Abstract: A method and apparatus for vaporizing liquid fuel. The apparatus includes at least one capillary flow passage, the at least one capillary flow passage having an inlet end and an outlet end; a fluid control valve for placing the inlet end of the at least one capillary flow passage in fluid communication with the liquid fuel source and introducing the liquid fuel in a substantially liquid state; a heat source arranged along the at least one capillary flow passage, the heat source operable to heat the liquid fuel in the at least one capillary flow passage to a level sufficient to change at least a portion thereof from the liquid state to a vapor state and deliver a stream of substantially vaporized fuel from the outlet end of the at least one capillary flow passage; and means for cleaning deposits formed during operation of the apparatus. The flow passage can be a capillary tube heated by a resistance heater or a section of a tube heated by passing electrical energy therethrough.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to solve a problem of separation and recovery of catalysts present in an alkali metal catalytic method currently often used, a problem of excess consumption of a catalyst by a free fatty acid in a raw material, and other problems, and to solve a problem of the presence of a large excess amount of alcohol in a conventional supercritical methanol method, and to provide a method for producing a fatty acid alkyl ester composition in a reaction system containing water and free fatty acid present. The present invention has attained the above-mentioned object by provided a method for producing a fatty acid alkyl ester composition using fats and oils containing a fatty acid glyceride and/or fatty acid, wherein alcohol and/or water is allowed to co-exist with the above-mentioned fats and oils and the reaction is conducted under conditions of a temperature of 100° C. to 370° C. and a pressure of 1 to 100 MPa.

Abstract: A liquid-cosmetic applicator is provided having a wiper formed on the inside of an elongated opening of a liquid-cosmetic container for scraping off the liquid cosmetic that adheres to the stem of a stemmed brush. The wiper includes at least two wiper domains that overlap along the longitudinal axis of said opening, each domain having a scraping section at one axial end, and a non-scraping section at an opposite end, the scraping sections being axially offset from one another and having sides that mutually engage along at least one interface. The interface provides a gap between said stem when said stem of said brush engages said scraping sections of said wiper domains that in turn defines an air passage that allows air to axially flow through said wiper as said stem is being wiped thereby eliminating unwanted suction forces when the applicator is withdrawn from the container.

Abstract: An information management system and method is provided for integrating structured and unstructured data using an ontological approach, and further comprises processes for creating, validating, augmenting, and combining ontologies for life science informatics and other disciplines.

Abstract: The present invention provides a polishing sheet that can secure a flatness of a material to be polished and can improve a polishing efficiency. A polishing pad 1 has a polyurethane sheet 2 made of polyurethane resin. The polyurethane sheet 2 has large cells 3 with a generally triangular sectional configuration rounded along a thickness direction thereof. Polyurethane resin exists in the polyurethane sheet 2 in a partition wall manner and fine foams 4 are formed in the polyurethane resin. Fine particles 5 added during manufacture of the polyurethane sheet 2 exist inside some of the fine foams 4 and the fine particles 5 are separable from the fine foams. By separating off fine particles positioned at a polishing face P by dummy polishing or the like, fine foams which evenly reserve a polishing liquid containing abrasive particles are formed at the polishing face P.

Abstract: A focal plane shutter apparatus is constructed by a light shielding blade, a fitting pin attached to the blade and an arm which is slidably engaged with the fitting pin to open or close the blade. A surface hardness of the fitting pin is higher than that of the arm. Concretely, the surface hardness of the arm is Hv300 to 600, and the surface hardness of the fitting pin is Hv450 to 1000. The arm and the fitting pin are subjected to chemical polishing treatment. Furthermore, the fitting pin is plated with nickel, chromium, palladium or rhodium. The fitting pin and arm have a substantially equal material hardness, or the material hardness of the fitting pin is higher. As the case may be, the fitting pin or arm may be plated with gold. Such an arrangement can suppress generation and accumulation of abrasion powder in the focal plane shutter apparatus assembled into a digital camera.

Abstract: In a terminal manufacturing method of the present invention, first a thin plate-like body including a thin plate-like terminal portion and a thin plate-like leg portion is formed with a die. The thin plate-like terminal portion has a shape corresponding to a terminal portion 24 of an upper-level terminal 22 and a terminal portion 30 of a lower-level terminal 28. The thin plate-like leg portion has the shape corresponding to a leg portion 26 of the upper-level terminal 22 and a leg portion 32 of the lower-level terminal 28. Then, the upper-level terminal 22 is formed by bending the thin plate-like leg portion toward one side of a plate-thickness direction. Also, the lower-level terminal 28 is formed by bending the thin plate-like leg portion toward the other side of the plate-thickness direction. Thus, by simply changing the bending direction of the thin plate-like leg portion, either the upper-level terminal 22 or the lower-level terminal 28 can be formed.

Abstract: A female terminal, into which a male terminal is inserted and connected, is formed in a shape of a substantially square tube. Respective one portions, in an axial direction and between corner portions, of a ceiling wall, a floor wall, and a pair of left and right side walls, which are four wall portions, are plate spring portions which contact the male terminal while elastically deforming independently of one another. Because the wall portions themselves structure the plate spring portions, there is no need to provide a plate spring within a tube wall, and the female terminal can be made compact. Further, contact pressure is ensured because the respective plate spring portions contact the male terminal from different directions.

Abstract: To obtain an accurate survey value even if a centering operation is simplified without using a specific target. When a survey point S is displayed on the screen of a display 20 as an image picked up by a CCD camera 38 in a process to perform an operation for placing a surveying instrument 10 directly above the survey point S, a centering operation is ended, and the survey point S is specified as a true centering point. Accordingly, coordinates (Xs, Ys) of the survey point S in which the instrument center point 0 is defined as an origin are calculated as a decentering amount (i.e., dislocation) of the survey point S with respect to an instrument center point 0.

Abstract: In a through anchor, a configuration of first grooves (or second grooves) of a region on a surface of a piece, which region is where a webbing is particularly strongly fit tightly to and slides when a vehicle rapidly decelerates (i.e., a region at a vehicle front side and a vehicle compartment inner side), runs along a direction of application of the webbing to a vehicle occupant, and is formed so as to smoothly curve toward a rear of the vehicle. Therefore, the webbing, which slides in a state of being strongly fit tightly to the first grooves (or the second grooves) on the surface of the piece, slides while a direction of sliding thereof is pulled back (corrected) toward the rear of the vehicle.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an ultra sensitive in-situ magnetometer system, and more particularly to an ultra sensitive in-situ magnetometer system that can in-situ monitor a magnetic moment of a magnetic thin film with sub-monolayer precision while depositing and growing the magnetic thin film in an ultra high vacuum (UHV) chamber.

Abstract: A hybrid fuel vaporization system and an apparatus for producing power from a source of liquid fuel. The hybrid fuel vaporizing system includes at least one capillary flow passage, the at least one capillary flow passage having an inlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end in fluid communication with the source of liquid fuel; a heat source arranged along said at least one capillary flow passage, the heat source operable to heat the liquid fuel in the at least one capillary flow passage to a level sufficient to change at least a portion thereof from a liquid state to a vapor state; and a vaporizing member having a first surface and a second surface, the first surface exposed to heat produced by the apparatus for combusting fuel, the vaporizing member positioned so that fuel exiting the outlet end of said at least one capillary flow passage impinges on the second surface, whereby a stream of substantially vaporized fuel is delivered for combustion.

Abstract: In a state in which any one of selection buttons is selected (state in which a color is reversed), a touch panel in a controller is operated, and, the selected state of the selection button is released when an operation signal from the above controller is corresponding to a moving trajectory from a gray zone to another gray zone through a cancellation zone. Thereby, unnatural feeling at operation caused by distance between a finger position on the touch panel of the controller and a position of the selection button in the selected state is reduced or eliminated.

Abstract: A car-mounted device control system is obtained which can prevent or lessen erroneous operation of operating portions, switches, and the like during rotation of a steering wheel. When a CPU 16 starts up a function switching program from a storage medium 24 on the basis of an inputted touch signal, a present center control unit 10 compares a comparative rotational position R0 read from the storage medium 24 and a rotational position detection signal R from a steering angle sensor 32. As a result, when the rotational position detection signal R exceeds the comparative rotational position R0, a touch signal and a click signal are cancelled. Thus, inadvertent switching of functions due to a body touching a controller 70 while a steering wheel 22 is rotated can be prevented.

Abstract: A vehicle door mirror device has a detent plate which is provided in the bottom of a housing having a motor actuator therein and a detent piece which is arranged at a stand or a stay. Depressions are formed in the detent plate, protrusions are formed on the detent piece, and a stopper is provided on the stand. A restricting wall is provided at the bottom portion of the housing. The range of the turning angle of the housing is set from the state where the stopper is in contact with the restricting wall to where the protrusion on the detent piece comes into contact with the depression on the detent plate. The same detent piece can be used while changing the rotation angle of the housing by changing the position of the detent piece relative to the stand, whereby the types of parts used can be reduced.

Abstract: A wind-powered brake system which is operated to brake a movable body when a driving force of a driving source for moving the movable body should be decreased, is described. The object of the present invention is to assist normal braking, to reduce a heat energy loss, and to perform braking suitable for a necessary braking force. A wind tunnel 34 is installed in each armrest 16 of a wheelchair 10. In braking, a load for generating power is put on rotary vanes 40 provided in the wind tunnel 34. Thus, the flow of wind is obstructed, and this functions as a braking force. It is thus possible to brake the wheelchair 10 using a combination of a brake mechanism of an electric motor and a wind-powered brake system. The burden on the brake mechanism of the electric motor can be lessened, and early wear and performance degradation due to frictional heat can be suppressed. By assisting the brake function of the electric motor, the amount of heat energy released from the electric motor into the air can be reduced.

Abstract: A buckle device includes a buckle body that includes a bottom plate and a pair of side walls with a tongue plate being inserted and retained between the side walls, and a release button that includes an operation portion that is push-operated along the insertion direction to release the retention of the tongue plate. Elongated holes along the insertion direction of the tongue plate are formed in the pair of side walls of the buckle body. The release button also includes a pair of arm portions that extend in the insertion direction from both width-direction ends of the operation portion, a pair of extension portions that have a predetermined elasticity and extend from width-direction ends of the pair of arm portions toward the bottom plate, and pawl portions that protrude from ends of the pair of extension portions toward the side walls and movably fit into the elongated holes.

Abstract: When a vehicle mirror assembly is assembled, a bracket is firstly set as an assembling reference member, disposed on a bracket jig and positioned with respect to the bracket jig. Next, a retracting unit, a mirror surface adjustment unit, a door mirror stay and a mirror are mounted to the bracket. Finally a door mirror visor is mounted to the bracket. The bracket is made common regardless of a vehicle type thus a fixed bracket jig can be used resulting in cost reduction. Further, as the door mirror visor is mounted in a final process, defects of the door mirror visor due to scratches can be reduced thereby improving the production efficiency.

Abstract: A focal plane shutter has a light shielding shutter blade. A blade dowel is attached to the shutter blade. A blade arm is slidably engaged with the blade dowel to open or close the shutter blade. A surface hardness of the blade dowel is higher than a surface hardness of the blade arm. The surface hardness of the blade arm is Hv300 to 900, and the surface hardness of the blade dowel is Hv450 to 1000. The blade arm and the blade dowel are subjected to chemical polishing treatment. The blade dowel is plated with nickel, chromium, palladium or rhodium. A material of the blade dowel is a free-cutting stainless steel or a carbon tool steel, and a material of the blade arm is a carbon tool steel or a titanium material.

Abstract: A fuel injector for vaporizing a liquid fuel for use in an internal combustion engine. The fuel injector includes at least one capillary flow passage, a heat source arranged along the at least one capillary flow passage, the heat source operable to heat the liquid fuel in the at least one capillary flow passage to a level sufficient to change at least a portion thereof from the liquid state to a vapor state and deliver a stream of substantially vaporized fuel from the outlet end of the at least one capillary flow passage; and a valve for metering fuel to the internal combustion engine, the valve located proximate to the outlet end of the at least one capillary flow passage, the valve including a low mass member for substantially occluding the stream of fuel to the internal combustion engine; wherein the low mass member for substantially occluding the stream of fuel to the internal combustion engine is formed of a material having low mass and or a low coefficient of thermal conductivity.