Abstract: A tonneau cover system, for covering a pickup truck cargo bed, includes a center panel, two side panels, and accessory hardware for supporting the center panel on the truck bed such that the center panel may be vertically moved thereon, between open and closed positions. In an open position, the center panel is at least partially disposed above the side panels. The cover side panels preferably include seals on inner longitudinal sides thereof, for sealingly engaging the center panel in the closed position thereof. The center panel may be made removable to allow for installation of selected accessory structures, such as camping tents, spare fuel tanks, fifth-wheel trailer connection hardware, or other accessories. The system may, optionally, include a front panel for placement across the entire width of the truck bed forward of both the side and center panels. Where used, the front panel may be made up of a frame and a removable cover plate which fits in the frame.

Abstract: A decorative laminated building panel, usable for placement on an exterior surface of a building to improve the appearance thereof. The panel includes a foam core, a thin fabric mat attached to at least one surface of the foam core, and a durable material attached to the fabric mat with a binding agent. The durable material is intended to be used on an outward-facing surface of the panel, and may be selected from materials including stone, tile, and brick. Optionally, the panel may include a final finish covering the exposed exterior surface thereof, to give a more pleasing appearance. The panel is intended for a non load-bearing application, and the rear surface of the panel is preferred to be substantially cement-free, that is, free of Portland-type cement. Among other uses, panels according to the invention are suitable for use as exterior skirting material on manufactured homes.

Abstract: A method for filling a fine hole, having a hole pattern diameter of less than or equal to 0.18 &mgr;m including steps of: (i) filling the fine hole with filler which is obtained by dissolving into an organic solvent a nitrogen-containing compound having mean molecular weight of less than or equal to 800 and containing at least one compound selected from melamine, benzoguanamine, acetoguanamine, glycol-uril, urea, thiourea, guanidine, alkyleneurea and succinylamide, in which hydrogen atoms of amino groups are substituted by at least one hydroxyalkyl group or an alkoxyalkyl groups or both hydroxyalkyl and alkoxyalkyl groups; (ii) drying the filler; and (iii) heating the filler at a temperature of 150-250° C., whereby no bubbles are generated when the fine hole is filled.

Abstract: A system for detecting an angle of inclination of a vehicle, comprises: a first detecting mechanism which continuously detects an angle of inclination of the vehicle with respect to a direction of the force of gravity; a second detecting mechanism which continuously detects an amount of change in angle of inclination of the vehicle by integrating a sensed angular speed of the vehicle; and a calculator which calculates an angle of inclination of the vehicle based on the sum of a first output from said first detecting mechanism and a second output from said second detecting mechanism.

Abstract: An infrared image-processing apparatus capable of binarization processing in response to the change of the brightness histogram includes an image-processing unit which executes a binarization processing for an infrared image using a threshold brightness value determined in a previous processing, and calculates an area ratio P. When the binarization area ratio P is below a prescribed value &agr; (%), and if the threshold brightness value is not the minimum threshold brightness value Mm_TH, the threshold brightness value ITH is reduced by subtracting a predetermined ratio. Similarly, when the binarization area ratio P is above predetermined value &bgr; (%), and the threshold brightness value is not the maximum threshold brightness value Max_TH, the threshold brightness value is increased by incrementing a prescribed value to the threshold brightness value ITH.

Abstract: A driver authentication apparatus and method permits a vehicle driver to be identified using a simpler method without using an ID card or the like, and without performing any special operation. The apparatus has a feature amount storing section for storing preset feature data of each registered driver; an operation detecting section for detecting an operation performed by the driver, and outputting data indicating details of the operation; and a feature data managing section for storing the data output from the operation detecting section and generating operation feature data of the driver based on the stored data, and comparing the operation feature data with the preset feature data stored in the feature amount storing section and determining any identity between the compared operation and preset feature data.

Abstract: An inter-vehicle distance measuring apparatus for measuring distance between a target vehicle ahead of a present vehicle following the target vehicle is disclosed, wherein the apparatus is not affected by weather conditions such as rainfall or snowfall. In the apparatus, the target vehicle transmits the first road-surface data, such as the roughness of the road surface, to the present vehicle. Also in the present vehicle, the second road-surface data such as the roughness is also detected, and both detected data are compared. In the present vehicle, the first and second road surface data having the maximum correlation are detected, and the time difference of each detection time of these data is calculated so as to calculate the inter-vehicle distance.

Abstract: A coating liquid for forming a silica group coating film having a dielectric constant equal to or less than 3.2, comprises a condensation product which is obtained through hydrolysis of trialkoxysilane within an organic solvent under an acid catalysis; and at least one of polyalkylene glycol and the end alkylation product thereof. The addition amount of the at least one of polyalkylene glycol and the end alkylation product thereof is 10-500 weight % with respect to the solid component of the coating liquid, and the weight-average molecular weight of the polyalkylene glycol and the end alkylation product thereof is 100-10,000.

Abstract: A system for controlling a shield plate in a helmet includes a shield plate 4 pivotally supported on a cap body 2, and a control lever 52 capable of being turned between a neutral position N in which the full closing of the cap body is permitted, and a slightly opening position A in which the shield plate in the fully closed position is pushed up and opened at a very small opening degree. In this system, the control lever 52 has a locking position permitting the control lever to turn from the neutral position in a direction opposite from the slightly opening position A. The shield plate has an abutment projection 61 formed on its inner surface, while the control lever 52 has a locking claw 52d adapted to be put into abutment against a front surface of the abutment projection 61 to inhibit the opening of the shield plate 4 upon turning the control lever 52 to a locking position B when the shield plate is in the fully closed position.

Abstract: According to the present invention, there is provided a method for processing a coating film, including the steps of forming a silica group coating film having a low dielectric constant on a substrate, etching the silica group coating film through a resist pattern, and processing the silica group coating film with plasma induced from a substantially inactive gas such as helium gas or the like. In this method, the silica group coating film is not damaged when an ashing process is conducted to the resist pattern as a subsequent process, and the low dielectric constant can be maintained.

Abstract: In a full-face helmet including a chin-covering portion provided on a cap body to define a space for breathing of a user, the chin-covering portion includes a lower end edge which is formed to be directed upwards in a backward direction on wearing position of the cap body, and bulges formed at left and right outer surfaces thereof to be continuous to the lower end edge. Therefore, travel wind is passed on outer surfaces of the bulges to traverse the lower end edge, thereby generating a negative pressure or vacuum at a lower portion of the chin-covering portion to draw out the user's breath in the breathing space to below the chin-covering portion. Thus, the fogging of an inner surface of a shield plate is prevented without deteriorating the strength of the chin-covering portion.

Abstract: A method for controlling the drive of an actuator of an active vibration isolation support system based on crank pulses detected by a crank pulse sensor, involves determination of a crank angular speed, a crank angular acceleration, an engine torque and an amplitude of the engine vibration from the detected crank pulses. When the amplitude is less than a predetermined value the actuator of the active vibration isolation support system is controlled based on the calculated amplitude and a preset phase. On the other hand, when the amplitude is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, an engine vibration phase is calculated from the phase at which the torque is a maximum, and the actuator of the active vibration isolation support system is controlled based on the calculated amplitude and the calculated phase. Thus controlled, the system exhibits an effective vibration isolation function in accordance with the vibration characteristics of individual engines.

Abstract: A given visual field is divided into a plurality of areas, and brightness information in the areas is detected at predetermined time intervals and stored as information of a mobile body in a memory of a motor vehicle monitoring apparatus on a motor vehicle. The bright information detected in the areas at different times is then read from the memory, and a motion of the brightness information between adjacent ones of the areas is detected as a one-dimensional optical flow. The detected one-dimensional optical flow is compared with a one-dimensional optical flow generated from a road due to the speed of the motor vehicle, for thereby detecting another motor vehicle which is moving toward the motor vehicle.

Abstract: A light scattering type particle detector in which the S/N ratio is improved includes a particle detecting region D which is formed by irradiating laser light La on sample fluid and a light receiving array 5 which receives scattering light Ls due to particles which pass through the particle detecting region. The light receiving array 5 is formed to be circular by arranging a plurality of photoelectric converters Pd1-Pdn in a plane alignment. The particle detector also includes an adder 6 which adds the output from the plurality of the photoelectric converters Pd1-Pdn.

Abstract: A method for controlling drive of an actuator of an active vibration isolation support system allows the waveform of the lift of the actuator to be freely set, while avoiding the generation of heat in the actuator driver and a corresponding increase in the power consumption. Specifically, duty control of the voltage that is applied to the actuator is carried out in each of a large number of consecutive micro time regions such that the waveform of the lift of the actuator can be set freely, and by varying the number of consecutive micro time regions whose duty ratios change with a fixed pattern, the period over which the lift of the actuator changes can be set freely. Moreover, since electrical energy is not wasted as thermal energy in the actuator driver, the problems of heat being generated in the driver and increased power consumption can be avoided.

Abstract: A fault diagnosis apparatus comprises a vibration sensor for detecting vibration waveforms being generating by machinery or equipment, a cumulative frequency computing device for obtaining a cumulative frequency distribution curve of an absolute value of the vibration waveforms detected by the vibration sensor, a maximum value detecting device for obtaining a maximum value xp of the vibration waveforms detected by the vibration sensor, a peak ratio computing device for obtaining the peak ratio &bgr;1 of an equivalent effective value &sgr;eq in the cumulative frequency distribution curve computed by the cumulative frequency computing device to the maximum value xp computed by the maximum value detecting device, and a fault diagnosing device for diagnosing the degree of fault of the machinery or equipment from the magnitude of the peak ratio &bgr;1 computed by the peak ratio computing device.

Abstract: A process for determining lateral overturning of a vehicle involves establishing a threshold value line S separating a lateral overturning region farther from an origin and a lateral non-overturning region closer to the origin on a two-dimensional map made using a rolling angle &thgr; and a rolling angular speed &ohgr; of the vehicle. When a hysteresis line for actual rolling angles and actual rolling angular speeds of the vehicle traverses the threshold value line from the lateral non-overturning region to the lateral overturning region, it is determined that there is a possibility of lateral overturning of the vehicle, and correspondingly an occupant protecting system may be deployed. Also, to assure accuracy, a lateral acceleration sensor for detecting a lateral acceleration for establishing the threshold value line S is disposed on a center plane of a vehicle body.

Abstract: A heat treatment apparatus comprises: a chamber; a cooling plate and a heating plate disposed within the chamber vertically spaced from each other; plural lift pins used to support a material to be treated; a supporting member for supporting the plural lift pins; and an elevator member to which the supporting member is attached through a joint so that the supporting member can be selectively made rotatable and can be fixed at any inclined angle, wherein distances of tips of each of the lift pins from the heating or cooling plate are initially adjusted to be uniform through inclination of the supporting member while the tips contact the heating or cooling plate, after which the supporting member is fixed in an adjusted inclined angle and then the material to be treated is lifted up with the plural lift pins to closely approach the heating or cooling plate during heat treatment.

Abstract: A process for determining lateral overturning of a vehicle in which a threshold value line is established separating a lateral overturning region farther from an origin and a lateral non-overturning region closer to the origin on a two-dimensional map made using a rolling angle &thgr; and a rolling angular speed &ohgr; of the vehicle as parameters. When a hysteresis line for actual rolling angles and actual rolling angular speeds of the vehicle traverses the threshold value line from the lateral non-overturning region to the lateral overturning region, it is determined that there is a possibility of lateral overturning of the vehicle.