Abstract: On an optical connector plug main body 3 whose transverse section is a trapezoid, a groove 6 of rectangular transverse section is provided, at a bottom of which a plurality of alignment V grooves 7 are formed. In a plate member 9 of rectangular transverse section has a receiving groove 10 of also rectangular transverse section, the groove 10 being connected with the bottom of the plate member 9. An alignment sleeve 12 has an alignment groove 14 of wedge head shape. The plate member 9 is engaged with the groove 6 of the connector plug main body 3, and protrusions 11 of the plate member 9 is ultrasonic bonded into recesses 8 provided in the connector plug main body 3. A ribbon type optical fiber to which an adhesive is applied is inserted from the groove 6 to complete the connector plug. Thus assembled connector plugs are inserted in the state whose ends are faced with each other into the groove 14 of the alignment sleeve 12 to make the connection of the ribbon type optical fiber.

Abstract: A method of grinding ferrules for ribbon type optical fibers wherein the method comprises the steps of locating the end surfaces of the ferrules with respect to a grinding surface of a grinding member, reciprocatingly turnably displacing the ferrules along an arched locus, and grinding the end surfaces of the ferrules with the grinding wheel. To practice the method, an apparatus including a ferrule holding member, a supporting member having the ferrule holding member turnably supported thereon, a driving unit in the form of an electric motor including a reduction gear, a connecting rod bridged between the driving unit and the ferrule holding member to reciprocably turn the ferrule holding member, a grinding member mounted on a frame of the apparatus, a grinding position adjusting unit, a compression spring for normally biasing the supporting member in the upward direction, and a base board mounted on the frame of the apparatus for turning the supporting member about an intermediate position thereof.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for grinding the foremost end surface of a ferrule integrated with an optical fiber wherein the foremost end surface of the ferrule is stepwise ground together with the optical fiber to exhibit a predetermined radius of curvature. The grinding process is practiced by way of three steps, i.e., a rough grinding step, a medium grinding step and a finish grinding step. A base board and abrasive grains on an abrasive film required for the medium grinding step have a hardness higher than that of those for the rough grinding step, and a base board and abrasive grains on an abrasive film required for the finish grinding step have a hardness higher than that of those for the medium grinding step. The foremost end surface of the ferrule is projected downward of the lower surface of a holder by a predetermined quantity before the rough grinding step is started.

Abstract: An optical connector ferrule comprising a ferrule base and a cylindrical tip. The ferrule base has a planar end portion extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ferrule, and the cylindrical tip has an outside diameter which is less than the outside dimension of the planar end portion of the ferrule base. A first planar end portion of the cylindrical tip extends in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis, and a second end portion thereof extends at an oblique angle to the longitudinal axis. The surface of the second end portion has a hemispherical shape. The cylindrical tip receives an optical fiber having an end which has a hemispherical shape, and the hemispherical shaped end of the optical fiber is continuous with the hemispherical surface of the second end portion of the cylindrical tip.

Abstract: A new type of optical power attenuator of the variable attenuation type. The optical connector ferrule edges are finished by polishing them at an inclination angle of seven to 12 degrees with respect to the optical axis thereof, and both ferrule edges face each other with a gap therebetween. One of the ferrule edges is fastened not so that it can be rotated whereas the other can be rotated around its optical axis. The attenuation is determined by both the inclination and gap, and it can be set stably by adjustment of the angle of the rotation around the optical axis of the ferrules.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a sheet picking-up device having a suction member for picking up an edge of a first sheet from a stack of sheets. The suction member having a suction aperture and a driving device for rotating the suction aperture of the suction member in a direction in which the suction aperture is upwardly directed so as to pick up the edge of the first sheet. The driving device further displaces the suction member to a position near the center of the first sheet.

Abstract: A variable light attenuator for use with multiple-fiber ribbons consisting of optical fiber elements. The attenuator consists of movable and fixed ferrule assemblies, each of which is fabricated by inserting a plurality of optical fiber elements arranged in line with equal pitch into a plurality of through holes arranged in line with equal pitch in a block of the substrate, and by polishing the end of the substrate together with the ends of the plurality of optical fiber elements so that the ends are finished to be eight degrees or more inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the movable and fixed ferrule assemblies.

Abstract: A process for producing a soybean milk for a long life or a firm long life tofu which comprises removing soluble saccharides from a soybean milk by the use of an ultrafilter membrane giving a fractional molecular weight of 30,000 or above. The soybean milk thus obtained is used for the production of a long life or a firm long life tofu.

Abstract: An optical fiber multiplexing/demultiplexing devices for the multiple-fiber ribbon of optical fibers, and the fabrication method.

Abstract: An optical multiplexing/demultiplexing device consisting of one or more units, each of which consists of one or more components constituting 2.times.2 circuits, each of which consists of a pair of substrates having a pair of V-grooves arranged to mate with each other and a pair of optical fibers which are installed in the pair of V-grooves connecting through a single unit one. One optical fiber is thereby directly connected through a single unit to a plurality of components arranged in series in the single unit to constitute a tree structure for multiplexing.

Abstract: A variable light attenuator of optical connector type. It consists of an alignment adapter, first ferrule fastening means, and second ferrule fastening means. The alignment adapter provides an alignment through hole concentrically passing therethrough along the optical axis thereof. First ferrule fastening means fastens first ferrule whose edge is exposed to an intermediate air gap and is 7 degrees or more inclined to a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, passes the first ferrule through the alignment through hole, and fastens the first ferrule to the alignment adapter. Second ferrule fastening means fastens second ferrule which is almost the same as first ferrule fastening means in both structure and functions, but movable along the optical axis to appropriately set the gap between the first and second ferrules while the edges of the first and second ferrules are kept in parallel by key pin and key groove to specify the designated attenuation.

Abstract: According to the present invention, an apparatus is provided which opens bags stacked above and below one by one.According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus composed so that a touching member is brought from above into contact with the opening of stacked bags and the touching member is horizontally moved toward the bottom of the bag, thereby to slide the upper sheet of the bag opening, and then the upper sheet is lifted to open the bag.There is further provided an apparatus in which before a touching member is brought into contact with the opening of stacked bags, one corner of the opening of the stacked bag is picked up and a separator plate is inserted from the picked-up corner between the uppermost bag and a next bag stacked thereunder, thereby to open only the uppermost bag steadily.

Abstract: An optical multiplexer of the variable coupling type for branching an input signal from a first optical fiber to a second fiber at a given ratio. The optical multiplexer is made of a pair of substrates, each having a side defining a reference plane and a face perpendicular to the reference plane. The respective perpendicular faces each have a V-groove disposed at an angle greater than zero and less than 5.degree. to the reference plane. The first and second optical fibers are positioned in the respective V-grooves. Each of the faces of the substrates with the optical fibers in the V-grooves are abraded until the cores of the optical fibers are just exposed. The substrates are assembled to contact each other at the respective faces such that the exposed cores of the optical fibers face each other and are separated by a distance defining the ratio of branching of the input signal.

Abstract: Disclosed are a distributed Bragg reflector type semiconductor laser and a method of manufacturing such a laser a high yields, in which the upper surface of an active waveguide is covered by an external waveguide, the external waveguide at side portions thereof, the external waveguide is coupled with the edge surfaces of the active waveguide without any gap remaining, and the coupling ratio of the active waveguide and external waveguide is high.

Abstract: An optical multiplexing/demultiplexing device with multiple ports. A plurality of pairs of V-grooves are provided in parallel on each substrate made of invar or the same type of material as the optical fibers with the same linear expansion coefficient so as to store the optical fibers. A pair of substrates having the symmetrical structure are assembled to form a plurality of optical multiplexing/demultiplexing circuits. A pair of trenches are provided on each substrate in parallel with and on both sides of the V-grooves. Optical fiber terminals led from the respective V-grooves are connected to form a 1.times.n (n: an integer.gtoreq.2) star coupler structure.

Abstract: An optical fiber end-surface polishing device has a polishing disc assembly which makes a polishing disc turn on its own axis and revolve around some other axis with respect to a base supporting a polishing member. There is an optical fiber holder assembly supporting an optical fiber holder section for holding a plurality of optical fibers. The optical fiber holder assembly abuts the end surfaces of the optical fibers against the polishing member while being biased in a direction perpendicular to the polishing member.

Abstract: An optical fiber connecting device in which a pair of ferrules holding optical fibers in their central holes and opposing at their end faces are inserted in a through bore of an aligning sleeve having a structure that enables the angles of the ferrules' end faces at which they contact each other to be adjusted by rotating both or either of the ferrules, and enables the adjusted positions to be fixed. A pair of optical connector plug assemblies each include a ferrule having an optical fiber-holding central hole and a threaded portion formed at one end of its outer-diameter portion, a cylindrical position-determining ring having a threaded hole rotatably engageable with the threaded portion and a position-determining key provided on its outer-diameter portion, and a ferrule-urging compression coil spring and a threaded-hole-provided engagement nut which are slidably fitted around the outer-diameter portion of the ferrule.

Abstract: Disclosed are a distributed Bragg reflector type semiconductor laser and a method of manufacturing such a laser a high yields, in which the upper surface of an active waveguide is covered by an external waveguide, the external waveguide is disposed on the same surface as the active waveguide at side portions thereof, the external waveguide is coupled with the edge surfaces of the active waveguide without any gap remaining, and the coupling ratio of the active waveguide and external waveguide is high.

Abstract: According to the present invention, an apparatus for measuring a resistance against slippage on the road surface is so constructed that two measuring wheels adapted to be rotated by imparting a tractive force to the apparatus are connected to one another via a torsion bar extending therebetween, a difference in rotation is forcibly produced by changing a rotational speed of one of the measuring wheels and a slippage resistance on the road surface is measured by detecting a torque generated on the torsion bar due to the slippage resistance on the road surface.

Abstract: A process for treating a meat by bringing the meat into contact wiht a raw soy sauce.