Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a first power calculator for calculating a power consumption amount of a driving load unit and a post-processing device based on at least one of measured values of a voltage and a current, which are supplied to the driving load unit and the post-processing device; second and third power calculators for calculating power consumption amounts of a fixing heater driving unit and a controller based on an operating state and an operating time of the image forming apparatus; and a power summing-up unit for calculating a power consumption amount of the image forming apparatus by summing up the power consumption amount calculated by the first power calculator and the power consumption amount predicted by each of the second and third power calculators.

Abstract: A camera reading apparatus having an alignment guide is presented. The alignment guide may have a rigid platform having a substantially flat bottom surface, a substantially flat top surface that is parallel to the bottom surface, and an aperture through the top surface and the bottom surface. The bottom surface may have a first portion and may have a second portion that forms a ledge projecting from the first portion. The first portion may have a front edge, and the second portion may have a side edge. The front edge and the side edge may intersect to form a right angle.

Abstract: An easily adjustable tripod includes a main body, legs, a positioning piece, and a spring. The main body includes an adjustable connection part having protruding parts that function as gear teeth. Each leg includes a connector having two protruding side walls. The connector and the adjustable connection part are coupled with mounting screws. The positioning piece is coupled to the connector between the two protruding walls and meshes with the protruding parts on the adjustable connection part. The opening angle of the legs can be easily adjusted and fixed using the positioning piece and the adjustable connection part. The spring and the positioning piece are installed to form an organic whole, so the positioning piece can be conveniently adjusted without changing the opening angle after fixation. It is easy to close and fold the tripod because of the applied force of the spring.

Abstract: An exemplary objective holder engages with a PCB substrate having an image sensor and several passive components arranged thereon. The passive components surround the image sensor. The objective includes a lens barrel extending from a side of a base, and a plurality of walls extending from an opposite side of the base. The walls enclose a chamber thereamong for receiving the image sensor and define notches therein for receiving the passive components therein. A transparent cover is received in the objective holder between the lens barrel and the chamber. An adhesive is used to connect the objective holder to the PCB substrate. The PCB substrate is rested on the walls. At least one of the notches communicates the chamber to an exterior for outgassing and is sealed by a mass of sealing material after a heating process of the adhesive.

Abstract: A vibrating type driving device is constructed by a vibration member in which a vibration is excited, a moving member which is brought into contact with the vibration member and is rotated thereby, an output shaft which is coupled to the moving member and is rotated thereby, pressurizing means for making the vibration member and the moving member come into pressure contact with each other, and a plurality of bearings which are separately arranged in an axial direction for rotatably supporting the output shaft, wherein the plurality of bearings are arranged so as to separately receive a reactive force of pressure applied by the pressurizing means.

Abstract: The invention relates to an electric motor comprising a rotor and a stator, one of the two being a slotted armature comprising a number R of slots, while the other comprises a number 2P of magnetic poles. Of the 2P angular gaps between the centers of the polar faces of two adjacent magnetic poles, (2P−1) gaps are each equal either to a1=(360°/2P)−b, or to a2=(360°/2P)+b, the angular distance b being equal to 360°/2PR.

Abstract: Some dynamoelectric machines develop shaft E.M.F.'s during operation which lead to circulation currents in the shaft of the machine. The shaft current will attempt to flow through the bearings of the machine, unless some action is taken to prevent or limit said current flow. This invention minimizes the circulation of rotor shaft currents by providing a return path for the shaft current through an insulated conductor located in the center of the shaft of the machine. The insulated conductor is electrically attached to the shaft at the ends of the conductor. The conductor may extend the length of the shaft.

Abstract: A cooling module 10 of short axial length includes a fan 18 having a plurality of blades 16. A shroud structure 12 is spaced from and generally adjacent to the blades 16. A brushless electric motor 22 rotates the blades 16. The motor 22 includes a heat sink structure 24 coupled to the shroud structure 12 and defines a base of the motor 22. A shaft 32 is fixed to the heat sink structure 24. A rotor 34 is mounted for rotation with respect to the shaft 32. The fan 18 is coupled to the rotor 34. Magnets 48 are fixed in relation to the rotor 34. A lamination core 56 is fixed to the heat sink structure 24. A winding is wound about the lamination core 56 and is operatively associated with the magnets 48.

Abstract: A two-dimensional electric motor having a moving magnet and positionable in six degrees of freedom. The electric motor has a coil array and a magnet array. The magnet array has a smaller width than the coil array in the moving magnet embodiment. The invention's process of achieving motion of a coil array with respect to a magnet array in six degrees of freedom includes providing an electrical current distribution to a coils. The motion is controlled in a first direction and a vertical direction between a portion of the coils and a portion of the magnet array. The electrical current distribution has two wavelike components having a same period but approximately ninety degrees out of phase. The invention's positioning devices do not require air bearings. Instead, the suspension of the support member by magnetic attraction to the frame or by interaction of the coil array and the magnet array replace the air bearings.

Abstract: In order to provide a rotating machine in which the temperature increase distribution inside the machine can be equalized, not only is a primary cooler installed in the primary ventilation passage that extends from the exhaust side of the fans and installed on the rotating axis to the suction side of the fans and via the core, but a secondary cooler is installed in the secondary ventilation passage that is branched from the primary ventilation passage, thus making it possible to further cool part of the cooling medium, which has once been cooled by the primary cooler, by means of the secondary cooler, that is, to cool the cooling medium by circulating it through the coolers twice.

Abstract: The present invention provides a compact, efficient and noiseless alternator for an automotive vehicle which employs a double-layer coil arrangement in a slot for eliminating coil end interference as well as improving the space factor. An automotive alternator comprises a Lundel-type core rotor with 16 poles, and a stator with toothed portions of 96 poles spaced by slots. U-shaped conductor segments are installed in the slots. One portion of the conductor is accommodated in an outer layer portion of a predetermined slot, while the other portion is accommodated in an inner layer portion of a slot phase shifted by an electric angle of 180°. In this manner, all of the slots are separated into the inner and outer layers to accommodate a plurality of conductor segments. These conductor segments are connected only at one side of the stator to form a total of twelve wavy winding coils.

Abstract: An arrangement for limiting the whirl speed of a shaft after failure of a magnetic bearing supporting the shaft. The arrangement includes a surface extending essentially radially from the shaft axis and a machine element is provided with a projecting element extending from the machine element in a direction towards the surface. The surface is provided with a circular element that is concentric with the axis of the shaft. The arrangement also includes a disk-like element provided with an outer perimeter surface, a hole and an inner perimeter surface. One of the perimeter surfaces is designed so that it provides a varying distance along the circumferential direction with respect to the rotational center of the disk-like element. The element is arranged between the shaft and the circular element. The circular element and the projecting element are positioned in a common plane perpendicular to the shaft so that the circular element and the projecting element overlap one another.

Abstract: An electromagnetic clutch in which an annulus of sound dampening material is sandwiched between an armature disc and a hub assembly, particularly a web portion thereof. The annulus and web coact to define a constrained-layer damping system for reducing noise when the armature disc is snapped into engagement with the rotor of the clutch, slipping prior to lockup, while the armature is magnetically locked to the rotor, and also during slipping and disengagement of the armature disc. The design provides a reduced axial-length package relative to prior armature assemblies incorporating constrained-layer techniques.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a downhole apparatus for quickly generating and regulating variable output electric power by varying the alignment of a pair of axially adjacent permanent magnets rotating within an armature having electrically conductive windings. Each of the permanent magnets comprises a plurality of permanent magnetic segments having circumferentially alternating magnetizations. One of the permanent magnets is fixed to the drive shaft, and the other permanent magnet is movably mounted on the drive shaft to enable the alignment or misalignment, as desired, of the magnetizations of the respective magnetic segments on the pair of permanent magnets. When the magnetizations are completely aligned, the maximum electrical power is generated in the windings of the main armature; conversely, when the magnetizations are completely misaligned, zero electrical power is generated.

Abstract: A microactuator includes a stationary element, a movable element, and a first microstructure. The stationary element is fixed on a substrate and has a plurality of stationary element electrodes arranged at a predetermined pitch. The movable element has a plurality of movable element electrodes opposing to the stationary element electrodes. The movable element is moved by applying a voltage across the stationary element and the movable element. The first microstructure is formed on at least one of the opposing surfaces of the movable element and the stationary element to prevent the movable element from attaching to the stationary element.

Abstract: An improved light weight, stiff stage platen for photolithography is provided. The high stiffness of the stage platen is exemplified by a relatively high first resonant vibrational mode as determined, for instance, by finite element modal analysis. The stage platen can be employed to support a chuck that is designed to secure a mask or wafer. The stage platen includes a frame that has interior walls that define an interior region and that has exterior walls wherein the outer surfaces of at least two adjacent walls are reflective mirror surfaces; and a matrix of ribs within the interior region that is connected to the interior walls wherein the stage platen exhibits a first vibrational mode at a frequency of greater than about 1000 Hz.

Abstract: An outboard motor comprises an engine contained within an engine compartment formed within a power head of the motor. The engine includes a generator having a stator and a rotor. The stator is cooled by a cooling component to reduce the operating temperature of the stator. The cooling component generally comprises a heat transfer plate or cooling jacket that is positioned adjacent to at least a portion of the stator to usher heat build-up away from the stator portion of the generator. The cooling jacket may be in fluid communication with other cooling jackets or may be a discrete system that is separate and distinct from other cooling systems of the motor.

Abstract: A thermal protection mechanism for electric motors includes a pair of spaced contacts secured to an electrically insulated carrier. The contacts are engaged with a fusible electrically conductive pin made of solder that interposes along a current path to the windings of a motor. A thermal overload conditions causes the pin to fuse, thereby terminating operation of the motor.

Abstract: The stage construction of the present invention includes a fixed stage and a magnetically levitated movable stage which is driven in mutually perpendicular X, Y, and Z axis directions with respect to the fixed stage by magnetic action between itself and the fixed stage. The fixed stage includes a magnet and a closed plenum in which the magnet is sealed. The movable stage includes a magnetic material which is opposed to the magnet and which experiences an attractive or repulsive magnetic force with respect to the magnet.

Abstract: A brushless electric motor has a rotor carrying a plurality of permanent magnet elements uniformly spaced apart and a stator armature separated from the rotor by a circumferential air gap of uniform thickness and having a plurality of uniform slots provided therein at equally spaced intervals and facing the air gap. The cogging torque associated with the motor is reduced by bevelling the inner corners of the magnet elements and spacing the magnet elements apart at a desired spacing so as to provide a desired distribution for the density of magnetic energy stored in the air gap. Magnetic flux conductors may also be disposed on the magnet elements to affect the distribution of the density of the magnetic energy stored in the air gap.