Abstract: A control method for an automatic transmission is capable of quickly determining whether gear shifting is permissive. The control method varies the command value input to an engaging-side electromagnetic valve that adjusts a hydraulic pressure applied to a frictional element to be engaged in a target gear in a specific time period, then determines a time variation in another time period of the hydraulic pressure applied to the frictional element that is adjusted by the engaging-side electromagnetic valve according to the input command value and detected by a detecting means. Determination of whether gear shifting is permissive or not on the basis of the time variation is thus determined.

Abstract: A vehicular occupant restraint system includes a distance sensor, an electromagnetic wave radiation-type occupant sensor, a controller, and an airbag drive circuit. When the controller predicts a collision and determines it is unavoidable based on the output of the distance sensor, the controller sends an instruction signal to the occupant sensor to determine the seating condition of an occupant. Then, the airbag drive circuit performs an airbag deployment control in accordance with the determined seating condition. This system thus reduces power consumption and electromagnetic wave radiation of the occupant sensor.

Abstract: This invention relates to the provision of a composition for sustained release injections, wherein a physiologically active protein is spray-dried while keeping its physiological activity, this is incorporated in a biodegradable polymer with a high efficiency, and reduction of its initial burst and continuous dissolution thereof for a prolonged period of time are attained. Also, the invention relates to a physiologically active protein-containing composition for sustained release injections, which comprises a physiologically active protein and a saccharide as substantial composing components, wherein a spray-dried fine powder, 90% or more of which has a particle diameter of 10 &mgr;m or less, is dispersed in an organic solvent solution of a biodegradable polymer, and said organic solvent is removed in an oil.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to determine a kind of a passenger, e.g., adult or child, without executing a complicated image processing, thereby controlling an unfolding of an air bag. The safety apparatus against an automobile clash extracts a head ellipse from an image outputted from an area sensor. The apparatus stores beforehand reference head ellipses of every possible kinds of passenger's heads. The extracted head ellipse of the present passenger is selected among the references. Then, a region including the extracted head ellipse is designated to a future processing region for searching the same passenger's head at a time to come. Thus, the passenger's head is recognized simply and rapidly, even when the passenger once moved outside the future processing region.

Abstract: The invention provides a process for producing vanadium alloy foil suitable as a membrane in a hydrogen-refining unit. A vanadium alloy comprising 5 to 25% by weight of at least one selected from the group consisting of Ni, Co, Mo, Fe and Ag, 0.01 to 5% by weight of at least one selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr and Y, and the balance being V is used. A melt of the vanadium alloy is prepared by use of a crucible 1 having slit 3 in the bottom, a roll 2 comprising a cylinder whose central axis is arranged to be parallel to the slit is rotated, the melt is jetted from the slit 3 to the roll surface 5, the melt is jetted from the slit 3 is rapidly cooled, and the vanadium alloy solidified on the roll surface 5 is continuously exfolitated from the roll surface 5 to obtain the foil.

Abstract: A first object is to provide a key unit capable of preventing a problem that a key top gets under a key window frame of a casing of a movable telephone or the like during key pushing down, and capable of preventing floating of the key top and interferences with movements between keys in a narrow-pitch key board which cannot employ a key window frame. A second object is to provide a key unit of a novel thin structure, capable of eliminating a dual structure where an light guiding plate is superposed as a separate component. A hard base key unit comprises a hard base made of a hard resin plate and having a through hole on a plane thereof, a key pad made of a rubber-like elastic body film to cover the through hole 1 of the hard base, a switch thrusting projection formed integrally with the key pad on a plane of the key pad facing the inside of the through hole, and a key top made of a hard resin and provided at a position corresponding to the switch thrusting projection on the other plane of the key pad.

Abstract: An apparatus for detecting the head of an occupant in a seat within a vehicle includes an area image sensor for periodically taking an image of an area including the occupant in the seat, and outputting a signal sequentially representing 1-frame images of the area. A head position calculating section operates for deciding a position of a head of the occupant on the basis of the 1-frame images sequentially represented by the signal outputted by the area image sensor. The head position calculating section includes a device for calculating motion quantities of portions of each of the 1-frame images, a device for detecting, in each of the 1-frame images, a maximum-motion image region in which portions having substantially largest one among the calculated motion quantities collect to a highest degree, and a device for recognizing the detected maximum-motion image region as corresponding to the head of the occupant.

Abstract: An apparatus for protecting an occupant in a vehicle includes a pair of image sensors for taking images of an area on a seat in the vehicle. Transverse-direction shifts between corresponding portions of the images are calculated. Longitudinal-direction positions of objects whose images are in the portions of the images taken by the image sensors are measured in response to the calculated transverse-direction shifts. A longitudinal-direction position of an occupant on the seat is decided in response to the measured longitudinal-direction positions of the objects. Occupant protecting operation at a time of occurrence of a collision of the vehicle is changed in response to the decided longitudinal-direction position of the occupant. From the measured longitudinal-direction positions of the objects, one corresponding to a highest position with respect to the vehicle and being in front of the seat is selected as a longitudinal-direction position of a head of the occupant.

Abstract: A vehicular occupant restraint system includes a distance sensor, an electromagnetic wave radiation-type occupant sensor, a controller, and an airbag drive circuit. When the controller predicts a collision and determines it is unavoidable based on the output of the distance sensor, the controller sends an instruction signal to the occupant sensor to determine the seating condition of an occupant. Then, the airbag drive circuit performs an airbag deployment control in accordance with the determined seating condition. This system thus reduces power consumption and electromagnetic wave radiation of the occupant sensor.

Abstract: Spherical silicone fine particles having an average particle diameter of 0.1 to 5 &mgr;m, which can be produced without decreasing a yield and also without conducting a dilution step, and a process for effectively producing the same. Spherical silicone particles are obtained by reacting an organotrialkoxysilane with a tetraalkoxysilane. Water in an amount of 20 to 150 moles is added to 1 mole of the silane mixture, which is subjected to hydrolysis under an acidic condition to obtain an aqueous or alcohol solution of an organosilanol and/or the partial hydrolyzed product thereof, and an aqueous alkaline solution is added thereto, mixed and allowed to stand to conduct polycondensation.

Abstract: The invention provides a process for producing vanadium alloy foil suitable as a membrane in a hydrogen-refining unit.

Abstract: The present invention relates to sustained-release pharmaceutical compositions for ionic pharmaceutically active substances (excluding ionic prostanoic acid derivatives) containing ionic compounds having opposite charges to those of the active substances and increasing hydrophobicity of the active substances. More specifically, the invention relates to sustained-release pharmaceutical compositions comprising the ionic pharmaceutically active substances and the ionic compounds having opposite charges to those of the active substances and increasing hydrophobicity of the active substances that contain hydrophobic groups in the molecule thereof. The pharmaceutical composition of the invention can exhibit excellent sustained release effect of the active substance, irrespective of water solubility possessed by the ionic pharmaceutically active substances.

Abstract: Spherical silicone fine particles having an average particle diameter of 0.1 to 5 &mgr;m, which can be produced without decreasing a yield and also without conducting a dilution step, and a process for effectively producing the same. Spherical silicone particles are obtained by reacting an organotrialkoxysilane with a tetraalkoxysilane. Water in an amount of 20 to 150 moles is added to 1 mole of the silane mixture, which is subjected to hydrolysis under an acidic condition to obtain an aqueous or alcohol solution of an organosilanol and/or the partial hydrolyzed product thereof, and an aqueous alkaline solution is added thereto, mixed and allowed to stand to conduct polycondensation.

Abstract: A high-quality optical compensator for use in liquid crystal display elements can be prepared from a film comprising an end unit modified liquid crystalline polymer which has a monofunctional structural unit and which exhibits an optically positive uniaxiality, and, as needed, a liquid crystalline polymer which has a logarithmic viscosity at least 0.01 dl/g higher than that of the end unit modified liquid crystalline polymer and a glass transition point at least 5° C. higher than that of the end unit modified liquid crystalline polymer and which exhibits an optically positive uniaxiality, wherein a nematic hybrid orientation which is formed in the liquid crystal state is immobilized.

Abstract: An ink jet printer that produces a multi-value output of a multi-tone image. The printer includes a main scan driving unit that drives print head with two nozzle arrays in a main scanning direction relative to a printing medium. Each nozzle array has a preset number of nozzles arranged in a fixed nozzle interval. A sub-scan driving unit drives the printing medium in a sub-scanning direction. A driving unit controller controls the main scan driving unit and the sub-scan driving unit to locate the print head at the determined positions. The print head driving unit supplies electric power for the print head based on print image data which includes multi-value tone information which is stored in the data storage unit. The binary output is based on the jetting or nonjetting of ink and the positional control by the driving unit controller causes the print head driving unit to superpose dots on the dots that have already been formed so as to carry out multi-value outputs.

Abstract: A safety valve element for battery use which ruptures at a stable pressure range so as to release the inner pressure of the battery is disclosed. The safety valve element for battery use comprises a metal substrate which is provided with a perforated opening and a metal foil laminated on the metal substrate so as to close the perforated opening. A battery which is provided with such a safety valve is also disclosed. A battery case provided with such a safety valve is also disclosed. The battery and the battery case lid is produced by forming the perforated opening in the metal substrate, pressure welding the metal foil to the metal substrate and molding the clad material into a form of the battery case lid.

Abstract: A vehicle control method for use in an automatic driving system which transmits drive support information stored in each of markers buried in a road at regular intervals, to a vehicle which passes the marker, in order to support driving of the vehicle, comprising the steps of storing, in the marker, positional information indicative of the position of the marker, and at least one of road information indicative of the state of the road and control information concerning the speed and traveling direction of the vehicle, and transmitting, to the vehicle, the positional information and the at least one of the road information and the control information, which are used as the driving support information.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for producing an optical active alkoxybenzonitrile derivative in which process a benzonitrile derivative is subjected to condensation reaction with an optical active alcohol.A process is also disclosed for producing an optical active alkoxy benzoic acid derivative in which process a benzonitrile derivative is subjected to condensation reaction with an optical active alcohol and the reaction product thus derived is hydrolyzed.In these processes conversion of an optical active alcohol to tosylate or halide is not required and thus it is possible to produces producing an optical active alkoxybenzonitrile derivative and an optical active alkoxy benzoic acid derivative in a simple and inexpensive manner.

Abstract: There are provided liquid crystalline polyesters comprising 4'-hydroxy-4-stilbenecarboxylic acid type units, dicarboxylic acid units acting as a mesogen such as 4,4'-stilbenecarboxylic acid and catechol units as essential ingredients, and a liquid crystalline polyester composition comprising said polyesters and optically active liquid crystalline polyesters consisting essentially of 4,4'-stilbenedicarboxylic acid type units and aliphatic diol units having asymmetric carbons.

Abstract: An inclination detector has a mass rotating in the first and second directions, a pair of rotors, first and second moving contacts and first and second stationary contacts. When the inclination detector inclines to the left, torque is applied to a weight center of the mass. As a result, the mass and the rotors rotate in the first direction. This makes the first moving contact to make contact with the first stationary contact. At this time, a left-inclination detection signal is output. The second moving contact is kept away from the second stationary contact. When the inclination detector inclines to the right, the first moving contact is kept away from the first stationary contact, while the second moving contact makes contact with the second stationary contact so that a right-inclination detection signal is output. Thus, the inclination direction is detected.