Abstract: A casing pipe is inserted into a drilled hole reaching the inside of a confined aquifer in which groundwater is stored and flows or a position near the confined aquifer. A measuring device measures an electromagnetic field at the distal end of the casing pipe. An analyzing device analyzes data concerning the electromagnetic field measured by the measuring device to sense motion of ground pore water, thereby predicting rapid motion in the earth's crust, such as a volcanic eruption, an earthquake, a landslide and ground collapse. The casing pipe is an electrically conductive pipe having a non-magnetic screen portion formed at the distal end thereof so that recycling groundwater passes through the screen portion. The measuring device includes an electromagnetic field sensor placed in the screen portion and the conductive casing pipe as an electrode for measuring an electric potential relative to an electric potential at the earth's surface detected with a reference electrode.

Abstract: An oil absorption retarder containing alginic ester and fried foods produced by using the oil absorption retarder. The oil absorption retarder of this invention can efficiently retard oil absorption during frying, which results in providing fried foods with lowered oil contents.

Abstract: An oil absorption retarder containing alginic ester and fried foods produced by using the oil absorption retarder. The oil absorption retarder of this invention can efficiently retard oil absorption during frying, which results in providing fried foods with lowered oil contents.

Abstract: A seismic electromagnetic field signal is detected at each of observation stations installed at at least two places, and civil noise and atmospheric discharge noise are eliminated from the signal to obtain a low-frequency seismic electromagnetic field signal O.sub.s. A local characteristic signal C.sub.e and a refined local characteristic signal C.sub.f are obtained by processing the signal O.sub.s. The signals O.sub.s, C.sub.e and C.sub.f are transmitted to a central station. At the central station, a delay time T and a half-width H are obtained from the cross-correlation function between the observation stations, and further a regional characteristic signal C.sub.r is obtained from the seismic electromagnetic field signal O.sub.s. An earthquake source region distribution, an earthquake magnitude, and earthquake occurrence time are estimated on the basis of the signals obtained at the central station and the local characteristic signal C.sub.e and refined local characteristic signal C.sub.

Abstract: A press die for piercing operation comprises an upper die movable toward and away from a lower die. When the upper die is moved toward the lower die, a pad interposed between the two dies is forced against the lower die to hold a workpiece sheet against the lower die. The pad has a hole in which a tubular elastic member is fitted. The elastic member has a hole for passing a punch having a projecting tip. The lower die has a hollow bore which is in confrontation with the projecting tip. When the upper die is moved toward the lower die on which the workpiece is laid, the pad holds the workpiece and the upper die drives the punch so that the projecting tip of the punch pierces the workpiece by being driven into the hollow bore. The elastic member is deformable and allows the punch to shift laterally so that the projecting tip and the hollow bore are in accurate coaxial alignment.

Abstract: In the pattern matching method, when a reference pattern is extracted from the reference picture, check search is carried out repeatedly a plural number of times while conducting picture compressions on the reference picture with the compression start position being changed to obtain correlation values between the reference picture and the reference pattern. Based on the correlation values obtained by the check search, the number of times of search to be done actually and the picture compression ratio for the actual search are determined.

Abstract: An image reading apparatus is provided with a transparent plate horizontally disposed on which an image reading operation is performed, and a transporting device disposed above the transparent plate for transporting an original sheet to the transparent plate. The transporting device includes a pressure roller for pressing the original sheet onto an upper surface of the transparent plate at a pressure applying position and transporting the original sheet along the upper surface of the transparent plate. The image reading apparatus is also provided with a light source disposed below the transparent plate for illuminating through the transparent plate a portion of the transported original sheet. The illuminated portion of the original sheet is positioned on the upper surface of the transparent plate at an upstream side of the pressure applying position with respect to a transporting direction of the original sheet.

Abstract: A sheet resist apparatus disposed in a transporting path of a recording sheet transported from a sheet supplying unit to an image forming unit in an image forming apparatus, includes: a pair of first rollers disposed in the transporting path; a pair of second rollers disposed in the transporting path at a downstream of the first rollers; a first driving device for rotating the first rollers to transport the recording sheet toward the second rollers; and a second driving device for rotating the second rollers to transport the recording sheet, which is transported from the first rollers, toward the image forming unit in synchronization with a timing of image-formation of the image forming unit.

Abstract: A stack of sheets contained in a containing member is loosened at the downstream edges in the feeding direction by air injected from an air injecting device, and fed one by one seriatim from the sheet on top in a predetermined feeding direction by a vacuum suction feeder disposed above the containing member. At this time, an upwardly directed impact is applied to the downstream edges in the feeding direction of the sheets from an impact generating device, thereby improving looseness of the downstream edge faces in the feeding direction by the air.The sheet fed from the containing member is returned to the bottom of the stack of sheets on the containig member. At this time, a claw formed on a feed roller pushes up the upstream edges in the returning direction of the sheet so as to force the sheet completely into the containing member.

Abstract: In a recirculating feeder, for example for a copying machine, a stack of sheets is placed on a placing member. A detection protrusion, which is rotatable about an axis extending along the placing member, contacts the underside of the stack. A spring urges the detection protrusion in an upward direction so that a top sheet of the stack comes in contact with a pressing member. As the top sheet of the stack is fed, sheets are returned to the placing member under the detection protrusion to form another stack of sheets. After the detection protrusion has urged the last sheet of a stack upward and this last sheet is fed, the detection protrusion cooperates with a sensor to indicate the feeding of the stack is completed. Thereafter, the detection protrusion can rotate to come in contact with the underside of another stack of sheets and the operation can be repeated.

Abstract: The source region of a volcanic tremor is determined by simultaneously detecting the tremor using seismometers installed at at least four separate points, obtaining correlation functions among pairs of the detected values, calculating at least three observation time lags corresponding to the maximal values of the correlation functions, and using the at least three observation time lags for determining the source region of the volcanic tremor.

Abstract: A hepatocyte growth factor comprising a proteinous substance derived from human blood and showing the following physicochemical properties and physiologic activity:(i) its molecular weight is estimated to be approximately 76,000 to 92,00 by SDS-PAGE analysis (under non-reductive conditon);(ii) it possesses HGF activity;(iii) the HGF activity is inactivated by heat treatment for 10 minutes at 80.degree. C.;(iv) the HGF activity may be lost by digestion with trypsin or with chymotrypsin; and(v) it has a high affinity for heparin.

Abstract: The probability of a volcanic eruption is predicted by simultaneously receiving long-wave radiation signals from magma at at least four points in the vicinity of the magma, cross-correlating the received signals to detect time lags among the signals, calculating the site, magnitude and shape of the magma from the time lags, and judging the likelihood, time, scale and site of a volcanic eruption from time-course changes in the calculated site, magnitude and shape of the magma.

Abstract: A method for detecting earthquakes comprises the steps of picking up pre-earthquake long waves or earth currents at four or more observation points located underground or at the sea bottom, carrying out a computation based on the interrelation among the so-obtained= signals to obtain the three-dimensional distribution of the sources and intensities of the long waves or earth currents, and predicting the focal region, scale and time of occurrence of earthquakes from the time-course variation in the so-obtained three-dimensional image of the wave source.

Abstract: A waste toner collecting system in an image forming apparatus which forms on the surface of an image carrier an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an original image, develops the latent image with toner and transferrs the toner image onto a copy material. The waste toner collecting system comprises a cleaning unit for removing residual toner from the image carrier after the toner image has been transferred, a container, independent of the cleaning unit, for storing the removed waste toner, and a transport device for conveying the waste toner removed by the cleaning unit to the container, with an outlet formed in the toner transport device so as to discharge the waste toner, a waste toner inlet formed in the container at a position corresponding to the outlet in the toner transport device, and shutter members provided for the outlet and the inlet, respectively, the shutter members being opened or closed according to as the waste toner container is mounted or dismounted.

Abstract: An antenna element such as a monopole, dipole or loop antenna is located in the earth or on the floor of the sea so as to receive pre-earthquake electromagnetic waves generated prior to the occurrence of an earthquake. Unwanted noise waves propagating in the air such as man-made noise are effectively eliminated by a reflector laid on the surface of the earth or by the sea water and only the required pre-earthquake waves are detected by the antenna element, whereby earthquakes can be predicted reliably.

Abstract: A system for measuring height distributions of atmospheric temperature and wind velocity (wind direction and wind speed) utilizes the facts that a sound wavefront in the atmosphere constitutes part of an ellipsoidal surface and that there always exists a normal which passes through an interior point of the ellipsoid. The Doppler radar is capable of measuring a height distribution of wind velocity on the basis of Doppler frequencies of scattered waves produced by the atmospheric turbulence. The radar and generator are arranged on a straight line in the wind direction so that a radio wave from the radar is directed to the wavefront of a sound wave from the generator. The radar antenna beam is scanned so that it perpendicularly intersects the sound wavefront. The speed of the sound wavefront is measured from the Doppler frequencies of reflected waves. The sound speed is obtained by removing the wind speed component from the measured speed of the sound wavefront.

Abstract: A copier includes a claw for removing copy paper from the surface of its photoreceptor. The claw is movable back and forth perpendicularly to the surface of the photoreceptor. It is moved nearer to the photoreceptor surface by a control unit when it is determined by a judging device that copy paper is fed from a particular tray which is likely to be used for the kind of copy paper needing the claw to be separated from the photoreceptor. If it is judged instead that copy paper is fed from a cassette, it is presumed that easily removable copy paper of an ordinary type is used and the control unit keeps the claw separated from the photoreceptor surface.

Abstract: An automatic document feeder for an electrophotographic copying machine including an automatic document feed device for automatically transporting a plurality of copy documents from a document supply tray to a document discharge tray, at least one pair of document discharge rollers for discharging the plurality of copy documents, a document sensor member for sensing the passage of at least one of the copy documents, the sensing member being disposed just before the pair of document discharge rollers, and a speed reduction device for causing the document discharge rollers to rotate slowly in response to the condition whereby the sensing member detects the rear edge of one of the copy documents under transport.

Abstract: An electrophotographic copying machine comprises a developing device for visualizing an electrostatic latent image as a toner image by delaying applying a developing bias voltage between a magnet roller and a photoreceptor to prevent carriers of a developer from being transferred onto the photoreceptor.