Abstract: An electric vehicle includes a main battery, a motor generating drive power of the vehicle by supply of electric power from the main battery, an output control circuit for the motor, a charging connector for supplying electric power from an external to the main battery, and a meter display device. The meter display device includes a display section including at least a vehicle speed displaying portion and a charging connector condition displaying portion displaying information related to the condition of the charging connector. The charging connector condition displaying portion displays information on maintenance of the charging connector and is disposed adjacent the vehicle speed displaying portion. A main battery residual displaying portion and a sub battery residual displaying portion are disposed around the vehicle speed displaying portion.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus including: a photoreceptor for bearing a toner image; a transfer body onto which the toner image borne by the photoreceptor is transferred; a drive section for driving the photoreceptor and transfer body respectively, and a control section for controlling the drive section so as to drive the photoreceptor and transfer body at a predetermined driving speed, wherein the control section, under a state in which the control section controls to drive the transfer body at the predetermined driving speed, controls to: a) drive the photoreceptor while changing the driving speed of the photoreceptor within a range of driving speeds between low speed and high speed, including the predetermined driving speed, b) extract torque characteristics under the control which includes the change of driving speed of the photoreceptor, and c) determine the driving speed of the photoreceptor based on the extracted torque characteristics.

Abstract: A fixing device includes: a fixing section which passes a sheet through a fixing nip portion formed by a pair of fixing members and thereby fixes a toner image on the sheet by heating; a blowing section which separates the sheet from the fixing members by blowing separation wind from a sheet discharge side of the fixing nip portion to the fixing members; an opening setting section which is provided with an opening region in which an opening width in a sheet width direction is adjustable, and adjusts a blowing range in the sheet width direction of the separation wind blown through the opening range from the blowing section to the fixing members; a temperature detection sensor for detecting temperature of the fixing members; and a control section which controls the opening width of the opening setting section based on the temperature detected of the fixing members.

Abstract: In order that the air surrounding a fixing member is prevented from entering a blowing section for blowing separation air, a wind speed setting section is provided with switchable control modes, namely, a first control mode (control mode for operating the blower fan at a wind speed for separation) and a second control mode (control mode for operating the blower fan at a low speed). This structure allows the blower fan to be controlled in conformity to any one of these first and second control modes.

Abstract: There is provided a technique related to an apparatus anomaly monitoring method and capable of achieving a model which can detect an anomaly with high accuracy, monitoring with using the model, and others. In an apparatus anomaly monitoring system, a model creation module (2) creates an ensemble of models formed of predictive models of an objective variable (Y) for each explanatory variable (X) based on regression analysis with using a plurality of state data items (DS) measured from an apparatus (1) to be a target. With using this, a monitoring execution module (3) monitors a state of the apparatus (1) to detect the anomaly. More particularly, the explanatory variables (X) are categorized into a collinearity item (XA) and an independency item (XB) to create an individual model for each of the collinearity items (XA) with using the collinearity item (XA) and the independency item (XB).

Abstract: A technique relating to an apparatus abnormality diagnosis system, capable of easily creating and adding/updating an diagnosis model with respect to an initial and new failure case, and appropriately and efficiently achieving diagnosis of abnormality and instruction of operation using the model. In the abnormality diagnosis system, an diagnosis model creating process unit creates a structured abnormality model expressing a structured abnormality of maintenance operation type to an alarm and apparatus event relating to the maintenance operation type by a graph network structure based on acquisition of maintenance operation data (S104). And, by synthesizing the structured abnormality model with an existing structured abnormality model, the diagnosis model is updated (S106).

Abstract: Disclosed is a fixing device, which makes it possible to prevent the air blasting section from deterioration, caused by heat transferred from the duct to the air blasting section. The fixing device includes a fixing section to fix the toner image onto the paper sheet; a heat source; and a separating section to separate the paper sheet from the pair of fixing members. On the other hand, the separating section includes: a gas blasting section to blast a gas; and a duct to guide the gas towards the pair of fixing members, and that is provided with a duct wall serving as a heat receiving surface to receive radiation heat irradiated from the fixing section, and at least one of the gas blasting section and the duct is provided with such a connection structure that suppresses heat transferring action from the duct to the gas blasting section.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus including, a photosensitive body for carrying toner images, a transfer section for nipping the recording sheet at a position facing the photosensitive body and transferring the toner images carried on the photosensitive body onto a recording sheet, a driving section for driving the photosensitive body, and a control section for giving instructions to the driving section to conduct a velocity control to rotate the photosensitive body at a predetermined velocity, wherein the control section sets a gain of velocity control to be greater than normal condition, at a time which is at least one of a time when the recording sheet enters the transfer section, or a time when the recording sheet separates from the transfer section.

Abstract: A plasma processing system includes a first unit for plasma-processing a sample based on a recipe for plasma processing, and a second unit for modifying the recipe in accordance with a monitored value obtained during the plasma processing of the sample in the first unit. A next sample is plasma processed in the first unit based on the modified recipe.

Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes a vacuum processing apparatus for performing a multi-step processing operation for a sample, a sensor for monitoring process parameters during at least a first step of the processing operation, a signal compression unit for compressing a signal from the sensor to generate an apparatus state signal, a worked result estimate model unit which estimates a processed result on the basis of the apparatus state signal and a set processed-result estimation equation, an optimum recipe calculation model unit which calculates corrections to processing conditions so that the processed result becomes a target value, a usable recipe selecting unit which judges validity of an optimum recipe. At a next step of the processing operation, sample processing is performed under optimum conditions on the basis of the usable recipe selected by the selected usable recipe.

Abstract: A power supply unit selects one of drive power provided from an AC/DC conversion unit and that provided from a separation unit and outputs the selected drive power to a control unit and a transmission and reception unit continuously. If the AC/DC conversion unit and the separation unit both supply their respective drive powers, the drive power that has a higher voltage value, i.e., the first drive power, is selectively output. When the first drive power supplied is stopped, a diode transitions from the on state to the off state and a diode transitions from the off state to the on state. As a result the second drive power is selectively output.

Abstract: This invention provides a method for manufacturing a solid plating material which has excellent electrical conductivity and durability, and the solid plating materials manufactured by this method, wherein a suspension liquid is made by mixing a fluid for coating that includes an organic binder, with a powder for plating having electrical conductivity and a metal powder to be used for binding, wherein then layers having the plating powder and the metal powder, and bound to the surfaces of core particles with the organic binder, are formed by means of injecting the suspension liquid on the surfaces of the core particles while the core particles are being agitated by centrifugal fluidization, and wherein then the core particles are heated until their temperature is above the melting temperature of the metal powder to be used for binding so as to remove the organic binder and to form deposited layers of the plating powder by melting the metal powder to be used for binding.

Abstract: In a method for determining a design parameter in a product design parameter determination supporting system, interaction between product function and design parameter is structured, a design parameter group with reduced interaction is extracted, an experiment design is prepared based upon the design parameter group, modeling of a quality influence degree between product function and design parameter is performed from an experiment result, and coordination process of a design parameter and estimation of a product function are performed with taking into account a manufacturing variation. By this means, it is possible to realize a system which can determine many design parameters extremely efficiently even in the product development where there are many design parameters and product functions to be handled and interactions are present between the design parameters and product functions.

Abstract: A plasma processing control system includes a plasma processing apparatus for generating plasma within a vacuum processing chamber and performing a processing operation over a sample accommodated within the vacuum processing chamber using radicals and ions within the plasma, a pre-measuring instrument which measures a shape of the sample before processing, a post-measuring instrument which measures a shape of the sample after the processing, a parameter changer provided with at least one optimum recipe model for calculating a target process parameter, and a model changer for modifying the optimum recipe model, thereby updating a recipe parameter for each etching.

Abstract: In a quality control system for manufacturing industrial products, the product quality history and the manufacturing process history are collected and collated to calculate the correlation magnitude between the two histories. The candidates for the cause of quality variation hidden in the manufacturing processes are listed, and the correlation magnitude between all combinations of the variates of the manufacturing process history are calculated. Further, by utilizing the manufacturing sequence history used for an input plan, a causation connecting structure model between the manufacturing processes of the manufacturing line is automatically generated and automatically analyzed thereby to automatically extract the fundamental cause of quality variation from the candidates for the cause of quality variation. By doing so, the cause of quality variation of industrial products manufactured through a complicated process can be traced in a complicated connecting structure in the manufacturing history data.

Abstract: In a method for determining a design parameter in a product design parameter determination supporting system, interaction between product function and design parameter is structured, a design parameter group with reduced interaction is extracted, an experiment design is prepared based upon the design parameter group, modeling of a quality influence degree between product function and design parameter is performed from an experiment result, and coordination process of a design parameter and estimation of a product function are performed with taking into account a manufacturing variation. By this means, it is possible to realize a system which can determine many design parameters extremely efficiently even in the product development where there are many design parameters and product functions to be handled and interactions are present between the design parameters and product functions.

Abstract: A plasma processing system includes a first unit for plasma-processing a sample based on a recipe for plasma processing, and a second unit for modifying the recipe in accordance with a monitored value obtained during the plasma processing of the sample in the first unit. A next sample is plasma processed in the first unit based on the modified recipe.

Abstract: In a quality control system for manufacturing industrial products, the product quality history and the manufacturing process history are collected and collated to calculate the correlation magnitude between the two histories. The candidates for the cause of quality variation hidden in the manufacturing processes are listed, and the correlation magnitude between all combinations of the variates of the manufacturing process history are calculated. Further, by utilizing the manufacturing sequence history used for an input plan, a causation connecting structure model between the manufacturing processes of the manufacturing line is automatically generated and automatically analyzed thereby to automatically extract the fundamental cause of quality variation from the candidates for the cause of quality variation. By doing so, the cause of quality variation of industrial products manufactured through a complicated process can be traced in a complicated connecting structure in the manufacturing history data.

Abstract: An etching method for subjecting a single film to be etched to etching comprised of a plurality of etching steps based on respectively different recipes, includes steps of generating and fixing a recipe which is a preset recipe to be applied to an etching step of the plurality of etching steps which affects an underlying film making contact with the single film to be etched, generating different recipes other than the preset recipe to be applied to other etching steps of the plurality of etching steps, wherein at least one of the different recipes for the other etching steps is generated on the basis of processed results, and conducting etching of the single film according to the recipes generated.

Abstract: An etching system for subjecting a single film to be etched to etching involves a plurality of etching steps in which respective different recipes are applied. The etching system employs recipe generating means which fixes the recipe to be applied to the final etching step, affecting an underlying film making contact with the film to be etched, of the etching steps, to a preset recipe, and which generates a recipe to be applied to the residual etching step on the basis of the results of processing. Etching processing is conducted according to the recipes generated by the recipe generating means.