Abstract: A human-powered vehicle component includes a housing, a positioner and an insulator. The housing includes a first housing portion and a second housing portion that defines an accommodation cavity with the first housing portion. The positioner is provided on each of the first housing portion and the second housing portion and configured to relatively position the first housing portion and the second housing portion. The insulator is provided between the first housing portion and the second housing portion to electrically insulate the first housing portion and the second housing portion. The first housing portion and the second housing portion are electrically connected at the positioner.

Abstract: The present invention provides: an MRI contrast agent for detecting cartilage damage, which comprises 17O-labeled water; and a method and a program for detecting cartilage damage using the contrast agent. According to the present invention, it becomes possible to detect a damage in a cartilage, particularly a minor damage in the surface layer of a cartilage which has been difficult to detect so far, by using 17O-labeled water as a contrast agent.

Abstract: In an ignition plug, since a ground electrode is formed in a thin-rod-shape or a mesh-like shape, sufficiently strong radicals are locally generated by a barrier discharge, an anti-inflammation effect by the electrode is small, and the growth of a flame is hardly hindered. Furthermore, by making the thickness dimension of a second dielectric facing a discharge region uniform, the barrier discharge is spread over the surface of the second dielectric, the generation of the radicals is maintained, and combustibility after ignition is promoted. Furthermore, because an end portion of a high voltage electrode and a ground electrode are disposed to face each other within a combustion chamber, a fuel gas introduced into the combustion chamber is liable to flow into the discharge region, and is easily ignited by the radicals generated due to the discharge.

Abstract: A spark plug having an insulator with a front end portion having an annular groove opened to a front side around an axial line. The groove has a width of greater than or equal to 0.2 mm in a radial direction. In a cross section including the axial line, a value D/L obtained by dividing, by a length L, a creepage distance D, from a position P on the frontmost side of a region in which a clearance distance between an outer surface of a front end portion and an inner circumferential surface of a metal shell is less than or equal to 0.1 mm to a connection position between an outer surface of the front end portion and the axial hole, is greater than or equal to 1.1.

Abstract: In an ignition plug, since a ground electrode is formed in a thin-rod-shape or a mesh-like shape, sufficiently strong radicals are locally generated by a barrier discharge, an anti-inflammation effect by the electrode is small, and the growth of a flame is hardly hindered. Furthermore, by making the thickness dimension of a second dielectric facing a discharge region uniform, the barrier discharge is spread over the surface of the second dielectric, the generation of the radicals is maintained, and combustibility after ignition is promoted. Furthermore, because an end portion of a high voltage electrode and a ground electrode are disposed to face each other within a combustion chamber, a fuel gas introduced into the combustion chamber is liable to flow into the discharge region, and is easily ignited by the radicals generated due to the discharge.

Abstract: A plasma jet plug includes: a tubular insulator having an axial hole; a center electrode disposed inside the axial hole; metal shell disposed on an outer circumference of the insulator; and an orifice electrode electrically connected to the metal shell and disposed on a front side of the insulator. A plasma generating cavity is formed by a surface of the center electrode, an inner surface of the insulator, and an inner surface of the orifice electrode. In the plasma jet plug, a shortest path length D1 of a surface path is greater than or equal to 5 times an aerial gap G, where the surface path extends, inside the cavity, from a surface of the center electrode via an inner surface of the insulator to an inner surface of the orifice electrode, and the aerial gap G is a shortest distance between the center electrode and the orifice electrode.

Abstract: A spark plug having an insulator with a front end portion having an annular groove opened to a front side around an axial line. The groove has a width of greater than or equal to 0.2 mm in a radial direction. In a cross section including the axial line, a value D/L obtained by dividing, by a length L, a creepage distance D, from a position P on the frontmost side of a region in which a clearance distance between an outer surface of a front end portion and an inner circumferential surface of a metal shell is less than or equal to 0.1 mm to a connection position between an outer surface of the front end portion and the axial hole, is greater than or equal to 1.1.

Abstract: A non-thermal equilibrium plasma ignition plug including a tubular metallic shell having an axial hole extending along an axial line, an insulator disposed in such a manner as to form a gap in cooperation with a wall surface of the axial hole at a forward end portion of the metallic shell, and a center electrode held at the center of the insulator, and generates nonequilibrium plasma in response to voltage applied thereto from a power supply. The insulator has a plurality of depressions or protrusions formed on a surface thereof which faces a discharge space therearound.

Abstract: A plasma jet plug has a cavity defined by a surface of a center electrode, an inner surface of an insulator, and a surface of a ground electrode. When a volume of a portion of the cavity on a front side of a front portion of the center electrode is a first volume V1 and a volume of a portion of the cavity on a rear side of the front end of the center electrode is a second volume V2, the following expression is satisfied: V1/V2?0.20.

Abstract: A spark plug having an insulator, a metallic shell disposed around the insulator, a first ground electrode having a first surface facing a side surface of a center electrode in a radial direction so as to form a first gap, and a second ground electrode having a second surface facing the side surface of the center electrode in the radial direction so as to form a second gap. A relation 60°???150° is satisfied, where ? is a smaller one of angles formed between a first line connecting an axial line of the center electrode and the center of the first surface and a second line connecting the axis and a center of the second surface when viewed from a forward end side toward a rear end side in the direction of the axis.

Abstract: An image-reading apparatus according to the present invention reads one or more documents to acquire a read image, detects edge coordinates of a document image closest to an outer edge of the read image in a plurality of certain directions, and regionally divides the read image in the certain directions based on any one or both of a region of the read image in which no edge coordinates are detected and the edge coordinates of an edge end of the detected document image.

Abstract: A non-thermal equilibrium plasma ignition plug including a tubular metallic shell having an axial hole extending along an axial line, an insulator disposed in such a manner as to form a gap in cooperation with a wall surface of the axial hole at a forward end portion of the metallic shell, and a center electrode held at the center of the insulator, and generates nonequilibrium plasma in response to voltage applied thereto from a power supply. The insulator has a plurality of depressions or protrusions formed on a surface thereof which faces a discharge space therearound.

Abstract: A plasma jet plug has a cavity defined by a surface of a center electrode, an inner surface of an insulator, and a surface of a ground electrode. When a volume of a portion of the cavity on a front side of a front portion of the center electrode is a first volume V1 and a volume of a portion of the cavity on a rear side of the front end of the center electrode is a second volume V2, the following expression is satisfied: V1/V2?0.20.

Abstract: A spark plug having an insulator, a metallic shell disposed around the insulator, a first ground electrode having a first surface facing a side surface of a center electrode in a radial direction so as to form a first gap, and a second ground electrode having a second surface facing the side surface of the center electrode in the radial direction so as to form a second gap. A relation 60°???150° is satisfied, where ? is a smaller one of angles formed between a first line connecting an axial line of the center electrode and the center of the first surface and a second line connecting the axis and a center of the second surface when viewed from a forward end side toward a rear end side in the direction of the axis.

Abstract: An ignition apparatus which facilitates improvement in energy efficiency as well as materializing an excellent ignitability through effectively utilizing energy used for inductive discharge as a blowout power. The ignition apparatus is used for an ignition plug that includes a center electrode, a ground electrode and a cavity surrounding at least a portion of a clearance formed between the two electrodes to thereby form a discharge space. The ignition apparatus includes a voltage application portion which applies voltage to the clearance and a power supply portion which supplies electric power to the clearance. In addition, a capacitance portion for storing a capacitance is provided, in parallel with the ignition plug, in a voltage application path of the voltage application portion.

Abstract: An image-reading apparatus according to the present invention reads one or more documents to acquire a read image, detects edge coordinates of a document image closest to an outer edge of the read image in a plurality of certain directions, and regionally divides the read image in the certain directions based on any one or both of a region of the read image in which no edge coordinates are detected and the edge coordinates of an edge end of the detected document image.

Abstract: There is provided a spark plug for an internal combustion engine, including: a center electrode extending in the direction of an axis of the spark plug and having a core of higher thermal expansion coefficient than that of a front end thereof, the center electrode including a flanged portion radially outwardly protruding on a rear side thereof and a cylindrical portion located closer to a front end of the spark plug than the flanged portion and being smaller in diameter than the flanged portion; an insulator having an axial hole in the direction of the axis to retain the flanged portion in the axial hole with the cylindrical portion held in a loose-fit state in the axial hole; and a metal shell accommodating the insulator, wherein the spark plug satisfies the following condition: Cb<Cf where Cb is a difference between an inner diameter of the axial hole and an outer diameter of the cylindrical portion at an arbitrary axial position B in the direction of the axis; and Cf is a difference between the inner di

Abstract: A plasma jet spark plug having increased capacitive discharge current, and thus improved plasma generation efficiency. The plasma jet spark plug includes an insulating body having an axial hole, a center electrode, a metal shell, and a cavity portion formed by the inner peripheral surface of the insulating body and the leading end face of the center electrode. A conductive layer formed from a conductive material is provided on at least one portion of at least one of: (a) a surface on the insulating body outer peripheral surface opposed to the inner peripheral surface of the metal shell, the conductive layer electrically connected to a ground electrode; and (b) a surface on the insulating body inner peripheral surface opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the center electrode, the conductive layer electrically connected to the center electrode.

Abstract: An ignition plug providing excellent ignition performance that can be maintained over a long period of time by restraining channeling. The ignition plug includes a ceramic insulator having an axial bore, a center electrode inserted into the axial bore, a metallic shell, and a ground electrode fixed to the metallic shell, and has a cavity defined by an inner circumferential surface of the axial bore and the forward end surface of the center electrode. The axial bore includes a first straight portion and a diameter-reducing portion. As viewed on a section which contains an axis (CL1) of the ignition plug, a relational expression ??10 is satisfied, where ? (°) is an acute angle formed by a straight line orthogonal to the axis (CL1) and the outline of the diameter-reducing portion.

Abstract: An ignition system for a plasma jet ignition plug that enables a reduction in production cost and provides excellent ignition performance through improvement of plasma formation efficiency. The ignition system includes a plasma jet ignition plug having a center electrode, a ground electrode, and a cavity surrounding at least a portion of a gap formed between the center electrode and the ground electrode to form a discharge space, and a voltage application section for applying voltage across the gap. The ignition system further includes a capacitance section having a capacitance and provided in parallel with the plasma jet ignition plug between the plasma jet ignition plug and the voltage application section.