Abstract: A suspension apparatus is disclosed for which vehicle handling stability can be obtained. An upper arm (14), a damper unit (16), and a stabilizer (17) are connected in this order to a knuckle (13) from outside of the vehicle body in a width direction of the vehicle body. The reaction force of the stabilizer is used as a moment in the camber direction, and causes interference in the camber direction. As a result, a camber change during a reverse phase stroke is increased over a camber change during a same-phase stroke, and turning performance of the vehicle is improved.

Abstract: An overhead-camshaft internal combustion engine having an outer wall of a crankcase provided adjacent a crankshaft, with a spiral-surfaced opening through which the crankshaft is passed. The outer crankcase wall is integrally provided with a loop guide engaging recess formed thereon. The loop guide engaging recess supports a base end portion of a loop guide for guiding an endless chain. A loop-retaining member for preventing the timing endless chain from dropping is arranged at a position on the lower side of a loop drive sprocket integrally formed at an end portion of the crankshaft.

Abstract: A throttle control apparatus includes a throttle control sleeve rotatably mounted on a handlebar of a vehicle, a throttle control housing fixed to the handlebar, and a throttle sensor unit housed in the throttle control housing. The throttle sensor unit is operable to detect a rotational angle of the throttle control sleeve. The throttle control housing is rotatably engaged with an outer periphery of the throttle control sleeve. The throttle sensor unit includes a rotary member having a spline hole formed therein, a fixed contact and a movable contact for detecting rotation of the rotary member. The throttle control sleeve and the throttle sensor unit are engaged with each other by spline fitting. A throttle return mechanism and the sensor unit are arranged in an overlapping manner in an axial direction. Handle switches are arranged on a vehicle body center side of the throttle control housing.

Abstract: In a magneto-rheological variable damper (6), the piston (16) comprises an inner yoke (32), an outer yoke (31) concentrically surrounding the inner yoke and held in position by pair of end plates (33, 34) made of non-magnetic material and disposed on either axial end surfaces of the piston. The piston may be circumferentially surrounded by a piston cover (30) that may be made of non-magnetic material and serves a slide member that engages the inner circumferential surface of a cylinder (12). Alternatively, the end plates may serve as the slide member. In either case, the durability of the damper can be improved by using a wear resistant material for the slide member. In particular, the outer yoke may be made of material such as Permendur which has a high saturation magnetic flux density but a poor mechanical property. Thereby, the range of the damping force can be expanded.

Abstract: A seat mounting structure having a seat rail for supporting a seat of a motorcycle includes seat rail members having front end portions thereof supported by an intermediate portion of a vehicle body frame. Each of the seat rail members extends rearwardly from the intermediate portion of the vehicle body frame. Each of the seat rail members has a slotted opening formed thereon at a rear portion thereof. The slotted openings are formed inwardly and upwardly from an outer portion of the seat rail members in a vehicle width direction.

Abstract: In a position detecting device including a movable member provided in a displaceable manner on a base member, and a proximity sensor which detects the position of the movable member, the proximity sensor includes a magnetic field generating portion, a detecting portion which detects a change in magnetic field according to the displacement of the movable member, and a protruding portion made of a nonmagnetic material, which protrudes toward an object to be detected. A seat position detecting device of a vehicle including the configuration of the position detecting device mentioned above is provided. The base member is comprised of a lower rail which is fixedly installed on a floor of a vehicle body, and the movable member is comprised of an upper rail which is attached to a seat for a vehicle and slidably engaged with the lower rail and which is allowed to be fixed in arbitrary sliding positions on the lower rail.

Abstract: A welding facility includes a main welding line for manufacturing an assembly of frame members, and a sub-welding line for manufacturing an assembly of panel members, the sub-welding line merging with the main welding line. The main welding line is comprised of a plurality of welding stages provided with a welding robot, the sub-welding line is provided at the end with a transfer mechanism for transferring the panel member assembly to the desired welding stage, and the merging parts are changeable according to the type of product to be welded. The facility permits a plurality of vehicle bodies having different vehicle types to be manufactured using the same manufacturing line.

Abstract: In an apparatus (and a method) for controlling a cogeneration system equipped with a generation unit having a generator connectable to an AC power feed line between a commercial power network and an electrical load and an internal combustion engine driving the generator, and a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between coolant and exhaust heat from the engine, there are provided with a condensate water hose discharging condensate water generated by condensation of moisture in exhaust gas, a hose temperature sensor detecting temperature in the hose, an exhaust gas temperature sensor detecting temperature of the exhaust gas from the engine and an exhaust gas blowout discriminator discriminating that the exhaust gas blows out through the hose when a difference between the hose temperature and the exhaust gas temperature is found to be less than a predetermined value. With this, exhaust gas leakage caused by blowout can be easily detected.

Abstract: A retractable tarpaulin cover system includes a tarp cover, plural spaced substantially U-shaped bows supporting and connected to the tarp cover, movable carriages operably connected to lower ends of each bow, and a tensioning mechanism which moves an end one of said bows toward an endmost position thereof to tension the tarp cover in an expanded position of the cover. The tensioning mechanism includes an elongate brace arm having an upper end which operatively engages an upper or intermediate portion of a vertically extending leg of the end bow, a transmission device which operatively supports a lower end of the brace arm and rotates the arm in a longitudinal direction of the cover system to thereby also move the end bow in the longitudinal direction of the cover system, and a coupling which detachably connects the lower end of the brace arm to the transmission device.

Abstract: A brake apparatus includes first, second and third solenoid valves (hereinafter SOL1, SOL2 and SOL3) respectively disposed in a first branch pipe, a second branch pipe, and a main pipe connecting a master cylinder and a brake caliper. The brake apparatus also includes first, second and third pressure sensors (hereinafter P1, P2 and P3) respectively disposed between the master cylinder and the SOL3, between the SOL1 and a fluid loss simulator, and between the SOL2 and the hydraulic pressure modulator. The brake apparatus further includes a control unit for detecting output values of P1, P2 and P3. A resolution of P2 is set at a value greater than resolutions of P1 and P3. With SOL1 in an opened state, when detected output value of P2 is less than a predetermined value, the control unit stores output values from the respective pressure sensors as reference values.

Abstract: An electronic component capable of effectively dissipating heat generated in an LED chip and other elements is provided. A light emitting unit 1 includes a substrate 2 made of copper or aluminum, an insulating layer 3 formed on the surface thereof, a circuit pattern 4 formed on the insulating layer 3, and a circuit pattern 5 formed on the substrate 2 through an opening 3a that has been formed in advance in the insulation layer 3. An LED chip 6 is mounted on the circuit patterns 4 and 5 by using solder 7. The LED chip 6 includes a ceramic substrate 9, electrodes 10 and 11 formed thereon, and an LED die 12 as a light emitting portion disposed on the electrode 11, which is one of the electrodes. Terminals 13 and 14 are provided on the upper surface of the LED die 12. The terminal 13, which is one of the terminals, is connected to the electrode 10 via a bonding wire 15, and the terminal 14, which is the other one of the terminals, is connected to the electrode 11 via a bonding wire 16.

Abstract: A secondary vibration damping type crystal oscillator circuit is formed as a Colpitts type, in which a crystal unit is connected between base and collector terminals, a first capacitor is connected between emitter and collector terminals, and a second capacitor is connected between emitter and base terminals of a oscillating transistor. A region between the emitter and collector terminals or between the emitter and base terminals includes a reactance parallel circuit, in which an LC series circuit is connected in parallel to the first or second capacitor. The reactance parallel circuit has resonant characteristics that the reactance parallel circuit is made capacitive at an oscillating frequency in principal vibration mode of the crystal unit as an oscillating frequency, and a resonant frequency of the LC series circuit corresponds to the vibrational frequency in secondary vibration mode that is close to the principal vibration mode.

Abstract: A headlight case, that houses a light body, is made small in size. The light body includes a reflector, and a lens attached to the reflector. The light body is pivotally supported in the headlight case by bolts extending through a ring member extending around the light body, so that an aiming operation can be performed. The ring member is connected to the light body behind the lens, and is locked to the headlight case at a position spaced away from an open edge thereof. A ring body of the ring member has an outer shape smaller than a maximum outer shape of the light body. A rim, to be fitted around the open end of the headlight case, has a lead that extends toward a position spaced away from the open end of the headlight case, to be fitted into a concave part of the headlight case.

Abstract: A vehicular muffler is configured and arranged to smoothly introduce exhaust gas into a sound-absorbing material disposed inside of an outer case which has a plurality of relatively short inner sleeves therein. The muffler includes a porous plate which is disposed inside of the outer case, and which is connected to an exhaust pipe, and the porous plate is operatively connected to an outlet pipe which discharges an exhaust gas to the outside environment through an opening formed in an outlet side of the outer case. In one embodiment, the inner sleeves are arranged substantially parallel to each other, and are fluidly connected to a joint exhaust feed pipe disposed inside the outer case. The inner sleeves are connected to the outlet pipe on the outlet side of the outer case.

Abstract: A resin-coated aluminum alloy sheet material for an aluminum electrolytic capacitor case includes a resin layer that contains wax composed of at least one of polyethylene wax and carnauba wax, and has a thickness falling within a range from at least 2 ?m to at most 22 ?m. A total of lengths of wax particles, defined when the wax particles are cut along a straight line of 100 ?m optionally drawn on the surface of the resin layer, is at least 10 ?m. A number of the wax particles, featured by a cross-sectional shape having a size of at most 80% of the thickness of the resin layer and of at least 0.1 ?m, is from at least 3 to at most 50. A number of the wax particles, featured by a cross-sectional shape featured by a major axis extent having a size of more than 80% of the thickness of the resin layer is less than 10.

Abstract: In a cogeneration system having a first power plant connected to an AC power feed line between a power network and an electrical load and a first internal combustion engine for driving the first power plant such that exhaust heat of the first engine is supplied to a thermal load, power supply from the first power plant to the power network is interrupted by turning off a switch installed in the feed line, when outage of the power network is detected and a second power plant is operated, such that outputs of the first and second power plants are supplied to the electrical load. With this, it becomes possible to respond to a commercial power network outage for preventing reverse flow of the power output by the cogeneration system into the power network and supplying as much electric power as possible to the electrical load.

Abstract: A crystal oscillator includes a crystal unit and a voltage-variable capacitive element that is connected to the crystal unit in series, the crystal oscillator varying an oscillation frequency by applying a control voltage between terminals of the voltage-variable capacitive element and by varying a series equivalence capacitance at a side of the oscillator circuit when observed between terminals of the crystal unit. The crystal oscillator further includes a first resistor and a second resistor for dividing the control voltage. At least one of the first resistor and the second resistor is a temperature sensing resistor, the resistance of which changes depending on a temperature, so as to correct frequency temperature characteristics of the oscillation frequency.

Abstract: In a formulation comprising titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst and an amphoteric metal oxide (alumina or the like) or a basic metal oxide (barium oxide, strontium oxide or the like) as a material having a base point, when a nitrogen oxide (nitrogen monoxide) comes into contact with or approaches titanium dioxide, upon exposed to light, the carbon monoxide is oxidized to nitrogen dioxide (gas) by hydroxy radicals as an active oxygen species produced by titanium dioxide. As is apparent from the molecular structure, nitrogen dioxide is an acidic gas, alumina is an amphoteric metal oxide, and barium oxide and strontium oxide are a basic metal oxide. The oxygen atom thereof serves as a base point to an acid gas. Therefore, nitrogen dioxide is attracted and chemically bonded to the oxygen atom, held on the metal oxide, and kept close to titanium dioxide as the photocatalyst.

Abstract: A spindle motor includes: a stator yoke having a circular cylinder shape; a rotor magnet disposed opposite to the stator yoke with an air gap therebetween; a sheet-like coil disposed at a surface of the stator yoke opposing the rotor magnet; and a bearing structure, wherein the sheet-like coil includes a plurality of individual coils having a spiral-shape and arrayed in a circumferential direction, and a pattern made of a same material as the individual coils and disposed between two adjacent individual coils.