Abstract: A forward check valve and a fuel cell system are provided which include a valve portion including a valve body, a supporting portion, a hole, and a fixation portion. The valve body contacts a valve seat when the valve portion is accommodated in an opening. The supporting portion supports the valve body so that the valve body is movable in directions in which the valve body moves towards and away from the valve seat. The fixation portion contacts an inner peripheral surface defining the opening of a valve housing to fix the supporting portion when the valve portion is accommodated in the opening. The fixation portion includes protruding portions that protrude from a mount surface of the valve housing when the valve portion is accommodated in the opening. By fitting the valve portion to the opening, the valve portion is accommodated in the opening of the valve housing.

Abstract: A sense voltage obtained by feeding a sense current of an IGBT into a sense resistor is input to a comparator, and as the reference voltage of the comparator, a sense voltage immediately before the IGBT is turned off is held by a sample and hold circuit for each switching, and is then divided by a voltage dividing circuit and the divided voltage is input to the comparator. The comparator compares the sense voltage with the voltage based on the sense voltage immediately before the IGBT is turned off, and therefore the comparator may accurately detect the falling edge time of the sense voltage and is used for the control for dissolving the imbalance in current with respect to the other IGBTs connected in parallel.

Abstract: A cooperative control method for a plurality of power semiconductor elements connected in parallel. The cooperative control method includes (1) connecting, in a daisy chain configuration, a plurality of current balance control circuits each for driving a corresponding power semiconductor element, and (2) responsive to an input to cause the power semiconductor elements to simultaneously perform switching operations, comparing current information of each power semiconductor element with that of an adjacent power semiconductor element, and delaying, using the current balance control circuits, turn-on time or turn-off time of each power semiconductor element, upon determining that the turn-on time or the turn-off time is earlier than turn-on time or turn-off time obtained from the current information of the adjacent power semiconductor element.

Abstract: A piezoelectric blower (100) includes a housing (17), a vibrating plate (41), and a piezoelectric element (42). The vibrating plate (41) forms a column-shaped blower chamber (31) together with the housing (17). The vibrating plate (41) and the housing (17) are formed so that the blower chamber (31) has a radius a. The piezoelectric element (42) causes the vibrating plate (41) to concentrically bend and vibrate at a resonance frequency f. A recessed portion (26) is formed in the housing (17) on the side facing the vibrating plate (41). The recessed portion (26) defines a cavity (25), which constitutes the blower chamber (31) and communicates with the vent hole (24). The radius a of the blower chamber (31) and the resonance frequency f of the vibrating plate (41) satisfy a relationship of 0.8×(k0c)/(2?)?af?1.2×(k0c)/(2?).

Abstract: With a nonwoven fabric made of fibers mainly composed of amorphous polyetherimide having a melt viscosity at 330° C. from 100 to 3000 Pa·s and an average fiber diameter from 1 to 10 ?m, a nonwoven fabric which is excellent in flame retardancy and can have a small thickness within a range from 5 to 900 ?m with strength being maintained because of its denseness can be provided.

Abstract: A flex-rigid printed wiring board is provided which can retain flexibility of a flexible portion while increasing durability of the flexible portion against folding, and can ensure conduction in a rigid portion, and a method of manufacturing the printed wiring board. The flex-rigid printed wiring board includes a conductor layer provided on at least one face of a base film, one region of the wiring board containing the base film being a rigid region, an another region containing the base film being a flexible region. The average thickness “tf” of the conductor layer on the base film formed in the flexible region and the average thickness “tR” of the conductor layer on the base film formed in the rigid region satisfy the relationship of tf<tR.

Abstract: A composition for the cryopreservation of cells according to the present invention at least comprises sericin and one or more components selected from the group consisting of amino acids and saccharides. Further, a method for the cryopreservation of cells according to the present invention comprises the steps of placing target cells in the abovementioned composition for the cryopreservation of cells and cryopreserving them. According to the composition for the cryopreservation of cells of the present invention, cells can be cryopreserved over a long period of time without the use of serum and components derived from serum.

Abstract: A switching power supply that can suppress output variation at a time of transition of a control mode from a non-linear control mode to a linear control mode. The switching power supply includes instruction value forming circuitry that forms, in a linear control mode, a linear control instruction value for linearly control a switching circuit based on an error of an output voltage, and forms, in a non-linear control mode, a non-linear control instruction value for non-linearly control the switching circuit. The instruction value forming circuitry predicts, in the non-linear control mode, a linear control instruction value suited to the load current in the non-linear control mode, and uses the predicted linear control instruction value for an initial value of the linear control instruction value at a time of transition from the non-linear control mode to the linear control mode.

Abstract: In a rotor assembly process for assembling rotors to a case main body where stators are fixed, lower portions of the rotor shafts are fitted into two bearings fixed to the case main body with two lower shafts being fitted into inner circumferential surfaces of the rotor shafts. In a cover assembly process for assembling a rear cover to the case main body, two bearings fixed to the rear cover are fitted into upper portions of the rotor shafts with the lower shafts being fitted into the inner circumferential surfaces of the rotor shafts. Central axes of the rotor shafts are prevented from inclining, and the rear cover can be easily assembled to the case main body without having to form large chamfers on the two bearings and the two rotor shafts.

Abstract: A forward check valve and a fuel cell system are provided which include a valve portion including a valve body, a supporting portion, a hole, and a fixation portion. The valve body contacts a valve seat when the valve portion is accommodated in an opening. The supporting portion supports the valve body so that the valve body is movable in directions in which the valve body moves towards and away from the valve seat. The fixation portion contacts an inner peripheral surface defining the opening of a valve housing to fix the supporting portion when the valve portion is accommodated in the opening. The fixation portion includes protruding portions that protrude from a mount surface of the valve housing when the valve portion is accommodated in the opening. By fitting the valve portion to the opening, the valve portion is accommodated in the opening of the valve housing.

Abstract: A current detection circuit for a power semiconductor device utilizes a sense function of the power semiconductor device. The magnitude of current flowing in power semiconductor devices 1, 11 is detected by a current-voltage conversion circuit 24 connected to sense terminals S, S of the power semiconductor devices. The detected signal is delivered to a current direction detection circuit 27, which detects the direction of the current and delivers the detected current direction signal to an external CPU 3, which in turn gives gain-setting and offset-setting signals corresponding to the current direction signal. An output gain adjuster 221 adjusts the magnitude of gain and an output offset adjuster 231 adjusts the magnitude of offset to correct for differences between the characteristics of the sense regions and the main regions of the power semiconductor devices.

Abstract: A switching power supply system controlling switching operations of switching devices by a control circuit to convert an input voltage into a desired output voltage, the system being provided with a under voltage lock out circuit including: an input voltage detection unit detecting an input voltage and producing an input voltage digital signal corresponding to the input voltage Vin; and a voltage level comparison unit carrying out digital comparison of the input voltage digital signal with each of two voltage detection level data and outputting the results of the comparisons as an output signal, in which by changing voltage detection level data stored in two registers, desired voltage detection levels and hysteresis characteristic are easily actualized.

Abstract: A digital control switching regulator of the invention ON/OFF-controls switching elements by digital-controlled pulse width modulation signals and converts an input voltage to a desired output voltage. The switching regulator includes an input voltage detection circuit that includes: a voltage dividing circuit outputting a divided voltage of the input voltage; a comparator section comparing the divided voltage of the input voltage with a first reference voltage and a second reference voltage and outputting a first comparison signal and a second comparison signal indicating comparison results; and a control section controlling a dividing ratio of the voltage dividing circuit based on the first comparison signal and the second comparison signal to obtain the predetermined divided voltage, thereby outputting an input voltage digital signal corresponding to the input voltage. The input voltage digital signal controls controller coefficients for use in the digital control.

Abstract: According to the present invention, the operation of a diagnostic circuit within a load drive circuit, which has been built into an electronic control device, is checked without modifying the electronic control device or the like. The load drive circuit, which drives a load such as a solenoid using a DC power supply as a power supply, includes a drive circuit and a diagnostic circuit which is independently provided within the drive circuit. Upon input of a drive-stop signal from a control circuit that controls the drive circuit, the operation of at least the drive circuit stops, so that whether the diagnostic circuit, which diagnoses the condition of the load, is normally operating or not is checked in a condition in which the load drive circuit has been built into the electronic control device.

Abstract: The vitrification medium for cells according to the present invention is a vitrification medium for cells comprising a cell membrane permeable substance and a cell membrane non-permeable substance, in which, the content of the cell membrane permeable substance is in the range of 30 to 50% by volume, and the osmotic pressure generated in association with the cell membrane non-permeable substance, which is a fraction of the total osmotic pressure on the cell membrane on suspending the cells in the vitrification medium, is in the range of 280 mOsm or more. The vitrification medium for cells according to the present invention is excellent in operability and safety.

Abstract: A thermoelectric conversion module includes a laminated body including a plurality of thermoelectric components laminated therein. Each of the thermoelectric components includes an insulating layer, and a thermoelectric conversion element section in which a plurality of p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and a plurality of n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers are arranged on the insulating layer in a series connection. A step eliminating insulating material layer is arranged to eliminate a step between the thermoelectric conversion element section and a vicinity thereof, in a region between the insulating layers adjacent to each other in a laminating direction, around the p-type thermoelectric conversion material layers and n-type thermoelectric conversion material layers constituting the thermoelectric conversion element section. The thermoelectric conversion element section has a serpentine shape.

Abstract: A fully integrated DC-DC converter utilizes digitally controlled dual output stages to achieve fast load transient recovery is presented. The DC-DC converter includes a main converter output stage connected in parallel with an auxiliary output stage. The main output stage is responsible for steady-state operation and is designed to achieve high conversion efficiency using large inductor and power transistors with low on-resistance. The auxiliary stage is responsible for transient suppression and is only active when a load transient occurs. The auxiliary output stage performs well with inductor and power transistors much smaller than those of the main switching stage and thus achieves well balanced power conversion efficiency and dynamic performance with a much smaller area penalty than previously described dual-output-stage converters.

Abstract: A digital control switching power supply unit includes an A/D converter circuit having a delay line circuit that has a delay element array whose delay time is controlled by a bias current, and that converts a current value into a digital signal using a signal transmission delay time, a phase difference detector circuit that detects a phase difference between a switching cycle and an A/D conversion cycle, a charge pump circuit that generates a control voltage in accordance with the phase difference, and a bias current indicator circuit that determines a bias current in accordance with an output voltage of the charge pump circuit and a result of a comparison of a detected value of the output voltage and a reference voltage, wherein the digital control switching power supply unit controls in such a way that the A/D conversion cycle is synchronized with the switching cycle.

Abstract: A potentiometric titration method including calculating a titration curve and a differential curve from measured values; computing a straight line (D) connecting the two measured values on the titration curve which are present adjacent to a tentative terminal point (P); computing a first estimation line (B1) and a second estimation line (B2) by a least squares method based on a set of the measured values (d1), (d2) and (d3) and a set of the measured values (d4), (d5) and (d6), respectively, on the titration curve, which are respectively spaced by a predetermined level apart from the tentative terminal point (P) by using the number of decision points (n) as an index where the number of decision points (n) represents the number of measured values on the previously set titration curve; computing an intermediate line (C) between the first estimation line (B1) and the second estimation line (B2); and computing an intersection point (A) of the intermediate line (C) and the straight line (D) to read out a value of t

Abstract: A flex-rigid printed wiring board is provided which can retain flexibility of a flexible portion while increasing durability of the flexible portion against folding, and can ensure conduction in a rigid portion, and a method of manufacturing the printed wiring board. The flex-rigid printed wiring board includes a conductor layer provided on at least one face of a base film, one region of the wiring board containing the base film being a rigid region, an another region containing the base film being a flexible region. The average thickness “tf” of the conductor layer on the base film formed in the flexible region and the average thickness “tR” of the conductor layer on the base film formed in the rigid region satisfy the relationship of tf<tR.