Abstract: The system for extracting, dosing, dispensing, with controllable regular and continuous flows, liquids and creams from their container, in the absence of gas, comprises a thick hollow rod provided with low-softening means to seal a thermoplastic sac on which is shod an elastomeric balloon.

Abstract: A lens antenna including a lens body and/or a matching layer. In the lens antenna, lens body may be formed by a material containing thermoplastic elastomers. When a matching layer is formed on the surface of the lens body, at least one of the lens body and the matching layer is formed by a material containing thermoplastic elastomers. The use of thermoplastic elastomers in the lens body and/or the matching layer assist in reducing the formation of cracks therein.

Abstract: An SCARA type robot comprises: an arm unit (14), whose one end is linked to a base (11) so as to be pivotable in a horizontal plane, and which is capable of horizontally bending and stretching; wrist portions (15a, 15b) which are linked to the other end of the arm unit so as to be pivotable in a horizontal plane, and to which finger portions (16a, 16b) to hold a tabular object (7) are fixed; and a driving means for the arm unit and the wrist portions, wherein the driving means can independently turn a pivotable portion which links the wrist portions and the arm unit, a pivotable portion which bends and stretches the arm unit, and a pivotable portion which links the arm unit and the base, so that the finger portions holding the tabular object can be moved along a plurality of nearly straight through routes which are virtually parallel to each other, and can cause at least one of the pivotable portions to make one turn or more.

Abstract: An apparatus such as an imager includes groups of sensors each of which includes subgroups of sensors. Subgroup select circuits are coupled to outputs from respective subgroups of sensors, and group select circuits are coupled to outputs from subgroup select circuits associated with respective ones of the groups. A bus is coupled to receive outputs from the group select circuits. A controller can provide control signals to the subgroup select circuits and the group select circuits to selectively enable the respective subgroup select circuits and group select circuits to pass signals from the sensors to the bus one sensor at a time.

Abstract: An apparatus and method is disclosed for a limited swing line driver. A driver circuit generates a voltage that is transmitted to a unity gain voltage amplifier and a common source amplifier. A source-follower circuit in the voltage amplifier is activated when the voltage reaches a voltage threshold for an activating transistor, sending voltage to the output of the common-source amplifier, resulting in an output with a reduced swing. In an alternate embodiment, a variable-level reduced swing line driver is disclosed that uses a transistor as a variable resister to alter the threshold voltages and level control. A level control circuit is further disclosed that controls one or more variable-level line drivers.

Abstract: A nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus comprises a superconducting magnet that produces a static magnetic field, a probe having a probe coil that irradiates an RF pulse magnetic field and receives a free induction decay signal (FID signal) emitted therefrom, an RF power source that supplies the probe with an RF current, an amplifier that amplifies the FID signal, a detector that detects a signal, and an analyzer that analyzes the signal detected by the detector, wherein the probe coil includes a solenoid coil and a saddle type coil.

Abstract: The present invention provides a binarization device that realizes reproduction with a low error rate, even where optimum recording conditions such as recording power have not been set in the recording device, or where optimum recording has not been carried out for the reproducing device. The binarization device includes a binarization unit, a slice level setting unit, and a weight adding function. The binarization unit binarizes a reproduction signal obtained by reproducing information recorded by mark length recording on a recording medium to output high-level signals and low-level signals based on a slice level. The slice level setting unit calculates the average value of the high-level signals output from the binarization unit, and determines the slice level from the average value. The determined slice level is set to the binarization unit. Either the binarization unit or the slice level setting unit adds a predetermined weight to each signal having a short high-level time among the high-level signals.

Abstract: A microelectromechanical device and a method for producing it having at least one layer on a substrate, in particular a thermoelectric layer on a substrate, the thermal expansion coefficient of the at least one layer and the thermal expansion coefficient of the substrate differing greatly. The at least one layer is coupled to at least one stress reduction means for the targeted reduction of lateral mechanical stresses present in the layer. This achieves a stress-free layer or enables stress-free growth.

Abstract: In an optical recording/reproducing method and apparatus of the present invention, a modulation parameter is calculated for each of reproduced data signals, each modulation parameter corresponding to one of respective recording powers. An optimum recording power is determined based on a relationship between the modulation parameters and the recording powers, wherein a sequence of pairs of the modulation parameter and the recording power is selected, a gamma, which defines a ratio of a change of the modulation parameter to a change of the recording power, is calculated for each of the selected pairs, and a target recording power corresponding to the optimum recording power is found based on a function derived from a relationship between the calculated gammas and the respective recording powers, the target recording power causing a value of the function to be equal to zero.

Abstract: A lead-acid battery superior in high-efficiency charging characteristic to conventional lead-acid batteries and a carbon material used in the lead-acid battery having excellent charge acceptability are disclosed. The lead-acid battery uses, as an additive to the anode active material, a simple substance and/or compound thereof, both having a catalysis for desulfurization or a catalyst for SOx oxidation by adding to, or loading on, a carbon material such as active carbon, carbon black, or the like. When the lead-acid battery with an anode containing carbon material is applied to electric cars, various hybrid cars, power storage systems, elevators, electromotive tools and power source systems such as uninterruptible power source, distributed power source and the like, all having high input and output requirements, stable control can be obtained.

Abstract: A method for measurement of high temperatures of a process stream by means of a thermocouple arranged in a thermowell. The thermowell is at least partly covered by a layer of a catalytic material which is active in at least one endothermic reaction. The thermowell is installed in a reactor by inserting the thermowell through a hole penetrating the reactor wall so that the tip of the thermowell is in contact with the process stream. The invention is typically used where the reaction is a reforming reaction and the reactor is an autothermal reformer fed with a hydrocarbon stream and an oxygen containing stream.

Abstract: Coplanar waveguides having a deep trench between a signal line and a ground plane and methods of their fabrication are disclosed. An oxide layer is provided over a silicon substrate and a photoresist is applied and patterned to define areas where the signal line and the ground plane will be formed. A barrier layer is provided over the oxide layer in the defined areas. A metal layer is then deposited over the barrier layer. An etch mask is deposited over the metal layer for the subsequent trench formation. The photoresist and the underlying portion of the oxide and barrier layers are removed and a deep trench is formed in the substrate between the signal line and the ground plane using etching through the mask.

Abstract: The invention provides a portable communication terminal with an image transmission function which can convey a reception electric field intensity state of and generation of a communication quality alarm in the portable communication terminal itself in the form of an image to the opposite party of communication. A control section controls a display section to display a reception electric field intensity of the portable communication terminal in accordance with an electric field intensity information signal from a radio communication function section. During image communication, an electric field intensity display image is transmitted as a transmission image together with an image picked up by an image pickup section. If a communication quality alarm is generated by the control section because of deterioration of the circuit quality during the communication, then an alarm image stored in advance in a memory is transmitted together with or in place of the image picked up by the image pickup section.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a maximum/minimum density detecting unit which detects a center pixel of a matrix of N×N pixels in image data that has a maximum or minimum density. A determination unit determines whether the absolute value of a difference between an average of densities of diagonal pixels of the matrix and a density of the center pixel is larger than a threshold value. A peak pixel detecting unit detects peak pixels of the matrix, each peak pixel being the center pixel having a maximum or minimum density, and the absolute value of the difference with respect to the center pixel being larger than the threshold value. A dot region detecting unit detects one of neighboring pixels of the matrix as being a dot region based on the number of the peak pixels in a target region and the number of the peak pixels in each of neighboring regions.

Abstract: A red LED which emits red light and a green LED which emits green light are provided as light sources to emit detection beams onto a fingerprint collation surface. With a finger tip pressed against the fingerprint collation surface, only the red LED is enabled to emit light and reflected light from that surface at this time is input to an image pickup unit, thereby providing a first image. Likewise, only the green LED is enabled to emit light, thereby providing a second image. A difference between intensity levels of reflected light according to the undulations of the fingerprint is determined as a first differential contrast for the first image or second differential contrast for the second image. When the absolute value of a difference between the two differential contrasts is greater than a threshold value, the finger tip is determined as a genuine living finger tip.

Abstract: CMOS image sensor with a rolling shutter that uses two separate clocks. One of the clocks is used during normal operation. When timing is changed, the other clock is started and used during an interim period to avoid distortion in the image. After that interim period, the new clock timing is coupled to the original clock circuit.

Abstract: Disclosed are a polyarylene compound and polymers thereof, which can be used as core materials for an organic or polymeric electro-luminescence (EL) element or for other optical devices, a preparation method thereof, and an EL element using the same.

Abstract: A hollow cylinder of a drum is equipped with a lug fixing structure for detachably attaching a lug thereto by using a lug fixing member, which projects externally from the hollow cylinder and engages with an engagement hole of the lug. Herein, the lug fixing member has a spacer by which the lug is spaced apart from the exterior circumferential surface of the hollow cylinder and would not come in direct contact with the hollow cylinder. Thus, it is possible not to prevent the hollow cylinder from vibrating during playing of a drum. In addition, the lug is turned over after released from the lug fixing member, which is thus prevented from being engaged with the engagement hole of the lug again. This guarantees rapid replacement of a drumhead because a human operator can easily release engagement between the lug and lug fixing member without performing troublesome operation.

Abstract: A method for forming three kinds of MOS transistors on a single semiconductor substrate, each provided with gate oxides different in thickness from each other, without detracting from the device characteristics.

Abstract: An inventory control system and method that tracks inventories of items with RFID tags, includes a reader unit and an intelligent station that tracks RFID tags to determine item information of items to be inventoried. The reader unit transmits and receives RF signals. The intelligent station includes a first RF antenna connected to the reader unit by a first transmission cable through a first switch, and one or more additional RF antennae connected to the reader unit by the same first transmission cable through additional switches. An inventory control processing unit receives item information from the intelligent stations to update inventory information regarding the items to be inventoried.