Abstract: A sheet convey apparatus includes first and second conveyor belts, an air pipe, and a rotary body. The first conveyor belt conveys a plurality of sheets. The second conveyor belt is provided downstream of the first conveyor belt in a sheet convey direction and has a convey speed lower than that of the first conveyor belt. The air pipe is provided above the first conveyor belt and discharges air obliquely downward toward a downstream side of the sheet convey direction to float a trailing edge portion of a sheet. The rotary body is rotatably supported above the first conveyor belt and guides the trailing edge portion of the sheet which has floated with the air from the air pipe.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical recording medium which has excellent scratch resistance and resistance to cracking derived from warpage and bending. It comprises a card substrate; and, laminated on the card substrate, an optical recording member comprising a laminate of a transparent protective layer and an optical recording material layer, wherein a specific surface hard layer is provided on the transparent protective layer.

Abstract: A method for producing a foamed plastic sheet which comprises heating and kneading a thermoplastic synthetic resin composition containing a blowing agent in an extruder, extruding the resulting gel through a circular die provided at the end of the extruder, and pinching the tubular foamed extrudate with a pair of pinch rolls while it is still in the softened state to adhere the inside wall of the foamed tubing to itself, is characterized in that said pinching and adhesion are performed by using a pair of pinch rolls having a width at least 5% smaller than the width of the tubular foamed extrudate extruded in the flattened state so that non-adhered parts are formed at both side end portions of the pinched foamed sheet in the widthwise direction and the inside of the non-adhered parts communicates with the open air.

Abstract: In a process for producing a foamed polyolefin article which comprises melting and mixing a polyolefin, a volatile organic blowing agent, a cell size-controlling agent, and an ester of a long-chain fatty acid and a polyhydric alcohol in an extruder comprising a feed zone, a compression zone and a metering zone, and extruding the resultant molten gel into an area having a lower pressure than the pressure of the inside of the extruder, the improvement wherein said ester is at least one ester of a long-chain fatty acid having 8 to 20 carbon atoms and a polyhydric alcohol having 3 to 6 hydroxyl groups, and said ester is fed in the molten state into the molten gel within the metering zone and mixed with it.