Abstract: To prevent a shaft pad member from dropping even when a lens apparatus is in an individual state without using a special member. Guide shafts (25, 26) are secured to a lens housing (20). Lens holders (16, 18) are supported on those movably. Rear ends (44, 45) of the guide shafts (25, 26) are inserted in first support holes (34, 35). Front ends (41, 42) are press-fitted in second support holes (31, 32). A shaft pad member (50) is fitted in the first support holes (34, 35) to position the rear ends (44, 45) in the first support holes (34, 35). A sensor holder (73) where an imaging device (70) is fixed is overlapped on the shaft pad member (50). The shaft pad member (50) is prevented from dropping out of the first support holes (34, 35) by the sensor holder (73).

Abstract: A lens moving frame according to an embodiment of the invention includes a holder portion. The holder portion includes: wall portions having guide holes formed therein; partition walls into which a guide bar is inserted and which are provided near the corresponding wall portions; and lubricant reservoir portions that are provided between the partition walls and the wall portions and have a lubricant filled and stored therein. The lubricant stored in the lubricant reservoir portion is adhered to the guide bar disposed between the partition wall and the wall portion. When the lens moving frame is moved along the guide bar, an extra lubricant is scraped off from the guide bar by the guide holes and opening portions of the partition walls and then stored in the lubricant reservoir portions.

Abstract: A lens moving frame according to an embodiment of the invention includes a holder portion. The holder portion includes: wall portions having guide holes formed therein; partition walls into which a guide bar is inserted and which are provided near the corresponding wall portions; and lubricant reservoir portions that are provided between the partition walls and the wall portions and have a lubricant filled and stored therein. The lubricant stored in the lubricant reservoir portion is adhered to the guide bar disposed between the partition wall and the wall portion. When the lens moving frame is moved along the guide bar, an extra lubricant is scraped off from the guide bar by the guide holes and opening portions of the partition walls and then stored in the lubricant reservoir portions. Therefore, the amount of lubricant required to smoothly move the lens moving frame is adhered to the guide bar.

Abstract: Input audio signal is divided on a block-by-block basis. Frequency domain conversion is done on each of the blocks. Voiced bands of the frequency domain data for one of the blocks are searched for a voiced band B.sub.VH with the highest center frequency if it is decided that there are one or more shift points of voiced (V)/unvoiced (UV) decision data of all the bands. The number N.sub.V of voiced bands having center frequency less than that of the band B.sub.VH is found, so as to decide whether a proportion of the voiced bands is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold N.sub.th, thereby deciding one V/UV boundary point. Thus, it is possible to replace the V/UV decision data for each band by information on one demarcation in all bands, thereby reducing data volume and bit rate.

Abstract: A high efficiency encoding method for encoding data on frequency axis obtained by dividing an input audio signal on block-by-block basis and converting the signal onto the frequency axis, wherein V bands are searched for a band B.sub.VH with the highest center frequency if it is decided that there are one or more shift points of voiced (V)/unvoiced (UV) decision data of all bands on the frequency axis, and wherein the number of V bands N.sub.V up to the band B.sub.VH is found, so as to decide whether proportion of the V bands is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold N.sub.th, thereby deciding one V/UV boundary point. Thus, it is possible to replace the V/UV decision data for each band by information on one demarcation in all bands, thereby to reduce data volume and to reduce bit rate. Also, by using two-stage hierarchical vector quantization in quantizing the data on the frequency axis, operation volume for codebook search and memory capacity of the codebook are reduced.

Abstract: A high efficiency encoding method for encoding data on frequency axis obtained by dividing an input audio signal on block-by-block basis and converting the signal onto the frequency axis, wherein V bands are searched for a band B.sub.VH with the highest center frequency if it is decided that there are one or more shift points of voiced (V)/unvoiced (UV) decision data of all bands on the frequency axis, and wherein the number of V bands N.sub.V up to the band B.sub.VH is found, so as to decide whether proportion of the V bands is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold N.sub.th, thereby deciding one V/UV boundary point. Thus, it is possible to replace the V/UV decision data for each band by information on one demarcation in all bands, thereby to reduce data volume and to reduce bit rate. Also, by using two-stage hierarchical vector quantization in quantizing the data on the frequency axis, operation volume for codebook search and memory capacity of the codebook are reduced.

Abstract: A compressed digital speech signal is encoded to provide a transmission error-resistant transmission signal. The compressed speech signal is derived from a digital speech signal by performing a pitch search on a block obtained by dividing the speech signal in time to provide pitch information for the block. The block of the speech signal is orthogonally transformed to provide spectral data, which is divided by frequency into plural bands in response to the pitch information. A voiced/unvoiced sound discrimination generates voiced/-unvoiced (V/UV) information indicating whether the spectral data in each of the plural bands represents a voiced or an unvoiced sound. The spectral data in the plural bands are interpolated to provide spectral amplitudes for a predetermined number of bands, independent of the pitch.