density slabs.
75. A component according to claim 74, wherein the lower-density foam material has a density of from about 100 to 200 kgm\u22123.
76. A component according to claim 69, wherein one or both of the facing sides of the slabs comprises lugs or other protuberances to provide in-mould separation of the slabs and thereby the provision of said at least one cavity.
77. A component according to claim 65, wherein the core has at least one contoured major surface which, subsequent to moulding, is covered with LPSMC to provide corresponding contours on at least one face of the component.
78. A component according to claim 65 shaped as a door.
79. A door consisting of a foam core at least partially enveloped by LPSMC compression moulded thereto, wherein at least a portion of the foam core has a density in excess of 250 kgm\u22123.
80. A door consisting of a foam core at least partially enveloped by LPSMC compression moulded thereto, the door having contours on at least one face thereof.
81. A door according to claim 79, wherein the foam core comprises a structural density foam slab and a second foam body, the second foam body having a density of from 100 to 200 kgm\u22123.
82. A door according to claim 79, wherein the core has a cavity extending through its thickness, the LPSMC filling the cavity.
83. A method of making a door, the method comprising placing a core of foam material into a mould with LPSMC, closing the mould and applying pressure and heat to render the LPSMC fluid to at least partially envelop the core and thereby produce a LPSMC coated door, wherein the core of foam material has contours to simulate panels, and causing the LPSMC to uniformly cover the contours during moulding.
84. A method according to claim 83, comprising exerting a mould pressure of from 0.1 to 3.04 MPa (1 to 30 bar).
85. A method according to claim 83, comprising moulding at a temperature of from 90 to 130\xb0 C.
86. A method according to claim 83, comprising placing sufficient LPSMC within the mould to completely encapsulate the core in the so-formed product.
87. A method according to claim 83, comprising using a core formed from a single slab of foam material.
88. A method according to claim 83, comprising forming at least one cavity in the core prior to placing the core in the mould.
89. A method according to claim 83, comprising forming the core from two or more distinct slabs of foam material.
90. A method according to claim 89, wherein a cavity extends between two adjacent slabs.
91. A method according to claim 89, comprising forming at least one of the slabs of foam material from a structural-density foam material, i.e. a foam material with a density in the range from 250 to 800 kgm\u22123.
92. A method according to claim 91, wherein the or each slab of structural density foam material has a density of from 300 to 400 kgm\u22123.
93. method according to claim 91, comprising forming the core comprising two slabs of structural-density foam material located either side of a slab of lower-density foam material, cavities being formed between the slab of lower-density foam material and the structural-density slabs.
94. A method according to claim 88, comprising causing the LPSMC to fill the or each cavity to provide a structural bridge across the door.
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. An image processing apparatus comprising:
a specifying unit configured to specify a blank region of an image of image data by using coefficient data which is decoded from encoded data, the encoded data being obtained by encoding coefficient data generated from the image data;
a dividing unit configured to divide the decoded coefficient data into first components and second components;
an eliminating unit configured to eliminate the blank region specified by the specifying unit from the first components divided from the decoded coefficient data by the dividing unit; and
a synthesizing unit configured to combine the first components from which the blank region has been eliminated by the eliminating unit with the second components divided from the decoded coefficient data by the dividing unit.
2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specifying unit includes a generator configured to generate a decoded data regarding the image from the coefficient data, and specifies a blank region of the decoded image generated by the generator.
3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:
the specifying unit further includes an obtaining unit configured to supply the decoded image generated by the generator to a different apparatus that generates a region-of-interest mask which includes information indicating a blank region of the decoded image, and configured to obtain the region-of-interest mask generated by the different apparatus; and
the eliminating unit eliminates the blank region indicated in the region-of-interest mask obtained by the obtaining unit from the first components which are divided from the coefficient data by the dividing unit.
4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:
the specifying unit further includes an extracting unit configured to extract partial components from the coefficient data;
the generator generates a decoded image from the partial components extracted by the extracting unit;
the obtaining unit supplies the decoded image generated from the partial components by the generator to the different apparatus, and obtains a region-of-interest mask indicating a blank region of the decoded image generated by the generator; and
the eliminating unit eliminates the blank region indicated in the region-of-interest mask obtained by the obtaining unit from the first components which are divided from the coefficient data by the dividing unit.
5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:
the specifying unit further includes a detector configured to detect the blank region from the decoded image generated by the generator; and
the eliminating unit eliminates the blank region detected by the detector from the first components divided from the coefficient data by the dividing unit.
6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the encoded data is obtained by performing Huffman encoding on the coefficient data.
7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data is an image obtained by imaging cells or tissues of an organism.
8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first components are alternating current components, and the second components are direct current components.
9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the synthesizing unit substitutes the first component corresponding to the blank region eliminated by the eliminating unit with an end of block, and combines the first components with the second components.
10. An image processing method for use in an image processing apparatus, comprising:
using at least one processor:
specifying a blank region of an image of image data by using coefficient data which is decoded from encoded data, the encoded data being obtained by encoding coefficient data generated from the image data;
dividing the decoded coefficient data into first components and second components;
eliminating the specified blank region from the first components; and
combining the first components from which the blank region has been eliminated with the second components.