Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a cork stopper by compression molding cork grains, which can provide a cork stopper excellent in sealability and safety. There is provided a method for producing a cork stopper, comprising: mixing cork grains and an adhesive; compression molding the mixture to give an intermediate; and then heating the intermediate to expand the cork grains.

Abstract: A bicycle drive unit is basically provided with an assist motor and a housing such that the distance between a crankshaft and a rear end of the housing is prevented from becoming long. The assist motor is configured to apply an assisting force to a manual drive force, which is inputted from a crankshaft. The housing is provided to the assist motor and at least a part of the crankshaft. The housing is disposed around the crankshaft. The housing is formed so that, when the bicycle drive unit is attached to a bicycle frame, the minimum distance from a center axis of the crankshaft and the rear end surface of the frame on the rear end side of the housing is equal to or less than 50 mm and greater than the radius of the crankshaft, as viewed from parallel to the center axis of the crankshaft.

Abstract: A work vehicle includes a cutter device for cutting plant in a field, a storage section for storing plant cut by the cutter device, an inclination angle sensor for detecting an inclination angle ((?d)) of the vehicle body, a display device for displaying the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle sensor, and a reporting device for reporting the inclination angle exceeding a permissible inclination angle ((?a)).

Abstract: Provided is a work vehicle having a rollover protection structure (ROPS) around a driver's seat which is switchable between a front seating posture and a rear seating posture. A locking mechanism locks the driver's seat to the rear seating posture. The locking mechanism includes a hook provided on the driver's seat side, a hook rod disposed between a left strut and a right strut and engageable with the hook when the driver's seat is switched to the rear seating posture, and a rod bracket for supporting the hook rod. The rod bracket is provided separately from the left strut and the right strut.

Abstract: A work vehicle includes: a vehicle body frame; a prime mover part that is supported by the vehicle body frame; a bonnet that is configured to vertically swing between a closed position at which the prime mover part is covered, and an open position at which the prime mover part is open; and a support frame that supports a free end side of the bonnet located at the closed position. At least left and right guide-target parts of the bonnet or left and right guiding parts of the support frame have left and right inclined surfaces that serve as centering effective surfaces.

Abstract: A tractor includes an engine that is mounted on a vehicle body frame, a hood that houses the engine and is configured to pivot about a front pivot in a top-bottom direction between a closed position at which the hood covers the engine, and an open position at which the hood exposes the engine, a mounting rubber that is provided between the engine and the vehicle body frame to support the engine in an anti-vibration manner, and a hood stay that supports the hood such that the hood is pivotable up/down about the front pivot. The hood stay includes an abutting-target portion against which the engine can abut from a rear side, to prevent the engine from swinging forward in a front-rear direction of the vehicle body.

Abstract: A bicycle transmission system comprises a first input device, a transmission, an assist device, and a controller. The first input device is configured to receive a first input operation from a user. The transmission is configured to transmit a pedaling torque to a wheel at a current gear ratio among a plurality of gear ratios. The assist device is configured to assist a rotation of the wheel at a current assist ratio among a plurality of assist ratios. The controller is configured to change the current gear ratio into a predetermined gear ratio without changing the current assist ratio based on the first input operation in a first condition. The controller is configured to change the current gear ratio into a predetermined gear ratio and change the current assist ratio into a predetermined assist ratio based on the first input operation in a second condition.

Abstract: A mower unit is detachably mounted between front wheels and rear wheels of a mid-mount grass mower. The mower unit includes a blade cover having a top plate and a side plate extending from a circumferential edge of the top plate, a pair of right and left ride-over deck units provided on the top plate. Each ride-over deck unit includes a support deck fixed to an upper face of the top plate, a wheel guide member movable between a home position for storage in the support deck and a bridging position for bridging between the support deck and a ground surface, and a tethering member for tethering the support deck with the wheel guide member.

Abstract: A work vehicle includes a riding-type traveling vehicle body and a hydraulically operable front loader coupled to a front of the traveling vehicle body. The traveling vehicle body includes left and right rear wheels disposed to the left and right of a driver seat, left and right rear fenders covering the left and right rear wheels, a valve unit for the front loader and an operating lever for the front loader. The valve unit is disposed in a space between the rear wheel and the rear fender on one of left and right sides, and the operating lever extends from the space, upward of the rear fender on the one of the left and right sides.

Abstract: A work vehicle including: a vehicle body frame; a prime mover part located on a front or rear part of the vehicle body frame; a bonnet configured to open and close by swinging, and covering the prime mover part; and an assist unit configured to assist the bonnet to operate to open. A lateral end portion of the vehicle body frame is provided with a first linkage part with which the assist unit is linked. A lateral end portion of a lower end part of the bonnet, which is located closer to an end cover than the first linkage part is, is provided with a second linkage part with which the assist unit is linked. The assist unit is provided with an expansion/contraction mechanism biased so as to expand, and is located laterally outside the prime mover part and spans the first linkage part and the second linkage part.

Abstract: A work vehicle includes: a vehicle body frame; a prime mover part that is supported by the vehicle body frame; a bonnet that is configured to vertically swing between a closed position at which the prime mover part is covered, and an open position at which the prime mover part is open; and a support frame that supports a free end side of the bonnet located at the closed position. At least left and right guide-target parts of the bonnet or left and right guiding parts of the support frame have left and right inclined surfaces that serve as centering effective surfaces.

Abstract: A bicycle transmission system comprises a first input device, a transmission, an assist device, and a controller. The first input device is configured to receive a first input operation from a user. The transmission is configured to transmit a pedaling torque to a wheel at a current gear ratio among a plurality of gear ratios. The assist device is configured to assist a rotation of the wheel at a current assist ratio among a plurality of assist ratios. The controller is configured to change the current gear ratio into a predetermined gear ratio without changing the current assist ratio based on the first input operation in a first condition. The controller is configured to change the current gear ratio into a predetermined gear ratio and change the current assist ratio into a predetermined assist ratio based on the first input operation in a second condition.

Abstract: A bicycle drive unit is basically provided with an assist motor and a housing such that the distance between a crankshaft and a rear end of the housing is prevented from becoming long. The assist motor is configured to apply an assisting force to a manual drive force, which is inputted from a crankshaft. The housing is provided to the assist motor and at least a part of the crankshaft. The housing is disposed around the crankshaft. The housing is formed so that, when the bicycle drive unit is attached to a bicycle frame, the minimum distance from a center axis of the crankshaft and the rear end surface of the frame on the rear end side of the housing is equal to or less than 50 mm and greater than the radius of the crankshaft, as viewed from parallel to the center axis of the crankshaft.

Abstract: Disclosed is a mower unit detachably mounted between front wheels and rear wheels of a mid-mount grass mower. The mower unit includes a blade cover having a top plate and a side plate extending from a circumferential edge of the top plate, a pair of right and left ride-over deck units provided on the top plate. Each ride-over deck unit includes a support deck fixed to an upper face of the top plate, a wheel guide member movable between a home position for storage in the support deck and a bridging position for bridging between the support deck and a ground surface, and a tethering member for tethering the support deck with the wheel guide member.

Abstract: A cork stopper is coated by a resin coating layer, having a columnar cork stopper body constituted with a molded cork body, and a resin coating layer covering an outer surface of the cork stopper body. The resin coating layer has a resin adhesion layer directly adhered onto the outer surface of the cork stopper body, and a resin layer adhered onto the outer surface of the cork stopper body with the resin adhesion layer interposed therebetween, and the resin coating layer on a circumferential face of the cork stopper body has a layer thickness from 100 to 240 ?m.

Abstract: A cork stopper coated with a resin layer having a columnar cork stopper body formed by a compression molding of a cork granule with a binder resin, and a resin coating layer covering an outer circumferential surface of the cork stopper from an end side to another end of the cork stopper body along an axial direction. The cork stopper body and the resin coating layer constitute a core portion, and the core portion, when being pressed in a hollow tubular portion with a tightening allowance of 1.5 mm, experiencing a compression stress of 100N to 300N in case of a moisture content ratio of the core portion being 6 percent by weight and experiencing a compression stress 100N to 150N smaller than that in case of a moisture content ratio of the core portion being 2 percent by weight.

Abstract: A method for processing a rubber surface and a sealing member treated with the method. In the first mode, a rubber surface is formed with a large number of small dimples in a regularly dotted pattern by irradiating laser beams from a laser irradiation device. In the second mode, a skin layer of the rubber surface is removed by irradiating laser beams from the laser irradiation device. In the third mode, the first mode and the third mode are combined. A sealing member comprises rubber including a seal lip part for elastically and slidably contacting a counterpart member, wherein a sliding contact surface of the seal lip part contacting the counterpart member is treated with one of the first, the second and the third modes of the method for processing a rubber surface.

Abstract: In a combined battery pack of a plurality of battery cells, a comparison circuit compares a voltage appearing at a common connection point between two adjacent battery cells with a reference voltage. Based on a result of the comparison, an electric discharging operation of an electric discharging circuit connected between both terminals of each of the battery cells is carried out. The comparison circuit is driven to operate with a power supply voltage appearing between a positive-side terminal of a battery cell provided on a higher-potential side of a common connection point and the negative-side terminal of the battery cell provided on a lower-potential side of the common connection point.

Abstract: A current mirror circuit includes a pair of first and second transistors having bases connected together and emitters connected to a power line, a resistor connected between the bases of the first and second transistors and the power line, a third transistor for providing base currents of the first and second transistors and a resistor current flowing through the resistor, and a current compensation circuit that adds a compensation current to an input current to the first transistor. The amount of the compensation current is approximately equal to that of the resistor current divided by a current gain of the third transistor. Thus, the compensation current compensates the difference between a collector current of the first transistor and the input current.

Abstract: A battery ECU controls a main battery composed of a plurality of battery cells connected to each other in series. The battery cells are grouped into cell blocks each having a cell-block monitor circuit. A control unit controls charging/discharging processes on the basis of signals output by the cell-block monitor circuit. A signal output by a cell-block monitor circuit on a high-voltage side turns on a transistor for propagating a signal to a cell-block monitor circuit on a middle-voltage side. In the cell-block monitor circuit on a middle-voltage side, the propagated signal turns on another transistor for further propagating a signal to a cell-block monitor circuit on a low-voltage side. In the cell-block monitor circuit on a low-voltage side, the propagated signal turns on a further transistor for outputting a signal to a control unit.