Abstract: An electrical terminal is provided for mating with a blade-like mating terminal. The electrical terminal includes a base having a front mating end and a rear terminating end. A spring arm is folded rearwardly over the base from the front mating end thereof to a rear bowed end of the spring arm. A contact arm is folded back forwardly from the rear bowed end beneath the spring arm above the base and spaced therefrom for receiving the blade-like mating terminal inserted between the contact arm and the base. A sharp edge is formed on the contact arm facing the rear terminating end of the base and engageable with the blade-like mating terminal to resist unmating of the terminals.

Abstract: An electrical terminal is provided for mating with a blade-like mating terminal. The electrical terminal includes a base having a front mating end and a rear terminating end. A spring arm is folded rearwardly over the base from the front mating end thereof to a rear bowed end of the spring arm. A contact arm is folded back forwardly from the rear bowed end beneath the spring arm above the base and spaced therefrom for receiving the blade-like mating terminal inserted between the contact arm and the base. A sharp edge is formed on the contact arm facing the rear terminating end of the base and engageable with the blade-like mating terminal to resist unmating of the terminals.

Abstract: An IC card connector 10 comprises a grounding contact 13, which touches the surface of an IC card first, and a plurality of data-passing contacts 12, which connect with the surface contacts of the IC card after the grounding contact 13 has touched the surface of the IC card. This contact of the grounding contact 13 prior to the connection of the data-passing contacts 12 is made possible by forming the grounding contact 13 higher than the data-passing contacts 12. In an IC card reader/writer equipped with this IC card connector 10, an IC card inserted into the IC card reader/writer is lowered from above the IC card connector 10, so that the grounding contact 13 touches the lower surface of the IC card first. Through this contact of the grounding contact 13 to the IC card, static electricity over the IC card is discharged before the data-passing contacts 12 connect with the surface contacts of the IC card.

Abstract: In order to control the movement of a single neutral atom or a small number of neutral atoms to trap the neutral atom or atoms at a distal end of an optical fiber probe, a laser light having a frequency which is slightly lower than a resonance frequency of the atom is made incident upon a proximal end of the optical fiber probe, and an evanescent light is generated from a sharpened distal end of the optical fiber probe whose tip is sharpened such that its radius of curvature is smaller than one wavelength of the laser light. The distal end of the optical fiber probe is brought close to the neutral atom or atoms to trap the neutral atom or atoms within an existing volume of the evanescent light. When the light frequency is changed to a value slightly higher than the resonance frequency of the atom, the trapped neutral atom or atoms are pushed out of the existing volume of the evanescent light. The crystal growth can be performed with a single atom level.

Abstract: A method for the manufacture of thermoplastic resin sheets, including extruding molten thermoplastic resin at an extrusion velocity V through a slit provided in an extrusion mold so as to form thermoplastic resin sheets with embossed surfaces, wherein said thermoplastic resin is extruded from said slit in said extrusion mold under conditions such that the ratio V/H of said extrusion velocity V to the width H of said slit exceeds a critical value (V/H)c, said critical value (V/H)c being the ratio of the extrusion velocity to the width of the mold slit corresponding minimum value of the roughness of the embossment formed on the surface of said thermoplastic resin sheets, whereby defects such as the adhesion to and winding onto rollers, inferior appearance and sizing marks which are prone to occur when the sheets are embossed with embossing rollers.

Abstract: A process for continuously producing an embossed thermoplastic resin sheet having a colored layer which comprises associating a molten thermoplastic resin A and a molten thermoplastic resin B having a different color from the resin A within a die for extrusion molding, extruding the associated mass through an extrusion opening to form a two-layered thermoplastic resin sheet, and thereafter embossing the sheet, wherein the temperature T (.degree.C.) of the thermoplastic resin sheet immediately before the embossing and the surface roughness R (micrometers) of said sheet immediately before the embossing expressed by a 10-point average roughness in accordance with ISO-R468 are selected so as to satisfy the following relation 1.2R+T.ltoreq.145 (1).

Abstract: A method of extruding and shaping thermoplastic material in which a constant amount of thermoplastic material is continuously fed from a screw extruder to a die by means of a metering pump. The extruder is arranged to continuously receive a constant amount of the thermoplastic material. The metering pump is adjusted to the correct rotational frequency to maintain the pressure of the molten thermoplastic material between the extruder and the metering pump within a predetermined range.