Abstract: A T-square device with a mechanism for efficient adjustment thereof. The device includes a scale, base, and trigger mechanism. The trigger mechanism is spring-loaded for automatic locking of the base to the scale. Applying a force on the trigger counteracts the spring-induced forces and thereby releases the lock on the base to the scale, thus allowing the base to be slidable along the scale. The base and trigger mechanism is sized proportionally to fit the human hand.

Abstract: There is disclosed a novel crimp connection for directly joining metal tubes together. The crimp connection includes at least one circumferential crimp for locking or fixing the tube end portions together, which locking crimp will have varying lateral and radial dimensions. The connection may also include a second type of circumferential crimp for sealing the tube end portions together, which sealing crimp will preferably have substantially constant lateral and radial dimensions; and may include a third type of crimp for stabilizing the sealing crimp against radial and axial forces applied to the tube end portions.

Abstract: An electric motor control system has a motor driver comprising a bridge of switching elements, a pair of failure detectors, and a microcomputer. The motor driver is connected between a battery and an electric motor that is connected between the switching elements. The switching elements are turned on and off according to drive pulse signals supplied from the microcomputer for supplying a pulsed current to the electric motor. The failure detectors monitor the electric energy supplied to the electric motor to detect a period of time in which the supplied electric energy is free of pulses, and supply a signal indicative of the detected period of time to the microcomputer. Based on the signal from the failure detectors, the microcomputer detects a failure when the detected period of time exceeds a predetermined period of time.

Abstract: In an active vehicle suspension system employing a double acting type single rod hydraulic linear actuator in which a piston is provided with two pressure receiving surfaces facing two different piston chambers defined by the piston received in a cylinder and having different areas, even when the line pressure of the hydraulic oil passage is lost, the height of the vehicle body can be maintained at a fixed level and a sudden change of the height of the vehicle body can be avoided by providing a hydraulic control device which appropriately controls the pressures of the upper and lower chambers so as to be inversely proportional to the areas of the corresponding pressure receiving surfaces as the pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator is reduced.

Abstract: A four wheel steering system for a motor vehicle with steerable front and rear road wheels, a steering angle sensor for detecting a front wheel steering angle through which the front road wheels are steered, a vehicle speed sensor for detecting a vehicle speed of the motor vehicle, a rear wheel steering mechanism for steering the rear wheels, and a controller for controlling the rear wheel steering mechanism to steer the rear road wheels based on the detected front wheel steering angle and the detected vehicle speed when the front road wheels are steering. The controller controls the rear wheel steering mechanism to steer the rear road wheels in a direction which is opposite to the front road wheels if the detected vehicle speed is relatively low, and also controls the rear wheel steering mechanism to steer the rear road wheels in a direction which is the same as the front road wheels if the detected vehicle speed is relatively high.

Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus for ashing semi-conductors wafers has a vertically elongate cylindrical chamber for generating a plasma for processing a workpiece housed therein with heat applied thereto. The cylindrical chamber has upper and lower open ends closed respectively by upper and lower chamber plates. A cooling coil is positioned above the upper chamber plate. A temperature controller actuates a fan unit to force an air flow over the cooling coil to the upper chamber plate for keeping the temperature in the cylindrical chamber within a predetermined range. The plasma processing apparatus includes inner and outer electrodes disposed inside and outside, respectively, of the cylindrical chamber, and a Radio Frequency generator for generating the plasma between the inner and outer electrodes.

Abstract: A hand tool for the use in sanding, polishing or finishing of articles of manufacture including wood, plastic and metal articles. A length of abrasive material, such as sandpaper or emery cloth, is secured to the tool with a portion of the length of abrasive material retained in a storage area. The abrasive material is secured to an extended blade which may be sized and shaped as required. The blade may include ridges or nodules to retain the abrasive material in position on the blade while the tool is being used. A securing member slides over the blade and the abrasive material to frictionally secure the abrasive material to the tool. As required, new abrasive material may be pulled from the storage portion and secured to the blade.

Abstract: An outboard engine assembly has a stern bracket adapted to be fixed to a boat body, a swivel case vertically swingably supported on the stern bracket, an engine body laterally swingably supported on the swivel case, and a tilt cylinder device disposed between the stern bracket and the swivel case. The outboard engine assembly has a corrosion-resistant mechanism comprising a first anodic metal element attached to a lower portion of the engine body, a second anodic metal element attached to a submersible portion of the stern bracket, a first electric connecting circuit by which the first and second anodic metal elements are electrically connected to each other, and a second electric connecting circuit branched from the first electric connecting circuit and connecting the first electric connecting circuit to the tilt cylinder device. The tilt cylinder device comprises a cylinder unit actuatable by a pressurized fluid supplied from a pressure fluid supply.

Abstract: A body frame (2) for a vehicle (1) of a straddle type, such as a motorcycle or a motorized tricycle, which has integrally formed, on a head tube (3) steerably suspending a front suspension (5), a reinforcement tongue (42; 142) for reinforcing the fastening between the head tube and a down tube (12) made of pipe. The reinforcement tongue is formed on a forged lower end piece (33) of the head tube and extends therefrom so as to asymptotically approach the underside surface of the down tube. The reinforcement tongue may additionally have fitted thereon a fish piece (146; 246) provided either in a pair with one at each side or as a single member, in accordance with necessary strength requirements.

Abstract: A block toy has a plurality of regular hexahedral blocks each having a relief side having a relief surface, a printed side having a printed surface, and an apertured side having an aperture defined therein. A plurality of smaller blocks, which have sizes smaller than the regular hexahedral blocks, are each positionable on the apertured side of one of the regular hexahedral blocks when the smaller blocks are oriented in one direction. The smaller blocks can be fitted in the apertured side of one of the regular hexahedral blocks when the smaller blocks are oriented in an opposite direction.

Abstract: A cleaning device has a pair of diametrically opposite nozzles spaced across a rotatable chuck from each other for alternately applying a cleaning solution to the reverse side of a workpiece. The rotatable chuck with the workpiece held thereon is rotated by a reversible motor alternatively in opposite directions such that the cleaning solution is ejected from one of the nozzles while the rotatable chuck is being rotated in one of the opposite directions by the reversible motor, and the cleaning solution is ejected from the other of the nozzles while the rotatable chuck is being rotated in the other of the opposite directions by the reversible motor. The nozzles have respective axes along which the cleaning solution is ejected, the axes extending symmetrically with respect to a line passing through the center of the rotatable chuck perpendicularly to a line connecting the pair of nozzles.

Abstract: In an hydraulic active vehicle suspension system using a linear hydraulic cylinder as a primary actuator, controlled hydraulic pressure is supplied to an upper chamber of the hydraulic cylinder defined by a smaller pressure receiving surface of the piston and the cylinder while a reduced and fixed pressure is supplied to a lower chamber of the hydraulic cylinder defined by a larger pressure receiving surface of the piston and the cylinder, and an accumulator is connected to the lower chamber so that a desired hydraulic actuation can be accomplished by the controlled hydraulic pressure while sudden forces or inputs containing high frequency components applied to the lower chamber are absorbed by the accumulator.

Abstract: An apparatus constructed to be used as a jump rope which includes a tube which sprays water upon a user jumping in a predetermined area. The apparatus includes a connection to a water source, a first handle including an on/off switch and a second handle. An auxiliary clip-on handle may be used for shortening the tube length to permit use by a single person.

Abstract: A powder molding is manufactured from various powdery materials including an inorganic material, an organic material, a metallic material, etc., according to a wet forming process. A powdery material and a solvent are mixed into a mixture so that the mixture exhibits a dilatant flow. The mixture is molded into a molding of desired shape, and then the molding is dried.

Abstract: In a "steer-by-wire" vehicle steering control system which steers steerable wheels with a powered actuator according to an input signal obtained from a sensor associated with a steering wheel, a secondary actuator is coupled to the steering wheel for the purpose of giving the operator of the vehicle a reaction force. The reaction force on the steering wheel not only gives a familiar sensation to the vehicle operator who is more familiar with a vehicle equipped with more conventional steering system, but also improves the driveability and stability of the vehicle since the reaction force provides information on the condition of the vehicle which aids the vehicle operator in making proper and accurate steering maneuvers.

Abstract: An electron cyclotron resonance plasma chemical vapor deposition system has a reaction chamber for introducing a reaction gas therein, the reaction chamber housing a table for supporting a semiconductor wafer. A microwave oscillator is connected to the reaction chamber through a waveguide for generating and introducing a microwave into the reaction chamber to produce a plasma in the reaction chamber for activating the reaction gas to etch or deposit a film on the semiconductor wafer in the reaction chamber. A pair of upper and lower coils is disposed around the reaction chamber for generating respective magnetic fields in opposite directions in the reaction chamber. The magnetic fields cancel out each other creating a region with substantially no flux density in the magnetic fields between the coils. A bias voltage is applied to the table to attract the plasma to the table in a uniform manner.

Abstract: A hydraulic control device for an active suspension system employing a linear hydraulic cylinder including a piston connected in parallel with a spring between a wheel and a vehicle body, the piston having two pressure receiving surfaces of different areas facing two chambers separated by the piston in the cylinder, comprising a balancing valve for reducing the pressures of the two chambers to a level near the atmospheric pressure, a switch valve provided in a bypass passage between the two chambers for selectively communicating the two chambers with each other, a flow restricting orifice provided in the bypass passage; and an accumulator connected to the bypass passage capable of accommodating a change in the capacity of one of the chambers due to a piston rod extending from the piston out of the cylinder when the pressures of the two chambers are at the level near the atmospheric pressure.

Abstract: A plurality of workpieces are supported on a workpiece holder disposed over an opening defined in a horizontal base plate and connected to an evacuating device. A reaction chamber, which is supported on an arm of a lifting and lowering device, is vertically movable with respect to the base plate between a lowered position in which the reaction chamber defines a closed space which accommodates the workpieces therein and a lifted position in which the workpieces are exposed out of the reaction chamber. A heating device, which is supported on an arm of another lifting and lowering device, is vertically movable with respect to the base plate between a lowered position in which the heating device surrounds the reaction chamber and a lifted position in which the reaction chamber is exposed out of the heating device.

Abstract: A vehicle steering system, suitable for steering the rear wheels of a four wheel steering vehicle, comprising a steering rod received in a housing assembly so as to be moveable in the longitudinal direction, an indicator member is connected to the steering rod by way of a connecting arm member extending radially from the steering rod so that the steering output of the steering system may be detected by cooperation between a sloping surface provided in the indicator member and a stroke sensor mounted on the housing assembly and engaged to the sloping surface and/or so that the rotation of the steering rod around its central axial line may be prevented.

Abstract: An apparatus for accurately positioning a laser tool at multiple distances relative to an object to be treated with the laser tool comprises an adjustable distance guide such as a flat body, an adaptor for securing the flat body to the laser tool and an adjustable incremented member which can be selectively, resiliently disposed at various predetermined lengths projecting away from the flat body. The positioning apparatus may be provided in a kit together with a set of predetermined, standardized specifications for using the apparatus together with the laser tool for achieving various different treatment effects, and a set of blank forms for generating additional specifications. A method is disclosed for utilizing such kit.