Author: claimsbot

1. A method of direct manufacturing and heat treating a metal part, the method comprising:
depositing metal wire onto a metal plate within a vacuumed chamber;
directing an electron beam onto the wire as it is deposited onto the metal plate;
applying electric current to the metal plate after at least a portion of the metal wire has been deposited onto the metal plate, to heat treat the metal part.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein applying electric current to the metal plate comprises passing electrical current through the metal plate during a time when the metal wire is not being deposited onto the metal plate.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying the electron beam toward one or more sections of the metal plate, when the metal wire is not being applied to the metal plate, at a particular power and focus setting sufficient to heat the one or more sections to a stress-relieving temperature below the melting point of a particular metal.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising vacuum pumping down the chamber to a proper temperature and atmospheric pressure for depositing metal wire onto a metal plate.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising attaching bus bars to the metal plate, wherein the bus bars are configured to provide electrical current to the metal plate.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring various stress indicators of the metal part during deposition of the metal wire and applying electric current to the metal plate when at least one of the stress indicators exceeds a given threshold of acceptable stress.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein applying electric current comprises applying enough electrical current to the metal plate to increase the temperature of the metal part to a temperature between approximately 30 percent and 50 percent of the melting temperature of the metal part for a predetermined length of time.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal part, metal wire, and metal plate are each comprised of at least one of titanium, titanium alloys, aluminum, and nickel-based super alloys.
9. A method of direct manufacturing and heat treating a metal part, the method comprising:
placing a metal plate within an airtight chamber;
applying vacuum to the airtight chamber;
depositing metal wire onto a metal plate within the airtight chamber;
directing an electron beam onto the wire as it is deposited onto the metal plate;
monitoring various stress indicators of the metal part during deposition of the metal wire;
applying electrical current to the metal plate when at least one of the stress indicators exceeds a given threshold of acceptable stress, thereby heating the metal part.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising applying the electron beam toward one or more sections of the metal plate, when the metal wire is not being applied to the metal plate, at a particular power and focus setting sufficient to heat the one or more sections to a stress-relieving temperature below the melting point of a particular metal used to form the metal part.
11. The method of claim 9, further comprising attaching bus bars to the metal plate, wherein the bus bars are configured to provide electrical current to the metal plate.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the electrical current is applied to the metal plate after at least a portion of the metal wire has been deposited onto the metal plate and during a time when the metal wire is not being deposited onto the metal plate.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein applying electric current comprises applying enough electrical current to the metal plate to increase the temperature of the metal part to a temperature between approximately 30 percent and 50 percent of the melting temperature of the metal part for a predetermined length of time required to provide a predetermined amount of stress relief.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising cutting off electrical current to the metal plate after the predetermined length of time and resuming depositing of the metal wire.
15. A system for forming and stress-relieving a metal part, the system comprising:
an airtight vacuum chamber;
a wire feeder configured to deposit metal wire onto a plurality of portions of a metal plate positioned within the chamber, thereby forming the metal part;
an electron beam source configured for providing a beam of electrons within the airtight vacuum chamber such that the beam of electrons intersects the metal wire as the metal wire is deposited onto the metal plate; and
at least one current-providing apparatus configured to attach to the metal plate and configured to heat the metal plate via Joule heating.
16. The system of claim 15, further comprising one or more clamps configured for clamping the metal plate in place, wherein the clamps are located within the airtight vacuum chamber.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the current-providing apparatus comprises at least one bus bar and an electrical power unit configured for providing electrical current to the metal plate.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the current-providing apparatus is configured to apply current to the metal plate only while the wire feeder is not depositing metal wire onto the metal plate.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein the electron beam source is configured to provide the beam of electrons to the metal part, while the wire feeder is not depositing metal wire onto the metal plate, at a particular power and focus setting sufficient to heat the one or more sections to a stress-relieving temperature below a melting point of a particular metal of the metal plate.

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 printing system comprising:
a lithographic plate information printing unit that prints lithographic plate information on a recording medium using a lithographic plate;
a variable information printing unit that prints predetermined variable information on the recording medium on which the lithographic plate information is printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit;
a first obtaining component that obtains first identification information provided in advance to the lithographic plate disposed in the lithographic plate information printing unit;
a storage unit that stores second identification information associated with the variable information;
a determination component that determines whether the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in a preset corresponding relationship, based on the first identification information obtained by the first obtaining component and the second identification information stored in the storage unit, wherein the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information and the variable information are in the preset corresponding relationship after a print instruction is input to an operator panel to initiate printing; and
a control component that, if determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship, then, based on a result of determination by the determination component, controls so that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are printed in the preset corresponding relationship, and in a case that the determination component determines that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship, controls so that printing is not performed.
2. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the control component allows a printing operation of the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information printing unit when the determination component determines that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship.
3. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the control component restricts a printing operation of the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information printing unit when the determination component determines that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship.
4. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the control component gives notice that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship or that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship based on the result of the determination by the determination component.
5. The printing system of claim 1 further comprising:
a storage component that stores a plurality of pieces of variable information; and
a printing order changing component that changes a printing order of the plurality of pieces of variable information stored in the storage component, wherein
the control component controls the printing order changing component based on the result of the determination by the determination component.
6. The printing system of claim 1 further comprising:
a second obtaining component that obtains second identification information provided in advance to the variable information,
wherein the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship based on the first identification information obtained by the first obtaining component and the second identification information obtained by the second obtaining component.
7. The printing system of claim 6, wherein the determination component determines whether the first identification information provided in advance to the lithographic plate disposed in the lithographic plate information printing unit and the second identification information provided in advance to the variable information printing unit are the same as each other.
8. The printing system of claim 1 further comprising:
a storage component that stores a plurality of pieces of variable information,
wherein the control component selects variable information that has attached thereto identification information that is the same as the first identification information obtained by the first obtaining component from the plurality of pieces of variable information stored in the storage component, and provides to the variable information printing unit an instruction for a printing operation based on the selected variable information.
9. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the control component controls so that the printing system goes into a standby state, if determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship.
10. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the control component controls so that an error message is displayed on the operator panel, if determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship.
11. A printing device comprising:
a lithographic plate information printing unit that prints lithographic plate information on a recording medium using a lithographic plate; and
a control component that, if determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and a variable information to be printed by a variable information printing unit are in a preset corresponding relationship, then, based on a result of determination by a determination component, controls so that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit that prints predetermined variable information on the recording medium on which the lithographic plate information is printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit, are printed in the preset corresponding relationship, and in a case that the determination component determines that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship, controls so that printing is not performed,
wherein the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship, based on first identification information provided in advance to the lithographic plate disposed in the lithographic plate information printing unit and obtained by a first obtaining component, and second identification information associated with the variable information and stored in a storage unit, and
the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information and the variable information are in the preset corresponding relationship after a print instruction is input to an operator panel to initiate printing.
12. A printing device comprising:
a variable information printing unit that prints predetermined variable information on a recording medium on which lithographic plate information is printed by a lithographic plate information printing unit for printing the lithographic plate information on the recording medium using a lithographic plate; and
a control component that, if determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in a preset corresponding relationship, then, based on a result of determination by a determination component, controls so that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are printed in the preset corresponding relationship, and in a case that the determination component determines that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship, controls so that printing is not performed,
wherein the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship, based on first identification information provided in advance to the lithographic plate disposed in the lithographic plate information printing unit and obtained by a first obtaining component, and second identification information associated with the variable information and stored in a storage unit, and wherein the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information and the variable information are in the preset corresponding relationship after a print instruction is input to an operator panel to initiate printing.
13. A controller comprising:
a control component that, if determined that a lithographic plate information to be printed by a lithographic plate information printing unit and a variable information to be printed by a variable information printing unit are in a preset corresponding relationship, then, based on a result of determination by a determination component, controls so that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit for printing the lithographic plate information on a recording medium using a lithographic plate and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit for printing predetermined variable information on the recording medium on which the lithographic plate information is printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit, are printed in the preset corresponding relationship, and in a case that the determination component determines that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship, controls so that printing is not performed,
wherein the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship based on first identification information provided in advance to the lithographic plate disposed in the lithographic plate information printing unit and obtained by a first obtaining component, and second identification information associated with the variable information and stored in a storage unit, and wherein the determination component determines whether the lithographic plate information and the variable information are in the preset corresponding relationship after a print instruction is input to an operator panel to initiate printing.
14. A storage medium readable by a computer, the storage medium storing a program of instruction executable by the computer to perform a function for printing, the function comprising:
printing lithographic plate information on a recording medium using a lithographic plate;
printing predetermined variable information on the recording medium on which the lithographic plate information is printed;
obtaining first identification information provided in advance to the lithographic plate disposed in the lithographic plate information printing unit;
storing second identification information associated with the variable information;
determining, after a print instruction is input to an operator panel to initiate printing, whether the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in a preset corresponding relationship, based on the obtained first identification information and the stored second identification information; and
controlling so that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are printed in the preset corresponding relationship, if determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship, and in a case that it is determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship, controlling so that printing is not performed.
15. A printing method comprising:
printing lithographic plate information on a recording medium using a lithographic plate;
printing predetermined variable information on the recording medium on which the lithographic plate information is printed;
obtaining first identification information provided in advance to the lithographic plate disposed in the lithographic plate information printing unit;
storing second identification information associated with the variable information;
determining, after a print instruction is input to an operator panel to initiate printing, whether the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in a preset corresponding relationship, based on the obtained first identification information and the stored second identification information; and
controlling so that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are printed in the preset corresponding relationship, if determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are in the preset corresponding relationship, and in a case that it is determined that the lithographic plate information to be printed by the lithographic plate information printing unit and the variable information to be printed by the variable information printing unit are not in the preset corresponding relationship, controlling so that printing is not performed.

1. A method of learning a finite automaton of a protocol implementation of a communication system comprising the steps of:
a) grouping times within an example communication including PDU (Protocol Data Unit) types together as equivalence classes; and
b) using the equivalence classes as states of the finite automaton;
the grouping step comprising the steps of:
calculating a similarity value between every two times within the example communication to form a similarity matrix, the similarity values being dependent on the length of the PDU type sequence which is coincident for and surrounds both times; and
forming the equivalence classes from the similarity matrix.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the forming step comprises the step of transforming the similarity matrix into an equivalence matrix by means of a lower threshold for the similarity values such that the similarity values are converted into states and the times are grouped together by state to form the equivalence classes.
3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the forming step comprises the steps of:
forming a transitive hull for the similarity matrix between two times within the example communication to calculate an equivalence relation; and
obtaining the equivalence classes from the equivalence relation.
4. A method of learning a finite automaton of a protocol implementation of a communication system comprising the steps of:
a) grouping times within an example communication including PDU (Protocol Data Unit) types together as equivalence classes; and
b) using the equivalence classes as states of the finite automaton;
the using step comprising the step of entering each PDU (Protocol Data Unit) of the example communication as a state transition of the finite automaton, the state transition being a transition from the state whose equivalence class includes the time immediately prior to the PDU to the state whose equivalence class includes the time immediately after the PDU marked with the PDU type.
5. The method as recited in claim 4 further comprising the step of performing the preceding steps several times for overlapping partial sections of the example communication, with the similarity matrix of two overlapping partial sections each being united to form the similarity matrix for the example communication.
6. A method of learning a finite automaton of a protocol implementation of a communication system using an example communication, the finite automaton having basic protocol states and the state transitions of the finite automaton being marked with an appropriate Protocol Data Unit (PDU) type, comprising the steps of:
a) defining times in the example communication between every two PDUs which occur in sequence;
b) calculating a similarity value between every two times as defined in a) to form a similarity matrix, which similarity value indicates the sum of the number of PDU types coincident for and surrounding both times;
c) transforming the similarity matrix to an equivalence matrix by means of a lower threshold for the similarity values calculated according to b), such that two times fulfill an equivalence relation for an equivalence matrix if the similarity values between these two times is larger than or equal to the lower threshold;
d) forming a transitive hull for the equivalence matrix defined according to c), the transitive hull constituting equivalence classes on times according to a);
e) defining each equivalence class of the equivalence relation according to d) as a state of the finite automaton;
f) entering the PDUs of the example communication as state transitions of the finite automaton, the state transitions being a transition from the state whose equivalence class according to e) includes the time immediately prior to the PDU in question to the state whose equivalence class according to e) includes the time immediately after the PDU in question marked with the PDU type of the PDU in question, with transitions that are identical as far as starting and sequential states and PDU type are concerned being only entered once.
7. The method as recited in claim 6 wherein steps a) to f) are performed several times for overlapping partial sections of the example communication, with the equivalence matrices according to c) of two overlapping partial sections each being united and the state-forming equivalence matrix being calculated in analogy to d) by means of the union of the equivalence matrices.
8. A method of learning arithmetic classification rules for features of a finite automaton of a protocol implementation of a communication system from a training set having positive examples comprising the steps of:
a) forming derived features from the training set on the basis of statistical measures in the form of arithmetic terms; and
b) formulating logic conditions on numerical values of the group consisting of the features from the training set and the derived features;
the training set being an example communication composed of Protocol Data Units (PDUs) of a protocol machine and the logic conditions being the rules for the numerical PDU field contents of a sequence of PDUs.
9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the forming step comprises the step of forming the derived features on the basis of correlation and regression coefficients on the training set for each possible pair of features, with the value of the derived feature being calculated from two features from the training set or from one feature from the training set and a constant.
10. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the formulating step comprises the step of taking the conspicuous accumulations of the values of a feature from the training set or a derived feature in a numerical value or within a numerical interval into consideration to establish the logic conditions.
11. The method as recited in claim 10 wherein the conspicuous accumulation is defined in that it maximizes the quotient of the width of the smaller one of two gaps immediately adjacent to the numerical interval in which there are no values of the feature in question, and the width of the largest gap within the numerical interval in which there are no values of the feature in question.
12. The method as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of:
constructing plural subclasses of the training set by organizing the logic conditions in a disjunction of clauses, with one clause constituting a conjunction of one or plural logic condition(s) and describing a subclass each of said training set.
13. The method as recited in claim 12 further comprising the step of conducting a selection of the constructed clauses for characterizing the entire training set such that all elements, if possible, of the training set are selected by at least one of the clauses, and as many as possible of them by exactly one clause.
14. A method of learning arithmetic classification rules for features of a finite automaton of a protocol implementation of a communication system from a training set having exclusively positive examples, the method being used for learning rules for numerical Protocol Data Unit (PDU) field contents of a sequence of PDUs which correspond to a specific partial path in a finite automaton of protocol basic states and PDU types, comprising the steps of:
a) interpreting each component of a feature vector as the expression of an attribute, with the number of attributes present at the beginning corresponding to the dimension of the feature vector;
b) forming new, derived attributes for each possible attribute pair on the basis of correlation and regression coefficients on the training set, with the value of a derived attribute for each feature vector being calculated from already present attribute values of the feature vector, namely as a sum, product, quotient or difference of two already present attributes, or as a product of a present attribute and a constant, in the case of a calculation from two present attributes, the attributes considered in the calculation being selected for maximum correlation with a third attribute and the arithmetic operation for maximum correlation of the derived attribute with the same third attribute, and in the case of a multiplication with a constant, an attribute with a particularly high correlation with a second attribute being multiplied by the linear regression coefficient of the attribute pair in such a manner that the resulting derived attribute corresponds numerically to the said second attribute, if possible;
c) deriving conspicuous accumulations of the values of an original attribute or an attribute according to b) that are detected in a numerical value or within a numerical interval, a conspicuous accumulation being defined in that it maximizes the quotient of the width of the smaller one of the two gaps immediately adjacent to the numerical interval in which there are no values of the attribute in question, and the width of the largest gap within the numerical interval in which there are no values of the attribute in question;
d) forming clauses based on conspicuous accumulations as defined in c), said clauses each formulating a logic condition for selecting those examples from the training set whose attribute values of a certain attribute are within a time interval determined according to the characteristics of the associated conspicuous accumulation as defined in c), with each clause being capable of representing a conjunction of plural such selection criteria for different attributes;
e) constructing a selection of the clauses according to d) for characterizing the entire training set such that all elements, if possible, of the training set are selected by at least one of the clauses, and as many as possible of them by exactly one clause.

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 method of recognizing an imprecisely localized test face, comprising:
a) during a learning stage, using a feature space representation of a learning image for each of plurality of subjects, computing a subspace that represents localization errors within the feature space by
1) calculating an actual localization error of the localization of the learning images;
2) accounting for the calculated actual localization error, projecting all possible morphed faces onto the feature space; and
3) for all possible faces, modeling the subspace where all of the possible localizations of the possible faces lie using a Gaussian distribution; and

b) during an identification stage, recognizing a test face based on the computed subspace from the learning stage.
2. A method of recognizing a partially occluded test face, comprising:
for all possible faces, dividing the possible face into n different local parts;
modeling each of the n local parts using a Gaussian distribution corresponding to a predetermined subset that represents localization error;
computing a global probability of the test face by adding all local probabilities defined by the Gaussian distribution; and
recognizing the test face based on the computed global probability.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
prior to computing the subspace, computing the localization of the learning image by:
pre-localizing the learning image;
omitting unwanted segments;
localizing both eyes and the mouth of the learning image;
rotating the face until the learning image is frontal;
identifying boundaries of the learning image; and
morphing the learning image to a standard face.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the actual localization error comprises:
manually localizing a number of pertinent features of all possible faces; and
computing the actual localization error as a difference between the localization of the learning image and the manually localized features.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the modeling step further comprises the steps of:
generating a local eigenspace representation by:
applying a localization stage to each of the possible faces;
generating a learning set;
finding a mean vector of each element of the learning set;
computing covariance matrices for each element of the learning set;
obtaining the local eigenspaces by taking the eigenvectors associated with the largest eigenvalues of the covariance matrices; and

generating a Gaussian model by:
constructing all eigenspaces by finding eigenvectors associated to the highest eigenvalues of each covariance matrix; and
searching for subspaces that account for the localization error by projecting all learning instances onto the constructed eigenspaces.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of computing the global probability of the test face further comprises the steps of:
localizing the test face;
morphing the test face to a final standard face;
projecting each of the n local parts onto computed eigenspaces, wherein a probability of a given match is directly associated to a Mahalanobis distance; adding all local Mahalanobis distances; and
searching for minima from the added distances.
7. A method of recognizing a test face, the method comprising:
a) using a feature space representation of a learning image for each of a plurality of subjects, computing a subspace that represents localization errors within the feature space by
1) calculating an actual localization error of the localization of the learning image;
2) accounting for the calculated actual localization error, projecting all possible morphed faces onto the feature space; and
3) for all possible faces, modeling the subspace where all of the possible localizations of the possible faces lie using a Gaussian distribution;

b) accounting for possible partial occlusions of the test face by:
1) for all possible faces, dividing the possible face into n different local parts;
2) modeling each of the n local parts using a Gaussian distribution corresponding to a predetermined subset that represents localization error;
3) computing a global probability of the test face by adding all local probabilities defined by the Gaussian distribution; and

recognizing the test face based on the computed subspace andor the accounted for possible partial occlusions.