Abstract: Disclosed is an electrostatic chuck as well as a device manufacturing apparatus and a device manufacturing method using such electrostatic chuck. In one preferred form, the present invention provides an electrostatic chuck for holding an object through an electrostatic attraction force, and it includes an electrode, a main body including the electrode, the main body having a first surface for holding the object and a second surface different from the first surface, a protrusion formed on the second surface of the main body, and a terminal provided on the protrusion, for electric conduction with the electrode.

Abstract: A cover is received on the receiving surface of a base in a recording medium drive. A fastening mechanism serves to couple the cover to the receiving surface. An elastic member is interposed between the receiving surface and the cover. The elastic member is located along the occupied space of the fastening mechanism. The elastic member thus continuously surrounds the occupied space. When the cover is coupled to the base, the fastening mechanism urges the cover against the receiving surface of the base. Since the elastic member continuously surrounds the occupied space, the elastic member elastically deforms equally around the fastening mechanism. Flexure can thus be prevented in the base and the cover.

Abstract: A backlash comprises a first rotation member and a second rotation member, each of which is provided rotatably-about the same axis, and which are engageable together in a rotating direction of the members by driving contact between respective radial extension surfaces thereof,and where a backlash gap is provided between the respective radial extension surfaces of the first and the second rotation members to permit fee rotation between the first and second rotation members in a range of the backlash gap in the rotating direction of the members.

Abstract: A headrest device includes a headrest provided over a seatback of a seat, a sliding means for slidably adjusting the seat in back and forth directions, a position-adjusting means for adjusting position of the headrest, and a connecting mechanism connecting the sliding means and the position-adjusting means. The connecting mechanism operates the position-adjusting means in conjunction with operation of the sliding means. The connecting mechanism moves in a first direction when the sliding means moves forward, and the connecting mechanism moves in a second direction when the sliding means moves backward.

Abstract: The present invention relates to multipotent stem cells derived from the interstitial tissues of skeletal muscle. The multipotent stem cell of the present invention is capable of differentiating into skeletal muscle cells, smooth muscle cells, cardiomyocytes, blood cells, vascular endothelial cells, adipocytes, osteoblasts, nervous cells, hepatocytes and pancreatic cells, and is useful for regeneration of tissues and cells and treatment for cardiac failure, hepatic insufficiency, renal insufficiency, leukemia, nerve degeneration disease, arthritis, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, and the like.

Abstract: A carriage arm assembly is disclosed that has a sub-assembly and a signal relay member that is arranged on a side surface of an arm portion of a carriage arm of the sub-assembly for connection between a head slider and a head IC. The signal relay member includes a wire, a wrapping portion that is formed from a synthesized resin mixed with a charging prevention agent, and two pairs of hooks that are projecting from the wrapping portion. When the hooks are in contact with the arm portion of the carriage arm, static electricity possessed by the signal relay member flows away through the carriage arm, and this prevents a magnetic head at the end of the head slider from being destroyed by the static electricity. In addition, the hooks are engaged with grooves on the signal relay member so as to position the signal relay member on the arm portion.

Abstract: A glass terminal for high-speed optical communication. The glass terminal includes an eyelet member provided with an inserting hole, a signal lead being inserted into the inserting hole and sealed with the eyelet member using glass filled in the inserting hole and an optical element mounting block fixed to the eyelet member. The optical element mounting block having such a size to cover a range where the inserting hole is arranged. The optical element mounting block is provided with a coaxial hole arranged coaxially with the inserting hole and having a diameter larger than that of the signal lead, the signal lead extending into the coaxial hole. The optical element mounting block also includes a said surface partially cut off so that an outer peripheral surface of the signal lead in the coaxial hole is partially exposed.

Abstract: Endoscopic surgical operation such as evisceration has been so far hardly achieved by a medical robot, since it requires high power. The present invention provides a downsized high-flexibility active forceps to enable such an operation, without needing a large space for manipulation to target a limited operative area.

Abstract: Provided is a forceps tip assembly capable of supporting a forceps tip with high rigidity in order to realize a laparoscopic surgery requiring a significant power with the forceps tip, such as an organ removal surgery which has been heretofore difficult to be performed by a robot for medical use.

Abstract: A glass terminal for high-speed optical communication. The terminal comprises: an eyelet member provided with an inserting hole; an optical element mounting block fixed to the eyelet member, the optical element mounting block having such a size to cover a range where the inserting hole is arranged, the optical element mounting block being provided with a coaxial hole arranged coaxially with the inserting hole and having a diameter larger than that of the signal lead; a signal lead being inserted into the inserting hole and sealed with the eyelet member by means of glass filled in the inserting hole, the signal lead being extending into the coaxial hole; the optical element mounting block having a side surface partially cut off so that an outer peripheral surface of the signal lead in the coaxial hole is partially exposed.

Abstract: As a double-arm shoulder joint mechanism of a double-arm robot and a both-legs hip joint mechanism of a biped-walk robot, use is made of a double spherical joint having a construction such that joint rotation axes of 6 DOF are intersected at one point. As the double-arm shoulder joint mechanism of the double-arm robot, arms are connected respectively to a first spherical joint and a second spherical joint of the double spherical joint. As the both-legs hip joint mechanism of the biped-walk robot, legs are connected respectively to the first spherical joint and the second spherical joint of the double spherical joint.

Abstract: A backlash clutch comprising first rotation member (3) and a second rotation member (4), each of which are provided rotatably on an identical axis, and are engaged together in a rotating direction of the members by contacting each radial extension surface (3a, 4a). A gap d exists between said radial extension surface of the first and the second rotation members (3a, 4a) at the rotating direction of the members.

Abstract: Provided is a small-sized surgery support robot (active trocar), in which the occupied range of space within the operating room is reduced with hardly reducing any degrees of freedom.

Abstract: The dual Dijkstra search for planning multiple paths is performed by: (1) calculating a first shortest cost from start to all nodes by utilizing an algorithm known as the Dijkstra algorithm; (2) calculating a second shortest cost from goal to all nodes by utilizing the Dijkstra algorithm; (3) summing up the first shortest cost and the second shortest cost to obtain a summed up shortest cost; and (4a) storing at all nodes the summed up shortest cost as a cost of shortest path from start to goal via respective nodes, or, (4b) obtaining at all nodes a shortest path from start to goal via respective nodes with reference to the summed up shortest cost, thereby searching a path from start to goal.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method for generating a motion of a human type link system, such as in a humanoid robot. In this invention, a dynamically feasible motion of the link system is generated when a reference joint acceleration that is only calculated from a kinematical constraint condition is determined not feasible from by an evaluation of external force computed based on an inverse dynamics calculation, or is generated by a calculating from dynamic constraint condition and a kinematical constraint condition simultaneously, the dynamic constraint condition is formulated by using an actuation space inverse inertial matrix that represents the relation of force acted on the link system and the acceleration of the link system caused by the said acceleration.

Abstract: In a method of processing passive optical motion capture data having: an image capture step for capturing synchronized multiple camera images of a subject with passive optical markers; a three-dimensional reconstruction step for obtaining a set of three-dimensional coordinates of the markers from the picked-up data; a labeling step for deciding temporal correspondence between the markers in the subsequent captures and, thereby, locating the body part of the subject to which the markers are attached; and a joint angle calculation step for deciding an angle of each joint of a kinematic model to which the motion of subject is projected, on the basis of a set of labeled markers and computing a posture of the subject, the labeling step and the joint angle step are coupled as a loop and are performed simultaneously.

Abstract: An epoxy resin composition, which comprises, as an essential component, a phosphorus compound having an average of not less than 1.8 and less than 3 of phenolic hydroxy groups reactive with an epoxy resin and an average of not less than 0.8 of a phosphorus element in the molecule, an inorganic filler having an average particle diameter of not greater than 30 &mgr;m, a bifunctional epoxy resin having an average of not less than 1.8 and less than 2.6 of epoxy groups in the molecule and a hardener, wherein the bifunctional epoxy resin is contained at an amount of not less than 51% by mass relative to the whole epoxy resin, at least one of dicyandiamide and a polyfunctional phenol system compound having an average of not less than 3 of phenolic hydroxy groups in the molecule is used as the hardener and a ratio (a/c) of equivalent (a) of a phenolic hydroxy group of the phosphorus compound and equivalent (c) of an epoxy group of the bifunctional epoxy resin is not less than 0.3 and less than 0.

Abstract: A method of generating poses and motions of a tree structure link system that is made by modeling of a man, animals, robots, etc., and consists of multiple links connected at joints, characterized in that by giving arbitrary numbers of constraint conditions to arbitrary numbers of arbitrary links, or by allowing adding or canceling the constraint conditions arbitrarily in the middle of the generation, the poses and the motions of the tree structure link system satisfying these constraint conditions are generated.

Abstract: Endoscopic surgical operation such as evisceration has been so far hardly achieved by a medical robot, since it requires high power. The present invention provides a downsized high-flexibility active forceps to enable such an operation, without needing a large space for manipulation to target a limited operative area.

Abstract: A high-speed forward dynamics computation for a link system wherein links are connected via joints, has: (1) first step for adding a joint one by one in series between the links to an initial link condition wherein all of the respective links are not connected via the joints so as to obtain a force of constraint acting at the joint between the links at that time; (2) second step for removing the joint in a reverse order as that of the first step so as to compute a final force of constraint at respective joints; (3) third step for computing an acceleration of respective links by utilizing applied forces obtained in the first step and the second step; and (4) fourth step for computing a joint acceleration by utilizing the accelerations of the links positioned at both ends of respective joints obtained at the third step.