All The Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:
a pulsed gas discharge laser lithography light source comprising:
a seed laser portion providing a seed laser output light beam of seed pulses;
an amplifier portion receiving the seed laser output light beam and amplifying the optical intensity of each seed pulse to provide a high power laser system output light beam of output pulses;
a pulse stretcher increasing the number of peaks in the output pulse and decreasing the average peak intensity of each of the output pulses by passing the output pulses through a pair of optical delay paths in series;
the pulse stretcher comprising:
a first beam splitter operatively connected with the first delay path and a second pulse stretcher operatively connected with the second delay path;
a first optical delay path tower containing the first beam splitter;
a second optical delay path tower containing the second beam splitter;
one of the first and second optical delay paths comprising:
a plurality of mirrors defining the respective optical delay path including mirrors located in the first tower and in the second tower;
the other of the first and second optical delay paths comprising:
a plurality of mirrors defining the respective optical delay path including mirrors only in one of the first tower and the second tower.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
the first optical delay path and the second optical delay path being of unequal length.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
the first optical delay path being longer than the second optical delay path.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:
the one of the first and second optical delay towers containing mirrors in both of the first and second towers being the longer of the first and second optical delay paths.
5. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising:
the one of the first and second optical delay towers containing mirrors in both of the first and second towers being the longer of the first and second optical delay paths.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
the longer of the first and second optical delay paths being the first optical delay path.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
the mirrors comprising imaging mirrors.
8. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:
the mirrors comprising imaging mirrors.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
the mirrors comprising confocal mirrors.
10. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:
the mirrors comprising confocal mirrors.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:
the mirrors comprising confocal mirrors.
12. An apparatus comprising:
a pulsed gas discharge laser lithography light source comprising:
a seed laser portion providing a seed laser output light beam of seed pulses;
an amplifier portion receiving the seed laser output light beam and amplifying the optical intensity of each seed pulse to provide a high power laser system output light beam of output pulses;
the amplifier portion comprising a ring power amplifier comprising amplifier portion injection optics comprising at least one beam expanding prism, a beam reverser and an inputoutput coupler;
the beam expansion optics and the output coupler being mounted on an optics assembly with the beam expansion optics rigidly mounted with respect to the optics assembly and the inputoutput coupler mounted for relative movement with respect to the optics assembly for optical alignment purposes.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:
the inputoutput coupler being mounted for movement with respect to the optic assembly in a first axis and a second axis.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:
the first axis and second axis being generally orthogonal to each other.
15. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:
the amplifier injection optics being contained within an amplifier portion injection optics assembly box and the inputoutput coupler comprising at least one through-the-wall adjusting actuator to adjust the position of the inputoutput coupler in at least one axis.

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 self-service terminal comprising:
a fascia;
a transmitter sending a chirped ultrasonic pulse across a region of the fascia;
wherein the pulse interacts with the region;
a receiver receiving the pulse after the pulse has interacted with the region and produces an electrical output corresponding to the received pulse; and,
an analysing module converting the electrical output to a frequency domain, the analyzing module comparing the frequesncy domain converted electrical output to a baseline frequency response.
2. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, where the frequencies of the pulse are in the range of 30 to 100 KHz.
3. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the region comprises one or more parts of the fascia.
4. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a signal generator producing a chirped electrical pulse that the transmitter converts into a chirped ultrasonic pulse.
5. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a microprocessor controlling the signal generator and analysing module.
6. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a memory storing the baseline frequency response andor frequency response characterisations.
7. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter sends a succession of pulses.
8. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the pulse is damped.
9. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter and receiver are co-located.
10. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter and receiver are combined as a single transducer unit.
11. A method of detecting foreign bodies at a self-service terminal, the method comprising:
sending a chirped ultrasonic pulse across a region of a fascia of the terminal so that the pulse interacts with the region, wherein the region is associated with a magnetic card slot of the self- service terminal;
receiving the pulse after the pulse has interacted with the region;
producing an electrical output corresponding to the received pulse; and,
analysing the electrical output by converting the electrical output to a frequency domain and comparing the frequency domain converted electrical output to a baseline frequency response.
12. A method according to claim 11, further comprising determining the baseline frequency response in the absence of foreign bodies and subsequently comparing a determined frequency response with the baseline frequency response.
13. A method according to claim 12 wherein a succession of chirped pulses are sent across the fascia and the baseline frequency response is established on the basis of a historical average of frequency responses.
14. A method according to claim 12, further comprising characterising a range of foreign bodies by determining a frequency response with each foreign body present, storing the frequency responses and subsequently comparing a determined frequency response with the stored frequency responses.
15. A method according to claim 11 wherein analysing the electrical output also, or instead of making the frequency domain analysis, includes making a time domain analysis of the electrical output.

1. A zoom lens system having a plurality of lens units, each lens unit being composed of at least one lens element, the zoom lens system, in order from an object side to an image side, comprising:
a first lens unit having negative optical power;
a second lens unit having positive optical power;
a third lens unit having negative optical power; and
a fourth lens unit having positive optical power, wherein
in zooming from a wide-angle limit to a telephoto limit at the time of image taking, the first lens unit moves along an optical axis, and wherein
the second lens unit, in order from an object side to an image side, comprises: a lens element having positive optical power; a lens element having negative optical power; and a lens element having positive optical power, in which air spaces are included between the individual lens elements.
2. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the following condition (1) is satisfied:
3<fwTL1<70\u2003\u2003(1)

where,
fw is a focal length of the entire system at a wide-angle limit, and
TL1 is an optical axial thickness of a lens element located closest to the object side among the lens elements constituting the first lens unit.
3. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, having:
an escaping lens unit that, at the time of retracting, escapes along an axis different from that at the time of image taking; and
an image blur compensating lens unit that moves in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis in order to optically compensate image blur, wherein
the following condition (2) is satisfied:
3.5<TESCTOIS<18.0\u2003\u2003(2)
where,
TESC is an optical axial thickness of the escaping lens unit, and
TOIS is an optical axial thickness of the image blur compensating lens unit.
4. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the following condition (3) is satisfied:
\u22121.5<fG1(HT\xd7Z)<\u22120.3\u2003\u2003(3)

where,
fG1 is a focal length of the first lens unit,
HT is an image height at a telephoto limit,
Z is a value expressed by the following formula,
Z=fTfw
fT is a focal length of the entire system at a telephoto limit, and
fw is a focal length of the entire system at a wide-angle limit.
5. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the following condition (4) is satisfied:
0.3<\u221a(\u2212fG1\xd7fG2)(HT\xd7Z)<2.0\u2003\u2003(4)

where,
fG1 is a focal length of the first lens unit,
fG2 is a focal length of the second lens unit,
HT is an image height at a telephoto limit,
Z is a value expressed by the following formula,
Z=fTfw
fT is a focal length of the entire system at a telephoto limit, and
fw is a focal length of the entire system at a wide-angle limit.
6. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first lens unit is composed of two or more lens elements.
7. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fourth lens unit is composed of one lens element.
8. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, having
a focusing lens unit that moves relative to an image surface in focusing from an infinity in-focus condition to a close-object in-focus condition, wherein
the focusing lens unit moves to the image side along the optical axis in focusing.
9. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the focusing lens unit is composed of one lens element.
10. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the image blur compensating lens unit is composed of one lens element.
11. The zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fourth lens unit is fixed relative to an image surface in zooming from a wide-angle limit to a telephoto limit at the time of image taking.
12. An imaging device capable of outputting an optical image of an object as an electric image signal, comprising:
a zoom lens system that forms an optical image of the object; and
an image sensor that converts the optical image formed by the zoom lens system into the electric image signal, wherein
the zoom lens system is a zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1.
13. A camera for converting an optical image of an object into an electric image signal and then performing at least one of displaying and storing of the converted image signal, comprising
an imaging device including a zoom lens system that forms an optical image of the object and an image sensor that converts the optical image formed by the zoom lens system into the electric image signal, wherein
the zoom lens system is a zoom lens system as claimed in claim 1.

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. Agricultural knife apparatus, which is so structured as to be suitable for inserting materials such as seeds into the ground, wherein:
the apparatus is structurally suitable for the operation of creating a slit-opening in the ground and of inserting the materials into the slit-opening, at a depth that is less than about 15 cm vertically below the ground surface;
the apparatus includes a shank and a blade, and includes a transition zone, at which the shank and blade are joined integrally;
the shank includes a front surface and a rear surface, and left and right side surfaces;
when viewed in front elevation, the shank has an axis, termed the shank axis; the blade is formed with an over-surface and an under-surface, which intersect at a line, and the line defines an angled-knife-edge of the blade;
the shank axis intersects the line of the angled-knife edge, at a point of intersection on the angled-knife-edge;
when viewed in front elevation, the line of the angled-knife-edge slopes at an angle, termed the knife angle, relative to the shank axis, and the knife angle is between 30 and 60 degrees;
the angled-knife edge has a bottom extremity thereof, and the distance, measured along the angled-knife-edge, from the point of intersection to the bottom extremity of the angled-knife-edge, is less than about 30 cm.
2. As in claim 1, wherein the angled-knife-edge is a straight line.
3. As in claim 1, wherein the knife apparatus includes a conduit, which is structurally suitable for depositing seeds in the ground, the conduit being attached to, or supported upon, the blade on a back-side of the blade, which is opposite to and remote from the knife-edge.
4. As in claim 1, wherein, in a cross-section of the blade portion taken in a plane at right angles to the knife-edge, the over-surface and the under-surface make an included angle of intersection of between 15 and 30 degrees.
5. As in claim 4, wherein the included angle of intersection is the same at cross-section taken in all planes between the point of intersection and the bottom extremity.
6. As in claim 1, wherein the shank includes an attachment mechanism for attaching the knife apparatus to a mounting bar, the attachment mechanism includes two bolt holes, one above the other, in the shank, and the axis of the shank passes through the bolt holes.