Abstract: A charging system and method is capable of starting or stopping charging a battery of a vehicle at a convenient time. A portable device and a vehicle unit can communicate with each other. A user is determined to be away from the vehicle based on a result of communication between the portable device and the vehicle unit. A charging ECU starts charging a battery when the user is away from the vehicle. Charging of the battery can be started when the user is assumed to have stopped using the vehicle and will not use the vehicle for a period of time. When the user is determined to be close to the vehicle it is assumed that use of the vehicle will be resumed at which point the system instructs the charging of the battery to be stopped. The system thereby allows the vehicle to be ready for use.

Abstract: Provided is a process for continuous production of an organic-inorganic hybrid polymeric material in which inorganic substances are finely dispersed in a resin on a nanometer order, on an industrial scale without using any organic solvent or the like by using a simple apparatus. In the process, a thermoplastic resin having an acid number falling within a range from 1 to 200 mgKOH/g is melted and incorporated, to produce a composite composition, with an inorganic component formed from a metal alkoxide compound and/or a partial condensate thereof in the absence of an organic solvent capable of dissolving a thermoplastic resin. It is preferable to melt-knead by using as a production apparatus a continuous kneading apparatus including a twin screw extruder.

Abstract: A charging system and method is capable of starting or stopping charging a battery of a vehicle at a convenient time. A portable device and a vehicle unit can communicate with each other. A user is determined to be away from the vehicle based on a result of communication between the portable device and the vehicle unit. A charging ECU starts charging a battery when the user is away from the vehicle. Charging of the battery can be started when the user is assumed to have stopped using the vehicle and will not use the vehicle for a period of time. When the user is determined to be close to the vehicle it is assumed that use of the vehicle will be resumed at which point the system instructs the charging of the battery to be stopped. The system thereby allows the vehicle to be ready for use.

Abstract: There are provided an inorganic compound-containing thermoplastic resin composition that practically retains various properties of a general-purpose resin such as mechanical properties and moldability and has excellent thermal conductivity, and a highly thermally conductive molded article molded using the resin composition. In a polymer alloy comprising a thermoplastic resin excluding a thermoplastic polyester resin, a thermoplastic polyester resin and a highly thermally conductive inorganic compound, the thermoplastic polyester resin forms a continuous phase and the highly thermally conductive inorganic compound is preferentially present in a phase other than the thermoplastic resin excluding a thermoplastic polyester resin. Therefore, the composition and the highly thermally conductive molded article molded using the resin composition can have a thermal conductivity improved only by adding a relatively small amount of the highly thermally conductive inorganic compound.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process for producing polymer-modified nanoparticles in which all kinds of nanoparticles can be economically and easily isolated and purified, and obtained in the form of nanoparticles strongly bonded to a polymer. Hence, the nanoparticles can be easily formed into a coating or a film. The process includes mixing nanoparticles having a particle diameter of 100 nm or less which are selected from the group consisting of metals, metal oxides, and compound semiconductors, with a vinyl polymer having terminal SH group in a liquid to modify the surfaces of the nanoparticles with the vinyl polymer and then isolating the nanoparticles modified with the vinyl polymer from the solution.

Abstract: A method for producing a thermoplastic resin composition containing ultrafine particles on an industrial scale is provided. The method for producing the thermoplastic resin composition containing ultrafine particles includes mixing a metal-containing organic compound with a thermoplastic resin; and then heating the resulting mixture at a temperature of not lower than the decomposition starting temperature and lower than the complete decomposition temperature of the metal-containing organic compound to produce a composition containing ultrafine metal particles and/or ultrafine metal oxide particles having a number-average particle size of 0.1 to 80 nm dispersed in the thermoplastic resin.

Abstract: The present invention provides a resin composition containing ultrafine particles exhibiting excellent properties absent from conventional materials. The resin composition is produced by uniformly dispersing, in a resin, metal or semiconductor ultrafine particles with the surfaces modified with a polymer. Specifically, a polymer having a mercapto group at one end is produced by radical polymerization of an unsaturated monomer in the presence of a specified thiocarbonylthio group-containing compound and then treating the resultant polymer with a treating agent, and the surfaces of the ultrafine particles are modified with the polymer having a mercapto group at one end to prepare the polymer-modified ultrafine particles. The polymer-modified ultrafine particles are mixed with a resin to achieve the resin composition containing the ultrafine particles uniformly dispersed in the resin.

Abstract: A writing implement includes a cylindrical shaft member, a pen tip member which is fixed to one end of the shaft member and from which colored ink seeps out, liquid for ink which is stored in the shaft member and which comprises a part of the colored ink seeping out from the end of the pen tip member, and colorant to be added to the above described liquid for ink to be the colored ink. Moreover, at least a part of a cylindrical side surface of the shaft member corresponding to the storing part of the liquid for ink is formed to be transparent. Between the liquid for ink and the colorant-storing part storing the colorant is provided a colorant-adsorbing core which introduces the liquid for ink into the colorant-storing part while capturing the colorant diffusing toward the storing part of the liquid for ink.

Abstract: A writing implement includes a cylindrical shaft member, a pen tip member which is fixed to one end of the shaft member and from which colored ink seeps out, liquid for ink which is stored in the shaft member and which comprises a major component of the colored ink seeping out from an end of the pen tip member, colorant to be added to the liquid for ink, and a valve member for isolating the colorant from the liquid for ink. In the writing implement, at least a part of a cylindrical side surface of the shaft member corresponding to a part where the liquid for ink is stored is formed to be transparent, the valve member is positioned between the storing part of the liquid for ink and the colorant, and the storing part of the liquid for ink is provided with a pressure-regulating part.

Abstract: The present invention provides flame retardants which can provide high flame retardancy by means of silicon compounds. A flame retardant comprising an aromatic group-containing organosiloxane compound wherein said compound has the following mean composition formula (1), does not flow at 23° C., flows at 200° C., does not gelate when heated at 200° C. with stirring for 30 minutes, has a number average molecular weight of not less than 2,000 and at the same time, dissolves not less than 100 g in 1 L of a solvent toluene at 23° C.: R1mR2nSiO(4-m-n)/2??(1) in the formula, R1 represents a univalent aliphatic hydrocarbon group containing 1 to 4 carbon atoms; R2 represents a univalent aromatic hydrocarbon group containing 6 to 24 carbon atoms; R1 and R2 each may contain two or more species; and m and n are numbers satisfying 1.1?m+n?1.7 and 0.4?n/m?2.5.

Abstract: A writing implement includes a cylindrical shaft member, a pen tip member which is fixed to one end of the shaft member and from which colored ink seeps out, liquid for ink which is stored in the shaft member and which comprises a part of the colored ink seeping out from the end of the pen tip member, and colorant to be added to the above described liquid for ink to be the colored ink. Moreover, at least a part of a cylindrical side surface of the shaft member corresponding to the storing part of the liquid for ink is formed to be transparent. Between the liquid for ink and the colorant-storing part storing the colorant is provided a colorant-adsorbing core which introduces the liquid for ink into the colorant-storing part while capturing the colorant diffusing toward the storing part of the liquid for ink.

Abstract: A writing implement includes a cylindrical shaft member, a pen tip member which is fixed to one end of the shaft member and from which colored ink seeps out, liquid for ink which is stored in the shaft member and which comprises a major component of the colored ink seeping out from an end of the pen tip member, colorant to be added to the liquid for ink, and a valve member for isolating the colorant from the liquid for ink. In the writing implement, at least a part of a cylindrical side surface of the shaft member corresponding to a part where the liquid for ink is stored is formed to be transparent, the valve member is positioned between the storing part of the liquid for ink and the colorant, and the storing part of the liquid for ink is provided with a pressure-regulating part.

Abstract: This invention provides a flame retardant which is inexpensive, has a high level flame retardant effect and is substantially free of such atoms as halogen, phosphorus and nitrogen. A flame retardant which comprises a polymer comprising silicon, boron and oxygen, having a skeleton substantially formed by a silicon-oxygen bond and a boron-oxygen bond and having an aromatic ring within the molecule. A flame retardant resin composition which contains 100 parts by weight of a resin and 0.1 to 50 parts by weight of the above flame retardant.

Abstract: The present invention provides flame retardants which can provide high flame retardancy by means of silicon compounds.

Abstract: A writing implement for preventing ink from leaking out from a front end of a tip by absorbing much of a change in pressure inside an ink tank, the implement being a direct liquid type writing implement having an ink tank and an ink flowing portion connecting the ink tank and a writing end, a temporary ink reserve part for temporarily holding ink and an air supplying portion for supplying air to the temporary ink reserve part, the temporary ink reserve part being constituted by a temporary ink reserve groove and an ink guide groove, an ink introducing groove at a vicinity of the ink tank constituting a portion of the ink guide groove, a distance from the writing end to an end portion of the temporary ink reserve groove on its ink tank side being larger than a distance from the writing end to the ink introducing groove.

Abstract: The invention relates to a flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition having incorporated therein a trace of stabilized red phosphorus, which achieves both improvement of heat resistance and flame retardation without using chlorine nor bromine and also possesses long-term heat stability and smells little. The composition comprises (A) 50 to 95 parts by weight of a polycarbonate resin and (B) 5 to 50 parts by weight of a thermoplastic polyester resin, contains (C) 0.1 to 5 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the total amount of (A) and (B), of coated stabilized red phosphorus and preferably contains (D) 0.1 to 100 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the total amount of (A) and (B), of a silicate compound.

Abstract: The invention relates to a flame-retardant thermoplastic resin composition having incorporated therein a trace of stabilized red phosphorus, which achieves both improvement of heat resistance and flame retardation without using chlorine nor bromine and also possesses long-term heat stability and smells little. The composition comprises (A) 50 to 95 parts by weight of a polycarbonate resin and (B) 5 to 50 parts by weight of a thermoplastic polyester resin, contains (C) 0.1 to 5 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the total amount of (A) and (B), of coated stabilized red phosphorus and preferably contains (D) 0.1 to 100 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the total amount of (A) and (B), of a silicate compound.

Abstract: A flame retarded thermoplastic resin composition comprising (R) a thermoplastic resin comprising (A) a polycarbonate resin and (B) an aromatic polyester resin in an (A)/(B) ratio of 99/1 to 50/50 by weight, and per 100 parts by weight of the thermoplastic resin (R), (C) 0.5 to 100 parts by weight of a silicate compound and (D) 0.5 to 30 parts by weight of an organic phosphorus based flame retarder. The composition can exhibit excellent flame resistance and anti-drip property without containing a halogen atom and, moreover, has excellent properties such as heat resistance, mechanical strength, solvent resistance, surface property of moldings, and dimensional stability.

Abstract: An information recording and/or reproducing apparatus, for performing recording and/or reproduction of information on a recording medium with a light beam emitted from an optical head, includes a vibration wave driving device for relatively moving the optical head to the medium, and a device for detecting information corresponding to a relation between a control signal for driving the vibration wave driving device and a relative movement velocity in the relative movement. The vibration wave driving device is controlled based on the information detected.

Abstract: Basic configuration of a cap is as follows. When the end face of an elastic seal cylinder arranged in a cap for a writing instrument is caused to abut against and come into tight contact with the end portion of the mouth piece of a barrel cylinder to hermetically seal a point assembly and the opening portion of an air groove, first, the distal end of the point assembly is hermetically sealed with the bottom of the seal cylinder. The inner opening edge portion of the seal cylinder fits on the conical portion of an ink reservoir or of a point assembly support from an intermediate portion of the conical portion, and is gradually attached to the barrel cylinder while widening the opening portion of the seal cylinder in the radial direction.