Abstract: A modified acrylic block copolymer is obtained by a method comprising subjecting a block copolymer (C) to a reaction with an amine compound, wherein the block copolymer comprises a polymer block (A) comprising a (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (a) and a polymer block (B?) comprising a (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (b?), the (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (a) is structurally different from the (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (b?), thereby partly or entirely converting the (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (b?) into at least one selected from the group consisting of an N-substituted (meth)acrylamide unit (d), a (meth)acrylic acid unit (c), and an N-substituted bis((meth)acryl)amide unit (e).

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a biaxially stretched film which exhibits small heat shrinkage and has excellent dimensional stability. An unstretched thermoplastic resin film composed of at least one thermoplastic resin layer is biaxially stretched in a longitudinal direction and a width direction to manufacture the biaxially stretched film.

Abstract: A conveying apparatus conveys an article between a wait position and a processing position. The conveying apparatus includes a plurality of arms that sandwiches the article between leading ends of the arms located on opposite sides of the article and that is provided to enable base ends of the arms to turn so as to move the leading ends in an up-down direction, and a control apparatus that turns the arms to lift the article located at one of the wait position and the processing position and sandwiched between the arms and that moves the arms with the article kept lifted thereby to the other of the wait position and the processing position, the control apparatus turning the arms to lower and mount the article at the other of the wait position and the processing position.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a tire having as a member, a rubber composition comprising (a) 100 mass parts of a rubber component comprising at least one selected from a natural rubber and a diene base synthetic rubber, (b) silica having a nitrogen-absorbing specific surface area (N2SA) of 180 to 270 m2/g and 0.1 to 10.0 mass parts of (c) a partial ester compound of maleic anhydride and a (poly)oxypropylene derivative described above. The tire further comprises as a tread rubber, a rubber composition comprising (A) a rubber component comprising a conjugate diene base rubber, (B) a filler comprising 10 mass % or more of a white filler based on the whole fillers and (C) a partial ester compound of maleic anhydride and a (poly)oxypropylene derivative. This tire has good abrasion resistance, enhanced low heat build-up property, improved processability, excellent driving stability, good physical properties and excellent wet gripping property.

Abstract: A modified acrylic block copolymer is obtained by a method comprising subjecting a block copolymer (C) to a reaction with an amine compound, wherein the block copolymer comprises a polymer block (A) comprising a (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (a) and a polymer block (B?) comprising a (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (b?), the (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (a) is structurally different from the (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (b?), thereby partly or entirely converting the (meth)acrylic acid ester unit (b?) into at least one selected from the group consisting of an N-substituted (meth)acrylamide unit (d), a (meth)acrylic acid unit (c), and an N-substituted bis((meth)acryl)amide unit (e).

Abstract: An EGR valve includes a housing formed with a passage, a valve seat provided in the passage, a valve element seatable on the valve seat, a valve stem provided with the valve element at an end, and an actuator for making stroke movement of the valve stem. The valve element is moved together with the valve stem with respect to the valve seat to change an open area of a measuring section, thereby changing an opening degree of the valve element, to adjust a flow rate of EGR gas in the passage. The EGR valve has high-resolution flow-rate characteristics in a low opening region of the valve element and large flow-rate characteristics in a high opening region. The valve element and the valve seat have predetermined shapes to cause the flow-rate characteristics in the low opening region to change in a curve without a step.

Abstract: A sputtering apparatus includes a chamber, a substrate holder, first to fourth target holders, a shutter unit, and a gate valve through which the substrate is conveyed. The first to fourth target holders are arranged on vertices of a virtual rectangle having long sides and short sides and inscribed in a virtual circle centered on the axis, the first target holder and the second target holder are respectively arranged on two vertices defining one short side of the virtual rectangle, and a distance to the gate valve is shorter than distances from the third target holder and the fourth target holder to the gate valve.

Abstract: A sputtering apparatus includes a shutter unit, a plurality of target holders, and a substrate holder which can rotate about an axis perpendicular to a surface on which a substrate is held. The shutter unit includes a first shutter having first and second apertures and a second shutter having third and fourth apertures. The plurality of target holders are arranged on a first virtual circle centered on the axis, with the arrangement intervals between the plurality of target holders on the first virtual circle including at least two types of arrangement intervals.

Abstract: In a brake apparatus, an activation current for opening a simulator cut valve from a closed state is applied, whereupon a steady-state current is applied continuously to maintain the open state. A brake control apparatus and a brake control method are employed to perform control in which a valve opening current, which is higher than the steady-state current, is applied to the simulator cut valve every time a brake pedal is depressed. Thus, in a brake apparatus including a switch valve that is driven steadily by applying the steady-state current thereto, favorable control responsiveness can be maintained in the switch valve at all times while achieving a reduction in power consumption.

Abstract: At a contact step in a tool radius adjusting method, a reference portion of a movable body provided radially movably on a housing of a boring tool and a position adjusting reference member fixed on a machine tool are brought into contact by sliding the movable body relative to the housing so that the position of a cutting blade comes to a predetermined position in a direction to go away from a rotational axis. Then, at an adjusting step, the position of the cutting blade relative to the rotational axis is adjusted by changing the relative position between a tool spindle holding the boring tool and the position adjusting reference member in a direction to come close to each other by drive mechanisms of the machine tool used for positioning a spindle head with the tool spindle relative to a workpiece in machining the workpiece with the cutting blade.

Abstract: An EGR valve includes a housing formed with a passage, a valve seat provided in the passage, a valve element seatable on the valve seat, a valve stem provided with the valve element at an end, and an actuator for making stroke movement of the valve stem. The valve element is moved together with the valve stem with respect to the valve seat to change an open area of a measuring section, thereby changing an opening degree of the valve element, to adjust a flow rate of EGR gas in the passage. The EGR valve has high-resolution flow-rate characteristics in a low opening region of the valve element and large flow-rate characteristics in a high opening region. The valve element and the valve seat have predetermined shapes to cause the flow-rate characteristics in the low opening region to change in a curve without a step.

Abstract: A tool radius adjusting device executes an operation for adjusting the tool radius of a boring holder in parallel with execution of a machining program for executing an operation of a spindle head and an operation of a tool changer. A carrier control unit determines whether the tool changer is executing a tool changing process. When the tool changing process is not being executed, the carrier control unit allows the carrier device to execute an operation for picking the boring holder out from the tool magazine and an operation for returning the boring holder, of which the tool radius has been adjusted, to the tool magazine.

Abstract: A brake control system has a manual fluid pressure source and a power fluid pressure source. A fluid pressure actuator forms an X-pipe having a first channel and a second channel. The power fluid pressure source supplies the operating fluid to each wheel by using the first channel and the second channel. A channel system including the first channel and a channel system including the second channel can be isolated from each other by an isolation valve. The fluid pressure actuator includes a regulation unit configured to regulate a state of supplying the operating fluid such that a difference between a state occurring when the operating fluid is supplied to one of the first channel and the second channel after passing through the isolation valve, and a state occurring when the operating fluid is supplied to the other channel without passing through the isolation valve, is reduced.

Abstract: A surface-coated cutting tool, which has a hard-coating layer with excellent chipping and fracturing resistances in a high speed intermittent cutting work, is provided. The surface-coated cutting tool includes a cutting tool body, which is made of WC cemented carbide or TiCN-based cermet, and a hard-coating layer, which is vapor deposited on the cutting tool body and has a lower layer and an upper layer. The lower layer is a Ti compound layer, and the upper layer is an aluminum oxide layer. There is a micropore-rich layer in the lower layer in the vicinity of the interface between the lower and upper layers. There are micropores with diameters of 2 to 70 nm in the micropore-rich layer. The diameters of the micropores in the micropore-rich layer shows a bimodal distribution pattern.

Abstract: A body composition measuring apparatus for calculating one or multiple types of body composition data is provided with a CPU configured to perform the following processes. The CPU sets second information indicating physical characteristics of a human subject. The CPU measures the bioelectrical impedance of the human subject by a voltage measurement circuit. The CPU obtains at least one piece of first information from each of at least one recording medium having recorded thereon the at least one piece of the first information necessary for calculating body composition data indicating a particular type of body composition, and calculates body composition data indicating a type of body composition corresponding to each of the at least one piece of the first information based on the at least one piece of the first information obtained by the information obtainer, the second information, and the bioelectrical impedance.

Abstract: Provided is a safe and efficient method for producing lithium metal which facilitates efficient production of anhydrous lithium chloride without corrosion of the system materials by chlorine gas or molten lithium carbonate, and which allows production of lithium metal by molten salt electrolysis of the produced anhydrous lithium chloride as a raw material. The method includes the steps of (A) contacting and reacting lithium carbonate and chlorine gas in a dry process to produce anhydrous lithium chloride, and (B) subjecting the raw material for electrolysis containing the anhydrous lithium chloride to molten salt electrolysis under such conditions as to produce lithium metal, wherein the chlorine gas generated by the molten salt electrolysis in step (B) is used as the chlorine gas in step (A) to continuously perform steps (A) and (B).

Abstract: In a brake controlling device (20), a separating valve (60) is provided in a main flow path (45) for interconnecting a first liquid pressure circuit and a second liquid pressure circuit. When an abnormality detecting section detects an abnormality relating to brake fluid pressure, a controlling section sets the separating valve (60) to a closed state. A leakage suppressing section performs leakage suppressing processing for suppressing entry of a brake fluid, which is in the first liquid pressure circuit, into the second liquid pressure circuit after the separating valve (60) is set to the closed state. A leakage suppressing section sets a master cut valve (64) to a closed state to perform the leakage suppressing processing.

Abstract: A boring holder in a tool radius adjusting system is provided with a cutting blade and fine and coarse motion adjusting mechanisms each capable of adjusting the position of the cutting blade relative to a rotational axis of the boring holder. The tool radius adjusting system is provided with a tool radius measuring device for measuring the tool radius of the boring holder and a controller configured to calculate a compensation amount based on a tool radius measured by the tool radius measuring device and a target tool radius and to operate the fine and coarse motion adjusting mechanisms based on the compensation amount so that the tool radius is brought into agreement with the target tool radius.

Abstract: A surface-coated cutting tool includes a tool substrate made of tungsten carbide-based cemented carbide or titanium carbonitride-based cermet; and a hard coating layer formed by vapor-depositing in order, a lower layer (a), an intermediate layer (b), and an upper layer (c) on the tool substrate. The lower layer (a) is a Ti layer composed of one or more of a titanium carbide layer, a titanium nitride layer, a titanium carbonitride layer, a titanium carboxide layer, and a titanium oxycarbonitride layer, and having a thickness of 3 to 20 ?m. The intermediate layer (b) is an aluminum oxide layer having a thickness of 1 to 5 ?m, and having an ?-type crystal structure in a chemically vapor-deposited state. The upper layer (c) is an aluminum oxide layer having a thickness of 2 to 15 ?m, and containing one or more elements of Ti, Y, Zr, Cr, and B.

Abstract: A hydraulic brake unit is provided. The hydraulic brake unit includes a manual hydraulic pressure supply unit that pressurizes a hydraulic medium supplied from a reservoir and generates a hydraulic pressure corresponding to a brake operation amount; first and second hydraulic systems in which the manual hydraulic pressure supply unit communicates with first and second wheel cylinders; a separation valve provided between the first hydraulic system and the second hydraulic system; and a brake ECU having a separation valve control unit and a hydraulic medium amount detection unit. The separation valve control unit executes control to close the separation valve when the hydraulic medium amount detection unit detects that the hydraulic medium stored in the reservoir has decreased below a predetermined amount.