Abstract: An acupuncture needle gives skin a favorable stimulus without invading the skin when in contact with or pressed against the skin. The acupuncture needle includes a base plate and projections formed on a surface of the base plate integrally therewith. Each of the projections have elasticity and includes a base portion and a substantially cylindrical head portion formed on the base portion. The head portion has a flat top surface substantially parallel to the surface of the base plate and a side perpendicular to the surface f the base plate. The base portion has an inwardly depressed external curved line in a central vertical section and a diameter in a transverse cross section gradually becoming larger toward the surface of the base plate. The projections sway in a direction substantially parallel to the skin when the acupuncture needle is in contact with or pressed against the skin.

Abstract: A printing apparatus connected to an external apparatus for temporarily storing a print job including a plurality of pages of image data, receives image data related to the print job from the external apparatus and performs printing using the received image data, comprising a storage unit for temporarily storing the image data received from the external apparatus, a printing unit for performing printing using the image data stored in the storage unit, a determination unit for determining an amount of free area in the storage unit and a control unit for performing a control to switch storage of the image data in the storage unit from storing all of the pages of the image data to storing some of the pages of the image data, in response to the amount of free area determined becoming smaller than a predetermined area during printing.

Abstract: Perforations of a board for building material are formed by a number of recesses (13), or a number of recesses (13) and through-holes (12). A bottom face (16) of the recess forms a face for screwing or driving the fixing element (70) thereto. A color of the bottom face is set to have a brightness of color decreased in comparison with a color of a surface (18) of the board. A substrate of the board is a gypsum board and the bottom face of the recess is formed by a liner paper for gypsum board. According to such a board, a region for screwing or driving the fixing element thereto can be ensured without impairing regularity, uniformity or architectural design of the perforations, and putty finishing or the like for an exposed part of the fixing element can be omitted.

Abstract: There is provided a partition wall which is characterized in that studs are secured to upper and lower runners fitted to a substrate in a zigzag arrangement or as common studs; that basic face materials are fitted to the skeleton through sound insulation materials so that the face materials are arranged, in parallel, on both outer sides of the studs, while the studs are internally positioned; and that a hard gypsum sheet comprising fibers dispersed in the gypsum core thereof is arranged on the corresponding outer side of each basic face material. This partition wall is particularly suitable for use as a dry party wall, has satisfactory characteristic properties such as fire protecting properties, sound insulation properties, deformation-follow-up properties, out-of-plane flexural rigidity and hardness. The wall comprises gypsum based construction materials as the top end boards and thus the weight and wall thickness thereof can be reduced.

Abstract: An electromagnetic coupling apparatus includes an armature hub, a leaf spring, an armature, a rubber stopper, a fixing member, a rubber vibration insulator, a rotor, an electromagnetic coil, and a field core. The armature hub is fixed to the rotating shaft of a unit and has a flange portion formed with a through hole. The fixing member is fixed to the armature and has a trunk portion and a head portion formed with an annular wall portion on its outer circumference. The rubber vibration insulator is disposed between a side surface of the flange portion of the armature hub and the head portion of the fixing member, and is constituted by a cylindrical portion and a disk portion. The rotor opposes the armature through a first gap of a predetermined size.