Abstract: The present invention provides an induction-hardened hollow driving shaft that comprises, as a raw material, a steel pipe that contains, by mass %, 0.30 to 0.47% C, 0.5% or less Si, 0.3 to 2.0% Mn, 0.018% or less P, 0.015% or less S, 0.15 to 1.0% Cr, 0.001 to 0.05% Al, 0.005 to 0.05% Ti, 0.004% or less Ca, 0.01% or less N, 0.0005 to 0.005% B and 0.0050% or less O (oxygen) and the balance Fe and impurities and of which Beff defined by an equation (a) or (b) below is 0.0001 or more, wherein a prior austenite grain size number (JIS G0551) after the hardening is 9 or more. Here, in the case of Neff=N?14×Ti/47.9?0, Beff=B?10.8×(N?14×Ti/47.9)/14 . . . (a), and, in other cases, Beff=B . . . (b). According to the present invention, a hollow driving shaft that is simultaneously provided with excellent cold workability, hardenability, toughness and torsional fatigue strength and can exert stable fatigue lifetime can be obtained and can be widely utilized.

Abstract: In straightening a tube using a roll straightening machine provided with drum type straightening roll pairs vertically opposingly disposed, at least an outer layer portion of a roll main body is made of elastic material having spring type hardness Hs (JIS K 6301 A type) of 50 to 100 in at least three pairs of straightening rolls on an outlet side of the roll straightening machine, and an offset amount is imparted to a tube engaged in the three pairs, at least, of straightening opposing rolls such that ? defined by an equation (1) ranges from 1.0×10?3 to 1.5×10?3. The offset amount is set at each of three positions along a tube axis where the upper and lower rolls of each pair horizontally cross. Therefore, an S/N ratio can be enhanced in an eddy current test from inside of the tube to improve inspection efficiency, and excellent quality accuracy can be ensured in a heat transfer tube used in a steam generator and the like.

Abstract: An apparatus for sizing a pipe end comprising: a plug 3 for sizing the pipe end; a chuck 2 for clamping the pipe; and shifting means for shifting the position of the plug 3 and/the chuck 2, which are placed successively from the end of the pipe 2, and the plug 3 has a circular cross section, and is constituted by a taper portion 31 and a diameter equivalent portion 32 continuously formed from the tip of the plug in succession. The outer diameter of the taper portion 31 is gradually expanding from the tip toward the rear end while satisfying the following formulas (1) and (2). The chuck 2 is capable of changing clamping position of the pipe 1. This apparatus makes it possible to size the inner diameter of a pipe end with superior dimensional precision. 22?LR/(D1×0.

Abstract: The present invention provides a mechanical pipe-end expander comprising a cone and a die having tapered wedge bodies whose outer radius is larger towards a flangeless end direction from a flange end, wherein a pipe-end zone is expanded by a wedge effect of the die, which results from a procedure that the cone and the die are inserted together into the pipe-end zone to be expanded, and that then only the cone is axially drawn outwards leaving the die within the pipe-end zone. A seamless steel pipe with an expanded pipe-end zone is manufactured by applying a mechanical pipe-end expander comprising a die having tapered wedge bodies whose outer radius is larger towards a flangeless end direction from a flange end. The resulting seamless steel pipe has satisfactory pipe-end dimensional accuracy, and exhibits characteristics with excellent field welding workability.

Abstract: The present invention provides an induction-hardened hollow driving shaft that comprises, as a raw material, a steel pipe that contains, by mass %, 0.30 to 0.47% C, 0.5% or less Si, 0.3 to 2.0% Mn, 0.018% or less P, 0.015% or less S, 0.15 to 1.0% Cr, 0.001 to 0.05% Al, 0.005 to 0.05% Ti, 0.004% or less Ca, 0.01% or less N, 0.0005 to 0.005% B and 0.0050% or less O (oxygen) and the balance Fe and impurities and of which Beff defined by an equation (a) or (b) below is 0.0001 or more, wherein a prior austenite grain size number (JIS G0551) after the hardening is 9 or more. Here, in the case of Neff=N?14×Ti/47.9?0, Beff=B×10.8×(N?14×Ti/47.9)/14 . . . (a), and, in other cases, Beff=B . . . (b). According to the present invention, a hollow driving shaft that is simultaneously provided with excellent cold workability, hardenability, toughness and torsional fatigue strength and can exert stable fatigue lifetime can be obtained and can be widely utilized.

Abstract: Cold finished seamless steel tubes are made such that the residual stress F to be generated at the stage of the correction process after cold working is controlled to be 30 MPa or more and the scattering thereof is 30 MPa or less, when measured by Crampton method. Further, by adjusting the average grain size of spheroidized carbides, the dimensional change which emerges in lathe turning of the outside and inside diameter of relevant steel tubes due to the residual strain can be suppressed, and the strict roundness as well as the excellent machinability can be secured at the final processing stage of the work pieces for bearing parts. Consequently, steel tubes with high dimensional accuracy and less dimensional change at the final steps such as lathe turning, heat treatment and the like, can be made for use as bearing parts.

Abstract: An object is to implant a bioprosthesis constituted by infiltrating a scaffold material held inside a container with body fluid, such as bone marrow, into an affected side without separating the body fluid, to reduce the burden placed on a patient, and to improve the ease-of-use.

Abstract: A process for making a work piece from a ?-type titanium alloy material includes subjecting the ?-type titanium alloy material to cold working with controlling the reduction rate thereof to vary the reduction rate depending on a position across a plain direction of the ?-type titanium alloy material, and then subjecting the ?-type titanium alloy material to an aging treatment.

Abstract: A steel tube hot-finished by the Mannesmann tube-making method is subjected to a simple grinding process for the inner surface, and thereafter to a cold drawing, so that the depth d of the concave portion in the concavo-convex profile forming the inner surface of the steel tube, the surface roughness Ra and the width w of the entrance in the concave portion are specified, or similarly the depth d of the concave portion in the concavo-convex profile, the Vickers hardness Hv of the inner surface layer and the width w of the entrance in the concave portion are specified, hollow parts for a drive shaft, which have an excellent fatigue strength and which is optimal to reduce the weight of a car body, can be produced. Accordingly, the application of the manufacturing method according to the present invention allows drive shafts for automobiles to be efficiently produced in a reduced manufacturing cost, thereby providing a significant advantage in the industry.

Abstract: Cold finished seamless steel tubes are made such that the residual stress F to be generated at the stage of the correction process after cold working is controlled to be 30 MPa or more and the scattering thereof is 30 MPa or less, when measured by Crampton method. Further, by adjusting the average grain size of spheroidized carbides, the dimensional change which emerges in lathe turning of the outside and inside diameter of relevant steel tubes due to the residual strain can be suppressed, and the strict roundness as well as the excellent machinability can be secured at the final processing stage of the work pieces for bearing parts. Consequently, steel tubes with high dimensional accuracy and less dimensional change at the final steps such as lathe turning, heat treatment and the like, can be made for use as bearing parts.

Abstract: A process for making a plate composed of a ?-type titanium alloy material for a golf club head face includes subjecting the ?-type titanium alloy material to cold working with controlling the reduction rate thereof to vary the reduction rate depending on a position across a plain direction of the ?-type titanium alloy material, and then subjecting the ?-type titanium alloy material to an aging treatment so as to build up a hardness distribution across the plain direction of the ?-type titanium alloy material.

Abstract: A process for making a work piece from a ?-type titanium alloy material includes subjecting the ?-type titanium alloy material to cold working with controlling the reduction rate thereof to vary the reduction rate depending on a position across a plain direction of the ?-type titanium alloy material, and then subjecting the ?-type titanium alloy material to an aging treatment.

Abstract: Along with detecting speed of a hybrid vehicle, a drive/brake power command value for the vehicle is set, and an efficiency indication which indicates the efficiency of fuel utilization is also set. An operational point for an internal combustion engine and an electric motor of the vehicle is determined which makes the amount of charge into a battery smaller, the greater is this efficiency indication, based upon the detected vehicle speed, and the drive/brake power command value and the efficiency indication. In this manner, it is possible to control the engine and the motor so as to bring the remaining amount of charge in the battery to a target value while keeping the fuel consumption over the route to be travelled as low as possible.

Abstract: Along with detecting speed of a hybrid vehicle, a drive/brake power command value for the vehicle is set, and an efficiency indication which indicates the efficiency of fuel utilization is also set. An operational point for an internal combustion engine and an electric motor of the vehicle is determined which makes the amount of charge into a battery smaller, the greater is this efficiency indication, based upon the detected vehicle speed, and the drive/brake power command value and the efficiency indication. In this manner, it is possible to control the engine and the motor so as to bring the remaining amount of charge in the battery to a target value while keeping the fuel consumption over the route to be travelled as low as possible.

Abstract: An apparatus and method of driving control of a hybrid vehicle in the invention divides a route into a plurality of section on the basis of a point at which start of the vehicle is predicted and a point at which stop of the vehicle is predicted or a start point of a regeneration section in which the motor continuously performs a regenerating operation for a predetermined time or longer as a border; estimates a vehicle speed pattern for each of the plurality of sections on the basis of a road condition and a driving history; and sets an operating schedule of the engine and the motor so as to minimize the fuel consumption of the engine to the destination on the basis of the vehicle speed pattern and fuel consumption characteristics of the engine.

Abstract: A driving force control system for an automotive vehicle using driving torque produced by at least one of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor for propulsion, and including a battery and a power-transmission mechanism having a continuously variable transmission, comprises sensors detecting vehicle speed, engine speed, an accelerator operating amount, a state of charge of the battery.

Abstract: A control device detects a curve in front of a vehicle based on the vehicle position and map information, and a driver's accelerator pedal operation is detected based on a sensor output. When a curve is detected in front of the vehicle and it is detected that the driver has released the accelerator pedal, a speed ratio of the automatic transmission is modified to generate a deceleration force.

Abstract: In a method for processing a rotor used for a supercharger and the like, a slanted rolling machine is used having rolls designed such that the rolls are arranged about a pass line along which a material to be molded advances. Each roll is of corn shape and has a plurality of spiral-shaped grooves formed on its side surface. A shaft member made from iron or a similar material is inserted into an aluminum alloy tube. The aluminum alloy tube with the shaft member inside it is continuously fed to the slanted rolling machine along the pass line. Then, the periphery of the aluminum alloy tube is rolled/spread by the rolls for forming spiral shaped teeth from the tube material and for metallurgically attaching the tube to the shaft member.

Abstract: A shift control apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle including an engine, an automatic transmission, and an engine accelerator operable to change the amount of air permitted to enter the engine. The apparatus monitors the speed of operation of the accelerator and repetitively samples the accelerator operation speed to accumulate the last accelerator operation speed values for a short period of time so as to form a first frequency distribution of the accelerator operation speed values and accumulate the last accelerator operation speed values for a long period of time so as to form a second frequency distribution of the accelerator operation speed values. The first frequency distribution corresponds to a driver's present vehicle driving inclination and the second frequency distribution corresponds to a driver's normal vehicle driving inclination. A deviation of the first frequency distribution from the second frequency distribution is detected and used to select one of a plurality of shift schedules.

Abstract: The inventive clothes dryer is provided with a system for preventing the overheating of the clothes in the drum caused by the abnormality in the V-belt, such as the break or derailment thereof. By the system, the power supply to the motor is halted temporarily while the motor is rotated at a predetermined speed, whereafter the motor keeps rotating due to its inertia. During the inertial rotation of a predetermined period of time, the number of rotations of the motor is counted. When the V-belt is in the normal state, the motor is loaded appropriately, so that the speed of the motor falls rapidly during the inertial rotation, and the number of rotations is accordingly small. When, on the other hand, the V-belt is in an abnormal state, the number of rotations is large. Therefore, the state of the V-belt is checked by comparing the number of rotations to a predetermined value, and when the number is smaller than the predetermined value, the drying operation is stopped.