Author: claimsbot

1-12. (canceled)
13. A method for operating a hand held optical pointing device, comprising:
capturing a plurality of arrays of data in a hand held optical pointing device representing light reflected from irregularities on a surface;
processing at least some of the plurality of arrays of data in the device to estimate movement of the device with respect to the surface during each of a plurality of measurement cycles; and
sending a series of estimated movement update signals to a computer, each such estimated movement update signal representing the estimated relative movement of the handheld optical pointing device with respect to the surface during more than one of the plurality of measurement cycles.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the device is an optical mouse.
15. The method of claim 13 in which processing at least some of the plurality of arrays of data further comprises:
deriving and comparing information from at least some of the arrays of data to estimate movement.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein a rate at which the arrays of data are captured is higher than a rate at which the series of estimated movement update signals are sent to the computer.
17. The method of claim 13 wherein a rate at which the arrays of data are processed is higher than a rate at which the series of estimated movement update signals are sent to the computer.
18. The method of claim 13 wherein processing at least some of the plurality of arrays of data further comprises:
comparing information derived from a first array of data with information derived from a second array of data to estimate relative movement of the device with respect to the surface during a measurement cycle.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein comparing information derived from a first array of data with information derived from a second array of data to estimate relative movement further comprises:
comparing a portion of the second array with multiple shifted portions of the first array.
20. The method of claim 13 wherein processing at least some of the plurality of arrays of data further comprises:
altering an aspect of at least one of the first and second arrays of data for at least some of a plurality of comparisons therebetween to estimate relative movement of the device with respect to the surface.
21. The method of claim 20 in which altering an aspect of at least one of the first and second arrays of data further comprises:
reducing the data content of at least one of the first and second arrays of data, and then
estimating relative movement by comparing the first and second arrays of data.
22. The method of claim 21 wherein estimating relative movement by comparing the first and second arrays of data further comprises:
correlating at least a portion of a first array of data with at least a portion of a second array of data to estimate relative movement of the device with respect to the surface during a time period between the capture of the first and second arrays.
23. The method of claim 21 wherein comparing the first array of data with the second array of data to estimate relative movement further comprises:
estimating relative movement in accordance with a comparison between a shifted element of one of the first and second arrays of data with the other one of the first and second arrays of data.
24. The method of claim 13 wherein the relative movement estimated during each of the plurality of measurement cycles is related to a distance between elements of the arrays of captured data.
25. The method of claim 24 wherein the estimated movement update signal sent to the computer represents movement greater than the distance between elements of the arrays of captured data.
26. The method of claim 13 wherein processing at least some of the plurality of arrays of data in the device to estimate relative movement of the device with respect to the surface during each of a plurality of measurement cycles comprises:
comparing at least portions of a first and second of the arrays of data to estimate a relative movement, if any, of the device with respect to the surface during each of the plurality of measurement cycles; and
accumulating the estimated movement during a plurality of measurement cycles to determine a magnitude for the movement update data signal.
27. The method of claim 13 wherein sending a series of estimated movement update signals to a computer further comprises:
scaling the series of estimated movement update signals to indicate movement of a cursor on a display associated with the computer.
28. A method for operating an optical pointing device, comprising:
providing an array of photodetectors in an optical pointing device responsive to light reflected from irregularities on a surface;
capturing a plurality of arrays of data in the device from the array of photodetectors, each data array including data elements each representing light captured at one of the photodetectors at a selected time;
processing at least one data element in a first array of the plurality of arrays of data with a plurality of data elements in a second array to estimate any relative movement, during a time interval between the captures of the first and second arrays, between the device and the surface by comparing the at least one data element and one of the plurality of data elements;
combining a plurality of relative movement estimates to develop a combined estimate of relative movement between the device and the surface during a time interval greater than the time interval between the captures of the first and second arrays; and
selectively providing an update to a computer representing the combined relative movement estimate.
29. The method of claim 28 wherein the number of relative movement estimates to be represented by an update is selected in accordance with a function to be performed by the computer in response to the update.
30. The method of claim 29 wherein the function to be performed by the computer in response to the update is to control the position of a pointer in a display.
31. The method of claim 28 wherein selectively providing an update to a computer further comprises:
determining if the update represents a valid relative movement between the device and the surface.
32. The method of claim 28 wherein selectively providing an update to a computer further comprises:
determining if the update represents a valid relative movement with respect to an operation to be performed by the computer in response to the update.
33. The method of claim 28 wherein selectively providing an update to a computer further comprises:
providing the update unless the update represents movement of the device away from the surface.
34. The method of claim 28 wherein selectively providing an update to a computer further comprises:
sending an update different from the combined estimates of relative movement if the combined estimates do not represent a valid relative movement between the device and the surface.
35. The method of claim 28 wherein selectively providing an update to a computer further comprises:
scaling the update to indicate movement of a cursor on a display associated with the computer.

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. In a processing device associated with a display device that has a plurality of pixels, each pixel having a plurality of separately controllable colored pixel sub-components, and wherein the colored sub-pixel components form colored stripes in either a horizontal or a vertical direction, a method of dropout control adapted to compensate for thin image features when rendering the image, comprising the acts of:
receiving a bitmap having a plurality of samples representing an image, each sample corresponding to one of the separately controllable sub-pixel components;
for a direction that is perpendicular to the stripping formed by the sub-pixel components, identifying a set of one or more horizontally adjacent sub-pixel component samples that fall within an outline of the bitmap image;
determining whether the set of one or more horizontally adjacent sub-pixel component samples comprises a minimum number of horizontally adjacent sub-pixel component samples; and
when it is determined that the set of one or more horizontally adjacent sub-pixel component samples fails to comprise the minimum number of horizontally adjacent sub-pixel component samples selectively adding additional sub-pixel components to the set of samples such that the set of samples comprises the minimum number of horizontally adjacent sub-pixel component samples.
2. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for implementing the method of claim 1.
3. The method of claims 1 or 2, wherein the set of samples comprises a mutually exclusive set of consecutive samples.
4. The method of claims 1 or 2, wherein the stripping is vertical, and wherein the samples of the set of samples comprise all of a group of consecutive samples for a row of samples.
5. The method of claims 1 or 2, wherein the minimum number of samples comprises the number of samples needed to compensate for thin image features.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying a set of samples for a row of samples is conducted by processing discrete sections of the bitmap.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the discrete sections of the bitmap are processed in a bitwise fashion.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the discrete sections of the bitmap are processed utilizing an associative table.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein selectively adding samples comprises replacing the set of samples with an alternative pattern of samples from the associative table.
10. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the predetermined number is based on the font size of the image being displayed.
11. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the predetermined number is based on hinting of the image being displayed.
12. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the minimum predetermined number is also based on the resolution of a display screen on which the image is displayed.
13. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the predetermined number of samples is dependent upon a potential for inktraps and by treating closely spaced and disjointed sets of pixels differently than widely spaced and disjointed sets of pixels.
14. In a processing device associated with a display device that has a plurality of pixels, each pixel having a plurality of separately controllable colored pixel sub-components, and wherein the colored sub-pixel components form colored stripes in either a horizontal or a vertical direction, a method of dropout control adapted to compensate for thin image features when rendering the image, comprising the acts of:
receiving a bitmap having a plurality of samples representing an image;
identifying a set of adjacent pixel sub-component samples that are adjacent in a direction parallel to striping formed by the colored stripes, and wherein the set of samples comprise a mutually exclusive group of one or more adjacent samples that fall within an outline of the image;
calculating whether the set of samples comprises a minimum number of samples; and
selectively adding additional samples to the set of samples such that the set of samples comprises the minimum number of samples, and wherein the image is positioned vertically adjacent to a baseline and the additional samples added to the set of samples are uniformly added to portions of the image positioned above and below the baseline.
15. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for implementing the method of claim 14.

1. A battery fastening device for a seat tube of a bicycle comprising:
a tube member, a cap member and a cover member;
the tube member having a receiving channel opened therethrough;
the cap member having an assembling portion defined at one end thereof, one end of the assembling portion assembled to the tube member, another end of the cap member having a handling block extruded therefrom, the handling block exposed out from the seat tube, the cap member having a passage opened through the assembling portion and the handling block, the passage communicating with the receiving channel, the battery assembly received into the receiving channel, a positive terminal of the battery assembly attached to the passage; and
the cover member defined between the seat tube and the tube member and sleeving on an outer periphery of the tube member tightly;
wherein the tube member is tightly positioned in the seat tube because of the cover member, so that the battery assembly is stably positioned within the seat tube; in addition, when the cap member is departed from the tube member, a user changes the battery assembly easily and conveniently.
2. The battery fastening device for a seat tube of a bicycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tube member further comprises a first protrusion, a second protrusion and a neck portion; one end of the neck portion is connected to the first protrusion, and another end of the neck portion is connected to the second protrusion; the cover member sleeves on the neck portion of the tube member tightly and is positioned between the first protrusion and the second protrusion of the tube member.
3. The battery fastening device for a seat tube of a bicycle as claimed in claim 2, wherein a diameter of the neck portion is gradually increased from one end thereof toward another end thereof; a first diameter of the first protrusion and a second diameter of the second protrusion are both larger than the diameter of the neck portion.
4. The battery fastening device for a seat tube of a bicycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving channel of the tube member has first threaded portion defined at one end of an inner wall thereof; the assembling portion of the cap member has a second threaded portion defined at an outer periphery thereof; the first threaded portion threads with the second threaded portion.
5. The battery fastening device for a seat tube of a bicycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the passage of the cap member has an annular flange extruded from an inner wall thereof for abutting against and positioning the battery assembly.
6. The battery fastening device for a seat tube of a bicycle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover member is made of foam materials.

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 imaging device comprising:
a touch panel adapted to receive an instruction entered by a user with a touch operation by touching hisher finger to a screen,
a touch operation detector adapted to detect the touch operation entered through the touch panel,
an image acquirer adapted to acquire an image,
an imaging controller adapted to effect control such that the image acquirer acquires the image when the touch operation detector detects a flick operation, as the touch operation, in which the user lifts hisher finger off the screen of the touch panel after moving the finger over the screen, with the finger kept in contact with any position on the screen, and
an imaging mode setter adapted to set an imaging mode in which the image acquirer acquires the image according to an instruction given by the user with a touch operation,
wherein the imaging controller effects control such that the image acquirer acquires the image according to the imaging mode set by the imaging mode setter,
wherein the imaging mode setter comprises the imaging mode for acquiring a single image with a single flick operation, and
wherein, in the imaging mode for acquiring the single image, the image is acquired with a multiple exposure by performing a multiple flick operation whereby the user repeats steps of moving hisher finger over the screen of the touch panel with the finger kept in contact with the screen, stopping moving the finger, and moving the finger back in an opposite direction with the finger kept in contact with the screen.
2. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging controller effects control such that the image acquirer acquires an image in a period of the flick operation detected by the touch operation detector, the period lasting while the user moves hisher finger, kept in contact with the screen of the touch panel, from when the user touches the finger to the screen of the touch panel and ending when the user lifts the finger off the screen.
3. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising a text information acquirer that, upon the touch operation detector detecting the flick operation, causes an entry region for entering text information for an image acquired by the image acquirer to be displayed in an area over which the user has moved hisher finger kept in contact with the screen of the touch panel, to acquire the text information entered by the user in the entry region.
4. The imaging device according to claim 3, wherein the text information is entered by handwriting input, by using a virtual keyboard, or by voice input.
5. The imaging device according to claim 3, wherein the text information is a title of the image or a comment on the image.
6. The imaging device according to claim 5, wherein the text information acquirer switches between entry of the title of the image and entry of the comment on the image according to a length over which the user has moved hisher finger in the flick operation.
7. The imaging device according to claim 3, further comprising an image processor adapted to attach text information acquired by the text information acquirer as a character image to an image acquired by the image acquirer.
8. The imaging device according to claim 7, wherein the image processor attaches the text information to an arbitrary region in the image acquired by the image acquirer or to a region other than a display region of the image displayed on a given medium.
9. The imaging device according to claim 7, wherein the image processor attaches the text information to the image acquired by the image acquirer after processing and editing the text information.
10. The imaging device according to claim 7, wherein when the image is acquired by the image acquirer, with the imaging device held in an upside-down position, the image processor reverses an orientation of the acquired image upside downward.
11. The imaging device according to claim 7, further comprising an image storage adapted to store image data of the image acquired by the image acquirer as the user lifts hisher finger off the touch panel upon completing the flick operation or image data of the image having undergone image processing by the image processor.
12. The imaging device according to claim 11, wherein the image storage stores the text information acquired by the text information acquirer as tag information of image data of the image stored by the image storage.
13. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising a focus frame setter that, upon the touch operation detector detecting that the user has placed hisher two fingers in contact with the screen of the touch panel, causes a focus frame for determining a focusing position in an imaging region to be displayed in the screen of the touch panel and, when the user moves the two fingers kept in contact with the screen of the touch panel, causes the focus frame to move according to a direction in which the two fingers move.
14. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein, in the absence of a new instruction given by the user with the touch operation, the imaging mode setter retains an imaging mode setting corresponding to a prior instruction given by the user with an immediately preceding touch operation.
15. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein in the imaging mode for acquiring the single image, a shutter speed at which the image acquirer acquires the image is changed according to a speed at which the user moves hisher finger in the flick operation.
16. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging mode setter comprises a first imaging mode for acquiring a plurality of images with a single flick operation under same imaging conditions.
17. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging mode setter comprises a second imaging mode for acquiring a plurality of images with a single flick operation by changing a shutter speed.
18. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging mode setter comprises a third imaging mode for applying image processing to a plurality of images acquired with a single flick operation.
19. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging mode setter comprises a fourth imaging mode for acquiring a plurality of images with a single flick operation, either with or without flash.
20. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein, when the user’s finger is placed in contact with a right side of the screen of the touch panel, the touch operation detector detects the flick operation as the finger is moved on the screen of the touch panel from right to left; when the user’s finger is placed in contact with a left side of the screen of the touch panel, the touch operation detector detects the flick operation as the finger is moved on the screen of the touch panel from left to right.
21. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging controller is constituted by a program that is started by the user with the touch operation.
22. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging controller is constituted by a program that is started by the user with the touch operation,
wherein the imaging mode setter displays a selection screen for selecting the imaging mode on the screen of the touch panel upon starting of the program and sets the imaging mode selected by the user with the touch operation.
23. An imaging method comprising:
an instruction input step of receiving an instruction entered by a user with a touch operation by touching hisher finger to a screen of a touch panel,
a touch operation detection step of detecting the touch operation entered in the instruction input step,
an imaging control step of effecting control such that the image is acquired when a flick operation is detected as the touch operation in the touch operation detection step, in which flick operation the user lifts hisher finger off the screen of the touch panel after moving the finger over the screen with the finger kept in contact with any position on the screen, and
an imaging mode setter step of setting an imaging mode in which the image is acquired according to an instruction given by the user with a touch operation,
wherein the imaging control step effects control such that the image is acquired according to the imaging mode set by the imaging mode setter step,
wherein the imaging mode setter step comprises the imaging mode for acquiring a single image with a single flick operation, and
wherein, in the imaging mode for acquiring the single image, the image is acquired with a multiple exposure by performing a multiple flick operation whereby the user repeats steps of moving hisher finger over the screen of the touch panel with the finger kept in contact with the screen, stopping moving the finger, and moving the finger back in an opposite direction with the finger kept in contact with the screen.
24. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program adapted to cause a computer to execute each of the steps of the imaging method according to claim 23.